Zone Diet

By Amanda Davies, FreeDietReviews.com

The concept of Zone Diet has been created by Dr. Barry Sears, a former researcher in biotechnology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Apart from being a balanced and delicious eating plan; the Zone Diet helps in losing weight, burning fat, controlling hunger and increasing energy.

The diet program associated with Zone Diet envisages continuous control of insulin along with supplementation with high-dose fish oil so that the arachidonic acid is synthesized. In America, the Zone Diet is very popular as it can control blood sugar levels and a newly discovered hormone by the name of “eicosanoid”.

In order to treat a large number of chronic diseases, which are inflammatory in nature, the Zone Diet in conjunction with ultra-refined EPA/DHA concentrates is very effective. The Zone Diet envisages that the calorie intake should be in a 40-30-30 ratio for every meal and for snacks it should be 40 percent of calories from carbohydrate, 30 per cent from protein and 30 per cent from fat. This distribution pattern for all meals and snacks ensures that the body will work at optimum performance level so that maximum energy and weight loss is achieved.

Insulin is a hormone that is produced by the pancreas and its function is to metabolize the sugar in the body and thus it controls the level of blood sugar. The basis of the Zone Diet plan is that excess insulin in the body makes us fat and keeps us so. This plan endeavors to regulate the blood sugar level and restricts the insulin level so that the body has to burn more fat with the result that weight-loss takes place.

Maintaining a hormonal balance between insulin and glucagons is the target of the Zone diet plan and this is achieved by restraining the amount of some food groups and keeping the insulin level in an optimum state so that it is neither too high nor too low. Glucagon releases glucose from the liver as and when it is required. The Zone Diet is a strategy that controls the hormones during your entire life.

The eating plan of the Zone Diet is based on consuming a mixture of small quantities of low-fat protein, fats, and carbohydrates mostly in the form of fiber-rich vegetables and fruits. Every meal or snack must contain proteins and twice the amount of proteins should be the quantity of carbohydrates that should be consumed. Vegetable, beans and whole-grains are desirable but certain “unfavorable carbohydrates” such as pasta, brown rice, bagels, and bananas should be consumed in very small quantities.

The strategy of the Zone Diet is to maintain the right ratio of carbohydrates to proteins and fats so that the quantity of insulin in the blood stream is regulated. An excess of insulin can lead to increased fat storage and inflammation in the body, which are conditions that indicate the presence of obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The use of Zone Diet, according to Sears, optimizes the metabolic functions of the body and excess body fat can be burned by regulating the blood sugar.

By maintaining appropriate levels of insulin you can increase fat loss with less chance of cardiovascular disease and achieve better physical and mental performance. By controlling eicosanoids there will be less inflammation and the blood flow will increase. This will be beneficial for all types of chronic disease conditions and the physical performance will also improve.

The Zone diet plan envisages eliminating most carbohydrates such as rice, breakfast cereals, pasta, bread, potatoes, noodles, croissants, bagels, muffins, pastries, crisps, pies, sweets, chocolate, sugar and preserves, as these affect insulin levels. Fruits and vegetables can be consumed. Every meal should have skinless chicken, turkey and fish. Foods with saturates should be avoided and those rich in monounsaturates like avocado, olive oil and nuts are recommended.