*Really* Complex Carbohydrates

Nutrition_label
I’ve blogged before about the use of fiber in dieting, and I thought I’d give an update about how I’m currently using it.

Fiber is a kind of carbohydrate, but it’s a kind of carbohydrate that I’m actually friendly to.

Carbs, y’see, come in different kinds. On the one hand, there are simple, refined carbohydrates like those you find in table sugar or white flour that are absolutely horrendous for you. These are positively EVIL and are the cause of everything from obesity to diabetes to hardened arteries to who knows what. Bad, bad stuff. They are instantly digestible, cause huge insulin spikes, and humans cannot healthily have them in anything but small quantities.

Unfortunately, they are cheap to produce and have long shelf-lives, so the food industry is pushing them at us right and left.

Then there are "complex carbohydrates," which are harder for us to digest and that correspondingly have a lower impact on your blood sugar. These are found in things like whole grains, and they are much better (or at least less horrendous) for us. Some humans can healthily have these in large amounts. Others (like myself) cannot. It depends on your own particular metabolism.

Then there are really complex carbohydrates. In other words: fiber. Dietary fiber consists of the carbohydrates in our food that we either cannot digest or cannot digest very much. They are digestion-resistant (in humans) and so do not spike our blood sugar. They’re still carbohydrates, though, and so they get listed on nutrition labels (like the one pictured here) under the heading of "Total Carbohydrates."

This is why you hear low-carb dieters talking sometimes about "net carbs." Net carbs are those carbohydrates that have significant impact on your blood sugar. The way to determine them is to take Total Carbohydrates and subtract out Dietary Fiber. Since we can’t really digest that, it won’t mess up your blood sugar. In the example above, the product would have 10 grams of net carbohydrates (13g – 3g = 10g).

You can also subtract out certain other carbohydrates that don’t have a major impact on blood sugar, such as sugar alcohols (MORE INFO HERE.)

It’s important for low-carb dieters to understand how many net carbs they’re putting into their bodies, but fiber isn’t just a good thing on low-carb diets. It’s a good thing for everybody, even people who aren’t dieting.

Fiber not only helps fill you up so that you don’t eat more (good for dieters), it also can help lower your cholesterol, stabilize your blood sugar, stimulate your immune system, prevent certain types of cancer, and (of course) keep you regular.

In other words, IT’S JUST GOOD FOR YOU, OKAY!

The problem is, with the food industry pushing all those simple, refined carbohydrates at us, the average American doesn’t get anywhere near the amount of fiber he should have. An average adult should get at least 20-35 grams of fiber a day, and most of us just don’t.

Which is where fiber supplements come in.

There are different types of fiber, and they help with different things. Consequently, the best type of fiber supplement to take is a mixed fiber supplement–one that combines several different types of fiber. HERE’S THE ONE I USE.

This is a powder, so I mix it with water and then drink it down–fast, before it has a chance to gel up. It is also available in capsules, but I don’t normally use those because you have to take a bunch of capsules to equal the amount of fiber you get in one tablespoon, and that’s inconvenient. (It’s also cheaper to use the powder, and you don’t have to worry about whether all the capsules will dissolve; if some of them break before the others, they might gel up and keep the others from dissolving).

I do not recommend the use of compressed fiber tablets because you never know if they will dissolve or how much.

A while back I started drinking a glass of water with a couple of tablespoons of fiber in the morning and one again in the afternoon, but recently I changed my practice since I found that I would often forget to have my fiber on this plan.

What I do now is have a tablespoon of fiber each time I eat–either right before eating or right afterwards. By coupling the fiber with when I eat, I don’t forget.

There’s a benefit to taking fiber right before you eat in that it will help fill you up fast so that you eat less. That’s not as much of an issue for me, though, since I don’t generally eat three full meals, the size of which varies. I usually have six or so small snacks per day of 200-400 calories each, so I’m not tempted to overeat on particular occasions due to having gone without food for a longer period of time. Consequently, I often take the fiber after eating rather than before.

