The Zone Diet fits somewhere in between of being a healthy diet plan and a fad diet. It promotes the benefits of carefully balancing protein, fat and carb intake throughout your day. It was developed by Dr. Barry Sears, who wanted to follow a diet that would help him avoid from dying of a heart attack. In more recent years, Dr. Barry Sears has popularized the use of fish oil and Omega-3 fatty acids to reduce system-wide inflammation in the body. In the Zone Diet Daily calorific consumption should be made up of 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein and 30% fat. Considering how popular both low-carb diets such as South Beach and Atkins are, it may seem very surprising that the zone diet system with both more fat and more carbs than the other diets works. “The Zone” refers to a proper hormone balance and not in particular a balance of food types. When insulin levels are neutral and the glucagon levels are not high, then specific anti-inflammatory chemicals are released, which have similar effects to aspirin. These said chemicals similar to aspirin have no downsides such as gastric bleeding which is associated with taking too much aspirin. Dr. Barry Sears claims that a 30:40 ratio of protein to carbohydrates causes this effect, and this is called ‘The Zone.’ Dr. Barry Sears claims that these natural anti-inflammatories are heart and health friendly.
The Zone Diet is considered to be a low-carb diet even though it is not as limiting as other low-carb diets. Sears claims these Dr. Atkins missed the point, in that they pay no attention to the importance of hormonal balance, as well as the influence of dietary balance on hormone production and digestion. This is not completely true though, as the role of hormones is mentioned throughout Dr. Atkins’ book. One of the Zone Diets main criticisms is that it doesn’t encourage healthy eating, but just the correct balance of fat, carbs and proteins. Most individuals like to be told what they should eat in any diet plan, but with the Zone diet you are expected to figure it out for yourself. There may be some value in following a zone diet, so long as each of your food groups consists of healthy choices, such as low glycemic index of fruits and vegetables, fish, poultry and few other lean meats. However, for most people it is probably enough to just eat a healthy diet without obsessing over the exact proportions and getting plenty of exercise.