The zone diet is one of the new diet plans available nowadays that was first developed in the late 90s through the famous book “the zone” written by the American biochemist Dr. Barry Sears who believes that food is like a drug that should be consumed in the right dose and at the right time to get its full beneficial potential and avoid its harmful effects.
The zone diet encourages people to restrict their food intake into certain ratios mainly 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat to lower the carbohydrate intake that is to blame for a lot of chronic diseases that we suffer from nowadays, it also gives you the extra benefit of reducing the overall amount of inflammation in our bodies through its healthy food items with plenty of antioxidants and vitamins and the one-third ratio of protein is for the purpose of reducing the insulin to glucagon ratio that results in a cascade of events leading to more reduction of chronic diseases risk with immunity enhancement and better mental and physical performances and overall increased longevity and weight loss.
The Way To Follow The Zone Diet
This diet encourages you to have 3 main meals and 2 little snacks in between so you should eat five times a day but you should choose food items with lower carb content, low glycemic index, low-fat protein, and monounsaturated fats that are preferable to any other types of food.
In the hand-eye method, the hand is used as a mnemonic tool, your five fingers mean you should eat five times a day and you shouldn’t spend more than five hours between your meals, you also shouldn’t delay breakfast for more than one hour after waking up and the size and thickness of the palm of your hand is the amount of protein you should be having equal to almost one-third of your plate while two big fists are the amount of healthy carbohydrates content you should add and one fist is equal to the unhealthy carbohydrate content and a little dash of healthy fats.
This diet has shown great benefits in helping people lose weight and have better diabetes control and is considered to be one of the heart-healthy diets especially if paired with some exercise every day to make its health effects shine faster and maintain your progress for longer.
Foods you Should Avoid
- Refined carbohydrates: pasta, bread, white flour, etc.
- Starchy vegetables: peas, corn, potatoes, etc.
- Sugary fruits: bananas, dried fruits like raisins, dates, etc.
- Added sugar: sweet pastries, candy, cakes, etc.
- Soft drinks.
- Processed meat: bacon, ham, sausage, etc.
» Now, Let’s Discover The delicious foods you can enjoy on the Zone Diet
Foods you Should Eat
1) Skinless Chicken Breast
120 grams of skinless chicken breast contains 198 calories, 4.3 grams of fat, 0 grams of carbs, 37 grams of protein.
Chicken breasts are full of lean proteins with all of the essential amino acids we need to build strong muscles, necessary blood proteins, and cellular enzymes, these proteins also play a very important role in controlling your appetite and keeping you full for longer periods of time, they have been linked to giving people better moods through the high content of the amino acid tryptophan in them which increases the levels of serotonin in the body.
Chicken is one of the best sources of iron, helping you avoid getting anemia and having better oxygen-carrying capacity. It is also an amazing source of vitamin B complexes which are highly needed for energy production and DNA synthesis.
Chicken is also full of selenium which is required for your thyroid health and to boost your immunity, along with phosphorus which helps you have stronger denser bones, they are way lower on fat and calories when compared to red meat which is wonderful for losing weight and most of the fat content in chicken breast is polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids that have a good impact on your cardiovascular health.
2) Cottage Cheese
109 grams of cottage cheese contains 107 calories, 4.7 grams of fat, 3.7 grams of carbohydrates, 12 grams of protein.
Cottage cheese is one of the healthiest cheese types you can consume on a daily basis, it is considered to be a fresh type of cheese that doesn’t undergo aging like most cheeses, it is usually made from curdled milk it is so simple to make your own at home and use whatever type of milk you like most, by adding any type of acidic substance like vinegar or lemon and the casein will separate from the whey and give you delicious natural cottage cheese that you can season to your preference.
It is very creamy and very healthy as it has lower sodium content than most other cheeses so it is perfect for people who have high blood pressure one of the best features of cottage cheese is that most of the caloric content comes from the high protein in it which is ideal for losing weight, building muscles, and healing injuries faster. Cottage cheese is also full of calcium and phosphorus which means it is also good for your bone health and lowers your risk of getting osteoporosis. It has been proven to help diabetics have better diabetes control.
Cottage cheese has a very mild flavor that you can basically have as a filling snack with some healthy fruits or vegetables or you can depend on it for turning dishes that have lots of cheese in them like cheese pie fillings and lasagna into better healthier versions with lower fat and higher protein content.
