Report on the Zone

[Mike ODonnell]

Found this detailed interesting evaluation of the "Zone" diet.
http://www.jacn.org/cgi/reprint/22/1/9.pdf

If you just want to know what the author thinks overall....here's his summary:

When properly evaluated, the
theories and arguments of popular low carbohydrate diet books
like the Zone rely on poorly controlled, non-peer-reviewed
studies, anecdotes and non-science rhetoric. This review illustrates
the complexity of nutrition misinformation perpetrated
by some popular press diet books. A closer look at the science
behind the claims made for the Zone Diet reveals nothing more
than a modern twist on an antique food fad.

[Duke McCall]

When properly evaluated, the
theories and arguments of popular low carbohydrate diet books
like the Zone rely on poorly controlled, non-peer-reviewed
studies, anecdotes and non-science rhetoric.

That is a good thing, right?

[George Mounce]

Originally Posted by Duke McCall

When properly evaluated, the
theories and arguments of popular low carbohydrate diet books
like the Zone rely on poorly controlled, non-peer-reviewed
studies, anecdotes and non-science rhetoric.

That is a good thing, right?

Not if you are a GPP system trying to tout scientific reasons for following a starvation approach to eating.

I did the Zone for 6 months...I prefer to eat food.

[Darryl Shaw]

I hope Couch reads that before he does something stupid.

[Garrett Smith]

Zoned Paleo got me the leanest I've ever been in my life...and the performance crash when I ran out of storage bodyfat was amazingly impressive.

[Justin Herring]

More from the study:

The purported health benefits of low-carbohydrate diets have been advocated intermittently over the last century and have enjoyed increasing popularity over the last decade. Although the extremity of dietary carbohydrate restriction varies among popular low carbohydrate diets, the belief that carbohydrates are in one way or another to blame for most chronic diseases remains a consistent and emphatic theme.
***
Carbophobia is a form of nutrition misinformation infused into the American psyche through multiple advertising avenues that include magazine ads, television infomercials and especially best selling diet books. Due to the freedom of press guaranteed under the First Amendment, the lucrative publication of dubious nutrition information is difficult to combat. The success of the Zone Diet book by Barry Sears [1] in 1995 led to publication of at least ten Zone-related books or Zone “knock-offs”. The American Dietetic Association promotes dissemination of sound, science-based nutrition information to correct and counter pervasive nutrition misinformation [2].

It's intereting that this guy is going after the Zone as an exemplar of a low-carb diet--i.e. "carbophobia." Is 40% carbs regarded as low-carb by mainstream diet people?

I also like how he blames the First Amendment for making it difficult to "combat" low-carb diets.