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ZONE DIET VALIDATION STUDIES

WEIGHT LOSS

Any diet that restricts calories w ill result in equivalent weight loss. How ever, the same doesnt hold true as to w hat the source of that

w eight loss is. Weight loss from either dehydration (such as ketogenic diets) or cannibalization of muscle and organ mass (such as

low-protein diets) has no health benefits. Only w hen the weight loss source is from stored fat do you gain any health benefits. Here

the Zone diet has been show n to be superior to all other diets in burning fat faster (1-4). It has been demonstrated that if a person hasa high initial insulin response to a glucose challenge, then the Zone diet is also superior in w eight loss (5,6). A recent study f rom the

New England Journal of Medicine indicates that a diet composition similar to the Zone diet is super ior to other compositions in preventing

the regain of lost w eight (7). This is probably caused by the increased satiety induced by the Zone diet compared to other diets (1,8,9).

REDUCT ION OF CELL ULAR INFLAM M ATI ON

There is total agreement in the research literature that the Zone diet is superior in reducing cellular inflammation (10-12). Since cellular

inflammation is the driving force for chronic disease, then this should be the ultimate goal of any diet. Call me crazy for thinking

otherw ise.

HEART DISEASE

It is ironic that the Ornish diet is still considered one of the best diets for heart disease, since the published data indicates that tw ice as

many people had fatal heart attacks on the Ornish diet compared to a control diet (13). This is definitely the case of dont confuse me

w ith the facts. On the other hand, diets w ith the same balance of protein, carbohydrate and fat as the Zone diet has have been show nto be superior in reducing cardiovascular risk factors, such as cholesterol and fasting insulin (14,15).

DIABETES

The first publication validating the benefits of the Zone diet in treating diabetes appeared in 1998 (16). Since that time there have been

several other studies indicating the superiority of the Zone diet composition for reducing blood glucose levels (17-20). In 2005, the

Joslin Diabetes Research Center at Harvard Medical School announced its new dietary guidelines for treating obesity and diabetes.

These dietary guidelines w ere essentially identical to the Zone diet. Studies done at the Joslin Diabetes Research Center follow ing

those dietary guidelines conf irm the eff icacy of the Zone diet to reduce diabetic risk factors (21). If the Zone diet isnt recommended for

individuals w ith diabetes, then someone should tell Harvard.

EASE OF USE

The Zone diet simply requires balancing one-third of your plate w ith low -fat protein with the other tw o-thirds coming from fruits and

vegetables (i.e. colorful carbohydrates). Then you add a dash (thats a small amount) of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. The

Zone diet is based on a bell-shaped curve balancing low-fat protein and low -glycemic-index carbohydrates, not a particular magic

number. If you balance the plate as described above using your hand and your eye, it w ill approximate 40 percent of the calories as

carbohydrates, 30 percent of calories as protein, and 30 percent of the calories as fat. Furthermore, it was found in a recent Stanford

University study that the Zone diet provided greater amounts of micronutrients on a calorie-restricted program than any other diet (22).

Eventually all dietary theories have to be analyzed in the crucible of experimentation to determine their validity. So far in the past 13

years since I w rote my first book, my concepts of anti-inflammatory nutrition still seem to be at the cutting edge.

REFERENCES

1. Skov AR, Toubro S, Ronn B, Holm L, and Astrup A. Randomized trial on protein vs carbohydrate in ad libitum fat reduced dietfor the treatment of obesity. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 23: 528-536 (1999)

2. Layman DK, Boileau RA, Erickson DJ, Painter JE, Shiue H, Sather C, and Christou DD. A reduced ratio of dietarycarbohydrate to protein improves body composition and blood lipid prof iles during w eight loss in adult w omen. J Nutr 133: 411-417

(2003)

3. Fontani G, Corradeschi F, Felici A, Alfatti F, Bugarini R, Fiaschi AI, Cerretani D, Montorfano G, Rizzo AM, and Berra B. Bloodprof iles, body fat and mood state in healthy subjects on diff erent diets supplemented w ith omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Eur J Clin Invest 35: 499-507 (2005)

4. Layman DK, Evans EM, Erickson D, Seyler J, Weber J, Bagshaw D, Griel A, Psota T, and Kris-Etherton P. A moderate-proteindiet produces sustained w eight loss and long-term changes in body composition and blood lipids in obese adults. J Nutr 139: 514-

521 (2009)

5. Ebbeling CB, Leidig MM, Feldman HA, Lovesky MM, and Ludw ig DS. Effects of a low -glycemic-load vs low -fat diet in obeseyoung adults: a randomized trial. JAMA 297: 2092-2102 (2007)

