Archive for Fats

Got Impotence or Wrinkles? You’re a Sugar Burner. Plus, Nutritional Therapy Weekend

October 12, 2013 / / Comments Off on Got Impotence or Wrinkles? You’re a Sugar Burner. Plus, Nutritional Therapy Weekend

debbie (23)Does your body burn fat all day, or does it burn sugar/glucose all day?  That TOTALLY depends on your diet.  And I’m not talking about the Old Fashioned Conventional Wisdom Diet: eat low-fat, low-cal, and exercise a ton.  That diet is a Sugar Burning Diet;  there’s too much hard scientific research now showing that if we’re Sugar Burners, we’re setting ourselves up for disease, pain, and weight gain. Oh yeah, and Impotence and Wrinkles.  Who wants those??  Here’s what’s going on:

When you eat Carbohydrates ( pasta, fruit, starchy veggies, ALL GRAINS, beans, and skim milk products), your body breaks them down to GLUCOSE/SUGAR.  When your blood stream ( where all the glucose goes after digestion) becomes OVER full of glucose (easy, because it doesn’t take much), much of the EXCESS carbs are converted to Triglycerides, (a fat), and deposited in your fat cells.  IF ONLY THIS WERE THE EXTENT OF THOSE DARN EXCESS CARBS.  Fatness.  But it’s not….  When excess sugar is consumed, it takes the body a while to clear it from the blood stream back down to “normal” levels (80-100mg).  During that time, the excess sugar is literally wrecking havoc on your brain, your joints, your immune system, your mood, your organs, your nerve cells, and your blood vessels.  The damage accumulates slowly, but it’s happening.  100% guarantee.

What about the Impotence and Wrinkles?  When your blood sugar is chronically high, which is typical if you eat the Standard American Diet ( 5-6 meals of grains, sugars, and “low fat” foods), glucose is allowed to linger in the blood too long.  This give the Sugar/Glucose molecules the opportunity to attach to proteins ( in the blood, or on the body, like the cells lining your blood vessels, brain, joints, or skin, for example).  When this happens, it’s called an Advanced Glycated Endproduct (AGE); here’s where, Bad Stuff happens.   Cells in your Blood Vessels are unable to produce Nitric Oxide, and blood flow is impeded.  There’s your Impotence.

When it happens in the skin, the AGE’s attach to the protein Collagen; stiffness and lack of blood flow, and clumps of debris cause: wrinkles, inflammation, inhibited skin cell growth, liver spots, and general “accelerated aging”.

It always comes down to TOO MUCH SUGAR.  What if you don’t eat sugar?  What if you’re not bowl of pastaoverweight?  If you’re eating any amount of Carbohydrate ( whole grains/ whole wheat/flour products, or beans) they’re digested down to GLUCOSE/SUGAR. Period.  Each time/every time/all the time.  Our body breaks food down to it’s barest molecules. Always. You don’t need to eat “sugar” to have sugar in the blood.  Read above sentence.

Okay, back to Impotence and Wrinkles: they’re bad.  No one wants them.  But we’ve also got the fact that if you have elevated sugar/glucose in your blood, your body WON’T pull fat from your FAT STORES to burn for energy.  Even if you’re working out.  Sugar’s toxic, the body needs to clear it ASAP;  fat’s NOT toxic, so the body converts the excess sugar to fat and stores it.

Am I convincing you yet that you need to give up your bread and pasta?  Are you addicted??  Here’s a little clip from a show called Portlandia;  it’s about Pasta Addiction, and it’s maybe one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.  You might relate.

I’m at a hotel for 3 days during my Nutritional Therapy Weekend, so I want to post my meals and workouts.

Yesterday: No Workout:(  Left the house too early and had to do homework first.

