In a previous article, I described Dreamfields' remarkable new low-carbohydrate pasta, and stated that I felt they had not adequately communicated the mechanism by which they "protect" carbohydrates from being digested. This morning I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Jon Anfinsen, the co-inventor of Dreamfields pasta about this issue.

Dr. Anfinsen runs TechCom Group LLC, one of the partners of DNA Dreamfields LLC, the group that develops, manufactures and markets Dreamfields pasta and the unique technology behind it. TechCom's objective is to improve of the quality of the nutrition in food. According to Anfinsen, they "put under the microscope, so to speak, how the body uses food and how to maximize the nutritional benefit the body receives."

The Story Behind "Digestible Carbs"

Dreamfields pasta is unique in the low-carb marketplace in that they do not claim "net carbs" on their label, but instead claim "digestible carbs."

Net carbs, you probably know, is a number that food manufacturers arrive at by taking the total carbohydrate content of a serving of their product, and subtracting the fiber, sugar alcohols, glycerine and other carbohydrate ingredients that have a negligible impact on blood sugar. This number can be questionable, especially with sugar alcohols, as the various sugar alcohols have different effects on blood sugar, and there is some debate over whether sugar alcohols can legitimately be subtracted when calculating net carbs.

Digestible carbs, by contrast, is the total amount of carbohydrate that is digested in the upper GI tract and enters the bloodstream, as measured in human test subjects. It is worth noting that Dreamfields has a group of 45 test subjects, and that every batch of Dreamfields pasta is tested in vivo as part of their quality control process.

Anfinsen could not describe in detail the process by which digestible carbs are measured, due to a pending patent. They have submitted a provisional patent application that will be converted into a standard patent application sometime in the next couple of months. Patent applications are published prior to approval, so we should be able to read the patent application by sometime early next year.

How Dreamfields Lowers Digestible Carbs

I asked Dr. Anfinsen if he could explain how adding their blend of fibers and proteins to Dreamfields pasta "protects" the carbohydrate from being digested, and whether or not this fiber/protein blend acted as a "built-in carb-blocker." While I have to admit I did not fully understand the answer, he said, "Yes, you could look at it that way." Anfinsen describes the fiber/protein blend as "a matrix that is dispersed throughout the product. This matrix acts as a barrier that inhibits the ability of enzymes to digest the carbohydrate."

So what is a "matrix?" Anfinsen uses the following analogy: Say you lay a sheet of paper on your desk. Now say you want to move an object from the left side of your desk to the right. The sheet of paper acts as an obstacle. The more sheets of paper you stack up, the harder it is to move things from one side of your desk to the other.

Similarly, the fiber/protein blend in Dreamfields pasta prevents the enzymes necessary for the digestion of carbohydrates from reaching the carbohydrates in your digestive tract (though in three dimensions, rather than the two in the analogy).

According to Anfinsen, the more of this blend they add to the food product, the fewer carbohydrates that get digested. They could, for example, manufacture pasta with zero grams of digestible carbs. The 5g per serving number was chosen for marketing reasons. Dreamfields pasta is intended to be a healthful, mainstream replacement for ordinary pasta; not just a niche product aimed at serious low-carb dieters. Because Dreamfields would like to see their products replace traditional pasta in school lunchrooms, for example, they felt it was necessary to have some digestible carbohydrates in the product.

Low Carbohydrate or Low Glycemic?

I also asked Dr. Anfinsen how we can know that Dreamfields pasta is truly a low-carbohydrate product, and not just a food with a low-glycemic index. In other words, when they test the blood sugar of the subjects who eat their pasta, what exactly are they measuring?

The glycemic index is a numerical system of measuring how fast a carbohydrate triggers a rise in circulating blood sugar; the greater the blood sugar response, the higher the number. Glycemic load is a numerical system that takes into account the glycemic index of a food as well as how much available carbohydrate is in a serving of that food.

You can calculate a food's glycemic load by dividing it's glycemic index by 100 and then multiplying by the number of grams of available carbohydrate (e.g., carbohydrates minus fiber). For example, an medium apple with a glycemic index of 28 and 16g of available carbohydrate would have a glycemic load of 4 ((28/100)*16=4.48, rounded to 4).

Similarly, you can measure the glycemic index and the glycemic load of a given food and run the calculation in reverse to obtain the amount of available carbohydrate.

This is essentially what Dreamfields has done. They varied the amount of the fiber/protein blend they added to their pasta until they got the blood sugar response they were looking for. They could have made it with more or less available carbohydrate, but 5g per serving was the target number they were shooting for.

So Is it Fiber?

Given that the carbohydrate in Dreamfields pasta is rendered mostly indigestible and passes to through to the lower GI where it is fermented by the bacteria in the colon, you might wonder why they don't call it fiber. After all, that's exactly what soluble fiber does. Insoluble fiber passes through the entire digestive tract undigested, but soluble fiber is partially or completely fermented by the bacteria in the colon, helping to maintain the health of your intestinal flora.

In other words, Dreamfields technology makes ordinary semolina flour act as if it were fiber. It passes through the upper GI tract and is completely fermented in the colon. So is it fiber?

The answer, for now, is no. The reason is that, in the United States at least, calling something fiber is subject to various governmental regulations, though even this is subject to change. For example, 10 years ago polydextrose could not be listed on the nutrition label as fiber; today it can. Anfinsen says that there is a movement to allow fiber content to be determined by clinical assays rather than traditional definitions. If this happens, you may see Dreamfields pasta listing 37g of fiber per serving on their label.

But even if it can't legally be called fiber yet, is Dreamfields pasta going to improve colon health and digestion in the same way that soluble fibers do? "Absolutely," says Anfinsen.

I also wanted to know if Dreamfields pasta would be a problem for people with intestinal disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease or colitis? According to Anfinsen, "No. Dreamfields pasta ferments completely, but it does not 'flash ferment.'" Fiber-containing products with "loosely bound molecules" ferment more rapidly, and higher in the colon, causing gas and bloating. Because Dreamfields pasta ferments more slowly, and starts fermenting lower in the colon, it does not have this problem. Moreover, because the fiber contained in Dreamfields pasta is entirely soluble, there isn't the intestinal irritation that might be associated with insoluble fibers.

What's the Real Difference Between "Net Carbs" and "Digestible Carbs"?
If the additional carbs are not digested, is there really any difference between "net carbs" and "digestible carbs" other than a semantic one? Apparently not. The two are measured in different ways but, excluding the issue of whether or not you can subtract sugar alcohols when calculating net carbs, the end result should be the same.

What is the Future of this Technology?

Dreamfields pasta is only the first product to implement this patent pending food technology from TechCom Group. TechCom has licensed, and is in negotiations to license this technology to other large food manufacturers. In addition, they are working with the FDA to help educate regulators and the public about this new way of protecting carbohydrates from digestion and measuring digestible carbohydrates through clinical assays.

In my previous article, I pointed out that Dreamfields needed to do a better job communicating why their products are low-carb despite the fact that they are not loaded with fiber and other ingredients that reduce the net carbs. Now I know why: Discussions about your colon and your blood just don't make good marketing copy.

Over the next year, as we begin to see new food products coming to market using the same carbohydrate-lowering and measuring technologies used in Dreamfields pasta, I hope manufacturers will find a way to more adequately communicate the concept of digestible carbs.