.

[IlliniDave]

Chad, don't know your degree of familiarity with the Zone diet. I encountered it first because it is the generic nutrition recommendation they teach new Crossfitters (not "Paleo", as some like to think). I followed it initially just because it made sense (I already knew I had issues with grains, sweets, and factory food). Later I read one of the books about it.

The mechanism Sears points to as its linchpin is insulin regulation, and it seemed to make a lot of sense in light of how I reacted to it. I don't think it's the be-all, end-all, as you're an example of there being many roads to Dublin. It's rigid enough that following it to the letter is tedious, and I really think it's advantageous to experiment and tailor nutrition to the individual, which I did over the course of a couple years.

These days I only follow it loosely, and bias my macro intake towards protein (insulin suppressing) and fat (insulin neutral) for reasons similar to those you state. As long as I'm in the ballpark of 1/3 or fewer calories from carbohydrates, my "numbers" stay pretty consistent, so I adjust it to taste and convenience. The sheer bulk of many healthy vegetables I'd have to eat to get 1/3 of my calories consistently can make me feel a little like Mr. Creosote (not to mention the whole greenhouse gas thing).

[Chad]

I'm not hugely familiar with the Zone Diet, but I knew of it. Though, I couldn't have told you the exact ratios of the macros he recommended. I did know it was roughly 1/3rd for each with a little more focus on one or two of them. I couldn't of told you which ones before I looked at the diet.

Interesting that he used insulin regulation as the linchpin, as it was one of the reasons I made some changes to my diet. A lot of studies suggest insulin is a major component of weight gain, health, longevity, etc.

I agree, we need to tailor nutrition to the individual. The averages are good to get us in roughly the right area, but then we need to experiment to see what works.

These days I only follow it loosely, and bias my macro intake towards protein (insulin suppressing) and fat (insulin neutral) for reasons similar to those you state. As long as I'm in the ballpark of 1/3 or fewer calories from carbohydrates, my "numbers" stay pretty consistent, so I adjust it to taste and convenience. The sheer bulk of many healthy vegetables I'd have to eat to get 1/3 of my calories consistently can make me feel a little like Mr. Creosote (not to mention the whole greenhouse gas thing).

That's kind of where I'm at, but without the gas (almost none). I don't really even pay attention to the macros that much anymore, as the way I eat almost automatically hits these rough percentages. It's hard to eat too many carbs when you remove the grains and processed foods.

[IlliniDave]

Chad, I don't know the exact ratios in terms of calories either. But it is built on "blocks" consisting of 10g carbs, 7g protein, and 3g fat, with the number of blocks/day scaled for gender, age, activity, and such. IIRC, for a typical moderately active adult male of average stature, intake would be about 14 or 15 blocks/day, at 3-4 blocks/meal. He's big on keeping to those ratios any/every time you eat, because the combination/proportion is the recipe to regulate insulin on a continuous basis. Like I said, I found it tedious to follow, and learned that if I just eliminate the "bad" carbs, consume protein/fat according to appetite, and then add good carbs up to whatever my mood allowed, I was pretty good.

[GandK]

From the journal of the American Academy of Neurology (published yesterday): Mediterranean diet and brain structure in a multiethnic elderly cohort

Among older adults, MeDi adherence was associated with less brain atrophy, with an effect similar to 5 years of aging. Higher fish and lower meat intake might be the 2 key food elements that contribute to the benefits of MeDi on brain structure.

[jennypenny]

From the NYTimes: The Fats You Don’t Need to Fear, and the Carbs That You Do

Related from same: The Mediterranean Diet: Is It the Food or the Lifestyle?

[Chad]

Study suggests full fat dairy might be better than low/non fat:

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/146/1/81.abstract