I also take extra fiber if I’m eating something that is a little higher in carbs or calories since it will help slow down the absorption of the carbs and reduce my blood sugar spike or reduce the absorption of the calories.

It can be hard, though, to always mix a glass of fiber, drink it, clean the glass, etc.–particularly during the workday, so recently I adopted another solution to this problem: Sticking a spoonful of fiber directly into my mouth and then washing it down with water (or, more likely, a diet coke, remembring that "coke" means any carbonated soft-drink; I don’t actually drink Diet Coke since it has caffeine and Aspartame in it).

The thing is, I can’t do that with the mixed fiber supplement recommended above. There’s something about the texture of that which requires it to be mixed with water and then drunk down. If you put it directly into your mouth it instantly clumps up and sticks to your mouth and the result is like trying to clean your mouth with your tongue if you’ve got peanut butter stuck all over it–only worse.

This effect does not happen, though, with all kinds of fiber, and so when I do the spoon-in-the-mouth trick I use powdered PSYLLIUM HUSKS.

Psyllium is an excellent fiber. It’s the one that is used in most fiber supplements (like Metamucil). If you’re going to take an unmixed supplement, psyllium is the one to take. It’s very beneficial, and it–at least at the level it is normally ground to–does not stick to your mouth like peanut butter on steroids.

Consequently, it’s very easy to just stick a spoonful in my mouth, sip a little coke, swallow it, and then drink the rest of the coke–no having to get glasses, fill them with water, stir them up, clean them afterwards, etc.

I still use the mixed fiber supplement as well, but when I’m "on the go" and don’t have time for that, I use the psyllium (which, incidentally, is cheaper yet).

So whether your on a low-carb diet, another diet, or just want good health, I’d strongly encourage you to consider using a fiber supplement.

There are, however, a few notes:

1) You must drink fluids when you take fiber. They recommend something like 10-12 oz of water per spoonful. This is because the fiber is going to absorb water as it bulks up inside you, and if you haven’t drunk fluid along with the fiber then it’s going to start absorbing fluid that you need for other purposes, like keeping your innards lubricated. If you find yourself getting unexpectedly thirsty after taking fiber, this is a sign that you aren’t drinking enough fluid with the amount you’re taking.

2) You must ramp up the amount of fiber that you are taking. If you aren’t used to taking fiber and suddenly jump on a high dosage of it, it will cause uncomfortable bloating or cramping. You need to give your system time to get used to it. Start by taking one serving of fiber supplement a day, then when you’re used to that take two, then get used to that and take three, etc.

3) Not all fiber supplements are the same. Some manufacturers, in an effort to make the fiber more appetizing, will load it up with sugar, which makes it useless for dieting purposes. The brands I’ve linked above are pure–no sugar–but if you’re looking at other brands, be sure to read the nutrition labels and find out if they’ve got sugar in them (some versions of Metamucil are particularly bad in this regard).

4) Be sure that if you are taking medicines or nutritional supplements that you do not take them close to when you take your fiber. When the fiber bulks up, it could prevent them from being properly absorbed. Let an hour go by after taking fiber before you take medicines or nutritional supplements, and don’t take fiber quickly after the medicines or supplements, either.

5) If you’re taking fiber for weight loss, you should be aware that it will cause the illusion of temporary weight gain. The reason is that even a few grams of fiber absorb multiple ounces of fluid, and fluid has weight. This means that as you ramp up the amount of fiber you are taking, it will be carrying additional water with it through your system, so the reading on your scale will actually go up to reflect the extra water that is accompanying the fiber. This is NOT A BAD THING. The extra weight you see on the scale is NOT fat, it will go away within a day if you stop taking the fiber, but don’t do that because the fiber is doing it’s job in keeping you like you feel full, so you eat less and LOSE FAT (the purpose of dieting). The addition of fiber makes it look like you weigh more on the scale, but in reality it accellerates the amount of fat your are losing. It also is doing its other jobs like lowering cholesterol, stabilizing blood sugar, preventing heart disease, preventing certain types of cancer, etc.

