Benefiber

[Axel Slinger]

I read in a book (I forget which one) that Carbs from Fiber are not digested or absorbed as glucose thus will not raise your blood glucose level, so you can subtract the number of grams of Fiber from the total grams of Carbs. So I was wondering if you add Benefiber to food, effectively raising it's Fiber total, would that add to the number of grams of Fiber you can subtract from the total Carbs?

For example, let's say you have a bowl of soup which has 20g of Carbs and 1g of Fiber, you can subtract that 1g of Fiber from the 20g of Carbs and end up with a total of 19g. And by adding an additional 9g of Fiber in the form of Benefiber, making a total of 10g of Fiber, will that effectively give you a total of 10g of Carbs?

Or even better yet, in the interest of the ever elusive "Free Lunch", will adding 19g of Fiber to the soup make it have a total of 0g Carbs?

I know I'm probably dreaming here, so if I'm wrong please wake me gently... :D

[Jill-O]

No, it won't work that way. It will add fiber, but won't come off the carb count of what you're adding it to. I wish it worked that way!!!

[Evermont]

...So I was wondering if you add Benefiber to food, effectively raising it's Fiber total, would that add to the number of grams of Fiber you can subtract from the total Carbs?...

I think what's going on is this: Your soup label says 20g of carb, of which 1g is fiber (fiber being technically carbs, just not the kind that affect BG). So your soup had 19 grams of carbs that matter and 1 gram of carbs that don't matter (for BG).

If you add 19g of fiber then you have 39g of carbs. Still the original 19g that would affect BG, and 1g + 19g of fiber that don't affect BG.

Fiber doesn't erase carbs, it's just adds carbs that don't count.

[xMenace]

If you can get this to work, you'll become very very rich!

[DCaplinger]

Having said all that, you'd also have to take into consideration that by adding the extra fiber, the speed at which the effective carbs that are in the food will be absorbed is slowed significantly. That's another benefit of fiber, it slows down the digestion of fats and sugars.

You also have to remember that protein and fat offset carbohydrates as well. Eating a full can of soup with 60 grams of carbs may actually cause you to go hypo, because the protein and fat content can offset almost the entire amount of carbs. I eat soup for lunch almost daily, and have to be careful because of this problem. In fact, I fell from 220 to 64 yesterday after eating a full can of soup, sugar free pudding and a diet soda for lunch. The soup, had 56 grams of carbs, however the protein and fat content erased the entire amount of carbs, and I didn't notice it until it was too late.

Regards,

[mzteacher]

hi axel....i don't know...but i like the way you think!!!!
susan

[RobiJo]

I don't tend to subtract fiber unless it is over 5g.

Though adding some benefiber (or other fiber product) to your food, may help you fell more full and help you eat less of it!

[xMenace]

You also have to remember that protein and fat offset carbohydrates as well. Eating a full can of soup with 60 grams of carbs may actually cause you to go hypo, because the protein and fat content can offset almost the entire amount of carbs. I eat soup for lunch almost daily, and have to be careful because of this problem. In fact, I fell from 220 to 64 yesterday after eating a full can of soup, sugar free pudding and a diet soda for lunch. The soup, had 56 grams of carbs, however the protein and fat content erased the entire amount of carbs, and I didn't notice it until it was too late.

Regards,

First I've ever heard of this theory. Some of us even bolus for protein. I think the more likely reason is it can slow the action of the carbs just like fibre can, maybe more. Pumpers will do a square wave or dual wave bolus (delayed action) for high protein and fat meals, but I've never heard of anyone subtracting the values from the carbs.

[BlueSky]

.... I fell from 220 to 64 yesterday after eating a full can of soup, sugar free pudding and a diet soda for lunch. The soup, had 56 grams of carbs, however the protein and fat content erased the entire amount of carbs, ....
So what happened later on? You probably went high when all those carbs eventually landed up in your blood stream as glucose. I also find that Novolog acts too quickly for the kind of food I eat. You can try splitting your bolus with food that contains lots of fat, protein or fibre. This works for many people on MDI. Try injecting half the bolus when you eat and the other half an hour later. Alternatively, you could use Regular insulin as it acts over a much longer period of time. It doesn't work with high-carb meals, though. I use Regular before breakfast and Novolog before the other meals. Of course the pump gives you full control of this, as you can specify the period you want the bolus to act over.

[Axel Slinger]

Well, it was just wishful thinking I guess. I will have to remember what Evermont said... "Fiber doesn't erase carbs, it's just adds carbs that don't count." Because that about sums it up.

And that does make sense now that I think about it more logically. If it did work that way Benefiber would be more expensive than Gold.