Summary of "The Zone: A Dietary Road Map"

The Zone Diet is developed by Ph.D. Barry Sears. He is an expert in biotechnology. This book about the Zone Diet is based on the research on eicosanoids that won the 1982 Nobel Prize in Medicine, and on the evolutionary diet which is based on our genetic code.

Sears writes that eicosanoids are superhormones, and that they like all hormones operate as control systems. They control psysiological systems like the immune system, the cardiovascular system, the central nervous system etc; hence the eicosanoids are very important to our health. To reach optimal health - something that Sears calls the Zone - you need a good balance of good and bad eicosanoids. An excess of carbohydrates will for example drive you out of the Zone.

Our genetic code has not changed for the past 100,000 years, whereas our diet has changed dramatically the past 50 years. Our bodies are not made for high-glychemic carbs such as grains, breads, rice and pasta.

Sears also writes about weight loss. He explains how the Zone Diet will make you lose weight; why fat doesn't make you fat and why it is the insulin that makes you fat. Hence, you need to learn how to control your blood sugar levels and insulin levels for permanent weight loss.

So how do you reach the Zone? As Sears explains in this book it is through the food you eat. On the back cover there is a warning text: "Warning: eating these carbohydrates can be dangerous to your health" and there is a list of things like orange juice, bread, dry cereal, potatoes, ketchup. This book explains why these carbs can be dangerous. The Zone: A Dietary Road Map also has lists of good and bad carbohydrates and even recipes.

Book Summaries

Fiction
Health
Psychology
Biography
Awards

Book Awards

Man Booker Prize
Nobel Prize
Pulitzer Prize