Use measuring cups to see what portion sizes look like — you may be surprised! For some foods, weighing out your food portion on a food scale may also be helpful.

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. Naan, chapati, or roti 1 oz. Potato, French-fried oven-baked 1 cup 2 oz. Potato, mashed with milk and fat ½ cup Squash, winter acorn, butternut 1 cup Yam or sweet potato, plain ½ cup 3½ oz.

Crackers and Snacks Crackers and Snacks Food Serving Size Crackers, animal 8 crackers Crackers, graham 3 crackers 2½ inch squares Crackers, saltine or round butter-type 6 crackers Granola or snack bar 1 bar ¾ oz. Popcorn 3 cups, popped Pretzels ¾ oz. Rice cakes 2 cakes 4 inches across Snack chips, baked potato, pita About 8 chips ¾ oz.

Snack chips, regular tortilla, potato About 13 chips 1 oz. Fruits Food Serving Size Applesauce, unsweetened ½ cup Banana 1 extra-small banana, about 4-inches long 4 oz.

Blueberries ¾ cup Dried fruits blueberries, cherries, cranberries, mixed fruit, raisins 2 Tbsp. Fruit, canned ½ cup Fruit, whole, small apple 1 small fruit 4 oz. Fruit, whole, medium nectarine, orange, pear, tangerine 1 medium fruit 6 oz.

Fruit juice, unsweetened ½ cup Grapes 17 small grapes 3 oz. Cake, unfrosted 2-inch square about 1 oz. Candy, hard 3 pieces Ice cream, regular ½ cup Pudding, sugar-free or sugar-and fat-free made with fat-free milk ½ cup Sandwich cookie with crème filling 2 small cookies about ¾ oz.

Cupcake, frosted 1 small cupcake about 1¾ oz. Packaged foods have labels that tell you how many carbohydrates a food has. They are measured in grams. You can use food labels to count the carbohydrates that you eat.

When you are carb counting, a serving sometimes also called a "carb" equals an amount of food that contains 15 grams of carbohydrate. The serving size listed on a package is not always the same as 1 serving in carbohydrate counting. For example, if a single-serving package of food contains 30 grams of carbohydrate, the package actually contains 2 servings when you are carb counting.

The food label will say what 1 serving size is and how many servings are in the package. If a bag of chips says that it contains 2 servings and you eat the entire bag, then you will need to multiply the label information by 2 to know how much of the nutrients you have eaten.

For example, let's say the label on a bag of chips states that it contains 2 servings, and 1 serving of chips provides 11 grams of carbohydrate. If you eat the entire bag of chips, you have eaten 22 grams of carbohydrates.

The label will list sugar and fiber separately. The carbohydrate count for a food includes sugar and fiber plus the starch. The grams of starch are not explicitly indicated on the nutrition facts label. Use only the total number to count your carbs.

When you count carbs in foods that you cook, you will have to measure the portion of food after cooking it. If you eat a cup of cooked long grain rice, you will be eating 45 grams of carbohydrates, or 3 carbohydrate servings.

Here are some examples of foods and servings sizes that have approximately 15 grams of carbohydrate:. The total amount of carbohydrates you eat in a day is the sum of the carbohydrates in everything you eat.

When you are learning how to count carbs, use a log book, a sheet of paper, or an app to help you track them. As time passes, it will get easier to estimate your carbohydrates. Plan to see a dietitian every 6 months.

This will help you refresh your knowledge of carb counting. A dietitian can help you determine the right amount of carbohydrate servings to eat each day, based on your personal caloric needs and other factors.

The dietitian can also recommend how to distribute your daily carbohydrate intake evenly among your meals and snacks. American Diabetes Association website. Get smart on carb counting. Accessed December 8, Anderson SL, Trujillo JM.

When you read food labels, the grams of sugar are already included in the total carbohydrate amount, so you do not need to count this sugar amount separately. The grams of sugar listed include both natural sugars, from fruit or milk, and added sugars.

Some Nutrition Facts labels may also list sugar alcohols under total carbohydrate. Usually about half of the sugar alcohol is counted as carbohydrate. Learn more about counting sugar alcohols. View an example of a Nutrition Facts label showing how to count sugar alcohols.

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. All rights reserved. University of California, San Francisco About UCSF Search UCSF UCSF Medical Center. Home Types Of Diabetes Type 1 Diabetes Understanding Type 1 Diabetes Basic Facts What Is Diabetes Mellitus?

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Diagnosing Diabetes Treatment Goals What is Type 2 Diabetes? Home » Living With Diabetes » Diet And Nutrition » Understanding Carbohydrates » Counting Carbohydrates » Learning To Read Labels. To count carbohydrates, look at three things: Serving Size Number of Servings Per Container Grams of Total Carbohydrate per serving The total carbohydrate tells how many grams of carbohydrate are in one serving.

Sugar occurs naturally in these nutrient-rich foods:. Starches are found naturally in foods, as well. Your body breaks them down into sugar after you eat them. The following foods have a lot of starch. Many also have fiber.

Fiber is the part of food that is not broken down by the body. It slows digestion and helps you feel fuller. Foods containing starch and fiber include:. Some foods, such as jelly beans, contain only carbohydrates.

Other foods, such as animal proteins all kinds of meat, fish, and eggs , have no carbohydrates. Most foods, even vegetables, have some carbohydrates. But most green, non-starchy vegetables are very low in carbohydrates. Most adults with diabetes should eat no more than carbohydrate grams per day.

The daily recommended amount for adults is grams per day, but each person should have their own carbohydrate goal. Pregnant women need at least grams of carbohydrates each day.

Packaged foods have labels that tell you how many carbohydrates a food has. They are measured in grams. You can use food labels to count the carbohydrates that you eat. When you are carb counting, a serving sometimes also called a "carb" equals an amount of food that contains 15 grams of carbohydrate.

The serving size listed on a package is not always the same as 1 serving in carbohydrate counting. For example, if a single-serving package of food contains 30 grams of carbohydrate, the package actually contains 2 servings when you are carb counting.

The food label will say what 1 serving size is and how many servings are in the package. If a bag of chips says that it contains 2 servings and you eat the entire bag, then you will need to multiply the label information by 2 to know how much of the nutrients you have eaten. For example, let's say the label on a bag of chips states that it contains 2 servings, and 1 serving of chips provides 11 grams of carbohydrate.

If you eat the entire bag of chips, you have eaten 22 grams of carbohydrates. The label will list sugar and fiber separately. The carbohydrate count for a food includes sugar and fiber plus the starch. The grams of starch are not explicitly indicated on the nutrition facts label. Use only the total number to count your carbs.

When you count carbs in foods that you cook, you will have to measure the portion of food after cooking it. If you eat a cup of cooked long grain rice, you will be eating 45 grams of carbohydrates, or 3 carbohydrate servings.

Here are some examples of foods and servings sizes that have approximately 15 grams of carbohydrate:. The total amount of carbohydrates you eat in a day is the sum of the carbohydrates in everything you eat. When you are learning how to count carbs, use a log book, a sheet of paper, or an app to help you track them.

As time passes, it will get easier to estimate your carbohydrates. Plan to see a dietitian every 6 months. This will help you refresh your knowledge of carb counting. A dietitian can help you determine the right amount of carbohydrate servings to eat each day, based on your personal caloric needs and other factors.

The dietitian can also recommend how to distribute your daily carbohydrate intake evenly among your meals and snacks. American Diabetes Association website. Get smart on carb counting. Accessed December 8, Anderson SL, Trujillo JM.