Please Forgive Me-I'm Stupid With This-Fiber/Sugar/Carb

Indigoblu1

Hello, I don't totally understand the carb/sugar mix. I know they are connected, I just don't know how. I felt that with my macros, getting rid of sugars and replacing it with fiber was more important by what people here said, because they said that carbs encompassed suger, too. I'm lost with this. Can you please enlighten me on this and what it means?

ScreeField

this is a good reference to start: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/types-of-carbohydrates.html

vypressme

People alternetively call carbs "sugars", but that's not to be mistaken with sugar.

There are (mainly) two types of carbs: simple and complex. Complex is just more simple carb molecules bound together, and for your body to be able to use them, it needs to break them down into simple sugars.
Fiber - some will say it's a third category of carbs, some will say it's part of the complex ones - it doesn't really matter for caloric purposes, as your body doesn't digest most of it.

Sugar (table sugar) is a simple carb. So is fructose. Your body will digest it quick and it will raise your insulin levels. Oatmeal is complex. You'll benefit from the energy spike for a longer period of time. Fiber will come out the way it goes in... And with a few bonus stuff attached.

Homework: if a simplecarb has 4 kcal, and a complex carb has 4 kcal, but you need to break down complex carbs into simple carbs first... is a calorie really a calorie?

kgeyser

Let's not derail this user's thread with a debate about whether or not a calorie is a calorie, that's not relevant to her question.

@Indigoblu1, both fiber and sugar are carbohydrates. When you look at your MFP food diary, the carbs category will include sugar in the total count, however you can also track both fiber and sugar separately if you would like as well.

Unless you have a medical condition, I find tracking sugars to be a waste of time the way the food diary is set-up. There is no differentiation between natural sugars (sugars that occur naturally in fruit, vegetables, dairy, etc) and added sugars (sugars added to the food during preparation), and product packaging does not distinguish the two either. You can end up going over your total just by having a few pieces of fruit, which is obviously not a concern (barring medical condition) and can give you a sense that you're messing up when in reality, you're fine. Most of the concern now is around reducing added sugars, so trying to use MFP to "track" that is an exercise in futility.

When people here talk about getting rid of sugars and replacing it with fiber, they mean to track fiber on your food diary instead of sugar for the above reasons (the sugar count is already included in the carb count, and it doesn't show the difference in types of sugar). That's not to say there is not a benefit to tracking fiber in and of itself; fiber helps give you a feeling of fullness, aids in digestion (barring medical conditions impacted by fiber), and most people don't get enough, so it's a good thing to track.

Hope this helps answer you question, please ask for clarification if it's still clear as mud.

Indigoblu1

kgeyser wrote: »

Let's not derail this user's thread with a debate about whether or not a calorie is a calorie, that's not relevant to her question.

@Indigoblu1, both fiber and sugar are carbohydrates. When you look at your MFP food diary, the carbs category will include sugar in the total count, however you can also track both fiber and sugar separately if you would like as well.

Unless you have a medical condition, I find tracking sugars to be a waste of time the way the food diary is set-up. There is no differentiation between natural sugars (sugars that occur naturally in fruit, vegetables, dairy, etc) and added sugars (sugars added to the food during preparation), and product packaging does not distinguish the two either. You can end up going over your total just by having a few pieces of fruit, which is obviously not a concern (barring medical condition) and can give you a sense that you're messing up when in reality, you're fine. Most of the concern now is around reducing added sugars, so trying to use MFP to "track" that is an exercise in futility.

When people here talk about getting rid of sugars and replacing it with fiber, they mean to track fiber on your food diary instead of sugar for the above reasons (the sugar count is already included in the carb count, and it doesn't show the difference in types of sugar). That's not to say there is not a benefit to tracking fiber in and of itself; fiber helps give you a feeling of fullness, aids in digestion (barring medical conditions impacted by fiber), and most people don't get enough, so it's a good thing to track.

Hope this helps answer you question, please ask for clarification if it's still clear as mud.

Thank you so mcuhy, kgeyer. You definintely helped me understand. I wish I had somebody like you in my daily life to clarify things! Everybody here still knows everything more than me!