The Benefits of Eating Apples

Apples are packed with disease-fighting vitamins, antioxidants and more, making one of the top-ranked fruits for your health.

Eating apples has been linked to a lower risk of chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and dementia.

Eating apples in their whole form, not juicing them, will give you the synergistic blend of nutrients and fiber the way nature intended, yielding greater health benefits than apple juice.

A wealth of research suggests that eating apples may impact your health in a number of beneficial ways:

1. Brain Health: Apples have been found to protect neuron cells against oxidative stress-induced neurotoxicity and may play an important role in reducing the risk of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease.

2. Stroke: Eating apples is linked to a decreased risk of stroke.

3. Diabetes: Three servings of apples (and other fruits, such as blueberries and grapes) is linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. This may be due to their beneficial role in blood sugar regulation, as apples contain compounds that may:

• Lessen absorption of glucose from your digestive tract.
• Stimulate beta cells in your pancreas to secrete insulin.
• Increase uptake of glucose from your blood by stimulating insulin receptors

4. Cancer: Apples have a number of properties that may help reduce the risk of cancer, including antimutagenic activity, antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory mechanisms, antiproliferative and apoptosis-inducing activity, as well as "novel mechanisms on epigenetic events and innate immunity

According to the journal Planta Medica:

• "Apple products have been shown to prevent skin, mammary and colon carcinogenesis in animal models."
• "Epidemiological observations indicate that regular consumption of one or more apples a day may reduce the risk for lung and colon cancer.”

5. Heart Disease: Eating apples is associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease, an association that’s thought to be related to their content of antioxidant flavonoids.

Mark Harris, PhD
Exercise Physiologist/Nutritionist
TexasMetabolics@gmail.com
Texas Metabolics

How Government Dietary Guidelines Promote Obesity & Chronic Disease

It’s important to realize that the government’s nutritional guidelines are in large part mirrored by agricultural subsidies. They’re NOT built upon sound nutritional science. In short, the reason you’re told to make grains the cornerstone of your diet is because that’s what farmers are paid to grow in the US. There’s a lot of it, and it’s inexpensive compared to healthier foods like vegetables, for which few subsidies are offered.

The wacky and nutritionally inappropriate 1992 Food Pyramid had grains as the largest bottom block of the pyramid, encouraging you to eat 6-11 servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta each day. This excess of carbohydrates, most of them refined, is precisely the kind of diet that promotes fat accumulation and drives insulin resistance and related diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer. At the very top of the pyramid was fats and sugar, and while sugar clearly belongs there, fats do not.

As mentioned earlier, most people would benefit from getting anywhere from 50 to 70 percent of their total calories from healthy fats. Saturated fats from animal and vegetable sources provide a number of important health benefits, and your body requires them for the proper function of your:

1. Cell membranes
2. Heart
3. Bones (to assimilate calcium)
4. Liver
5. Lungs
6. Hormones
7. Immune system
8. Satiety (reducing hunger)
9. Genetic regulation

The food pyramid was replaced with “MyPlate” in 2011, which slightly downplayed grains as the most important dietary ingredient, making vegetables the largest “slice.” One of its most glaring problems with MyPlate is that it virtually removed all fats from the equation! In fact, except for a small portion of dairy, which is advised to be fat-free or low-fat, fats are missing entirely.

There is no mention of the importance of dietary fats, even the "politically correct" ones like the monounsaturated fats in olive oil and nuts, such as pecans (canola oil is also in this category, but I advise avoiding it and using coconut oil instead). Even one of the most critical of all fats is absent from the plate, namely animal-based omega-3 fats. Deficiency in this essential fat can cause or contribute to very serious health problems, both mental and physical, and may be a significant underlying factor of up to 96,000 premature deaths each year.

Studies Showing Saturated Fat is Not Associated with Increased Heart Disease Risk

As mentioned earlier, mounting scientific evidence supports saturated fat as a necessary part of a heart healthy diet, and firmly debunks the myth that saturated fat promotes heart disease. For example:

In a 1992 editorial published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Dr. William Castelli, a former director of the Framingham Heart study, stated:

"In Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person’s serum cholesterol. The opposite of what… Keys et al would predict…We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active."

A 2010 meta-analysis, which pooled data from 21 studies and included nearly 348,000 adults, found no difference in the risks of heart disease and stroke between people with the lowest and highest intakes of saturated fat.
Another 2010 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that a reduction in saturated fat intake must be evaluated in the context of replacement by other macronutrients, such as carbohydrates.

