The Coming Revolution In Weight Loss
Biotechnology is pretty much in its infancy. In the next few decades bioscience and biotech will have as profound an impact on our lives as the microchip.
Sphere: Related ContentPareto Analysis of Two Diet Plans
This past Mother’s Day I was looking for a book on metabolism in a bookstore. I found a book called Ultrametabolism and leafed through it. It went beyond explaining how metabolism works by structuring an entire diet plan around it. I went ahead and bought it and, after reading, made a mindmap to try and keep track of the many recommendations it made. As you can see, it got pretty complex. Start at the ‘7 Myths’ topic and work your way around clockwise to get a flavor for what you’re getting into if you follow this diet plan. My history with diets is that the more complex it is, the less likely I’ll adhere to it.
A couple of weeks later I found a nearly identical diet plan entitled No Flour, No Sugar. However, the mindmap detailing this plan was somewhat less complex. While both diet plans recommend diets high in fiber, protein, and beneficial fats, the simpler one determined that the biggest bang for the buck is experienced by merely eliminating all sugar and flour from the diet. If you’ve visited the Arsenal page, you’ll recognize this as a Pareto analysis - determining the 20 percent of what you do that yields 80 percent of the benefits. No Flour, No Sugar is essential a Pareto version of Ultrametabolism, and therefore a lot easier to do.
Of course they disagree in some areas - Ultrametabolism recommends a lot of supplements and hates sugar substitutes, while NFNS eschews supplements and allows artificial sweetners. True to its name, NFNS allows all carbs so long as they are not sugar or flour, even starches like rice, potatoes and polenta. Ultrametabolism concentrates heavily on fiber-filled carbs, recommending a goal of 50 grams per day.
As an innovator I naturally try to integrate the best from both. My approach was to take NFNS as a base, add a fiber supplement called konjac root recommended by Ultrametabolism, add more fish and lean meat, and choose fiber (nuts and whole wheat crackers mostly) over starch whenever possible. But as a minimum I stick with NFNS and the konjac supplement and still get the majority of benefits - a great approach for eating out.
And before you ask - as of Father’s Day I’m down ten pounds.
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