I'm thinking of adding a couple ounces of wheat bran to my daily diet. 1 oz of wheat bran = 18g carb, 12g fiber. This is just about identical to 3/4 cup of the frozen raspberries that I eat. Would wheat bran be a favorable carb? I noticed that corn bran is an ingredient of Zone Cereal so taking bran must be okay. Wheat bran does have some Omega 6 (571 mg per ounce) but my AA is low so I need to get more Omega 6.

I've been taking Metamucil (psyllium husk) but it's not supposed to be taken long term.

It's funny, when I started the Zone several months ago I was doing everything I could to limit my fiber intake because digestive issues. Now, I find I need a lot of fiber to keep regular.

Wheat bran may be just about identical to frozen strawberries, however the amounts are not the same, 1oz vs. ¾ cup.
One should consider the glycemic load (GL) and inflammation factor of the food consumed.
The glycemic load of oat bran is 5 with a inflammatory factor of minus 22. See: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts...sta/5703/2
The glycemic load of crude wheat bran is 2 with a inflammatory factor of plus 10. See: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts...sta/5742/2
It may be better to utilize oat bran.
AA – few individuals have their AA levels too low. Very seldom does Dr. Sears suggest someone to consume more omega 6’s or egg yolks. The ideal range for the serum phospholipids test is between 7 to 9, and EPA above 4.0
Digestive issues (constipation) may be caused by the release of AA. A Zone Diet will switch your body to a fat-burning metabolism instead of a carbohydrate-burning metabolism. The metabolism of fat requires greater amounts of water on a daily basis. Therefore, the first step is to increase your water intake by 50%. If this isn't sufficient to reduce the constipation, then you are probably releasing a particular type of stored fat known as arachidonic acid from your fat cells. For about 25% of the population, there will be a transitory release of arachidonic acid. The build-up of extra arachidonic acid is a result of your previous dietary patterns. This temporary increase in arachidonic acid in the bloodstream can give rise to constipation by reducing water flow into the colon. Adding extra long-chain Omega-3 fats to your diet will minimize this transitory effect. The best source of EPA is fish, but another good source is fish oil capsules as long as the fish oil has pharmaceutical grade. For the first week on the Zone, I recommend taking an additional 6 grams of fish oil per day. Alternatively, you can slow the release of stored body fat by making a slight adjustment in your hormonal carburetor and add 10 grams of carbohydrate block to each meal for the first week

Thank you Tech Support. I didn't think to look up the GL. Great idea. It looks like I can consider bran as favorable based on the GL. I have increased my water some but I'll drink more. I don't think your other recommendations apply to me

I recently received my AA/EPA test results from EICO Labs. My AA/EPA ratio = 0.6 (AA is 3.56, EPA is 5.76)

I' had been taking 7.5g of OmegaRX (= 12 capsules) for 2 months and eating about as low of an Omega 6 diet as is possible (about 70% of my fat came from macadamia nuts which have almost 0 Omega 6).

I wrote to DrSears.com and told him I was planning to go back to 2.5g of OmegaRX, increase my Omega 6 by eating the usual favorable fats and not having macadamia nuts. He suggested that I also add two egg yolks per week.

So, I doubt that the constipation is due to release of AA. I don't carry extra fat and, thankfully, haven't lost weight on the Zone.

When I started the Zone (March 2012) I couldn't handle eating a lot of fibrous vegetables so I ate a lot of onions, tomatoes, hummus, etc. I'm able to handle more roughage now but not enough, I think. It appears that the bran is being well tolerated by my digestive system so I may continue it.

Thanks again for the well-researched answer.

Your Welcome... I am no Dave Shreck but I try.. LOL ! :-)

Larry, read up on magnesium. Supplemental elemental magnesium may help with both your concerns (constipation and neck). Basically you can't take too much magnesium because the body excretes the excess it doesn't need.

I'll check that out, Sue. I've been taking 400 mg of Magnesium Citrate at night. Could be I need more.

Try adding some more throughout the fat, too. I average around a gram a day. The actual
amount varies depending on how much EPA I'm taking.

I'll give it a try. Thanks.

Typo, auto correct error: throughout the "day"