Paul Newman Coffee w Raw Cream
B – Smoothie w/beets/blueberries/whey protein/coconut flakes
L – (packed) chicken breast, apple, coconut butter w cocoa powder (see my last post for recipe)
D – (cooked in room on a plug in frying pan) 2 chicken thighs, fatty broth, chopped cabbage and cauliflower w curry powder (I’d put this in a baggie before I left home)  2 celery sticks with cauliflower hummus

I’m off to the gym now, but I don’t want to leave you thinking: damn, I’m in trouble.  A lot of damage can be reversed, honestly.  Start eating Real Whole Food Fats (they’re healthy), cut way down on your carbs (especially flours/grains and sugars), include healthy proteins and tons of vegetables, cook, pack, and practice paying attention to your food.  Read Practical Paleo or Grain Brain or any of the great “how to eat books and why” that are out there.  It’s never too late!    Let me know how you’re doing:)

Category: Carbs, Fats, Sugar / Tags: , , , , ,

Why I Eat Fat, and an Apology to my Husband

October 10, 2013 / / Comments Off on Why I Eat Fat, and an Apology to my Husband

debbie (44)Our country, and much of the world, is suffering from an epidemic of obesity, all matters of disease, and mental/neurological problems.  I just finished reading an article in the Atlantic that blames the cause of these issues on fat,  “..science is, in fact, fairly straightforward. Fat carries more than twice as many calories as carbohydrates and proteins do per gram, which means just a little fat can turn a serving of food into a calorie bomb.”   OMG.  This is 2013, and that’s not what the science is saying AT ALL.  But this is exactly the kind of thinking that’s gotten us into this weight/health/mental disorder mess.  Just because fat has twice as many calories, doesn’t mean it’s the CAUSE of our current condition. The lowfat/lowcal/”healthy whole grain” paradigm is exactly what’s caused the current condition.  Body fat wasn’t a problem at all before the current recommendations were put into place and became a Public Mantra.

FACTS:  Our brain is 60% fat; our connections, our memories, our ability to quickly recall details, they go AWAY when there’s not enough good fat and cholesterol in the diet.  Science proves this, read Grain Brain, by neurologist David Perlmutter.
Our hormones?  Testosterone, Estrogen, Cortisol, all the steroid hormones ( there’s a bunch), they’re made from FAT and cholesterol, it’s part of the recipe.   Vitamin D?  (of which there’s a serious deficit),  it’s made from Cholesterol.  Science proves this, read Cholesterol Clarity. 28 doctors and lipid scientists fill the pages with the latest research.cholesterol clarity

The fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E, and K?  They can only be absorbed in the small intestine WITH FAT.  Science/proof/read The Great Cholesterol Myth by Drs. Jonny Bowden and Stephen Sinatra.

Want to feel full, and stay full for HOURS?  Eat fat. Want to feel more stable, less moody, less scattered, less forgetful?  Eat fat.  The science proves this, read the Mood Cure by Julia Ross.

Here’s the real science:  when you eat carbs, and put your blood sugar above 100mg/dcl of blood, insulin takes that EXCESS and turns much of it into TRIGLYCERIDES, which need little LDL boats to transport them to our torso area. Current Science:  excess carbs = high insulin= inflammation & triglycerides & high LDLs.  That’s the science.

I’ve eaten more fat in the past two years than I think I have cumulatively my entire life.  For the first time in years and years, my binges and cravings are pretty much gone.  It’s like a thousand pound weight off my shoulder.  I’ve eaten less refined/processed/ healthy whole grain carbs than ever too.  What a WONDERFUL combination.  High fat, medium protein, low carb, with my carb sources being vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds.  It’s such a relief to NOT feel preoccupied with thoughts of food, or the next meal.

My weight:  totally stable.  My moods, better than ever.  My fitness level, great.

Confession to my husband:  when you came home last night and said “I smell bacon! Did you save me some?” and I said, “oh hon, there were only 3 pieces, and I ate them.”  There were 6 pieces, and I actually did cook some for you, but I was talking on the phone with Lynda and just ended up eating them all. They were so good.  I’m Sorry!! There will be bacon for you tonight I promise!

