Need fiber 101 info...

[email hidden] (Richard Hutnik) wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Is there a good FAQ on fiber out there? I would like to get info on
caloric intake from fiber, and other related issues involving fiber
and weight loss. I am curious, for example, why low carb marketing
tries to remove fiber from the list of carbs.

The latter is pretty simple. Though the various forms of dietary fiber are
chemically carbohydrates, because of their structure they aren't digested
or metabolized the same way as other carbohydrates. In fact, in many
countries (but not the US) the "total carbohydrates" on food labels doesn't
include fiber.

In particular, consumption of fiber, unlike sugars or starches, does not
result in the absorption of any monosaccharides (simple sugars like glucose
or fructose). In fact, it may not result in the absorption of anything at
all; all of insoluble fiber, and most of soluble fiber, simply comes out
the other end. A relatively small portion of soluble fiber is converted by
bacteria into short-chain organic acids, which do have caloric value. Some
of them are burned for fuel by the cells lining the colon; while they never
reach the bloodstream, they're still counted as calories because in their
absence, the colon-lining cells would draw an equivalent number of calories
from the bloodstream.

So I'd say that fiber, in the amounts most people consume (which are
generally considered inadequate), is a negligible source of energy intake.
Fiber in food does generally reduce its calorie density, so eating high-
fiber foods can be helpful when trying to lose weight (note that
*supplementing* with fiber while continuing to eat a calorie-dense diet
won't do this; it's actually *substitution* of fiber that has the effect).