The Zone brings hope to 'the world's fattest man'

Last Updated Aug 2007

By Dr. Barry Sears

The Zone Diet and my high-dose fish oil have come to the aid of a Mexican man who has been called the fattest man in the world.

Doctors from several continents have puzzled over Manuel Uribe's condition and tried to help him, but the fact remains that for the past five years he has been confined to his bed because of his tremendous weight -- 1,200 pounds.

He was always a big man, but six years ago his weight was about 600 pounds. Fearful of dying, he sold his business, his house and his possessions in order to have surgery that he was assured would save his life. But the opposite happened. The surgery went wrong, and he spent several weeks in intensive care. When he left the hospital, his weight inexplicitly kept on increasing. Manuel tried every diet. None of them worked to reduce his weight.

He was horribly depressed because his wife had left him and because he was too fat to move from his bed. He wondered why God would put him into this desperate situation.

Fortunately for Manuel, our Mexican physician partners of Instituto de Investigacion de la Inflamacion and Zone Diet Mexico heard about his situation and offered their services. When they first tested Manuel, they called him a medical paradox because even at his weight, his blood cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure were all perfectly normal. Then they found the missing clue -- he had very high levels of silent inflammation. They convinced Manuel that the anti- inflammatory Zone Diet would be the best medicine to lead him to a healthy life.

Manuel was put on a strict Zone Diet of five meals per day with each containing four blocks. He was also put on high-dose fish oil, supplying 17 grams of EPA and DHA per day to reduce his silent inflammation. Within a matter of days, the weight started to come off. His mental disposition dramatically improved as his levels of silent inflammation began to drop. His only complaint has been that it is hard to eat all the food prescribed because he is never hungry (the Zone paradox). Now four months into the treatment he has lost nearly 200 pounds. His levels of silent inflammation are normal, and he knows that his goal of reaching 220 pounds again is a realistic one although it might take several years to achieve.

When I visited Manuel in Mexico, I found him to be an intelligent, articulate, and very spiritual man. He told me that he believes God gave him the burden of this abnormal weight gain to demonstrate to the world that obesity can be eliminated through his personal commitment and excellent support of his family and friends.

Gastric bypass surgeons in America, Mexico, and Europe have offered him great sums of money so that they can use him to market their surgical skills, but he's going to pass on that for now.

Manuel also has the continuing support of our extended Zone family. Our Mexican medical partners continue to work with him on a weekly basis and supply the on- going medical support and motivation, Cedarlane Foods will provide a freezer stocked with frozen Zone meals, and we at Zone Labs will continue to provide our products (including OmegaRx) to make his long-term goal a reality.

Manuel's journey is one that will be exciting and one that we hope will become a beacon to the tens of millions of others in the world who suffer from obesity. Obesity can be conquered simply by following the anti-inflammatory Zone Diet for a lifetime.