Nutrition

How much dietary fiber do we need and where do we get it?

In most western countries the uptake of dietary fiber is too low compared to the nutrition recommendations.  E.g. in Finland the recommendation is 25 – 35 grams/day. For Finns the most important source of dietary fiber is grain products, especially rye products.

Do whole grain products promote health?

In several epidemiological studies it has been found that diet rich in whole grain products and dietary fiber has positive effects in reducing risk of several diseases. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the following health claim about whole grain products in 1999: “Diets rich in whole grain foods and other plant foods and low in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol, may help reduce the risk of heart disease and certain cancers. ”This claim can be used in the United States for marketing of products that contain at least 51 % whole grain ingredients by weight. Many rye breads and all rye crisps satisfy this condition.

Are carbohydrates fattening as often argued?

The energy content of carbohydrates is 4 Cal/gram (16 kJ/gram) and that of fat is 9 Cal/gram (38 kJ/gram). It means that fat contains much more energy than carbohydrates.  The energy content of dietary fiber is 0 Cal/gram and thus bread that contains a lot of fiber has much lower energy content than fat. The best diet is a balanced diet that contains moderate amounts of all kinds of food, also “white” bread.  Also white bread has several good nutrients like dietary fiber with its co-passengers.