- I am trying to look at the products that I use and the recipes I cook to determine where they stand zone-wise. So I look at a label of a thing of frozen veggie burgers, for example. I have three pieces of info for carbohydrate; total, fiber and sugar. Is there some way that whether or not this is a favorable (low glycemic load, if I understand correctly) from this info? I don't think so.

- I don't see rye bread and rye crackers in my food list as being favorable, but it shows up all over the place in the cookbooks and other books I am looking at. Is it favorable or kinda medium? Or something?

Hmmm I think I had more. But I cannot think of them now!

Thanks!

stephanie

Only insulin stimulating carb is counted for the Zone. Fiber does not stimulate insulin. To determine carbs for the Zone from a label, subtract the total grams of fiber from the total grams of carb. The remainder is the number of grams of insulin stimulating carb that we count for the Zone. One Zone carb block contains 9 grams of insulin stimulating carb.

To determine if the carb in the product is favorable, look at the ingredietns list and see if the ingreds are found on the Fav or the Unfav Zone Food Block lists. Nto everythign is on each list, but you'll get a good general idea. If you're still not sure, even after comparing it to the lists, you'll be better off calling it unfav.

Rye in the form of bread, crackers, flour, whole grain cereal etc., is unfav. It has a slightly lower GL than wheat, but it is still unfav.

Ok but if something does not appear on the zone food list, like pumpkin seeds, does one assume it is unfavorable? There are many types of beans, for instance. But they dont show on the list as fav or not. Are they unfavorable simply by exclusion from the list?

I am disappointed to learn that rye is also unfav, as I had suspected. It makes me question the cookbook I bought. I have been really trying to eliminate or highly restrict the unfavs. And a book that claims to be ABOUT the Zone should not use as many unfav carbs as it does, IMO. I may write a review on amazon. But this is random ranting...

Thanks, once again, for your excellent help.

You're welcome. If not on the fav list, you're best off to assume it's unfav, unless it's obviously probably fav, like watercress, or other greens, for example. Pumpkin seeds are rich in omega 6, which we try to avoid in the Zone. Eat them sparingly.

Sue, what is omega 6, and why is it bad?

Hi Amanda!

Omega 6 is polyunsaturated fat. It raises LDL ("bad cholcsterol") and lowers HDL ("good cholcsterol"), which is the opposite of what you'd want to accomplish. It's an essential fatty acid, meaning our bodies need it. The body doesn't make it. We must get it from the foods we eat, but the typical American diet contains far too much polyunsaturated fat. In the Zone, we try to avoid foods which contain predominantly Omega 6 fats because we already get plenty in small amonts from other foods we eat. You'll fine more details in Zone books.

[quote]Posted By Amanda on 05/17/2008 10:32 PM

Sue, what is omega 6, and why is it bad?[/quote]

Amanda,
I'm betting that the food companies are going to capitalize on this 'bad' Omega-6 EFA soon. Omega-6 will probably be the next dietary villian; like LDL cholesterol is today. Something on which to focus our attention while we continue to eat corporate junk. Another sleight-of-hand that ignores the real issue of our food supply.

Just a hunch.

Tom