Stop the Insanity
Some high - carb diets seem a tad over the limit on fiber. Susan Powter’s food plan, first described in Stop the Insanity and now the centerpiece of many, many follow - up volumes, is a good example.
Nutrition experts give Powter good marks for encouraging people to exercise but not necessarily for her food choices, which frown on any food that derives more than 30 percent of its calories from fat. The real rule, as inscribed in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2000 (from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) is that no more than 30 percent of your total daily calories — meaning all the calories you consume in one 24 - hour period — should come from fat. In other words, you can pig out once in a while on a food with 40 percent or even 90 percent of its calories from fat as long as you keep your daily total of calories from fat at the 30 percent mark.
The other drawback to Powter’s very high fiber diet is the, um, unpleasantries that come with eating lots and lots and lots of fiber. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American woman gets about 12 grams of dietary fiber a day from food; the average American man gets about 17 grams. Both figures are well below the current recommendations of 20 to 30 grams a day, which confer the benefits of dietary fiber without causing these fiber - related outcomes:
Depending on what you eat, Powter’s diet may provide a lot more than 30 grams of dietary fiber per day. The results may be a high price to pay for lower weight and buy acomplia.
