June 26, 2006
Meal Planning, Food and Diet
Question from Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA:
I’ve seen two ways to count fiber in two separate American Diabetes Association publications. I have been subtracting fiber if an individual food has more than five grams, which seems to be the most widely accepted practice. However, in a recent ADA book (I don’t have the name handy), it indicates that it is okay to subtract the total amount of fiber from all foods being eaten at a meal from the total carbohydrates. So, let’s say none of the foods have more than five grams individually, but as a whole, the meal has 12 grams of fiber. They say it’s okay to subtract the 12 grams from the total carbohydrate grams. It seems like this would make quite a difference doing it this way.
Answer:
I don’t think it makes as much of a difference either way you account for the fiber as much as that you do count it. I teach that you can subtract the fiber content from the total carbohydrate if the fiber content PER SERVING is five or more grams, but I can see the second point as also being valid (combining the fiber content of many foods at the same meal and subtracting from total carbohydrates). Either way, the fiber content of food slows down the absorption of carbohydrate and can benefit blood sugars either way. Current nutrition teaching reinforces increased fiber in meal planning for this very purpose.
JMS
