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The evolution of truth

By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: 2/2/98

The 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said that all truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

The concept of the Zone is a new idea. It has gone through its ridicule stage, and now has entered the violent reaction phase, as many mainstream and backwoods nutritionists use the most outrageous untruths to bash the concept of the Zone.

Why such a violent reaction? Because the concept of food as a hormonal control agent disrupts the carefully constructed nutritional fiefdoms built over the past 20 years by the nutritional establishment. What good bureaucrat is going to stand up and stay ?I was wrong?? Not only wrong, but inadvertently decreased the quality of life for millions of Americans in the process. The Zone threatens to take away their livelihood. I would also feel threatened if I were in their shoes. But I am not.

For many years I labored out in the scientific wilderness discussing with anyone who cared to hear not only about the dangers of excess insulin and the resulting overproduction of bad eicosanoids as the underlying cause of heart disease, but also about how food could reverse those factors. The fact that more than two million of my books on the Zone have been sold indicates that a growing percentage of the American public is paying attention to this message. The fact that people are also beginning to question the ?wisdom? of the government?s nutritional policies is a pretty good reason for the violent reaction. How dare the average person tell our nutritional leaders (usually self-appointed) that their recommended low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets are simply not working!

Fortunately, more and more of my colleagues are beginning to come to the same conclusions that I did more than a decade ago. As more of them come to the same understanding, then the concept of the Zone will become self-evident with most (including the more voracious critics of Zone) saying their previous statements were simply misunderstood by an ignorant public. Oh, well, that?s why they are good bureaucrats. They know when to change positions with the shift of the wind.

Third World countries not immune to modern diseases

By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: 5/5/97 If you believe current dogma, then heart disease, cancer and strokes are strictly diseases of modern civilization and the sedentary lifestyle of today?s couch potatoes. Politically correct statements, but unfortunately they don?t square with the facts.

For the first time, reliable figures are appearing that set the record straight. In a study commissioned by the World Health Organization and published in Lancet last week, it was found that 50.2 million people died worldwide in 1990. The leading cause of death? Heart disease, with more than 6.3 million deaths. But nearly 60 percent of those diseases came from the Third World. Cancers came next with 6 million deaths (with more than 50 percent coming from Third World countries), followed by stroke at 4.4 million with nearly 70 percent coming from the Third World.

Heart disease, cancer, and stroke ? all diseases that are routinely only associated with industrialized countries. Yet these three diseases accounted for more than 33 percent of all worldwide deaths with the vast majority coming from the Third World. It can?t be the sedentary lifestyle in those in the under-developed countries that's causing such alarming mortality percentages. Maybe the massive amount of grain that we routinely ship them to help their hunger could be part of the problem.

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More research links high insulin and heart attack risk By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: 8/10/98 A recent study in Circulation (Vol. 98: 398-404) confirms the relationship between elevated insulin levels and heart attack. This was a prospective study in which Finnish policemen with no evidence of heart disease were followed for 22 years. Those who had the highest insulin levels after five years were three times more likely to get a heart attack. This observation is in line with another recent article in the June issue of JAMA that indicates high levels of insulin increase the risk of heart attack by a factor of 5.

It is almost on a weekly basis that new information appears that confirms the link between elevated insulin and an increase in the risk of heart disease. And there is only one "drug" that can lower insulin. It is called food, and in particular, food recommended in the Zone Diet.

Of course, someone would have to take credit for making the mistake of convincing Americans that they should eat even more carbohydrates (that stimulate insulin) and less fat (which has no effect on insulin). But you can bet that someone will not be the American Heart Association (AHA). In a statement released by the AHA it was stated that "On the basis of present evidence, doctors do not necessarily need to screen patients for hyperinsulinemia." Talk about spin control.

I hope at some point reality will step in for the American Heart Association. Until then, you can take charge of your own fate by following the Zone Diet, which was designed to reduce excess insulin levels. If you believe the published research data, that reduction in insulin can save your life.

