I remember when the Zone Diet rose to popularity – I think it was a huge part of the re-emergence of the low carb craze. I was in graduate school at the time and one of our assignments was to research a popular diet, follow it and then critique the plan. I chose the Zone Diet.

Written by Dr. Barry Sears, a biochemist, the Zone Diet is a low carb, high protein diet based on ratios of carbohydrate to protein and fat that Dr. Sears claims will produce optimum fat-burning and weight loss. The...