 |
| You are not authorized to post a reply.
|
|
| Author |
Messages |
|
SENSEI GREG  Posts:2
 Newbie

 |
| 09/14/2008 6:29 PM |
|
Hi Alex, I would like to chime in on what a wise old monk once told me -"The brain is the strongest muscle". I would much rather stay in the zone and have the mental prowess to lift the weight of the world off my shoulders. In fact, I may have had boarderline personality dissorder and didn't know it when I was off the zone. Now, I'm rarely ever upset over anything since I returned to the zone, and everyone and everything is honestly amazing in my life. So, muscle size over food for your brain, it's your choice. Keep up the efforts, I know it takes both. You can't have one without the other or else its only superficial. - Peace |
|
Alive and lovin it in Detroit,
Sensei Greg |
|
|
David  Posts:16
 Aspiring

 |
| 10/02/2008 8:12 AM |
|
Hi Alex, A couple of comments: 1. You said "I went to the gym every day...I killed myself everyday, for 30 days." Realize that regardless of whether you were using the Zone diet or any other diet, 30 days of killing oneself, that is work outs at very high intensity and doing that EVERY day most likely constitutes overtraining, unless taking steroids. Working out too frequently will prevent growth. Too long workouts will destroy your testosterone levels. Furthermore, once you have stimulated your muscle growth by very intense workouts, you need to rest. You grow when you rest. Lifting weights too frequently is catabolic, it breaks the muscle down. I've been there myself, done that. I used to be a competitive sprinter. I was over-training without knowing it. I stopped working out altogether, apart from warm ups and light sprints. I gained 5.5 pounds of muscle in 2 weeks, and cut my sprinting time in the 440 by 2.5 seconds. The previous intensity and frequency levels of my training constituted over-training. 2. Remember the Zone diet as portrayed in Sears' books is a muscle mass "maintenance" diet. This means that even if you multiply your daily protein needs by the Zone activity level index, you will only maintain whatever you have. 3. To gain muscle mass, Dr Sears recommends 1 extra block per day above the maintenance level. He furthermore suggests adding more monosaturated fat to the diet than what is prescribed in the maintenance "normal" blocks. I suggest reading Mastering the Zone. In it you will find several diet examples for "male olympic athletes." Based on their needs, they eat three six blocks per meal day, and two one block snacks. And "significantly more fat." It seems he doubles the fat intake compared to the normal Zone level. Furthermore afaik I've seen it recommended to add a one block snack prior to the workout, and if the work out lasts more than 90 minutes, add one more one block snack during the session. However, if you're working out with weights, 45 minutes should be your maximum length workout if you want to keep your T-levels high. Still, even with these 20 block a day diets, these amounts of blocks for the Olympic level athletes are maintenance diets rather than muscle mass/hypertrophy diets. So follow Sears suggestion in point three above to gain muscle, add another block. It seems you already do so with your post-workout protein shake, and if you add low GI carbs to it, and have it within 15 minutes of your workout you should keep your muscles energized and in a positive nitrogen balance. In addition, on page 53 of Mastering the Zone Sears adds: "Whether you have entered the Zone is ultimately not a question of percentages, totals, amounts, or the glycemic index, it's based solely on your personal response to a meal...It's just that your particular hormonal carburetor may need some fine-tuning. But the protein-to-carbohydrate ratio is usually not to blame. It's often the amount of fat that you're NOT adding back to the diet... Add more monosaturated fat to your diet at every meal and snack." So he's also saying you need to experiment and see what effect the diet has on you. I would also guess it could be beneficial to experiment with smaller meals, maximum three blocks per meal, and double the amount of meals from three to six a day to stimulate the mTor. You also should probably add GLA to your diet, either through eating slow cooking oat meal a couple of times a week, or through one of Sears supplements, such as EicoPro. I would go for the oatmeal. It's cheaper. Remember to drink a lot of water (as you are tuning your muscles to burn fat rather than carbohydrates for fuel, you need to add water), and get plenty of sleep. All this being said, is the Zone the ultimate hypertrophy diet? I don't know. I don't think Sears ever claims this is the ultimate hypertrophy diet. I've worked out with one of the Mr Olympias, and I personally know one of the previous Mr World's. Both of