What Is The Zone Diet? Advantages And Disadvantages

The zone diet proposes a model of healthy eating that seeks to create a hormonal balance to improve weight and health. However, it is important to analyze its disadvantages.

The zone diet is one of the eating models that has become the most popular in recent years. It was designed by American Barry Sears and managed to become a trend after being adopted by some Hollywood stars.

Through this proposal, an alternative is suggested to guide nutrition in such a way that health and weight can be improved. In fact, one of its main characteristics is that it organizes the diet according to the influence that food has on the metabolism.

What exactly does it consist of? What are its disadvantages? Before deciding to adopt it, it is very important to know how it works and what effects it has. Therefore, below we want to review its most relevant aspects and adverse reactions that should not be ignored.

What is the Zone Diet and what is your goal?

The zone diet is an eating style that is based on the regulation of hormones through a model whose formula is 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat in each of the main meals.

It is based on a theory that suggests reducing the inflammation of cells, which it points to as responsible for overweight, aging and diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Its main objective is to achieve and maintain a metabolic state, which it calls “being in the zone.”

By achieving this state, the body and mind work at their maximum efficiency and therefore maintain general well-being. For this reason, beyond being a diet, it stands out as a nutritional concept to facilitate the balance of meals for the benefit of health.

Zone diet basics

The main foundation of the zone diet is the combination of carbohydrates, proteins and fats in a 40-30-30 ratio. Through this balance , hormonal regulation is sought to maintain satiety for up to 5 hours.

Although it is a plan that does not pay much attention to the total of calories, the ideal is that these proportions are composed of healthy foods. In addition, other basic rules must be followed for it to be effective:

• Eat five meals a day.
• Eat breakfast in the first hour after waking up.
• Eat every 4 or 5 hours, even if there is no feeling of hunger.
• Drink up to 2 liters of water a day.
• Consume complex carbohydrates (whole grains, fruits, vegetables, etc.).
• Opt for “healthy” type fats such as omega 3 (olive oil, nuts, fatty fish, etc.).
• Take protein at every meal to prevent sugar decline (lean meats, eggs, vegetables, dairy, etc.).

Benefits of the zone diet

The Zone Diet aims to educate people to improve their diet permanently. Therefore, unlike other famous regimens, it is not a restrictive or hypocaloric plan. What benefits does it bring?

• It activates the organism so that it consumes the fat reserves that it costs so much to “burn”.
• It helps balance the hormones that control the concentration of glucose in the blood: insulin and glucagon. This is due to reduced carbohydrate intake, which can improve metabolic health, according to a study published in the  British Journal of Sports Medicine.
• By controlling hormonal activity, it favors the reduction of imbalances in the levels of cellular inflammation.
• Promotes weight loss without starvation or suffering.
• Control the feeling of anxiety about food and avoid excesses of unhealthy foods.
• Improves the condition of the skin, nails and hair.
• Increases the body’s antioxidant capacity to eliminate free radical particles that accelerate aging.

• Optimizes the functioning of the immune system and helps prevent diseases.

Disadvantages of the zone diet

Although it has managed to position itself as a model of healthy eating, the diet in the area has its detractors. For example, the Spanish Aitor Sánchez García, writer of the book My Limp Diet, published in 2016, described it as a great fallacy.

The also nutritionist and food technologist suggests that this project has economic purposes that benefit the industry. This is because specific foods are needed to comply with the 40-30-30 formula. In addition, everything must be very well calculated and planned so as not to fail in the attempt to maintain it. That’s why your fans should have the book at hand to learn precisely how to design their meals.

The recommended proportions for a correct balance of carbohydrates, proteins and fats is very different from the one recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) . Consequently, it could affect some diseases associated with excess protein and fat. Despite everything, the scientific literature has not been able to demonstrate that there is a relationship between high fat intake and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

The Zone Diet Could Improve Health

It is clear that to follow the diet in the zone you have to have a total disposition to improve your lifestyle and diet. However, each particular case would have to be analyzed to see if it can meet the needs of each one. It is advisable to do physical exercise on a regular basis to complement this eating plan.