When you replace saturated fat with a higher carbohydrate intake, particularly refined carbohydrate, you exacerbate insulin resistance and obesity, increase triglycerides and small LDL particles, and reduce beneficial HDL cholesterol. The authors state that dietary efforts to improve your cardiovascular disease risk should primarily emphasize the limitation of refined carbohydrate intake, and weight reduction.

Mark Harris, PhD
Exercise Physiologist/Nutritionist
TexasMetabolics@gmail.com
Texas Metabolics

What is Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland at night to regulate our circadian rhythm (sometimes called the sleep wake cycle). As we age the amount of melatonin we produce reduces resulting in many older people sleeping less and having a lower quality of sleep.

What Does Melatonin Do?

Melatonin is vital to protect our hormonal system, regulate immunity and repair our body’s cells. It is commonly used by shift workers and also to treat jet lag and age related sleep disorders, but its abilities go far beyond simply its sleep inducing properties.

The Antioxidant Effects of Melatonin

Melatonin is an extremely effective antioxidant, in fact on a molecule to molecule basis, melatonin has proved to be significantly more efficient in neutralizing the toxic hydroxyl radical than the two well-known free radical scavengers, glutathione and mannitol. Likewise, melatonin is roughly twice as effective as vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) at scavenging the peroxyl radical which is generated during lipid peroxidation.

Melatonin’s Effects on Longevity

Melatonin’s effect on longevity is well documented; in fact laboratory tests on rats and mice have demonstrated that melatonin increased their lifespans by 20%. Experts believe melatonin is a vital anti aging product because of its positive effect on the aging immune system, its protection of the cardiovascular system, its ability to increase growth hormone production and above all its capacity to limit free radical damage.

Melatonin and Age Related Maccular Degeneration

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) comes in two forms, wet and dry and is a notoriously difficult disorder to treat but is commonly linked to blindness.

A recent 24 month study (published in Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 1057:384-392) with 100 patients showed that after 6 months, patients taking 3mg of Melatonin daily had halted the progression of their age related macular degeneration and at 12 months showed reversal of their AMD which continued until the trial ended at 24-months.

Boosts the bodies ability to fight Disease

New research indicates that melatonin does much more than help some people sleep better. Exciting studies show that melatonin’s multifaceted effects may improve treatment outcomes in cancer patients and extend their lives. Additional applications of melatonin include guarding the nervous system against degenerative diseases—such as Alzheimer’s disease and stroke—and preventing debilitating migraines.

Effects of Melatonin on Sleep

The principal factor affecting melatonin is light, which inhibits the secretion of this hormone. Darkness has the opposite effect from light, resulting in signaling to the pineal gland to increase melatonin secretion. The normal cycles of melatonin production are altered due to factors including aging, medications, and light exposure at night. While the long-term health effects of disrupted melatonin secretion are not yet fully known, some scientists have suggested that years of working nights could lead to adverse effects—even cancer.

Fortunately, melatonin supplements can safely and effectively restore balance to the body’s circadian rhythm of this important hormone—helping achieve a restful night’s sleep and keeping your biological clock ticking throughout a long, healthy life span.

Migraine Prevention

A promising study suggests that migraine sufferers may be able to reduce the frequency and severity of their headaches by using melatonin. Researchers gave 34 migraine sufferers (29 women and 5 men) a 3-mg dose of melatonin, 30 minutes before bedtime, for three months. Of the 32 patients who finished the study, more than two thirds experienced at least a 50% reduction in number of headaches per month. Additionally, the intensity and duration of headaches decreased. The scientists believe that melatonin’s anti-inflammatory effect and free-radical-scavenging effects contribute to its headache-relieving benefits.14

I personally have been taking Melatonin every night just before bed for the last 15 years. It's very affordable at less than $12 for a 3 month supply. The benefits are well worth the tiny investment. I take 3mg along with 600MG of Magnesium Citrate every night as I am about to lay down for the night. I highly recommend it!