them are obviously very genetically gifted to build muscle. Even so both of them used performance enhancing drugs to really get the muscle gains they needed to win. The latter gained more than 65 pounds of muscle in three months. He's got stretch marks on his fore arms to prove it even many years after the event. He also shared how the drugs in combination with his low calorie body building cutting diet prior to competition made him extremely irritable, even violent, and how this in conjunction with some other side effects eventually got him to give up bodybuilding altogether. Finally, if you are now getting true muscle gains, as opposed to just retaining water or gaining fat, with your current diet, well then that's great! Keep up the good work! |
|
|
|
|
SHELLEY  Posts:8
 Newbie
 |
| 10/02/2008 4:26 PM |
|
hi Barbara, on 13 blocks per day what is your daily caloric intake do you reckon? |
|
|
|
|
joey  Posts:9
 Newbie
 |
| 10/10/2008 12:48 PM |
|
| Hey Alex. I am a Hard charging crossfitter, and I turned to the zone for performance. All of the top performing crossfitters are Zoners so I know it works. Personally I follow my block prescription and I eat 5x the fat every meal. That means for a 5 block meal I'll eat 25 blocks of fat for that meal. I would recommend starting at 2x or 3x the fat and gradually increase it as needed to begin seeing results. Stick with the Zone increase your fat if you start getting pudgy decrease the fat as needed. The results will come. |
|
|
|
|
David  Posts:16
 Aspiring

 |
| 10/13/2008 12:27 PM |
|
Hi Shelley, You asked "on 13 blocks per day what is your daily caloric intake do you reckon?" A block contains the following: 1 protein block = 7 grams. Each gram contains 4 calories (kcal) --> 28 calories 1 carbohydrate block = 9 grams. Each gram contains 4 calories --> 36 calories 1 fat block = 1.5 grams of ADDED fat (+1.5 grams of fat which is hidden in the protein blocks according to The Zone assumption) = total fat 3 grams. Each gram contains 9 calories = 27 calories in total. So each block is: 28 + 36 + 27 calories = 91 Multiply by number of total daily blocks. If 13 = 13x91 = 1183 calories |
|
|
|
|
Sue K  Posts:8666
 Zone Expert

 |
| 10/15/2008 2:28 PM |
|
Hi! 13 blocks a day actually works out to more calories than that because there is additional fat, carb, and protein in the blocks you eat. For example, nuts also contain some P and C, though we only consider the F in them for Zone purposes. The are about 100 calories, give or take a little in every Zone balanced block of P, C and F. An 11 block day is usually said to contain between 1100-1200 calories. A 13 block day will usually result in 1300 to 1400 calories. |
|
sue
Lost 100 lbs 14 yrs ago, off BP meds, thanks to the Zone diet and Zone fish oil!
To view my before/after pics and meal photos scroll over this picture and click when the link appears.
 |
|
|
David  Posts:16
 Aspiring

 |
| 10/24/2008 1:06 AM |
|
Hi Sue, Thank you. I stand corrected. I just read the Anti-Aging Zone and sure enough, it says about a 100 calories. David |
|
|
|
|
David  Posts:1
 Newbie
 |
| 02/28/2009 8:08 AM |
|
For those wanting to build strength and speed I would recommend reading a book by Barry Ross called Underground Secrets to Faster Running. Overtraining can lead to negative results. You don't have to kill yourself to put on muscle mass or gain strength. I've done the zone for over 10 years and have gained all strength and muscle mass I want. Remember, once you get to the bodyfat% you are happy with you need to add extra fat (monounsaturated) for extra calories. Sounds like Alex did several things wrong. He overtrained and didn't add enough calories through extra fat if needed due to the intensity of his workouts. Muscles need time to repair and grow. If you smoke them every day you'll just tear them down. |
|
|
|
|
Matthew  Posts:174
 Zoner

 |
| 03/14/2009 10:28 PM |
|
<div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By Brad on 08/17/2008 3:03 AM There's a strength coach named Mark Rippetoe who advocates the Zone Diet and for those who want to gain weight he suggests adding a gallon of milk a day to the regular zone diet.