The Zone diet plan is popularized in books by biochemist Barry Sears. What is the zone diet plan? It tells us about consuming calories from carbohydrates, protein, and fat in a balanced ratio.

"The Zone" is Sears' term for proper hormone balance. This is when the insulin levels are neither too high nor too low and glucagon levels are not too high, then specific anti-inflammatory chemicals (types of eicosanoids) are released, which have similar effects to aspirin. What is the zone diet plan? Sears claims that a 30:40 ratio of protein to carbohydrates triggers this effect, and this is called 'The Zone.' He also claims that these natural anti-inflammatories are heart and health-friendly. 

Zone diet plan food sources

The Zone diet plan does not recommend that you eat fewer calories than you're currently consuming. It just recommends different ones. Although the diet has a complicated and exacting measure of what to eat, it can be simplified as:

“A small amount of protein at every meal (approximately the size of your palm or one small chicken breast) and at every snack (one in the late afternoon, one in the late evening).”

The zone diet plan recipes include vegetables and lentils, beans, whole grains, and most fruits as the main ingredients during the diet. Other carbs include brown rice, pasta, papaya, mango, banana, dry breakfast cereal, bread, bagel, tortilla, carrots, and all fruit juices. A few dairy products like egg whites and low-fat or no-fat cheeses and milk can also be taken.

The Zone diet plan offers more than just weight loss. It helps in retooling your metabolism with a diet that is 30% protein, 30% fat, and 40% carbohydrates, The Zone diet plan helps in avoiding heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Another much-touted advantage is better athletic performance.

What the Zone diet plan does boldly claim is that much of the current thinking about good nutrition -- a diet high in carbohydrates, low in protein, and fats -- is "dead wrong." What is the zone diet plan? It’s more Sears, the biochemist, contends that type of diet has contributed to our risk of contracting serious, even life-threatening ailments such as heart disease, diabetes, and possibly cancer. His later book, The Anti-Inflammation Zone, also about a diet plan, takes a closer look at disease and how his diet combats the inflammation he says is an underlying factor behind the development of serious illness as well as weight gain.

As a former scientist, Sears devotes considerable time to discussion of the science on which he based his theory. In simple words, The Zone diet plan is a "metabolic state in which the body works at peak efficiency," and that state is created by eating a set ratio of carbohydrates, protein, and fat.