Looking for info on the 30/30/30 nutritional guideline
 

Some people at work have been talking about a 30/30/30 nutritional program that is supposedly 30% carbs (primarily from vegetables and whole grains with no refined starches and only small amounts of naturally occurring sugars), 30% protein (primarily from fish, poultry, eggs, and nuts), and 30% fat (primarily mono and polyunsaturated oils, focusing on Omega 3 and 6 proportions and limited amounts of saturated fats, lots of oily fish, nuts, and expeller pressed/organic olive, canola and nut oils).

The remaining 10% is your "wild card" for less nutritious foods and treats including alcohol, chocolate, and the occasional indulgence.

I Googled it and didn't find anything. Does anyone know where this came from? I found a couple of variations of a 40-30-30 diet, including one on Livestrong. Is this just an attempt to work some junk food into an established plan?

I never heard of it, but it sounds like another fad diet. It looks pretty close to the "zone diet which has a 40/30/30 macronutrient profile...The biggest problems with fad diets is when the diet guru who invented that particular diet puts certain numbers and percentages on macronutrients and then promotes their diet as an absolute and better then other diets.. That's why diets don't work, people may follow it for a little while and quit, because it's impossible to follow something that has certain numbers and amounts. I just can't imagine having to use a calculator everyday and having to calculate exact number of macronutrients that I eat on daily basis, just for the sake of following some diet...I like to have freedom to choose how much food I eat, and I know that as long as my diet consists of whole unprocessed foods then I am doing ok, it really makes no difference if on some days I eat more protein/less carbs and then on other days I eat more carbs/less protein...JMO

Is the other 10% alcohol?

Those macro percentages are a reasonable average guideline if your needs are statistically average. At a glance it looks like too much protein, but only for athletes. For the average office dweller, they need to cut calories back anyway and then the protein would be fine. A more intelligent macro program might be to set protein and fat as grams rather than percentage and let carbs vary with activity. Trying to make the complex simple doesn't always work. Sometimes a generalization is helpful, sometimes not.

I used to do 40/40/20 when I was just trying to look good and perform well while playing soccer.
It was a very doable "guideline", a lot of times I'd come within a few grams for each macronutrient.

What I find it interesting is these "diets" that emphasize "free days" or eat as much as want during time-off periods. This diet now has 10% wild-card for sweets & alcohol. This may be a good marketing attractant, but this is the absolute wrong way to eat. All these fads come and go. Have fun if you want to do them, but most will drop them in a month or so and be back to where they were. On the plus side you'll be ready for the next fad.

I've never seen any purposeful diet for weight control/loss or for fitness that included any refined sugars or alcohol consumption.

Carbonfiberboy and wolfchild have the key to a healthy diet. Find a regular protien/fat intake level that supports your body's basic needs then suppliment it with carbs depending how much you exercise. Develop a healthy diet that include whole grains, fruits, vegtables, nuts, lean meats and other unprocessed foods that you can sustain for the rest of your life.

+1. It really is that simple.

+1. Yep.

Another +1, this is really all it takes. Only addition I would make is when protein/fat intake should happen and scaling that SLIGHTLY dependent on exercise. Focus on everything natural and everything unprocessed. You will win.