I just checked out the new Dr. Sears Superzone Foods again and it still disappointed me to no end. What drew me to the Zone Diet was a Dr. who is working to get Americans healthier by eating whole foods, exercising and taking supplements such as fish oil to give people more energy, reduce inflammation and keep our weight and body fat % in check. He "drilled" into our heads that we should not eat grains, desserts, sugar etc. Now you open his website and see him standing by huge cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip cookies, large bagels. ( and smiling about it!)

It makes me wonder if Dr. Sears is still committed to educating people or is the name of the game at this point, - giving into what most Americans eat and making large amounts of money off of their poor habits?

I mentioned in another post that not only is he enticing people to eat breads, pastas, bagels etc., who can afford to order these products regularly?

Feedback?

He left Zone (Zone Perfect) bars because, at the time, he said they were too commercial, and he disagreed with their emerging philosophy. Well, he may have disagreed with their emerging philosophy; but it apparently is not about commercialism. I have nothing against him wanting to make a buck (or several thousand of em); but I think Cran is correct - could have been sold under a different brand/name - and not marketed as for ZONE per say.

I am extremely new to the Zone. Part of the reason I liked it and thought highly of it is because the concepts stayed realivitly (sp) unchanged since 1995. My major goal with the Zone is to maintain my blood sugars on an even keel because I am hypoglycemic. I have not been able to eat bagels in years. I also have a hard time with grapes and whole oranges which are zone favorable. But I don't have a problem with whole wheat bread.
I agree with Zone book and Many others the Governments idea that 6-11 servings of grains a day is obsurd.
In my opinion everyone is different in their ability to process grains.

I was also impressed the Zone Diet, books, website were inexpensive, that Dr. Sears was truly interested in educating people how to properly feed themselves for life and not for just 12 weeks so they can lose weight and gain it back when they are done eating food prepared/shipped to them like other weight loss companies that are on the air now. REALLY, who can afford at this time to pay $12 for 5 bagels? Why not give us or sell us the recipe to make our own healthy baked goods for us to eat on occasion?

I definitely think that this is all about marketing, about appealing to people who would otherwise not give the Zone a second thought.

I worry (as I posted on the other thread) about the overall safety of these products. What exactly IS molecular baking, anyway? Is this food being altered in yet another way? Seems as if most all attempts to alter a food to make it more "healthy" has backfired in the past. I googled "molecular baking" and I basically came up with nothing. I don't have sound on my computer, so I don't think the videos on this site will help. But, it seems strange to me that there isn't more known about molecular baking.

These products were being marketed as "Medwell", prior to the introduction of Superzone. So, they WERE already being marketed under a different name, with Sears as the lead. So, regardless of how they were marketed, Sears was going to profit from it, anyway.

Hmmm, maybe Medwell didn't carry the clout that the Zone carries, so maybe it was thought of as just another quick diet solution? So, maybe that is why he had to market it as a Zone product, too?

I guess there isn't anything that we can personally do about it, except to continue to preach the good eating values that we learned, and how beneficial it is for us. If more and more of us can continue to talk about the ease of making REAL zone meals, then maybe this will become less of an issue.

Cranberrycat:

Good solid thinking and writing!

You are correct in stating that we need to help others learn to make healthy Zone Meals and we will of course carry on as we have been. It was such a shock for me to see what Dr. Sears introduced.

Thank you for your response. I am glad that I am not the only person that feels the way I do.

I have watched the videos on this site, CC, and believe me, they say nothing about what molecular baking is...I watched eagerly trying to learn what it is....but no. Still a huge unknown.

Now...I want to say that Sears puts this site out here for us to use freely, and I appreciate it a lot. I also think he is curious to get feedback so I feel I owe him my true feedback. This is how some zoners feel, not all, perhaps, but for the record, here we are!

Thanks Ruth. It is hard NOT to put any emotion into this, because I think that many of us feel the same way.

