Living in the Zone | It takes fat to burn fat
Fat slows down the entry rate of carbohydrates into the bloodstream thereby decreasing the production of insulin. Since it's insulin that makes you fat, having more fat in the diet is important for reducing insulin, especially since it does not stimulate insulin production. The best type of fat is monounsaturated fat, like olive oil, guacamole, almonds, and macadamia nuts.
You can use food as a hormonal ATM card
The average American male or female carries a minimum of 100,000 calories of stored body fat. To put this in perspective, this amount of stored body fat is equivalent to eating 1,700 pancakes. That's a pretty big breakfast. The calories you need for energy are already stored in your body. What you need is a hormonal ATM card to release them. Maintaining insulin in tight zone is that ATM card.
The number-one predictor of heart disease is not high cholesterol, or high blood pressure, but elevated levels of insulin. How can you tell you have elevated insulin levels? Look in the mirror. If you're fat and shaped like an apple, you have elevated insulin levels. But you can still be thin and have elevated insulin. How Can you tell? You have high triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol. This is why high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets can be extremely dangerous to cardiovascular patients if they lose weight, but see an increase in triglycerides and a decrease in HDL cholesterol.
Carbohydrates are a drug
The body needs a certain amount of carbohydrates at every meal for optimal brain function, just like a drug. However, excessive consumption of any drug leads to toxic side effects. The side effect of an overdose of carbohydrates at any meal is excess production of insulin, and that can be dangerous to your health.
Implications of the Zone
Our growing epidemic of obesity is not caused by excess fat consumption (which has actually decreased by 14% in the past 15 years), but because of increased carbohydrate consumption. The enemy has never been fat, but excessive levels of insulin. Keeping insulin in that tight zone where optimal performance is achieved. The only drug known to medical science that can achieve that is called food. The epidemic increase in obesity in America also has ominous implications for the future of our health care system as millions of people may be unknowingly driven toward early cardiovascular events due to increased insulin production. This statement should not be taken lightly as in 1996, the American Heart Association announced that cardiovascular deaths in the U.S. were increasing for the first time after a steady continuous decline since 1980. The hormonal consequences of our 15-year love affair with fat-free carbohydrates are now becoming apparent. Controlling insulin levels can reverse that trend. That is what the Zone is all about. More information |
 | Dr. Barry Sears is a leader in the field of 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 efforts over the past 25 years to the study of lipids and their inflammatory role in the development of chronic disease. He holds 13 U.S. Patents in the areas of intravenous drug delivery systems and hormonal regulation for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The turning point in Dr. Sears' research occurred when the 1982 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded for discoveries of the role that certain hormones known as |
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aeicosanoids play in the development of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. The inflammation controlled by eicosanoids is the linking factor to these chronic diseases. Since eicosanoids are derived 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, by treating food as if it were a drug. His research has led to patents in the area of hormonal control by essentially using food as an oral drug delivery system to modulate eicosanoids, especially for cardiovascular and diabetic patents.
Widespread understanding of the revolutionary impact of Dr. Sears' work began with the 1995 publication of his landmark book, The Zone, which was a number-one best seller on the New York Times book list. Dr. Sears has since authored a total of 10 books on his Zone technology, selling more than 4 million copies that have been translated into 22 languages in 40 countries. His insight into the hormonal consequences of diet has been confirmed by numerous published studies, many of them conducted at Harvard Medical School. As a result of his impact on nutrition and health, Dr. Sears is featured frequently in national media forums such as 20/20, Today, Good Morning America, CNN, MSNBC, and USA Today.
Dr. Sears continues his research in treating heart disease and type 2 diabetes as President of Zone Labs, a biotechnology company in Danvers, Mass. He has recently expanded his research to develop innovative dietary approaches to treating neurological conditions and improving cognitive functions. His work is funded through the nonprofit Inflammation Research Foundation Click on left button next to each subjects to listen to interview of Dr. Sears - Answers to FAQ, and importance of Ultra Refined Omega 3 Fish Oil in our daily diet.  Click Here to Enter the Zone
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