From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri May 02 2003 - 11:00:13 MDT
Further refining my meta-rule:
The weights assigned to each of the variables in the numerator could be
calculated in terms of their relative weights given the RDA's for all
nutrients. I do not particularly care for the government's calculation of
vitamin requirements but it does give us a standard from which to work.
For example if the Vitamins and Minerals variables are to be single
variables in the numerator (rather than as in a more precise but more
complicated formula in which each vitamin and mineral and type of fat and
amino acid has its own variable) then we could calculate the factors by
looking at the ratios of the RDA total gram weights of each variable and
comparing them to the total gram weights of other nutrients in the formula.
Doing so for all variables would give us relative weightings for all
variables in the numerator. Where the government has nothing to say (as with
many phytonutrients thought to be beneficial) we could derive our base from
recommendations from other sources.
Other rules could also be inserted into our computerized diet planner,
depending on how meticulous want wants to be.
For example the final rule might look something like this:
"Optimize the diet such that it contains diverse foods totaling at least x
in number from the list of all foods above the median on the N/C scale and
such that the total grams of protein per day equals at least y% but not more
than z% of [user's] bodyweight and such that the scale of omega 6 to omega 3
fats is < 3 and such that [etc, etc]."
The USDA Nutrient Database for many thousands of common foods is
downloadable in various formats for use in any spreadsheet or database app,
so serious dieteers can get as creative as they please. Also there are some
commercial diet planning apps on the market that already do much of the
above.
The most important aspect of this proposed extropic diet meta-rule is that
by limiting foods only to those with high N/C ratios, one will automatically
avoid most low-quality sources of calories, starting with seemingly innocent
but low N/C (and non-paleo) foods like bread and cheese and then moving down
the N/C list to more obvious garbage like ice cream and pizza.
-gts
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