How The Zone Diet Works

The Zone is considered a low-carb diet. The Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet are also low-carb, at least in their first phase. They all criticize the recommendations of the USDA in their claims for a healthy diet. They refer to the USDA's food pyramid as a marketing tool to sell bread and pastry products.

Dr. Atkins created his own food pyramid to reflect what is, in his opinion, a healthy eating scheme.

Dr. Barry Sears, creator of Zone Diet , came up with a scheme of his own: the 40-30-30 ratio. To control our hormonal levels and preserve our health, says Dr. Sears, we need to feed our body an approximate ratios of 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fats.

How Does the Zone Diet Helps You Lose Weight?

Our body has its natural mechanisms to keep us healthy, and maintain a normal lifestyle. The body takes its energy and vital substances from food. Feeling hungry is a sign that we need more energy and nutrients. As we eat, we reach saturation. At this point we feel satisfied for the next few hours.

But our body is a bit too efficient. It does not transfer all the energy we feed it into the burning processes, but only a small amount of it. The rest of the energy is saved for a rainy day.

The favorite source of energy for our body is glucose. Glucose is the simplest carbohydrate. It can be processed from complex carbohydrates contained in high amounts in grains, pasta, rice, bread and potatoes. Fruit contains fructose, another carbohydrate. Carbs can be found in smaller amounts in certain vegetables.

When we eat bread, for example, complex carbohydrates enter our bodies, where they are transformed into glucose. Glucose is easily transferred into the bloodstream. At this moment, insulin gets in the way. The role of insulin, a well-known hormone produced by the pancreas, is to absorb the glucose (commonly known as sugar) from the blood. The blood uses glucose for energy stores it, partially in the liver (together with two molecules of water). The remaining glucose goes into fat tissues. Fat cells do not multiply over the years. They just get bigger. This is how we put on weight.

You have probably heard or read that Zone Diet helps you lose weight by balancing your blood insulin level. How do we explain this?

Let's have a look at the recommendations:

• Cut down on those diet foods with a high glycemic index (pasta, white bread, cookies, sugar). Keep fruits and vegetables as your favorite source of carbs.
• Calculate your daily protein intake and supply it mostly from lean meat and fish.
• Eat mono saturated fats; olive oil is strongly recommended.
• Exercise.
• The recommended calorie intake should not exceed 500 kcal per meal and 100 kcal per snack. This derives from the block meals method. Three meals and two snacks per day leads us to around 1,700 calories daily. This is considered a little below the average need of energy for one day.

We see that all the actions we are supposed to take will reduce the amount of insulin produced by the pancreas and enhance the glucagon level. Glucagon is a hormone which behaves in precisely the opposite to insulin.

• Cutting high glycemic foods reduces the sugar level in our blood, so there is no further need for insulin.
• Processing proteins and mono saturated fats does not involve insulin. Dr. Sears' theory says that "dietary fat alone can't make you fat", as fat slows down the entry of carbohydrates into the bloodstream.
• Keeping a low calorie intake forces the body to supply energy from resources already stored in the body. Glucagon helps here, by breaking amino-acid chains and transforming them into simple carbs that can now be burned in tissues to release energy. It is clear that you lose weight by burning fat instead of glucose;
• The same process happens when we exercise: if your glucose level in the blood stream is already balanced, you burn energy from your fat reserves.

In conclusion, insulin is known for its role in storing fat. Lowering the insulin level, claim the "zoners", reduces fat storage. But there is still a serious question about this diet. Does it really make you lose weight by reducing insulin levels in your blood, or by cutting calories and putting you through exercise like so many regular diets do.

 

How Does the Zone Diet Work in Preventing Diseases?

First, let's have a look at diseases like type II diabetes and cardiovascular diseases:

Type II Diabetes

Apart from type I diabetes, caused by a malfunction of the pancreas that is not able to produce insulin, type II diabetes often occurs to non-insulin-dependent people. For some reason, at a certain moment in their life, their body becomes unable to use its own insulin. The body becomes immune to insulin. Although there is not enough scientific data to support this, type II diabetes occurs more frequently in people over 40. It is also linked to obesity. In circumstances in which there is a high tolerance to glucose, insulin already in the blood cannot be used and sent further to the cells.

Cardiovascular Affections

Traditionally, cardiovascular diseases are linked to several causes, among them, cholesterol level in the blood. It seems the problem is "bad cholesterol" coming from dietary saturated fat. At first, it thickens the blood, causing bad circulation. Then, it deposits on the blood vessels. When it narrows or even blocks arteries, arteriosclerosis occurs. If the coronary arteries are blocked, a heart attack is imminent. If a blood vessel in the brain is blocked, it can cause a stroke.

Let's take another look at Dr. Sears' recommendations:

• Cut high-glycemic foods, saturated fats, the amount of calorie intake. All these measures reduce body fat storage, make you lose weight and put you into the "green area" of low type II diabetes risk.
• Eat only mono-saturated fats: olive oil, guacamole, almonds, macadamia nuts, borage oil. They are known to contain low levels of LDL - "bad cholesterol" and high levels of HDL - "the good one".