MORE ON DIETARY FIBER.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

50 thoughts on “*Really* Complex Carbohydrates”

  1. Sticking a spoonful of fiber directly into my mouth and then washing it down with water …
    Sounds like what I do with creatine supplements. Nasty but effective. Those also require a lot of water, or your body will, as with fiber suplements, pull that water from somewhere you need it and you WILL strain muscles.
    As for fiber, my wife prefers these: http://fiberchoice.com/products/plus_calcium.asp
    They’re sugar-free and have zero net carbs. And they don’t taste too bad either.

  2. The topic and tone of this space must have changed.I thought it had to do with ,well, sort of theology but now it appears o be “Cooking with Jimmy”…my computer does act up from time to time..too much fiber maybe.

  3. Prunes are high fiber, but also very high sugar content. My bran muffins, on the other hand, washed down by coffee, now that’s yummy and doesn’t stick to the roof of your mouth!
    I was stunned when I started looking at labels for the fiber products. Some have very high sugars, and, at the same time, only a few grams of fiber. I was disgusted. Really expensive sugar is what it amounted to.
    Jimmy, I like your ‘fiber on the go’. 🙂
    it is actually hard to get the 30 g of fiber with just your diet, since fiber content of any food is non intuitive. I used to follow the ‘5 servings of fruit and veggies’ rule, till I got a book of food counts only to find out the veggies I was choosing were very low fiber. A peanut butter sandwich on ww bread was dramatically higher. Almond butter is even higher. Of course, those of you on a low carb diet won’t want a pbj, but it’s good to know for keeping the kids regular!

  4. I mix it with water and then drink it down–fast, before it has a chance to gel up
    I mix the powdered psyllium with skim milk, and a little bit of honey, and whip it into a shake with an electric wisk.
    I’ve also mixed it into yogurt and/or hot cereal.
    The product that I use is called Intestinal Tone, from Life Force International. They produce a myriad of health products. Their main product is a nutritional supplement called Body Balance. In fact, Cardinal Bevilacqua uses Body Balance. The company is based in Chula Vista, CA.

  5. The topic and tone of this space must have changed.I thought it had to do with ,well, sort of theology but now it appears o be “Cooking with Jimmy”…

    Check the list of categories in the left column. “Diet” is there, along with categories such as Art, Current Affairs, Fiction, Films & TV, Music, News Media, Science, Travels… Jimmy has a wide range of interests and blogs on many of them.

  6. Shredded Wheat, all-bran cereals, and pulses (beans and lentils) are all excellent sources of fiber…

  7. As a Midwesterner, I just can’t get behind the use of the word coke to mean any soda. Then again, people here say pop, so who am I to talk?

  8. I’m probably nit-picking…but… please note: eating large amounts of processed carbs and sugar contribute to type 2 (or adult-onset)diabetes; not ALL diabetes!! I have type 1 (or juvenile diabetes), and lots of people think I could have prevented getting it. Other than that: great post!! Up with FIBER, Down with PROCESSED!!

  9. I would advise against the spoonfull in the mouth and wash it down technique – very bad. The manufacturer would scream if they saw you recommending this.

  10. I’m probably nit-picking…but… please note: eating large amounts of processed carbs and sugar contribute to type 2 (or adult-onset)diabetes; not ALL diabetes!! I have type 1 (or juvenile diabetes), and lots of people think I could have prevented getting it.
    Indeed. Very good point, Catherine! As Dr. Atkins points out in one of his books, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are really *two separate conditions* that only share a common name because of their similar effects.
    In reality, “type 1 diabetes” is an auto-immune condition that is independent of diet. (Meaning, you don’t get it because of what you eat or don’t eat; you just get it.)
    “Type 2 diabetes” is the one I was referring to. It’s not an auto-immune condition but one that is heavily dependent on diet. People frequently can avoid getting this one by modifying their diets. Anyone who is obese needs to watch out for type 2 diabetes, as obesity frequently leads to it.

