Net Atkins Count (vs. Net Carb)

Net carbs is the number of grams in a food serving to count when on a carb controlled diet.

The traditional way of counting carbs was to subtract grams of fiber, and other carbs that have negligible impact on blood sugar (such as glycerine, and sugar alcohols) from the total carb count. Atkins new patent-pending method for counting carbs called Net Akins Count, which has just started appearing on newer product labels and will continue to be used on new products. Net Atkins Count refines the traditional method of net carb counting by actually measuring the glycemic impact of specific products. In otherwords, the Atkins label claims of net carb count are validated by actual clinical testing and reflects the actual number of impact grams on blood sugar.

The new Net Atkins Count, while more accurate, is not to say the old way of net carb counting is invalid. In most instances, the old subtraction method provided an accurate result. But there are cases where combinations of ingredients and/or manufacturing prcessses can cause the traditional method of counting carbs to be less accurate than the Net Atkins Count.

According to Atkins, With this new technology, there is no question that the Net Atkins Count provides the most accurate way to ascertain the carb count and blood sugar impact of a product.

Behind the Net Atkins Count

Another interesting fact is that the Net Atkins count was develped by Atkins food scientists and Thomas Wolever, Ph.D., M.D., one of the world's leading clinical nutritionists and acting chair of the department for nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto. Dr. Wolever is an expert on glucose metabolism and dietary carbohydrates and one of the pioneers in the development of glucemic index.

source: http://www.atkins.com