Hi

I have studied Find your Zone intensivly (directly transalated from the Norwegian title), and I think it is great. And it works.

I have one question though: How do you calculate the amount of proteins in vegetables (and other carbo sources)?

Example: Yesterday I made a meal with i.a. Kidney beans. I felt right after the meal that something was wrong. I checked the ingredients, and found out that I have used way too little carbo (due to the fact that my beans contained much less carbos than those Mr. Sears must have used). And, in addition, they had lots of protein in them.

Next time I will chech what's the actual carbo amount in such beans. But what about the proteins in them?

As you know, Mr. Sears lists a lot of vegetables as carbo sources, and then explains what amount equals one carbo block. However, many of these carbo sourcesw also contains protein.

In his book Mr Sears explains that vegetabile proteinsources do not grant the same amount of protein as animalistic protein (due to fiber), and that he thus recommends animalistic protein sources. But what about all those carbo sources that also contains protein? Do they count for nothing in terms of protein contribution?

-o0o-


I really would appreciate some help on this. Maybe someone even knows if this is explained elsewhere (I am new to this site)?

Thanks,

Wildkick

I don't have the explanation for this but you don't count any of the protein in these carb sources.

Hi Wildkick!

In some of his books, Dr. Sears explains that a portion of the protien in veggie sources (the amount depending upon the particular variety of veggie) is bound in intricate structures of insoluble fiber. This fiber does not break down in the human digestive system. Therefore, the protien bound in this fiber is never released for absorption in the human body. To put it bluntly, it's excreted still bound in the fiber, just as it was when eaten. This makes it difficult to know how much, if any, of the protien in these veggie sources is actually usable in the body. Since it's usually a small amount, with the exception of soy, it's disregarded for Zone balance puropses.