Mid-Life Miracle Diet

Most people in their 40s and 50s begin to lose energy and hang onto weight. It can be a demoralizing turn of events. But nutrition specialist Adele Phun claims to have the solution. Phun, author of "The Midlife Miracle Diet," offers a diet plan, along with some reasons why your body might not be performing the way it used to.

Rationale

A survey published in the 2002 "Journal of the American Medical Association" found that 47 million adults in the United States have metabolic syndrome. This is a group of conditions: high-blood pressure, elevated blood glucose and excess body fat. Puhn believes that the primary culprit in this metabolic mix-up is glucose resistance and that by addressing insulin resistance, you can lose weight and gain energy. She recommends a diet that is relatively high in protein and relatively low in carbohydrates, a plan that keeps blood glucose level.

Getting in Balance

The first step in Phun's plan is balancing your diet so that you don't suffer from carbohydrate cravings. You should eat a protein breakfast within an hour of awaking. Lunch should consist of protein and vegetables, as should dinner. You may have a starchy carbohydrate such as a baked potato or corn at dinner. You should snack on vegetables or fruits every three hours.

Carbohydrates

Puhn's diet plan is fairly low in carbohydrates but has more flexibility than traditional low-carb diets. During a typical day on the first part of the plan, you will consume approximately 100 g of carbohydrates, depending on the snacks you choose. The second phase, however, asks you to become more careful about your carbs. During this part of the diet, you may eat as few as 50 g of carbohydrates a day -- far below the 130 g a day recommended by the Institute of Medicine.

Exercise

Puhn says that exercise helps the diet work, because it increases metabolism, decreases insulin resistance, burns calories and improves mood. On the Midlife Miracle Diet, you're expected to exercise three to five days weekly for a minimum of 25 minutes. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 60 to 90 minutes of moderate-intensity activity five days a week to lose weight.

Supplements

Supplements are an important part of the Midlife Miracle Diet. Puhn recommends a "four-star melody" of alpha lipoic acid, conjugated linoleic acid, chromium polynicotinate and vanadyl sulfate. Research seems to support the wisdom of taking these supplements. In the August 1995 biomedical journal "Arzneimittelforschung," German researchers reported that alpha lipoic acid can lower blood-sugar levels. The 2000 "Journal of Nutrition" published a study demonstrating that conjugated linoleic acid can reduce body fat, and the 1996 "Diabetes" reported a study that found that vanadyl sulfate improved insulin sensitivity in people with type 2 diabetes. Studies of chromium and weight loss show mixed results, but researchers acknowledge that it can may decrease insulin resistance.