LOL--we go to church every Sunday, and when we drop off our kids at Sunday School, a bunch of us all go to the bagel shop. Everyone is sitting there eating bagels, except for me. They feel sorry for me, they think I am depriving myself. I tell them every time that I already ate--and I did! Usually a nice bowl of zoned steel cut oats, or a strawberry smoothie. I don't feel deprived at all!

I have to admit, I'm kind of curious about these new SuperZone foods. I'm not familiar with Medwell, but I do recall reading in The Anti-Inflammation Zone that Dr. Sears had been experimenting with Zone-friendly "junk" foods in his lab. I don't have the book in front of me, but I seem to remember that he was of the opinion that for the majority of Americans, the easiest way to get them into the Zone and save them from the epidemic of obesity and silent inflammation was to create Zone-balanced convenience foods, since many people just can't or won't do what it takes to create healthy, Zone-favorable meals for themselves.

I decided to order a few of the SuperZone products so I can give them a taste test and see if they keep me in the Zone. I find the idea of these foods pretty appealing, although I agree with all of you that the BEST way to do the Zone is with whole, natural, unprocessed foods. That is definitely the ideal. I also agree that it would be helpful if Dr. Sears would explain exactly what "molecular baking" is, especially since so many of his books are so grounded in science. Anyway, the notion that I can have a cookie and stay in the Zone is very appealing to me, so I hope these products are all they're cracked up to be. If not--I guess I'll just go back to doing the Zone in the traditional way.

One step at a time. Sears has always put into his books the science involved with nutrition, and I suspect
he will do the same with molecular baking. It ought to be interesting in part because of the increased protein
content in the bread products. As for his commericalism, more power to him, he puts a lot of the money his
products make back into his research. No doubt some of the Zone Bar bucks helped to finance the molecular baking
research.
Have been on the Zone diet since 96, and I find what he says about the body's response to eating is correct.
In 96, I got a glucose testing kit ( for diabetics ), ate carbos and watched my glucose climb, I started taking fish oil
and my trigliserides ( sp ?) dropped by 50% from 150 to about 75. The ratio of my trig/hdl has remained
about or about 1.00 for years. I don't doubt what he has to say about his molecular baking products is
true. We will just have to wait and see he puts on the market...
For my money, he has done for nutrition, what Newton's 3 Laws did for mechanics.

Barry, You lost me on this one. You've found that magic wand ($) that turns high glycemic, gluten-rich, refined and processed foods into superfoods? No thanks, I enjoy the flavor of produce from the garden.

Sarah, please keep us posted as to how well you can stay in the Zone. I think we are all curious to know.

Philip, I agree, he has done a lot for nutrition. Maybe these products are better than the alternative, but I would really like to see how this all pans out in the long run. Lets get a really good explanation of what molecular baking is, and then we can decide.

And, I am glad that you both posted, it is good to hear all sides.

Research shows that the great majority of diets, and diet changes, fail because they are too hard for people to stick to. Barry says in the beginning of the videos, that it's easier to change one's religion than one's diet. I've been Zoning since 2000 and it does require an extra effort. I'm highly motivated, and still staying in the Zone requires precision and dedication.

Whatever molecular baking is (I thought all baking involved molecular changes during the fermentation process, but I'm no Chemistry expert), what I see Barry doing is making it easier to follow a Zone diet. A person could literally "have their cake and eat it." As long as Barry's able to get the distribution right this may produce the greatest revenue stream for him, ever. And people will find it easier to Zone. So he's attending to a market need. Business development wise this is a natural step.

That said I subscribe to Jack LaLanne's advice - eat as little processed food as possible, the closer to the source the better. so I will probably never, or rarely eat one of these new Zone products.

I rarely eat bread these days, but still find it tastes great whenever I do. I would like Barry to specify the process of molecular baking. Even better, if he were to sell Zone flour so that we could bake our own bread, I would be interested.

