Carbs in animal foods

[Satya]

These numbers come from the Atkins book Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution and are in grams of digestible carbohydrates.

calf liver 6 oz - 10.4 g
oysters 6 oz - 12.5 g
clams 6 oz - 8.7 g
mussels 6 oz - 8.4 g
squid 6 oz - 7.0 g
scallops 6 oz - 3.9 g
lobster 6 oz - 2.2 g

The liver is understandable, as that is where glycogen is stored.  Why so many carbs in shellfish?  Any ideas?

[RawZi]

From Wikipedia, this

Cellulose and chitin are examples of structural polysaccharides. Cellulose is used in the cell walls of plants and other organisms, and is claimed to be the most abundant organic molecule on earth.[4] It has many uses such as a significant role in the paper and textile industries, and is used as a feedstock for the production of rayon (via the viscose process), cellulose acetate, celluloid, and nitrocellulose. Chitin's structure has a similar structure, but has nitrogen containing side branches, increasing its strength. It is found in arthropod exoskeletons and in the cell walls of some fungi. It also has multiple uses, including surgical threads.

    Atkins is a cooked diet.  Cook cartilage and shells, and you might be able to digest their carbohydrates.  Eat them raw?  Maybe not.

[Satya]

From Wikipedia, this
    Atkins is a cooked diet.  Cook cartilage and shells, and you might be able to digest their carbohydrates.  Eat them raw?  Maybe not.

It just happens to be the book I was looking at for carb values.  Atkins can be done raw or cooked or some of each.  Many raw foods have digestible carbs.  I doubt many people eat the shells of shellfish, so the carbs considered are from eating the flesh.  However, I did find an online source that claims one cup of raw oysters has 8 grams of carbs, which is less than the other quote.  So perhaps that does factor in.  I hadn't thought of looking at raw v. cooked when considering carbs; thanks for bringing it up.

[Guittarman03]

www.nutritiondata.com seems like a good website where you can look up all sorts of foods.  They even distinguish between cooked and raw versions of the same food.

[rafonly]

unlike egg yolk, honey, fruits...

shellfish, finfish, all land meat from quadrupeds has no sugars -- mono- or disaccharides -- included its carbs