The COM Diet (ChronohOrMorpho diet)

My experience and ongoing studies in endocrinology have led me to understand the importance of a personalized approach that must take into account the hormonal prevalence of every single individual.

The majority of hormones follow circadian rhythms; that is, they aren’t constantly secreted by the body but follow a specific rhythm during the day. A typical example is GH, which is mainly secreted during night sleep.

Even more typical than that is the circadian rhythm of cortisol, which reaches its highest level early in the morning and is quite high until 4 p.m., after which it gradually decreases.

Hormones vary during the day. They influence and are influenced by one’s diet. Moreover, they influence fat distribution. It’s therefore clear that manipulating the proportions and the daily distribution of nutrients will affect fat distribution.

Fat accumulation in different body zones is mainly due to different hormonal prevalence. The hormones influence fat distribution as well as one’s choice of food. Food, in turn, influences hormonal secretions. However, it must be taken into account that hormonal secretion varies throughout the day, and therefore the intake of certain food at different times of the day has different effects on fat accumulation. The COM diet considers the morphology of an individual (apple, pear, or chili pepper shape), which corresponds to a specific hormonal prevalence whose influence on fat distribution can be controlled and partially modified by both qualitative and chronological choice of food, thus favouring localized weight loss.

After verifying that hormonal prevalence means that a person tends to accumulate fat in certain parts of the body, I formulated diversified diets and training sessions according to the different morphotypes, which I divided into four types: hyperlipogenetic, hypolipolytic, hyper-mixed, and hypo-mixed types.

The hyperlipogenetic type corresponds to the subject in which the functioning of the hypothalamic—hypophysis-adrenocortical axis prevails. This means, in other words, a high hormone production of the adrenal cortex, such as cortisol, which is linked to stress response. In the acute phase, cortisol stimulates lipolysis, but a high and chronic secretion of it desensitizes the adipocytes, which cease to react to lipolytic stimulation and instead contribute, thanks to their hyperglycemizing effect (the transformation of proteins into glucose), to raise insulin levels and to favour the appearance of insulin resistance, which increases trunk and abdominal visceral fat.

Hyperlipogenetic (“apple-shaped”) subjects present high cortisol levels already in the early morning (cortisol has a circadian rhythm and reaches its highest peak in the morning), so, despite what’s generally recommended, they must eat moderate quantities of carbohydrates for breakfast to avoid further increases in glycemic levels, which are already raised by cortisol. On the contrary, if carbohydrates are included in their evening diet, they will stimulate greater serotonin production, which will help regular sleep and a more regular hormone production. Although it’s true that a protein evening meal helps GH stimulation, activating greater hypoglycemia during the night, it is also true that in predisposed subjects it can lead to adrenergic hyperactivity, which doesn’t favour a good phase of REM sleep. Therefore, GH secretion will be inhibited and high cortisol levels will remain also during the night, producing catabolic effects. As these subjects present high cortisol levels even in the morning, they don’t particularly benefit from aerobic exercise in the morning, which instead can easily have catabolic effects. Instead, it would be recommended after a little 100-calorie snack consisting in fibre carbohydrates and serum proteins with the possible addition of branched-chain amino acids and phosphatidylserine. However, it’s very important that aerobic exercise should be practiced very softly and gradually in order to allow the subject to adapt slowly to it.

Hypolipolytic subjects stand on the opposite end, as they prevalently produce estrogen hormones (they are therefore mainly female, but estrogen can be also produced by a man who easily aromatizes testosterone in estrogens). Estrogens have a modulating effect on adrenal cortisol production and tend to slow down thyroid metabolism, thus stimulating fat accumulation above all in the lower part of the body. Therefore, these “pear-shaped” subjects have a slow metabolism; that is, they don’t optimally burn fats. So, it would be advisable for them to follow a diet that helps them to produce thyroid and GH hormones which are mainly lipolytic. To make this possible, it’s advisable to follow a diet rich in carbohydrates in the first part of the day to stimulate the production of thyroid hormones and a protein diet in the evening to stimulate GH production. These subjects can—and indeed must—practice aerobic exercise in the morning before breakfast, as their glycemic levels will be very low, having avoided carbohydrates in the evening, and as they present low cortisol levels in the morning.

