If fiber isn't digested, why are the calories included?

thenance007

My Mission Carb Balance Tortillas, for example, show 120 calories: 3 g fat x 9 cal/gram = 27 fat calories; 5 g protein x 4 cal/gram = 20 calories. Total carbs 19 g of which 13 grams are fiber, so 6 grams carbs x 4 cal/gram = 24 calories. Total not counting fiber is 71 calories. So if you are counting calories, you are counting 52 calories that aren't digested and provide no energy to the body.

So I did some research and here is what I found:
http://www.examiner.com/low-carb-lifestyle-in-national/if-fiber-is-not-digested-then-why-do-we-count-the-calories-or-carbs-it

"If fiber is not digested (i.e., not metabolized into simple sugars), then why do we count the calories in it? If it “just passes through” then we should not count either carbs or calories. Alternatively, if we DO get energy (calories) from it, then it IS digested, right?

What a fantastic question because the reasoning makes sense–if the body can’t use fiber for energy, then why does it have calories or carbohydrates at all? Since this question is a bit more complex than a simple answer, I decided to turn to two of my resident nutritional experts for assistance. Hopefully this will help clear the air on an intriguing question.

The first person I asked about this was Jacqueline Eberstein, RN from Controlled Carbohydrate Nutrition. She worked with the late, great Dr. Robert C. Atkins for thirty years and is arguably the foremost authority on the Atkins diet today. Her answer regarding the labeling of fiber carbs and calories reflects American food manufacturers adhering to the stringent labeling laws that are in place.

“The calorie content is listed on the label since the U.S. labeling laws also require that fiber be include in the total carbs. Other countries don’t include fiber in the total carb content so they likely don’t include the calories.”

We can infer from Eberstein’s response that apart from the labeling laws in the United States, fiber carbs and calories would NOT necessarily be counted since it would not be used for energy by the body. What does bestselling nutrition author Dr. Jonny Bowden, author of 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth and a series of essential health books for your personal library, have to say about these questions? Here was his response with a little help quoting from Laura Dolson at About.com Low-Carb Diets:

Fiber is still counted as “carbohydrates” in label-making and it may just be the path of least resistance to call ALL carbohydrates “4 calories per gram.” As for why there are calories in soluble fiber, according to the FDA, it is listed on food labels as having calories because it does, in a roundabout way, contribute calories to the body. This is because most soluble fiber is used by the bacteria in the colon to produce short-chain fatty acids which, in turn, are used by the body. These calories do not raise blood sugar, so when counting carbs, those in soluble fiber (like insoluble fiber) don’t count towards the total. This same situation is also true of oligosaccharides, which may or may not also be listed as fiber. The bottom line is when you are counting carbs, we can always subtract fiber from the total carbohydrate count on food labels."

So it appears that we can legitimately subtract the calories from insoluble fiber, as that is not digested, but that the calories from soluble fiber actually are digested, but in a way that wouldn't count as carbs.

So there are net calories as well as net carbs!