Get smart about fiber in your diet

Dana Carpender, United Feature Syndicate

Mar. 17, 2004 12:00 AM

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarep...7lowcarb17.html

A common criticism of low-carbohydrate diets is that they're low in fiber. Actually, many low-carbohydrate dieters eat more fiber than they did previously, not less.

In the past, it's true, low-carbohydrate dieters avoided fiber. Fiber is included in the "total carbohydrate grams" number on food labels and in food-count books.

However, Michael and Mary Dan Eades, authors of Protein Power (Bantam, 1996), realized that fiber, though technically a carbohydrate, is one humans don't absorb. Therefore, they reasoned, we could subtract the grams of fiber from the total grams of carbohydrate to find what they called the "effective carb count" - the grams of carbohydrate that would be absorbed, raising blood sugar and releasing insulin.

The effective-carb count idea caught on in a hurry, and no wonder: It dramatically expanded the options available on a low-carbohydrate diet. It allowed foods that had been forbidden before, as well as increased portions of many foods that had been limited.

Here's an example. A half-cup of chopped broccoli contains 5 grams of carbohydrate. A dieter on Atkins Induction (one of the strictest low-carb diets) is limited to just 20 grams of carbohydrate per day, which means that she can have 2 cups of broccoli per day. However, 2.75 grams of those 5 grams are fiber. Thus, there are only 2.25 grams of carbohydrate in that broccoli that we need to be concerned about. Suddenly, our dieter can have 4.4 cups of broccoli.

Subtracting fiber means that many fruits also can fit into a low-carbohydrate diet. For example, a half-cup of fresh raspberries has about 7 grams of carbohydrate - not bad, but a little high for the strictest diets. However, 4 grams of that are fiber, leaving us with just 3 grams.

Nuts and seeds are among the best low-carbohydrate foods. In many, fiber accounts for more than half the carbohydrates. One ounce of pecans has 4 grams of carbohydrates, but 3 of those grams are fiber, leaving just 1 gram to worry about.

Therefore, the effective-carb concept (also referred to as "net carbs," "impact carbs" or "usable carbs") dramatically increases our intake of vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. This approach not only makes a low-carb diet far more varied and livable, but also dramatically increases intake of vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and other plant nutrients. Fiber also slows the absorption of the carbohydrates you can digest, making them easier on your body.

One thing to watch: Food-label laws vary, and many nations do not include fiber grams in the total of carbohydrate grams listed on labels.

My other worry is that the growing low-carb food business has latched onto this concept and started to expand it in ways that I'm not sure are valid. To reduce that all-important "net carbs" number, they're subtracting carbohydrates that may be modest in their blood sugar impact but are digested and absorbed to some degree.

Dana Carpender is the author of 500 Low-Carb Recipes. Reach her through her Web site, holdthetoast.com.