Monday, November 13, 2006

What Is Zone Diet?

The Zone Diet is among one of the five popular diets of today.
It was created by a researcher from MIT called Barry Sears. The diet is
concerned with maintaining a balance of proteins and carbohydrates thereby
keeping insulin levels steady.

Barry Sears theorized that obesity is caused mainly through insulin
imbalance and he found that most diets recommended a program which was low
in fats and high in carbohydrates. This leads the body to produce an excess
of insulin and the result is obesity.

The goal of the Zone diet is to reach a level where the two hormones of
eicosanoids and insulin are kept in careful balance. If you control these
two in certain zones, your decrease the amount of fat in your body, increase
blood flow, decrease inflammation, improve your mental and physical stamina
and reduce your chances of having diabetes and heart disease.

Under the Zone diet, you try to keep your portion of carbohydrate and
protein to a ratio of four parts carbohydrate to one part protein. The
protein should be about three to four ounces at one meal which is what the
FDA and USDA recommend amount. For the carbohydrates, most your intake
should be restricted to fruits and vegetables with a minimum amount of rice,
potatoes, bread and other grains. Under this diet you should use
monounsaturated fats such as safflower oil and olive oil and other oils that
are considered healthy for your heart.

According to Sears, the high carbohydrate diets encourage their followers to
eat more car hydrates which increases insulin and in turn causes weight
gain. Unlike the Atkins diet which requires its followers to maintain a diet
high in protein without a thought to the fat content (which causes ketosis
which can be unhealthy), the Zone diet strikes as optimal balance between
carbohydrate, protein and fat intake.

The Zone diet considers fish oil an important supplement to the diet.
Pharmaceutical grade fish oil contains omega 3 fatty acids that are
important to the cells. In the past five years numerous studies have proved
that Omega 3 fatty acids and fish are an important nutrient for a healthy
diet.

An example of a Zone Diet meal would be:

Spinach salad with walnuts and apples and a walnut oil with lemon

3oz of broiled salmon
I glass of juice-fruit or vegetable
½ cup of brown rice

Who is the Zone Diet for?

Check with your doctor for any serious conditions before you start changing
your diet. People who have heart disease may have a different plan under the
Zone diet than those who have diabetes. The amount of food and the balance
is important for a healthy diet and can be maintained throughout a person’s
life.

About The Author: Rachel Gillespe is a staff writer at
http://www.diet-gazette.com and is an occasional contributor to several
other websites, including http://www.womens-digest.com.

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