Barry Sears has been marketing the Zone Diet very successfully for years. This is not his idea originally, it is the culmination of many scientific research studies and over 40 years of researching the human digestive systems and physiology. The basis of the Zone Diet is 40/30/30 food ratios. In English that means 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat. Fat? Yes fat. Of any of the more popular diets, The Zone is probably one of the healthier diets  in the sense that it does not restrict anything except for the foods that are difficult to digest. You get a nice balance of all three energy sources. Remember, if you do not eat any fat, it is difficult to lose any fat.  A caution however is that what nutrients you consume makes a tremendous difference in how your body utilizes fuel sources.   The difficulty of this diet is in the foods that you cannot eat. Pastas, breads, cereals are pretty much a no no. But in a perfect world we would not eat many commercial breads and cereals anyway since so many are made with Partially Hydrogenated oils and bleached flour. Now I personally can’t imagine a world without pasta so I do include that in my diet now and then. The Zone diet works pretty well for al most all people and the reading material in the Zone diet book is quite interesting and helpful in understanding your body. The Zone is a lifestyle and not a quick fix. It is great for some and not any fun at all for others but it is effective and intelligent.  Remember, much of the information in most diet books is designed to sell you on the book itself and may not present you with both sides of any eating issue.  The best diet will always be one of consistent and moderate well balanced meals eaten at appropriate intervals.  One of the concerns of the Zone diet is that it does not allow for enough carbohydrate consumption.  This will certainly be true for endurance athletes and highly active individuals so be careful and watchful of the speed of fat loss on this and any eating program.