COUNTING YOUR CARB GRAMS

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1 Why should I count carbs? Carbohydrates, or carbs can raise your blood sugar, but you can help control your blood sugar by paying attention to how many carbs you eat. Controlling your carbs may also help you lose weight. Carbs are counted in grams. Count the grams using the following steps: 1. Use the food label, or look the foods up in a reference book. If you have access to the internet you can go to 2. Count all the carb grams in each carb food before you start to eat. Breakfast Example: 1 cup Rice Krispies Cereal 22 grams 1/2 cup of skim milk 6 grams 1 cup stawberries 16 grams TOTAL: 44 Grams for breakfast 1

2 Where Are the Carbs On A Food Label? Look for the serving size at the top of the label. The information on the label is for one serving size. A Look for Total Carbohydrates in the middle of the label Total Carbohydrates has a g for grams to the right of the number. B Make sure you count the right amount of carbohydrate grams Skim Milk A B C The serving size for this product is cup One serving (1 cup) of this product contains grams of carbohydrates One half serving of this food contains grams. 2

3 Practice Serving Size The food label below comes from a package of bread: What is the serving size? How many carbohydrate grams are in each serving? If you eat a portion size, you will get grams of carbohydrates? Whole Wheat Bread How many slices of bread make 2 servings? slices of bread How many carbs does this make? g To solve this you have to add: grams of carb from 1 serving + grams of carb from 1 serving = grams of carb from 2 servings How many slices of bread make 1/2 servings? slices of bread How many carbs does this make? g To solve this you have to add: grams of carb from 1 serving and divide by 2 = grams of carb from 1/2 serving 3

4 Lets practice calculating carbs at breakfast. Calculating the carbs at each meal will help you reach your carb goal. 1. Use the package labels to find the carb grams for each food. 2. Look up the carbs from each food in your meal to get the total carbs for that meal. Breakfast Example: 1 cup of fat free milk grams 2 pieces of toast grams 1 egg grams Total grams 3. Then add all together to get the total carbs for your breakfast meal. 4. Follow the same steps for your lunch and dinner meals. 4

5 Whole Wheat Bread Egg Skim Milk 5

6 * Use only if needed How Many Carbs are in My Recipe? You can still cook some of your family s favorite meals and count the carbs. Use these tips to help you figure out the carbs in each serving. 1. Find Total Carb on each ingredient s food label, or look it up in a carb reference book, or on a computer at 2. Adjust the carbs to match the amount called for in your recipe. Example: a. 1 container of fat-free yogurt, any flavor = 20 grams of carb b. Recipe calls for 4 containers of yogurt c. 4 x 20 = 80 grams of carb from the yogurt 4 containers fat-free yogurt (8 oz), any flavor One 8 oz container low-fat Cool Whip (3gm x 25) One ready to serve graham cracker crust 80 gms 75 gms 112 gms 267 total grams Fold yogurt and Cool Whip together. Pour into crust. Refrigerate. Cut into eight (8) servings. Divide total grams by the number of servings servings = 33 grams per slice 3. Add together all the carb grams from each ingredient for total grams in the whole recipe. 4. Prepare the recipe and cut the food into the same size servings. 5. Count the number of pieces cut. 6. Divide the recipe total carbs by the number of pieces by 8 slices = 33 carbs per slice = Write carb grams for each ingredient on the recipe card or in cookbook. 6

7 * Use only if needed How Many Servings in My Pot or Pan? 1. Find the pot or pan you use for the recipe 2. Fill the pot or pan with water using a measuring cup. 3. Count the cups of water to fill the pot or pan. 4. This is how many cups the pot or pan holds. 5. Divide the total carbs in recipe by the number of cups. Carbs in a Recipe Number of Cups 6. Use 1 cup measuring cup to serve the food. 7

8 I CAN DO IT! I can watch my carbs to help control my blood sugar. I will pick a goal from the list below to start this week and continue until I talk about it with my doctor, nurse, or dietician. I will: I will eat carb gram amounts listed below. At breakfast, I will eat grams of carbs. At lunch, I will eat grams of carbs. At dinner, I will eat grams of carbs. If a snack is needed, I will eat the following: Copyright 2011 by Vanderbilt University. All rights reserved. Please contact authors for permission to use. 8