Mrs. Stephanie Oakes a supposedly [b:f9c8010d4a]"Expert"[/b:f9c8010d4a] wrote an article in the 2 Nov 2003 edition of the Sunday newspaper insert [u:f9c8010d4a]USA Weekend[/u:f9c8010d4a]. In it she lumps the ZONE in with "Fad & all hyped diets such as Grapefruit & SlimFast"
I e-mailed her the following response. I wonder if we'd get a reply from her if most of us all e-mailed her to correct her? The e-mail address is: Fitness@usaweekend.com
OR: Contributing editor STEPHANIE OAKES, FITNESS, USAEEKEND, 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA, 22107.
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Mrs. Stephanie Oakes!
RE: Your FitSmart Article.
Before you proceed to give advice, I would suggest you do your research first. The ZONE as written by Dr. Barry Sears, is NOT a "hyped, in-a-hurry diet" as you purport and misinform the nation in general! Have you even bothered to do any research at all? Or are you just making it up like the Washington Post and/or the NY Times has recently been reported in doing?
For your uneducated information, the ZONE is everything you proceed later in your article to tell people is the right way to eat! You are telling them the essence of the ZONE is right (without the details) after you tell them that is is not balanced nor good.
Point-by-Point.
1.) ZONE: Eat less saturated fat, hydrogenated oil, cholesterol, and sodium. The ZONE goes even further stating that only one kind of good fat should be eaten: Mono like in Olive Oil, or almonds. And very small amounts. We do need some good fats. BUT YOU lump the ZONE in with diets that "omit major food categories our bodies need." Our bodies do need a small amount of good fats, and the ZONE includes them.
2.) ZONE: Eat more complex carbohydrates, including a variety of fruits and vegetables. This is one of the main parts of the ZONE. Those foods that have a lower Glycemic Load value, i.e., complex carbs. And the ZONE goes even further, because even some fruits and vegetables have a high GL and therefore are considered unfavorable (simple) carbs, as well. But you would know that if you even knew one iota about the ZONE before making FALSE blanket statements. The Zone, here to, goes even further by saying that the favorable (complex, Low GL) carbs should be 2/3 or twice the amount of protein.
3.) ZONE: Drink more water. Again essence of the Zone as well. However I would like to point out that the old idea of 8 glasses of water as has recently been found - was based on erroneous data not counting the water content of foods. Thereby making the minimum of 8 glasses of water per day - actually too high, And that by drinking too much water can be detrimental to one's health. But overall, most Americans do not drink enough water, and by merely saying "Drink More Water" you are not inaccurate. If you had fallen for the "8 glasses a day", then you would have had to be corrected.
4.) ZONE: Eat plenty of lean protein. Unlike Atkins or others, The ZONE does advocate lean protein. However, you use the word "plenty". This is too vague and misleading! One difference here (with the ZONE) is that the body can only absorb and use no more than an average of 4 oz of (lean) protein at any one eating (3 oz for most women). The remainder is converted to body fat. The best way to get plenty of enough good protein is to do it throughout the day in several mini-meals, and not in one or two huge meals with unhealthy snacking in-between.
5.) Instead of one or two large meals per day, a person should consume many mini-meals each day. With each min-meal being balanced from all foods. (But you state the ZONE does not include all food categories, so, here, you're wrong, again!)
Most "EXPERTS" all agree on this, many balanced mini-meals throughout the day - though you leave this out. And by-the-way, this is also the essence of the ZONE, with each meal being balanced, from all food groups, (Protein, good fat, & Favorable carbs).
So before you lump the ZONE in with Atkins, GrapeFRuit, & Slim-Fast, at least know what you are talking about! Oh, and, from what I understand, in the last book written by Atkins, even his diet was modified even more to closer resemble the Zone!
The ZONE is a balanced and healthy way of eating. One final thing is that most experts agree that the healthiest way to lose weight and keep it off is to steadily lose no more than 1 to 1-1/2 lbs per week. This is accomplished by using the ZONE. I was a skeptic of all diets, never bothered to try any of them my wife wanted to try. I finally read one of the ZONE books, and it was the first (and only) one that actually made sense. And was one I could stick with for the rest of my life, not only to lose the weight, but for proper health maintenance for the rest of my life.
Sign me a very male skeptic of all diets and dieting advice, until the ZONE! Not a quick fix nor a fad. |