Half And Half Or Not?
 

Hi all...I'm in induction and have a HALF and HALF question. Cream is on the acceptable foods list, but half and half is not. However, under the FAQs on the Atkins website, they have this answer for another dairy question:

"Can I drink milk in Induction?

Milk is too high in carbs to include in Induction. Instead, dilute cream or half-and-half with water or use soymilk or other low-carb dairy alternatives. Check the Nutrition Facts panel and Ingredients list on the package to ensure they have no added sugar and that an 8-ounce serving contains no more than 3 grams of Net Carbs."

Does this mean half and half is OK? I use it on work days because that's all that's available at the place where I buy my coffee. I count 1 net carb for 3 tablespoons. (1tbsp is 0 net carbs) If it is acceptable, do I not count the carbs toward my total?

What would you guys do? Thoughts? Many thanks!

I don't use half and half because it's half cream, half milk (and the milk is high in carbs). Even though I LOVE heavy cream in my coffee, I skip it if its not available. Be aware that there are carbs in the half-and-half -- there's just less than 1 gram per serving (and so the manufacturers don't have to put it on the label. It doesn't make sense that 3 TB would be 1 carb, though, b/c heavy cream has more carbs than that). Of course, if you're only using a little (1 or 2 TBS/day), it probably won't hurt anything.

If you're a regular customer, would the coffee place be willing to offer heavy cream? Do you have a fridge at work where you could store your own pint of it? (That's what I do).

If you look at the actual nutritional info for half and half, you'll see it has a fair number more carbs than you think: See Calorie King, for instance

It's just that US food labeling laws allow companies to round up or down rather than give exact numbers. So your 3T should be 2.1 carbs, if you go by what that info I linked to says.

That being said... You know the reasoning behind preferring heavy cream to half and half (higher carb). The higher carb comes from higher dairy sugars (natural) in the fluid. Soooo if you're going to be strict Induction then no, you should find a way to use heavy cream. We're supposed to be getting our sugar intake down as low as it can go while still getting our vegetables. Now, in practice, will that 1g of sugar make that much of a difference? Probably not. Try using the half and half for a while, and if you have trouble losing, maybe dairy sugars affect you. Only way to know is by trying.

Thanks to you both...I am a regular so I will ask them that -- thanks for the suggestion! If all else fails, I will count 3TBSP as 2 net carbs and call it a day...I am being on point with everything else so this shouldn't be a big issue. As you said...I will know if it is a problem soon enought. Here's a dancing carrot for good measure; he's so cute! :carrot:

Your welcome :-) And I LOVE the dancing carrot. He sums up my "yay! it's Friday" mood perfectly.

Is there still dancing broccoli? I remember dancing broccoli...

:broc:

Yep! Found him! :D Dancing broccoli is more Atkins-friendly :lol:

Ha ha! I hadn't seen Mr. Broccoli. He's way cuter than Mr. Carrot. OMG! Just took a look...there's a whole world of moving and shaking things over here. Getting ready for Thanksgiving:

:thanks2: