I also have had great success with the zone diet. But, that being said, I know what's good to put in my body and what isn't.
And the ingredients listed on these so called "super foods" aren't good. Good for him for trying to make a buck, but I choose to not indulge.
NO judgement passed on those who do, but I care more about my general health than that.
I'm sure people will have success with these foods, and that isn't the argument. It just comes down to the fact that the ingredients in the food aren't healthy. THAT can't be argued with.

While I believe in raw and natural as much as possible, it is not always possible. Though I myself will not try (can not afford to - if I wanted to) these new chemically, non-natural, non-healthy lab produced foods, myself - they might be of some benefit. Just like I find the bars useful, though not ideal, like for when I travel on business, and the only foods available nearby are either expensive restaurants beyond the daily meal allowance or fast food joints.
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There are also extremes at either end of any spectrum. For example, there are those who propose that microwave ovens, by the nature of how they heat food, change the original composition - and thereby change the food unnaturally to as yet unknown harmful effects.
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And while I will still use the microwave oven for convenience, now and then, I try to minimize its use. Just-in-case.

I do agree with you John. There is a convenience factor about these products. And I do have to use zone bars once in a while for lack of time to eat real food. I just don't want to put any other crap in my body. I don't even like the ingredients in the zone bars...
If he could make these products with some organic ingredients and no fake sugars, I probably wouldn't have such a problem with them.
Everything in moderation, right?

Dr. Sears continually stresses that if you correctly follow his dietary guidelines, then you would never need to purchase any products from this Web site. The products that are offered on this Web site are to be used a dietary aids to make your long-term compliance with the Zone Diet easier. The most rigorous version of the Zone Diet would be to never consume anything that wasn’t available 10,000 years ago. This would mean never consuming grains, milk products, vegetable oils, caffeine, and alcohol while maintaining the appropriate ratio of protein to carbohydrate at every meal and snack. Obviously, that is difficult for many people to comply with. This is why he developed food products (including nutrition bars, EPA/DHA concentrates and polyphenols along with the newest generation of SuperZone products) as an aid for people who don’t have the dietary discipline to maintain a strict Zone Diet. If these new SuperZone products enable you to maintain better hormonal control, then you should consider integrating them into your existing Zone Diet. The same is true for any other nutritional product sold on this Web site.
Zone Technical Support

$17.50 for a loaf of bread??? I read the ingredient list and there is NOTHING special about this bread. Unless Dr. Sears has invented some process to magically lower the glycemic impact of flour..... Although I remain hopeful for a decent loaf I am most certainly not paying $17.50 for a loaf of bread.

well, Chris, who knows? Maybe "molecular baking" is basically Sears or his staff using a magic wand and changing wheat into a low glycemic product? LOL!

I don't believe that there is anything published on exactly WHAT molecular baking is, at least I haven't found it yet. I honestly haven't listened to the video, but I have heard others say that the videos are not really helpful in its description.

I was reading a post from R:
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"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.
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If I had said that, I wonder how many people would have come down on me?!? LOL!

I agree that it is a bad idea to promote processed foods... I won't be one to give up ALL processed foods, but I do try my best. I agree about taking personal responsibility for my health, and I think we should encourage others to do the same. No one knows more about the time crunch to fix decent meals than me (as a mom of 3 kids and a full time worker), yet I manage to do it for myself and my family.

As it has been posted by tech support, I totally agree that it is entirely possible to be in the Zone without having to use any zone products. It may be a stretch for some of us to eat like cavemen, but I think the point is to eat fruits and veggies, lean meat and monounsaturated fat. That is really not that hard to do.