We get our bacon from our local IGA, and they’ve been buying a “forested pig” and doing their own curing.  I never knew how much a pig’s diet could change the flavor of the meat, but this is AMAZING.  There’s plenty of places that are doing this now, try www.eatlocal.org to find a place near you.

Let me leave you with a recipe for my favorite treat, chocolate coconut discs; but first, why coconut?  Coconut has enormous anti-viral/anti-bacterial properties, huge.  Seriously, put it on a cut or a cold sore and watch what happens.  It does the same with bacteria and virus that make it past the skin or mouth.  It’s also a Medium Chain Fatty Acid, which means it digests VERY easily, and is mostly used for energy very quickly, as opposed to stored.  It’s being very successfully used in Alzheimer’s and dementia studies right now, for actually REVERSING the conditions; but I like to think about it’s ability to PREVENT the conditions.  I make sure mygirls in richmond kids get coconut flakes, butter, or oil every day. It’s a pretty potent superfood.  Now for my recipe:  I melt a couple tablespoons of coconut butter/oil in a small round, glass bowl.  I add a tablespoon of cocoa powder, and a few drops of liquid stevia.  Stir, and freeze.  I have to let it sit on the counter for a few minutes to pop it out.  This is DELICIOUS, and incredibly filling.

Eating well is delicious.  Real Whole Foods taste amazing.  I’m not talking about steamed veggies and lean proteins.  That’s boring and unsatisfying; no one can stick with that forever!  But delicious meats and vegetables covered with butter, olive oil, and cheese? Or sauteed in coconut oil?  Even kids like that – and it’s good for them, and you too.

Tired of feeling tired, or sick, or unable to lose the weight?  Try a different way of thinking.  Try a different way of eating.  Just try it.  Get in touch with me if you have questions.  I promise, there is a better way. Don’t be scared to try it.

Category: Carbs, Fats, RWF /

Cholesterol Clarity Book Review

September 19, 2013 / / Comments Off on Cholesterol Clarity Book Review

debbie (44)Switch Your Metabolism Class: set for Mondays: Oct 7,14,21, 6 – 7:30;  and Wednesdays: Oct 9,16,23, 1 – 2:30.  The goal: to teach you how to be a Fat Burner and not a Sugar Burner.  We’ll cover the Paleo Diet, Digestion, Blood Sugar (you HAVE to understand your biology to lose weight and get healthy), Ketosis, Power Cooking, Compliance Strategies and much more.  The class will be held at the Marshall Community Center (4133A Rectortown Rd, Marshall Va), which is right off Rt 17 and Rt 66 – it’s easy to get to.  The total cost: $100.  My goal:  to help you understand that your weight and your health are a matter of your Biology, not a low cal/low fat diet that never works, ever; and that you have the Power to change yourself.  Email me if you can attend.  Phone and Skype sessions are available if you’re long distance.

 

I’m just about finished the book, Cholesterol Clarity.  If you’re at all interested in your cholesterol or your heart health, you should read it. (In Nutritional Therapy School, one of our basic tenants is “the health of the Heart reflects the health of the Body”.)  Jimmy Moore interviews 28 Cardiovascular experts and Lipids experts (scientists who study fat), all who are on the cutting edge of today’s science, and they really blow the roof off of common MISconceptions still championed by most doctors today. (By the way, his website, livinlavidalowcarb has the BEST podcasts!!)

Here’s some quotes from the book:  “The way the body transports fats and cholesterol into thecholesterol clarity body is really interesting bc it doesn’t go directly into the bloodstream from the gut.  Instead, much of it gets shipped through the lymph nodes and it arrives right at the big vein that goes into the heart.  Basically, it wants to direct cholesterol and fat toward the heart to give it first dibs.”  Stephanie Seneff, PhD, Senior MIT Research Scientist.   Did God make a mistake here?  Nope.

“We have this issue of cholesterol being the number-one cause of heart disease in the eyes of most of my cardiologist colleagues.  That would have some merit if it was 1963.”  Dr. William Davis, Cardiologist and Asst Professor of Medicine, check him out at WheatBellyBlog.com.

