Zone Diet

The Zone diet is an enormously popular diet plan created by Barry Sears, a biochemist researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which purports to help change your metabolism in order to fuel weight loss and prevent diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure. According to Barry Sears, by maintaining a 40:30:30 ratio of calories obtained from carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, dieters will find themselves in the Zone or “feeling alert, refreshed, and full of energy.”
Barry Sears feels that the philosophy behind most traditional diets is wrong and he spends a considerable amount of time using science to debunk many traditional low-fat diet philosophies. He does not feel most individuals need to cut calories, but instead encourages them to eat different ones. A day on the Zone diet should typically contain a small amount of protein, about the size of your hand, with each meal and a late afternoon and evening snack. Zone followers then fill up the rest of the plate with healthy carbs such as most vegetables, beans and other legumes, most fruits, and whole grains. Dieters who choose less healthy carbohydrates such as pasta, papaya, brown rice, breakfast cereal, banana, tortilla, carrots, or juices are encouraged to eat a smaller portion of their carbs.
The American Heart Association has expressed concern at the amount of protein consumed on the Zone diet and other nutrition professionals question the science behind Sears’ Zone diet claims. They do praise the fact that it is a diet that is simple to understand, which makes it easier for people to follow.