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#1
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Are beans off-limits for low carb, despite the fiber content?
I recently picked up the Eades' "Low-Carb Comfort Food Cookbook" from the
library and was sort of surprised to see that they mentioned that soybeans were the only low-carb bean out there. I'm a complete low-carb newbie, but I had read that beans have a high fiber content, and since my wife is a vegetarian I was hoping beans could be a nice compromise food we could both enjoy. I'm looking at a can of red kidney beans here and I see that they have 19g total carbs, 8g dietary fiber, and less than 1g sugars. I haven't read the Eades' other books yet, so could someone clue me into why most beans are so bad for low-carbing? |
#2
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Are beans off-limits for low carb, despite the fiber content?
In article ,
"EMK" wrote: I recently picked up the Eades' "Low-Carb Comfort Food Cookbook" from the library and was sort of surprised to see that they mentioned that soybeans were the only low-carb bean out there. I'm a complete low-carb newbie, but I had read that beans have a high fiber content, and since my wife is a vegetarian I was hoping beans could be a nice compromise food we could both enjoy. I'm looking at a can of red kidney beans here and I see that they have 19g total carbs, 8g dietary fiber, and less than 1g sugars. I haven't read the Eades' other books yet, so could someone clue me into why most beans are so bad for low-carbing? Well, they're fairly carb-dense. If you look at your can of kidney beans, you'll see that those are per serving numbers and that there are probably 3 1/2 servings per can. Now it may be that you can fit 11 net carb grams in a single meal into your eating plan and successfully meet your goals (weight loss, blood sugar control, or whatever), but will you be satisfied limiting yourself to c. 1/4 cup of cooked beans. For perspective, how I fit beans into my diet is simple: I buy dried beans rather than canned. When I make a big pot of soup, something I often do in the winter, I add 1/4 cup of dried beans. This swells up to maybe 1/2 cup of cooked beans. But I typically get 6-7 large servings of soup per batch, so I'm eating much less than an official serving of beans. -- "[xxx] has very definite opinions, and does not suffer fools lightly. This, apparently, upsets the fools." ---BB cuts to the pith of a flame-fest |
#3
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Are beans off-limits for low carb, despite the fiber content?
Try some Eden Foods Black Soybeans, I use them in everything where you would
use regular beans, chili, soup, etc. They are high in protein which is good for vegetarians as it is hard to get enough protein from veggies. http://www.edenfoods.com/store/produ...black_soybeans EMK wrote: | I recently picked up the Eades' "Low-Carb Comfort Food Cookbook" from | the library and was sort of surprised to see that they mentioned that | soybeans were the only low-carb bean out there. I'm a complete | low-carb newbie, but I had read that beans have a high fiber content, | and since my wife is a vegetarian I was hoping beans could be a nice | compromise food we could both enjoy. I'm looking at a can of red | kidney beans here and I see that they have 19g total carbs, 8g | dietary fiber, and less than 1g sugars. I haven't read the Eades' | other books yet, so could someone clue me into why most beans are so | bad for low-carbing? |
#4
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Are beans off-limits for low carb, despite the fiber content?
I don't think finding compromise foods with your wife will work.
How about two refrigerators? You could put your food in the garage. |
#5
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Are beans off-limits for low carb, despite the fiber content?
On Dec 14, 4:00*pm, "QN" wrote:
I don't think finding compromise foods with your wife will work. How about two refrigerators? *You could put your food in the garage. You could fit small amounts of beans in to your carb budget, depending on where in a particular plan you are and how high the carb budget is. However, as Alice pointed out, 11g of carb for a serving can be quite high for a single serving, esepecaially for someone just starting out. If you were at maintenance, they could fit in. I second FOB on using the Eden soy beans. They are excellent and very low carb, only a couple grams of net carb per serving. |
#6
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Are beans off-limits for low carb, despite the fiber content?