3) Egg Whites
100 grams of egg whites contain 52 calories, 0.2 grams of fat, 0. 7 grams of carbohydrates, 11 grams of protein.
Eggs are wonderful sources of high-quality nutrients they make wonderful breakfast sandwiches and are extremely easy to prepare but eating whole eggs is not the same as eating just the whites, egg whites are 90% water and 10% protein which means that you only get the protein content the egg has to offer but you don’t get the other health benefits that are present in the yolks all of the vitamins and the important minerals like choline, and selenium, you also avoid the high level of cholesterol in egg yolks that can lead to dyslipidemia and heart disease if you are a hyper responder with some risk of developing these conditions but you get instead lower calories and lower cholesterol levels from the whites along with high content of proteins which are great if you are trying to lose weight and build muscles, the protein can help you greatly with controlling your appetite and making you feel full for longer with lower postprandial sugar and insulin levels.
Egg whites are also rich in calcium that will help you have better bone health and avoid getting osteoporosis and fractures as you grow older, egg whites are also full of potassium with all the health benefits it has most importantly it helps lower your blood pressure levels, decreases your heart disease risk and is essential for bone health.
You can make plenty of egg whites recipes you can make frittata made from just the whites with some healthy vegetables like spinach and mushrooms maybe some bell peppers, you can turn the whites into beautiful meringue, and you can make egg salad with just the whites.
4) Alfalfa Sprouts
100 grams of alfalfa sprouts contain 23 calories, 0.7 grams of fat, 2.1 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of protein.
The alfalfa plant is a type of legume but it is usually bitter and can’t be consumed directly so eating the immature sprouts of the plant is the way you get the most benefits out of this wonderful plant, it has been used for ages for its medicinal properties, they are very easy to grow at home by just watering the seeds and you can have a big amount of sprouts in a couple of days.
The sprouts are full of vitamins and minerals, it has an abundance of vitamin k that helps your blood clotting cascade go smoothly and is very important for binding calcium to your bone matrix to make it stronger and prevent some diseases like osteoporosis and fractures.
These sprouts are full of vitamin C which is a powerful antioxidant that reduces the oxidative damage on your cells from the accumulated reactive oxygen species that arise from all of the different metabolic processes in the cells along with helping you produce more white blood cells to boost your immunity, there is a high content of saponins in alfalfa sprouts that help you lower your LDL cholesterol levels.
Alfalfa has been used traditionally to cause diuresis to lower high blood pressure, used by mothers to increase breast milk production and by menopausal women to decrease the hot flashes that come with menopause.
The only problem with them is that they can get easily infected with salmonella and E-coli which can cause food poisoning, it is best to grow your own sprouts at home to see their progress and have them under hygienic conditions, if you are pregnant or immunocompromised it is best to stay away from eating them so as not to have severe opportunistic infections.
The sprouts are actually pretty delicious and add a satisfying snap to your food you can add some to all types of sandwiches, you can add them to the top of any plate, you can add them to salads, and you can even add them to simple soups and cook them well and they will taste bright and refreshing.
5) Green Beans
1 cup of green beans almost about 125 grams contains 44 calories, 0.3 grams of fat, 9.9 grams of carbohydrates, 2.4 grams of protein.
Green beans or snap beans are the crunchiest, most satisfying type of beans, that are loved all over the world, they are a staple dish in holiday spreads and healthy diet plans.
They are very low on calories, they have no cholesterol content in them which is great for losing weight and keeping your blood vessels healthy with fewer atherosclerotic plaques and lower chances of getting heart attack and strokes, green beans are full of fiber which helps you feel full for longer and suppresses your appetite along with decreasing the levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood.
They are low on indigestible carbohydrates which makes them ideal for people who suffer from gut inflammation like IBS and reflux, beans are great sources of protein as well as many essential vitamins like vitamin c and vitamin A which are highly needed for your immunity and eye health, they are packed with manganese that has antioxidant properties and boosts your metabolism
Green beans can just be stirred in some olive oil with a sprinkle of salt and a lemon squeeze in a pan and eaten just like that to give you a great side dish, they can be blanched or steamed and added to colorful salads, they can be used green to dip into some hummus to keep the freshness and amazing crunch they have.
