Dr. Barry Sears
Dr. Barry Sears is a leading authority in the field of drug delivery systems and dietary control of hormonal response. A former research scientist at the Boston University School of Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Sears has dedicated his research efforts over the past 25 years to the study of lipids, and in particular the past 15 years on the development of innovative drug delivery technologies using lipids. Dr. Sears holds 12 U.S. Patents in the areas of intravenous drug delivery systems and hormonal regulation for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.
In the late 1970's, while engaged in research on the role of lipids in atherosclerosis, Dr. Sears realized that the same lipid components found in low-density lipoproteins (LDL) could also be used to effectively deliver anti-cancer agents to tumors. This area of Dr. Sears' research led to the development of low-density lipoprotein analogs (i.e., microemulsions) which demonstrated significant potential for intravenous drug delivery of anti-tumor agents. Subsequent refinement of these drug delivery systems led to the more advanced development of the CloakingŪ technology using polyethylene glycol linked phospholipids to coat the surface of an appropriate lipid carrier to increase plasma lifetimes and avoid uptake of the lipid vehicle by the reticuloendothelial (RES) systems. Dr. Sears holds several worldwide patents based on this area of his work.
The turning point in his research occurred when the 1982 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded for discoveries of the role that certain hormones, known as eicosanoids, play in the development of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Since eicosanoids are derived from dietary fat, Dr. Sears reasoned that one could apply drug delivery principles to nutrition and control these exceptionally powerful hormonal responses with laser-like precision, in essence by treating food as if it were a drug.
This area of his research has led to various patents in the area of hormonal control by essentially using food as an oral drug delivery system to modulate eicosanoids. This area of research has integrated well into Dr. Sears' research with the intravenous delivery of anti-tumor agents, since eicosanoids are the most powerful biological response modifiers known to medical science, thus offering a multi-factorial (incorporating both intravenous and oral drug delivery) approaches to cancer and cardiovascular treatment.
Since the eicosanoid modulation technology developed has significant implications for increased oxygen transfer, Dr. Sears has tested the same technology on world class athletes as improvement in eicosanoid status (and therefore oxygen transfer capacity) can generate significant improvements in performance. To this end, Dr. Sears has worked closely with the Stanford University Swim teams over the past several years to further refine this dietary technology for its application to cardiovascular and cancer patients. The direct application of Dr. Sears' research resulted in Olympic athletes winning eight Gold medals at the 1992 Olympics, and another nine Gold medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. In addition, Stanford University has won eight out of the last ten NCAA Swimming Championships in the last five years since incorporating his dietary program in their training.
The widespread understanding of the revolutionary impact of Dr. Sears' work in dietary control of hormonal response began with the publication of his landmark book, The Zone. Since its publication in June 1995, The Zone has sold more than 1,500,000 hardcover copies and became a #1 best seller on the New York Times book list. In addition, The Zone has been translated into twelve languages, indicating a worldwide response to Dr. Sears' research. His second book, Mastering the Zone, which appeared in January 1997, also became a New York Times best seller with hardcover sales in excess of 500,000 copies to date. His third book, Zone Perfect Meals in Minutes published in November 1997, quickly became one of the best-selling cookbooks in 1997. To date more than 3 million hardcover copies of Zone books have been sold in the United States.
Dr. Sears' newest book, The Anti-Aging Zone, published in January 1999, promises to further accelerate this new revolutionary understanding of the power of food to affect the aging process, thus elevating food from beyond simply a source of calories to becoming recognized as an exceptionally powerful drug.
Dr. Sears continues his work in intravenous drug delivery as President of Surfactant Technologies, a biotechnology company focusing on the development of innovative magnetically responsive drug delivery systems for cancer treatment.
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The Pope Is The Newest Celebrity on
Sears Labs' Zone Diet
PR Newswire, December 9, 2002
- SOURCE Sears Labs
SWAMPSCOTT, Mass., Dec. 9, 2002 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a news report last month in the Italian daily national newspaper, Il Messeggero, a marked improvement in the Pope's health is being attributed to his change to the Zone Diet. The Pope had appeared at the Italian Parliament in mid-November in noticeably better health than last spring, with a clearer voice, less shaking and reduced swelling in his face. An unofficial Vatican source was cited in the article as explaining the Pope's improvement due to a change in diet to Dr. Barry Sears' Zone Diet (40% carbohydrate, 30% protein and 30% fat and an increased intake of fresh fruits and vegetables), which has grown in acceptance in Italy in recent years. The source added that the diet had improved the Pope's response to medical treatment and has enabled him to exercise more vigorously on a daily basis.
The improvement of the Pope's physical condition is not unexpected as a recent report from Harvard Medical School published in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition demonstrated a two-fold reduction in risk of chronic disease if individuals followed Dr. Sears' recommendations of eating more fruits and vegetables, less grains and starches, substituting fish and poultry for red meat, and consuming more monounsaturated fats such as olive oil as compared to the standard dietary recommendations of USDA Food Pyramid.
The Pope and Harvard are just recent examples how the mainstream is validating the concepts of diet and health that Dr. Sears first wrote about more than seven years ago with the publication of The Zone.
