Sear's Diet

Sear’s Diet aka Zone Diet

Celebrities like Madonna, Demi Moore and Jennifer Aniston swear by the results of the Zone Diet created by Barry Sears, PhD. The Zone Diet contains 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein and 30% fat and is also known as the 40-30-30 plan. The Zone Diet works on the premise that 100,000 years ago, we were meat eaters and our bodies was designed to handle the demands of a meat-based diet.
As we have evolved, more carbohydrates have been introduced into our daily diet, causing an imbalance. The reason for our extra weight could be attributed to the many grains and starches in our diet (pasta, rice, breads, and potatoes). The Zone Diet’s strategy calls for a return to the diets of our ancestors where meat, fruits and vegetables are the main dietary items.
How Does The Zone Diet Work?
The Zone Diet works by working the right ratio of carbohydrates to proteins and fats in order to control the insulin in the bloodstream. Too much of the hormone (insulin) can increase fat storage and inflammation in the body (conditions that are associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease). Sears asserts that by using the Zone Diet, you are actually optimizing the body’s metabolic function. Through the regulation of blood sugar, you allow your body to burn excess body fat.
The Zone Diet does not actually prohibit you from any particular food group; however food with high fat and carbohydrates such as grains, starches, and pastas should be avoided. Fruits and vegetables are the preferred source of carbs and monounsaturated fats (such as olive oil, almonds, avocados) are the ideal choice of fats. The Zone Diet claims to use food as a drug for overall good health, weight loss and prevention or management of heart disease and diabetes.

Risks/ Disadvantages

The AHA (American Heart Association) classifies the Zone Diet as high protein and does not recommend the Zone Diet for weight loss. They assert that the Zone Diet has not been proven effective in the long term for weight loss. They issued an official recommendation warning against diets like the Zone Diet.
They believe that the Zone Diet is hazardous as it restricts the intake of essential vitamins and minerals present in certain foods.
They are concerned that the protein ratio in the Zone diet is too high even if the minimal fat ratio is good. Robert H. Ecker M.D of the A.H.A., finds the Zone Diet’s theory on insulin flawed and argues that there is no scientific proof that the hormone insulin plays a big role in weight regulation.
According to Bonnie Liebman, at the Center For Science in the Public Interest, it's nothing new. "Miracle diets come and go like hemlines, hair-dos, and celebrity romances." Furthermore, they don't work; and all of them have the potential of raising low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels. And finally, what do these diets do for the authors themselves? Both Dr. Atkins and Barry Sears have exceeded the upper limits of weight recommended by federal guidelines.
Clinical studies conducted during the last half century, clearly show that a high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet leads to higher rates of heart disease, stroke, hypertension, adult onset diabetes, and many types of cancer.
The relationship of animal fat to cancer is stronger than ever before. According to new studies released by the Environmental Protection Agency, potent carcinogens from industrial wastes, such as dioxin and other chlorinated compounds, are known to be concentrated in the animal fat of meat, fish, and dairy products. On the other hand, vegetables, fruits, and grains contain only small amounts of these compounds.
Its followers defend it vehemently, largely because they find the rapid weight loss irresistible. Like most low carbohydrate diets, however, a great deal of the weight loss is dehydration. Ordinarily, three grams of water are stored with every gram of carbohydrates in the form of glycogen in the liver and skeletal muscles. When this is sharply limited, the desperate "zonies" think they are losing up to a pound of fat a day. It's also low in calories (about 1,700), causing the unhealthy depletion of lean body mass along with the minimal fat loss.
Also, without careful monitoring, this type of diet may lead to "ketosis" (an unnatural form of acidosis), which often causes some degree of anorexia and even euphoria. Sears denies that this happens with the amount of carbohydrates he allows.

Contributed by John Lee

http://www.vegsource.com/attwood/zone.htm
http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/other_diet_plan/zone_diet.html