A man named Barry Sears created the fad diet called the Zone diet. Sears' plan was that people could eat this diet for the long term, thus making it a lifestyle. It is considered a low carbohydrate diet, however is more based on balancing hormones and therefore does not restrict carbohydrates as much as other low carbohydrate diets such as the Atkins diet.
There is a ratio of 40 to 30 to 30 of carbohydrates, protein and fat in the zone diet. Television studies have concluded that the diet can work. Some of the studies even showed an increase in muscle mass while on the zone diet. Many of the people in these studies also reported that of all the low carbohydrate diets, the zone diet was easiest to fit into an everyday lifestyle.
The result of the zone diet and its hormone balance is the body releasing anti-inflammatory chemicals like those found in aspirin, but without side effects. In addition, claims Sears, the natural anti-inflammatories help with heart health. The body also becomes more efficient as a result of the zone diet, meaning it stops storing fat. If the body isn't storing fat, it's losing weight. Fatty acids such as omega 3 were later added in the form of supplements such as fish oil.
A typical zone diet meal was described by its creator in the following manner. In every meal eat enough protein to fit in the palm of your hand, as many non-starchy raw vegetables as you can take, just enough carbohydrates to maintain mental clarity, and just enough oils to stop hunger.
This zone diet has a famous weight loss case in its files, that of the man who weighed over 1200 pounds. After two years on the zone diet he lost nearly 1/3 of that weight, all that after trying everything he could think of including liposuction that had nearly been fatal. The man's current diet consists of 2000 calories broken up into six meals per day. It includes egg white omelets, fresh salads, chicken, fish, and other healthy foods mandated by the zone diet.
Exercise care when taking up the zone diet.
