Paging Kari

[Kari]

LOL Jean "stop eating all together" . I have often had that thought - wouldn't it be nice if we could take a pill in the morning and be done with it???

I've been at this for almost 2 years now (the 10 years before that I simply "lived with" the D.) and every time I have achieved some semblance of control, things start to fall apart again, as another issue comes up. I can only imagine how Polly feels after 12 years of going at it. You too seem to have had more than your share of dietary challenges, but you seem to be very settled with the low carb diet - good for you.

Thanks for the Bernstein article - it's easy to have faith in him as he has lived through it all and done a lot of experimentation on himself. Even though he states that the best way to deal with high blood sugar is to focus on lowering carbs, he does say that fiber is a lot better than starch:

In my experience, reduction of dietary carbohydrate is far more effective in preventing blood sugar increases after meals. The lower blood sugars, in turn, bring about improved lipid profiles. It is true, however, that low-carbohydrate vegetables are usually composed mostly of insoluble fiber and therefore contain far less digestible carbohydrate than starchy vegetables. Thus if we compare fiber to starch, there is great value in “high fiber.”

Of course, beans also have starch, but I'm trying to find substitutes for bread and cereal products, and think I'd probably be better off with some beans with my eggs, rather than bread (I've been eating Udi's rice bread). Hopefully as time goes by meat will become more palatable for me.

Tex - I'm a bit confused about your take on the Mayo Clinic article you quoted - here is another quote from that article:

Helps control blood sugar levels. Fiber, particularly soluble fiber, can slow the absorption of sugar, which for people with diabetes can help improve blood sugar levels. A diet that includes insoluble fiber has been associated with a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

I'm curious about your take on this?

Love,
Kari

[tex]

Kari,

I suspect that I may not have made my point properly, and I may have just confused the issue with my post. I apologize for that. What I was trying to say is that all the people who claim that soluble fiber is digestible are confused, because no fiber is digestible by humans. The only way that fiber can be broken down in the human gut is by fermentation by bacteria, and the result of that fermentation process is a lot of gas, bloating, cramps and all that undesirable stuff. That's not digestion, however -- that's bacterial decomposition.

This is similar to the process by which lactose is fermented in the colon by bacteria, when someone who is lactose intolerant ingests lactose. Some authorities describe the fermentation process as "digestion" by bacteria, but in essence, it amounts to carrying around rotting, putrid material in the gut, as it is being decomposed by bacteria. The only reason why it is being decomposed by bacteria is because it could not be digested by the human digestive system. If it were digestible, it wouldn't be available for fermentation. The resulting gas, bloating and cramps can hardly be accurately described as byproducts of "digestion" -- they are more accurately described as byproducts of rotting food. That said, if the stuff passes through the colon in an expeditious manner, it won't have enough time to be fermented by bacteria. Fermentation is a time-dependent process.

However, none of that has anything to do with the manner in which soluble fiber helps to reduce the absorption of sugars and lipids. As the quote you listed points out, soluble fiber is indeed capable of reducing the absorption of sugars and lipids. It does so by forming a gelatinous substance in the intestines that helps to tie up some of the sugars and lipids, so that they cannot be absorbed. The point I was trying to make is that this has nothing to do with digestion, per se. It has everything to do with absorptivity, however.

This is similar to the way that bile acid sequestrants help to tie up bile salts so that they can't be effectively absorbed in the terminal ilium and recycled for subsequent conversion back to cholesterol. Roughly 90% of all bile produced is recycled this way, and if malabsorption is interrupted in the terminal ilium, either by a bile acid sequestrant, or by a malabsorption problem (as is common with IBDs), then the bile salts will be retained in the fecal stream, and lost, resulting in lower cholesterol blood levels.

The bottom line is that yes, soluble fiber interferes with the absorption of nutrients, by "trapping" nutrients in a gel, and thereby lowering absorptivity in the gut. I've never seen any research on this that would suggest that this lowered absorptivity is limited to sugars and lipids, however. IOW, I wouldn't be surprised if soluble fiber retards the absorption of all nutrients, not just sugars and lipids. Remember, researchers virtually always reach conclusions that prove the point that they originally set out to prove, (even if it means ignoring or de-emphasizing certain facts, and "enhancing" others). This may be a minor point, since the absorptivity reduction caused by soluble fiber is fractional, not absolute. IOW, only a fraction of nutrient absorption should be affected, just as only a fraction of the absorption of sugars and lipids is affected.

I hope I haven't just further confused the issue.

Love,
Tex

[Kari]

Hi Tex,

Wow - that was a mouthful :). Thanks for responding, and yes, I now do understand your point much better. What confused me was your quotes from the Mayo clinic, which were seemingly somewhat at odds with your position. I couldn't agree more about researchers ignoring extraneous issues in favor of proving their points. I learned the scientific method and did lab research in college, and understand how easy it is to "accidentally" ignore tangential findings to have a stronger position in proving your hypothesis.

As for Dr. Bernstein, he really does seem very credible as he has "walked the walked" and not just "talked the talk" :). I'm afraid I'll likely have to move further and further in the direction of following his diet guidelines more carefully. However, we're all different, and I'm holding out hope that I'll be able to lower the A1C level with less extreme tweaking of my diet. Dr. Bernstein has had to live with diabetes 1 since he was 12 years old. I take some comfort in the fact that I don't know of any diabetes in my family history.

Thanks again for sharing your seemingly endless knowledge about how the body functions.

Love,
Kari

[Gloria]

every time I have achieved some semblance of control, things start to fall apart again, as another issue comes up.

Oh, so true - unfortunately.

Gloria