The Anti-Aging Zone

"I bought this book and was amazed at how detailed it was! Dr. Sears is an expert on the body and how it works. I was reading it and then decided to get the digital download of this book. It was three hours long and this more suited my schedule to listen to it while driving rather than reading. It is an enlightening journey into the hormonal effect of food on the body. Suggest this book or the download if available. "
~ Written on 2008-01-06

"Sears wants you to think he has come up with a complicated system which he calls The Zone.

In reality, all you need is to eat naturally, like our ancestors did thousands of years ago. Eat greens, vegetables, berries, fruit, mushrooms, nuts. Eat lean meat (our ancestors hunted for healthy, lean animals). Eat egg whites, but avoid yolks. Most of the modern contaminants stick to fat molecules, and yolks are mostly fat. Plus it's the wrong type of fat, as chickens are not fed properly. Eat wild fish (but not too often; don't forget about pollutants).

That's it. Forget grains (and everything made from them). Forget potatoes and hard beans, soda and juices. Forget vegetable oils. All that junk is completely unnatural for humans to eat; our ancestors couldn't imagine that was edible. And that's why we have diseases that they didn't have.

Forget milk. Milk is only good for babies under 3 years old. Studies show that milk (and even yogurt) causes hyperinsulinemia (insulin "spikes" that lead to diabetes etc.) in adults.

Yes, his advice to take fish oil is great. Farm-raised animals are fed with junk food; consequently, they lack certain fatty acids that are vital for our health. Fish oil is a convenient way of restoring the balance. But Sears' fish oil is not the purest and cheapest on the market.

I'm a physiologist, and I've helped a number of people to change their eating habits. Those people have gotten rid of many problems, like obesity, allergies, asthma, arthritis, and excessive fatigue. And they don't complain that the food is not delicious enough. They learned to use their imagination a little bit and combine various healthy foods to create their nice and simple "recipes", and realized they enjoy their food even more than before. "
~ Written on 2006-08-14

"Here is the extremely simple advice on page 55: reduce your calorie intake and live longer. It is really simple, but that doesn't really help. A low calorie diet translates into the hated: no bread, no pizza, no cookies, no pies.

In hopes of making low calories interesting, Sears offers lots of ways to understand how your cell chemistry works. Maybe it will help you pick the right balance of diverse foods which can make a low calorie diet interesting. If you take this book seriously, you will learn a lot of biochemical cycles. For some reason, I find this stuff fascinating.

The causes of aging:
a) Excess insulin causes one to increase calorie consumption. Excess calories result in excess free radicals and premature cell deaths.
b) Excess insulin causes DNA damage and faster cell replication. Faster cell replication will produce more mutations, and associated dangers.
c) Excess glucose causes AGE (Advanced Glycosylated endproducts) and neural death in VMN (ventromedial nucleus). Together, these damage the hypothalmus, which eventually raises insulin levels.
d) Excess cortisol causes neural death in the hippocampus. Hippocampus failure causes chaos in the hormone system.

Protein plus glucose produce 'schiff base'. 'Shiff base' produces 'Amadori Adduct' which in turn produces AGE (advanced glycosylated endproducts. As mentioned above, AGE is a precursor to neural death in the VMN (ventromedial nucleus).

The Aerobic cycle, fundamental to life, converts glucose and oxygen into ATP (energy), carbon dioxide and free radicals. Free radicals cause early cell death,

Calorie consumption produces:
1. incrase cell turnover
2. inhibits production of eicosinoids (eicosinoids maintain cell-cell communication cells. Following eicosinoids around is the main focus of the book).
3. inhibits glucagon which would increase glucose levels -> increased cortisol production -> higher cortisol levels (faster aging)
4. increases insulin resistance -> incrased insulin level -> more stored fat -> increased plugging of cardiovascular system and reduced sex drive.

ATP + adenylate cyclase -> cAMP (secondary messenger for insulin) (insulin decreases levels of cAMP)

Environmental dangers -> CRH in hypothalums -> stimulates production of ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) in the pituitary gland -> which produces chloresterol ester which reacts with cAMP to produce cholesterol -> prognenolene -> cortisol which decrease eicosanoids and CRH. Increase in cortisol is bad. Exercise and meditation reduce cortisol. Inhibition of glycagon increases cortisol levels."
~ Written on 2006-02-21

"Forget about low carb or no carb. So difficult to maintain, and really not a realistic way to live. Barry Sears incorporates his balanced diet with information on herbs, exercise and hormonal considerations.

The book is worthwhile for two sections; the appendix has a seven day diet for women and for men, including menus and recipes. And there is a prescription for staying in the "Zone" in exercise including how much cardio and how intense, and how much strength-training exercise to do. (20 minutes brks walking every day, 5-10 minutes of pushups, squats or weights every day.) As you progress you can add 45 mintues weights, 20 minutes flexibility (yoga, for example.)

The section on diabetes and aging of the brain is great, and there is a section on "Cheap Insurance" or what vitamin supplements are valuable for anyone.

Great book that seems to weather the fads of diet and health advice. "
~ Written on 2006-02-06

"I don't quite agree with the January 30 1999 review that this is the book Dr Sears should have written in the first place - I'd consider it a rough draft for that book; Dr Sears needs a competent editor!

This is the hardcover edition of the book that has been republished in paperback under the title of "The Age-free Zone". I think it is better to read "Enter the Zone" instead of or before reading this one. I have reservations about recommending this book because there are some obvious mis-statements that should have been caught by an editor, a great deal of boring repetition, and some very stretched analogies (e.g. pages 32 and 50). The persistent reader might reach a point where they are rewarded by more details of biochemical mechanisms than are given in the earlier book. The tables of food amounts are different from those in the other books and appear to be intermediate between the earlier version of "Enter the Zone" and the later amounts of "The top 100 zone foods"."
~ Written on 2002-03-12