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The Zone diet was developed by Dr. Barry Sears. The diet is one that follows the 40/30/30 plan. That translates into forty percent carbohydrates, thirty percent fat, and thirty percent protein. Dr. Sears advocates a balanced meal plan in order to avoid certain diseases and lose weight.

The Zone Diet lasers in on insulin production as the major precursor and cause of weight gain. Eating foods that cause a spike in insulin production cause weight gain. This happens because highly sugary foods spike insulin production. Insulin attacks the sugars and loads it into your cells storing it fat. These spikes in insulin production are negatively correlated with diabetes and heart disease. That is, they cause diabetes and heart disease.

Some foods moderate insulin production and allow the body to slowly or more regularly produce insulin. For example, the sugars (carbohydrates) in fruit and vegetables are better than those in white flour. White flour causes insulin levels to spike! In addition, processed foods are bad because contain empty calories that cause similar spikes in insulin production.

The Zone Diet recommends eating 3 daily meals and two snacks. Snacks prevent hunger and overeating. However, your snack must contain good carbohydrates in order to avoid the dreaded insulin spike. Meals, of course, must follow the 40/30/30 rule. The largest portion coming from carbs like green vegies, corn, cauliflower, squash, peppers, zucchini, and other similar vegies. As for protein, a good measure is to choose a portion about the size of your hand. And fat should probably be cut off of your meat prior to eating.

Consumption of the proper amount of fat is essential because doing so slows digestion and provides a continuous source of steady energy. Slowing your digestion is good because you won’t feel hungry immediately after eating because your body will be busy digesting. The Zone Diet recommends eating good fats contained in nuts and canola and olive oil.

Avoid insulin spiking foods whenever possible. Sweets like candy, cakes, pies, chocolate treats and such are terrible. But be aware that other more common foods like breads, pasta noodles and heavy starches are similarly bad. Candy, breads, and pasta are addictive and its very easy to overeat when consuming these foods.

The Zone diet plan offers no special pre-packaged foods to buy so the plan is cost effective. The weekly grocery list is fine with a few simple changes to reflect healthier choices. The foods are ones that children are used to eating so there is no problem fixing Zone approved meals for everyone in the house. They may not even notice the changes in many cases.

Tags: Weight Loss //