Customer Reviews

The Omega Rx Zone: The Miracle of the New High-Dose Fish Oil

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A year ago tomorrow, I walked into a bookstore in desperation and bought all the books on nutrition I could find that made sense to me. Within days, I exchanged most of them for the Zone books. Within 2 weeks of practicising the Zone haphazardly, I got spectacular results on my blood cholesterol test, the first encouraging results in five years. I have continued in the "Zone lifestyle" faithfully while reading perhaps 70 nutrition and exercise books in the meantime.

The OmegaRxZone represents the most recent in the series of Zone books, containing the most up-to-date information on Dr. Sears' dietary technology. It might be called, the "Zone with emphasis on pharmaceutical grade fish oil and recovery from illness."

Pharmaceutical grade fish oil can be taken in bigger quantities than health store grade fish oil. There is now an EPA/AA test (see yourfuturehealth.com) for $260 that can show whether bigger quantities of fish oil can help your health condition.

Dr. Sears has taken criticism from those who say they are completely healthy already. They argue that his assertions about the role of EPA and DHA in preserving health are unproven. Meanwhile, many desperately sick people have regained their health and think otherwise. The August 2003 newsletter on drsears.com contains one such testimonial from a fitness instructor.

Dr. Sears apparently sees his role as a standard setter. In the year since the publication of the OmegaRxZone, other pharmaceutical grade fish oils besides his own have come out at lower prices. If he were truly mercenary, he would have maintained his affiliation with the ZonePerfect company. He parted ways with them several years ago because he wanted to upgrade the quality of Zone bars. The ZonePerfect company has recently been bought out by a sports bar company (read candy bar) for huge dollars. That would have been the way for him to cash in if he really were in it for the bucks. His long-range view, gathered from the Q&A archives on his website, is that acceptance of his dietary technology will take 25 years.

Do you need this book versus any of the others? That's difficult to answer, because Dr. Sears seems to take a slightly different tack to explaining his system. If you are a convalescing heart attack victim, you might want to approach cooking with laboratory precision, but if you have immortal youth, you might be satisfied with more improvisation.

The short answer. For the quickest summary of the benefits of the Zone and various methods of putting it into practice, A Week in the Zone may be the best single book to start with (paperback, has some typos). If you collect all the Zone books, you will want this one, too.

The long answer:
Enter the Zone - the classic, also the best written
Mastering the Zone - learn to read Nutrition Facts labels - good for athletes
Age-Free (originally Anti-Aging) Zone - very detailed on life extension
Zone Perfect Meals in Minutes - cookbook w summaries of Zone used in
workshops for diabetics.
Zone Food Blocks - dietician/cooking reference
The Top 100 Zone Foods - favorite of some
The Soy Zone - for vegetarians and vegans
A Week In The Zone - reader's digest summaries
OmegaRxZone - medical & health benefits of pharmaceutical fish oil
The 28-day Makeover - (due at year's end) - sounds commercial

The Zone has often been misrepresented in the press. The "experts" who pick at the Zone admit that it's probably good for you. Have you noticed how many books now copy Barry Sears' format of presenting macronutrient ratios?

Nobody can disprove this statement: The Zone is the most moderate and balanced way of eating out there - it is a lifetime eating plan, not a remedial diet. It can adapt to all kinds of requirements; it does not completely forbid any food.

Is the Zone difficult to put into practice? Yes, it can be exasperating, since much of the food supply contains hi-glycemic carbs and harmful fats. Just how much of those "difficult" foods do you want to consume? If the Zone does nothing more than get you to understand the "Nutrition Facts" labels on food containers, Barry Sears has done you a great service.

It saddens me that such a great book gets criticised because the author sells the product promoted in the book. What else is he supposed to do if he researches a specialist field, recognises the tremendous value of a product, develops it and tells people about it in his book? After reading this book in order to review it for Positive Health Magazine (UK), I would rank it in the top ten most educational books on nutritional therapy and medicine. Barry Sears may be making a good income from his metabolic discoveries, but I believe that is because they are important breakthrough discoveries, not because of marketing hype. Having said that, he is a scientist, not a holistic nutritionist, so some people may need to use this book's information as part of a broader program in order to get the best health results.
Linda Lazarides
Author: The Waterfall Diet; Treat Yourself with Nutritional Therapy

This book gives a complete and easy to understand of the complex way in which the EPA&DHA long-chain fatty acids influence the hormonal system, and how their lack in the diet affects the body. The author explains why eating fish is not the best way to get omega-3's, mainly because of the heavy chemicals that fish accumulate in their tissues. He describes the differences between different types of fish oil and why (in his opinion) pharmaceutical-grade fish oil is the best way to supplement omega-3. He explains which blood test will tell you how healthy you are.

There is also a very interesting hypothesis on how a diet rich in omega-3 helped the development of the human brain in its early stages of evolution.

There are detalied explanations of how diseases such as cancer and auto-immune illnesses are related to long-chain omega-3's. The author explains how "silent" (cell) inflammation is the cause of many (if not most) major diseases today, especially chronic conditions.

