Zone diet

Last updated

The Zone diet is a fad diet emphasizing low-carbohydrate consumption. [1] [2] It was created by Barry Sears, an American biochemist. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

The ideas behind the diet are not supported by scientific evidence. [1] [6]

Approach

The diet is meant to promote weight loss via reduction in calories consumed and avoid spikes in insulin release, thus supporting the maintenance of insulin sensitivity. [4] [7] It begins with the determination of the individual's protein requirement for daily replacement due to various loss mechanisms.

The Zone diet proposes that a relatively narrow distribution in the ratio of proteins to carbohydrates, centered at 0.75, is essential to "balance the insulin to glucagon ratio, which purportedly affects eicosanoid metabolism and ultimately produces a cascade of biological events leading to a reduction in chronic disease risk, enhanced immunity, maximal physical and mental performance, increased longevity and permanent weight loss." [1]

The diet advocates eating five times a day, with 3 meals and 2 snacks, and includes eating proteins, carbohydrates – those with a lower glycemic index are considered more favorable, and fats (monounsaturated fats are considered healthier) in a caloric ratio of 30%-40%-30% (fat-carb-pro). The hand is used as the mnemonic tool; five fingers for five times a day, with no more than five hours between meals. The size and thickness of the palm are used to measure protein while two big fists measure favorable carbohydrates and one fist unfavorable carbohydrates. There is a more complex scheme of "Zone blocks" and "mini-blocks" that followers of the diet can use to determine the ratios of macronutrients consumed. Daily exercise is encouraged. [5]

The diet falls about midway in the continuum between the USDA-recommended food pyramid which advocates eating grains, vegetables, and fruit and reducing fat, and the high-fat Atkins Diet. [7]

Effectiveness

Like other low-carb diets, the ideas underlying the Zone diet are unproven. [1] [4] [6]

As of 2013, there were "no cross-sectional or longitudinal studies examining the potential health merit of adopting a Zone Diet per se, [and] closely related peer-reviewed findings from scientific research cast strong doubt over the purported benefits of this diet. When properly evaluated, the ideas and arguments of popular low carbohydrate diet books like the Zone rely on poorly controlled, non-peer-reviewed studies, anecdotes and non-science rhetoric." [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated way to decrease, maintain, or increase body weight, or to prevent and treat diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Dieting to lose weight is recommended for people with weight-related health problems, but not otherwise healthy people. As weight loss depends on calorie intake, different kinds of calorie-reduced diets, such as those emphasising particular macronutrients, have been shown to be no more effective than one another. As weight regain is common, diet success is best predicted by long-term adherence. Regardless, the outcome of a diet can vary widely depending on the individual.

Atkins diet Low-carbohydrate fad diet devised by Robert Atkins

The Atkins diet is a low-carbohydrate fad diet devised by Robert Atkins in the 1970s, marketed with questionable claims that carbohydrate restriction is crucial to weight loss and that the diet offered "a high calorie way to stay thin forever".

Robert Atkins (physician) American physician

Robert Coleman Atkins was an American physician and cardiologist, best known for the Atkins Diet, which requires close control of carbohydrate consumption and emphasizes protein and fat as the primary sources of dietary calories in addition to a controlled number of carbohydrates from vegetables.

Scarsdale diet

The Scarsdale diet is a high-protein low-carbohydrate fad diet designed for weight loss created in the 1970s by Herman Tarnower, named for the town in New York where he practiced cardiology, described in the book The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet plus Dr. Tarnower's Lifetime Keep-Slim Program, which Tarnower wrote with self-help author Samm Sinclair Baker.

Glycemic index

The glycemic index is a number from 0 to 100 assigned to a food, with pure glucose arbitrarily given the value of 100, which represents the relative rise in the blood glucose level two hours after consuming that food. The GI of a specific food depends primarily on the quantity and type of carbohydrate it contains, but is also affected by the amount of entrapment of the carbohydrate molecules within the food, the fat and protein content of the food, the amount of organic acids in the food, and whether it is cooked and, if so, how it is cooked. GI tables, which list many types of foods and their GIs, are available. A food is considered to have a low GI if it is 55 or less; high GI if 70 or more; and mid-range GI if 56 to 69.

Fad diet Popular diet with exaggerated claims usually not supported by scientific evidences

A fad diet is a diet that becomes popular for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements. There is no single definition of what is a fad diet. The term fad diet encompasses a variety of diets with different approaches and evidence bases, and thus different outcomes, advantages, and disadvantages.

Low-carbohydrate diet Diets restricting carbohydrate consumption

Low-carbohydrate diets restrict carbohydrate consumption relative to the average diet. Foods high in carbohydrates are limited, and replaced with foods containing a higher percentage of fat and protein, as well as low carbohydrate foods.

Weight gain

Weight gain is an increase in body weight. This can involve an increase in muscle mass, fat deposits, excess fluids such as water or other factors. Weight gain can be a symptom of a serious medical condition.

High-protein diet

A high-protein diet is a diet in which 20% or more of the total daily calories comes from protein. Most high protein diets are high in saturated fat and severely restrict intake of carbohydrates.

Healthy diet Diet that helps maintain or improve general health

A healthy diet is a diet that helps maintain or improve overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients, micronutrients, and adequate food energy.

Specific dynamic action (SDA), also known as thermic effect of food (TEF) or dietary induced thermogenesis (DIT), is the amount of energy expenditure above the basal metabolic rate due to the cost of processing food for use and storage. Heat production by brown adipose tissue which is activated after consumption of a meal is an additional component of dietary induced thermogenesis. The thermic effect of food is one of the components of metabolism along with resting metabolic rate and the exercise component. A commonly used estimate of the thermic effect of food is about 10% of one's caloric intake, though the effect varies substantially for different food components. For example, dietary fat is very easy to process and has very little thermic effect, while protein is hard to process and has a much larger thermic effect.

