Fibre and Stuff....

[Aussie64]

Morning All. Spending the morning clearing through the box of seeds within my pantry, and want to introduce a small amount every couple of days. This may sound like a dumb question but, for example the Paleo mix has 1.4g of Carbs per 30gm and 5.9g of fibre, If I subtract the fibre from the carbs does that give me a negative carb effect, ditto with linseed which has 11g of fibre..... I've not had any seeds and feel in order to improve"regularity" I'd like to reintroduce.... Any input appreciated

[Sewnknit]

Oo, this is very relevant to me.

I have digestive 'issues' due to my beta blockers and the pharmacist recommended chia seeds.

They have 6g of carbs (from memory this) and 38g of fibre per 100g. Really that becomes negligible in the grand scheme of things.

I use a desert spoon ful per day, which I add some water to and some frozen berries. Bung it in the fridge and mash it all up for a pudding. I also add my portion of nuts and maybe some little bits of brie.

It seems to be working.

And drink plenty of water!

And eat spinach!

[Aussie64 in reply to Sewnknit]

I have Chia seeds cos I used to make Chia Pudding, I think they're 6gm carbs per 20gm which is enough to make a Chia pudding with Almond/Coconut milk which is 0.9gm per 250ml, I put a Tsp or two of Psyllium in it too, I haven't made it in the past 4 weeks but I am thinking I might reintroduce 2-3 times a week, especially when I'm working Night Duty, it's all so high in Fibre and my GP who is pretty cluey would rather her Pts drink Psyllium mixed with water than take Statins.....

[Sewnknit in reply to Aussie64]

Nutritional Information:

Typical Analysis per 100g:

Energy2058KJ/490Kcal

Fat31g

Of Which Saturates3g

Carbohydrates6g

Of which sugars<0.5g

Fibre38g

Protein18g

Salt0.05g

Is the info on the package. All UK foods show info per 100g as well as per portion if appropriate.

Sounds like you've struck gold with your GP!

[Aussie64 in reply to Sewnknit]

Per portion is 6gm and per 100gm is 30 odd, all Australian do same, per portion and 100gm

[Sewnknit in reply to Aussie64]

This only has per 100g - I'm in work, so took this from the Holland and Barrett website.

Wouldn't be the first time I was thrown by packaging!

hollandandbarrett.com/shop/...

[Dogpal in reply to Sewnknit]

How much water do you add to your one dessert spoon of chia? Could I use coconut milk? TIA.

[Aussie64 in reply to Dogpal]

I use coconut or almond milk, 250ml with 30gm of chia seeds and a cpl TSP of psyllium..... Mix it up and leave in fridge for few hours and it sets like a pudding

[Dogpal in reply to Aussie64]

Thank you! How many carbs is that?

[Subtle_badger in reply to Dogpal]

No!!!! We just got past that!

I wanted to make that joke, but now I have, I feel I should answer your question, courtesy of cronometer:

With almond milk: 3.8g

coconut milk: 12.1g

[Dogpal in reply to Subtle_badger]

Thank you 😉

[Sewnknit in reply to Dogpal]

I add a couple of desert spoons and swish it around. The berries thow off some liquid as well when they defrost. I'm sure you could use coconut milk so it would be more 'puddingy'. I don't drink milk so I never thought of that.

[Dogpal in reply to Sewnknit]

Thank you, the seeds certainly soak up a lot of liquid. I'm hoping this will help with constipation. X

[AnnieW55]

As far as I am aware, if the fibre content is shown on a separate line then you do not deduct it from the carbohydrate number. The numbers given are for the make up of the food in that packet.

In the USA and Canada, I believe the fibre is in with the carb figure (not shown separately) and that is why fibre is deducted to give a net carb figure for them.

[Aussie64 in reply to AnnieW55]

Now I'm confused, so the Carb figure on US packaging is added to the carb figure? If that's the case then you're not actually deducting the fibre amount from the carb amount are you, you're deducting the fibre amount from itself....

