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Eating Well

I searched through various references and articles about carbohydrate counting, and could not find that term used in any of the ADA books (and in this case I am referring to books from either the American Diabetes Association or the American Dietetic Association). Finally, I confirmed this with a registered dietitian who is a certified diabetes educator and a known expert in the diabetes field, who has published numerous articles and books about diabetes and meal planning.

She stated that the term "effective carbs" is not a recognized term by the American Diabetes Association or the American Dietetic Association. It tends to appear in more "popular" (rather than medical/scientific) websites that are not scientifically based.

In essence, "effective carb" means that certain foods do not affect blood glucose, such as fiber. As explained in the related question on "subtracting fiber grams from the carb grams," the carbs from fiber are subtracted from the total amount of carbs: "If the amount of fiber is greater than 5 grams per serving, then subtract half the grams of fiber from the total carbohydrate grams to determine the total adjusted carbohydrate grams.”

Sugar alcohols are different, so please start by reading the related answer to "What is the difference between sugar and alcohol sugar?"

Below are the recommended guidelines for counting polyols (sugar alcohols), quoted from the Fall, 2008 issue of Diabetes Spectrum, as well as the updated 2008 ADA exchange list booklet called Choose Your Foods: Exchange Lists for Diabetes.

How to Fit in Foods with Polyols

• Look at the number of calories and grams of carbohydrate in 1 serving. A free food has less than 20 calories, and 5 grams or less of carbohydrate per serving. Generally, limit your free foods to 3 servings per day and spread out the servings throughout the day. If you eat all 3 servings at once, it could raise your blood glucose level.  If the food has 20 or more calories per serving, count the food choice.
• If the food contains more than 5 grams of sugar alcohols, then subtract half the grams of sugar alcohol from the total carbohydrate serving of that food, to get the new adjusted total carbohydrate grams.
• If there are several sources of carbohydrate, which includes sugar alcohols (look at the grams of total carbohydrate and grams of sugar alcohols), then subtract one-half of the grams of sugar alcohols from the total carbohydrate and count the remaining grams of carbohydrate."
  

I know this can be very confusing, so I would recommend you print this answer and take it with you to discuss with your dietitian.