</div> I have spoken with Mark Rippetoe (and his partner and one of the contributors to his two best known books, Starting Strength and Practical Programming for Strength -- Glenn Pendlay) via e-mail and over the phone. Both Mark and Glenn are quite knowledgeable about strength training and their theories jibe well with my own -- and I am not exactly out of my element when it comes to strength training having owned a top level gym, being a former national champion powerlifter, being a certified Olympic weightlifting coach (through Coach Mike Burgener) and generally just knowing a hell of a lot about strength training both from coaching and from being in the trenches (in competition I squatted 500 lbs., benched 300 lbs. and deadlifted 480 lbs. at a body weight of only 164 lbs.) Let me just say this... I like a lot of what is in the Zone, but for a serious athlete either trying to maintain his or her weight or for gaining muscle it just is not enough calories. Think about what Rip is telling people to do who want to gain muscle: he is telling them to do the Zone and then add between 1,400 (skim milk) and 2,400 (whole milk) to their calories per day. I calculated the number of calories that the Zone would tell me to eat based on on my body weight, activity level and body fat percentage... at 170 lbs., 14% bodyfat (and training weights 6 days per week for between 30-60 min and hiking 2 hours every day -- and before anyone tells me this is over-training... I will tell you right now you don't know what you are talking about), the Zone tells me that I should be consuming just less than 2,000 calories per day just to maintain my bodyweight. At my activity level, there is no way that 2,000 calories is enough to even maintain my body weight at that level of activity and certainly insufficient if I want to gain any muscle. Now, if I were to add a gallon of skim milk to that, my daily calorie consumption leaps up to 3,400 calories per day. Now, according to various calculators (I'll take the one at exrx.net) my daily caloric requirements just to maintain my present body weight at my activity level would be around 3,100 calories per day. Consuming 3,400 calories per day would put me in a caloric surplus of 300 calories per day. Over the course of 7 days, that means an excess of 2,100 calories per week. That is certainly enough of a calorie surplus to add muscle. So the Zone is on the right track for most people, but it far too few calories for people who train several days per week and already have relatively low BF levels. Heck, my BMR is ~1,800 with NO exercise added. The extra 200 calories above BMR level the Zone would tell me to eat would cause me to be in a calorie deficit of 1,100 calories per day -- 7,700 calories per WEEK!!! That means loosing some fat, sure, but it also means losing plenty of muscle. Rip is definitely on track with Zone + 1 gallon milk if you are training hard and trying to gain muscle mass. Or for that matter, eating within the Zone prescription for food choices and ratios, but just eating a LOT more blocks of food. |
|
|
|
|
Sue K  Posts:8666
 Zone Expert

 |
| 03/15/2009 7:29 AM |
|
Hi Matthew! Eating numerous additional Zone balanced blocks beyond your protein requirement or adding a gallon of milk daily (this amounts to the same thing as eating a lot of additional balanced blocks) is not the way to go if you want to stay in the Zone. (You won't stay in the Zone doing that.) The way to support you needs as an athlete in the Zone are eat your P requirement for the Zone (that's 19 or 20 blocks with your 147 LBM and you activity level), balance it with an appropriate amount of C and F and for the Zone, and supplement this with additional monounsaturated fat to provide for any additional energy needs. This is what the professional athletes and Olympians in the Zone do. Some athletes in the Zone eat well over 50% of their calories from fat. You can read more about their info in Elite Athletes link found in the top tool bar of the Fitness tab above. In THE ZONE (aka ENTER THE ZONE), the first Zone book Barry Sears wrote, you can read about how he developed his Zone dietary recommendations through his work with athletes 20 years ago. The BRM calculations you refer to are based on burning carb to produce energy. In the Zone you're burning fat to produce all of your body's energy. This translates to fulfilling you energy needs with fewer calories. The following quote from Barry Sears (pg. 104, The Anti-Inflammation Zone”) addresses this issue: “One of the more difficult concepts to get across to athletes, coaches, dieticians, and physicians is the differences between burning calories and producing ATP from calories. ATP is the chemical that is required not only for muscle contraction, but also for virtually all of our metabolism. ATP is made on an as-needed basis from either glucose of fat. Your production of ATP is far greater from a calorie of fat than from a calorie of glucose. In the Anti-Inflammation Zone you are primarily burning fat for ATP production as opposed to glucose. This means you are also making all the ATP you need, even though fewer calories are being expended. This is why diabetics, world-class athletes, or just plain normal people require fat fewer calories on the Zone Diet than calculated from the usual metabolic equations. It is because they are producing more ATP from less calories.” |
|
sue
Lost 100 lbs 14 yrs ago, off BP meds, thanks to the Zone diet and Zone fish oil!
