I’ve heard the Zone Diet is complex, is this true?

Nothing could be further form the truth. People feel the Zone Diet is complex because Dr. Barry Sears has written such an expansive body of work on the subject that it seems that to understand it one would need to read all eleven of his books. The good news is that you won’t need to do all of this reading! Our unique, official Zone Diet program makes it easy and simple to follow this effective, clinically valid lifestyle to help keep you at a healthy weight forever.

Is the Zone Wellness Program just the Zone Diet?

No, it is much more. The Zone Wellness Program combines all of the most powerful aspects of the science of Dr. Barry Sears from each of his eleven books to create a deeper program that goes beyond weight maintenance to also include critical long-term health and wellness initiatives. Because you will be working with a trained medical staff we can provide you with a rich experience to help create a more fulfilling, healthy life.

Is the Zone Diet a Low Carb Diet or a High Protein Diet?

It is neither. The Zone Diet is a moderate, balanced approach to nutrition. The Zone Diet can best be described as a moderate-carbohydrate, moderate-protein, moderate fat diet that has approximately one gram of fat for every two grams of protein and three grams of carbohydrates. These ratios represent the newest dietary recommendations from the Joslin Diabetes Research Center at Harvard Medical School for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

With the Zone Diet you say that about 30% of my calories will come from fat. Won’t that cause me to get fat?

Eating the right fats do not make you fat, it’s elevated insulin levels caused by excessive consumption of processed carbohydrates that promotes weight gain. Consuming adequate amounts of healthy monounsaturated fats is critical to long term wellness, and it will also provide a sense of satiation (feeling full) that will help curb appetite. Take note: there are a ton of fat-free foods in the grocery aisles, yet no one is getting any thinner.

Can you tell me more about Dr. Barry Sears?

Dr. Barry Sears is a leading authority on the dietary control of hormonal response. A former research scientist at the Boston University School of Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Sears has dedicated his research efforts over the past 30 years to the study of lipids. He holds 13 U.S. Patents in the areas of intravenous drug delivery systems and hormonal regulation for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

A turning point in his research occurred in 1982. That year, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded for discoveries of the role that specialized hormones, known as eicosanoids, play in the development of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, auto-immune diseases, and cancer. Since eicosanoids are only generated from dietary fat, Dr. Sears reasoned that one could apply intravenous drug delivery principles to nutrition in order to control these exceptionally powerful hormonal responses with laser-like precision. In essence, his approach treats food as if it were a drug.

This area of his research led to various patents in the area of hormonal control by essentially using food as an oral drug delivery system to modulate eicosanoids especially for cardiovascular, diabetic, and neurological patients.

The impact of Dr. Sears’ revolutionary work in the dietary control of hormonal response began with the publication of his landmark book, The Zone. Since its publication in June 1995, The Zone has sold more than 2,000,000 hardcover copies, and became a #1 best seller on the New York Times book list. In addition, The Zone has been translated into 22 languages indicating a worldwide response to Dr. Sears’ research. His second book, Mastering the Zone, published in 1997, also became a New York Times bestseller with hardcover sales in excess of 500,000 copies to date.

His third book, Zone Perfect Meals in Minutes, published in 1997, quickly became one of the best-selling cookbooks of 1997 and an another New York Times bestseller. The Anti-Aging Zone was published in 1999 and provides the molecular insights into how the Zone Diet can reverse the aging process. The Omega Rx Zone, published in 2002, explores the molecular foundation of chronic disease and how high-dose fish oil can dramatically reverse it. His latest book The Anti-Inflammation Zone discusses how to combat silent inflammation in order to reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and many other inflammatory conditions—and how to reverse these conditions if they are already present. To date more than 5 million hardcover copies of his Zone books have been sold in the United States.

His research has elevated food from more than simply a source of calories to being recognized as an exceptionally powerful drug. Because of his revolutionary research, Dr. Sears has been a frequent guest on many national programs such as 20/20, Today, Good Morning America, CBS Morning News, CNN, and MSNBC.

Dr. Sears continues his ongoing research as President of Zone Labs, a biotechnology company in Danvers, MA as well as the President of the non-profit Inflammation Research Foundation in Marblehead, MA. In addition to continuing research on the hormonal effects of food, Dr. Sears has expanded his research in developing innovative dietary approaches to treating cancer and neurological conditions, as well as his on-going work in treating cardiovascular diease and type 2 diabetes.