Physical fitness in the Zone By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: 8/3/98

In the chapter I am writing on exercise and the Zone for my new book on anti-aging, I included a home test to determine how you stack up in terms of physical strength. This becomes vitally important as you age, since functionality will be determined by both upper-body and lower-body strength. The one way to build strength is by doing weight training. Though weight training is by its very nature boring and difficult, you will always have one set of weights to work with where ever you go. The weight is your own body weight. The best exercise to build upper body strength is the old standard military push-up with your arms in a direct line with your shoulders. It is also the best way to measure your upper body strength. If you are a male here's how many push-ups you have to do to be considered to have average upper body strength at various ages.

Age: 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-plus Military Pushups: 35-44 25-34 20-29 15-24 10-19 For women, the test is a little different, because they should do knee push-ups. Here are the numbers of these type of push-ups they would need to do to be considered having average upper body strength.

Age: 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-plus Knee Pushups: 17-33 12-24 8-19 6-14 3-4 I recommend you test yourself at home (after all, no one's watching) to see how your upper body strength stacks up. Before you get too disappointed with the results, realize that about 50 percent of all teen-agers can't do more than 10 pushups. Maybe that's the state of the nation we get by eating high-carbohydrate diets.

Chunky is in?

By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: 2/9/98

After years of promoting Kellogg?s Special K cereal as the ?high-protein? alternative to typical breakfast cereals (because it contains one extra gram of protein per serving), Kellogg Co. recently announced that it will no longer use slim models to demonstrate how ?to lose the fat, but keep the muscle?.

According to an Associated Press story, women in focus groups were upset that none of them could ever conceive of being thin enough to fit into designer jeans or clinging evening dresses. Apparently chunky is in, and being your ideal body weight is out. Did anyone at Kellogg?s ever think that maybe their breakfast cereals may be the cause? Cereals have the same hormonal effects on insulin that candy bars do (actually candy bars enter the bloodstream at a slower rate than breakfast cereals). If the women in these focus groups had only realized that excess insulin makes you fat, then they would have figured out that the reason that they were upset is because they have been eating cereal for breakfast.

When you make too much insulin (by eating breakfast cereals, bagels and pasta), there is no way you are going to fit into your jeans. It used to be that nutritionists said you should weigh the same as an adult as when you were at age 18. Today that statement seems as if it belongs in Fantasyland. If that concept seems too far-fetched, then go back to the old 1959 Metropolitan Life tables. It also seems that no one in America can reach those realistic weights. Maybe it?s because of El Nino, not the cereal manufacturers.

Funny that breakfast cereal isn?t all that popular in Europe, and most everyone (at least in France) seems to fit into their clothes.

Go take a walk

By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: 2/16/98

Remember the saying ?no pain, no gain?. This thought of physical abuse turned millions off to exercise. But an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association last week puts exercise back into perspective. This unique study focused on identical twins so that genetic background was not a variable. What they found was that if you take about six brisk 30-minute walks per month, you would decrease your mortality by 30 percent. If you took more than six brisk 30-minute walks or jogs per month, you further decreased your mortality by another 14 percent or practically cut your mortality in half!

I guess I was too stringent when I recommending walking 30 minutes per day as a great exercise program. Why would walking such limited amounts be useful? One reason is you are lowering insulin when you walk, and that will reduce mortality from heart disease and cancer. Second, if you?re walking, you are also out of the kitchen. There is nothing like boredom to entice you to eat more food.

There you have it, another medical breakthrough ? walking. Too bad it can?t be patented.

Using TV to tune Americans into the Zone

By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: 2/23/98

The concept of the Zone is not intuitively obvious since hormonal thinking is quite a bit different than caloric thinking. The reason the Zone Nutrition Program was developed was to turn back an epidemic growth of obesity and Type II diabetes in this country, which in my opinion if left unchecked, will destroy our health care in the next decade.

But how to get this message to the 260 million Americans who are not avid book readers? After all, less than 1 percent of the population has even purchased the books that describe this technology. I admit that we live in a visual world, and unfortunately the written word is becoming a less and less powerful medium to put forward a mass message. Therefore what has become the most likely medium to spread the word? You guessed it ? TV.

Today we aired the first 30-minute infomercial about the Zone. It is really more of a documentary on hormonal thinking, a kind of a cross between ?Nova? and the ?Today Show." Hosted by Peggy Fleming, this program puts the Zone into a visual context that I hope will teach a far greater number of Americans that much of the dietary information they have been fed the past 15 years is simply dead wrong hormonally. They don?t have to read a book, just watch their televisions. I hope that will galvanize them to action so that they can begin taking responsibility for what they put into their mouths.

