The Zone Diet
The Zone Diet was popularized by a biochemist, Dr. Barry Sears. It is based on consuming meals with the following nutrient ratios, 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein and 30% fat. Nutrient ratios simply refer to the percentage of your total daily calories that come from protein, carbohydrates and fat. By following the 40-30-30 ratios, Dr. Sears claims that you can lose weight, gain muscle, improve athletic performance and cure a whole host of diseases and health problems. “The Zone” is Dr. Sears’ term for proper hormone balance. When insulin levels are neither too high nor too low, and glucagon levels are not too high, then specific anti-inflammatory chemicals are released into your blood-stream. Additionally, the human body in caloric balance is more efficient and does not have to store excess calories as fat. Instead it uses stored body fat for energy. And this causes weight loss in the long run! The human body cannot store fat and burn fat at the same time, and Dr. Sears believes it takes time for the body to switch from storing body fat to actually burning it for energy. From our point of view, the main distinction that Dr. Sears makes is that it takes *significant time* for the body to start burning body fat, if insulin levels were high because of unbalanced eating. From our experience, this is very true, and why we also use the nutrient ratio approach in our system. It is simply the most effective way to help your body to digest and utilize food.
A very important distinction...Another key feature of The Zone Diet, introduced in his later books, is an intake of a particular ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids. Dr. Sears is believed to have popularized the taking of pharmaceutical-grade Omega 3 fish oil. Sears emphasizes a hormonal paradox contrary to the “low-fat” rationale, namely that low-fat diets increase the production of the hormone insulin, causing the body to store more fat. Monounsaturated fats in a meal contribute to a feeling of fullness and decrease the rate at which carbohydrates are absorbed into the blood stream. Slower carbohydrate absorption means lower insulin levels which means less stored fat and a faster transition to fat burning. If the body needs energy and can’t burn fat because of high insulin levels, a person feels tired as their brain starves and metabolism slows down to compensate. This occurs because the brain runs on glucose and high insulin levels deplete blood glucose levels. Such a condition, rebound hypoglycemia, causes sweet cravings, and the consumption of these sweets starts the high-insulin cycle all over again!
Where it falls short...The Zone diet is considered a low-carb diet. It is not as restrictive in total carbohydrate intakes as some of the other low-carb diets (e.g. Atkins diet) that became extremely popular in the United States in 2003 and 2004. Dr. Sears claims these other diets miss the point. According to him, they ignore the importance of hormonal balance, as well as the influence of dietary balance on digestion and hormonal production. In our honest opinion, there are only a few flaws in his approach. The first is extremely low calories, it is basically a very low calorie diet. And the second is the nutrient ratio recommendation of 40-30-30 is an acceptable nutrient ratio only for people who are carbohydrate sensitive. A long term weight loss strategy has to be individualized according to your unique body type, your activity level and most important, your health goals. What this means is that any diet that gives you exact numbers of calories or exact nutrient ratios to follow, will fall short for most people using it. From our experience, this is not a bad place to start, but you have to track your results and adjust these nutrient ratios based on your own unique body type and physiological characteristics!
Where the zone diet really shines...However, there are many important things you can learn from reading about the Zone Diet, especially Dr. Sears’ recommendation of having a good balance of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Another very, very important point made by Dr. Sears is to always to combine a lean protein and a complex carbohydrate food at every meal. In addition to these two major distinctions he also pointed out the dangers of eating large amounts of processed carbohydrates such as white breads, white pastas, fat free snacks and baked goods. These subjects will be covered in more detail in the Nutrition section of this website, and then the importance of Dr. Sears contributions to the weight loss community will become very obvious. We will be honest, and admit that The Zone Diet is the program which put us on the path toward weight loss success 15 years ago! We adjusted and learned many things during that time, but we will be grateful to Dr. Barry Sears for the rest of our lives, for everything that he taught us! In the next section The Pritikin Diet we cover all the pros and cons of this popular fad diet. from the zone diet GO TO...............................THE PRITIKIN DIET
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