How to Count Carbohydrates the Simple Way

The calories you eat come from carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Carbohydrates, the sugar and starch content of food, provide fuel and have the biggest effect on your blood sugar. Counting carbohydrates is important whether you're counting to control diabetes or to lose weight through dieting.

Instructions

1

Keep track of carbohydrates with the nutrition labels that come with most store bought foods. Adjust your carb count to your portion size. If the listed serving size on a label is 1/2 cup and you eat a cup, then you know to double the amount of carbohydrates.

2

Use a scale to weigh your carbs. Grams are most often used in carbohydrate counts. Pure sugar like white sugar or lollipops contain the exact number of carb grams as their weight, but most foods are only a percentage of carbohydrate. When you know that carbohydrate percentage or carb factor, you multiply total weight in grams by a food's carb percentage to come up with the amount of carbohydrate grams you eat.

3

Buy a good carbohydrate counter book. Many come in a pocket size that you can carry with you.

4

Count carbohydrates with your Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) loaded with carb counting software or food databases that list carbohydrates.

5

Make a list of the carbohydrate content of frequently eaten foods. Chances are you'll have some carb counts memorized in no time.

6

Follow a diet plan like Weight Watchers that places food in categories. Often one serving from a Bread/Starch group contains between 12 and 15 grams of carbohydrate. So you know that for every starch serving, you eat 12 to 15 carbs. Some food manufacturers list this information on the package as well.

7

Log on to the Internet to locate the carbohydrates at many fast food and chain restaurant websites. Also find carbohydrate listings as places like CarbCounter.org.