“The idea of cholesterol being dangerous has become such a deep part of our culture that it is now automatically synonymous with cardio-metabolic risk.  Until we make a change in our thinking about cholesterol, it will be difficult to convince people.  And frankly, you’ve got to first convince a lot of medical providers to shift those particular terms bc we can’t seem to get away from the idea that cholesterol is the bad guy.” Dr. Philip Blair, you can check him out at SpaceDoc.com/Blair_Phillip_MD

“We’ve long known that atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease. In the absence of inflammation or injury to the endothelial cell, the cholesterol would never go through the arterial wall and it would never stay there.”   Dr. Dwight Lundell, TheCureForHeartDisease.net.

“Over the past decade we have found that cholesterol causality is nothing but a massive con job organized by Big Pharma.  Cholesterol has nothing to do with atherosclerosis, which helps to explain why, in over half of new heart attacks, the cholesterol levels are normal or well below normal.  Dr. Duane Graveline  SpaceDoc.com (different from Dr. Blair).

Remember, every single cell in our body produces cholesterol.  It’s an antioxidant, a healing molecule, and comprises part of all our sex hormones, Vitamin D, and much of our brain.  Again, cholesterol is NOT a big accident by God.  We need it for health and survival and vitality.

I could go on and on, but I hope you’ll take the ball and run with it because (one more quote):

“The population will become split between the smart and the dumb.  The smart ones will begin taking their health into their own hands bc they’re already seeing that what we are doing is not working.  Our diet is not working bc 70% of us are overweight and obese, we have 29 million diabetics and 75 million more prediabetics.  People are realizing that what we’re doing is not working and they are looking for other ways.  That’s where do-it-yourself healthcare and self-monitoring will become norm.”  Dr. Dwight Lundell.

This might be my favorite quote, because this is what I’m all about – being responsible for your own health.  Our doctors are great, but science is constantly evolving and current science on fat and cholesterol has debunked several invalid medical “truths”.  We especially can’t count on Big Pharma, which is a business who’s primary goal is to make money.  The statin drugs alone bring in more than 29 BILLION in profits.  Do you really think that Big Pharma’s going to halt their push to educate doctors and the public that cholesterol is dangerous and we need to lower it?

The take-away:  Eat a diet that’s really good for your cholesterol, and see your weight and all other health markers improve.  Ditch the “healthy whole grains”, starchy carbs and sugars,  and move to a Real Whole Foods diet of clean meats, healthy fats, tons of vegetables, some fruits, some nuts and seeds, and some whole dairy (if your stomach says yes).  This is a diet that lowers inflammation, improves mental focus, lowers insulin and glucose values, is anti-cancer, and puts you at your healthy weight.

paleodietcavemanFat and cholesterol don’t make you fat and unhealthy, GLUCOSE (from flours and sugars) and INSULIN (the hormone that gets glucose out of the bloodstream), TRANS FATS, and TOXIC CHEMICALS  drive Inflammation, Obesity, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Alzheimer’s, and every disease out there.

Every bite matters.  Food either helps us or hurts us, there is no “neutral” food; our body breaks it all down to it’s barest nutrients and they all have either a positive or negative effect.  Your foods break down to become YOU.

In the Switch Your Metabolism class we’ll be talking a lot about glucose and insulin, and how to track it using glucometers.  It’s important to know how your body reacts to fruit, dairy, coffee/tea, starches, etc.  It’s the only way to go from being a Sugar Burner to a Fat Burner. We’ll also be exploring Ketosis, and if that’s a state you should aim for.  Hope to see you there!

Category: Fats /

Diets Never Work!

