Understanding Your Calories

Fact: It not about counting Calories it's understanding what those calories really are and how your digestive system reacts to them!

To Optimize Your Health, Pay Attention to the SOURCE of Your Calories

In order to curb the current obesity epidemic, we do not need more accurate reporting of calories; we need to start focusing on eating the right kind of calories. I firmly believe that the primary keys for successful weight management and optimal health are:

1. Severely restricting carbohydrates (sugars, fructose, and grains) in your diet
2. Increasing healthy fat consumption
3. Unlimited consumption of non starchy vegetables. Because they are so low calorie, the majority of the food on your plate will be vegetables
4. Limit the use of protein to less than one gram per pound of lean body mass weight, not total body weight. In order to know this you must know your body fat percentage.

Healthful fat can be rich in calories, but these calories will not affect your body in the same way as calories from non-vegetable carbs. As explained by Dr. Robert Lustig, fructose in particular is "isocaloric but not isometabolic." This means you can have the same amount of calories from fructose or glucose, fructose and protein, or fructose and fat, but the metabolic effect will be entirely different despite the identical calorie count. Eating dietary fat isn’t what’s making you pack on the pounds. It’s the sugar/fructose and grains that are adding the padding.

So please, don’t fall for the low-fat myth, as this too is a factor in the rise in chronic health problems such as heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Your brain, heart and cardiovascular system need healthy fat for optimal functioning. In fact, emerging evidence suggests most people need at least half of their daily calories from healthy fat, and possibly as high as 70 percent. Add to that a small to medium amount of high-quality protein and plenty of vegetables. You actually need very few carbs besides vegetables; so you see, the federal guidelines are about as lopsided as they could be... pushing you toward obesity and poor health, if you follow them.

Hunger Can Be Used as a Guide to Determine How Much Fat You Need

Many do not realize this, but frequent hunger may be a major clue that you're not eating correctly and are using carbs as your primary fuel. Not only is it an indication that you're consuming the wrong types of food, but it's also a sign that you're likely consuming them in lopsided ratios for your individual biochemistry, and the timing of your eating may benefit from adjustment. Fat is far more satiating than carbs, so if you have cut down on carbs and feel ravenous, thinking you "can't do without the carbs," remember this is a sign that you haven't replaced them with sufficient amounts of fat. So go ahead and add a bit more. You do want to make sure you're adding the correct types of fat though. And vegetable oils like canola and corn oil, with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends is NOT on the healthy list… Sources of healthy fats include:

1. Olives and olive oil
2. Coconuts and coconut oil
3. Butter made from raw grass-fed organic milk
4. Raw nuts, such as almonds or pecans
5. Organic pastured egg yolks
6. Avocados
7. Grass-fed meats
8. Palm oil
9. Unheated organic nut oils

Another healthful fat you want to be mindful of is animal-based omega-3. 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.


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

Why Sugar is Toxic to the Body and in particular the BRAIN

Shipwrecked sailors who ate and drank nothing but sugar and rum for nine days surely went through some of this trauma; the tales they had to tell created a big public relations problem for the sugar pushers. This incident occurred when a vessel carrying a cargo of sugar was shipwrecked in 1793.The five surviving sailors were finally rescued after being marooned for nine days. They were in a wasted condition due to starvation, having consumed nothing but sugar and rum. The eminent French physiologist F. Magendie was inspired by that incident to conduct a series of experiments with animals, the results of which he published in 1816. In the experiments, he fed dogs a diet of sugar or olive oil and water. All the dogs wasted and died.

The shipwrecked sailors and the French physiologist's experimental dogs proved the same point. As a steady diet, sugar is worse than nothing. Plain water can keep you alive for quite some time. Sugar and water can kill you. Humans [and animals] are "unable to subsist on a diet of sugar". The dead dogs in Professor Magendie's laboratory alerted the sugar industry to the hazards of free scientific inquiry. From that day to this, the sugar industry has invested millions of dollars in behind-the-scenes, subsidized science. The best scientific names that money could buy have been hired, in the hope that they could one day come up with something at least pseudoscientific in the way of glad tidings about sugar.

It has been proved, however, that (1) sugar is a major factor in dental decay; (2) sugar in a person's diet does cause overweight; (3) removal of sugar from diets has cured symptoms of crippling, worldwide diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart illnesses. Sir Frederick Banting, the codiscoverer of insulin, noticed in 1929 in Panama that, among sugar plantation owners who ate large amounts of their refined stuff, diabetes was common. Among native cane-cutters, who only got to chew the raw cane, he saw no diabetes. However, the story of the public relations attempts on the part of the sugar manufacturers began in Britain in 1808 when the Committee of West India reported to the House of Commons that a prize of twenty-five guineas had been offered to anyone who could come up with the most "satisfactory" experiments to prove that unrefined sugar was good for feeding and fattening oxen, cows, hogs and sheep.