To reply to Chris; While I agree with you, I would like like to point out that it must be possible. Consider, that DreamFields pasta did find a way to bind most of the carbs, so that a full 4oz (uncooked, 8 oz cooked) of pasta is only 10 net carbs instead of 40 or 50 + carbs! And while not a lower Glycemic Index/Load, nor a natural or raw product, it does allow me to enjoy the occasional full plate of Pasta! However, in contrast, DreamField's products' prices are at least very, very reasonable!

you see, as wheat has been hybridized (for higher protein content) it has become more difficult to digest, for many, and celiac disease is highly undiagnosed.....more protein equals more gluten....unfortunately. And what does it cause? Silent inflammation. The unintended consequences......some of us do better on the ancient forms, spelt or kamut....older forms of wheat. (not I, however, I stay clear of all of them)
That is why I question the processing of wheat to make it higher in protein...
Also, there is no such thing as molecular baking....it just refers to baking with the zone in mind.
No offense to Barry Sears, because I am cutting him some slack here cuz I know he is trying to make this easier for people (and maybe make millions too!)

When compared to traditional baked goods the SuperZone foods may seem expensive. When we note the grams of protein per package the average cost for a serving of SuperZone foods is about $2.50 per 15 grams of a high quality sustainable protein. It’s important to note the SuperZone foods produce favorable hormonal responses, unlike the standard bake goods.
Zone Technical Support

Yes, friends of ours, she has severe Celiac disease. They must have two sets of pots, and all cooking/preparing dishes and utensils. AND they can never touche any wheat products of any amount at any time for her.

"I agree that it is a bad idea to promote processed foods... I won't be one to give up ALL processed foods, but I do try my best."

Ideally, it would be best to 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. For many people these foods will help them control calories and hormonal levels to enhance their health.

"molecular baking"
The concept refers to close molecular contact of proteins and carbohydrates.
”sounds like Monsanto came calling”
The products are not genetically engineered, irradiated, or chemically altered. The molecular baking process allows Dr. Sears to naturally reorganize the proteins and carbohydrates into structures that prevent the rapid breakdown and absorption of the protein before it reaches the ileum or small intestine. This allows specific hormones to be released that travel directly to the brain to induce satiety.
“that's NOT the way mother nature intended us to thrive”
We agree, interestingly most of us were not genetically designed to consume grains. This new technology allows us to consume grain products without the adverse impact of excessive insulin secretion.
We hope you find this information helpful.
Zone Technical Support

I can't say that I never eat processed foods, but I am definitely getting better and more conscious that I used to be, and natural tastes so good! My doctor kind of brought up a good conversation the last time I was in his office discussing a healthy "natural" diet. He said "yea, people ate natural foods many years ago and still died young." He said that nowadays people are eating processed foods and we are living to be in our 100's, so are they really that bad? Hopefully, he was being sarcastic. We are now living longer because modern medicine can now load an overweight, unhealthy person that gets no exercise full of blood pressure pills, cholesterol pills, heart pills, etc. to keep them alive and line the pharmaceutical companies pockets.

On another note, I wonder if the molecular baking causes less stomach issues and bloating from grains than the store bought comparison foods. Has anyone had any internal issues from trying the new foods? I do agree that the price is way over the top when you have a family to feed. Too bad these superfoods were not created for the average consumer, or I might consider trying some of them.

"When compared to traditional baked goods the SuperZone foods may seem expensive. When we note the grams of protein per package the average cost for a serving of SuperZone foods is about $2.50 per 15 grams of a high quality sustainable protein."

Are they saying that we should compare the price to the price of meat vs a grain food such as a bagel?

Just my .02

We still havnt heard what Molecular Baking is. Sounds like Dr. Sears built a bakery, slapped the zone name on it and is profiting. Refined grains arnt good for you nomatter how you bake them. Common, "Molecular" baking? All baking is molecular? What does he have some special machine the world doesnt know about? Yeah right.

Then he seems to be violating his own advice doesn't he?

You know, I was instantly skeptical of of these new superzone foods and do you want to know why? Because I saw Barry throw out marketing messages and trademarkable phrases like it was Christmas (irony) and wouldn't spend any screen time or blog space explaining any actual science; you know, the stuff that has characterized every book he's released so far?

Stop hiding behind trademarks and patents and tell us what molecular baking is!



