Developed by Dr. Barry Sears and popularized through books such as "The Zone: A Dietary Road Map," the Zone diet focuses on reducing dietary intake of carbohydrates while increasing dietary intake of proteins and fats. Though not yet clinically proven, the Zone diet may be helpful for everything from losing weight to warding off disease. Before committing to a diet plan, though, you should consult your primary care physician to ensure the best plan for your own nutritional needs.
Potential Disease Prevention
Following the Zone diet may be able to help you avoid a number of diseases and medical conditions. Jonny Bowden, in "Living the Low-Carb Life: From Atkins to the Zone, Choosing the Diet That's Right For You," explains that the diet may help to support your health long term. He says that adhering to the diet may help to prevent diabetes, heart disease, chronic fatigue, hypothyroidism and cancer.
Weight Loss
The Zone diet can help you to lose weight if you follow the actual recommendations of the diet for your daily caloric intake. Michael T. Murray, Joseph Pizzorno and Lara Pizzorno, in "The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods," explain that while on the program, you will only consume between 800 and 1,200 calories per day. Adhering to the diet's specifications for 40 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent fat and 30 percent protein will result in real weight loss for most individuals.
Complicated Meal Planning
Unless you enjoy computing grams and calories with every meal, you may find yourself frustrated with the complicated meal planning associated with the Zone diet. Bowden explains that some individuals may find understanding the Zone Diet's "blocks of food" confusing. You may also find yourself frustrated with trying to match the diet's highly specific proportions for daily dietary intake of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
Insufficient Plant Nutrients
While on the Zone diet, you will be encouraged to consume lean proteins, such as chicken and soy products, as well as other foods with healthy monounsaturated fats, such as avacados. The diet also encourages you to avoid simple sugars, refined carbohydrates, foods with saturated fats and those high on the glycemic index. Murray and the Pizzornos, though, point out that the diet does not focus enough on the plant foods and phytonutrients critical to long-term health.
Limited Vegetarian Options
If you adhere to a vegetarian diet, you may find the Zone diet offers limited options for balanced, varied vegetarian meals. Linda Rector-Page, in "Weight-Loss & Cellulite Control," explains that the Zone diet makes very little use of vegetable protein sources. In fact, most of the protein sources identified in the diet plan are meat proteins, such as chicken and fish. Vegetarian dieters have very few options to choose from under this plan.
Excessive Animal Proteins
The Zone diet recommends that proteins serve as 30 percent of the calories that you consume on an average day. Rector-Page warns that this amount of animal proteins may be too high for some individuals, potentially leading to high cholesterol levels, obesity and heart disease. Other potential side effects of consuming too much protein in your daily diet can include kidney and liver damage.
References
- "The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods"; Michel T. Murray, Joseph Pizzorno, Lara Pizzorno; 2005
- "Weight-Loss & Cellulite Control"; Linda Rector-Page; 1997
- "Living the Low-Carb Life: From Atkins to the Zone, Choosing the Diet's That Right for You"; Jonny Bowden; 2004
- "The Zone: A Dietary Road Map"; Barry Sears, Bill Lawren; 1995
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