To view my before/after pics and meal photos scroll over this picture and click when the link appears.
 |
|
|
Matthew  Posts:174
 Zoner

 |
| 03/15/2009 12:27 PM |
|
Hi Sue: In a certain sense you are agreeing with me... the basic caloric recommendations of the Zone are insufficient for athletes who are either trying to maintain their body weight or who are trying to gain body weight. I will certainly look at the section you are telling me to look at on the site regarding athletes in the Zone, since it sounds like what those athletes are doing is consuming additional calories, but doing so with additional fat consumption (as you say, some in excess of 50% of their diets instead of the recommended 30%). But, respectfully, I do have to take issue with one thing: Caloric requirements are caloric requirements... they don't change based on the type of calories consumed. To say otherwise would defy the laws of thermodynamics. The bottom line is that if you eat more calories than you are burning, you will gain weight over time. If you eat fewer calories than you are burning, you will lose weight over time. If your energy intake and your energy output are in balance over time, you will neither gain nor lose weight. Obviously, the quality of what you consume as well as your activity levels have a lot to do with whether weight gain or loss is fat or muscle, as well as your health and well-being. Indeed, the quality of what you eat can speed up or slow down your metabolism as well as other hormonal effects. But running a marathon burns the same number of calories whether the person running it is fueled by fat or carbohydrates. Squatting 425 lbs. for 3 repetitions burns the same number of calories whether the person doing it is using fat or carbohydrates to fuel the energy for that activity... and my basal metabolic requirements are the same regardless of whether I am using fat or carbohydrates. It sounds to me (and I will have to read more based on the suggested link on this site you told me to look at) that athletes "in the Zone" have figured this out and chosen to use increased healthy fat intake to make up for the massive quantities of extra calories they need. Obviously fat is more calorie dense than carbohydrates or protein. Also, one must take into account the thermogenic effect of feeding as well -- 25% or so of protein is burned off as heat just from the body digesting it, approximately 10% of so for carbs, and as low as 2% for fat (although some studies find it is similar to carbohydrates). What this means is that if you eat 100 calories of protein, your body is only able to use 75 of those calories and the rest is burned off just processing it, 90 calories for carbs and 98 calories for fat. So, I guess in this sense I agree with you that the amount of calories you consume to meet your BMR will change based on the ratio of fat, protein, and carbohydrates consumed. For example, let's say that my BMR is 2,000 calories per day. THIS figure does not change. But the amount of food I would need to consume to meet that BMR would change based on how efficient my body is in processing that food. For the sake of simplicity (and ignoring all the bad health effects of eating calories coming from only one micro-nutrient)... to meet my 2,000 calories BMR, I would need to eat around 2,650 calories of Protein (since 25% of calories in protein are burned off in the digestion), ~2,200 calories of carbohydrates (since 10% are lost due to the TEF) and 2,040 calories of fats. Even if we assume that you are correct that BMR is based on the amount of carbs it would take to fulfill energy requirements, that means that my requirement of ~3,100 calories per day is really a requirement of ~2,800 calories per day when adjusted for the TEF. So let's break that down: I would require approximately ~150g/day of protein (600 calories). But my body only gets to use 450 of those calories. Using the Zone .75 rule, I would then consume 800 calories of Carbs (720 are used to meet my energy requirements after accounting for the TEF). So, after accounting for the TEF, I have received 1,170 calories to meet my 2,800 calorie requirement. That means I need to eat another 1,630 calories of fat (after accounting for the TEF, it bumps up slightly to around 1,660). So, to meet my daily caloric requirements adjusted for the TEF, I would actually need to eat 3,060 calories (600+800+1,660). That turns out to be pretty darned close to what the calculator would suggest (3,100). That means my diet would be ~20% Protein, ~26% Carbohydrate, and ~54% Fat. Now, this does jibe with what you were telling me about athlete eating 50% or so of their daily caloric intake from fat... but it ALSO jibe with what I was saying about the caloric requirements being suggested in the Zone diet being massively too small for an athlete trying to maintain his or her body weight (or to increase it). If I decided that I wanted to gain some muscle (let's say instead of competing in the 165 lb. weight class (I dehydrate myself in a sauna to make weight and just prior to weigh-ins then gain the weight back by replacing the fluids after weigh-ins), I decided I wanted to move up to the 181 lb. weight class in the sport of powerlifting), I would need to increase my calories above maintenance. A reasonable amount to move my calories up would be 300 calories per day 3 days