September 17, 2013 / / Comments Off on Diets Never Work!

debbie (27)Switch Your Metabolism Class set for Mondays: Oct 7,14,21, 6 – 7:30;  and Wednesdays: Oct 9,16,23, 1 – 2:30.  The goal: to teach you how to be a Fat Burner and not a Sugar Burner.  We’ll cover the Paleo Diet, Digestion, Blood Sugar (you HAVE to understand your biology to lose weight and get healthy), Ketosis, Power Cooking, Compliance Strategies and much more.  The class will be held at the Marshall Community Center (4133A Rectortown Rd, Marshall Va), which is right off Rt 17 and Rt 66 – it’s easy to get to.  The total cost: $100.  My goal:  to help you understand that your weight and your health are a matter of your Biology, not a low cal/low fat diet that never works, ever; and that you have the Power to change yourself.  Email me if you can attend.  Phone and Skype sessions are available if you’re long distance.

I got another Sad Monday/Full of Regret email.  I understand.  I really do.  For years and years I thought there was only two ways of eating:  being really good and having lots of vegetables and protein,  or binging/indulging/having fun/treating myself w ice cream, pizza, and whatever else I wanted.   It was born out of the “Cheat Meal” idea that originated about 15 years ago on the Body For Life program, and has since been picked up and advocated by just about every diet program out there.  After all, if you want people to buy your books or products, you need to wave some incentives in their face.   There’s nothing normal about eating this way, and wow, can it make you crazy.

For me, every Monday showed a 5 or 6 pound weight gain that I worked til Wednesday to get off, I could be incredibly strict; Thursday’s were fine, and Friday morning I would start looking forward to the upcoming Food Party. What a disaster.  That’s the Diet Roller Coaster in full swing, and a terrible way to live.

Now, I just eat normal, it’s such a relief.  You can be a normal eater too – Honest.

Here’s the problem.  Big Food, Big Pharma, and Big Advertising have all seduced us into thinking that we can “KEEP THE BINGE AND LOSE THE BULGE” , in other words, Diet Ice Cream, Diet Chips, Diet Soda, Diet Food, Diet Pills,  etc, can help you lose weight and balance that scale.  It’s. Not. True.  All we need to do is look at the statistics: almost 100% of EVERYONE who loses weight on a diet gains it back, and statistically, most people gain back more than they lost.  How does that happen, (and why put yourself through that?)?

Diet foods ruin your liver, your thyroid and other hormones; they’re often loaded with refined carbs that spike your blood glucose and insulin, they contain chemicals that cause sugar rollercoastercancer/hyperactivity/gut issues and more, and they stimulate areas in your brain that MAKE YOU WANT TO EAT MORE.  There goes any opportunity to be a “normal eater”.  That’s what a “product” is created and designed to do; a business is selling them and they want you to buy more so that they make money.  And it works, doesn’t it?  The Diet Industry is a multi-billion dollar business, but their success isn’t translating to our success.  Just the opposite.  The more we Diet, the heavier and sicker we become, and not just us, but the whole world.  For the first time ever, overweight people outnumber underweight people.  American children’s lifespan is predicted to be shorter from now on.  We can change this!!

We can focus on our Health, and watch weight loss be a side effect.  We can quit buying the products and the programs and instead focus on our: gut, our blood sugar levels, our thyroid hormones, our sex hormones, our adrenal hormones, our heart, our liver, our brain(and weight loss will be a side effect).  We can focus on eating foods that build our body, not contaminate it or destroy it.  Eat Real Whole Foods three times a day.  Get plenty of good fats, good proteins, and tons of vegetables, some nuts and seeds, some fruit, and some whole fat dairy if your stomach tolerates it.  Eat normal sized meals, with some dark chocolate or a homemade treat here and there.  What if you were so satisfied that you DIDN’T look forward to the weekend or any other day or event  to over-indulge because you eat so well every day?  What if your BRAIN was completely satisfied and not screaming at you to FIND MORE FOOD?

paleo magHave you checked out my “what I’m eating today” page?  I eat 3 fairly big meals a day, and I try to make sure I have plenty of fat in each meal.  Not just because fats contain so many nutrients, but because I LOVE not being hungry. Honestly, after years of chronic hunger, not dreaming about the next meal is such a pleasure.  Still scared of fat?  You’ve been mislead.  Fat doesn’t make you fat, it doesn’t go right to your butt or arteries; that’s not how our body works.  Foods get digested down to their barest molecules in your stomach and small intestine, and then those molecules get sent various places in your body to do jobs.  However, eat chemicals, trans fats, sugars, and flours, and all kinds of disaster happens.  (If you have a Diet Product in your house right now, go read the label.). And nothing dictates fat deposition more than Blood Sugar (this will be a big focus in the Strategies class).  Empower yourself, eat Real Whole Food, and change your life.