Michel Montignac, who's advice isn't that far off dr Sears', markets and sells his own low glycemic index bread (I believe it's around 35 to 45) in parts of Europe. I believe there's also certain types of flour for sale in Europe enabling one to bake one's own low glycemic sour dough breads.

I guess I take a more relaxed approach...decades ago when Barry Sears came out with his first book, I am sure he had done a lot of work and research. So he sold the books...then he came out with energy bars etc..this is America and capitalism after all... a person who works hard should benefit from it.I don't begrudge him his marketing efforts. If this will help some people start the zone or stay on the zone plan that's great! I may try them but they won't be the cornerstone of my plan. Someone who hasn't begun yet may start using these products and then graduate to a finer tuning.To each his own I say..my two cents (smile)

I agree that we all have to find a way to make a living. I have no problem with Barry marketing it, but he was already marketing it under the Medwell name, kind of keeping it separate from the Zone.

I also agree that there are going to be differences in how we approach our diets. Some of us use the Zone basically to ration our P/C/F choices, while others are more diligent about choosing zone-favorable foods, and still others are those who subscribe to the raw-food concept, little processing, etc. No one is saying that there is only one way to Zone. We all have our ways. The part that I struggle with is that this really contradicts how Barry taught us to eat. Before these products came out, he said to eat these things in condiment portions, no more than 25% of our carbs should come from unfavorable sources. Now, he is saying that these products are GOOD for us and we can eat all that we want (except, of course, that we can ONLY eat HIS products).

To address the other part of this discussion, the "molecular baking" issue, I was sitting in the orthodontist office with one of my kids this morning. There was a magazine called "Kids Matter", and it was a scientific magazine geared towards kids. Anyway, there was a short blurb on how BAKING changes the molecular structure of food. Well, is this what we are talking about? Simple baking? Wow, if I had thought of that, I could have made millions on baking zoned muffins! LOL!

AND, probably charged a lot less for them . . . lol GRIN

Well, I am sure that in the beginning of my zoned "muffin baking days", I could not even give away my muffins! LOL! But, if I had known that I was changing the flour molecules into favorable molecules, maybe I would have worked a bit harder on it. ; )

Well, Sue provided a link in another Forum, that points to Dr. Sears, and a some what limited explanation, and I think it sums it up, mostly (though, from a deeper level, as he has done in his books, i would like the scientific explanation/understanding, as to what molecular baking is.)

"In an ideal world, a person should never need any specialty foods or supplements if they followed the Zone Diet with precision. This would mean never eating anything that didn’t exist 10,000 years ago. That means no vegetable oils, no grains, no dairy products, no caffeine and no alcohol. They would have to maintain a 1:2:3 balance of fat:protein:carbohydrate at every meal and snack to control insulin and restrict their calories. How would they know if they’re successful? The constant measurement of the levels of fasting insulin and their fatty acid ratio in the blood (AA/EPA) would clearly indicate that they are in the Zone.

Obviously, not everyone has the dietary discipline to follow these guidelines on a lifetime basis. That’s why I have developed numerous products to serve as dietary aids to help people reach the Zone." ...

Just as the Zone bars are not true Zone, and close to raw food source, yet we acept them, and use them when appropriate, I guess taking taht a bit further, those that could afford the higher cost of these even more convenient foods, who would otherwise not eat healthily, will benefit with them.

Here's the rest of Dr. Sears article:

At first glance, these new fresh-baked products appear contrary to basic Zone principles since they consist of bread, pasta, pizza, and cookies. Don’t be deceived by the look or taste of the products because they have been constructed with a new technology and prepared in my own manufacturing facility that enables the production of fresh-baked Zone products on demand. With my own manufacturing facility these products can be made under the exacting conditions that produce all their remarkable hormonal properties as well as cost effectiveness. The cost per gram of protein content in these new products is exactly that of existing Zone nutrition bars, but now with far greater hormonal balance, far greater convenience and provideing a far greater number of Zone meal possibilities.