per week (on the days I train with heavy weights as opposed to the 3 days per week I train with lighter weights). Accounting for the TEF (assuming I add all the calories from increased fat) this means I am getting an excess of ~880 calories per week. Since a lb. of muscle is 2,500 calories, this means I am consuming enough extra calories theoretically to put on about a lb. of muscle every 3 weeks. In reality it will be slowed than this because it also takes calories to create new muscle -- so realistically, we are probably talking about doubling the length of time it takes to build a lb. of new muscle to 6 weeks. Still, we are talking about adding 9 lbs. of muscle over the course of a year (which, once you are past the couple years of weight training is pretty aggressive to expect). And what would my caloric break-down be on this weight gain diet? 4 days per week I would eat a maintenance diet (which we already calculated above). 3 days per week I would eat 3,360 calories (obviously this number and the ratios change as my lean body mass increases over time) with the following breakdown: Protein = 600 calories (~18%) Carbs = 800 calories (~24%) Fat = 1,960 calories (~58%) Now, obviously assuming that we are talking about using Zone foods and healthy fats, I would have no problem with a suggestion along these lines for athletes. But the the thing you will notice is that total calories will have to be massively above those recommended in order for an athlete to maintain his or her body weight or to gain body weight. Like I said, I will definitely check out the "athlete" section and see if what I have arrived at through reasoning jibes with the experience of athletes using the Zone. From what you are telling me... it sounds like it is very similar. |
|
|
|
|
Kevin  Posts:38
 Aspiring
 |
| 03/16/2009 9:53 AM |
|
I don't do any weight-lifting. I assume running 50 or more miles per week is a lot of lifting my own body weight. The Zone says to increase fat blocks once maintenance weight is reached. I guess I never reach maintenance weight and instead eat a lot of carbs before every run. Making ATP from fat is interesting but my problem is when my carb levels are so low that there's nothing to keep the Krebs cycle spinning. Once I run out of carb, gluconeogeness kicks in and muscle tissue is being sacrificed to make glucose for the Krebs cycle.
Is that correct or is ATP production from fat occuring without the need for that "carb primer"? |
|
|
|
|
David  Posts:16
 Aspiring

 |
| 08/23/2009 3:13 PM |
|
Hi Matthew, You've achieved great results. When you say "training weights 6 days per week for between 30-60 min and hiking 2 hours every day -- and before anyone tells me this is over-training... I will tell you right now you don't know what you are talking about." Potentially you were referring to my comment on Alex original statement that of "killing" himself in the gym for 30 days and not getting any results. The way I see it is, if the training at that frequency and intensity doesn't bring ANY positive results I would conclude the work outs resulted in overtraining (could be too little rest, poor diet). If you are making strength and muscle mass gains, it doesn't constitute overtraining (well, technically it still could, because you may be getting less gains than optimally). According to Sears you can train harder and more frequently in the Zone, because your recuperation is faster due to the eicosanoid balance in the body (at least that's what I've understood). In addition, I believe body types will influence, where certain body types with a high % of fast twitch fiber respond more easily to heavy weight training. I'd love to hear more about your weight training regimen. I'm also wondering if you have ever over trained? What did your work out regimen at the time look like, and how you did you discover that you were indeed over training? BTW - the most I ever squatted for reps was 2.7 times my body weight. All the best, David (with lots to learn still) |
|
|
|
|
|
| You are not authorized to post a reply. |
|
|
|
ActiveForums 3.6
|
|
 |
|
Dr. Barry Sears is a leading authority on the dietary control of hormonal response. A former research scientist at the Boston University School of Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Sears has dedicated his research efforts over the past 30 years to the study of lipids. He holds 13 U.S. Patents in the areas of intravenous drug delivery systems and hormonal regulation for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.
A turning point in his research occurred in 1982. That year, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded for discoveries of the role that specialized hormones, known as eicosanoids, play in the development of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, auto-immune diseases, and cancer. Since eicosanoids are only generated from dietary fat, Dr. Sears reasoned that one could apply intravenous drug delivery principles to nutrition in order to control these exceptionally powerful hormonal responses with laser-like precision. In essence, his approach treats food as if it were a drug.
This area of his research led to various patents in the area of hormonal control by essentially using food as an oral drug delivery system to modulate eicosanoids especially for cardiovascular, diabetic, and neurological patients.
