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Fads

Food trends

Health care

The 1990s in America

Zone diet

by Victoria Erhart

Definition A mixed carbohydrate, protein, and lower-fat diet designed to help a person’s body function more efficiently and possibly aid in weight loss

Inventor Dr. Barry Sears (1947-    )

Date Introduced in 1995

The Zone diet has generated much controversy. Barry Sears has insisted that his diet is healthy and balanced and helps people’s bodies burn rather than store fat. Critics, including the American Heart Association, do not endorse the Zone diet as heart-healthy.

The “zone” in the Zone diet is the term coined by the diet’s inventor, biochemist Barry Sears, to describe the optimal combination of carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake that causes the body to release chemicals called eicosanoids. These chemicals tell the body to burn rather than store fat. The Zone diet recommends that 40 percent of daily calorie intake derive from carbohydrates, 30 percent from proteins, and 30 percent from monounsaturated fats. At these proportions, Sears states the body is in the proper hormone balance. Insulin levels are neither too low nor too high, the body does not receive any chemical messages to store excess calories as fat, and the body can operate with a high degree of chemical efficiency.

The Zone diet is not a low-fat diet, as are many diet programs; it is a lower-fat diet. According to Sears, low-fat diets are actually counterproductive because they confuse the body into storing fat. The body thinks it will not receive sufficient amounts of calories from fats and must therefore store the fat calories it possesses. Sears developed the Zone diet to be lower in monounsaturated fats, which decreases the rate at which carbohydrates are absorbed by the body and converted into insulin. Moderate production levels of insulin cause the body to store less fat. Less fat storage translates into moderate weight loss over time. Sears makes distinctions among types of fat in the Zone diet, with particular emphasis on the beneficial intake of omega-3 fatty acids in proportion to omega-6 fatty acids.

The Zone diet does not stress amounts of daily food consumption, though Sears does recommend that people moderate their total daily calorie intake. His diet is based on the premise that people should consume moderate amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, in proper 40:30:30 proportion in order to feel better mentally and physically, and to lose weight. The Zone diet is not a vegetarian diet, which Sears criticizes as being too low in protein. The American Heart Association has cited a lack of information on the long-term effects of the Zone diet as the reason for not endorsing it as heart-healthy.

Impact

The Zone diet is easy to follow and has attracted a number of Hollywood celebrities among its followers. Sears has continued to study the effects of his Zone diet and has created a vegetarian-friendly Zone diet based on soy protein. He continues to publish Zone diet guides.

Further Reading

1 

Sears, Barry. The Anti-Inflammation Zone: Reversing the Silent Epidemic That’s Destroying Our Health. New York. ReganBooks, 2005.

2 

_______. The Zone: A Dietary Road Map. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Erhart, Victoria. "Zone Diet." The 1990s in America, edited by Milton Berman, Salem Press, 2009. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=1990_1630.
APA 7th
Erhart, V. (2009). Zone diet. In M. Berman (Ed.), The 1990s in America. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Erhart, Victoria. "Zone Diet." Edited by Milton Berman. The 1990s in America. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2009. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.