It has taken four years to develop the technology that makes these new Zone foods possible. Once the technology was developed, I spent another year testing these products on long-time Zone Diet followers with spectacular results. Their hormonal balance is greatly improved over the best possible Zone meals that they have made over the years. We have also done additional testing with many diabetic patients to demonstrate far greater hormonal balance than could be achieved by the Zone Diet alone.

For some people, these new Zone products are miraculous, allowing them to control the hormones in the digestive tract that give rise to a dramatic increase in satiety enabling them to practice calorie restriction with the greatest of ease. For others, they provide a source of high-quality protein that is totally sustainable and with the complete absence of arachidonic acid thereby controlling inflammation more effectively. For others, they immensely expand the variety of Zone meals that can be made.

Anyone who understands the elegant biochemistry of these products will realize that they strictly adhere to the Zone principles and offer an exciting new approach to optimize all of the benefits of the Zone Diet. I encourage you to try one of the products. If you don’t experience four to six hours of appetite suppression, then never use them again. If you do, then you will realize these products may represent a realistic solution to lead America out of its current health-care crisis of dietary-induced inflammation.

The Zone Diet never remains static, nor does the molecular biology that supports it. This is also true of the constant product development that I personally supervise to improve overall hormone balance to silence your inflammatory genes. You should trust that as the creator of the Zone Diet, I constantly strive to improve its application to the greatest number of people to change health care not only in this nation, but also throughout the world. The newest fresh-baked Zone products are simply a part of the constantly evolving Zone Diet. The only thing that is certain in life is that by not constantly evolving a concept, that concept is certain of a slow death. That’s why computers now use integrated circuits instead of vacuum tubes. And that’s why I continue evolving the science that validates the Zone Diet as well as developing unique dietary products that help you live in the Zone with the greatest of ease."

Thanks for the added information.

I used to eat the bars out of convenience, but I never really felt that they were doing much for me, so I have quit eating them, as well. Part of my "new me" approach last spring, and also a bit out of necessity because I had to cut expenses when my DH lost his job. But, my main premise was that they were a processed food with lots of ingredients that one could not even read, and I had just gotten done reading another book on the benefits of eating whole, unprocessed foods. Now, I realize that some things are just going to happen, as you mentioned in your prior post. But, I like to keep things as close to "original" as possible.

John, thanks for posting that information from Dr. Sears' article. Cranberrycat, I will definitely post my thoughts on the SuperZone products and how well they keep me in the Zone after I receive them and give them a try.

OOPS! I meant.... Kevin... I agree with you whole heartedly!

<div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By kevin on 10/26/2009 9:51 AM

Barry, You lost me on this one. You've found that magic wand ($) that turns high glycemic, gluten-rich, refined and processed foods into superfoods? No thanks, I enjoy the flavor of produce from the garden. </div>

LOL, I saw Ruth's post and I had to go back to Kevin's post to see what he had said. So true!

Reading the ingredients on the so called superzone products simply invalidates the the whole program. A sell out for sure... I feel duped.

One small thought..... When I first discovered the Zone Diet in the middle 90's I read many studies and articles by experts and other diet originators
that said Dr. Sear's diet was all wrong and flawed, it did not confrom to the food pyramid expoused by the government etc. As the years went by I noticed more and more "experts" changing their tune and accepting more and more of the concepts put forth by Dr. Sears. I have had great success with the Zone Diet and until it fails me I will give the man my attention.
JD

"molecular baking"

c'mon !!! are you crazy?
sounds like monsanto came calling

let's genetically engineer some foods...

that's NOT the way mother nature intended us to thrive.

say no
just say NO.

it's a bad idea to continue to promote processed foods as a viable way to access health
unless of course the objective is $$$$$$

what IS the objective here???

health or wealth?

being healthy requires taking some personal responsibility
period.

rant over.
for now.