The impact of Dr. Sears’ revolutionary work in the dietary control of hormonal response began with the publication of his landmark book, The Zone. Since its publication in June 1995, The Zone has sold more than 2,000,000 hardcover copies, and became a #1 best seller on the New York Times book list. In addition, The Zone has been translated into 22 languages indicating a worldwide response to Dr. Sears’ research. His second book, Mastering the Zone, published in 1997, also became a New York Times bestseller with hardcover sales in excess of 500,000 copies to date. His third book, Zone Perfect Meals in Minutes, published in 1997, quickly became one of the best-selling cookbooks of 1997 and an another New York Times bestseller. The Anti-Aging Zone was published in 1999 and provides the molecular insights into how the Zone Diet can reverse the aging process. The Omega Rx Zone, published in 2002, explores the molecular foundation of chronic disease and how high-dose fish oil can dramatically reverse it. His latest book The Anti-Inflammation Zone discusses how to combat silent inflammation in order to reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and many other inflammatory conditions—and how to reverse these conditions if they are already present. To date more than 5 million hardcover copies of his Zone books have been sold in the United States.
His research has elevated food from more than simply a source of calories to being recognized as an exceptionally powerful drug. Because of his revolutionary research, Dr. Sears has been a frequent guest on many national programs such as 20/20, Today, Good Morning America, CBS Morning News, CNN, and MSNBC.
Dr. Sears continues his ongoing research as President of Zone Labs, a biotechnology company in Danvers, MA as well as the President of the non-profit Inflammation Research Foundation in Marblehead, MA. In addition to continuing research on the hormonal effects of food, Dr. Sears has expanded his research in developing innovative dietary approaches to treating cancer and neurological conditions, as well as his on-going work in treating cardiovascular diease and type 2 diabetes.
|
|
I have been taking the Fish Oil for over 3 years now. I am 44 playing hockey and working out. The Fish oil helps with the pain that I get from playing hockey. It greatly enhances my performance on the ice and while working out. I have noticed a big difference in my energy, attentiveness and memory. If I miss a day for whatever reason, I notice a huge difference and it feels like something is missing. Anyway that is my short little story and it comes from the heart.
– Carter B.
I am a nutritionist and Ph.D. doctor of health and nutrition. For Dr. Sears to figure out balancing fat, carbs and protein, is really beyond brilliant. It is a milestone in diet history. I go over people's diet/emotional journals. Mostly all the time, we discover that the fatigue, irritability, unstable emotions were due to the imbalance in their diet. Using the Zone to balance them out, helps control weight, roller coaster emotions and gives them energy. Dr. Sears is so right when he says food is medicine. He has figured out the most powerful drug combination going, called The Zone.
Best and healthy wishes,
– Elaine W., Ph.D., N.C., M.A.
I have a very exhausting job as a flight attendant. I read the "Omega Rx Zone" about 4 years ago and started taking the fish oil. I am 47 and have been flying for 22 years. I am very active, I run and lift weights. But combining lack of regular sleep, a physically demanding job, and irregular eating patterns this job takes a toll on the body. Since taking the fish oil, I have noticed that I do not get exhausted. I get tired, but not exhausted. I stopped taking it for a couple of months and then started taking another company's fish oil. I started getting exhausted again. I came back to Zone Labs and will continue with the fish oil for the rest of my life. I believe in the product and it makes a huge difference in my life. It makes a difference with my running as well. I also bring the bars and shakes with me on the road. It is almost impossible to eat the way I should at work. I haven't found the right secret. At least I have my Zone fish oil, bars, and shakes.
– Kathryn S.
I have been in the Zone, for about 1 month now. I wanted to share with you how wonderful I think this program is. I have been a personal trainer for almost 10 years and actively compete in numerous athletic activities. The Zone program has helped me to achieve a better awareness of my nutritional needs and the results I have seen are amazing! I have lost nearly 13 lbs since I have been in the Zone. I feel more mentally alert, more focused at work, have greater intensity during my training, have made significant strength gains, and just feel better over all. With that said, I would like to thank you for helping me in my quest for "super-health"!
Thank you!
– Rob Y.
I read 'The Zone' and as exactly as I could followed the advice for diet. I noted weight loss progress. Over six months, I lost 33 pounds. One year has passed since then. I have maintained the new weight, guided always by Zone concepts. The Zone is powerful - I have found it fantastic and I am very grateful to Dr Sears.
