If you are overweight or obese, you are not alone. And chances are, you have tried a myriad of diets that were either ineffective or difficult to maintain. Maybe you are interested in weight loss surgery, but cannot afford it. Perhaps you have even considered traveling to a weight-loss clinic in Mexico to have gastric sleeve surgery done at a lower cost, but aren't sure about the risks. Surgery may not be the only solution you have left. One popular diet that many people have found to be successful is the Zone Diet.
Developed by biochemist Dr. Barry Sears, the basic premise of the Zone Diet is to balance the food you eat into a 40:30:30 ratio. The recommended proportions are 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat. To follow this diet, the main tools you need are your eyes and your hand. You should imagine your plate as divided into three portions, and fill one-third with lean protein and the other two-thirds with good carbs. Each serving should be no bigger than the palm of your hand.
One of the problems with BMI is that it is still too general of a measurement. Taking into account that it is incapable of distinguishing between a number of important factors such as age, gender, percentage of muscle mass, body type, and ethnic groups, BMI begins to seem like a very arbitrary way of determining somebody's health.
For instance, athletes who train intensively can develop large amounts of muscle that add to the body's overall weight. Thus we could find that taller individuals who are obviously overweight are being given a similar BMI to shorter athletes.
Due to the BMI's inability to deliver a sufficiently accurate measurement, some scientists and medical researchers have been turning to other methods of determining one's physical health. One of these is the Body Adiposity Index (BAI).
The BAI is based on ratios involving measurements of the height and the hips, which allows for a much more flexible and accommodating alternative to the traditional BMI. However, while the BAI has been proven to give more accurate readings than the BMI, it is less convenient to calculate, with the necessary measurements requiring a doctor's office and trained personnel in order to be computed correctly. Although the BAI still needs some work, it has been proven to be more accurate than the BMI, which could lead to its prevalence in the future.
Other factors that make this diet effective are that it is relatively easy to follow "one-third" and "size-of-palm" rules, and that online membership is free with inexpensive cookbooks available.
There has been very little research done to substantiate Dr. Sears' claims, and many healthcare providers refrain from recommending this diet to their patients based on that fact alone. However, it seems to be safe provided there are no other underlying diseases or dietary needs.
While the medical community has yet to completely adopt a successor to the BMI measurement, the fact that there are accurate options to choose from is encouraging. With the number of people that use their BMI ratio as evidence that they need to fly down to Mexico for weight loss surgery, it pays to use a measurement that can tell you the true state of your body and your health before making such an important decision.
Developed by biochemist Dr. Barry Sears, the basic premise of the Zone Diet is to balance the food you eat into a 40:30:30 ratio. The recommended proportions are 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat. To follow this diet, the main tools you need are your eyes and your hand. You should imagine your plate as divided into three portions, and fill one-third with lean protein and the other two-thirds with good carbs. Each serving should be no bigger than the palm of your hand.
One of the problems with BMI is that it is still too general of a measurement. Taking into account that it is incapable of distinguishing between a number of important factors such as age, gender, percentage of muscle mass, body type, and ethnic groups, BMI begins to seem like a very arbitrary way of determining somebody's health.
For instance, athletes who train intensively can develop large amounts of muscle that add to the body's overall weight. Thus we could find that taller individuals who are obviously overweight are being given a similar BMI to shorter athletes.
Due to the BMI's inability to deliver a sufficiently accurate measurement, some scientists and medical researchers have been turning to other methods of determining one's physical health. One of these is the Body Adiposity Index (BAI).
The BAI is based on ratios involving measurements of the height and the hips, which allows for a much more flexible and accommodating alternative to the traditional BMI. However, while the BAI has been proven to give more accurate readings than the BMI, it is less convenient to calculate, with the necessary measurements requiring a doctor's office and trained personnel in order to be computed correctly. Although the BAI still needs some work, it has been proven to be more accurate than the BMI, which could lead to its prevalence in the future.
Other factors that make this diet effective are that it is relatively easy to follow "one-third" and "size-of-palm" rules, and that online membership is free with inexpensive cookbooks available.
There has been very little research done to substantiate Dr. Sears' claims, and many healthcare providers refrain from recommending this diet to their patients based on that fact alone. However, it seems to be safe provided there are no other underlying diseases or dietary needs.
While the medical community has yet to completely adopt a successor to the BMI measurement, the fact that there are accurate options to choose from is encouraging. With the number of people that use their BMI ratio as evidence that they need to fly down to Mexico for weight loss surgery, it pays to use a measurement that can tell you the true state of your body and your health before making such an important decision.
About the Author:
Obesity Free is a weight loss clinic in Mexico that focuses on gastric band and gastric sleeve surgeries.
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