Food for animals is often seasonal, always expensive. Sugar, by then, was dirt cheap. People weren't eating it fast enough. Naturally, the attempt to feed livestock with sugar and molasses in England in 1808 was a disaster. When the Committee on West India made its fourth report to the House of Commons, one Member of Parliament, John Curwin, reported that he had tried to feed sugar and molasses to calves without success. He suggested that perhaps someone should try again by sneaking sugar and molasses into skimmed milk. Had anything come of that, you can be sure the West Indian sugar merchants would have spread the news around the world. After this singular lack of success in pushing sugar in cow pastures, the West Indian sugar merchants gave up.

With undaunted zeal for increasing the market demand for the most important agricultural product of the West Indies, the Committee of West India was reduced to a tactic that has served the sugar pushers for almost 200 years: irrelevant and transparently silly testimonials from faraway, inaccessible people with some kind of "scientific" credentials. While preparing his epochal volume, A History of Nutrition, published in 1957, Professor E. V. McCollum (Johns Hopkins university), sometimes called America's foremost nutritionist and certainly a pioneer in the field, reviewed approximately 200,000 published scientific papers, recording experiments with food, their properties, their utilization and their effects on animals and men. The material covered the period from the mid-18th century to 1940. From this great repository of scientific inquiry, McCollum selected those experiments which he regarded as significant "to relate the story of progress in discovering human error in this segment of science [of nutrition]".

Professor McCollum failed to record a single controlled scientific experiment with sugar between 1816 and 1940. unhappily, we must remind ourselves that scientists today, and always, accomplish little without a sponsor. The protocols of modern science have compounded the costs of scientific inquiry. We have no right to be surprised when we read the introduction to McCollum's A History of Nutrition and find that "The author and publishers are indebted to The Nutrition Foundation, Inc., for a grant provided to meet a portion of the cost of publication of this book". What, you might ask, is The Nutrition Foundation, Inc.? The author and the publishers don't tell you. It happens to be a front organization for the leading sugar-pushing conglomerates in the food business, including the American Sugar Refining Company, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Curtis Candy Co., General Foods, General Mills, Nestlé Co., Pet Milk Co. and Sunshine Biscuits-about 45 such companies in all. Perhaps the most significant thing about McCollum's 1957 history was what he left out: a monumental earlier work described by an eminent Harvard professor as "one of those epochal pieces of research which makes every other investigator desirous of kicking himself because he never thought of doing the same thing".

In the 1930s, a research dentist from Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Weston A. Price, traveled all over the world-from the lands of the Eskimos to the South Sea Islands, from Africa to New Zealand. His Nutrition and Physical Degeneration: A Comparison of Primitive and Modern Diets and Their Effects, which is illustrated with hundreds of photographs, was first published in 1939. Dr. Price took the whole world as his laboratory. His devastating conclusion, recorded in horrifying detail in area after area, was simple. People who live under so-called backward primitive conditions had excellent teeth and wonderful general health. They ate natural, unrefined food from their own locale. As soon as refined, sugared foods were imported as a result of contact with "civilization," physical degeneration began in a way that was definitely observable within a single generation. Any credibility the sugar pushers have is based on our ignorance of works like that of Dr. Price.

Sugar manufacturers keep trying, hoping and contributing generous research grants to colleges and universities; but the research laboratories never come up with anything solid the manufacturers can use. Invariably, the research results are bad news. "Let us go to the ignorant savage, consider his way of eating and be wise," Harvard professor Ernest Hooten said in Apes, Men, and Morons. "Let us cease pretending that toothbrushes and toothpaste are any more important than shoe brushes and shoe polish. It is store food that has given us store teeth." When the researchers bite the hands that feed them, and the news gets out, it's embarrassing all around. In 1958, Time magazine reported that a Harvard biochemist and his assistants had worked with myriads of mice for more than ten years, bankrolled by the Sugar Research Foundation, Inc. to the tune of $57,000, to find out how sugar causes dental cavities and how to prevent this. It took them ten years to discover that there was no way to prevent sugar causing dental decay. When the researchers reported their findings in the Dental Association Journal, their source of money dried up. The Sugar Research Foundation withdrew its support. The more that the scientists disappointed them, the more the sugar pushers had to rely on the ad men.


