A listener recently asked me about a new brand of candy that claims to have almost no net carbs,

even though it's not technically low in carbohydrates.

So today I want to talk about how exactly they calculate net carbs,

a bit about the ingredients that they use to pull off this particular magic trick,

and whether they actually are

as harmless as they seem.

Hello, I'm Monica Reinagle, and you are listening to the Nutrition Diva podcast, a show where we take

a closer look at nutrition news, research, and

trends, and answer your food and nutrition questions. And today's episode was inspired by an

email from Linda, who recently wrote to ask about a brand of gummy candies called

Shameless. These products are being promoted as low-net carb with less sugar and fewer calories

than traditional gummy candies, and Linda wanted to know, are they actually a better option?

Now, being someone with a real soft spot for Swedish fish, this one hit close to home. But more importantly, it's a good

opportunity to review with you what this whole net carb concept is all about, as well as to share

a few thoughts about what it says about us that candies are marketed to us in terms of how much

shame we should feel about eating them. Okay, but let's start

with what's in these candies. Because given that this brand markets itself as having zero junk,

the ingredient list might raise a few eyebrows. Most of the sweetness in these candies comes from sugar alcohols,

specifically erythritol and isomalt, along with a small amount of sucralose, also known as

Splenda. Sugar alcohols, sometimes referred to as polyols, are carbohydrates, and they are reflected in the total

carbohydrate count on the nutrition facts labels. But because of their molecular structure,

they are not fully absorbed and metabolized like regular sugar. As a result, they provide

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