Mark Harris, PhD
Exercise Physiologist/Nutritionist
TexasMetabolics@gmail.com
Texas Metabolics

Why You Should Never Eat Processed Foods Again

Resisting the urge to drink that soda pop or eat those chips can be tough, especially if you have grown accustomed to eating these highly addictive foods as part of your normal diet. But once you understand a little bit more about how these and other processed foods affect your mind, body, and even your soul, it becomes easier to make healthier food choices that enrich your being rather than sap it. Here are nine motivating reasons why you should cut processed foods from your diet for good:

1. Processed foods are highly addictive. Your body processes whole foods much differently than it does refined, processed, and heavily-modified "junk" foods. Processed foods tend to overstimulate the production of dopamine, also known as the "pleasure" neurotransmitter, which makes you crave them constantly. Your body ends up not being able to resist the temptation to continue eating junk foods in excess, which can lead to obesity and other health problems.
2. Processed foods often contain phosphates that destroy your organs, bones. Many processed foods contain phosphate additives that augment taste, texture, and shelf-life. But these additives are known to cause health problems like rapid aging, kidney deterioration and weak bones, according to the Rodale Institute, which makes foods that contain them far less attractive to those in the know.
3. Fresh foods are actually cheaper than processed foods. People with junk food addictions often claim that fresh, healthy foods are too expensive. But according to numerous studies and assessments, whole foods made from scratch end up costing less per serving than their unhealthy, processed equivalents. According to Rodale, a single serving of 100 percent organic chili made with fresh ingredients and grass-fed beef, for instance, is about 50 cents cheaper to make than buying a can of chemical-laden, microwaveable chili from the grocery store.
4. Processed foods cause chronic inflammation. One of the leading causes of chronic illness today is inflammation. And studies continue to show that refined sugars, processed flours, vegetable oils, and many other nasty ingredients commonly found in processed foods are largely responsible for this inflammation epidemic. So the next time your body craves a candy bar or a box of cheese crackers, consider the fact that heart disease, dementia, neurological problems, respiratory failure, and cancer have all been linked to the chronic inflammation caused by processed food consumption.
5. Processed foods ruin digestion. Because they have been stripped of their natural fibers, enzymes, vitamins, and other nutrients, processed foods tend to wreak havoc on the digestive tract. Chronic consumption of such foods can throw your internal ecosystem off balance, harming beneficial bacteria and exposing your system to infection. So you can basically think of those gummy bears and that piece of cake as literal poison for your system, which may help deter you from eating them.
6. Processed foods destroy your mind. If you suffer from chronic bouts of brain "fog," or have difficulty concentrating and thinking normally, chances are your diet has something to do with it. And a recent study out of Oxford University lends credence to this possibility, having found that junk food consumption can cause people to become angry and irritable. Nutrient-dense whole foods, on the other hand, can help level out your mood, sustain your energy levels, and leave you feeling calmer and more collected.
7. Processed foods are loaded with GMOs. The basic buildings blocks of most processed foods on the market today are derived from laboratories, not nature. Genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), which have been linked to infertility, organ damage, gastrointestinal disorders, and cancer, are prolific in processed foods. Excess consumption of these poisons promotes weight gain, acidifies your blood, and can even permanently alter the composition and function of your intestinal flora.
8. Processed foods are loaded with pesticides. In order to effectively grow the GMOs used in processed foods, conventional farmers have to apply Roundup (glyphosate) and other pesticides and herbicides, many of which end up in the final product. According to data compiled by Rodale, breakfast cereals alone have been found to contain up to 70 different types of pesticides, including warehouse fumigation chemicals and other residues.
9. Processed foods are not actually food. One of the ways you can assess the nutritional value of food is to see how animals, insects, bacteria, and fungi respond to it. Real foods will actually rot or grow mold, for instance, while fake, processed foods remain largely the same in appearance and shape no matter what their age. As we reported recently, processed food is essentially synthetic, and the industry that produces it admits that heavy tampering and crafty modifications are necessary to make it taste real, even though it is not.

I know it's so easy just to pop food into a Microwave or drive though a fast food line at McDonald's many of us use the excuse that we don't have time to cook. Well let me ask you this,"Do you have time to deal with cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure or a host of other diseases caused by eating these toxic foods?"

In the long run these foods are VERY EXPENSIVE, they ruin your health, and you spend a fortune trying to fix the damage caused by eating the toxic foods.

Mark Harris, PhD
Exercise Physiologist/Nutritionist
TexasMetabolics@gmail.com 
Texas Metabolics

Fat fighting Fudge

Don’t assume that you have to give up desserts when you start eating Paleo-style. There are plenty of ways to eliminate carbs and sugars and replace them with healthier alternatives.

In fact, by including healthy fats in your diet, such as those included in the recipe below, some desserts can actually help you lose weight!

Although conventional wisdom has assumed that dietary fat causes weight gain and other health problems, recent studies have shown that eating fat can actually provide the benefits of both satiating hunger and reducing body fat.

According to the findings of a recent study at the University of California at Irvine, fatty foods work in the body to curb hunger by triggering a substance called oleoylethanolamide, which sends a message to the brain that the body is no longer hungry.

