# Low-carb lasagna? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-carb-lasagna/246429 "2004-05-21T20:44:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-carb-lasagna/246429/1 "2004-05-21T20:44:11Z")
A few days ago at the grocery store, I saw lasagna noodles for sale that were advertised as being low-carb. In fact, looking closer at the box, the claim was that these noodles had 50% less carbs than normal lasagna noodles. Now, I can understand how candy can be low carb (load it up with artificial sweeteners), or breakfast cereals (lots of nuts), or the like, but how the heck are low-carb noodles possible? Please note, by the way, that I’m not interested in debating the merits of a low-carb diet. Take that to Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-carb-lasagna/246429/2 "2004-05-21T21:01:50Z")
They are probably made at least partly from soy flour, which has fewer carbs than the wheat that is usually used. It doesn’t make very good noodles, but they are lower in carbs. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-carb-lasagna/246429/3 "2004-05-21T22:11:29Z")
What most of these low carb things do is add in a lot of fiber. Evidently, Atkins has something called “effective” carbs which is the total grams of carbs minus the grams of fiber. I haven’t read Atkins so not really sure of the reasoning behind this tho’. Anyway, here’s [nutrition info](http://www13.netrition.com/bella_vita_pasta_page.html) for a low card pasta. You can see that it’s made with soy flour as **cher3** suggested and it also utilizes the “effective” carb trick. I’ve had low carb Doritos (not mine, a friend’s, I swear!) and they were horrible and chalky. loaded with a lot of oat bran to bring the fiber count up. You know, looking at these nutrition figures, I’m skeptical. If you do the math using 4 cal per gram of carbohydrate and protein and 9 cal per gram of fat, you get a total of 193 calories, 20% more than the label states. Hmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-carb-lasagna/246429/4 "2004-05-22T03:57:53Z")
> [@tremorviolet](#): > > You know, looking at these nutrition figures, I’m skeptical. If you do the math using 4 cal per gram of carbohydrate and protein and 9 cal per gram of fat, you get a total of 193 calories, 20% more than the label states. Hmmm… You’re counting the fiber – fiber is non-digestible and therefore doesn’t contribute to calorie counts. (18g carbohydrates - 8g fiber) \* 4 kcals / g + 28g protein \* 4 kcals / g + 1g fat \* 9 kcals / g = 161 kcals. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-carb-lasagna/246429/5 "2004-05-22T05:12:14Z")
> [@tremorviolet](#): > > What most of these low carb things do is add in a lot of fiber. Evidently, Atkins has something called “effective” carbs which is the total grams of carbs minus the grams of fiber. I haven’t read Atkins so not really sure of the reasoning behind this tho’. Fiber does not affect blood sugar, so carbs from fiber don’t count. Hence the term effective carbs.