I am on induction and not subtracting fiber. Is this going to make it hard for me in the long run? Should I really subtract fiber?
For ex, when I get to OWL, I was wanting to try some new foods. Some foods are lower in carbs with the fiber subtracted. But if I dont subtract fiber, I may never get to have certain foods.
I hope I made sense.
I just cant decide whether or not to subtract fiber. I fear that if I subtract it, I may be eating too many carbs.
What's your opinion?

it's ok to subtract the fiber, because fiber is inert to your blood chemistry. Think of them as "empty carbs"

I did induction without subtracting the fiber (I didn't know I was allowed to), and boy was that tough! I thought I was going to get ill if I looked at another egg! But now that I'm on OWL, and subtracting the fiber, I have a lot more variety in my diet. It does make it easier to stay on this WOL, I think.

I vote for substracting fiber also. Fiber is not digestable, so its main purpose (in my diet) is to bulk things up a bit.

I've now read in a few places that when you measure calories you deduct insoluble fibre completely. Some commentators rate soluble fiibre at at half the calories of carbohydrate.

Thus Fat is 9 cal per g
Proten and Carbs 4 cal per g
Insoluble Fibre is 2 cal per g

I still think that for Atkins which really measures the effect of food on insulin production you could deduct all the fibre but if you want to be cautious, deduct all the insoluble fibre and half the insoluble. That way you can live and be safely within limits.

I hope this helps

Ferrando
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The long footote:

This from the USDA.

Find it at:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodco...tm#Introduction

Food energy is expressed in kilocalories (kcal) and kilojoules (kJ). One kcal equals 4.184 kJ. The data are for physiological energy, which is the energy value remaining after losses from digestion and metabolism are deducted from gross energy. Calorie values, with the exception of formulated foods, are based on the Atwater system for determining energy values. Derivation of the Atwater calorie factors is outlined in Agriculture Handbook 74 (Merrill and Watt 1973). For formulated foods, calorie values (source codes 8 or 9; for more information on source codes, see page ) generally reflect industry practices (as permitted by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act) of calculating calories from 4–4–9 kcal/g of protein, carbohydrate, and fat, respectively, or from 4–4–9 kcal/g of protein, carbohydrate minus insoluble fiber, and fat. The latter method is frequently used for high-fiber foods.

Our beloved administrator Doreen explained the subtraction of fibre brilliantly in another thread, so I'll just "borrow" it.



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I've wondered if there may not be another dynamic to fibre.

Fibre absorbs a lot of liquid, that liqud may be water, sugar and water, fat or some combination. What happens to the calories or the carb, fat, or even protein values for the molecules that get into fibre?

The fibre, full of moisture, passes through us does it carry away some of what we have eaten and enjoyed. If it does is there any way to measure it?

The other dynamic of fibre that has been promoted under calorie diets is that there are certain foods like celery that, because of fibre I think, actually use more energy being broken down in the digestive system and excreted than the food actually gives you. This used to be promoted as food with "negative calories." I wonder how this effect impacts on LC?

For practical purposes, I think deducting fibre is a safe bet, but there may be another hidden benefit (besides colon health etc.) to keeping a reasonable fibre content in our foods.

Have there been any in depth discussions and threads on this subject? Or if anyone has some information on it please share.

Ferrando