– Lyn S.
Before I stumbled across the Zone I was weighing close to two hundred pounds and I was depressed. I used to be a gymnast as a young man. I would think, "look at me now," when I looked in a mirror. The day I found 'The Zone' book, I was intrigued and as I read it the science made sense and so, I began to follow the "treatment". I began to lose weight and I was feeling way more energetic. I am forty two years old, I am very active and my weight is down to 162 lbs, 38 pounds lost on the Zone. I cycle, walk, jog, swim and I can now perform some of the more simple gymnastic skills I did twenty years ago...I literally feel like I have turned back the clock.
Thank you!
– Jack J.
I have been on the Zone diet for 7 years. I did not go on the diet to lose weight necessarily; but fairly quickly I lost 25 pounds, going from 190 to 165; from a 36-inch waist to a 32-inch waist. I primarily did the Zone to live healthier. My health is excellent now. I just turned 62 years old. My Zone is my eating lifestyle now; I seldom stray; and I do not miss anything. It is The Good Life.
– Curtis Y.
My wife's doctor told her to read "Enter the Zone" and to do the diet, so I told her I would do it with her. After only one week on the plan we went on a strenuous hike (the first of the year), and when we stopped at our favorite coffee shop on the way home I was able to get out of the car and stand upright and walk into the place without pain or stiffness. The Zone had eliminated all the inflammation that had always forced me to stumble all humped over into the coffee shop any time we skied or hiked all day.
Thank you, Doctor Sears.
– Larry C.
I used to have a lot of knee pain when I walked or ran. I have been taking Omega Rx for almost a year now, and rarely have any pain. I believe it is the anti-inflammation action of the oil. I feel smarter as well. Thanks for developing such a superior oil!
– Joe W.
Prior to following the Zone Diet, my body fat was around 15% and my weight around 153 pounds. No matter what I did, my weight and body fat did not change much. I regularly cycled 20-30 hours per week logging well over 400 miles. That had little impact on body fat or weight. Diet also seemed to have little impact on body fat or weight. Within a couple of months of following the zone diet, my weight dropped rather quickly to 142 pounds and body fat to about 8%. I still regularly cycle up to 20 hours per week (during the summer). I have also started strength training. I eat about 16 blocks per day. I take 3.6 grams of fish oil per day, along with Vitamin E, Alpha Lipoic Acid, CoQ10, and B & C vitamins. I also take GLA, which in my opinion, has significantly reduced fatigue and improved recovery times after exercise.
– Jeremy S.
|
|
All polyphenols have antioxidant properties than can be measured by their Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity (ORAC), but not all polyphenols have anti-inflammatory properties. The polyphenols in Dr. Sears’ Zone Polyphenol Plus have been carefully chosen to have both.
Polyphenols are the phytochemicals that not only give fruits and vegetables their color, but also help regulate inflammation. In addition, polyphenols also activate the key enzyme (AMP kinase) that helps restore cellular ATP levels. Polyphenols also help regulate the activation of inducible inflammatory proteins (such as COX-2 and inflammatory cytokines).
There are more than 4,000 known polyphenols, and the richest sources are fruits and vegetables. In general, the more color a fruit or vegetable has, the richer the polyphenol content.
|
|
Zone Labs’ Ultra Refined Omega-3 Concentrates are three times fresher and contain less than 1/10th the mercury than what is allowed by the Norwegian Medicinal Standard and European Pharmacopoeia Standard
Zone Labs adheres to the International Fish Oil Standard (IFOS), an independent third party validated laboratory quality standard that is more rigid than any other global standard for purity.