  11. Jimmy,
    I know you are using hyperbole when you say “carbs are evil”, but I still have to wonder how that can be said even in jest when Our Lord chose to use carbs as the matter the Blessed Sacrament.

  12. Jimmy,
    For us following your dietary shift, it’s been a while since we’ve seen any pictures of you.
    So, if you don’t mind, and if you have time, it’d be really cool to see some updates. It’d also save me the multi-day road trip of having to drive to El Cajon to see ya.

  13. I know you are using hyperbole when you say “carbs are evil”, but I still have to wonder how that can be said even in jest when Our Lord chose to use carbs as the matter the Blessed Sacrament.
    I have sympathy for this line of reasoning, but it is scrupulous. By this logic one could never tell a joke about wine, either.
    Bread and wine are culturally common foodstuffs (why Jesus picked them) and as a result they can be treated in a common fashion.
    We don’t have to think about the Eucharist every time we eat a piece of bread. We don’t have to think about it every time we tell a joke about carbs.
    To think “Eucharist” every time we encounter bread or wine would induce a scrupulous state of mind that Christ never intended.

  14. “I would advise against the spoonfull in the mouth and wash it down technique – very bad. The manufacturer would scream if they saw you recommending this.”
    I don’t think Jimmy was actually recommending doing it this way… he just said that’s how HE did it sometimes.
    My wife and I got married having known each other for only 3 months. It worked great for us, but that doesn’t mean I would recommend it to others!
    Personally, I get my fiber by chewing on pencils. The Eberhard-Faber #2 is a classic, but I also go for more exotic flavors like Derwent or Staedtler. This also discourages people from “borrowing” my art pencils.

  15. I’d be afraid of it bulking up in the throat…am I over worrying here?
    I haven’t had a problem with this. I get it washed down before the bulking up happens.

  16. Greetings,
    anyone suggest any name brand fiber supplements. I have seen Benefiber, and it looks very user frienly.
    Also, any websites listing food and their fiber/carbohydrate contents?
    peace

  17. Jimmy,
    I don’t think it is scrupulous. I’m serious. I don’t think Our Lord would institute the Eucharist using something that was inherently bad for us. I can see exceptions in individual cases such as gluten intolerance that would cause problems. But that would be due to something being out of kilter (illness, etc) within the person, not with the matter of the sacrament.
    Could it be that carbs (i.e. bread, etc) are not bad for people? It wasn’t that long ago that nutritionists were telling us how horrible butter was…

  18. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t eat carbs…they are not inherently bad for you. Your body does need some carbs and sometimes bread is a good way to get that. As with all foods today they are mostly over processed, and you can be sure that is not how they were in the past. And the comment about the eucharist is not relevant. That type of ‘bread’ was common before yeast was widely used and it was more of a cracker. Considering that the ancients didn’t have the abundance of food that we have today they really needed the energy boost that those breads gave them because they weren’t eating as much food. That doesn’t mean that their diet was ‘good’ for them. I am sure that in most cases their diet was a subsistance diet.
    All things in moderation.
    HEY JIMMY, SOY MILK IS REALLY BAD FOR YOU AND JUDGING BY YOUR FRIDGE PICKS YOU ARE EATING WAY TO MUCH SOY! ; – ) just in case you didn’t get that the first three times.

  19. I second, Daved B.’s question from above:
    What kind of diet “coke” does Jimmy drink? no caffeine and no aspertame?

  20. rsps: Why is soy milk so bad for someone?
    Jimmy: What about inulin fiber v. psyllium fiber? There are brands out there like Fiber Sure (a Metamucil product) that uses inulin fiber because it doesn’t add flavor & is non-thikening & it’s 100% vegetable fiber from chicory root. I know you use the thickening aspect of fiber to your advantage in weight loss, but what about those of us who are only a few pounds overweight & don’t have to worry too much about that?