6. Pittas AG, Das SK, Hajduk CL, Golden J, Saltzman E, Stark PC, Greenberg AS, and Roberts SB. A low -glycemic-load dietfac ilitates greater w eight loss in overw eight adults w ith high insulin secretion but not in overw eight adults w ith low insulin

secretion in the CALERIE Trial. Diabetes Care 28: 2939-2941 (2005)7. Larsen TM, Dalskov SM, van Baak M, Jebb SA, Papadaki A, Pfeiffer AF, Martinez JA, Handjieva-Darlenska T, Kunesova M,Pihlsgard M, Stender S, Holst C, Saris WH, and Astrup A. Diets w ith high or low protein content and glycemic index for w eight-loss

maintenance. N Engl J Med 363: 2102-2113 (2010)

8. Ludw ig DS, Majzoub JA, A l-Zahrani A, Dallal GE, Blanco I, Roberts SB, Agus MS, Sw ain JF, Larson CL, and Eckert EA.Dietary high-glycemic-index foods, overeating, and obesity. Pediatrics 103: E26 (1999)

9. Agus MS, Swain JF, Larson CL, Eckert EA, and Ludw ig DS. Dietary composition and physiologic adaptations to energy

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restriction. Am J Clin Nutr 71: 901-907 (2000)

10. Pereira MA, Sw ain J, Goldfine AB, Rifai N, and Ludwig DS. Effects of a low -glycemic-load diet on resting energyexpenditure and heart disease risk factors during w eight loss. JAMA 292: 2482-2490 (2004)

11. Pittas AG, Roberts SB, Das SK, Gilhooly CH, Saltzman E, Golden J, Stark PC, and Greenberg AS. The effects of the dietaryglycemic load on type 2 diabetes risk factors during w eight loss. Obesity 14: 2200-2209 (2006)

12. Johnston CS, Tjonn SL, Swan PD, White A, Hutchins H, and Sears B. Ketogenic low -carbohydrate diets have no metabolicadvantage over nonketogenic low-carbohydrate diets. Am J Clin Nutr 83: 1055-1061 (2006)

13. Ornish D, Scherw itz LW, Billings JH, Brow n SE, Gould KL, Merritt TA, Sparler S, Armstrong WT, Ports TA, Kirkeeide RL,Hogeboom C, and Brand RJ, Intensive lifestyle changes for reversal of coronary heart disease. JAMA 280: 2001-2007 (1998)

14. Wolfe BM and Piche LA. Replacement of carbohydrate by protein in a conventional-fat diet reduces cholesterol andtriglyceride concentrations in healthy normolipidemic subjects. Clin Invest Med 22: 140-1488 (1999)

15. Dumesnil JG, Turgeon J, Tremblay A, Poirier P, Gilbert M, Gagnon L, St-Pierre S, Garneau C, Lemieux I, Pascot A, Bergeron J,and Despres JP. Effect of a low -glycaemic index, low-fat, high-protein diet on the atherogenic metabolic r isk profile of abdominally

obese men. Br J Nutr 86:557-568 (2001)

16. Markovic TP, Campbell LV, Balasubramanian S, Jenkins AB, Fleury AC, Simons LA, and Chisholm DJ. Beneficial effect onaverage lipid levels from energy restriction and fat loss in obese individuals w ith or w ithout type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 21:

695-700 (1998)

17. Layman DK, Shiue H, Sather C, Erickson DJ, and Baum J. Increased dietary protein modifies glucose and insulin homeostasisin adult w omen during w eight loss. J Nutr 133: 405-410 (2003)

18. Gannon MC, Nuttall FQ, Saeed A, Jordan K, and Hoover H. An increase in dietary protein improves the blood glucoseresponse in persons w ith type 2 diabetes. Am J Clin Nutr 78: 734-741 (2003)

19. Nuttall FQ, Gannon MC, Saeed A, Jordan K, and Hoover H. The metabolic response of subjects w ith type 2 diabetes to ahigh-protein, w eight-maintenance diet. J Clin Endocr inol Metab 2003 88: 3577-3583 (2003)

20. Gannon MC and Nuttall FQ. Control of blood glucose in type 2 diabetes w ithout w eight loss by modification of dietcomposition. Nutr Metab (Lond) 3: 16 (2006)

21. Hamdy O and Carver C. The Why WAIT program: improving clinical outcomes through w eight management in type 2diabetes. Curr Diab Rep 8: 413-420 (2008)

22. Gardner CD, Kim S, Bersamin A, Dopler-Nelson M, Otten J, Oelrich B, and Cherin R. Micronutrient quality of w eight-loss dietsthat focus on macronutrients: results f rom the A TO Z study. Am J Clin Nutr 92: 304-312 (2010)

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