Mixed (“pepper shaped”) subjects accumulate fat homogenously. The hyper-mixed types are usually provided with good metabolisms and present well-proportioned and athletic figures, but they can suffer from food disorders with consequences on thyroid metabolism. The hypo-mixed types present an alteration of the hypophysis gland, low GH production, and high prolactin production (antilipolytic hormone). Both mixed types must follow diets with a limited amount of carbohydrates in each meal (above all in the evening in hypo-mixed subjects). Moreover, whereas hyper-mixed subjects must mainly consume food rich in iodine in order to stimulate the thyroid, hypo-mixed subjects must avoid dairy products, which stimulate prolactin production.

Obviously, such clearly defined biotypes don’t exist in reality, but there can be a prevalence. As far as I’m concerned, I belong to the hyper-mixed biotype with a hyperlipogenetic tendency. Certainly, we must take not only genetics into account; the influence of the external environment is of the same importance. In my case, the constant stress to which I’m submitted due to the heavy rhythm of my daily activity leads me towards a hyperlipogenetic situation, and therefore I must take it into account, choosing carbohydrates and to exercise in the evening when the level of cortisol is lower.

All these concepts expressed here simply and briefly are more widely dealt with in my book, The Com Diet & Spot Reduction, which is about the sort of diet that takes into account the individual’s hormone prevalence based on the evaluation of his or her morphology, which can be regulated through a chronologic intake of various types of food. The book also deals with another very interesting and controversial subject, localized weight loss, supported by scientific evidence. There’s also an entire section dedicated to the description of tasty recipes based on the COM Diet specifically elaborated by the functional gastronomy chef Marcello Ghiretti. Finally, to make things easier for the reader, predefined weekly plans and the best consumption times for each recipe divided by morphotype have been included.

Example of a diet for the hyperlipogenetic individual

Breakfast
150 g (5.3 oz) of low-fat yogurt + 30 g (1 oz) of whey proteins + 30 g (1 oz) of oats + 3 walnuts.

Lunch
150 g (5.3 oz) of salmon or mackerel or 200 g (7 oz) of tuna or air-cured beef, as many vegetables as you like, one spoon of olive oil, one apple.

Possible snack 5 p.m.
15 almonds

Dinner
40 g (2.5 oz) of brown rice, 100 g (3.5 oz) of white meat or 150 g (5.3 oz) of cod, as many vegetables as you like, one spoon of olive oil, one apple.

Example of a diet for the hypolipolytic individual

Breakfast
200 g (7 oz) of Greek yogurt, 4 whole rice crackers or 40 g (1.4 oz) of oat flakes, one spoon of jam, one orange.

Lunch
60 g (2.1 oz) of quinoa or brown rice, 50 g (1.7 oz) of legumes, one spoon of olive oil.

Snack
One piece of fruit.

Dinner
100 g (3.5 oz) of salmon or 150 g (5.3 oz) of white meat or 200 g (7 oz) of cod, as many vegetables as you like, one spoon of olive oil.

Example of a diet for the hyper-mixed

Breakfast
2 whole eggs + 2 egg whites, 70 g (2.5 oz) of rye bread, 1 spoon of almond butter.

Lunch
150 g (5.3 oz) of red meat, as many vegetables as you like, one teaspoon of olive oil, one yam, one small piece of fruit.

Possible snack at 5 p.m.
25 g (0.9 oz) of parmesan cheese.

Dinner
150 g (5.3 oz) of salmon, as many vegetables as you like, one spoon of olive oil, 10 g (0.35 oz) of pistachio nuts, one baked potato.

Example of a diet for the hypo-mixed

Breakfast
2 scrambled eggs + 3–4 slices of ham, one slice of toasted bread made with buckwheat + one spoon of coconut butter.

Lunch
One piece of fruit, 100 g (3.5 oz) of liver or lean beef, one yam, as many vegetables as you like, one spoon of olive oil.

Dinner
150 g (5.30 oz) of salmon or 200 g (7 oz) of tuna, preferred vegetable soup, one spoon of olive oil, 10 cashew nuts.