Yeah, and your existing Zone bars are also too expensive as far as I'm concerned. And as for adding in these new foods into other Zone meals: when one bagel contains 4 complete blocks, that's a meal. Precision hormone response or not, how is anyone, Zone dieter or non-Zone eater, supposed to eat one bagel, drink a glass of water, and not feel deprived? And don't tell me to start cutting the bagel up. If that's what Barry wanted, he would have made 1 block mini-bagels, not this gargantuan 4 block beast.

Easy solution, Adam. Just eat regular food.

No one knows about what molecular baking is. Probably because it is some kind of a trade secret, and if we all knew what it was, then we would all be doing it ourselves in our own kitchens.

I bake my food molecules in the oven just about every day. I hesitate to guess what it could be, but I am not taking any chances on this being something that is actually changing my food into something other than what it was intended for. So, I don't buy into the hype. Maybe I should, but I am not going to take the big leap. I am happy with good whole foods that have very little alterations.

Adam, one SuperZone bagel contains only 2 fully balanced Zone blocks.

I agree-I trained as a dietitian ad could not see the reasoning for the rejection of the Zone dietary recommendations
PC

What is "molecular baking"
Cannot even find the ingredients listed in these molecular baked foods on this site.

Not like a scientist to "cloak" foods and not provide ingredients.

Loved the science behind the Zone. This does not reflect "science"

PC

Since my last post, I did actually try some of the products.

Although my results may be flawed, I really did not see any great benefit to eating these products. The way they are being hyped up, I was convinced that the products would give me hunger control for hours. But, instead, the opposite happened.

I should mention that the first day, I felt like I was having hypoglycemic reaction. Then, on subsequent days, I was having trouble sticking to guidelines (daughter in the emergency room, no time for snacking to stay in the Zone). So, I do plan on running another more "controlled" trial of the foods in a few weeks, once I get all of my questions answered.

pat, next to the photo for each item, there's a link to the ingredients for the item.

What is molecular baking?

How many times have we asked that question?

I received some literature in the mail today from Dave Shreck. It is a publication from the Inflammation Research Foundation, titled "Anti-Inflammatory Medicine: Anti-Inflammatory Diets".

In this publication, there is a few paragraphs at the end that explains molecular baking. I am not sure I still understand it, but I think that the science of it is actually a bit more clear now than it was before.

Below is the first paragraph of the section on molecular baking. To me, it seems as though these products have been made out to be something better than fruit and veggies. However, this article is not suggesting that at all. The products are merely a lower-glycemic substitute for traditional bread/pasta/rice. It still does not tell exactly what molecular baking is, but it does explain that it is a better choice than traditional bread becuase of a lowered glycemic index.

The entire section is not long, but may make a long post that perhaps won't be read, so I have just typed in the first paragraph, and then later perhaps I will find time to do the rest of the article.
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Molecular baking represents a fusion of material science technology and food technology. In essence, it treats proteins, carbohydrates and fats as polymers that can be reorganized into different sturctures that look and tasted like traditional bread, pasta and rice products. The key to this technology lies in the development of extensible dough. This revolutionary new dough consists of protein, fat and carbohydrate in a 1-2-3 ratio that can be baked as a traditional dough, but now imparts a unique variety of hormonal properties. The first is the reduction of insulin levels. by reducing the glycemic load flours through the replacement of carbohydrates with protein, the glycemic loadof the final product is dramatically reduced thereby reducing insulin secretion. Such products represent low-glycemic versions of the foods that most individuals desire to eat. Now rather than restricting them from the diet because of their adverse impact on insulin secretion, their inclusion in an anti-inflammatory diet provides far greater dietary compliance for the individual since they are eating the foods they are accustomed to.

And why isn't this protein substituted for Carb molecules not bound up?
And how what type of Protein, a synthetic chemical version of Protein is molecularly replacing carb molecules.
If this doesn't sound like "engineered" foods, then ...

John, I have more, just don't have time to type it in. But, the weekend is coming, maybe some spare time!

Well, I didn't have time over the weekend to do this, but I have time now. I will post the first paragraph, then will add to it, so that the article is complete.