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Yes. Fiber is very very important and most Americans don't get nearly enough of it: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/science/food-fiber-microbiome-inflammati

Yes. Fiber is very very important and most Americans don't get nearly enough of it: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/science/food-fiber-microbiome-inflammation.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/science/food-fiber-microb... Consuming fiber along with carbs dramatically changes their glycemic profile. Asians get away with eating so much white rice, for example, because they almost eat it along with a bunch of vegetables.

kazinator 9y ago
Boiled rice is not calorie dense; it has a large volume due to water, which reduces it almost down to 1 kcal/g. Asians do not all eat lots of white rice. Not all eat purely white rice. On the other hand, not all eat a lot of vegetables. Asians are not immune to obesity and diabetes. They certainly do not get away with overeating white rice or anything else.
- cageface 9y ago
  The point is that white rice alone has a high glycemic index but eating it with vegetables makes a huge difference: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/if-white-rice-is-linked-to-diabetes-what-about-china/ https://nutritionfacts.org/video/if-white-rice-is-linked-to-...
  - kazinator 9y ago
    If you go for a second and third helping of rice without additional vegetables, I doubt it. Vegetables aren't a magic bullet. Calories are calories. Maybe vegetables can slow down the absorption so smoothing and flattening out the "transient sugar peak" that the liver has to deal with after meal, but that can be overwhelmed with a big enough intake. The slender Asians you see aren't the ones stuffing on huge amounts of rice, with or without veggies.
    - cageface 9y ago
      I've spent the last seven years in Asia watching very skinny people eat huge plates full of rice that would shock the average American. I always have to ask for less rice than they usually dish out because I can't finish it all. Yet these people are mostly skinny as rails. And no, calories are not just calories.
      - NikolaeVarius 9y ago
        Calories are calories. People can eat huge plates of rice because that is all they eat and don't snack or drink soda. A huge plate of rice might be 1000 calories, but if all a person eats otherwise are some veggies and some tea, there is nothing unsustainable about that
        washadjeffmad 9y ago
        Calories aren't just calories, and there's not a lot to support that outside of calorimeters, which our bodies are somewhat more complex than. Check NCBI/PubMed for some great insight into why the molecules matter.
        taurath 9y ago
        Why in the world would calories just be calories - it’s an insane oversimplification. We’re not perfect absorbers, different people absorb foods differently, and the source matters.
      - kazinator 9y ago
        You're simply cherry-picking evidence which supports your belief and ignoring contradictory evidence, and other factors. Have you tracked any particular one of these skinny Asian round-the-clock over a period of time? One observation of a meal doesn't tell you everything. I'm in Asia now (Japan). The predominant eating pattern is: tiny portions, by American standards. (Stuffing with large servings of rice is a Chinese or SE Asian thing. I have seen it too.)
        cageface 9y ago
        Yep I've lived around Vietnamese 24/7 for extended periods of time. I know exactly what and how much they eat.

kazinator 9y ago

Boiled rice is not calorie dense; it has a large volume due to water, which reduces it almost down to 1 kcal/g. Asians do not all eat lots of white rice. Not all eat purely white rice. On the other hand, not all eat a lot of vegetables. Asians are not immune to obesity and diabetes. They certainly do not get away with overeating white rice or anything else.

cageface 9y ago
The point is that white rice alone has a high glycemic index but eating it with vegetables makes a huge difference: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/if-white-rice-is-linked-to-diabetes-what-about-china/ https://nutritionfacts.org/video/if-white-rice-is-linked-to-...
- kazinator 9y ago
  If you go for a second and third helping of rice without additional vegetables, I doubt it. Vegetables aren't a magic bullet. Calories are calories. Maybe vegetables can slow down the absorption so smoothing and flattening out the "transient sugar peak" that the liver has to deal with after meal, but that can be overwhelmed with a big enough intake. The slender Asians you see aren't the ones stuffing on huge amounts of rice, with or without veggies.
  - cageface 9y ago
    I've spent the last seven years in Asia watching very skinny people eat huge plates full of rice that would shock the average American. I always have to ask for less rice than they usually dish out because I can't finish it all. Yet these people are mostly skinny as rails. And no, calories are not just calories.
    - NikolaeVarius 9y ago
      Calories are calories. People can eat huge plates of rice because that is all they eat and don't snack or drink soda. A huge plate of rice might be 1000 calories, but if all a person eats otherwise are some veggies and some tea, there is nothing unsustainable about that
      - washadjeffmad 9y ago
        Calories aren't just calories, and there's not a lot to support that outside of calorimeters, which our bodies are somewhat more complex than. Check NCBI/PubMed for some great insight into why the molecules matter.
      - taurath 9y ago
        Why in the world would calories just be calories - it’s an insane oversimplification. We’re not perfect absorbers, different people absorb foods differently, and the source matters.
    - kazinator 9y ago
      You're simply cherry-picking evidence which supports your belief and ignoring contradictory evidence, and other factors. Have you tracked any particular one of these skinny Asian round-the-clock over a period of time? One observation of a meal doesn't tell you everything. I'm in Asia now (Japan). The predominant eating pattern is: tiny portions, by American standards. (Stuffing with large servings of rice is a Chinese or SE Asian thing. I have seen it too.)
      - cageface 9y ago
        Yep I've lived around Vietnamese 24/7 for extended periods of time. I know exactly what and how much they eat.