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

Magnesium

Magnesium is just one mineral offering numerous health benefits. But the average person likely couldn’t name two, let alone tell you which foods are good sources of the important nutrient. From reducing your risk of stroke to helping fight Type 2 diabetes, magnesium is something we should all know about and be sure we are getting enough. 

1. Lower Stroke Risk

An overview of seven previously published studies recently found that for every additional 100 milligrams of magnesium consumed every day, there was a stroke risk reduction of 9 percent. In all, the research followed about 250,000 from across the globe for 11.5 years. About three percent suffered a stroke during the study period.

2. Lowered Risk of Diabetes

Researchers with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also found a link between magnesium intake and diabetes risk. According to the study, those people who consumed the most magnesium reduced their risk of type 2 diabetes by 47 percent when compared with the lowest-consuming among the study group. In addition, magnesium is known to regulate blood sugar and combat insulin resistance.

3. Heart Health

Magnesium aids in transporting calcium and potassium across cell membranes. These nutrients help promote normal heart rhythm and muscle contraction, according to NaturalNews.

4. Decreased Cancer Risk

For every additional 100 milligrams of magnesium added to your daily diet, you could reduce your risk of developing colorectal cancer by 13 percent, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Magnesium delivers additional benefits too—largely due to its anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation is blamed for such things as arthritis, cardiovascular disease, and even Alzheimer’s.

Some magnesium deficiency symptoms include:

• Tremors
• Nausea
• Respiratory issues
• High blood pressure
• Confusion
• Potassium and calcium deficiency
• Poor heart health
• Type 2 diabetes.

These are general symptoms, however, so it’s important to note that one or two of these doesn’t prove without doubt that you are deficient.

Food Sources of Magnesium

You can reap the benefits of dietary magnesium and combat deficiency and disease with several natural food sources:

• Dark, leafy greens
• Fish
• Beans and lentils
• Nuts and seeds
• Avocados
• Brown rice
• Quinoa

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

Nuts and Seeds the key to a Healthier Life

So many of us were brought up believing that saturated fats are unhealthy and could cause heart disease and other health problems. Now that actually is the furthest from the truth. We should in fact be consuming saturated fats rich in Omega 3.

One great way to assure yourself of getting ample amounts of healthy fats would be eating raw nuts and seeds, daily.

A large-scale, 30-year long study found that people who regularly ate one ounce of nuts at least seven times per week were 20 percent less likely to die for any reason, compared to those who avoided nuts in their diet.

Eating nuts at least five times a week corresponded to a 29 percent reduction in mortality risk due to heart disease; a 24 percent reduction for respiratory disease; and an 11 percent reduction for cancer.

In order for your body to adapt to burning fat instead of sugar, replace non-vegetable carbohydrates in your diet with high-quality healthful fats. Raw nuts are one source of such fats.

My favorite nuts are macadamia and pecans, as they provide the highest amount of healthy fat while being on the lower end in terms of protein, mirroring what may be close to an ideal ratio of nutrients.

There are so many benefits from eating these healthy fats.

• Reduction of inflammation
• Reduction of bad cholesterol
• Lower Triglycerides
• Help maintain healthy blood pressure levels
• Reduces the risk of Dementia and Alzheimer's

A short list of Nuts and the benefits they offer.

1. Raw macadamia nuts: A powerhouse of a nut, containing a wide variety of critical nutrients including high amounts of vitamin B1, magnesium, manganese, and healthful monounsaturated fat, just to name a few.
2. Pecans: Pecans contain more than 19 vitamins and minerals, and research has shown they may help lower LDL cholesterol and promote healthy arteries. One of my favorite treats is candied pecans in a salad at a restaurant. I know they have sugar, but a few grams or less a day is not going to cause a major problem provided you’re eating a healthy whole food diet, opposed to processed foods (which are loaded with hidden fructose).
3. Walnuts: Walnuts are good sources of plant-based omega-3 fats, natural phytosterols, and antioxidants that are so powerful at free-radical scavenging that researchers have called them "remarkable.”10 Plus, walnuts may help reduce not only the risk of prostate cancer, but breast cancer as well. They’ve also been shown to reverse brain aging in rats and boost heart health in people with diabetes.
4. Almonds: One of the healthiest aspects of almonds appears to be their skins, as they are rich in antioxidants including phenols, flavonoids, and phenolic acids, which are typically associated with vegetables and fruits. A study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry11 even revealed that a one-ounce serving of almonds has a similar amount of total polyphenols as a cup of steamed broccoli or green tea. Be careful not to overeat almonds though as they are high in protein, nearly one gram per almond.
5. Brazil Nuts: Brazil nuts are an excellent source of organic selenium, a powerful antioxidant-boosting mineral that may be beneficial for the prevention of cancer.

