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TOPICS
Zone Diet Recipes
The Zone Diet
Plan
What is the Zone?
The Benefits of Being in The Zone Diet
Zone Diet Sample Meals Plan
Zone Diet and Exercise
Dr. Sears Zone Diet - Pro and Cons
Zone Diet
- Tips & Hints for Success
The Zone - Commonly Asked Questions
About Dr. Barry Sears
Articles
Zone Diet Food - What Zoner Eat?
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The
Introduction to Zone Diet
Zone
Diet was introduced by Dr Barry Sears, PhD. The zone for maximum
calorie burning is 40 percent carbohydrate, 30 percent protein,
30 percent fat. So it is also called the 40-30-30
eating plan.
Zone Diet is based on
hormones, not calories. It claims that carbohydrates make
people fat as most of them are insulin resistant. The author claims
carbohydrate consumption produces insulin, which causes too many
calories to be stored as fat. He also goes on about eicosanoids.
Eiconsanoids are hormones which are synthesized
from essential fatty acids. The Zone claims that eicosanoids are
the most powerful of all hormone systems and have ultimate
control over all physiological functions. Carbohydrates create bad eicosanoids which in turn increases
insulin production.
With the Zone Diet you have to carefully balance the nutritional
content of each meal in the ratio of 40-30-30. Dr Sears created
the Zone Diet based on his experience gained through research
into the effects of foods on hormone production and metabolic
activity. Zone Diet aims to ensure optimal health by using foods
to manage metabolic activity and hormone production, which will
lead to the zone and, not incidentally, weight control.
Main
Basis of Zone Diet
Not just a common man like you and me but high profile
celebrities like Madonna, Demi Moore and Jennifer Aniston
support this diet and are admittedly taken away by the results
of the Zone Diet.
Originally created by Barry Sears, the Zone Diet works on the
premise that 100,000 years ago, we were meat eaters and our
bodies was designed to handle the demands of a meat-based diet.
As we have been refined and evolved, more carbohydrates have
been introduced into our daily diet, causing an imbalance—mainly
due to food grains. The reason for our extra weight could be
attributed to the many grains and starches in our diet (pasta,
rice, breads, and potatoes). The Zone Diet’s strategy calls for
a return to the diets of our ancestors where meat, fruits and
vegetables are the main dietary items. It wouldn’t be an
exaggeration if we say it is journey back to our Mother Nature.
How Does
This Zone Diet Work?
Basically the Zone Diet is purely scientific phenomenon. The
Zone Diet works by working the right ratio of carbohydrates to
proteins and fats in order to control the insulin in the
bloodstream (in 40-30-30 ratio). It is evident that too much of
the hormone (insulin) can increase fat storage and inflammation
in the body which is associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes
and heart disease. Sears asserts that by using the Zone Diet you
are actually optimizing the body’s metabolic function. Through
the regulation of blood sugar, you allow your body to burn
excess body fat and you can become and stay slim-trim and yet
fit.
The Zone Diet
does not actually prohibit you from any particular
food group; however food with high fat and carbohydrates such as
grains, starches, and pastas should be avoided. Fruits and
vegetables are the preferred source of carbohydrates and
monounsaturated fats (such as olive oil, almonds, avocados) are
the ideal choice of fats. The Zone Diet claims to use food as a
drug for overall good health, weight loss and prevention or
management of heart disease and diabetes. Basically it increases
the overall health of the entire body—including mind and soul.
Sears says that you can test to see whether you are ‘hormonally’
correct by eating following the Zone Diet and see how you feel
four hours later. To simplify the Zone Diet, fill one-third of a
plate with low-fat protein, and then two-thirds with fruits and
vegetables and enjoy your life with good food rather keeping
your body starved and deprived from good food.
Conclusion by Dr Sears:
Most diets, including high-protein
diets, only create deprivation, hunger, and fatigue in the hope
that enough weight loss is generated to fit back into your
clothes, at least temporarily. Every week at the check out
counter you will find hundreds of magazines touting and
advertising the newest diet usually developed by some Hollywood
celebrity. These diets generally fail, because they are so
nutritionally unbalanced. It is impossible to follow them for a
lifetime. This is why the Zone is NOT a diet. It is a
life-long
food management system that provides tremendous flexibility in
your food choices to achieve the hormonal goal that guarantees
permanent fat loss. That hormonal Holy Grail is to maintain
insulin in the Zone; not too high, not too low i.e. at
equilibrium!
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