Although many people experience cravings for sugar and refined carbohydrates when they first start to transition to the Paleo diet, adding healthy fats to the diet are a great way to keep the cravings under control.

Here’s a recipe that includes ingredients that can help keep those cravings under control and satisfy your sweet tooth!

You can get the ingredients listed from most grocery stores, but if your local grocery store doesn’t have the organic product available, no worries. Just be sure that you get a product that is labeled “no added sugar” or ”unsweetened”.

Also, you can substitute the almonds for other nuts such as brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, or walnuts, if you prefer.

Coconut Chocolate Almond Fudge(Serves ~12)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup organic coconut or almond milk, unsweetened
• ¼ cup raw almond butter
• 4 oz. unsweetened baker’s chocolate
• ½ tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• small amount of stevia to taste
• ½ cup chopped nuts
• Optional: top with toasted coconut flakes.

Directions:

1. In a medium sized saucepan, warm coconut/almond milk over medium-low heat, and add broken chocolate pieces. Stir with a wooden spoon, melting them completely. This should make a chocolate cream.
2. Add vanilla extract, almond butter, and stevia.
3. Stir until velvety and smooth.
4. Add nuts.
5. Next, transfer the fudge into a baking dish lined with wax paper, and cool in your fridge overnight, or until it hardens to a “fudge like” consistency.
6. After cooling, cut fudge into ~12 small squares and enjoy!

That’s it…pretty simple right?

Nutrition Facts: Serving size: 1.5 oz. (40 g) Calories 162 Total Fat 16g Carbs 6g Protein 4g

Mark Harris, PhD

Exercise Physiologist/Nutritionist

TexasMetabolics@gmail.com

Texas Metabolics

Eat your Spinach

When you were a kid, how many times were you firmly reminded, “Eat your spinach!”?

Just as it was back then, it’s definitely important to make spinach a major staple in your diet…whether you think you like it or not.

For me, like many kids, spinach was pretty high on my “Gross, do I really have to eat this?” vegetable list (right up there with Brussels sprouts!).

I don’t know if it was just an aversion to the mushy-looking texture, or that it reminded me of grass that compelled me turn my nose up every time it was put on my plate. But it didn’t matter, because despite my defiance, my mom always said, “Eat it, it’s good for you”.

And I’m sure you already know how that story ended. Every single time. I’d eat my spinach (and my Brussels sprouts), and after all of the dinner-time drama, I still survived.

Like always, my mom was right. There is real scientific proof that there are a multitude of reasons why spinach is great for your health.

Spinach is actually regarded as one of the “healthiest foods in the world”! Who knew???

The general appearance of the soft leafy green vegetable may seem quite ordinary, but beneath it’s diminutive exterior, spinach hosts an unbelievable amount of powerful nutrients.

Spinach is packed full of Vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, and Vitamins C, E, and K, calcium, folate (the natural form of folic acid), copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, niacin, potassium, selenium, and zinc. And if that’s not enough, it’s also a good source of fiber and protein…and Omega-3 fatty acids. Whew!

So with all of that, what is spinach going to do for your body?

Bone Health

You might be surprised to know that Vitamin K is a big player when it comes to keeping your bones healthy. In fact, if you eat just one cup of fresh spinach leaves, you’ll be getting close to 200% of your daily value of Vitamin K.

But if you really want to kick things up a notch, boil the cup of spinach. Because cooking the spinach makes it 6 times more powerful, it’ll get you more than 1000% of the daily value!

However, spinach does have one little weakness. It contains oxalic acid, which unfortunately causes a problem when your body is trying to absorb calcium and iron.

But no worries, there’s an easy way to get around this inconvenience. Just include a food with some Vitamin C to accompany your fresh spinach, and all will be fine. Oranges, the obvious Vitamin C source, would be a good example.

But did you know that guava, kiwi fruit, papaya and strawberries each contain more Vitamin C than oranges? Other good Vitamin C sources are cantaloupe, red bell peppers, broccoli, and sweet potatoes. So there are plenty of options to accompany your spinach in order to achieve the maximum benefits for your bones.

Digestive Health

Spinach also provides awesome anti-inflammatory protection, especially for your digestive health. Scientific studies have shown that spinach contains molecules, known as glycoglycerolipids, that fend off inflammation that tries to attack the lining of your digestive tract

Aside from damaging your tummy, inflammation can cause many major health problems, and increase your cancer risk. But eating spinach can help protect you.