- No company in the worlds runs more tests with IFOS than Zone Labs
- Zone Labs receives a 5 out of 5 star IFOS rating for every batch it tests
|
| Standard |
IFOS Standard for a 5-Star Ranking |
Council for Responsible Nutrition |
European Pharmacopeia |
Norwegian Medicinal Standards |
| Peroxide |
< 3.75 meg/kg |
5 meg/kg |
10 meg/kg |
10 meg/kg |
| Totox Levels |
< 20 meg/kg |
26 meg/kg |
NA |
NA |
| Lead |
< 10 ppb |
10 ppb |
100 ppb |
100 ppb |
| Mercury |
< 10 ppb |
10 ppb |
100 ppb |
100 ppb |
| Dioxans and Furans |
< 1 ppt |
2 ppt |
2 ppt |
2 ppt |
| PCBs |
< 45 ppb |
90 ppb |
NA |
NA |
|
|
"IFOS – THE TOP GLOBAL PURITY STANDARD FOR OMEGA-3 FROM FISH"
|
|
 |
 |
|
Zone Labs products show no detectable lead or mercury when tested down to 10ppb, which is 10 times below the Norwegian Medicinal Standard and European Pharmacopoeia Standard limits.
|
Zone Labs products are three times fresher than the minimum allowed by the Norwegian Medicinal Standard and European Pharmacopoeia Standards (based on average peroxide values).
|
Zone Labs starts with only wild, small fish from pristine Chilean waters and ends with proprietary validation and testing processes to achieve an IFOS certified 5 star rating.
8-Step Manufacturing Process - Quality Assured
Testing to specification all raw materials, bulk products, packaging material and finished products – always using stringent internal standards and in-process testing.
- Extraction of fish oil
- Winterization – remove limited amounts of saturated fats
- Absorption – remove heavy metals
- Preliminary Molecular Distillation – refining “touch up” to reduce contaminants
- Oil conversion to ethyl esters
- Ethyl ester thermal fractionation – remove additional saturated fats
- True Molecular Distillation – final refining to remove pcb’s and long-chain monoenes
- Rigid Processes – proprietary validation, inspection and encapsulation methods. Independent lab verification of IFOS requirements and certified 5 star rating
No farmed fish. No large fish. Pristine waters.
Zone Labs starts with wild sardines & anchovies fished from cold, pristine waters off of South America where there are less environmental impurities.
A recommended serving of Zone Labs Ultra-Refined Concentrates delivers 8 times more omega-3’s than a typical retail fish oil supplement.
Most fish oil supplements have 30% or less of the healthy omega-3s EPA and DHA, with the remaining 70% of the capsule containing unbeneficial, lesser refined fatty acids that contribute to their bad taste and gastric side effects.
Getting a clinically valid dose of omega-3’s is easy with Zone Labs’ Ultra-Refined Omega-3 Concentrates.
Typical Retail Dose = 300mg omega-3
Standard Zone Dose = 2400mg omega-3
A serving of canned tuna has 12 times less omega-3’s than
Zone Labs Ultra-Refined Omega-3 Concentrates
|
Commonly consumed fish and shellfish in the United States
Mercury Source: Food and Drug Administration, FDA 1900-2004, “National Marine Fisheries Service Survey of Trace Elements in the Fishery Resource". Omega-3 Level Source: American Heart Association Website.
|
| |
Mercury level
in parts per million (ppm) |
Omega-3 fatty acids
(milligrams per 3-oz. serving) |
| Zone Omega-3 Products |
< 0.01 |
2400 (standard 4 capsule serving |
| Salmon (fresh, frozen) |
0.014 |
1200 |
| Flounder or sole |
0.050 |
480 |
| Pollock |
0.041 |
450 |
| Crab |
0.060 |
400 |
| Scallops |
0.050 |
290 |
| Shrimp |
ND* |
290 |
| Catfish |
0.050 |
270 |
| Clams |
ND* |
250 |
| Cod |
0.095 |
210 |
| Canned Tuna (light) |
0.120 |
200 |
|
Zone Labs’ leading product. OmegaRx delivers all of the benefits of Zone Labs’ ultra-refined omega-3 concentrates.
Advantages
- Delivers clinically proven health benefits from the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA*
- Promotes a healthy heart, healthy brain, healthy immune system, healthy circulatory system, healthy joints, healthy moods, healthy triglyceride levels and a healthy pregnancy*
- Combats silent inflammation
|
Start getting Zone recipes, tips, articles and exclusive promotions sent right to your inbox!
After you provide your email address we’ll send you a confirmation email. You can “opt-out” of this program at anytime by following the simple instructions provided at the end of every email we send you. We will never send too many emails (spam) and we’ll never sell of rent your email to another company.
If you are already registerd with ZoneDiet.com and are receiving emails from Dr. Sears Zone then you do not need to provide your email address to us at this time.
To assure your Zone emails reach your inbox, be sure to add our email address,
reply@zoneliving.com, to your address book.
|
 |