The success of this television program will tell whether or not Americans are willing to change their diet and lifestyles to ones compatible with the Zone. I hope the answer is yes. If not, our country is in for some very rough times.

The origin of 'official' dietary recommendations Guest column By: Eric S. Freedland, MD Medical director Eicotech Corp. Filed: 12/29/97 Next article: Monday, Jan. 5, 1998

(From time to time, it is my pleasure to have outstanding researchers and physicians write the weekly column for the Zone Files. This week, Eric S. Freedland, MD, medical director at Eicotech Corporation, writes on how the official dietary recommendations became official. I encourage other physicians and researchers who want to write Zone-related articles to submit them to the Zone Files. ? Barry Sears)

Since 1950 the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has published dietary recommendations. The ratio as a percentage of calories for carbohydrate:protein:fat was 40:20:40 in 1950 and 45:20:35 in 1971 [1,2]. These are close to the Zone Nutrition Program?s 40:30:30 ratio. In 1986, the ADA was concerned about saturated fat intake and the risk for heart disease. Therefore, to ?simplify? things, all types of fat were to be limited and a low-fat diet rich in carbohydrates (up to 60 percent of the total energy) was recommended. An increase in carbohydrate replaced the fat. It was believed that high-carbohydrate diets would improve the diabetic condition with better blood glucose control and reduced insulin requirements [3].

Soon after the 1986 ADA guidelines were announced, the National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference on Diet and Exercise [4] expressed concerns about recommending high-carbohydrate diets because of their potentially harmful effects on blood lipids, i.e., increasing triglycerides and lowering of HDL or ?protective? cholesterol. This was felt to be especially dangerous in type 2 diabetics who already suffered from abnormal lipids and cholesterol [3]. Numerous studies have challenged the contention that a high-carbohydrate diet improves glucose control in type 2 diabetics [5-8,3], and, in fact, the opposite has been observed [3,8-11]. Many of these studies were stimulated by the 1987 NIH report, and, much like the Zone Nutrition Program, involved the replacement of saturated fatty acids of type 2 diabetics by cis-mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) instead of carbohydrates. High-carbohydrate, low-fat diets in patients with type 2 diabetes have been shown to lead to higher day-long plasma glucose, insulin, and triglycerides when compared to a high monounsaturated diet consisting of 40:25:45 [8,9].

The above studies are included in an extensive review [11], which shares the conclusions that there appears to be little evidence to support the view that substituting carbohydrate for fat in the diets of type 2 diabetics results in any measurable beneficial effect on either carbohydrate or lipoprotein metabolism. The authors further conclude that the available evidence supports that such diets deteriorate the characteristic lipid abnormalities. Data indicating the high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets lead to beneficial effects were considered confounded by the following: The lack of suitable experimental control; or by the fact that diets differed in the type of dietary fat and amount of cholesterol; or the diets were enormously enriched in dietary fiber, which would be likely to slow down the absorption of carbohydrates and decrease the impact of the glycemic load [11]. Clearly, diets approaching the Zone?s ratio of 40:30:30 are advantageous, especially for diabetics.

Despite the above data, the 1994 and current ADA nutrition recommendations do not prescribe recommendations for the amount of carbohydrate, fat and protein [2]. To meet the perceived protein requirements, 10-20 percent of the calories is comprised of protein. The remaining 80-90 percent of calories, to be divided between carbohydrate and fat, is left up to the discretion of the ?individual?s needs.? Although a low-fat diet is not necessarily high-carbohydrate, most often carbohydrates are substituted to make up for the decrease in fat, which is permitted by the ADA guidelines [1,2]. Although adding fat in the form of MUFAs is allowed, it is not w

The depression epidemic

REPRINT
By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: 4/14/97

Has there been a sudden genetic change in humankind that has given us a new generation of Prozac-deficient adults? I think not, even though depression is constantly increasing in our society. Even when corrected through better and earlier diagnosis, it is clear that depression is reaching epidemic proportions. Is it possible that this rise in depression may be linked to something as fundamental as the diet, a diet which has also undergone dramatic changes in the last generation? The answer appears to be yes.