 

Category: Fats, RWF /

You Make Yourself Either a Fat Burner, or a Sugar Burner

September 13, 2013 / / Comments Off on You Make Yourself Either a Fat Burner, or a Sugar Burner

absWant to be a fat burner instead of a sugar burner?  Sugar burners just use the glucose/sugar that’s always in their blood stream.  Fat burners metabolize and use their fat stores.  You’re either one or the other, and you’ve trained your body to be whichever it is.  If you’ve been living by a “calorie in / calorie out” paradigm, you’re probably a sugar burner.  If you’ve been keeping your intake of sugar and flours low, and letting hours pass between meals, you’re mostly likely a fat burner.

Here’s an idea I’d love to ingrain in everyone’s head: ”  a calorie is not a calorie is not a calorie. ”   What’s that mean?  All calories are not equal.  If you’ve been struggling with your weight, starving on a low-fat/low-cal diet, exercising your heart out, and not seeing permanent, positive results, this is the reason why. When we eat meat, or fat, or vegetables, or grains, or processed, refined foods(PRFs), our body breaks them down to their barest nutrients and metabolizes them in completely different ways.  These nutrients all have completely different effects on our body.  Letting a number be your guide, as in 1400 calories a day, or 1800 calories a day, etc, is futile.   Losing weight and getting healthy are about the foods we eat and the hormone responses they induce.  The whole “if I don’t eat much, maybe I’ll burn my fat stores” theory – Un.True.   If you don’t eat much, your thyroid will turn down the metabolic rate of your entire body, and muscle will be burned BEFORE fat will.

But I digress.  What happens to the different foods/calories?

Protein is broken down to amino acids and used for building and repair. Examples: building brain neurotransmitters, building hormones, building enzymes, building muscle cells, building bacteria and yeast (yes, they’re protein).

Fat is broken down to fatty acids and used for building and energy. Examples:  building the brain (60% of your brain is fat), building the heart ( which is riddled with fat), building your hormones,  building connective tissue, generating electrical currents, building the immune system, building nerves, building bone (marrow), etc etc.  It’s also several organs favorite food: the heart, the muscles, and the liver, all prefer fatty acids over glucose.

Carbohydrates are broken down to glucose and fructose; glucose is used for a tiiinnny bitoatmeal of the bodies energy needs, and…. nothing else.  Carbs don’t build or repair anything.   As a matter of fact, an adult can only store about 500 grams or so of carbohydrate;  the same adult can store several several thousand grams of fat; this is why our body ( the liver) turns excess carbs into fat.  High levels of glucose/carb in the blood are dangerous; excess glucose causes big damage. When our body converts that into fat, it’s actually doing us a favor ( hmmmm…).

If you read the last post on Fructose, you know that Fructose, another sugar molecule, is just as harmful as Glucose.  Fructose can’t be burned or stored at all. Period.  It has to be converted immediately in the liver into something else:  Fat.  Actually, an assortment of fats:  free fatty acids, triglycerides, and VLDLs (very low density lipoproteins, the baaaad cholesterol). Fats our body makes from glucose and fructose tend to be stored, but not before they’re carried through the body by either the caustic, damaging hormone Insulin (which carries glucose), or the prone to oxidation triglyceride carrier, VLDL.  Hello Inflammation!