Compared to other phytonutrient containing veggies, spinach wins the prize, hands down! Researchers have discovered over 12 different flavonoids alone, and along with the carotenoids, these phytonutrients can reduce inflammation, as well as your risk for getting something more serious.

Skin Health

Your skin is the largest organ, covering the entirety of your outer body, but is often overlooked when it comes to considering our sense of general health.

Your skin can actually be showing you signs of a health problem that needs attention. So while you may not realize it, taking care of your skin is just as important as anything else when it comes to being healthy.

Spinach (of course) plays a role in protecting your precious outer layer. All of those vitamins and minerals can help ease dry, itchy skin, and improve your appearance giving you a healthy, radiant complexion.

The antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties spinach provides also helps with those pesky wrinkles (an none of us want those, right?).

Eye Health

Spinach is abundant in lutein and zeaxanthin, the most important antioxidants when it comes to your eyes, particularly the retina and macula.

Researchers have seen an increase in lutein in those who consumed normal amounts of spinach in a day, suggesting that this leafy green may help in preventing age-related macular degeneration.

Heart Health

All of those phytonutrients, as well as other nutrients (Vitamin C and E, Beta-carotene, zinc and selenium, for example) also allow spinach to provide you with some major antioxidant benefits.eyes

Oxidative stress can wreak havoc on your body, resulting in numerous health problems, such as hypertension and artherosclerosis.

Research studies have found several peptides (small protein fragments) in spinach that can help lower blood pressure. These peptides, with the assistance of the antioxidants, aid in keeping your blood vessels healthy. And maintaining healthy blood vessels helps keep your heart healthy, by decreasing your risk of having high blood pressure and clogged arteries.

Before heading out to purchase spinach, here are a few tips you should consider:

1. Go organic. Spinach is one of those foods that are worth spending a little extra for. You really want to avoid consuming non-organic spinach, because a normal washing won’t necessarily remove the heavy coating of toxic pesticides.
2. Take your pick. There are actually 3 varieties of spinach that are usually available in most markets. There’s savoy spinach, (with crisp, creased curly leaves), smooth-leaf spinach, (with a flat, smooth and spade-shaped leaf), and semi-savoy (resembles savoy, but less wrinkly). Then there is baby spinach, likely considered the most popular of the spinach family. It has a mild and subtle flavor, and is perfect for salads.
3. Give it a good look-over. You’ll want to choose fresh, vibrant green spinach leaves, with no yellowing, wilting or bruising.
4. Skip the canned goods and freezer aisle. Fresh is always the way to go if you want the best flavor, texture, and health benefits.
5. Go toward the light. If you prefer the convenience of those bags and clear plastic containers, that’s perfectly okay. In fact, a study recently confirmed that baby spinach stored in a clear container, which allowed the leaves some light exposure, did not affect the integrity of the antioxidants. The 9 day study concluded that this type of storage, refrigerated at a consistent temperature of 39*F/4*C (comparable to your home fridge temp.), actually retained more of its nutrients than spinach that was stored in total darkness at the same temperature.
6. Eat it today. Consuming your spinach as fresh as possible (the day of purchase) is always best. But if you have leftovers, avoid washing it before storing it away. Moisture will spoil your spinach. To keep it fresh, place it in a resealable plastic bag or airtight plastic container, ensuring that you’ve removed all of the air from the bag/container.

Drink It Up

Enjoying a sip of spinach is shown to be the healthiest way to consume this veggie. Just blend it in with a few other veggies, toss in a fruit or two, and drink to your health. You can add that kiwi (or other fruit) for your vitamin C bonus, ice to chill, and even an avocado if you like a creamier texture.

Cook It Up

There are a couple of benefits for cooking your spinach, that you just can’t get from its raw form. Remember that oxalic acid? Cooking for just a minute (as in 60 seconds only) reduces that problem, without sacrificing the nutrients and flavor.

The other major benefit for cooking your spinach are some serious nutritional bonus points compared to when consuming it in the raw.

Mark Harris, PhD
Exercise Physiologist/Nutritionist
TexasMetabolics@gmail.com
Texas Metabolics

4 Oils That Should Be In Your Diet

1. Coconut Oil: Organic virgin coconut oil is one of the best choices of good fat you can add to your diet. Coconut oil contains 90% saturated fat and is made up of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) which are easily digestible and can drastically improve your health. MCFA’s are not stored as fat because they are immediately converted to energy once in the body. This oil is also very good to cook with because it remains stable even under high temperatures. Coconut oil contains lauric acid (a known immune stimulant), is rich in fiber, and contains essential vitamins and minerals. Organic raw unrefined extra virgin coconut oil is the best to use and should be solid at room temperature.

