Zone Living Articles
Aging: Can You Slow It Down?
The first few weeks of the New Year are often focused on the resolve to lose weight, when in actuality people should focus their goals on slowing down aging, no matter the time of year. The only regimen that clinically achieves results in slowing the aging process is calorie restriction without malnutrition. Why? It’s not simply losing weight but orchestrating the complex interplay of reducing senescent cells, reprograming your metabolism, and changing gene expression, leading to a longer and better life. A Timeline of Calorie Restriction The first recorded human experiments with calorie restriction began with the written books of Luigi Cornaro in the 16th century, as I outlined in my book The Anti-Aging Zone, published in 1999. However, the molecular mechanisms of why calorie restriction is so effective required more recent breakthroughs in metabolism and epigenetics that were confirmed with the CALERIE study that carefully controlled the diets of 225 participants over two years and then ongoing testing of their retained blood samples. The results of the CALERIE study have been impressive. However, the one clear take-home lesson was that reduction of insulin resistance was the most predictive blood marker correlated with the genetic changes and the decrease in senescent cells that ultimately accelerate aging. The Zone on Calorie Restriction The Zone diet is a calorie-restricted diet that was patented to reduce insulin resistance. It requires balancing macronutrients at each meal to generate the rapid hormonal changes that give rise to satiety. Only then can you follow calorie restriction for a lifetime without hunger and fatigue. It starts with having enough protein at each meal to create satiety in the brain's appetite control center. You need about 30 grams of protein (no more, but no less) at each meal to generate the same hormonal responses induced by the recent injectable weight loss drugs. However, you also must balance that protein with an adequate level of low-glycemic carbohydrates (about 40 grams) to stabilize blood glucose levels, and then add a dash of monounsaturated fat (about 15 grams). Over the years, it has been demonstrated by more than 40 research publications that the Zone diet is superior to ketogenic diets and the Mediterranean diet under controlled clinical research. A New Technology to Slow Down Aging Unfortunately, many people think the Zone diet requires too much thinking. That’s why I developed Zone Foods to overcome that problem. The first generation of Zone Foods demonstrated dramatic reductions in insulin resistance compared to a control group, getting an equal number of calories (1). The second generation of Zone Foods offers greater variety and even more appetite suppression without thinking. This second generation will include new and improved versions of the Zone Pasta and Zone Bars, with new additions of Zone Muffins, Zone Oatmeal, Zone Granola, Zone Soups, and Zone Cookies (coming soon!). Each Zone Food contains 15 grams of protein, balanced with the appropriate level of low-glycemic carbohydrates, so any combination of two Zone Foods will provide the critical 30 grams of protein at a meal to stop hunger and maintain peak mental awareness for the next five hours. The growing variety of Zone Foods makes following the Zone diet incredibly easy. If you are never hungry, that indicates that you are reducing insulin resistance. The long-term benefit to you is slowing aging, which is only possible with lifelong use of Metabolic Engineering that starts with the Zone diet as its foundation. You May Also Like: Reaching the Zone Using Metabolic Engineering
Metabolism Explained: What You Need to Know
Our view of metabolism tends to be superficial when in actuality it is incredibly complex. We often think of metabolism in terms of it being fast or slow or the efficiency with which we burn energy or fat. While that is a piece of it, metabolism goes well beyond the accumulation or loss of body fat as it involves so many more processes within our body. In this blog, we break down the science of metabolism as explained by Dr. Sears. We start with the basics and work our way towards Dr. Sears' newer themes of Metabolic Engineering and what that means to our personal health. What Is Metabolism? Your metabolism converts food into energy to keep you alive, it optimizes the immune system, and repairs damaged tissue. When your metabolism isn't working efficiently, you accumulate excess body fat, suffer decreased mental and physical performance, and your immune system becomes less efficient. These outcomes, caused by growing inefficiency in your metabolism, accelerate your rate of aging. What Metabolism Does Controls weight. When your metabolism is performing optimally, the weight comes off and stabilizes. Provides physical energy and mental focus. Your metabolism's job is to turn food into energy. Do you get tired shortly after meals or in the afternoon? Do you have brain fog or trouble concentrating? This means something is in the way of that energy creation. Slows the aging process to maintain wellness. When a poorly functioning metabolism isn't providing enough energy to your cells, aging speeds up and wellness goes down. Why Your Metabolism May Not Be Working Efficiently Insulin resistance is not a disease, but an indication that your metabolism is becoming less efficient. The primary reason your metabolism might not be operating at peak efficiency is called insulin resistance. What Causes Insulin Resistance? Insulin resistance is caused by a pro-inflammatory diet, which can result from any one of three following nutritional factors· A deficiency in certain nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids and polyphenols. An excess intake of calories, glucose, omega-6 fatty acids, and palmitic acid An unbalanced protein-to-carbohydrate ratio in your diet. The more of these dietary factors you have in your current diet, the more likely you are to have insulin resistance. How Do You Know If You Have Insulin Resistance? Your body will tell you if you're developing insulin resistance - weight gain and the loss of physical energy and mental focus are some of the first physical signs of increasing resistance. Yet insulin resistance often starts years earlier before you see those physical signs. Ultimately your blood will confirm the existence of insulin resistance. It is measured by a simple blood test known as HOMA-IR. lf your HOMA-IR level is greater than two, you have insulin resistance. Once a person develops insulin resistance, it's usually just a matter of time before any one of the many chronic problems caused by insulin resistance begins to appear. How Do You Make Your Metabolism More Efficient? Your metabolism converts food into energy, controls your immune system, regulates the expression of your genes, controls tissue regeneration, and finally controls your rate of aging. That is an impressive list, but to get those benefits, you must continually manage the metabolism in each of the 37 trillion cells in your body. Although metabolism is complex, there's a relatively simple dietary system that can fine-tune the metabolism in every cell in your body. To do so, you must understand the power of Metabolic Engineering TM. Metabolic Engineering TM There is no magic bullet to reduce insulin resistance, but there is a proven dietary system. It's called Metabolic Engineering. Metabolic Engineering is designed to reprogram the metabolism of each of your 37 trillion cells. It comprises three distinct dietary interventions: omega-3 fatty acids, polyphenols, and the patented Zone diet working as a team to reprogram your metabolism for greater efficiency. The Zone diet helps reduce insulin resistance, omega-3 fatty acids resolve inflammation caused by insulin resistance, and polyphenols repair the damage caused by insulin resistance. These are the 3Rs necessary to maintain wellness. Dietary Components Of Metabolic Engineering Consider these three dietary interventions as the 3Rs (Reduce, Resolve, and Repair) you need to return your metabolism to peak efficiency. Any one of the three dietary components of Metabolic Engineering is beneficial. Still, you need all three to be working together to reduce insulin resistance most effectively to get you to the Zone. The Zone diet (especially when using our Zone Foods) provides the dietary pathway to reduce inflammation. It's also the most clinically proven diet to reduce insulin resistance. In fact, the Zone diet is patented to reduce insulin resistance. However, equally important is the need for adequate levels of highly purified omega-3 fatty acids (OmegaRx) and polyphenols (MaquiRx) as dietary supplements to further resolve residual inflammation caused by insulin resistance and repair cellular damage caused by insulin resistance. The true goal of medicine should be not to treat the symptoms of chronic disease but to maintain wellness. The more efficient your metabolism becomes by following Metabolic Engineering, the faster you reduce insulin resistance. As insulin resistance is decreased, you lose excess body fat, reduce fatigue, and slow down the rate of aging. Metabolic Engineering allows you to quickly enjoy the benefits of improved wellness - and more importantly, for the rest of your life. The three dietary components of Metabolic Engineering (the Zone diet, omega-3 fatty acids, and polyphenols) work as a team to get you into the Zone.
Traditions, Thanksgiving Sides, and Pumpkin Pie
I recently found myself reminiscing about my family’s Thanksgivings of the distant past. The preparations would begin in the middle of November when my mom and my aunt got us children together on a Sunday afternoon to make place card favors for the table with little cups attached to each one. On the big day, they would be filled with mints and salty roasted peanuts. The weekend before Thanksgiving things became more intense. That’s when my mom and dad would make Stollen from a recipe handed down through generations of my dad’s family. Stollen is a rich buttery German yeasted bread studded with raisins, bits of candied citrus fruit peels, and slivered almonds. This was serious stuff, along with some serious fun, all of us taking turns mixing and then kneading the heavy dough, all by hand. It made 6 loaves, enough to share with friends. I can still remember the scent of the rising dough filling our kitchen, a hint of good things soon to come. The turkey was another joint venture on the part of my parents, always stuffed with Pepperidge Farm stuffing. My mom made all the side dishes. She was an incredibly good cook. Every Thanksgiving, in addition to turkey and stuffing we had mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, corn, sliced apple and sweet potato casserole, dinner rolls, and Stollen. Dessert was always her homemade pies, an apple pie, and a pumpkin pie. To this day, my mom’s apple pie has never met its match. Clearly, I would have some big shoes to fill in the future when it came to Thanksgiving dinner. Through the years as my family grew, I made attempts at healthier eating. Two Thanksgivings stand out in my mind. One year I put all the vegetable leftovers straight into the crockpot as I cleared the table. I added tomato juice, and we had nice soup with our supper of leftover turkey. My other attempt was the one and only time I bought a “Tofurkey” instead of a real turkey. I’ve been following the Zone Diet for over 25 years. My Thanksgiving dinners are now designed to appeal to all my guests. I naturally cook Zone-friendly, and Thanksgiving is no different, especially since turkey is an excellent source of low-fat protein. Surprisingly, many traditional Thanksgiving dinner foods are good Zone choices. I also make sure to have stuffing and a few roasted potatoes, so no one feels deprived. This year I created a Zone Pasta Orzo side dish as a healthy alternative to stuffing. Zone Orzo Stuffing Side Amounts are up to you. Sauté equal amounts of 3/8 inch chopped onion, apple, and Baby Bella mushrooms in a little olive oil until the onion begins to turn translucent. Add dry orzo, 1 bay leaf, dried thyme, and enough beef broth to cover the orzo. Simmer uncovered according to orzo package instructions, adding a little more broth if needed. Can be made ahead and reheated. Dessert at our Thanksgiving dinners is always homemade apple pie and pumpkin pie, a tradition that’s been part of Thanksgiving since my childhood, but with a twist. A few years ago, I discovered how to make a Zone-friendly and very tasty pumpkin pie, without crust. No-Crust Pumpkin Pie My tip is to go heavy with the spices and use as little as possible of the sweetener (taste as you add, my choice is blue agave nectar). Mix 1 15 oz. can of 100% pumpkin, 2 slightly beaten eggs, a Zone-friendly sweetener, pumpkin pie spices, and 3/4 cup milk. Bake in a lightly oiled 8 or 9-inch pie plate at 375 degrees until set. Happy Thanksgiving! In case you missed the other Fall '23 Newsletter Articles: Managing Meno-Pot: The Unwanted Souvenir from your Hormone Travels! How to Strength Train for Life Why Dietary Protein is the Key to Weight Loss
How to Strength Train for Life
In my 30+ years as a fitness professional during which strength training has been the mainstay of my career, I have experienced much “resistance” to resistance training from all sides, whether from women who don’t want “muscles” to men who “just want to do cardio.” Others play sports for fitness or have active jobs and feel this is sufficient exercise for them. Having trained many others who realize the benefits of strength training, I have seen why people want to do it change over the years. Toning, weight loss, and body sculpting were the predominant reasons clients came to me. It seemed to change in the mid-aughts when people were looking for help for issues that are common with desk-bound jobs and long commutes. Back pain, upper and lower. Weak core, and lack of upper body strength. Today, people are concerned with aging and avoiding disease, injury, and frailty. Based on my experience, I believe that strength should be the basis of all fitness activities. It will benefit almost all well into later life and help with a host of age-related conditions. There are so many benefits that can be gained from resistance training, and most of them cannot be obtained from any other form of exercise. The most well-known include: Improved ability to carry out activities of daily life - once challenging tasks become easier and can be noticed in everyday activities such as carrying groceries. Reversing sarcopenia - muscle loss begins in your mid-twenties and declines rapidly thereafter unless physical activity is maintained. Improve and maintain bone density - Because of the direct effect muscles have on the bones (by pushing and pulling against them and providing a type of stress that stimulates bone growth1), osteopenia can be reversed by resistance training, in conjunction with other therapies, in a way that walking or other activities cannot. Preventing falls and injuries - a thorough training program can correct imbalances, such as weak gluteal muscles, or weak upper back vs. overly strong hip flexors/tight pectoral (chest) muscles. This causes compensation during movements that over time, can result in injuries. Some of the benefits that you may not know of include: Increased mobility - feeling stiff, slow to move? Increasing muscle strength will help you move better and feel more confident. You might find yourself picking up the pace! Better stability - the ability to hold yourself up and bolster yourself against falls and accidents. Posture - strengthening the weaker muscles that hold you (back, core, and upper back) will help you stand tall, avoiding that hunched-forward posture that only becomes more noticeable with age. Anti-inflammatory effect - When stimulated, as during resistance training, Myokines, key regulators that besides their positive effect on inflammation, also work with metabolic modulation and immunity, are released2. All of the above are beneficial to all ages, particularly for older adults. It really is never too late. I know that one concern that holds people back is a fear of injury. In reality, it is much safer (when done properly) than not doing it and then slowly losing your quality of life. Some tips for starting safely include: Start slowly and methodically - learn proper form and technique before you attempt to try a new exercise or machine. Use a moderate amount of weight at first until you master this. Avoid excessive repetitions and sets - overdoing it could set you back. This is what causes pain and injury more than using slow, considered movement and a moderate range of motion (not overstretching or locking out at joints). Strength is your friend for life and anyone can gain it with a little training! In case you missed the other Fall '23 Newsletter Articles: Of Traditions, Thanksgiving Sides, and Pumpkin Pie Managing Meno-Pot: The Unwanted Souvenir from your Hormone Travels! Why Dietary Protein is the Key to Weight Loss