Determine the expected serving size. How much of this food would you expect your child to eat? Calculate the carb content of the expected serving size. You need to do a bit more math to determine the carb content for the number of servings you expect your child to eat.

Calculating Carb Content by Volume. OR you could do the same calculations using the weight of the product instead of the volume…. Calculating Carb Content by Weight.

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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.

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It may sound obvious, but you can't determine the amount of carbohydrate in a portion of food unless you know how much of the food you are going to consume. Measuring tools are essential for this vital step, especially when you first start out.

It is very common for people to think they know about how much a tablespoon or half a cup or six inches is, but often their estimates are inaccurate. Handy tools include measuring cups and spoons and a kitchen scale digital scales are easiest to use.

You won't always have access to your measuring tools when you eat, so you should learn as much as you can about foods that contain carbs and the amount of carbohydrate that they provide. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics provides a list of foods that provide about 15 grams of carbohydrate.

They include:. Learn about foods that provide zero carbs. Balancing carbohydrate foods with carbohydrate-free foods will help you to plan meals and stay within your target zones. An easy way to portion control your meals, while also getting adequate nutrition, is to practice the plate method.

Foods that contain little to no carbohydrates include meat, fish, and poultry, nuts, oils, fats, and some types of cheese. When you are counting carbs, food labels are your friends. The Nutrition Facts label clearly states how much carbohydrate is in each food.

To make sure you use the label properly, check not only the grams of carbohydrate provided but also the serving size. The amount of food you consume may be more or less than the serving size listed and this will affect the number of carbs you consume.

For example, if you consume two slices of bread and the serving size listed is one slice, you'll have to double the number of grams listed in order to know how many total carbs you are consuming.

There will be some foods that do not contain a Nutrition Facts label such as fresh fruits and vegetables and meat from the butcher. For these foods, you'll have to use other resources to get data about carbohydrate content. Online resources are generally the easiest to use and are updated more often.

One smart resource is the USDA Food Composition Database. This searchable database provides nutrition facts, including grams of carbohydrate, fiber, starch, and sugars in foods sold throughout the country. You'll find specific brands of food products as well as general categories.

You can also use the tool to search by nutrient. For example, using the "Nutrient Search" function, you can search for breakfast cereals listed by the number of carbs in each. In addition to the database, the USDA also provides consumers with Carbohydrate Counting and Exchange Lists.

You may find a tool there that works better for you or consider using a smartphone app as many are widely available and most are free. Apps or online resources such as the USDA Food Composition Database are helpful tools when carb counting and might be more accurate than printed resources which are not updated as often.

Each different type of food present different challenges and opportunities when counting carbs. Use these tips to include as many healthy foods as possible in your diet.

Although non-starchy vegetables have some carbohydrate, they don't have a lot, and these foods generally provide substantial nutritional benefits. Nonstarchy vegetables include dark and leafy greens, broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, cauliflower, and green beans.

On a low-carb diet, these vegetables take the place of starchier foods. In fact, many people on a low-carb diet will double or triple the amount of these vegetables at mealtime. People on moderate-carb diets sometimes don't count them at all. However if you are counting the carbohydrates in vegetables it can be tricky because of irregular shapes and different ways of cutting and cooking them.

Fruits have a huge variation in the number of carbohydrates they contain. For example, a half-cup serving of raspberries contains about 7.

But raisins , contain 34 grams for a quarter cup. In general, berries have the lowest amount of carbohydrate per serving and high fiber content, while some tropical fruits and dried fruits have the most carbohydrate per serving.

Fruits tend to be even more irregularly-shaped than vegetables, so sometimes you might need to weigh them. Another issue is that the average size of many fruits has grown over the years.

On average 4—5 ounces of whole fruit, such as an apple, pear, orange, 2 kiwis, a 4-ounce slice of melon, or 4 ounces of pineapple contains 15 grams of carbohydrate.

The U. Food and Drug Administration provides a helpful downloadable resource for counting carbs in fruit. For example, a medium banana is about seven inches long. Many that you find at your market are larger. A medium apple is three inches across, which most people would think of as small.

If you have room in your carb allotment, beans, and starchier vegetables are an excellent choice because they tend to be very nutrient-dense compared to other higher-carb foods.