Benefits of consuming coconut oil include: Weight loss, immune system support, cardiovascular health, increased energy, thyroid support, healthy skin, hair and nails, improved cell regeneration, disables fungus, bacteria and viruses, improves insulin secretions and protection against free radicals, reduces inflammation throughout the body.

2. Hemp-seed Oil: Hemp Seed oil is derived from the seeds of the plant cannabis sativa. It provides all the essential fatty acids (EFA’s) and essential amino acids, structured in an easily digestible form to maintain human life. The oil is composed of 80% essential fatty acids, the highest in the plant kingdom. It contains the Omega 3,6 and 9 fatty acids. No other plant oil has a perfect 3:1 ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 EFA’s. Hemp seed oil is also great for vegetarians because it provides them with healthy fatty acids without having to consume fish oil. Hemp-seed oil is also rich in vitamin E and is the only plant which provides a source of Vitamin D.

Benefits of consuming Hemp Seed oil include: Cardiovascular support, natural sunblock agent, helps high blood pressure, reduces PMS, reduces inflammation, lowers high cholesterol, calms arthritis, soothes eczema, assists the brain and nervous system, produces healthy cell membranes, healthy skin, nails and hair, and can be used as skin moisturizer without clogging pores.

3. Flax-seed Oil: Flax-seed oil is extracted from the seeds of the flax plant. This oil contains 55% of Omega 3 fatty acid by weight. Omega-3 refers to three types of fatty acids, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Once consumed, the human body converts ALA to EPA and DHA. This oil is also high in fiber and potassium. Flax-seed oil requires special packaging because it is easily destroyed by oxygen, heat and light. It is best to purchase organic flax-seed oil and keep it refrigerated to preserve freshness.

Benefits of consuming Flax-seed oil include: Helps Crohns disease, colitis, soothes intestinal walls, natural laxative, reduces high cholesterol, promotes healthy hair, nails and skin, reduces symptoms of menopause and helps burn body fat.

4. Olive Oil: Olive oil has been used as a medicine and health aid since it was first cultivated around 5000BC. It is a monounsaturated fat and contains vital vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants. Olive oil has a large amount of vitamins A, D, and K, as well as vitamin E, which are key sources needed to prevent free radical damage. When purchasing make sure the olive oil is organic, cold pressed and extra virgin.

Benefits of consuming olive oil include: Promotes healthy digestion, protects against heart disease, eases symptoms of gastritis and ulcers, lowers gallstone formation and reduces high cholesterol.

Mark Harris, PhD
Exercise Physiologist/Nutritionist
TexasMetabolics@gmail.com
Texas Metabolics

10 Facts for Fitness and Fat Loss

1. The diet phenomena paradox: We oversimplify the complicated science of fat loss whilst over-complicating the practice of it.
2. Release yourself of the fear of judgement when following a healthy path: It’s ok to order a salad, skip desert and ask for substitutions when out on the town.
3. There’s a place for almost everything. Despite the fact that some trends are “passé” or categorically shunned, there is a place for static stretching, traditional cardio and carbohydrates.
4. 3 steps to tackle sugar cravings: 1. Distract 2. Distract more intensely 3. Give in (without fully giving in). Drink a chocolate protein smoothie, have berries with greek yogurt and a bit of maple syrup, a couple of pieces of dark chocolate drizzled on strawberries. DONE.
5. Be calorie aware but not obsessed. Counting calories is not neurotic when the end goal is creating awareness.
6. Change is challenging: Associate as much pain as possible with NOT changing and as much pleasure as possible with your desired picture of health.
7. Goal-setting: Be realistic, multi-layered (include health, body composition but also mindset and lifestyle related goals). Also be specific, flexible and forgiving.
8. Your self-talk can make or break your fat loss efforts. Be kind to yourself.
9. Genetics loads the gun but we pull the trigger with our lifestyle choices.
10. Try these 3 single leg variations: Pistols, Bulgarian Split Squat, Single leg Romanian Deadlift. Thank me (or more likely curse me) tomorrow.

Mark Harris, PhD
Exercise Physiologist/Nutritionist
TexasMetabolics@gmail.com
Texas Metabolics

Health Benefits from Eating Avocados

Avocados, which are actually classified as a fruit, are rich in monounsaturated fat that is easily burned for energy. They also provide close to 20 essential health-boosting nutrients, including potassium, vitamin E, B-vitamins, and folic acid.

