If you are looking for a diet which allows you to choose from among diet bars and fresh foods, the Zone diet may be worth considering. The Zone diet emphasizes a specific ratio of carbohydrates, protein and fat to suppress your hunger to help you control your weight. The diet’s stuffed portabella mushrooms are suitable for lunch or dinner on the program.
On the Zone diet, you get approximately 40 percent of your calories from carbohydrates, 30 percent of calories from protein and 30 percent of total calories from fat. Each day, you eat five to six smaller meals or snacks instead of three larger meals, and each meal or snack should come close to the 40-30-30 ratio for carbohydrates, protein and fat. A Zone bar can serve as a ready-to-eat meal or snack, or you can make a recipe, such as stuffed portabella mushrooms.
Basic Recipe
The recipe for stuffed portabella mushrooms from the Zone diet makes two servings of one mushroom each. Start by placing portabella mushrooms in a baking dish with marinara sauce. Microwave zucchini in a separate container, and mix it with ricotta, fontina and parmesan cheeses, egg, tomatoes and pine nuts. Place the filling in the portabella mushroom caps, cover the mushrooms with breadcrumbs and more cheese and bake the dish in the oven.
Calorie Breakdown
Each serving of one stuffed portabella mushroom contains 450 calories, 25 grams of fat, 30 grams of protein and 25 grams of total carbohydrates. Since fat has 9 calories per gram and carbohydrates and protein each have 4 calories per gram, the mushroom dish has about 230 calories from fat, 120 calories from protein and 100 calories from carbohydrates, or about 51 percent of calories from fat, 22 percent of calories from carbohydrates and 27 percent from protein.
Concerns
Each serving of stuffed mushrooms contains 9 grams of saturated fat, or 39 percent of the daily value, and 140 milligrams of cholesterol, or 47 percent of the daily value. Saturated fat and cholesterol you’re your food raise levels of cholesterol in your blood and may increase your risk for heart disease, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The mushroom recipe has 1,050 milligrams of sodium per serving, or 44 percent of the daily value. A high-sodium diet can lead to high blood pressure.



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