Zone Diet: you can't live off just carbohydrate, protein and fat
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Zone Diet Is a No-No
Athletes are always tinkering with their diets in an attempt to boost performance. Until recently carbohydrate was regarded as the main component of most athletes’ diets because, as we all know, carbohydrate is the king of fuels when it comes to athletic performance. However, the zone diet offers a radically different approach whereby carbohydrate, protein and fat are consumed in ratios of approximately 40:30:30 rather than the typically recommended 55:15:30.
The claims made by the authors of the zone diet book include loss of excess body fat, reduced hunger between meals, reduced risk of chronic disease and improved athletic performance. A UK-based research team decided to test the authors’ claim that the zone diet would increase time to exhaustion during endurance events. Eight male volunteers followed either a normal diet or the zone diet for seven days. They were subjected to a battery of tests before and after the dietary period, including assessment of body composition, maximum oxygen uptake and time to exhaustion.
The results showed that time to exhaustion during an 80% VO2max time trial fell by almost four minutes for the subjects following the zone diet. The researchers also noted a trend towards decreased VO2max, which would have significant implications for training and subsequent performance in endurance events. The long and short of it is that the research team found none of the improvements claimed by the authors of the zone diet and concluded that athletes would be well advised to steer clear of this diet if they were serious about their training and future performance in competitive events.
Journal of strength and conditioning research, vol 16 (1) 50-57
Nick Grantham
This article was taken from the Peak Performance newsletter, the number one source of sports science, training and research. Click here to access these articles as soon as they are released to maximise your performance
Comments
Eating right for your type
dr sunshine
Ok, I dont know anything about the Zone Diet, but I would highly recommend Dr Peter D'Adamo's Eat Right 4 Your Type, Live Right 4 Your Type and the latest Genotype Diet.
The world in general recommends exercise and diet as if we were all built the same way. Blood type makes a huge difference and Dr D'Adamo does not advocate a cookie cutter approach. His advice is backed by more than 20 years of research and clinical and scientific testing.
Blood Type O's do well with strenuous exercises as opposed to Blood Type A's. This is b'coz A's have naturally high cortisol levels which get aggravated with physically demanding exercises.
Carb loading for O's should be based on grains like rice, millet, root vegetables like sweet potatoes, turnip, rutabaga, pumpkin, squash etc., and not wheat based food items. Wheat is an O's number one killer.
I've been following the Blood Type for the last 3 years and the Genotype Diet for the last 6 months and it has been fantastic! And for the first time in my life I ran a 10km race!!!
Do give this much thought. You can get invaluable information and support from www.dadamo.com