Why Do Nutrition Facts Count Fiber?

I’ve always read that ground cinnamon has no calories because it’s made of fiber yet if you look it up online it labels it as having 20 calories per tablespoon.

If Calories from fiber don’t count why do they even bother to put them up on the nutritional facts?

[quote]ronaldo7 wrote:
I’ve always read that ground cinnamon has no calories because it’s made of fiber yet if you look it up online it labels it as having 20 calories per tablespoon.

If Calories from fiber don’t count why do they even bother to put them up on the nutritional facts?[/quote]

This is annoying IMO. I’ve heard all kinds of different arguments about fiber, from it doesn’t count AT ALL, to that it turns into calories in the small intestine.

In nutrition 101 we learned that it doesn’t count as calories, but then WHY does it show up on the carb section of nutrition info?

Honestly, I’ve been interested in this for a long time, but all I’ve read are conflicting viewpoints. I’d love it if this were settled in this thread.

Lets say it IS counted as calories.

And you’re a beast of beasts, and eat 40g of fiber a day.

And it’s at 4 calories per gram.

160 calories.

Who gives a shit?

[quote]msd0060 wrote:
Lets say it IS counted as calories.

And you’re a beast of beasts, and eat 40g of fiber a day.

And it’s at 4 calories per gram.

160 calories.

Who gives a shit?[/quote]

It’s just annoying not knowing the truth.

[quote]ronaldo7 wrote:
I’ve always read that ground cinnamon has no calories because it’s made of fiber yet if you look it up online it labels it as having 20 calories per tablespoon.

If Calories from fiber don’t count why do they even bother to put them up on the nutritional facts?[/quote]

Fiber is converted to short-chain fatty acids by the bacteria in your gut then absorbed by your intestine. That’s why you don’t count fiber on a low-carb diet; it gets converted to a fat.

[quote]msd0060 wrote:
Lets say it IS counted as calories.

And you’re a beast of beasts, and eat 40g of fiber a day.

And it’s at 4 calories per gram.

160 calories.

Who gives a shit?[/quote]

Thats not the point of the topic. This among other things can make a difference in calorie intake specially if you are trying to lean out.

For you 160 calories might not make a difference(it’s only 160 calories extra that day so NO ONE SHOULD EVEN CARE) but 160 calories over a month of “cutting” equals to 4960 calories that could of other wise be avoided. Specially if we are talking about a spice not vegetables or fruits.

cellulose gets converted into fat ? wtf ?

[quote]Brant_Drake wrote:
ronaldo7 wrote:
I’ve always read that ground cinnamon has no calories because it’s made of fiber yet if you look it up online it labels it as having 20 calories per tablespoon.

If Calories from fiber don’t count why do they even bother to put them up on the nutritional facts?

Fiber is converted to short-chain fatty acids by the bacteria in your gut then absorbed by your intestine. That’s why you don’t count fiber on a low-carb diet; it gets converted to a fat.[/quote]

Okay but then where does the energy go IF you are not counting the fiber which indeed is part of the CARBS on the nutritional label?. If it really is converted to fat the calories would be counted as fat calories and not carbs which means the calories on the nutrional label are still counted towards the daily energy intake JUST NOT AS CARBS.

[quote]ronaldo7 wrote:
Brant_Drake wrote:
ronaldo7 wrote:
I’ve always read that ground cinnamon has no calories because it’s made of fiber yet if you look it up online it labels it as having 20 calories per tablespoon.

If Calories from fiber don’t count why do they even bother to put them up on the nutritional facts?

Fiber is converted to short-chain fatty acids by the bacteria in your gut then absorbed by your intestine. That’s why you don’t count fiber on a low-carb diet; it gets converted to a fat.

Okay but then where does the energy go IF you are not counting the fiber which indeed is part of the CARBS on the nutritional label?. If it really is converted to fat the calories would be counted as fat calories and not carbs which means the calories on the nutrional label are still counted towards the daily energy intake JUST NOT AS CARBS. [/quote]

You’re making the mistake of assuming our FDA makes any sense.

Because fiber is chemically/structurally a carbohydrate it is listed on the nutrition label as a carbohydrate. The fact that it has calories at all is what makes it necessary to include fiber on the nutrition label.

Think about if you were making alcohol. You would start with a sugar (carb) but then the bacteria would break it down to alcohol (still has calories, but not a carb) and the process would be finished.

So even though it is absorbed as a fat, fiber itself is a carbohydrate and listed as such.

[quote]Brant_Drake wrote:
You’re making the mistake of assuming our FDA makes any sense.

Because fiber is chemically/structurally a carbohydrate it is listed on the nutrition label as a carbohydrate. The fact that it has calories at all is what makes it necessary to include fiber on the nutrition label.

Think about if you were making alcohol. You would start with a sugar (carb) but then the bacteria would break it down to alcohol (still has calories, but not a carb) and the process would be finished.

So even though it is absorbed as a fat, fiber itself is a carbohydrate and listed as such.

[/quote]

Thanks for the response, but like the above poster I must ask how cellulose turn into fat…

If you have a source for this I would LOVE to read it. I really want to settle this in my head.

For instance, is this soluble or insoluble etc…

[quote]beebuddy wrote:
Thanks for the response, but like the above poster I must ask how cellulose turn into fat…

If you have a source for this I would LOVE to read it. I really want to settle this in my head.

For instance, is this soluble or insoluble etc…[/quote]

Cellulose is simply a long chain of glucose. Just because humans can’t break it down dosen’t mean other life forms are unable to do so. I’msure you’re not interested in the exact chemical process, so here is a short article about it.

For more information, go to;

I know wikipedia isn’t universally regarded as a valid source, but this page has some decent info in the first four subsections and it’s easy to understand.