The Dark Side to the Zone
Constipation
Switching your metabolism to burn fat instead of carbohydrates uses more
water so sometimes you may find dryer, firmer stools. Usually increasing
your water intake by 50% will take care of the condition, but if not, it
may be due to the release of arachidonic acid stored in your fat cells.
AA will reduce hydration of the colon and the effect can be countered by
eating more EPA found in fish and fish oil capsules. Some folks find that
simply increasing your intake of beans and fruits will do the trick.
Small portions and very few calories
Many who start Zoning get very worried when they first do the calculations.
Invariably you come up with amounts of food that seem unbelievably small
and the specter of failure looms in the background. What is wild is that
the calculations are probably close to being correct! What you are comparing
these quantities to is what you used to have to eat to feel full and function
normally. What will become true in a few days is that you will feel full
on less and less food and soon begin to wonder how you ever ate so much
food before.
Health concerns over excess protein
If you have weak kidneys or some other unusual health problem, be sure
to check with your doctor before doing any diet. You will hear that the
Zone Plan is a high protein diet and that it will ruin your health. Too
much protein will remove calcium from your bones and danamge your kidneys.
There is evidence that this is true but if you are doing the zone properly,
you are not eating protein to excess, in fact this is considered a protein
adequate diet, not high protein. It encourage you to eat more than you
are used to eating previously and so seem like high protein but is is more
likely that you have previously been eating a protein deficient diet.
A second thought on this subject is that since you are eating less
total food, the percentage of calories from protein may be higher than
you used to eat while the actual quantity in grams will be only slightly
higher.
Oh Oh, I can't drink coffee or alcohol!!
Nonsense. No diet will work for the rest of your life if you have to give
up the vices we have grown to love. Coffee will interfere with the zone
effect for some more than others. If you are particularly stubborn losing
fat, you may have to cut down. If you are a moderate user, you will be
OK.
Alcohol has NO Carbohydrates in it (we're talking hard stuff and white
wine, not beer or sugar-full mixed drinks). Yep, booze will not effect
insulin much by itself unless you drink too much of it. Each drink contain
enough calories to substitute for a block of food so the rule of "no more
than 5 blocks of food at any one meal" applies. If you drink 3 drinks,
you have lost those food blocks during this 5 hour period and you only
have 2 blocks left of food to eat. That's tough-food-love for you.
I have to eat more meat products now
Well, it's alot easier to get your protein from meat sources only because
they are more easy to find. McDonalds, chicken sandwiches, Burger King,
you name it, but there are lessor known vegetarian sources such as Sitian,
TVP and (of course) tofu. More sources include protein powders, canned
tuna, eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt, ricotta, are there more?.
Check out this vegetarian zone link:
Karen's Zone Kitchen
Carrots and bananas are BAD???
Yes, I'm afraid they are. Well, OK...you can eat a few bites but steer
clear of them if you know what's good for you. And anyway, It's a small
price to pay for the great benefits of fat loss and you don't have to tell
anyone about it.
The reason is that carrots, potatoes and root vegetables, bananas,
rice, pasta, fruit juices all are high in carbohydrates that enter the
bloodstream very rapidly, such that they alert the pancreas to produce
insulin at a greater rate than desirable. These foods behave just like
purified sugar, sweets, candies, sugar cereal...they activate the insulin
response. In fact, carrots (bless their hearts) gram for gram, act just
the same as a Mars Bar to the pancreas. Insulin in rapidly released into
the bloodstream just the same. That's why Zoners just eat these foods in
smaller quantities than before, and you will too. A small price to pay.....
To the zoners who experienced too much lift off. This is from the physicians
packet from Eicotec:
Flatulence: Flatulence or gas is caused by the metabolism of anaerobic
bacteria in the lower part of the intestine. The overproduction of "good"
eicosanoids increases the peristaltic action of the GI tract thereby delivering
greater amounts of nutrients to these anaerobic bacteria. The end result
is greater metabolic activity with gas as the end product of their metabolism.
This same increase in peristaltic action with "good" eicosanoid production
explains why bowel movement is increased even with low fiber content in
the diet.