Zone: A Dietary Road Map to Lose Weight Permanently

HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS, 1996. Fine. Ciao pasta, good-bye bread, rice and other "bad carbohydrates," which can i nclude carrots, cranberries and corn. It's time to truck in the proteins. S ears, a biochemist, crowns years' worth of research into the effects of foo d on hormone production and metabolic activity with a program that will lea d to "optimal health," peak performance (the zone of the title) and, not in cidentally, weight control. Citing the importance of eicosanoids, a class o f hormones that figures critically in metabolism, Sears has worked out an a pproach to eating that reduces one's daily production of insulin and, at th e same time, draws on stored body fat for energy. A formula for calculating an individual's Lean Body Mass is tied to an estimated Physical-Activity F actor and used to establish one's daily protein requirement, which can easi ly be as much as 70 grams for a moderately active, middle-aged woman with 2 5-35% body fat. Recommending a diet that tightly balances the intake of pro tein, good (low-glycemic) carbohydrates and a moderate amount of monounsatu rated fats, Sears is among those current weight-control specialists (e.g., Drs. Rachael and Richard Heller and Stephen Gullo [see Notes below]) who ob serve that there are many "insulin-resistant" Americans for whom the new fo od pyramid recommendations, heavily weighted with "high-density, high-glyce mic carbohydrates," can be unhealthy. "Zone-favorable" recipes and food-cou nt tables are included.