" wrote:
You could fit small amounts of beans in to your carb budget, depending on where in a particular plan you are and how high the carb budget is. * However, as Alice pointed out, 11g of carb for a serving can be quite high for a single serving, esepecaially for someone just starting out. *If you were at maintenance, they could fit in. Different type of bean, different carb count. Soy are the lowest type and black soy the lowest variety of soy. Tofu has an okay carb count for its protein content. If you deduct fiber that helps the count some. Deducting fiber is part of some plans and generally a good idea unless you started long ago before fiber deduction. The bit I puzzle over - One of the features of cooking is indigestable fiber is converted to digestable carb. Check the carb counts on line for cooked and raw veggies to find this difference. Is the fiber listed on the label before or after cooking? Canned beans are cooked after all. Just how trusting am I that the manufacturer has my best interests at heart not the best looking numbers for the label ... I second FOB on using the Eden soy beans. *They are excellent and very low carb, only a couple grams of net carb per serving. Yum. I keep a few cans in the cupboard and use them semi-regularly. I just checked and the cans in my cupboard are Edends brand. |
#7
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Are beans off-limits for low carb, despite the fiber content?
On Dec 16, 10:54*am, Doug Freyburger wrote:
" wrote: You could fit small amounts of beans in to your carb budget, depending on where in a particular plan you are and how high the carb budget is. * However, as Alice pointed out, 11g of carb for a serving can be quite high for a single serving, esepecaially for someone just starting out. *If you were at maintenance, they could fit in. Different type of bean, different carb count. *Soy are the lowest type and black soy the lowest variety of soy. *Tofu has an okay carb count for its protein content. If you deduct fiber that helps the count some. *Deducting fiber is part of some plans and generally a good idea unless you started long ago before fiber deduction. *The bit I puzzle over - One of the features of cooking is indigestable fiber is converted to digestable carb. What is your source for the statement that indigestible fiber gets converted to a digestible carb during cooking? If that were true, it would seem that it would be widely known that cooking any high fiber food would render it no different from a food without fiber, ie negating the health benefits of fiber. In all the health articles related to fiber I've seen, I've never seen it stated that if you cook a vegetable containing fiber, you lose the health benefits of the fiber. This is the first time I've ever heard it stated. *Check the carb counts on line for cooked and raw veggies to find this difference. *Is the fiber listed on the label before or after cooking? *Canned beans are cooked after all. Just how trusting am I that the manufacturer has my best interests at heart not the best looking numbers for the label ... I second FOB on using the Eden soy beans. *They are excellent and very low carb, only a couple grams of net carb per serving. Yum. *I keep a few cans in the cupboard and use them semi-regularly. *I just checked and the cans in my cupboard are Edends brand. |
#8
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Are beans off-limits for low carb, despite the fiber content?
" wrote:
What is your source for the statement that indigestible fiber gets converted to a digestible carb during cooking? http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl Using the USDA site let's see cooked versus raw, 100 gram quantities and then use the listed water content in the resulting product to find the water-free numbers to adjust for water differences in cooked versus raw - Rutabagas, raw, 100 grams Listed Water g 89.66 Energy kcal 36 Carbohydrate, by difference g 8.13 Fiber, total dietary g 2.5 Sugars, total g 5.60 Calculated Non-water grams 10.34 kcal/gram 3.48 carb/gram 0.78 fiber/gram 0.24 sugar/gram 0.54 Rutabagas, cooked, 100 grams Listed Water g 88.88 Energy kcal 39 Carbohydrate, by difference g 8.74 Fiber, total dietary g 1.8 Sugars, total g 6.02 Calculated Non-water grams 11.12 kcal/gram 3.51 carb/gram 0.78 fiber/gram 0.16 sugar/gram 0.54 Sure enough cooking converted one quarter of the fiber into digestible carb, had no effect on the total carbs or sugar carbs. Adjusting for water content shows the effect quite clearly. Exactly