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December, 1997Enter the ZoneWhat if there was a drug you could buy that keeps you mentally focused throughout the day, increases your physical stamina, gives you extra energy, eliminates hunger between meals, and decreases your chances of developing a chronic disease. Taking this drug would result in the loss of excess body fat and slowing of the aging process. Would you be surprised to learn that this drug already exists? You are already taking this drug every day. This miracle drug is food! The above is paraphrased from Barry Sears, Ph.D., the developer of the "Zone" method of nutrition. The Zone is a method of eating foods in the appropriate combination, at the right time, and in the correct dosages to keep the insulin hormone in a tight zone: neither too high nor too low. Normalizing insulin secretion will stabilize blood sugar levels, regulate the other endocrine hormone systems in your body, and allow your body fat stores to supply the energy needed for body functions. Mainstream nutritional theories are flawed because they are dominated mainly by caloric thinking. Government experts advise us to follow a low fat, high carbohydrate diet in order to promote good health. Those dietary recommendations during the past fifteen years have resulted in Americans becoming fatter, while developing diabetes and heart disease at epidemic proportions. The war against fat and heart disease is failing. The time has come for us to reevaluate our nutritional ideology. Nutritional theories that overemphasize the caloric content of foods are imperfect, because they neglect the hormonal effects of food. It is excessive insulin that causes fat to accumulate and results in up and down swings in blood sugar. High insulin levels also result in the imbalance in secretion of the eicosanoid hormones which regulate essential body functions at the cellular level. The discovery of the eicosanoid hormones by Swedish researchers in 1982 resulted in their winning a Nobel Prize, however most physicians are yet unaware of these important chemicals. These hormones exist briefly at the cellular level to control essential body functions such as blood pressure, blood clotting, involuntary muscle stimulation, body temperature, pain sensations, immune system functions, and cell membrane physiology. Proper insulin levels are required to provide for the balanced synthesis of these important hormones which control and regulate all body functions. Food is the only drug known which has been proven to control the secretion of insulin. I recommend you read Zone Perfect Meals in Minutes, Mastering the Zone, and the Zone by Dr. Sears in order to get an in-depth view of his intriguing and effective nutritional method. I have followed this diet for six months and have lost 40 pounds of body fat while increasing my energy level and maintaining strength. Assorted aches and pains have disappeared along the way. For those of you who have tried calorie restriction diets you know the dismal results: irritability, gnawing hunger, weakness, fatigue, and loss of lean muscle mass. Good tasting foods are lacking and you can't wait until you reach your goal so you can resume your old way of eating. Finally when the diet is over, you quickly gain back all the weight you had worked so hard to lose. Conversely, the Zone diet is delicious and doesn't require deprivation since you're not hungry all the time. The foods are readily available in groceries and restaurants, and you can easily continue this diet for a lifetime. This diet is so effective and good-tasting that I have felt compelled to share my experiences. For the past twenty years, patients have been asking me how to lose weight and become healthier by changing their diet and I finally have an effective response! I used to believe in the low fat, high carbohydrate approach that the "experts" recommended, but now I understand the weakness of that thinking. Now I understand why people can become fatter and stay fat even on low calorie diets, if those diets are excessive in dense carbohydrates and deficient in proteins. I used to think that overweight people merely lacked will-power and self-control. Now I recognize that these individuals aregenetically carbohydrate sensitive and their problems result from chronic over-production of insulin. At our first Zone support group meeting held at my office in November, fifty people attended and we shared encouraging results of increased energy, weight loss, and improved physical conditioning despite relatively brief experiences with the diet. One woman dropped her blood pressure from 150/110 to 135/85 in two weeks. A mother of seven children is now able for the first time to completely breastfeed her new baby without formula supplements due to her increased milk supply. Another woman reported that her husband is no longer tired and irritable after he comes home from work. A woman who had thought that she needed medication to help lift her out of a depression feels fine while she eats in the Zone. The main principles of this diet include: (1) eat small meals throughout the day; (2) have some protein at each meal; (3) limit or avoid dense carbohydrates such as grains, cereals, pasta, bread, potatoes, and sugar; (4) substitute lighter carbohydrates namely fruits and vegetables; (5) have a small amount of monounsaturated fat at each meal such as olive oil, avocado, or nuts; (6) don't let five hours go by without eating a Zone meal or snack and eat before you get hungry. To visualize a typical Zone meal, divide your plate into three sections. On one section put a portion of low fat protein (chicken, turkey, fish, etc.) no larger than the palm of your hand. Fill the other two thirds of the plate with fruits and vegetables. Then add a dash of monounsaturated fat (olive oil, slivered almonds, guacamole, etc.) This kind of meal will keep you in the center of the zone for the next four to five hours, that is energetic, clear thinking, and free of hunger. The problem