New research indicates a striking difference in the amount of bad eicosanoids in the spinal fluid in normal versus depressed patients. The higher the levels of bad eicosanoids (i.e. PGE2), the greater the extent of depression. More important, recent studies have shown that simply increasing the amount of fish oil in the diet can dramatically reduce the extent of existing depression. Since high levels of fish oil supplementation can reduce the production of bad eicosanoids, this new data is compatible with viewing depression as an eicosanoid imbalance disease.

How best to rectify an imbalance of eicosanoids? Simply treat the food you eat with the same respect that you would a drug. In other words, every time you open refrigerator door, believe that you are pulling out a bottle of Prozac.

Food is that powerful.

Your blood tells all

REPRINT
By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: 4/7/97

You can?t hide from your genes. You can?t change them, but you can alter the way they are expressed. How would you like to peek inside your genetic code to see if you are very sensitive to an over-production of insulin when you eat carbohydrates? Then simply find out your blood type.

If you have type O blood, then it is very likely that you will have real problems consuming large amounts of high-density carbohydrates. Type O blood is the oldest surviving blood type in humans. If you have type 0 blood, your genetic response to carbohydrates will be similar to what it was for your ancestors 10,000-20,000 years ago when there were no grains on the face of the earth. And it also means that your insulin response to high-density carbohydrates such as grains, starches, bread, and pasta will b e very strong. Such an intensive insulin response is your worst hormonal nightmare.

If you have Type O blood, it just means you are genetically unlucky when it comes to eating pasta and bagels. Can you change your genetic fate? No, but you can change the way you eat so that your diet is in sync with your genes. Just cut out the high-density carbohydrates, and primarily eat the same carbohydrates your ancestors ate ? fruits and vegetables.

Fats from another world

By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: 3/24/97

What if an alien fat from another world was sent on a mission to disrupt the delicate central control systems in the human body? And what if this fat ? wearing the disguise of your favorite food ? had an insidious way to inhibit the most powerful hormonal systems in the human body? Sounds like something from the X-Files?

In reality such an alien fat has found its way to this planet. It doesn?t come from the outer reaches of the galaxy, but is actually made in massive quantities right here in the United States. This alien fat is called partially hydrogenated polyunsaturated fat.

Where do you find this alien fat? Not in some dark alley. It is found in virtually every processed food product in the country, from ice cream to crackers to margarine. And why is it there? Because it is simply less prone to oxidation and rancidity, and therefore makes processed food taste better. Unfortunately, it is also an inhibitor of the key enzyme that is necessary for the body to make eicosanoids, the most powerful group of hormones known to medical science. If there was ever a fiendish villain to weaken your internal control systems, partially hydrogenated fat would be a major candidate.

There is a major misconception about hydrogenated fats Fully hydrogenated fat is exactly the same as saturated fat, and your body knows how to metabolize it. Therefore it has no negative effect on eicosanoids.

Partially hydrogenated fat is another story. These fats contain polyunsaturated double bonds, but now they are in an alien chemical configuration known as trans as opposed to the natural cis configuration. These types of fat play havoc with the essential fatty acid metabolism.

You cannot make these trans fatty acids by heating. They can be made only in the presence of certain catalysts, such as nickel and in the presence of hydrogen gas (two conditions that you probably will not encounter on your kitchen stove). These fats are produced by the largest food companies in world and approved by the FDA as a ?safe? food additive. As a consequence you are only going to find trans fatty acids in processed food products.

Therefore if you don?t want to sabotage your internal hormonal systems, stay away from partially hydrogenated fat, and stick with natural fat, especially monounsaturated fat. Otherwise there?s no telling what strange fate awaits you.

The epidemic no one cares about

By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: 3/17/97

What if there were an epidemic affecting the children of America and no one really knew about it or even cared to find a cure? Most publications and news media would be running sensational stories about parental neglect and the inability of researchers and physicians to find the cause and the cure.

