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Hi. I'm Brenda Thompson, Registered Dietitian and owner of Life Skills Nutrition. In this
segment, I'm going to talk about calories on the food label. Here, if you look, you'll
see that total carbohydrates is listed. Under carbohydrates, you will also find dietary
fibers, and sugars. Dietary fiber is also a carbohydrate, although not all fibers are
digested into the system. That is why fiber is recommended for healthy diets. It's also
recommended for heart disease, diabetes and weight loss and living a healthy lifestyle.
It is very important. Sugars are located here and they are also part of the total carbohydrates.
As you can see, there are other carbohydrates that are in this food, but they are not recommended
by the FDA to be printed on the food label. Total carbohydrate is important to watch,
especially in those who have diabetes, as they need to monitor their blood sugar control.
When you are looking at the label, total carbohydrates are generally located in the foods guide pyramid
under grains. There are very little carbohydrates in vegetables. There are very little carbohydrates
in vegetables (about five grams in about half a cup). Carbohydrates are found in fruits,
milk and beans. You will not find carbohydrates in meats and oils. So, when you want to learn
how many carbohydrates are in your food, you want to look at the total carbohydrate on
the food label.