There are explanations of the relationship between omega-3's and emotional well-being, as well as how they improve mental abilities.

As a sidenote, apparently there is currently only one brand on the market (his own) that satisfies the author's standards. They have a comparison table on their website showing how their brand offers the most omega-3 per dollar (to convince that it is worth the high price)--but they only compare with certain brands--and I know of at least another highly respected fish oil brand that offers even more omega-3's for half the price. So the only argument left is that pharmaceutical-grade fish oil is completely free of contaminants, whereas other types of oil are not. This argument is in my opinion not very strong, because there are enough brands (such as the one I was talking about before) that have levels of contaminants so small that they are not detectable in a lab--therefore which are really of negligible risk (compared for instance with the toxic substances found in our tap water.)

Nevertheless, the in-depth analysis on the remarkably positive effects of EPA&DHA's on health is excellent, and I highly recommend this book.

As mentioned in the other positive reviews of this book, Dr. Sears makes a very compelling case for the use of high doses of very pure "pharmaceutical grade" fish oil which is rated by a new standards body. He makes the case that the first go round of Omega 3 enthusiasm ended in a dud in the 1980's because of the poor quality of supplements.

Dr. Sears makes a very good case both through research and anecdotally, that very high dose, very pure Omega 3 fish oil with a 2-1 ratio of EPA to DHA can have dramatic effects on a multitude of chronic health disorders, as well as, dramatic positive effects on sense of well being.

He wants people to do two things: Stay on a calorie restricted, insulin management diet to reduce "silent inflammation" at the cellular level, and supplement that with very high doses of pure Omega 3. It is possible to have too much Omega 3 producing "good eicosinoids" at too high a rate. A new blood test can help a person and his/her doctor determine the optimum level.

Anecdotes: High dosage fish oil of 25 grams (massive dose) given daily to low functioning Alzheimers patients brought about dramatic improvements, even enabling one man to leave the retirement home and return home. The list of chronic conditions helped by this high dose fish oil are extensive.

Ultimately, Sears' thesis is about hormones called Eicosinoids. There are good ones and bad ones. Dietary control holds the keys to the palace in terms of ulimate well being and health. Sears teaches moderation in diet, but his books merely underline the wisdom of the grandmother when she made us eat vegetables, take cod liver oil, and eat protein with every meal.

I've been on the Zone diet for a long time and whenever I try something else like Atkins, South Beach etc, I never feel quite as good. Sears is a genius. I am reaping the benefits of this as I write this review. Get this book and be amazed. He delivers where others fail.

His supplements are made to order and he is definitely interested in financial gain from his work. They are not cheap, but are way better than taking thirty health food grade Omega 3 capsules to achieve the benefit of a couple teaspoons of his oil. I'm doing this as an experiment to prove him right or wrong. I bought a bunch of the wrong supplements at first, but now have it dialed in.

I feel much better.

I went on the zone diet for years before going raw....I read this while researching a weight loss book I am writing. I wish I had read it years ago! The valuable insights about how vegans and mothers and AMERICANS in GENERAL are deficient in DHA, a critical fat for memory and eyesight, is astounding! The most fascinating part of the book is how Sears gives credit to fish oil for the evolution of man to Cro-Magnon 40,000 years ago. But now we are DEvolving as we have less DHA than ever in our diet. I am now on a mission to make people aware of this nutrient.
I wish that Barry would give vegan or at least vegetarian options for his meal plans, as eating meat is simply not sustainable for the masses, nor is it necessary. At least he does mention algae as an alternate source for DHA.
As usual, the book is filled with scientific nuggets to educate the reader. I love how he details the importance of getting pharmaceutical grade fish oil as opposed to the kind you might find at a health store or Costco's.

Type Fish oil/Omega 3 on your favorite search engine-and look what comes up.

This guy is trying to sell his Fish oil supplement like mad.
How much faith can you place in a book like this when it's clear this man has a tremendous vested financial interest?

The book does summarize interseting research on omega 3 fatty acids. However, it can at times be one sided.

For example, he lauds the value of omega 3 fatty acids in psychiatric disease, but newer studies (by the National Institutes of health) have FAILED to show any positive effect.

No thanks!
Here we go again with saying that eggs are bad for you. Eggs have so many good things in them, especially the yolks. My brother gave them up and his steak and then died of pancreatic cancer.
Dr Sears says the only fats that are good for you are olive oil, some nuts (macadamia, almonds, and cashews), and avocados.
I'm sorry, but eggs are the most natural food in the world. All kinds of animals eat them and they don't leave the yolks and just eat the whites. Balderdash!
No cheese, milk, etc, no breads, pasta, rice.
Not much left is there.

I agreed with him on the trans fats (hydrogenated oils) which by the way are in almost every packaged food, and I agreed with him on the omega 6 fats, but otherwise this is just a diet that no one could stay on. He focuses also on calorie restriction but then says you will never be hungry on his plan. Yeah, right.

I read "Sugar Busters" and it says the same thing but it focuses on insulin levels which is what is really making Americans fat.