Well, it seems more and more are coming around to the Zone way of thinking. But dare they mention the Zone? :wink: Of course not! :!: This weekend's Sunday newspaper insert (Sun, 28 Sept 03) of the USA Weekend had several articles that had information about eating, diet, and weight loss - all pointing to Zone. In "Myths Make me Nuts" they exposed the myth that all fat is bad. And suggested Omega-3's, and MonoUnsaturated fats such as in Olive Oil. While this is not exclusively Zone, Dr. Sears is one of a few who really brings it to the public's attention. In "More Health Tips to do the Body Good" under "Cholestero;: Veggies Work, "Eating lots of vegetables may reduce LDL, ..." And finally, in "Meet america's Most Energetic Couple", Tip # 13. Drink 48 to 64 punces of water daily. Tip # 14. Eat five or six small, healthful meals daily, with lots of vegetavles and fruits. Tip # 15. Keep up with exercise on a regular basis, ... Note about Tip # 14: "THAYER (says): The small meals allow you to sustain energy over a longer period of time, as opposed to having it arrive in peaks and valleys. Now, all these are certainly not something new from Dr. Sears, but put them all together, and you ahve the makings of a Zone lifestyle. ~ john "You are what you eat." I love Almonds. So, I must be a nut!

Several Myths bother me, here, in this article. What the article says: 1. MYTH: Carrots are taboo on low-carb diets because they spike blood sugar and insulin, increasing appetite and body fat. (Aside from the fact that what they really mean is low-density-carb diets and NOT low-carb diets.) FACT: Carrots have weak ability to spike blood sugar, making them perfectly okay for low-carb diets, says Jennie Brand-Miller, Ph.D., an Australian glycemic index expert who has tried to kill this myth for years. :?: ??? :? 2. MYTH: Farmed Salmon has less good fat than wild salmon. FACT: The two types have equal amounts of healthy Omega-3s. Other concerns, however, farmed salmon has more environmental toxins (PCBs). :?: ??? :? Though the article has two other MYTHS that Avoiding Coffee is Wrong and Eggs are Bad, their reasons for these two myths being myths do not even touch on the fats in eggs and the other effects of coffee, so as Zoners, we can ignore those two errors in the article. ~ john

About the Carrots Carrots ranked unusually high when they first formulated the glycemic index. Upon revising the glycemic index lately, they sampled greater numbers of people and found that they had previously overstated the ability of carrots to increase blood sugar. Also, consider that people don''t usually consume vast quanitities of carrots. You might find more info on www.glycemicindex.com and in "The New Glucose Revolution" by Brand-Miller, Wolever, Foster-Powell, and Colagiuri. Also: http://diabetes.about.com/library/m...dosagi.htm Charlie

[quote:6a2bca0328="cduane"]About the Carrots Upon revising the glycemic index lately, they sampled greater numbers of people and found that they had previously overstated the ability of carrots to increase blood sugar. Also, consider that people don''t usually consume vast quanitities of carrots. Charlie[/quote:6a2bca0328] HOWEVER; Dr. Sears lists carrots as unfavorable. (And another note, cantelope (sic?) in one book was listed as favorable, and in another (later) as unfavorable.) Of course the beauty of the Zone is the flexibility. So I will continue to eat cantelope (sic?) during season (summer). And now add a few Baby Carrots from SAM's/Wallmart in, too.

In terms of "favorable" versus "unfavorable", carrots are root vegetables, therefore they are dense with sugars. Potatoes, turnips, radishes, etc, have more starch per serving than, say, leafy greens. (Plants store most of their sugar in their roots and seeds.) Zoners should treat root veggies like grains: If you like them, small portions can be eaten within a Zone-friendly ratio. In other words, it's not the food item as much as it is the macronutrient. If you ate an entire head of lettuce on an empty stomach, without any fat or protein, you would experience a significant blood glucose elevation.