In our last E-Newsletter I introduced the Zone Diet or the Omega Zone Dietary Program, created by Dr. Barry Sears, a diet focusing on controlling insulin levels, reducing excess body fat, eliminating hunger, stopping cravings for sugars and sweets, eliminating fatigue and maintaining peak energy and performance throughout the day.  This program is suited for everyone - children, teens, adults, and seniors.  The diet is about eating the proper balance of proteins, carbohydrates and fats, and it’s about maintaining proper hormonal balance generated by these foods and the supplementation of pharmaceutical grade high dose fish oil containing omega-3 fatty acids.

In addition, Dr. Sears found that wellness was much more complex than simply not being ill.  Since the degradation of health starts with inflammation in the body, then any nutritional intervention that maintains a healthy level of our general inflammatory responses can only contribute to maintaining wellness.

His research revealed that promoting and maintaining a state of wellness requires a dynamic balance of hormones known as eicosanoids, which are powerful cell regulators that help maintain virtually all body functions including the brain, the heart, and the immune system.  Daily supplementation with fish oils rich in the long-chain omega-3 essential fatty acids (EPA or eicosapentaenoic acid and DHA or docosahexaenoic acid) is critical for maintaining eicosanoid balance throughout the body.

Fish oils (EPA and DHA) are found in mackerel, salmon, herring, sardines, black cod, anchovies, and albacore tuna.  In addition to the omega-3, fish unfortunately has toxins such as mercury, dioxins, and PCB’s.  Dr. Sears has formulated an ultra pure fish oil containing hundreds of times less PCB’s and other toxins than health-food grade fish oils.  He has also produced a more potent formulation containing 2.4 grams of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, and a formulation that is easy on the stomach.  Mild gastric upset is not infrequent in some of the commercially available high doses of health-food grade fish oil.

High dose fish oils may have significant benefits in treating cardiovascular disease.  There is a growing body of research which also indicates potential benefits in the treatment of certain neurological disorders as well as cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, kidney disease and fibromyalgias.

DHA is also known to be an important building block in the development of the central nervous system of infants in utero and during the first year of life.  We now have one pharmaceutical company that provides prenatal vitamins with long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in the form of DHA.

In summary, the treatment of chronic disease depends on the reduction of inflammation and increasing blood flows to the particular system or organ involved.  Promoting and maintaining wellness, as well as weight control is dependent on proper nutrition, insulin balance which can be achieved by proper diet, and adequate amounts of long chain omega-3 fatty acids, trace minerals and antioxidants.

To learn more about the Zone Diet, you can go to Dr. Sears’ website at http://www.zonediet.com.