Re: Fiber, energy and CR -- counting calories -- any new thoughts

[Guest guest]

Are there any new thoughts or research on the counting of

fiber calories since this post 2 years ago? I eat such

a huge amount of fiber that it makes the number of calories

I'm consuming per day very ambiguous, which is troublesome

to me. Thanks for any help, -Dave

>

>

> Willie,

>

> Most calorie consumption calculations subtract the grams of fiber

from

> the total grams of carbohydrate and then multiply times four to get

> the " actual " calories from carbohydrate. However, you are correct

> that the by-products of fiber metabolized by bacteria have caloric

> content. The question is how much of that is absorbed by the body

and

> how much is used by the microflora.

>

> The satiety produced by soluble fiber like guar or konjac

> (glucomannan) is probably due not only to the bulk, but also to the

> absorption of the by-products produced by colonic microflora.

>

> Microflora produce not only short-chain fatty acids, but also

> vitamins.

>

> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=mmed.section.5106

> " The intestinal microflora synthesizes vitamin K, which is a

necessary

> cofactor in the production of prothrombin and other blood clotting

> factors. Intestinal bacteria also synthesize biotin, vitamin B12,

> folic acid, and thiamine. "

>

> Tony

>

> ===

> From: " " <wmbragg@>

> Date: Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:48 pm

> Subject: Fiber, energy and CR

> Does anybody takes in mind fiber calories when counting them for CR

> purposes?

>

> Although there is ongoing debate in this area, a caloric value of

> 1.5-2 cal/gram for fiber is the currently accepted value (being the

> soluble kind the more caloric) which are absorbed from gut (mainly

> colon) once bacteria living there have metabolized it into SCFA,

such

> as acetate (used for building fats), propionate (used for

> gluconeogenic purposes) and butyrate (main food for colonocites)..

> Even then, since a fiber intake for most people these days probably

> doesn't top 25 grams/day, that's only about 35-50 calories total per

> day. A massive 100 grams of fiber/day (I easily reach values of 60-

70

> grams a day) would yield >150 kcalories, what would be significan;

> thus you may be adding about 10% more calories from those calculated

> just from fats, proteins or carbs.

>

> This turns fiber to a fourth macronutrient by its own, isn't it?!

>

> See:

>

> http://tinyurl.com/64o8l

> http://tinyurl.com/6ms9u

> http://tinyurl.com/3vwzb

> http://tinyurl.com/56q2o

> http://tinyurl.com/65sss

>

> Willie.

>