Biography of Barry Sears

Dr. Sears first made the public aware of his insights in treating food as if it were a drug with the publication of his first book, The Zone, in 1995, which became a No. 1 New York Times best-selling book. To date, he has published eight books on his dietary technology that have total sales of more than 3 million copies, and they have been translated into 16 languages.

Dr. Sears' first functional food products were introduced in 1984 as combinations of fish oil and gamma linolenic acid (GLA) to alter eicosanoid levels. Today, they have evolved into pharmaceutical-grade fish oils enriched with GLA. He also introduced the first "40-30-30" nutrition bar in 1989 to control insulin levels.

Today those early products have evolved into the Controlled Release Nutrition series of food products to orchestrate better hormonal communication that leads to greater health and longevity.

Dr. Sears is the leading authority on the 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 30 years to the study of lipids. He holds 13 U.S. patents in the areas of intravenous drug delivery systems and hormonal regulation for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

A turning point in his research occurred in 1982 when the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded for discoveries of the role that specialized hormones, known as eicosanoids, play in the development of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, auto-immune diseases, and cancer. Since eicosanoids are only generated from the intake of dietary fat, he reasoned that one could apply drug delivery principles to nutrition in order to control these exceptionally powerful hormonal responses with “laser like precision,” in essence, treating food as if it were a drug.

The impact of Dr. Sears’ revolutionary work in dietary control of hormonal response began with the publication of his landmark book, The Zone. The body of research has led to a revolution in nutritional thinking. Since its publication in June 1995, The Zone has sold more than 1,500,000 hardcover copies, and has become a No. 1 best seller on the New York Times book list.

His other top selling books include Mastering the Zone, Zone Perfect Meals, The Anti -Aging Zone, and others.

His most recent, and perhaps best book yet, is The Omega Rx Zone. This book explores the molecular foundations of chronic disease and how high-dose Omega 3 long-chain fish oil and the monitoring of blood sugar and insulin levels can dramatically reverse it.

His continuing research and growing popularity are elevating food to much more than a source of calories to being recognized as an exceptionally powerful drug. Because of the unique insights into the hormonal impact of food, Dr. Sears has been a frequent guest on many national programs such as 20/20, Today, Good Morning America, CBS Morning News, CNN, and MSNBC. His research has contributed to the attack of the USDA Food Pyramid and the consideration of a complete overhaul of that Food Pyramid.

Dr. Sears began the research that led to the development of the Zone Diet for a very selfish reason -- he wanted to avoid a premature heart attack. All the males on his father's side of the family have died of heart disease in their early 50s.

After earning his Ph.D. at Indiana University and doing post-doctoral work at the University of Virginia, Dr. Sears was a researcher at Boston University and MIT before forming his own biotechnology company.

He is the president of The Sears Technology Group, where he is hard at work developing drug delivery systems and the myriad of other inventions that fill his mind. He has begun work on more books and is developing an educational Zone program for his Web site.

He also enjoys spending time with his wife, Lynn, and two daughters, Kelly and Kristin.