So besides making us fat, Glucose and Fructose damage our organs, arteries, liver, eyes, and brain. only remember after weightlossBack to my above comment:  low-fat/low-cal diets cause Muscle to be burned before Fat.  Here’s what I mean in simple words:  Muscle cells are metabolically active, they take a lot of calories to sustain.  Fat cells are much less metabolically active, and take far less calories to sustain.  When the body perceives a lack of nutrients, it gets rid of the cells that use up the most nutrients first in an effort to save itself.  That’s our muscle cells.  That’s why when you go on a low calorie diet, you can PERMANENTLY down regulate your metabolism.  Not a good idea, and one that leads to a never ending pattern of cutting calories, slowing down your metabolism, cutting more calories, slowing down your metabolism.   Does this make sense?

This brings me all the way back to the beginning:  want to be a sugar burner, or a fat burner?  Want to gain muscle or lose muscle?  Want to have healthy hormones, and a strong immune system?  It’s your food, it’s the nutrients.  It’s not the calories.  This is going to be the focus of my Weight Loss Strategies class.  Hope you can make it!

Category: Carbs, Fats, Sugar /

You Have The Power To Change Yourself!

September 9, 2013 / / Comments Off on You Have The Power To Change Yourself!

youshouldtryeatingfoodI’ve got to stick with my cooking and packing theme for another day, after all, it’s one of the biggest topics I get emailed about.  More than anything, I want to convince you all that your health and weight aren’t the result of not enough pharmaceuticals or diet foods, but the end product of your everyday food choices and lifestyle habits.  You Have So Much Power to Change Yourself!!!

I love all the new Paleo/ Real Whole Food recipe sites out there, and the Cookbooks that go with them are amazing (although I ONLY use the internet for my recipes).  HOWEVER……  between the FoodNetwork, Food TV shows, the Cooking Channel, internet recipes, and food magazine covers and recipes, there’s this HUGE MISPERCEPTION that to make great food, you need to invest time, money, and a lot of effort.  You. Don’t.

I rarely ever, ever, ever, make a “recipe” in the past couple of years.  I don’t really need to anymore.  I did when I cooked lowfat/lowcal, because you need a LOT of tricks to make bland, fatless food taste good, but that’s just not necessary when you use Real Whole Food with Fat Attached.  Honestly.    All the years of combing through chicken recipes, (I have one old cookbook called “1,000 Chicken Recipes”) , marinating the chicken, coating it, sauteing it, blahblahblahblah, and sometimes it still came out tough and dry.  Now I buy bone in/ FAT ON chicken, pop it in the oven on 400 for 40 minutes with salt and pepper, and it comes out lovefoodnotgetfatperfect EVERY SINGLE TIME.  I slow roast meats with the “fat up”, with salt and pepper, and it comes out perfect every single time.  I cook fatty lamb sausage, or pork and venison sausage, and don’t drain off all the fat, and it comes out perfect every single time.  Vegetables??  Top liberally with butter or olive oil, salt and pepper, and some hard grated cheese – it’s perfect every single time.  I cut up potatoes or spaghetti squash, top with butter and cheese – everyone loves it. Kids eat vegetables when they have butter and cheese on them!!

My point:  we’ve been corrupted by decades of low fat thinking and cooking.  Good food isn’t hard, and it doesn’t need to be time consuming – recipes aren’t necessary.  Real food mixes perfectly with good butter ( get some Kerrygold – it’s grassfed and sold everywhere), or good olive oil ( get extra-virgin, first cold pressed),  good hard cheese, salt and pepper, and that’s good enough.  Quit stressing yourself out that you’re not Martha Stewart or Giada. You don’t need to be.

