quote:

Originally posted by Wino:


I believe he may have been misstating a low carb diet guideline.

In a low carb diet, "net carbs" are commonly used to keep track of carbs but still allow fiber intake.

Sugar and Fiber are both Carbs. Net Carbs (g) = Total Carbs (g) - Fiber (g)

Berries (blackberries, raspberries, etc) are good examples of fruit with low net carbs. Bananas, grapes, apples, oranges, any fruit juice are very high in net carbs.

If I understand you, "net carbs" is a concept that tells you which fruits or vegetables have a relatively higher portion of fiber in relation to the carbohydrates provided. This is so you get enough fiber without eating an excess amount of carbohydrates.

There is no way that fiber can "cancel" out carbs. If it could, I could eat all the pasta or oranges I want and "cancel" them out by eating hay. That is clearly nonsense.

There are always some interesting misconceptions that come out when you start talking about diet and nutrition. Some is caused by misunderstanding, and I think some is caused by various diet gurus pushing a "program" that they don't really understand themselves. Or maybe they understand it, but they want to sell books or videos, and don't want to overburden their customers with too much pesky detail and science.

I'd suggest the use of misleading words like "cancel" is key. It doesn't cancel, it does, however, slow sugar absorption. The net is positive.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/heal...n-depth/art-20043983 (Not some guys selling a fad diet book):

quote:

[fiber] Helps control blood sugar levels. In people with diabetes, fiber — particularly soluble fiber — can slow the absorption of sugar and help improve blood sugar levels. A healthy diet that includes insoluble fiber may also reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Fruit has a lot of fiber which effectively cancels out the sugar. I eat 5-6 servings a day of various fruits. You're fine just don't gorge or you are defeating the purpose. But if it's between eating filthy diarrhea fast food or this, eat the fruit.

This, Fruit has a 5 carbon sugar versus sugar that has a 4 carbon. Basically, it takes a lot more energy for your body to break down the fruit and digest it. So theoretically the sugar is cancelled out by the amount of energy your body burns to access the sugar in fruit. Fruit has very little calories, so eat all you want in regards to dieting.

My Mom when about 80 got to eat all the fruit she wanted, which was especially berries. She had such bad diarrhea that she ended up with a "surgical abdomen" which the surgeon thought might be cancer, removed a foot of colon, she needed a colostomy for a while.

In retrospect probably just dehydrated from the diarrhea.

So, yeah.