Previous research has found avocado can help optimize cholesterol levels within as little as one week; contains compounds that appear to inhibit and destroy oral cancer cells, and those that protect against liver damage.

The greatest concentration of beneficial carotenoids is in the dark green fruit of the avocado, closest to the peel, so use the “nick and peel” method to maximize the benefits from your avocado.

You can increase your avocado consumption by using it as a fat replacement in baking; add it to soups, dessert whips and countless other recipes; and use as a baby’s first food in lieu of processed baby food.

Mark Harris, PhD
Exercise Physiologist/Nutritionist
TexasMetabolics@gmail.com
Texas Metabolics

Carbohydrate Addiction is Epidemic

A staggering two-thirds of Americans are now overweight, and one in four are either diabetic or pre-diabetic.

Obesity rates in children in several states are now above 30%!!!!!!

Carb-rich processed foods are a primary driver of these statistics, and while many blame Americans’ overindulgence of processed junk foods on lack of self-control, scientists are now starting to reveal the truly addictive nature of such foods.

Most recently, researchers at the Boston Children's Hospital concluded that highly processed carbohydrates stimulate brain regions involved in reward and cravings, promoting excess hunger.

As reported by Science Daily:

“These findings suggest that limiting these 'high-glycemic index' foods could help obese individuals avoid overeating.”

While I don’t agree with the concept of high glycemic foods, it is important that they are at least thinking in the right direction. Also, the timing is ironic, considering the fact that the American Medical Association (AMA) recently declared obesity a disease, treatable with a variety of conventional methods, from drugs to novel anti-obesity vaccines...

The featured research is on the mark, and shows just how foolhardy the AMA’s financially-driven decision really is. Drugs and vaccines are clearly not going to do anything to address the underlying problem of addictive junk food.

Brain Imaging Shows Food Addiction Is Real

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the effects of high-glycemic foods on brain activity, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). One dozen overweight or obese men between the ages of 18 and 35 each consumed one high-glycemic and one low-glycemic meal. The fMRI was done four hours after each test meal. According to the researchers:

“Compared with an isocaloric low-GI meal, a high-glycemic index meal decreased plasma glucose, increased hunger, and selectively stimulated brain regions associated with reward and craving in the late postprandial period, which is a time with special significance to eating behavior at the next meal.”

The study demonstrates what many people experience: After eating a high-glycemic meal, i.e. rapidly digesting carbohydrates, their blood sugar initially spiked, followed by a sharp crash a few hours later. The fMRI confirmed that this crash in blood glucose intensely activated a brain region involved in addictive behaviors, known as the nucleus accumbens.

Dr. Robert Lustig, Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, a pioneer in decoding sugar metabolism, weighed in on the featured research in an article by NPR:

“As Dr. Robert Lustig... points out, this research can’t tell us if there’s a cause and effect relationship between eating certain foods and triggering brain responses, or if those responses lead to overeating and obesity.

'[The study] doesn’t tell you if this is the reason they got obese,' says Lustig, 'or if this is what happens once you’re already obese.' Nonetheless... he thinks this study offers another bit of evidence that 'this phenomenon is real.'”

Previously, Dr. Lustig has explained the addictive nature of sugar as follows:

"The brain's pleasure center, called the nucleus accumbens, is essential for our survival as a species... Turn off pleasure, and you turn off the will to live... But long-term stimulation of the pleasure center drives the process of addiction... When you consume any substance of abuse, including sugar, the nucleus accumbens receives a dopamine signal, from which you experience pleasure. And so you consume more.

The problem is that with prolonged exposure, the signal attenuates, gets weaker. So you have to consume more to get the same effect -- tolerance. And if you pull back on the substance, you go into withdrawal. Tolerance and withdrawal constitute addiction. And make no mistake, sugar is addictive."

The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Previous research has demonstrated that refined sugar is more addictive than cocaine, giving you pleasure by triggering an innate process in your brain via dopamine and opioid signals. Your brain essentially becomes addicted to stimulating the release of its own opioids.

Researchers have speculated that the sweet receptors located on your tongue, which evolved in ancestral times when the diet was very low in sugar, have not adapted to the seemingly unlimited access to a cheap and omnipresent sugar supply in the modern diet.

Therefore, the abnormally high stimulation of these receptors by our sugar-rich diets generates excessive reward signals in your brain, which have the potential to override normal self-control mechanisms, thus leading to addiction.

But it doesn’t end there. Food manufacturers have gotten savvy to the addictive nature of certain foods and tastes, including saltiness and sweetness, and have turned addictive taste into a science in and of itself.

