Sears Diet

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The Sears Diet , also known as the Zone Diet , is a diet introduced by the US biochemist Barry Sears , which is said to contribute to weight loss and to improve physical performance. Sears developed a complex theory of optimal human nutrition on which his diet is based. The Sears diet consists of 30 percent fat and protein and 40 percent carbohydrates. In addition to making recommendations about the composition and amount of food , he recommends exercising. The application of his dietary recommendations should also lead to " hormone balance" ( The Zone ), which should have a mood- enhancing effect. Sears advocates the diet as permanent nutrition.

Sears' theses

Barry Sears' main theses in brief:

  • Eating fat doesn't necessarily mean getting fat.
  • It is difficult to lose weight simply by consuming less energy (see: Physiological calorific value of food ).
  • Weight loss has little to do with willpower.
  • Food can be good or bad.
  • The biochemical effects of food have not changed in humans.

The principles

The Optimum / The Zone

Sears describes the so-called optimum as the range of a hormone balance he describes, in which the insulin level is neither too high nor too low and in which the body breaks down stored fat for energy, which leads to weight loss. According to Sears, the body's own hormone-like substances, the eicosanoids , which, among other things, influence the insulin level, are essential for the diet . Sears describes the food as a "drug" with which the body's own hormone levels can be influenced.

The basics

According to Sears, the basis of the diet is the work of Sune Karl Bergström and Bengt Ingemar Samuelsson from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and John Robert Vane from the Royal College of Surgeons in England.

This diet requires eating every four and a half hours. Sears recommends taking three main meals and two snacks in between meals in order to always stay in the "optimum". At every meal, fat, protein and carbohydrates, the three nutrient blocks , have to be in a certain ratio to one another. The nutrient block requirement must be calculated individually. The Sears diet consists of 30 percent fat and protein and 40 percent carbohydrates . This should bring the body to the "optimum". The diet also differentiates between “good” and “bad” carbohydrates, similar to the Glyx diet and the Logi method .

Every 7 grams of protein should contain 9 grams of carbohydrates with a low glycemic index and 1.5 grams of fat with as many unsaturated fatty acids as possible. According to the Sears theory, the insulin level should be kept low by a relatively high protein intake and a relatively low carbohydrate intake. Sears also prescribes fish oil capsules to be taken daily.

According to Sears theory, the excess of carbohydrates in our food is responsible for the weight gain, since carbohydrates are converted into glycogen , which cannot be stored in the body in any amount and is converted into fat when there is an excessive supply of food. This deposition as fat is also controlled by insulin. High insulin levels prevent this fat from being broken down again. It stays in the human fat deposits.

On average, 3250 to 7150 kJ are consumed per day with this diet .

criticism

  • The Sears diet is a relatively complex diet that expects users to find out about the composition of the food at each meal in order to then put it together according to the Sears diet. In some cases it is difficult or impossible for users to know the chemical composition of the food.
  • The German Nutrition Society (DGE) recommends significantly less protein and more carbohydrates than the Sears diet prescribes.
  • The promises to be read in the books by Barry Sears of permanent weight loss, the lower frequency of illnesses, higher physical performance or even influences on our genes are not scientifically proven.
  • The statement that superfluous carbohydrates are converted into fat has not been proven and, according to various studies, is incorrect.

literature

  • Barry Sears / Bill Lawren The Optimal: The Sears Diet . For physical and mental performance. 5th edition Ulm, Ullstein, 2003, ISBN 3-548-36599-X
  • Barry Sears Zone Meals in Seconds: 150 Fast and Delicious Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. 2000, ISBN 978-0060989217
  • Barry Sears The Top 100 Zone Foods: The Zone Food Science Ranking System. 2000, ISBN 978-0060394196
  • Barry Sears / William Morrow The Soy Zone: 101 Delicious and Easy-to-Prepare Recipes. 2001, ISBN 978-0060393106
  • Barry Sears The Anti-Inflammation Zone: Reversing the Silent Epidemic That's Destroying Our Health. 2005, ISBN 978-0060595463
  • Barry Sears / Riccardo Pina 40-30-30 - The Zone Diet 2010, ISBN 3830439814 , publisher: Trias

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Marc K. Hellerstein: No common energy currency: de novo lipogenesis as the road less traveled . In: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . tape 74 , no. 6 , December 1, 2001, ISSN  0002-9165 , p. 707-708 , doi : 10.1093 / ajcn / 74.6.707 ( oup.com [accessed February 9, 2020]).

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