Is Zone Diet Another Fad?

You probably heard the new weight loss craze that is used by popular celebrities and dietitians – The Zone Diet. Did you heard this diet program before?

“The Zone” is a diet plan made famous by biochemist Dr. Barry Sears (image on your left). This dieting regimen has dozens of principles but mainly advocates consuming calories from carbohydrates and protein in a balanced ratio.

Dr. Sears claim that his theory can help you burn fat even in your sleep, without feeling hungry. Sounds too good to be true? Is this another Fad Diet that you should avoid? Read on to learn more about this new type of dieting program.

The Zone Diet Overview

The Zone Diet actually resolves the issue of hormone imbalance, which is commonly the main cause of unhealthy eating and weight gain. Dr. Sears calls it “The Zone”, which is now considered to be one of the bestselling diet.

The claim is simple – immediate and dramatic weight loss! The program offers an average of 1 to 1.5 pounds weight reduction in the first week. The weight you lose are all fat, not muscle or water.

Dr. Sears claims that a 40:30:30 ratio of protein to carbohydrates to fat, will trigger release specific anti-inflammatory chemicals. This is The Zone and claims that this diet is perfectly balanced formula that is heart and health-friendly.

Zone Diet also emphasizes the intake of a particular ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids.

Difference with Other Popular Diet Program

Most diet experts and fitness enthusiasts believe that Zone diet is another fad diet that is well-hyped by a renowned biochemist and some mix of celebrity endorsements.

Zone Diet is open for debate and the only thing that this diet can offer is its overwhelming popularity today. Some people claimed weight loss but there are people who never experienced any reduction in weight.

With dubious claims for easy weight loss, Zone Diet is easily categorized as that. As a low-carb diet, Zone Diet is much less restrictive when it comes in total carb intake compared to Atkins diet.

Zone Diet focuses on moderation and balance, hormonal balance as well as the influence of dietary balance on digestion and hormone production. Unlike other fad diets that will only restrict you from eating too much carbs and calories, The Zone will give you a “moderate” food restriction which allows you to eat a fair amount of carbohydrates.

However, many dieters have a misconception of Zone Diet as a “high-protein” program due to the fact that more calories come from carbohydrates than protein. To counter that inaccurate belief, The Zone Diet features a formula based on lean body mass and activity level to help determine the exact daily intake of protein.

You can get a free sample profile of yourself using this Zone Diet formula here.

Foods that You Can Eat and What You Can’t with Zone Diet

Zone diet gives you 3 meas and 2 snacks a day, each is a mix of low-fat protein (skinless chicken, turkey or fish), carbs that are composed of fruits and vegetables and a small amount of “good” fat such as olive oil, almonds and avocado.

There are no foods that are completely prohibited in Zone diet. It encourages you to set aside breads, pasta, grains and other starch foods as condiments, not as your main dish.

There are some vegetables and fruits that are not allowed in Zone diet such as carrots, corn, bananas and many others as these foods are high in sugar. Red meat and egg yolks are not allowed.

Each meal on the Zone Diet should fall into the 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat ratio.

Aside from The Zone Diet ratio, Dr. Sears recommends an omega-3 fatty acid supplementation as it is difficult to get enough omega-3s from food, especially if you don’t eat fish. Curiously, Dr. Sears sells his own Omega-3 supplements on his official website.

Do You Need to Exercise?

Like many other diet programs, Zone diet encourages you to exercise but is not completely required. A consistent exercise regimen is much preferred.

As you know, exercise is crucial for weight management and for weight loss.

Dr. Sears believe that the more you exercise, the more you lose weight regardless of diet. Exercise will also reduce your risk of developing diabetes, heart problems and other chronic diseases.

Example of moderate exercise is 30 minuted of aerobic training every day (brisk walking is what Dr. Sears highly recommends), along with five to ten minutes a day of weight lifting (strength training).

Is it Easy to Follow?

Zone diet is simple and easy to follow with most diet experts rate it as moderate or at medium level of difficulty.

The only way you can lose weight is by staying at the zone, meaning you have to stick with the meals and “zone” formula.

Today, there are dozens of Zone Diet programs that you can use for your weight loss program. All of these programs are based on Dr. Sears’ anti-inflammatory weight loss approach. Here is an example program that offers tons of “Zone Formulas” that will help you lose weight fast.

Zone Diet Health Risks?

Zone Diet is not fully studied by medical and nutrition experts so there are no indications that this dieting program can trigger either minor or serious health risks.

So far, there are no known side effects that have surfaced online against Zone Diet or Dr. Barry Sears. But like other diet plans, Zone Diet is not recommended to people with health conditions such as heart disease, allergies and many others.

Make sure that you have your doctor’s approval before you start following Zone Diet.

Will You Lose Weight?

As mentioned above, Zone Diet has limited research and most claims are from its users and endorsers. Though people claim that this diet do work, diet experts suggest that Zone Diet will just give you moderate weight loss.

The 40:30:30 ratio diet is also not clinically proven to be an effective slimming formula. Most scientific trials shows more doubt on its efficacy.

However, Zone Diet is much more safe compared to other diet program such as Paleo diet, Atkins and many others.

So is Zone Diet a Fad Diet?

Most experts considered Zone Diet as one of the newest fad diet plan online. However, it doesn’t mean that it is not an effective program for weight loss.

Zone Diet is believed to produce short-term weight loss, but you can maintain your gained success by following other means of slimming regimens such as exercise or even by using a dependable dietary supplement. To start your search for the best diet pill, see our top 10 diet pills page.

Truly, Dr. Sears’ Zone Diet is different from other known diet programs on the planet. Though some considers Zone Diet as fad, there are still quite good number of followers for this dieting program. You can do Zone Diet by subscribing on several known “Zone” dieting plan you see online.