LA’s The Place sat down with Dr. Barry Sears, PH.D., and asked him to explain the concept behind The Zone Diet Eating plan. Was it about weight loss or more about achieving a hormonal balance in the body? His answers are very compelling…
Dr. Barry Sears:
The concept of The Zone Diet is probably the most misunderstood dietary concept in the last 25 years in America. The Zone Diet is not about weight loss any more than the Mediterranean diet is about weight loss.
What it is, is a blueprint; a blueprint basically about how to compose your plate to get the right hormonal response every time you consume food.
And how to do it is pretty simple as long as we have three things: one hand, one eye and one watch… and here is basically how you control your diet and control your future for the rest of your life.
At each meal simply divide your plate into three equal sections. On 1/3 of the plate you put some low fat protein – that’s chicken or fish. How much? The amount you can put in the palm of your hand. Before you get too excited, that’s also the thickness of the palm of your hand. It’s not very much.
Now what about the other 2/3 of the plate? You fill it full of colorful carbohydrates. Why are they colorful? These are the polyphenols, which basically give fruits and vegetables their color.
So we’re talking about filling the plate full of fruits and vegetables… Why? Because these fruits and vegetables, these polyphenols at high levels, have anti-inflammatory properties.
And, finally, you add a dash of fat. What’s a dash? Just a small amount. just make sure it’s the right type of fat. Fats which are low in saturated fats. Fats which are low in Omega 6 fatty acids. Which fats meet that criteria ? It could be extra virgin olive oil, it could be slivered almonds… it could be guacamole. And what you’ve done now, if you do that, is that you’ve constructed a powerful drug, that for the next 4 to 6 hours will keep your hormones in that zone.
How do you know it’s working? That’s why you need the watch. If you’ve done the right balance you will not be hungry for the next 5 hours.
Think about what happens when you eat a big bowl of white pasta. What happens to hours later? You can barely keep your eyes open. You’re hungry; you have lack of mental acuity.
Was that meal hormonally correct? No. In fact, here’s a good rule of thumb to go through life: The more white you put on your plate, the more information you create.
It’s inflammation that makes us fat and keep us fat. It’s inflammation that makes us sick. It’s inflammation that increases the rate of aging.
So if you really want to take control of your life, follow The Zone Diet. Again, it’s not a weight- loss program, it’s a blueprint – a blueprint to take control of your future, by re-taking control of the expression of your genes.
That’s a powerful statement. Drugs can’t do that. But The Zone Diet is more powerful than any drug because it allows you to basically change the expression of your genes.
By doing so you live a longer and better life that we all crave for.
Dr. Barry Sears is a renown biochemist expert, most famously-known for creating The Zone Diet, a way of eating the proper balance of foods, which is aimed at achieving stable blood sugar levels, hormonal balance, low inflammation, and physical and mental well-being, and is the basis of many diet systems today. He is a leading authority on the impact of the diet on hormonal response, genetic expression, the effects of system-wide inflammation in the body.
www.TheZoneDiet.com
