Posted on: 28 January, 2006
Author: Laura Ciocan
Dr. Barry Sears developed the Zone Diet. He established a set of principles that balance carbohydrates and proteins at every meal. He has authored a diet book that has sold over 4 million copies since first hitting the market. He also founded the ZonePerfect Nutrition Company in 1996 and then sold the company to the Abbott Company five years later. In fact, Dr. Barry Sears is endorsing a new product called Smart Zone which is a meal supplement bar produced by Hersheys. There have been several lawsuits regarding the use of the Dr. Sears implied endorsement of ZonePerfect products. Dr. Sears is very clear that he does not endorse these products despite the fact that they use the ZonePerfect name. What is the issue?Dr. Barry Sears now operates a company called Zone Labs. They have the only Zone Diet products that Dr. Sears endorses at this time. The Hershey SmartZone bars will also carry Dr. Sears stamp of approval as soon as they are marketed. The concern with the non-endorsed products is that while they appear to be the Zone products, they are not correctly chemically balanced to control insulin. Since the whole premise of the Zone Diet is to eat foods that will help your body control the hormones that produce and regular insulin it is very important that the chemical composition of the food is exactly correct. Dr. Sears explains that a diet bar can be a prime example of how things can appear to be Zone foods but are not chemically balanced to work with the program. There are many nutrition bars that are composed of a 40/30/30 balance of proteins, carbohydrates and fat. The fat in Zone bars comes from a patented fish oil product that actually helps the body slow down the production of insulin and prevents hunger and cravings. Other bars marketed as Zone products have the 40/30/30 ratio but they use flaxseed or soybean oils that don't have the same chemical composition. This oil does nothing to help the body with insulin control and will result in hunger and cravings. What does Dr. Sears endorse?Currently Dr. Sears endorses his own line of supplements that include: Dr. Sears continues to develop more supplements and meals that fit into the Zone Diet. Be careful to check that the product you're buying does have Dr. Sears endorsement to ensure that you are truly staying in the Zone. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com