Jon,
I am familiar with 'The Zone' diet. This book has been out for some time. You might be surprised to learn that the 'typical american diet' is pretty close to the breakdown of 'the zone'. Doctor's recommend replacing the typical junkfood cholesterol and saturated fats with unsaturated fats. There is no way to generalize about what is the best breakdown for everyone. A person's ideal mixture of fats/proteins/carbs varies WIDELY depending upon their percent body fat, activities, particular metabolism, genetics, medical disorders etc.
Evidence such as "it worked great for me," is known as anecdotal, or testimonial. It is likely true in some cases, but is not scientific or necessarily reproducible in others. It may well be the exception rather than the rule. It is not given much scientific credence.
So, yes Balance Bar does give a '40/30/30' breakdown, but this is not difficult to achieve with regular food, and can easily be duplicated by any interested party. Many other bars like PR bar have a similar composition, and all of them will in a heartbeat if this is where the money is. Probably, the breakdown will continue to be a niche issue with each formulation continuing to have it's prophets like Mr Sears and it's disciples.
40/30/30 may be the best for some, OK for others, and poor for others depending on many factors. Doctors generally recommend a good 'balanced' diet not far from the typical american diet except lower in cholesterol and saturated fats, and higher in fiber. Other diets are hyped by con-artists trying to make a quick buck. In obese people lower fat intake is better to a certain degree, but this is a complex issue with many factors. Aerobic athletes need very high carbohydrate intake because it is more efficiently metabolized for energy. HDL is 'good cholesterol' and increases with exercise, LDL,VLDL are 'bad cholesterol'. I can give you a more detailed explanation, but it is boring.
The Howard Stern promotion - that is where they will succeed IMHO. What Balance Bar needs to do is convince the market that they are better than the oodles of other bars out there even though they all are basically made of the same raw ingredients in slightly different proportions. It's possible, and I hope they can do it.
Regards, Dave |