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

You Should Not Eat Canned Tomatoes

Why are canned tomatoes bad for you?

The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people’s body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. “You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that’s a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young,” says vom Saal. “I won’t go near canned tomatoes.”

The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. 

You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe’s and Pomi. Exposure to BPA Causes Permanent Damage In OffSpring  


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

General Health Benefits of Coconut Oil

In all, coconut oil offers a truly impressive array of health benefits when included in your daily diet. In addition to its antimicrobial properties, coconut oil is beneficial for:

• Promoting heart health. 
• Supporting proper thyroid function.
• Promoting healthy brain function.
• Strengthening your immune system.
• Providing an excellent “fuel” for your body and supporting a strong metabolism that can aid in weight loss.
• Maintaining healthy and youthful looking skin.

While coconut oil is an ideal food for fostering health and beauty from the inside out, it also has a staggering number of other uses, from topical beauty applications to first aid treatments, to general household cleaning. Once you’re done reading through this article, you’ll probably be inspired to stock up for all eventualities!

One of the best personal care products you'll ever find may be sitting in your kitchen cupboard right now, that's right it's coconut oil! For example, coconut oil can be used to replace the following personal care and beauty products.

• Makeup remover: Swipe on with a moist cotton ball. Wipe off with clean cotton ball or wet washcloth.
• Facial cleanser: Massage a dollop of coconut oil onto face and neck. Wash off with wet washcloth and pat dry.
• Body scrub: Mix equal parts coconut oil with organic cane sugar in a glass jar. Use the scrub on dry skin prior to your shower or bath.
• Facial scrub: Instead of sugar, mix coconut oil with baking soda, or oatmeal with a dash of cinnamon, for a gentle facial scrub.
• Shaving lotion: Apply a thin layer of coconut oil on area to be shaved, and shave as usual. The lauric acid in the coconut oil will also serve as an antiseptic for cuts that result from shaving.
• Face and body moisturizer: You can use it either by itself, or add your favorite essential oil. (Make sure you’re using a high quality essential oil that is safe for topical application.) The featured article6 also suggests whipping the coconut oil with an electric mixer to produce a fluffy moisturizer that stays soft and spreadable even in cooler temperatures.

When applied topically, coconut oil helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by helping to keep your connective tissues strong and supple, and aids in exfoliating the outer layer of dead skin cells, making your skin smoother.

• Eye cream: Apply a thin layer of coconut oil around your eyes to soften wrinkles and counteract thinning, sagging skin.
• Cuticle cream: Simply rub a small amount of coconut oil around your cuticles to soften dry areas.
• Deodorant: Applying a small amount of coconut oil directly onto your armpits can help keep odors at bay, courtesy of the oil’s antibacterial properties. If you prefer, you can add a small amount of baking soda, or make a homemade deodorant using coconut oil, baking soda and arrow root powder. For directions, see the second video above. DeliciousObsessions.com also lists additional deodorant recipes using coconut oil as the base.
• Bath soak: Adding coconut oil to your bath can help moisturize dry itchy skin. (Make sure to scrub your tub afterward to prevent slipping!). Make sure the water is warmer than 76 degrees Fahrenheit though, otherwise the oil will turn to a solid.
• Soap: Coconut oil is one of the base ingredients in many homemade soap recipes, such as this one by NourishingJoy.com
• Lip balm: You can either apply a small amount of coconut oil, as is, or make your own lip balm using coconut oil as one of the base ingredients. You can find all sorts of recipes online, but here’s one by The Liberated Kitchen.
• Toothpaste: Mixed with baking soda, coconut oil can replace your regular toothpaste. The baking soda will gently cleanse while the coconut oil’s antibacterial action may help keep harmful bacteria in check. For recipes using essential oils to spruce up your toothpaste, see DeliciousObsessions.com.
• Insect repellent: Mixing coconut oil with high quality essential oils may help keep biting insects at bay when applied to exposed skin. Effective choices include: peppermint, lemon balm, rosemary, tea tree oil, neem, citronella (Java Citronella), geraniol, catnip oil (according to one study, catnip oil is 10 times more effective than DEET), and/or clear vanilla extract.

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

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

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