In a recent New York Times article, Michael Moss, author of Salt Sugar Fat, dished the dirt on the processed food industry, revealing that there’s a conscious effort on behalf of food manufacturers to get you hooked on foods that are convenient and inexpensive to make.

I recommend reading his article in its entirety, as it offers a series of case studies that shed light on the extraordinary science and marketing tactics that make junk food so hard to resist.

Sugar, salt and fat are the top three substances making processed foods so addictive. In a Time Magazine interview discussing his book, Moss says:

“One of the things that really surprised me was how concerted and targeted the effort is by food companies to hit the magical formulation. Take sugar for example. The optimum amount of sugar in a product became known as the 'bliss point.' Food inventors and scientists spend a huge amount of time formulating the perfect amount of sugar that will send us over the moon, and send products flying off the shelves. It is the process they've engineered that struck me as really stunning.”

It’s important to realize that added sugar (typically in the form of high fructose corn syrup) is not confined to junky snack foods. For example, most of Prego’s spaghetti sauces have one common feature, and that is sugar—it’s the second largest ingredient, right after tomatoes. A half-cup of Prego Traditional contains the equivalent of more than two teaspoons of sugar.

Novel Flavor-Enhancers May Also Contribute to Food Addiction

Another guiding principle for the processed food industry is known as “sensory-specific satiety.” Moss describes this as “the tendency for big, distinct flavors to overwhelm your brain, which responds by depressing your desire to have more.” The greatest successes, whether beverages or foods, owe their “craveability” to complex formulas that pique your taste buds just enough, without overwhelming them, thereby overriding your brain’s inclination to say “enough.”

Novel biotech flavor companies like Senomyx also play an important role.

Senomyx specializes in helping companies find new flavors that allow them to use less salt and sugar in their foods. But does that really make the food healthier? This is a questionable assertion at best, seeing how these “flavor enhancers” are created using secret, patented processes. They also do not need to be listed on the food label, which leaves you completely in the dark. As of now, they simply fall under the generic category of artificial and/or natural flavors, and they don’t even need to be tested for safety, as they’re used in minute amounts.

How to Combat Food Addiction and Regain Your Health

To protect your health, I advise spending 90 percent of your food budget on whole foods, and only 10 percent on processed foods. It’s important to realize that refined carbohydrates like breakfast cereals, bagels, waffles, pretzels, and most other processed foods quickly break down to sugar, increase your insulin levels, and cause insulin resistance, which is the number one underlying factor of nearly every chronic disease and condition known to man, including weight gain.

By taking the advice offered in the featured study and cutting out these high-glycemic foods you can retrain your body to burn fat instead of sugar. However, it’s important to replace these foods with healthy fats, not protein—a fact not addressed in this research. I believe most people may need between 50-70 percent of their daily calories in the form of healthful fats, which include:

1. Olives & Olive oil
2. Coconut and Coconut Oils
3. Natural whole fat butter
4. Organic raw nuts, especially macadamia nuts, which are low in protein and omega-6 fat.
5. Organic pastured eggs and pastured meats
6. Avocados

A growing body of evidence also suggests that intermittent fasting is particularly effective if you’re struggling with excess weight as it provokes the natural secretion of human growth hormone (HGH), a fat-burning hormone. It also increases resting energy expenditure while decreasing insulin levels, which allows stored fat to be burned for fuel. Together, these and other factors will turn you into an effective fat-burning machine.

Best of all, once you transition to fat burning mode your cravings for sugar and carbohydrates will virtually disappear, as if by magic... While you’re making the adjustment, you could supplement L-Glutamine (1,000MG) before each meal and 3,000-6,000 MG at bed time. This will help reduce cravings.

Other tricks to help you overcome your sugar cravings include:

Exercise: Anyone who exercises intensely on a regular basis will know that a significant amount of resistance exercise is one of the best "cures" for food cravings. It always amazes me how my appetite, especially for sweets, dramatically decreases after a good workout. I believe the mechanism is related to the dramatic reduction in insulin levels that occurs after exercise.

Organic black coffee: Coffee is a potent opioid receptor antagonist, and contains compounds such as cafestrol -- found plentifully in both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee -- which can bind to your opioid receptors, occupy them and essentially block your addiction to other opioid-releasing foods. This may profoundly reduce the addictive power of other substances, such as sugar.

Mark Harris, PhD
Exercise Physiologist/Nutritionist
TexasMetabolics@gmail.com
Texas Metabolics