Fiber does not affect your blood sugar levels.
Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that your body can’t digest, so you should subtract the grams of fiber from the total carbohydrate.
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 sugar 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 control blood sugars better.
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:
- 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).
Self-assessment Quiz
Self assessment quizzes are available for topics covered in this website. To find out how much you have learned about Understanding Carbohydrates, take our self assessment quiz when you have completed this section. The quiz is multiple choice. Please choose the single best answer to each question. At the end of the quiz, your score will display. If your score is over 70% correct, you are doing very well. If your score is less than 70%, you can return to this section and review the information.
