Alternate Names

Carb counting

Nutrients and Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates (or carbs) are found in fruit, cereal, bread, pasta, and rice. They are quickly turned into a sugar called glucose in your body. This raises your blood sugar level.

People with diabetes can control their blood sugar better if they can count how many carbs they eat.

Types of Carbohydrates

Your body turns carbs into energy. There are two major types: simple and complex.

Simple carbs are sugars found naturally in food. They can also be added to food. They include:

Candy
Fruit
Milk
Sugar-sweetened products
Table sugar
Vegetables

Complex carbs have sugars that are chemically linked together. Your body breaks them down into sugar after you eat them. They are starches found in food. They include:

Bread
Cereal
Legumes such as beans and chick peas
Pasta
Rice
Starchy vegetables such as potatoes

Counting Your Carbs

Some foods, such as jelly beans, are all carbs. Others, such as meat and fish, have no carbs.

Most foods, even vegetables, have some carbs. Most adults with diabetes should eat no more than 200 grams per day. But each person should have their own carb goal.

Packaged foods have labels that tell you how many carbs a food has. They will be measured in grams. You can use food labels to count the carbs you should have.

The food label will say what the serving size is. It will also tell you how many grams of carbs are in a serving.

Sometimes the label will list sugar, starch, and fiber separately. The carb count for a food is the total of these. Multiply the number of servings you eat by the number of grams of carbs per serving. This will give you the carb count for what you eat.

You have to measure how many carbs are in foods that are not packaged. Then you have to calculate the total carbs in what you eat.

For example, cooked long grain rice has 15 grams of carbs per 1/3 cup. If you eat a cup of cooked long grain rice, you will eat 45 grams of carbohydrates.

Foods that have 15 grams of carbs are:

1/2 cup of canned fruit (without the juice or syrup)
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1/3 cup of pasta (can vary with the shape)
1/3 cup of long grain rice
1/4 cup of short grain rice
1 cup of soup
1 and 1/4 cup of milk
1/4 servings of medium French fries

Adding up Your Carbohydrates

The total amount of carbs you eat in a day is the sum of the carb counts of everything you eat.

When you are learning how to count carbs, use a log book or sheet of paper to help you track them. Over time, it will get easier to estimate your carbs.

Most people with diabetes should see a nutritionist every year. This will help them refresh their knowledge of carb counting and healthy aging. They may also learn new tricks to make carb counting easy.

To learn more, ask your health care provider.

References

American Diabetes Association. Nutrition recommendations and interventions for diabetes: a position statement of the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes Care. 2008;31:S61-S78.

Carbohydrate counting. American Diabetes Association. (accessed October 30, 2010)

Reviewed By

Review Date: 04/26/2011

A.D.A.M. Editorial: David Zieve, MD, MHA, and David R. Eltz. Previously reviewed by David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine (11/15/2010).

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