You may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but the jacket might indicate whether a best seller is in the making. When a new book, “The Zone” (ReganBooks, $22), by a biotechnology researcher named Barry Sears, hit The New York Times’ prized best-seller list for advice and how-to books, no publishing executive was surprised. The book’s cover promises ways to “avoid the dangers of bad carbohydrates, balance your hormone and insulin levels, lose weight permanently, reset your genetic code, prevent disease, achieve maximum physical performance and enhance mental productivity.”
That’s just the front cover of this controversial book that has nutritionists and other experts serving up objections and warnings because it recommends that only 40 percent of daily calories come from carbohydrates.
The back jacket makes more statements: Eating fat doesn’t make you fat. Athletes perform better on a high-fat diet. The new U.S. dietary recommendations are dead wrong.
There is a list of carbohydrates that “could be dangerous to your health,” including bananas, apple juice, orange juice, bagels, bread, carrots, dry cereal, popcorn, rice, potatoes, raisins and pasta.
Sensational stuff, and a catchy title that refers to the “zone” many top athletes enter when they are at the top of their game on a given day–the one in which Michael Jordan seems a permanent resident.
“Each statement is eminently defensible,” said Sears, who has a Ph.D. in biochemistry but no published research or affiliation with an academic institution. “It may sound like hype, but it’s not.”
“You don’t make the best-seller list by promoting the usual health stuff and government dietary guidelines,” said Ellen Coleman, a nutritionist at a sports medicine clinic in Riverside, Calif., who reviewed Sears’ book in a recent issue of the International Journal of Sports Nutrition. “There is no scientific evidence this diet controls the hormonal system as he explains it.”
Sears considers all food and drink as drugs with a powerful effect on the hormonal systems that regulate the body. He particularly focuses on the balance between insulin and glucagon, two hormones directly responsible for regulating our energy levels.
The author says that eating too many carbohydrates unduly raises insulin levels. Aside from diabetics, who have severe reactions to insulin swings and should be monitored by physicians, Sears said too much insulin leads to varying dropoffs in energy levels, mental focus and calmness.
His solution is to consume a “moderate carbohydrate” diet, or 40 percent of daily calories, while adding about twice the protein–30 percent of daily calories–recommended by most nutritionists and the U.S. Food Pyramid. He also endorses getting 30 percent of daily calories from fats, especially mono-unsaturated varieties such as olive oil, macadamia nuts and avocados.
The “Zone” program promotes the 40-30-30 ratio at every meal and snack to keep insulin in check. Sears recommends three daily meals of 500 calories each and two 100-calorie snacks.
The book is one of several recent nutrition books to emphasize protein as important to good health, a trend aimed at reducing the overzealous consumption of carbohydrates more than anything else.
Other books include “Protein Power” (Bantam, $21.95), by Dr. Michael R. Eades and Dr. Mary Dan Eades; “Healthy for Life” (Dutton, $24.95) by Rachel F. Heller and Richard F. Heller, authors of the best-selling “Carbohydrate Addict’s Diet”; and “The 5 Day Miracle Diet” (due in May from Ballantine) by Adele Puhn, a Long Island, N.Y., nutritionist who preaches protein to her celebrity clients.
“Carbohydrates should be viewed as a drug,” said Sears, who first developed his program for high-performance athletes and now intends the “Zone” to fit most anyone. “Their toxic side effect is increased insulin. I treat all food as drugs.”
Sears acknowledged that about 25 percent of humans don’t have a significant insulin reaction to a high-carbohydrate meal. But the rest have a noticeable change in insulin-glucagon levels, he said. An easy way to determine insulin sensitivity, he said, is by eating a high-carbohydrate, no-protein meal, such as pasta marinara and a lettuce salad. If you are sleepy within three hours, then you have some sensitivity.
The foundation of Sears’ program is controlling the “good” and “bad” eicosanoids in the body. Eicosanoids are hormonelike compounds that are synthesized from fatty acids. They are produced in response to infection, trauma, allergy or toxins. You need some of them, but you don’t want too many of certain kinds, Sears said.
Many sports nutritionists are unconvinced by Sears’ theories.
“The book is intimidating and convincing to anyone not familiar with biochemistry because it comes across as scientific,” said nutritionist Coleman. “At the very least, his program will harm athletic performance due to the lack of sufficient carbohydrates. But my biggest concern is the health claims he makes about cancer, heart disease and even AIDS. He is creating false hope.”
Bothersome to Coleman and other nutrition professionals is the lack of specific research. Because Sears portrays himself as a biochemical expert, they ask for scientific evidence.
“There is no research on whether eicosanoids help or hurt performance,” said Mitch Kanter, director of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute in Barrington.
Sears cited recent studies from academic researchers when asked for supportive material, but said he had no plans to publish any original research. He pointed to his past work on intravenous drug delivery methods for cancer and heart disease patients, and how that applies to his view of all foods as drugs.
Perhaps his most notable credential, though anecdotal, is his link with the Stanford University men’s and women’s swimming teams.
Sears’ program is endorsed by men’s coach Skip Kenney and women’s coach Richard Quick, whose programs have won several national collegiate championships and qualified 11 Olympians (including six gold-medal winners in 1992 and five more hopefuls for this summer’s Olympic Games in Atlanta).
“My background is not in nutrition,” he said. “I am looking at how people can be in a constant and favorable hormonal zone.”
Researchers contend the hormonal premise is unfounded.
“I look at it as a scientist,” said Coleman, author of “The Ultimate Sports Nutrition Handbook” (Bull, $13.95). “He presents no rigorously controlled experimental research. All of his health claims are based on testimonials.”
Nonetheless, the “Zone” diet is not unhealthful, Coleman said: “There is no safety factor here, unless someone with an illness stops other medical treatments in favor of the diet. But the diet is too low in carbohydrates to promote glycogen stores (in the muscles and liver) needed for high-intensity exercise.
“There’s also nothing particularly wrong with the amount of protein he recommends, but it is hard to eat that much protein without also increasing your amount of saturated fat.”
Ann Grandjean, a longtime nutrition consultant to the U.S. Olympic Committee, said the best strategy is paying attention to how your body reacts to changes in your diet.
For example, she said that most long-distance athletes will find that a higher amount of complex carbohydrates provides more energy during workouts. Anyone involved in heavy weight training will benefit from added protein.
“My concern (with the `Zone’ program) is there isn’t one single guideline that meets the needs of every athlete or individual,” Grandjean said. “No one book or program applies to everyone. Every person, including the recreational athlete, needs to see what works for them.”
Some of the “Zone” approach is hard to dispute if it motivates someone to be more disciplined about eating a balanced, moderate diet, says Coleman: “Look at (the `Zone’) meal plan. he highest amount of daily calories is 1,800. With that limited amount, anyone who needs to lose weight will do it.
“Of course, anything will make you fat if you eat too much of it, even a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet.”
