The Zoneheads among us cannot be stereotyped: Madonna, Howard Stern, a respected biochemist at Georgetown University, vegetarians, the Stanford University men’s and women’s swimming teams (including Olympic medalists), people who have tried numerous other weight-loss diets, quarterback Brett Favre of the Super Bowl-bound Green Bay Packers, nutrition writers, and the 70-something woman at Water Tower Place who stopped Barry Sears to ask about energy bars.
These people all share the common denominator of having decided to eat more protein and fewer carbohydrates after reading Sears’ first book, “The Zone,” which sold about a million hardcover copies in 1996 and is still going strong. The scientifically positioned text is now joined by a logical sequel, “Mastering the Zone” (HarperCollins, $25). It simplifies the author’s advice and provides 150 recipes for Zone meals. More than 300,000 copies have been shipped.
“The first book was originally written for physicians,” said Sears on a recent visit to Chicago, which included an instructive lunch at Foodlife, the upscale food court in Water Tower Place. “It explained the why and what of the Zone. The second book shows you how to get there.”
Sales of Sears’ initial book started extremely slow despite cover lines such as “avoid the dangers of bad carbohydrates (bananas, orange juice, bagels, bread, carrots, dry cereal, popcorn, rice, potatoes, pasta),” “balance your hormonal and insulin levels,” “lose weight permanently,” “reset your genetic code,” “prevent disease” and “eating fat doesn’t make you fat.” Then the author appeared on a popular drive-time radio show in Los Angeles with host Dennis Prager. The rest is a publisher’s dream.
Prager told listeners he didn’t usually invite guests on the program, especially one with a doctorate in biochemistry. But this book changed his life, said the radio personality; this diet plan boosted his energy tenfold. Sears and Prager chatted a few minutes before taking phone calls. Three hours later, Sears was still fielding calls as Prager signed off for the night. Many personal trainers for celebrities were in on the buzz, for within weeks Madonna and other Hollywood stars were Zoned.
The basic Sears premise is all food and drink can act as powerful “drugs” that affect the hormonal system. He particularly focuses on the balance of insulin and glucagon, two hormones regulating the body’s energy levels.
Eating too many carbohydrates, particularly the faster-burning, simple-structure carbohydrates found in flour-based products, will quickly raise the insulin level in the body, which leads to sluggishness, loss of mental focus and even irritability. Adding protein and fat to meals smoothes out the blood sugar supply.
“Let’s say you eat a big bowl of pasta with marinara sauce at noon,” said Sears. “You will feel good at 12:30 but not so great by 2 or 3 o’clock in the afternoon. By then, that pasta is the equivalent of three or four Twinkies in your stomach.”
The Zone alternative is one cup of pasta with some sort of protein. At the Italian station of Foodlife, Sears recommended a small scoop of pasta and sauce to be topped by two large meatballs. “Skip the garlic bread,” said Sears.
Sears recommends people get 40 percent of daily calories from carbohydrates and 30 percent each from protein and fats–effectively the Zone parameters, though he uses a “blocks” system to make for easier mental calculations when sitting down to a meal.
His eating plan is not altogether different from regimens recommended over the years by some trainers and nutritionists who consider protein as a muscle builder and brain booster. But it directly flies in the plates of advisers who dish up complex carbohydrates as the cornerstone of proper eating for regular exercisers.
Critics, including registered dietitians and food scientists, argue Sears has no published research to substantiate his scientific jargon. They also contend Americans already eat enough protein and need to cut back on saturated fat, which is less likely if people are eating more meatballs as part of their diet.
Yet no one argues the Zone diet is unsafe as much as misdirected or overly confining or both. For his part, Sears is not about to yield. He thinks the Zone can apply to everyone, and doesn’t recommend unchecked consumption of saturated fats. He is adamant about chewing slowly and eating regular, small meals; he warns against skipping breakfast or lunch to “save up” for dinner. This is not original advice, yet Sears has proved successful at packaging the message.
“The basic problem, as I see it, is Americans eat too much,” said Sears. “The typical person should eat three 400-calorie meals and two 100-calorie snacks. Think of it as about a fistful or two of food at each meal, depending on the type of carbohydrates you select. If you work out a lot, maybe you can increase to 2,000 daily calories and 500-calorie meals.”
That is considerably less than the average lunch at Foodlife–or the amount of food many people eat each day. Sears walked around each station to offer advice for any potential Zoneheads, some of whom have loosened the strict 40-30-30 guidelines but still aspire to increasing the protein they would normally eat at each meal.