  21. HEY JIMMY, SOY MILK IS REALLY BAD FOR YOU AND JUDGING BY YOUR FRIDGE PICKS YOU ARE EATING WAY TO MUCH SOY! ; – ) just in case you didn’t get that the first three times.
    Forgive me, but the multiple attempts to get me to eat less soy are overly intrusive.
    One cannot judge from the photo I posted how much soy I consume. One needs to bear in mind
    (1) that I specifically said that I prefer the Calorie Coundown produts (made from cow milk) and use soy milk *when I cannot get them*; one can also infer
    (2) that there is far more milk in the fridge than a single guy is likely to keep on hand and *therefore* that I bought some of the milk (including the soy milk) in order to do the blog post; I do not normally have two cartons of soy milk in my fridge, and, though you couldn’t guess it,
    (3) the tofu that is next to the milk cartons is a supply that will last me for *months.* I buy in bulk because I can’t always get the kind I want.
    So thank you for your concern, but this is being overly intrusive.
    Why is soy milk so bad for someone?
    Nix on that. We are not going to have a soy war in this combox. Check Wikipedia’s page on soy if you’d like to see that *claims* made against it. Bear in mind that, as with every health scare, there is likely to be another side of the story.

  22. iClaudius…
    Bread generally isn’t bad for you…as Jimmy points out, some folks are more prone to the negative effects of SOME carbs, but others, based on their individual metabolisms, may consume carbs without the same risks…
    I assume Jimmy would differentiate white breads made with processed flours and sugars, from whole grain flours and natural sugars like honey, etc…the folks making bread in the times of Jesus probably didn’t have the means to produce much other than whole grain, rather coarsely ground flours, and certainly weren’t incorporating processed sugars into their bread recipes either…just healthy, unlevened cracker-like morsels.
    Lastly, the portion of individual Eucharistic bread consumed is not overly gratuitous anyway, so it’s not like Jesus has us consuming cartons of Snicker Bars and cases of Mountain Dew as his body and blood…he’s has us using basic healthy staples in moderate healthy serving sizes…just like we might expect him to…all things in moderation…
    Peace,
    John

  23. What kind of diet “coke” does Jimmy drink? no caffeine and no aspertame?
    I’ll do a post on this soon.

  24. Jimmy,
    Keep doing the ‘diet’ posts! This will undoubtedly help those of us who are aiming to shed some unwanted pounds (that came about due to the previous Thanksgiving feast) during the Christmas break!

  25. …it’s not like Jesus has us consuming cartons of Snicker Bars and cases of Mountain Dew as his body and blood…
    Sounds like the type of Eucharist a junk food junkie would die for!

  26. Regarding “pop” vs. “soda” vs. “coke”:
    Jimmy, paul f, et al: Ya needs ta read this:
    http://www.popvssoda.com
    Looking at the map in the above site, we see that “pop” (short for “soda pop”) is predominant in suburban to rural areas, whereas “soda” (incorrect use of the adjective as a noun, and quite effeminate sounding, to boot) predominates in more urban areas. Or in other words … “soda” (again, the incorrect term) is more common in areas that voted for John Kerry in 2004.
    “Coke” is a bit of an anomoly, but since it’s more of a Texas thang (Texas being cool) and since it’s kind of akin to saying “Kleenex” instead of … what, “facial tissue” or whatever (also kinda effeminate-sounding though not as bad as “THOH-DAH”), I think we can overlook that.
    And, lest we forget the scientific conclusion of the above cited study:
    People who say “Pop” are much, much cooler.
    I HAVE SPOKEN!!!

  27. Dude, call it a carbonated beverage, a soft drink, magical, crazy, tickly bubble-water, for all I care.
    JUST DON’T CALL IT “THOW-DAH!”
    Yeesh!

  28. Kowalski, But…but…but… where would I get my MDR (minimum daily requirement) of the humor that shows up in these comments?
    It doesn’t even have to be universally funny, just enough to hit me the right way.
    Jimmy, sometimes I try to guess what the food is just from the nutrition label. This one stumped me. If it’s the fiber supplement, I have to agree with some of the others and stick with food fiber: legumes and whole grins.