with dense carbohydrates like grains, bread, potatoes, and pasta is that their concentrated starches are broken down quickly by digestive enzymes into large quantities of sugar. The sugar rapidly enters your bloodstream stimulating heightened insulin levels which in turn cause blood sugar swings, deposition of body fat, elevation of cholesterol, raising of blood pressure, and disruption of the eicosanoid balance. The cultivation of cereal grains (wheat, rice, corn, etc.) is a relatively recent phenomenon in human history dating back about ten thousand years. The development of human biochemistry dates back several hundred thousand years earlier when hunter gatherers ate low fat protein and low density carbohydrates (fruits and vegetables). This is the diet our bodies are designed to eat. Early Egyptians were one of the first cultures to cultivate and consume a high proportion of cereal grains in their diet 3500 years ago. The medical evidence gathered from mummies shows that the Egyptians were six inches shorter than their Neo-Paleolithic predecessors and suffered from chronic diseases such as heart disease, obesity, arthritis, and dental caries. The low fat mania which currently pervades the mass media and the supermarket shelves is tragically misguided. Fat is a necessary and important component of the diet. It slows the entry of carbohydrates into the bloodstream thereby modulating the secretion of insulin. Fat itself has no effect on insulin secretion. Fat sends a signal to the brain's appetite center to tell you that you're satisfied, and fat makes our food taste better. Truly, it takes fat to burn fat. The low fat, high carbohydrate snacks such as baked chips, rice cakes, pretzels, and bagels are among the most hormonally damaging foods since their sugars enter your bloodstream rapidly without the beneficial effects of protein, fat, or fiber to slow down their absorption. If you are unhappy about what has happened to your body during the past fifteen years, check out the amazing Zone diet. The Stanford University swim team has been on the Zone for several years and their members won eight gold medals at the Barcelona Olympics while on this diet. You will notice an energy boost and increased clarity of thought within one week. If you are overweight, you will notice your clothes gradually becoming larger. We have all the books and materials in the office to help you get started. We can monitor your body fat percentage, blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol levels. I can review your sample menus with you, keep you motivated, and discuss the use of food supplements. If you want to start the Zone, keep yourself motivated, or be added to the Zone mailing list to receive notices of future Zone support group meetings, please call the office. Air PurifiersToday's building methods and codes and the demands for energy conservation have created super-insulated, air-tight indoor spaces. These practices have resulted in lower heating and cooling costs; however the natural cleaning agents present in fresh air are exluded. One person coughs or sneezes and the viral particles are quickly scattered throughout the environment for others to breathe. Those persons who suffer from airborne allergens such as house dust, molds, danders, mildew, and chemical vapors develop upper respiratory symptoms or asthma during the months when the windows are closed. Alpine Industries has developed a clever solution for the problem of indoor air pollution. Their air purifiers clean the air by using two methods which mimic the cleansing effects of Nature. The machine generates positive and negative ions which circulate throughout the house and attach to dust and other small particles which causes them to attract one another thus becoming to heavy to circulate through the air. The machine also generates ozone which kills viruses, bacteria, molds, and pollens and neutralizes odors, resulting in a "rain-fresh" atmosphere in the house or office. When the sun beams through a window, you no longer see dust particles in the air. These machines are far superior and less expensive than air filters. We have the machines for display and for sale as well as more information available in our office. Progesterone SurveyI wrote an article for the December, 1996, newsletter about natural progesterone. The article generated enormous interest among women seeking relief for premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Many patients told me that the transdermal progesterone was very helpful. To gather more evidence about the results, I mailed out a questionnaire to those patients who had used our natural progesterone cream during the past year. Eighty-nine surveys were mailed out and thirty-nine were completed and returned. The following table summarizes the results:
The first column of numbers expresses the percent of women who had the symptom. The second column shows the percent of those women who had the symptom and obtained relief from that symptom by using the cream. The symptoms are arranged in order of their frequency of occurrence. For each symptom, a majority of women showed some improvement. The average respondent had used the cream for six months. Those women who had showed the greatest improvement and satisfaction, had used the cream the longest time, had improved their nutrition, and had increased their level of exercise. 64% of respondents had read Dr. John Lee's book about female hormones and had found the book to be helpful. This is not a scientific study because there is no control group of women who had received placebo (unmedicated cream) to compare results with. However the results and comments of the majority of participants indicate that transdermal progesterone is worth a trial in women who suffer from PMS or perimenopausal symptoms. It can be used as an adjunct in an overall program of good health maintenance including nutrition and exercise. Home | Staff | Newsletters | Vitamins & Stuff | FAQ | Recommended Reading | Links | Downloads |