[Aussie64 in reply to Aussie64]

I meant *Fibre figure is added to carb figure?? I can't comprehend it

[AnnieW55 in reply to Aussie64]

Sorry Aussie. My first paragraph was for UK packaging and any other countries listing carbs and fibre separately. So any carbs listed are that number, no deducting fibre.

My second paragraph related to the USA & Canada only. Carbs and fiber🙂 are shown as one, hence they deduct the fiber to get net carbs.

[Aussie64 in reply to AnnieW55]

If carbs and fibre are one, does that mean that you only have carb count on packaging and not fibre separately? If that's the case then do you have to look up the fibre count elsewhere because it wouldn't be documented on said packaging.

[AnnieW55 in reply to Aussie64]

I found this Australian site which I think makes it clearer

sukrin.com.au/blogs/keto-in...

[Subtle_badger in reply to AnnieW55]

You might want to add a space before "http" 👍

[Subtle_badger in reply to Aussie64]

In Australia and Europe (and Britain 😢) the carb figure on labelling is net carbs, ie does not include fibre.

In the US, carbs is the total of fibre and non-fibre, and you have subtract fibre to get net carbs.

Not understanding that lead me to think I was eating less carbs than I was as I using US software. A dish based around red lentils had negative carbs.

[Aussie64 in reply to Subtle_badger]

Then why do they include the fibre count on the packaging if it's also included in the carb count? I'm quite bright really 😉 but it doesn't make sense. If the carb count is net carbs on Australian packaging, does that then mean that the fibre count was initially higher than stated on the documented list, or the carb count was higher or both?

[Subtle_badger in reply to Aussie64]

Dietary carbohydrates are

1) starches

2) sugars

3) fibre (soluble and insoluble)

We can't digest insoluble fibre at all, and soluble fibres are only digested by enzymes in our intestines.

How these are described on food labels is a matter of choice. The US has decided that carbohydrates should include all carbs, even the ones we can't digest - so starches, sugars and fibre. Australia and Europe decided that carbohydrates should only include the ones we can digest - so just starches and sugar.

That means if an American wants to know how much starch and sugar is in their food, they have to do subtraction, hence "net carbs".

Our food shows net carbs on the labels, so we don't have to do any maths (unless we want the total carbs for some reason, then we have to add carbs and fibre together)

Neither way is better than the other, it's just different. The problem comes from so many sites talking about low carb are American, so it can be confusing. We don't really need to think about net carbs, because that's the way our carb numbers are already presented.

(I hope this makes sense. I didn't actually understand this until today, so I have learnt something)

[Aussie64 in reply to Subtle_badger]

I understand the different types of fibre etc... But above you stated that only "starches and sugar" are deducted, so now I'm really confused... If I have for example the Paleo mix at 1.4gm of Carbs per 30gm and on a separate line it states Fibre 5.6gm and the calculation has already taken place then they must only be calculating on insoluble fibre? I think I'm just going to give up and as I buy only Australian produced products know I don't need to calculate. When looking at fresh produce though I can look at Carb content and deduct fibre? It's the seeds and nuts in packets that has me confused I think, actually I am unsure I can think at all, it's 0320 in the morning and my insomnia has been awful of late so am going with that.

[Subtle_badger in reply to Aussie64]

For any product you buy in Australia, including the Paleo Mix, the carbs on the label are the net carbs.

That's it.

(Sorry about the insomnia. 😔)

[Aussie64 in reply to Subtle_badger]

Yes Yes... I get it... Sometimes I suffer from "paralysis by analysis"

[Subtle_badger in reply to Aussie64]

I hope you finally got some sleep 😴 🛏 🌃

[ChubbieChops in reply to Aussie64]

Screen time is not going to help the insomnia!!! Turn off the screens and read a book xx

I'm the same, not the best sleeper - my sympathiezzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[ChubbieChops in reply to Subtle_badger]

oh poo!

[ChubbieChops]

I've seen that with some products - great question