6) Almonds
10 almonds of about 13 grams contain 77 calories, 6.8 grams of fat, 2.7 grams of carbohydrates, 2.7 grams of protein.
Almonds are some of the best nuts that are used commonly in all countries of the world for their nutty, salty taste, without the bitterness that is present in many other types of nuts, they are used in abundance in Mediterranean countries. they are full of fiber and protein that help keep you full for longer and promote your gut health, despite being high on calories they are actually perfect for people who are trying to lose weight since almonds have plant sterols that hinder the absorption of cholesterol in the blood along with its high content of unsaturated fatty acids that help you lower your LDL cholesterol levels and lower the rates of inflammation in your blood vessels making the risk for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases.
The brown thin skin of the almond is packed with antioxidants and vitamin E that help protect you from oxidative damage and have anti-aging properties. nuts, in general, have been known to serve some anticancer actions, almonds are packed with magnesium a mineral that has some actions on enhancing your insulin sensitivity and lowering your blood glucose levels along with lowering high blood pressure levels so it is perfect for diabetics to control their disease and help them lose weight.
Almonds are very acceptable as healthy food and actually taste delicious with all of their health benefits, you can depend on them to get a satisfying crunch and a fulfilling between-meal snack, you can chop some almonds and sprinkle them on top of yogurts, oatmeal, in granola bars, on top of your breakfast cereals.
There are plenty of almond products that taste great and have as many benefits as raw almonds such as almond butter, which is the best substitute for peanut butter with an even richer nuttier taste, almond milk, which is a great nut milk used by people who are lactose intolerant it makes wonderful hot chocolate and adds a deep flavor to your coffee, and almond flour, which makes light, airy, nutty pastries.
7) Berries
14 grams of blueberries contain 7.8 calories, 0 grams of fat, 2 grams of carbohydrates, 0.1 grams of protein.
Blueberries are superfoods with their great nutritional value that are concentrated in this small sweet blue ball of goodness, they are made up of water and very little carbohydrates which is why it is one of the best fruits to have in this diet, they have wonderful content of vitamin c which is a key component in making your immunity stronger and your connective tissue and skin more elastic as it helps strengthen collagen, it also has wonderful antioxidant properties along with vitamin K which is essential for blood clotting and preventing hemorrhage.
Blueberries are famous for the dense content of antioxidants especially flavonoids like anthocyanins which gives them their dark color, they are known to decrease the free radical damage on your cells and help you retain healthy young cells with little mutations in their DNA component which means that it has some anti-aging along with some anti-cancer properties. blueberries are also good for the heart since they lower LDL cholesterol levels and blood pressure levels which are the main risk factors for developing heart diseases despite having sugar in them, blueberries were actually found to have beneficial effects on your insulin sensitivity helping diabetics control their disease.
Blueberries are wonderful snacks in this diet. You can make blueberry smoothies, you can add a handful to your yogurt or granola bars or to some cottage cheese in a simple low-calorie cheesecake.
8) Tofu
91 grams of tofu contains 76 calories, 4.8 grams of fat, 1.1 grams of carbohydrates, 9.1 grams of protein.
Tofu is similar to cheese in its making the only difference is that it is made from soy milk specifically, it is a great source of protein that a lot of people around the world who don’t eat meat depend on greatly as it has pretty much all of the essential amino acids our bodies need, tofu has some isoflavones in them which have been linked to lowering your heart disease risk through lowering your blood cholesterol levels, it has also been proven to prevent and lower the severity of type 2 diabetes.
Tofu and other soy products have been proven to lower the severity of breast cancer in postmenopausal females and lower the chances of recurrence though some people are concerned about how the estrogen levels could cause breast cancer, it is actually not that high enough to cause the disease, it also helps women have less menopausal symptoms and increases their vitamin D levels and calcium giving them better bone density, lowering their risk of developing osteoporosis, and having pathological fractures.
Tofu is eaten in abundance in East Asian cuisine with tons of recipes to prepare it you can cube it and just have it simply with a bowl of rice, sesame, and some soy sauce if you’re looking for an easy fast meal, you can stir fry it and have it with an egg, you can crumble it and use it as a substitute for cheese, tons and tons of recipes that are very simple and nutritious at the same time.