what the digestible carb compound is post-cooking is not listed but the reduction in fiber per non-water mass is quite clear - It is the type of carb that fiber deducters don't deduct. Now lets try this for carrots because the entry for them includes starch: Carrots, raw, 100 grams Listed Water g 88.29 Energy kcal 41 Carbohydrate, by difference g 9.58 Fiber, total dietary g 2.8 Sugars, total g 4.74 Starch g 1.43 Calculated Non-water grams 11.71 kcal/gram 3.50 carb/gram 0.82 fiber/gram 0.24 sugar/gram 0.40 starch/gram 0.12 Carrots, cooked, 100 grams Water g 90.17 Energy kcal 35 Carbohydrate, by difference g 8.22 Fiber, total dietary g 3.0 Sugars, total g 3.45 Starch g 0.17 Non-water grams 9.83 kcal/gram 3.56 carb/gram 0.84 fiber/gram 0.31 starch/gram 0.02 Sure enough as with swedes when carrots are cooked one quarter of the fiber is converted to digestible carb with very little effect on the total carbs. In addition most of the starch is reduced without impact on total carbs. I've always wanted to know what it means that carrots "carmelize" when cooking yet they don't get more sugar - This doesn't tell me what it means but it does tell me both fiber and starch get converted to something with simpler carb chains. In both cases the end result is a quarter of the fiber being converted to digestible non-fiber carbs, much of the starch being converted to digestible non-starch carbs. The ending carb type isn't specified so all we know is it isn't sugar or fiber or starch. That leaves plenty of possible digestible carb compounds that weren't listed. If that were true, it would seem that it would be widely known that cooking any high fiber food would render it no different from a food without fiber, ie negating the health benefits of fiber. Your giant leap of false logic noted - Reducing fiber by cooking is not the same as eliminating fiber by cooking. In all the health articles related to fiber I've seen, I've never seen it stated that if you cook a vegetable containing fiber, you lose the health benefits of the fiber. Because it's something you just made up based on nothing I wrote. This is the first time I've ever heard it stated. Me too. Funny how that works. I assert something trivial to check. You fail to look it up and make lunatic conclusions. Having cooking convert fiber to digestible fiber is so well known there are evolutionary theorists who assert that humans invented fire to make root veggies more digestible and increase their caloric content because even with digestible fiber only a percentage of the calories are absorbed. It competes with the theorists who claim fire was invented to slow the spoilage of meat. I figure both theories are true to some extent. How this applies to bean legumes - Raw beans are not edible directly. They must be cooked to be eaten. As cooking root veggies shows a quarter of the fiber is converted and beans are cooked longer, it would be interesting to run the numbers on beans to see how they come out in converting fiber to carbs that are not deducted. |
#9
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Are beans off-limits for low carb, despite the fiber content?
Doug Freyburger wrote:
" wrote: What is your source for the statement that indigestible fiber gets converted to a digestible carb during cooking? http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl Using the USDA site let's see cooked versus raw, 100 gram quantities and then use the listed water content in the resulting product to find the water-free numbers to adjust for water differences in cooked versus raw - Rutabagas, raw, 100 grams Listed Water g 89.66 Energy kcal 36 Carbohydrate, by difference g 8.13 Fiber, total dietary g 2.5 Sugars, total g 5.60 Calculated Non-water grams 10.34 kcal/gram 3.48 carb/gram 0.78 fiber/gram 0.24 sugar/gram 0.54 Rutabagas, cooked, 100 grams Listed Water g 88.88 Energy kcal 39 Carbohydrate, by difference g 8.74 Fiber, total dietary g 1.8 Sugars, total g 6.02 Calculated Non-water grams 11.12 kcal/gram 3.51 carb/gram 0.78 fiber/gram 0.16 sugar/gram 0.54 Sure enough cooking converted one quarter of the fiber into digestible carb, had no effect on the total carbs or sugar carbs. Adjusting for water content shows the effect quite clearly. Exactly what the digestible carb compound is post-cooking is not listed but the reduction in fiber per non-water mass is quite clear - It is the type of carb that fiber deducters don't deduct. Now lets try this for carrots because the entry for them includes starch: Carrots, raw, 100 grams Listed Water g 88.29 