  29. Wait, so it is cooler to order a whiskey & pop then to order a whiskey & soda?
    I guess I will have to drink both and then decide.
    Take care and God bless,
    Inocencio
    J+M+J

  30. Just eat “Go Lean” cereal every morning and you’ll get all the fiber you’ll need!!! Get the original, not the Crunch!

  31. Just eat “Go Lean” cereal every morning and you’ll get all the fiber you’ll need!!! Get the original, not the Crunch!
    What about those commercials that say you’ll need to consume 5 boxes of a certain cereal in order to get all the fiber you’ll need! ;^)

  32. Esau! No fair with stuff that I have to look up. No speaken de Deutsch. I suppose I could have used the standard phrase Recommended Daily Allowance, but wanted to get the idea of “minimum” in. Can you tell I’m beginning to bounce a little off the walls?

  33. Actually, Mary Kay, I got it from the following:
    ****** MDR Minimum Daily Requirement (Diet & Nutrition)
    ****** MDR Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (German Radio and TV Station)
    ****** MDR Marina del Rey (Southern California)
    ****** MDR Mouvement Démocratique Républicain (Democratic Republican Movement, Rwanda)
    ****** MDR Memory Data Register
    ****** MDR Mort de Rire (French: Died of Laughing)
    ****** MDR Multi Drug Resistance (of a disease; medical)
    ****** MDR Medical Device Reporting
    ****** MDR Monatsschrift für Deutsches Recht (German magazine)
    ***** MDR Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction
    **** MDR Medium Data Rate
    **** MDR Market Data Retrieval
    **** MDR Meta Data Repository
    **** MDR Militaire du Rang (all grades under sergeant in the French army)
    **** MDR Mini-Disc Recordable

  34. A little off topic and more having to do with the Nutrition Facts label itself, wasn’t that a Clinton invention? If I am not mistaken it was put into place around 1994-95. Didn’t republicans deride it as something that was going to make food more expensive because of the extra regulation and reporting? Seems like it was one of those rare things the Democratic Center for Health and Human Services was right on.

  35. Awhile back when you suggested Yerba Prima I went out and tried it. Nearly a year later, I take it every evening before dinner–not straight in the mouth though (but my wife would probably appreciate this, since the crusty glasses gross her out; so on behalf of her I say, “thanks Jimmy.”
    I don’t do super low carb but I do the six meals a day with 1 serving of carb and protein respectively–along with a glass or two of water. After years gorging for dinner and finding it nearly impossible to control my cravings, I have found this routine to be flexible, effective, and do-able for the rest of my life.

  36. Brownberry makes a whole wheat Double Fiber bread that has 5 gms a slice and doesn’t taste like cardboard. That and a tablespoon of Benefiber in each cup of tea I drink pretty much covers me in the fiber department.

  37. I was taking a Tbsp per day of psyllium husks as Dr. Atkins recommended.
    Lately though I’ve been trying a homemade concoction of 1 Tbsp psyllium, 1 Tbsp ground flax seed and 1 Tbsp wheat bran. I mix it with water and down it as fast as I can, followed by more water.

  38. Kashi is full of soy, fyi, in case you’re soy sensitive LIKE I AM! I avoid it. Which put’s me back to the legumes and, of course, bran muffins. I can’t seem to make brown rice taste good. Anybody out there know how to do it? I’m thinking of trying it again to replace the white, but that and ww pasta I just can’t learn to like.

  39. Jared,
    Any word that starts with an “S” has to be pronounced effeminately with a lisp? Do I understand you correctly? Be careful not to have any THAND-WICHES!
    Also, Soda’s a noun.

  40. Lotsa great diet adv\vice, Jimmy. How much have ya lost and how long you been dieting?
    Happy losing!

  41. “We are not going to have a soy war in this combox.”
    Sorry, Jimmy – I wasn’t trying to start a combox war. I’m of the opinion that most things are OK in moderation.
    Anyway, thanks for the info on carbos & fiber. It’s fascinating stuff!

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