Rating

	My Rating: 0 ratings 5 stars (0) 4 stars (0) 3 stars (0) 2 stars (0) 1 stars (0)

Email

	Email this page to a friend Friend's Email: Your Name: Your Email: Enter the code shown: Submitting Send Email

Some tips for making tracking carbs a little simpler

By Dana Gottesman

Carb counting doesn't have to be complicated. One major key to it: scouring the nutrition labels on the back of packaged foods. There are two main lines on the label that should get your attention:

• First, check out the total carbohydrates section. This lets you know how many carbs are in your item, and includes carbs from sugar, starch and fiber.
• Next, look at the serving size. Nutrition labels on food items can be tricky. For instance, does your go-to snack of a blueberry muffin say a serving is for one whole muffin or just a quarter of it? Make sure the amount per serving corresponds to the actual quantity you are eating. You may need to double or triple the information on the label to figure out the carb amount, and a portion size to match.

But what about unpackaged or unlabeled foods? When counting those carbs, you’ll learn to develop a knack for eyeballing carbohydrate totals and portion sizes. Here are a few ways to make things easier:

• Create a cheat sheet that lists your favorite foods and their carb content and portion size for easy reference — that way, you can easily mix and match carb sources to hit your desired mark each meal.
• Evaluate portions accurately by measuring your food with measuring cups or spoons, or weighing it on a food scale. You may want to keep cut-up fruit you weighed or a pre-measured serving of cereal in plastic baggies or small containers for your convenience.  
• Search by type of food and quantity on accredited websites with carb counting calculators, such as My Food Advisor from the American Diabetes Association.
• Going out to eat? Check out the nutrition content of menu items while dining out with apps like MedHelp's My Diet Diary for iOS and Android.

Published on March 18, 2016.

Dana Gottesman is a health and lifestyle writer based in the New York City area.