Understanding Fiber

On Nutrition Facts food labels, the grams of dietary fiber are already included in the total carbohydrate count. But because fiber is a type of carbohydrate that your body can’t digest, it does not affect your blood glucose levels. You should subtract the grams of fiber from the total carbohydrate.

Here’s the best advice about fiber:

For people with Diabetes that are treated with insulin, getting the most accurate carbohydrate count may help better manage blood glucose.

To summarize – you need to take the total amount of carbohydrate in a serving MINUS the carbohydrate in the fiber.

Now, let’s practice using the sample food label:

Nutrition Facts Carbohydrate example

  • Locate the total carbohydrate in one serving. You will see that the total carbohydrate is 10 grams.
  • The dietary fiber is 5 grams per serving.
  • Count this product as 5 grams of carbohydrate (10 grams total carbohydrate minus 5 grams dietary fiber equals 5 grams of carbohydrate).