Bloom
Thu, Apr-04-02, 23:11
I wrote to the food administration for NZ and Ausi last week asking them about the fibre business for us folks down under .
Thought you may be interested in his reply much of which was not a suprise, but I did find out what I wanted to know.
Sent: Friday, 29 March 2002 20:53
To: Information Officer
Subject: Question about Fibre
Hi,
I am a New Zealander and am hoping you can clear up my
confusion.
I am on a low carb way of eating and have been told I
can eat high fibre carb foods such as crude bran and ground linseed and subtract all the fibre leaving me with a very low carb product.
This would also dispel many of the calories too of
course?
This is supposedly because the fibre is not digested.
I wonder if the fibre is included in the carb grams to
begin with or whether it is counted separately?
It is an American website that is quoting their food
info that has told me this and I'm not sure if there food labels are
like ours.
It seems to be too good to be true and I am hoping you
can enlighten me.
There are other Australians and New Zealanders at this
website subtracting fibre but I am being very cautious.
Hoping you can clarify this for me and I can pass it on.
I have searched the net and you seem to have the answer
but its not clear enough for me in layman's terms
yours sincerely
Jenny Honeycombe
........................................................................................................
Dear Jenny
Firstly, I am not sure why you are on a low carb eating
plan but I would not advocate this is a healthy eating plan. Whilst low
carbohydrate diets can be successful in helping people to loose weight
this will only occur if the total calories you are consuming is less
than what you are using up. For example: the zone diet which advocates
a 30/30/40 eating plan does not help clients to lose weight because of a
reduction in carbohydrates it does because of a reduction in calories.
In the zone diet you are required to eat 1.8g/ -2.2g of protein per
kilogram of bodyweight. When you calculate the percentage of energy
from the other nutrients what you get is basically a low calorie diet.
Example: 60 kg person
Protein 2g/kg 102grams at 4 calories per gram equals 408
calories If this is 30% of energy intake you are talking about a 1100
calories per day diet (very low).
There are numerous reasons why these diets are not
recommended which include :
-protein foods are often high in fat and saturated fat
and can increase blood cholesterol levels if consumed in high amounts;
-it is too difficult to sustain a low carb eating plan
for a sustained period;
-too few carbohydrates will see the body develop ketones
which cause bad breath and can make a person feel lethargic;
-large amounts of protein can place stress on the
kidneys as the body basically oxidises excess protein not used for
growth and repair of tissue.
You are correct that in the calculation of carbohydrate in grams, fibre is not included. However fibre does yield energy through microbiological fermentation in the large colon which produces short chain fatty acids that are absorbed into the body.
Fibre yields 8kJ/g energy as opposed to 17kJ/g energy for carbohydrate.
Therefore whilst fibre would not be included in the carbohydrate grams the energy would be included in the total energy of the food.
High fibre foods are advocated as important component of maintaining a healthy diet and I would encourage you to consume these foods. They make you feel satisfied and generally high fibre foods are low in fat, rich in vitamins and minerals. High fibre diets have been shown to protect against numerous diseases including cancer of the bowel etc.
If you would like to discuss the issue of low carb diets further please don't hesitate to phone me on (02) 6271 2687.
Yours sincerely
Andrew McCormack
Nutritionist
ANZFA
Thought you may be interested in his reply much of which was not a suprise, but I did find out what I wanted to know.
Sent: Friday, 29 March 2002 20:53
To: Information Officer
Subject: Question about Fibre
Hi,
I am a New Zealander and am hoping you can clear up my
confusion.
I am on a low carb way of eating and have been told I
can eat high fibre carb foods such as crude bran and ground linseed and subtract all the fibre leaving me with a very low carb product.
This would also dispel many of the calories too of
course?
This is supposedly because the fibre is not digested.
I wonder if the fibre is included in the carb grams to
begin with or whether it is counted separately?
It is an American website that is quoting their food
info that has told me this and I'm not sure if there food labels are
like ours.
It seems to be too good to be true and I am hoping you
can enlighten me.
There are other Australians and New Zealanders at this
website subtracting fibre but I am being very cautious.
Hoping you can clarify this for me and I can pass it on.
I have searched the net and you seem to have the answer
but its not clear enough for me in layman's terms
yours sincerely
Jenny Honeycombe
........................................................................................................
Dear Jenny
Firstly, I am not sure why you are on a low carb eating
plan but I would not advocate this is a healthy eating plan. Whilst low
carbohydrate diets can be successful in helping people to loose weight
this will only occur if the total calories you are consuming is less
than what you are using up. For example: the zone diet which advocates
a 30/30/40 eating plan does not help clients to lose weight because of a
reduction in carbohydrates it does because of a reduction in calories.
In the zone diet you are required to eat 1.8g/ -2.2g of protein per
kilogram of bodyweight. When you calculate the percentage of energy
from the other nutrients what you get is basically a low calorie diet.
Example: 60 kg person
Protein 2g/kg 102grams at 4 calories per gram equals 408
calories If this is 30% of energy intake you are talking about a 1100
calories per day diet (very low).
There are numerous reasons why these diets are not
recommended which include :
-protein foods are often high in fat and saturated fat
and can increase blood cholesterol levels if consumed in high amounts;
-it is too difficult to sustain a low carb eating plan
for a sustained period;
-too few carbohydrates will see the body develop ketones
which cause bad breath and can make a person feel lethargic;
-large amounts of protein can place stress on the
kidneys as the body basically oxidises excess protein not used for
growth and repair of tissue.
You are correct that in the calculation of carbohydrate in grams, fibre is not included. However fibre does yield energy through microbiological fermentation in the large colon which produces short chain fatty acids that are absorbed into the body.
Fibre yields 8kJ/g energy as opposed to 17kJ/g energy for carbohydrate.
Therefore whilst fibre would not be included in the carbohydrate grams the energy would be included in the total energy of the food.
High fibre foods are advocated as important component of maintaining a healthy diet and I would encourage you to consume these foods. They make you feel satisfied and generally high fibre foods are low in fat, rich in vitamins and minerals. High fibre diets have been shown to protect against numerous diseases including cancer of the bowel etc.
If you would like to discuss the issue of low carb diets further please don't hesitate to phone me on (02) 6271 2687.
Yours sincerely
Andrew McCormack
Nutritionist
ANZFA