Don't Enter This Zone! -Roger Mason

You have probably noticed the media continually promotes the wrong diet gurus. Atkins was a media darling before he died prematurely of heart failure from following his own

inane advice. You can be sure if the media is  pushing a new diet guru,  this is exactly what you don't need in your life. If those vain, terminally neurotic, drunk, shallow, mindless, narcissistic, doped up movie stars start climbing on the bandwagon, you really know this is the wrong road to take. When the New York Times best seller (2005) list tells you "The Zone" is a number one best seller you know something is wrong.  
 
Such is the situation with Barry Sears and his line of books on the “Zone Diet”. This began with Enter the Zone. The "zone" refers to the ideal level of insulin, and he is quite correct in emphasizing our insulin levels. Diabetes is an epidemic in America. 1 in 3 children will grow up diabetic! Blood sugar dysmetabolism is commonplace. This includes insulin resistance, where we produce too much insulin because our cells just won't properly metabolize it any more. One reason for our epidemic obesity is blood sugar and insulin dysfunction. All this is basically caused by eating too many calories, and eating too much fat and sugars. Americans eat a mere 1% whole grains now instead of the 50% they should. Sears wants you to eat a very high fat, very high protein diet to cure your blood sugar problems. This is asinine on it's face. Never once will you hear him recommend whole grains. He tells you 30% fat, and says 30% protein is not high at all! He actually tells you to eat white bread, white rice, white sugar, and other such foods. What kind of zone is this? The psychotic zone? One you certainly don't want to be in, that's for sure. This is a 30/30/40 diet where you eat 30% fat, 30% protein, and 40% carbohydrates- the wrong kind of carbohydrates. This is four times the fat you need, twice the protein you need, and not nearly enough of the right kind of carbohydrates. 
 
Studies prove the best way to maintain proper blood sugar and insulin levels is to eat whole, complex, natural carbohydrates like whole grains, beans, legumes, and fresh green and yellow vegetables. What studies? Let's just talk about two of many such published studies. Harvard University in Boston published one in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition  (volume 75, 2002).  The doctors fed real people a whole grain based diet. They served the subjects brown rice, corn, oats and barley for six weeks, and then switched them back to the good old American junk food diet for six weeks. The people who ate the whole grains  dramatically lowered their insulin levels, as well as their blood sugar levels. The doctors concluded, "Whole grains have favorable effects on insulin sensitivity". This means our cells properly metabolize the insulin so we don't need to overproduce it. Another study at the University of Seoul found the same results when feeding their subjects whole grains and legumes. Blood sugar levels fell by an amazing 24% in just 16 weeks while insulin levels fell a full 14%. Please note this is a 24% drop in blood sugar and a 14% drop in insulin in just weeks with diet alone! This is amazing. Folks, no drug on earth will produce results like this, no matter how expensive, dangerous, and fraught with side effects. In both studies the subjects greatly improved their risks against getting heart disease as measured by homocysteine levels and other parameters. This study appeared in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (volume 21, 2001).  
 
What kind of health guru is going to tell you to eat a lot of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey, eggs, endless dairy products, white flour, white bread, sugar, and other such foods? Why do so many people even listen to such babble?  
 
Barry keeps yapping about this being a "hormonally correct diet". Eating all this fat and all this protein, and the wrong kind of carbohydrates will wreak havoc on your endocrine system. 
 
He claims you are going to achieve "Superhealth". How in the world are you going to achieve "Superhealth" on a high fat, high protein, low carbohydrate, wrong carbohydrate diet? He claims you are going to:

• lose excess body fat increase energy and well being
• lower your insulin levels
• think better
• look better
• improve your cholesterol profile

 
You are never going to do these things by eating too much fat, too much protein, and eating the wrong kinds of complex carbohydrates. He looks like crap by the way and is very overweight. His own health is a disgrace. Wouldn't you love to know his cholesterol, triglyceride, and blood sugar levels? He's not telling.  
 
Barry does not like whole grains at all, and says we have "only" been eating them for 10,000 years now. Can you believe this? We have "only" been eating whole grains for 10,000 years, but that isn't long enough. Unbelievable. He says that eating too many “carbohydrates” causes us to produce too much insulin. Does the word carbohydrate mean white sugar or brown rice? Oatmeal or Twinkies®? The clinical facts are that the more whole grains and beans we eat the lower our insulin levels are.  
 
He actually tells you white sugar will normalize your blood sugar levels more effectively than corn flakes! He actually says this. If you think I'm making this up, just read any of his books. He will actually tell you that whole grains and beans are no different from simple sugars like glucose, fructose, honey, maltose, raw sugar, white sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, and the rest of them.  
 
Of course he promotes the Glycemic Index, which, is a hallmark of stupidity. We've exposed this farce before. He shows you that Americans have more than THREE times (over 300%) of the coronary mortality rate of the Japanese, who eat a low fat, high fiber, very high carbohydrate, low protein diet. He's proving that what he promotes is 180 degrees opposed to reality. Barry actually says we should study 3,000 year old eviscerated mummies from Egypt to verify his dietary advice. You think I'm making this up don't you? He actually says this! I swear I didn't make this up. He's that stupid. 
 
He says, "…it takes fat to burn fat". Now that's an intelligent statement. Just keep stuffing all that fat in your face and burn fat with fat. If that was true Americans would be the slimmest people in the world, and not the fattest.  We eat 42% fat calories, and most of these are from red meat, poultry, eggs, dairy products, and milk. He actually suggests you eat greaseburgers at McDonalds and throw away the bun! You think I'm making all this up to make him sound stupid don't you? In my wildest dreams I couldn't make up anything to make him sound any stupider than he already is. Barry tells you that "overall moderation is the key to understanding The Zone", yet  he recommends twice the protein  and four times the fat you need. This is "moderation"? He says you will lower your body fat per cent by adding more fat! Sure, we all wish this was true. He also wants you to drink a half gallon of water every day whether you are thirsty or not.  
 
Folks, let's not waste any more of your time on this moron. Soon his books will be forgotten, the movie stars will embrace another fad diet, the media will promote another idiot, and Barry will fall over dead from following his own advice.  
 
Don't enter this zone- it's the Road to Hell.  

(In 2008 you rarely ever hear of this anymore and Barry looks worse than ever.)