Energy kcal 41 Carbohydrate, by difference g 9.58 Fiber, total dietary g 2.8 Sugars, total g 4.74 Starch g 1.43 Calculated Non-water grams 11.71 kcal/gram 3.50 carb/gram 0.82 fiber/gram 0.24 sugar/gram 0.40 starch/gram 0.12 Carrots, cooked, 100 grams Water g 90.17 Energy kcal 35 Carbohydrate, by difference g 8.22 Fiber, total dietary g 3.0 Sugars, total g 3.45 Starch g 0.17 Non-water grams 9.83 kcal/gram 3.56 carb/gram 0.84 fiber/gram 0.31 starch/gram 0.02 Sure enough as with swedes when carrots are cooked one quarter of the fiber is converted to digestible carb with very little effect on the total carbs. In addition most of the starch is reduced without impact on total carbs. I've always wanted to know what it means that carrots "carmelize" when cooking yet they don't get more sugar - This doesn't tell me what it means but it does tell me both fiber and starch get converted to something with simpler carb chains. In both cases the end result is a quarter of the fiber being converted to digestible non-fiber carbs, much of the starch being converted to digestible non-starch carbs. The ending carb type isn't specified so all we know is it isn't sugar or fiber or starch. That leaves plenty of possible digestible carb compounds that weren't listed. If that were true, it would seem that it would be widely known that cooking any high fiber food would render it no different from a food without fiber, ie negating the health benefits of fiber. Your giant leap of false logic noted - Reducing fiber by cooking is not the same as eliminating fiber by cooking. In all the health articles related to fiber I've seen, I've never seen it stated that if you cook a vegetable containing fiber, you lose the health benefits of the fiber. Because it's something you just made up based on nothing I wrote. This is the first time I've ever heard it stated. Me too. Funny how that works. I assert something trivial to check. You fail to look it up and make lunatic conclusions. Having cooking convert fiber to digestible fiber is so well known there are evolutionary theorists who assert that humans invented fire to make root veggies more digestible and increase their caloric content because even with digestible fiber only a percentage of the calories are absorbed. It competes with the theorists who claim fire was invented to slow the spoilage of meat. I figure both theories are true to some extent. How this applies to bean legumes - Raw beans are not edible directly. They must be cooked to be eaten. As cooking root veggies shows a quarter of the fiber is converted and beans are cooked longer, it would be interesting to run the numbers on beans to see how they come out in converting fiber to carbs that are not deducted. Hi Doug, Just wanted to say thanks for the link. I thought I was diabetic, but I'm not. Getting educated on the right things though is important, and you helped me with a good resource. I'm now 47, and the health things are becoming more important. Thanks, Bob |
#10
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Are beans off-limits for low carb, despite the fiber content?
Bob Muncie wrote:
Doug Freyburger wrote: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl Using the USDA site ... Just wanted to say thanks for the link. I thought I was diabetic, but I'm not. Getting educated on the right things though is important, and you helped me with a good resource. I'm now 47, and the health things are becoming more important. Bob, Please note that when I wanted to do these calculations I went to the daily posting of the FAQ file on ASLDC and there it was. Read that FAQ file and use it's resources! On of the coolest things about UseNet is that FAQ files are built over a period of years by regulars on newsgroups who are truly expert on their topics. Many FAQ files I've read over the years are better quality material than any textbook I used during my entire pass from kindergarden through a Bachelors degree - More compact, more informative, more dynamic. The USDA link is one of many gems in that FAQ file. As to heath things becoming more important over the years, that's a topic I recently discussed with my Dad. I'm 50 and he's 78. He says he can tell every injury he ever suffered as a young man. Looking at little scars on my hands, recalling minor injuries that somehow never put me in a cast, looking back at my youthful diet of junk and then 20 years trying low fat before I started low carbing, I shudder at the long term health implications. |
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