Zone Diet Example

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Premise

The following indications are for informational purposes EXCLUSIVELY and are not intended to replace the opinion of professionals such as a doctor, nutritionist or dietician, whose intervention is necessary for the prescription and composition of PERSONALIZED food therapies.

Zone Diet

What is the Zone Diet and Main Characteristics

The zone diet is a food protocol (coined by the American biochemist Berry Sears) more similar to a philosophy of life than to a simple dietary scheme; the researcher, through the application of this diet, promises to reduce excess fat, cancel hunger attacks and, at the same time, guarantee full physical and mental efficiency (even during athletic performance).

According to what Sears cites, food itself represents, if well chosen and consumed, the most powerful drug known to man.
The key principles of the Zone Diet are:

• Control of eicosanoids (prostaglandins, prostacyclines, thromboxanes, leukotrienes, etc.); some of them perform positive functions such as contrasting the inflammatory response, favoring vasodilation, reducing platelet aggregation, immune pro-development, etc. Others, related to the most widespread contemporary pathologies, play a "negative" role, acting as pro-inflammatory, favoring platelet aggregation, vaso-constricting and depressing the immune system.
• Insulin hormone control: anabolic and fattening
• Control of glucagon hormone: catabolic and responsible for the depletion of energy reserves (sugars and fats)

Ultimately, the zone diet must be calculated using an energy distribution that respects the balance of eicosanoids and the hormones insulin and glucagon; the percentages of macro-energetics are:

• Carbohydrates 40%
• Protein 30%
• Lipids 30%

The zone diet also includes other FUNDAMENTAL RULES for reaching the "psycho-physical wellness zone", namely:

• Time between meals equal to or less than 5 hours (total, 5 meals / day)
• Elimination of foods that contain refined carbohydrates (both simple and complex)
• Withdrawal of carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables (fructose only)
• To promote the right hormonal response, every meal or snack must be composed of all 3 energetic macronutrients
• Dinner must precede sleep by about 2 hours; if the time is longer, it is better to have an additional snack before sleep.

The unit of measurement of the zone diet referred to meals is called BLOCK, suitably divided into carbohydrates, proteins and lipids (40-30-30 of energy); they, characterized by a different energy value from each other (CHO 3,75 kcal / g, proteins 4 kcal / g and lipids 9 kcal / g) must be added in different weights to provide 1/3 of each block: CHO 9g + P 7g + L 3g = 1 BLOCK.

Foods Recommended and Not Recommended

Food Choices of the Zone Diet

Ultimately, the Zone Diet promotes the consumption of some foods but discourages as many.

The recommended foods are those that provide a good amount of high biological value proteins (lean meats, egg whites, fish, lean fresh cheeses, etc.), unsaturated lipids (fish rich in omega 3, dried fruit rich in omega 6, extra virgin olive oil rich in omega 9 etc.) and carbohydrates with a low glycemic index (fruit and vegetables rich in fructose and soluble fiber).

On the contrary, the foods not recommended are those that bring large percentages of saturated lipids and cholesterol (fatty and especially red meats, sausages, salted meats, fatty cheeses, some offal, egg yolk, butter, lard, etc.) and refined carbohydrates ( confectionery containing sucrose and all sources of complex carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, rice, other cereals, legumes and potatoes).

Portions

Calculation of Food Portions according to the Zone Diet

The zone diet system to calculate the food portions useful for "entering the zone" uses two calculation methods:

• Palm of the hand: at each meal, protein foods of the size of the palm of the hand should be consumed (without fingers and both surface and thickness) followed by a quantity of fruit equal to two closed fists.
• BLOCKS system (already mentioned): each energetic macronutrient represents 1/3 of a block quantitatively different from the others; the blocks correspond to the energy distribution of 40:30:30 and must ALWAYS be taken in proportions of 1: 1: 1.

Finally, to estimate the overall energy share it is necessary to:

• Estimating fat-free mass (FFM), by indirect methods such as skin test or BIA
• Calculate the protein share based on the coefficient of physical activity (see dedicated tables)
• On it, estimate the amount of protein blocks and then, proportionally, also that of carbohydrates and lipids
• The breakdown of energy at meals is approximately
• Breakfast: 25%
• Snack: 10%
• Lunch: 30%
• Snack: 10%
• Price: 25%
• (Possible third snack: 10%, subtracting the energy from lunch and / or dinner)

Practical Example

Fitness instructor and computer technician; he performs circuit training in the gym twice a week and swims 2-2 times.

Zone Diet Example - Day 1

Zone Diet Example - Day 2

Zone Diet Example - Day 3

Zone Diet Example - Day 4

Zone Diet Example - Day 5

Zone Diet Example - Day 6

Zone Diet Example - Day 7