But there is, indeed, such an epidemic running rampant in society. It?s called childhood obesity. In the March issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, it was reported that childhood obesity for every age group has doubled in the past 20 years. That is a 100-percent increase! If there were such an increase in incidents of some rare childhood cancer, you can be sure that Dateline, 20/20 and every other national news show would have the issue as its lead story. And newspapers would run banner headlines.

Keep in mind that adult obesity has only increased by 33 percent in the same time period. This means that childhood obesity is increasing three times faster than adult obesity. What does this predict for the future of health care this country? Not too many good things.

However, the story can have a happy ending. Like adult obesity, childhood obesity has a simple, guaranteed cure. Simply reduce the levels of insulin in the bloodstream. And we have the drug that is ready to go to battle to eradicate this epidemic virtually overnight.

What is that drug? It?s called food. Food is the only drug known to lower insulin, but the door can swing both ways, since food can also raise insulin levels.

Once America understands the hormonal rules about food, this silent epidemic of obesity can be articulated. And then it will be history. Until that time, we can expect an increasing acceleration of this hormonal disturbance in our children that will in turn lower the quality of their lives.

Zone in if you're stressed out

By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: 3/10/97 Tax time is a stressful time. It?s stressful to prepare the forms. It?s even more stressful trying to come up with a way to pay . The end result is stress.

But stress is not some isolated event. It brings powerful hormonal consequences. Under conditions of chronic stress (like preparing taxes or meeting any today?s never-ending deadlines) there is an increase in the levels of the hormone cortisol, which in turn increases insulin. And any increase in insulin is going to drive you out of the Zone.

Stress in the ?90s (like taxes) is here to stay. Although you can?t decrease the stress of modern living, you can alter and reduce its hormonal consequences.

How? Follow the Zone Diet, which will minimize, if not eliminate, the stress-induced increase in insulin. The end result is you are going to be able to handle the chronic stress induced by today?s living more effectively and with greater ease.

And remember that the stresses encountered by your children are no different in intensity than the ones you are challenged with every day. A child?s problems may be small but so is the child.

If you want them to also have a more stress-free life, get them into the Zone and keep them there.

The bitter facts about sweeteners

By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: Monday 1/10/97

I am often asked about my opinion of artificial sweeteners. My answer is simple - keep them to a minimum.

We tend to forget that artificial sweeteners were developed 25 years ago because experts told us that it was sugar that causes obesity. Ten years later fat became the enemy. Unfortunately, artificial sweeteners remained on the landscape like some rusted car with a fairly uneven safety record. In particular, I strongly feel that Nutrasweet can be potentially dangerous for anyone following a ketogenic diet or who has reactive hypoglycemia.

With the understanding of the Zone, we have come full circle. Small amounts of table sugar (one-half teaspoon which is 4 grams of carbohydrate in your decaf coffee, plus a dash of lowfat milk) will not make you fat if you make sure that you are eating some extra protein at the same time to control insulin.

Likewise, dietary fat alone will not make you fat because it has no effect on insulin. If you have to use artificial sweeteners, them use them in moderation.

The best sweetener? Just like your grandmother told you. Add a sprinkling of cinnamon or nutmeg. Try it on oatmeal or yogurt or even in your decaf.

Scientists cannot ignore the facts.

Carbos are up, civility is down

By: Dr. Barry Sears Filed: Monday 3/3/97

Have you noticed that with the epidemic rise in obesity there has also been corresponding decline in civility? Is this simply a coincidence, or are the two trends somehow linked?

I believe the answer is yes they are. Morality and civility can be linked to adequate levels of the hormone serotonin in the brain. Serotonin acts as the veneer that separates human traits from purely animalistic impulses. The thinner that veneer becomes, the less civil behavior correspondingly becomes.

Not surprisingly, the increase in obesity and the decrease in serotonin can be caused by an increase in insulin levels, which is caused by increase in carbohydrate consumption.

And this is exactly what has happened in this country during the past 15 years. I don?t believe that this country just happened to spawn a new generation of Prozac-deficient adults. I also don?t believe that the stresses of life in the ?90s are any greater than the stresses caused by the Great Depression in the ?30s.

What has changed dramatically is what we eat, especially in terms of absolute carbohydrate content of the diet. If you are what you eat, then it is also safe to say that you behave in a certain manner because of what you eat.