Here’s a Zone-inspired look at the Foodlife menus:
Roadside Grill: Sears endorsed the turkey burger and even said the regular hamburger was OK if “you really crave it.” But hold the cheese, bun (maybe use one half) and fries. Load up on lettuce, tomatoes, onions and add a side of steamed vegetables. “The disaster (by Zone standards) at McDonald’s is not the hamburger,” he explained. “It’s the fries. They cause the excess insulin production.”
Wraps: This newest trend in sandwiches drew raves for the main ingredients–blackened salmon, Thai chicken–on one condition: Go easy on Cajun rice or cole slaw and eat only a small part of the huge flour tortilla wrap.
Mexican: The best Zone choice at this station was chicken fajitas. “You can control how many tortillas you eat,” said Sears, who recommends severely limiting the chips and salsa before a Mexican meal. “Be sure to ask for corn tortillas, which contain half the simple carbohydrates of flour tortillas. You can eat more of them.”
Foodlife does offer tofu fajitas. “A reasonable choice,” said Sears, “but you will have to eat about 12 ounces of tofu to match the protein in four ounces of meat.”
A side of rice and black beans is part of the standard lunch. “Oh, look at that guy, he should be eating maybe half a fistful of rice and beans with that burrito,” said Sears. Instead, the customer moves to the condiment bar with a large burrito and two oversized fistsful of rice and beans. He loads up the guacamole and sour cream for his burrito; Sears winces and mentions a little hot sauce would have been the better choice.
Down-home barbecue: Sears is happy here. The barbecued quarter-chicken without the skin is his top choice. The ribs look too fatty for the Zone. “The southern greens is the best side dish,” he said. “They are a powerhouse food like broccoli. (He doesn’t stop to contemplate whether the collards might be drowned in bacon fat by some cooks.) Eat two cups and get just a smidge of mashed potatoes and baked beans if you insist. Don’t eat the corn on the cob, either; too many simple carbohydrates.”
Greens and grains: This seemingly health-food station flunks the Zone test. He thumbs out the vegetable paella and ancient grains. Too many carbos, not enough protein.
The bean dishes similarly miss the cut: “The carbohydrates overpower the protein. My suggestion is get a side order of the grilled Tuscan vegetables (for the right kind of carbohydrates) and find your protein at another station. Maybe that turkey burger at the Roadside Grill.”
Stuffed baked potatoes: Forget it, unless you like half a potato with a drizzle of olive oil.
Drinks: A glass of wine, on the other hand, finds a niche in the Zone. “Consider it part of your carbohydrates, equal to a quarter-cup of spaghetti.”
Sears himself prefers black decaffeinated coffee with his breakfast and lunch. Diet soda and water fit the plan. Regular soda, lemonade and juices don’t. “Even freshly squeezed juice presents a problem,” noted Sears, gesturing emphatically behind a woman who just ordered a large carrot juice. “It’s all carbohydrates. Add protein powder for a boost to your internal carburetor.”
Sweets: There is a glimmer of hope as Sears stands before plates of cakes and cookies. “You can still have dessert if you cut back on carbohydrates in other parts of the meal.”
Then the catch. “I suggest you share a dessert with friends. After all, most of us go to restaurants to drink the wine and sample the desserts. So go ahead and eat maybe one-sixth of the slice of the espresso torte or banana chocolate cake. It will taste just as good, only there are fewer bites.”
Stir-fry: This is where Barry Sears settles for lunch. He dives into the thinly sliced, semifrozen slices of chicken and beef, loading up what he eyeballs as four ounces. Then he heaps on the broccoli, bok choy, red peppers, cabbage, mushrooms and all sorts of greens. Next some sesame and olive oil, with a dash of soy sauce for flavor.
“No carrots,” he said. “They are tough on the hormones; too much sugar.”
Sears hands the bowl to the stir-fry cook, who asks about adding rice or noodles to the bowl.
“Neither,” said Sears. “That puts me out of the Zone.”
The cook shrugs.
Back at the table, Sears explains he might have asked for a teaspoon of rice, but most cooks can’t believe the request and load on the “bad carbohydrate.”
Sears eats maybe half the bowl he has ordered.
“It’s an amazing thing that happens at restaurants,’ said Sears. “If you leave food on your plate, the waiter or waitress will eventually take it away. You don’t have to eat it all.”
