Re: A sensible look at The Zone and Eicosanoids

Eicosanoids, Insulin, Cortisol and the Zone Diet.

Probably even more important in the zone diet is that by eating the right balance of protein and carbohydrate and eating enough good fats you help your body produce a balance of "good" and "bad" eicosanoids.

Eicosanoids are like the "master" hormones in our bodies controlling nearly every function. They are produced in every living cell in your body.

An overproduction of "bad" eicosanoids can lead to chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke and cancer.

The winners of the 1982 nobel prize for medicine defined all chronic disease as an imbalance of eicosanoids.

The zone diet explains how you can control the production of eicosanoids in your body with diet and lifestyle.

Both excess insulin (the "sugar" hormone) and excess cortisol (the "stress" hormone) can seriously affect your body's production of good eicosanoids.

In particular you control eicosanoids in two main ways:

1. Controlling your body's insulin production by eating mainly fruit and vegetables as your major carbohydrate source and through exercise.

2. Reducing your body's cortisol production again through controlling your body's insulin production (excess insulin stimulates the release of cortisol) and through exercise and relaxation techniques (particularly meditation).


Hormonal control is at the heart of Dr Barry Sears Zone diet philosophy.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh
author One Hour to Glorious Health
free download www.musclescience.com.au
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