The Montignac diet is a high-protein low-carbohydrate fad diet that was popular in the 1990s, mainly in Europe. It was invented by Frenchman Michel Montignac (1944–2010), an international executive for the pharmaceutical industry, who, like his father, was overweight in his youth. His method is aimed at people wishing to lose weight efficiently and lastingly, reduce risks of heart failure, and prevent diabetes.

Very-low-calorie diet Diet with very or extremely low daily food energy consumption

A very-low-calorie diet (VLCD), also known as semistarvation diet and crash diet, is a type of diet with very or extremely low daily food energy consumption. Often described as a fad diet, it is defined as a diet of 800 kilocalories (3,300 kJ) per day or less. Modern medically supervised VLCDs use total meal replacements, with regulated formulations in Europe and Canada which contain the recommended daily requirements for vitamins, minerals, trace elements, fatty acids, protein and electrolyte balance. Carbohydrates may be entirely absent, or substituted for a portion of the protein; this choice has important metabolic effects. Medically supervised VLCDs have specific therapeutic applications for rapid weight loss, such as in morbid obesity or before a bariatric surgery, using formulated, nutritionally complete liquid meals containing 800 kilocalories or less per day for a maximum of 12 weeks.

A diabetic diet is a diet that is used by people with diabetes mellitus or high blood sugar to minimize symptoms and dangerous complications of long term elevations in blood sugar.

Gary Taubes

Gary Taubes is an American journalist, writer, and low-carbohydrate / high-fat (LCHF) diet advocate. His central point is that carbohydrates, especially sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, over-stimulate the secretion of insulin, causing the body to store fat in fat cells and the liver, and that it is primarily a high level of dietary carbohydrate consumption that accounts for obesity and other metabolic syndrome conditions. He is the author of Nobel Dreams (1987); Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion (1993); Good Calories, Bad Calories (2007), titled The Diet Delusion (2008) in the UK and Australia; Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It (2010); The Case Against Sugar (2016); and The Case for Keto: Rethinking Weight Control and the Science and Practice of Low-Carb/High-Fat Eating (2020). Taubes's work often goes against accepted scientific, governmental, and popular tenets such as that obesity is caused by eating too much and exercising too little and that excessive consumption of fat, especially saturated fat in animal products, leads to cardiovascular disease.

A protein-sparing modified fast (PSMF) is a type of a very-low-calorie diet with a high proportion of protein calories and simultaneous restriction of carbohydrate and fat. It includes a protein component, fluids, and vitamin and mineral supplementation.

The South Beach Diet is a popular fad diet developed by Arthur Agatston and promoted in a best-selling 2003 book. It emphasizes eating food with a low glycemic index, and categorizes carbohydrates and fats as "good" or "bad". Like other fad diets, it may have elements which are generally recognized as sensible, but it promises benefits not backed by supporting evidence or sound science.

Weight management

Weight management is the phrase used to describe both the techniques and underlying physiological processes that contribute to a person's ability to attain and maintain a certain weight. Most weight management techniques encompass long-term lifestyle strategies that promote healthy eating and daily physical activity. Moreover, weight management involves developing meaningful ways to track weight over time and to identify ideal body weights for different individuals.

Protein Power

Protein Power is a high-protein low-carbohydrate fad diet developed by physician Michael R. Eades and his wife Mary Dan Eades.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Cheuvront SN The Zone Diet phenomenon: a closer look at the science behind the claims. J Am Coll Nutr. 2003 Feb; 22(1):9-17. PMID   12569110
  2. DeBruyne L, Pinna K, Whitney E (2011). "Chapter 7: Nutrition in practice — Fad Diets". Nutrition and Diet Therapy. Cengage Learning. p. 209. ISBN   978-1-133-71550-4. a fad diet by any other name would still be a fad diet. And the names are legion: the Atkins Diet, the Cheater's Diet, the South Beach Diet, the Zone Diet. Year after year, "new and improved" diets appear ...CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Bijlefeld M, Zoumbaris SK (2014). "Sears, Barry". Encyclopedia of Diet Fads: Understanding Science and Society (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. pp. 190–191. ISBN   978-1-61069-760-6.
  4. 1 2 3 Baron M. Fighting obesity Part 1: Review of popular low-carb diets. Health Care Food Nutr Focus. 2004 Oct;21(10):1, 3-6, 11. Review. PMID   15493377
  5. 1 2 Baron M. The Zone Diet. Health Care Food Nutr Focus. 2004 Oct;21(10):8-9, 11. PMID   15493380
  6. 1 2 Cataldo, Corrine Balog; DeBruyne, Linda Kelly; Whitney, Eleanor Noss. (1999). Nutrition and Diet Therapy: Principles and Practice. West/Wadsworth. p. 214. ISBN   978-0534546014 "Most fad diets, including the currently popular Zone Diet, advocate essentially the same high-protein, low- carbohydrate diet. Such diets may offer short-term weight- loss success to some who try them, but they fail to produce long-lasting results for most people. Furthermore, high protein, low-carbohydrate diets are often high in fat and low in fiber, vitamins, and some minerals. Long-term use of such diets may produce adverse side effects such as nausea, fatigue, constipation, and low blood pressure."
  7. 1 2 Lara-Castro C, Garvey WT. Diet, insulin resistance, and obesity: zoning in on data for Atkins dieters living in South Beach. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Sep;89(9):4197-205. PMID   15356006