Fiber Menace: Allowed Carbs?

[Guest guest]

Thanks to whomever recommended the Fiber Menace site. It has a lot of

great information on it, but I am left wondering what, if any, carbs

the author recommends eating? He writes that he completely eliminated

fiber from his diet. Has anyone read the book? Is he on a completely

animal-based diet?

Thanks,

Barbara

[Guest guest]

I read the book a while ago. I think he was diagnosed as diabetic

which is why he went on a low-carb diet.

I'm not sure what he eats now... but here is what he recommends on his

FAQ (http://www.fibermenace.com/book/faq.html):

Q. I am confused about what I should eat?

Here is what Fiber Menace recommends for people who do not have any

prior digestive disorders:

“If your daily consumption of fiber exceeds 15 g, first identify foods

that have the highest fiber content. These are usually processed

foods, such as anything with “bran” in it, cereals, whole-wheat bread,

muffins, bagels, and the like. Ideally, you shouldn’t eat them anyway,

because nutritionally speaking, all processed foods are unwholesome,

loaded with carbs, and hard to digest.

If you aren’t inclined to make any changes in your diet, at least

replace high-fiber food with low-fiber analogues: corn flakes instead

of fiber-fortified cereals, white bread instead of whole wheat,

regular muffins instead of bran muffins, green peas instead of

lentils, pine nuts instead of peanuts, zucchini instead of broccoli,

and so on.”

That's all there is to it. I don't recommend anything radical or

extravagant. If someone tells you that I do, they aren't familiar with

my book.

If you already have some preexisting disorders, I recommend that you

follow all of the above guides and read Fiber Menace for more

background and details. The book recommends a balanced low-fiber diet,

no different from what most people eat anyway. The book may recommend

that you don’t eat wheat bread if you are allergic to gluten, or avoid

dairy if you are sensitive to lactose, or that you further reduce

fiber consumption if you have acute diverticular disease—but it's all

common sense, not “medical” advice.

Q. Where do I find the fiber content of common food? Why don't you

have this information?

There are close to 40,000 food items on supermarket shelves. By law,

each of them must have a prominent Food Facts label. And by the same

law, this label indicates exact fiber content per serving. Read the

labels—that's all you need to do to determine fiber content.

These two PDF tables, prepared by the USDA, list fiber content for

over 1,000 common foods, in alphabetical order by food and by total

fiber content per portion.

If you would like to learn the total nutrient content (i.e. water,

carbohydrates, proteins, fats, ash, vitamins, minerals, microelements)

of most popular foods even before leaving your house for the

supermarket, just visit the USDA National Nutrient Database for

Standard Reference. It’s a great resource.

[Guest guest]

I found this on another page on his site

(http://www.fibermenace.com/author/authorqa.html#eat_home

):

Q. What do you eat at home?

On the one hand, I hate this question, because, inevitably, some

people may interpret my answer onto themselves: Oh, that's great; or

oh, I can eat like that; or oh, it's too little for me; or oh, it’s

too much for me, and so on.

On the other hand, it's a great question, because answering it gives

me an opportunity to explain the principles behind our menu choices.

Once you know those principles, you can easily apply them to your own

menu.

Obviously, a detailed answer wouldn't fit into this space, so I am

planning to give it its own page. Come back soon.

Q. Do you eat out often?

Eating out without overeating is a huge challenge. It's also next to

impossible to dine out in ethnic restaurants without ingesting MSG,

gluten, excess sodium, soluble fibers, or some other junk.

Second, I avoid alcohol, because once I start, I have a hard time

stopping. So invariably I overdo it. Although I never get drunk, too

much booze in the system makes me miserable and depressed. Not good

for a writer.

Third, we are so “clean” on the inside, and for so long, that we

acutely feel additives, such as MSG. Other people, who are accustomed

to food additives, may not notice. When you do, it means unwelcomed

anxiety, sleeplessness, migraine headaches and so on. No good either.

Tatyana loves sashimi. To get really good sashimi, we have to drive

down to Manhattan. It's time-consuming and very expensive, so we don't

do it often.

Q. Where do you buy your food?

Our food shopping is more like foraging. We drive around a good half

of Northern New Jersey to gather our usual staples. We procure

Australian lamb chops at Costco in Clifton; fresh-caught fish and

vegetables at a Korean supermarket in Little Ferry (H-Mart); ground

beef, lamb necks (for stew), organic coffee, rice pasta, and organic

cat food at Whole Foods in Edgewater; home-made pickles and Alpine

butter at a Russian market in Fair Lawn; authentic Prosciutto De Parma

and half-decent mozzarella at Market Basket in lin Lakes, and so

on. We rely on local supermarkets for heavy cream, toiletries, organic

eggs, natural sour cream, French table wine, and Czech's pilsner for

Tatyana. (I don't drink beer because of gluten, and I lost my taste

for gluten-free varieties as well).

Q. Do you buy only organic food?

Yes, we prefer organic, but aren't really paranoid about it for

several reasons. First, we don't eat fresh fruits, and buy few

vegetables—mainly hydroponic tomatoes and cucumbers. Hothouse veggies

aren't exposed to herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers as much as

are conventional ones. They, in fact, may be 'cleaner' than 'organic'

varieties from open fields, because they also don't get exposed to

acid rein, air pollution, and residual soil contamination from pre-

organic era.

Second, we buy only imported (Australian, New Zealand, or Icelandic)

beef and lamb. Those meats come from free-range grazing animals, so

they’re as wholesome as domestic organic meats—and much tastier.

Costco is a great source for Australian lamb, and our local ShopRite

often has superb Australian beef. We buy only organic eggs, chicken,

and occasional ground beef at Whole Foods—or the local supermarket,

which resembles Whole Foods more and more.

We don't eat any bread or wheat products, so that's out. Sometimes

Tatyana makes a little side dish of rice pasta or mush potatoes

(organic). I am planning to blog about what we buy, cook, and eat, so

you'll be able to get a better idea. The link will be here soon.

On May 22, 2008, at 2:11 PM, Barbara wrote:

> Thanks to whomever recommended the Fiber Menace site. It has a lot of

> great information on it, but I am left wondering what, if any, carbs

> the author recommends eating? He writes that he completely eliminated

> fiber from his diet. Has anyone read the book? Is he on a completely

> animal-based diet?

>

> Thanks,