Still worried about the fat?  Please, go over my fat and cholesterol posts.  Fat is GOOD for us; our body needs cholesterol; these are necessary nutrients, and best of all, they’re satiating.  Repeat this:  Real fats don’t make me fat; processed, refined carbs do.   Eat Real Whole Foods, including fats, and you’ll feel full and satisfied.  This is in opposition to eating processed, refined, or (most)restaurant foods:  they’re full of sugar/flour/chemicals/and transfats that stimulate your brain into wanting more, and damage your liver, your immune  and your digestive system.

succsmorningStill worried because you’ve built such a high wall between yourself and cooking?  Don’t be.  Keep wrapping your mind around this new point of view: “Fat is good; cooking is relaxing; I can do this.”  That said, use the cookbooks/recipe sites/magazines if you want to, I’m just saying don’t be intimidated or fooled into thinking complex, lengthy recipes are the only way to make a good meal because they’re not.  Cook enough and pretty soon you’ll be comfortable taking what ever’s in your fridge and throwing it in the pan, adding a few herbs / spices and having it come out wonderful.  Here’s what I’ve been making all summer:  in a frying pan, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.  Cook down.  Add a meat and some grated parmesan, and  Wa La! it’s perfect.

Here’s something else we’ve done a hundred times this summer:  eggplant or zucchini pizza.  Cut zucchini into round discs, about 3/4 inch thick, or slice a medium zucchini length wise. Spread tomatoes or tomato sauce on, top with crumbled meat, some veggies, and plenty of mozarella, bake at 425 for 20 minutes.  It’s delicious.

This weekend we went to visit one of our daughters at her college and attended a 3:30 football game (Oregon is AMAZING!), we packed our lunch and ate in the parking lot: a shredded roast from 2 weeks ago that we got out of the freezer before we left, and some raw vegetables.  No, it wasn’t gourmet and it wasn’t even that delicious. It was just healthy food that filled us up. But we were going out to dinner and didn’t need to over-indulge.  We were fine and that was even after a big leg workout for both of us that morning.

A lot of changing your weight and changing your health will rest on changing your view of meg:reese:careating and cooking.  Real Whole Foods are delicious; they can also be simple and fast.  Not every meal needs to be a culinary experience, but every meal SHOULD nurture your body and satisfy your mind.  Real Whole Foods do that; processed, refined foods do neither.

Details on Weight Loss Strategies Classes coming tomorrow.  This Class will focus on Food/Biology/ and the How-To’s of permanent weight loss, which is a combination of Real Whole Food and Positive Thoughts and Attitudes.  Food is everything, but if you can’t break your self-defeating habits, thoughts, and patterns, you’re sunk.  We’ll fix that!

This last picture is my sweet Reese and oldest daughter Megan.  Talk about a positive image!

Category: Cooking, Fats, RWF /

Testosterone, Cholesterol, Willpower, and Digestion

September 6, 2013 / / Comments Off on Testosterone, Cholesterol, Willpower, and Digestion

rosie the riviterI’ve got a Friday Round-up of Topics, none of which seem connected, but since all of them have to do with health, weight, and mood, or in other words, our well-being, they are:)

First, I’ve had a few questions about Male Testosterone.  Hormones are a VERY complex subject, it’s not cut and dried like diabetes T2, which is easy; so I don’t have great, definitive explanations, but I do have some information.

Testosterone levels are decreasing – drastically – WORLDWIDE.  They’ve literally plummeted in the last 20 years.  The CDC says the average middle aged man now has the testosterone levels of a much older man from 20 years ago.  Babies, boys, teenagers, and young men ALL test lower.  This has DRAMATIC consequences, as low testosterone causes:  triglycerides and small, dense, cholesterol to increase;  coronary artery dilation diminishes (= high blood pressure); insulin output increases; central abdominal fat increases; ESTROGEN levels increase (associated w more stroke, heart attack, and cancer); blood becomes sticker/more fibrinogenic; decreased HGH (human growth hormone); less bone mass and more bone fractures.  I could go on, as this is a VERY short list.  The links between low T and brain health ( or lack there-of) are HUGE.  The whole “oh, too much testosterone makes men violent and crazy” – that’s not happening here, at all.  We’re talking about the average man being way below normal.  Did you know the human heart has more testosterone receptors than any muscle in the whole body???

If your testosterone is low, PLEASE, find a good doctor WHO SPECIALIZES IN HORMONES, preferably someone who thinks outside the Standard Box, and get help.  Try PrimalDocs, or PaleoPhysicians, or FunctionalMedicine.org for starters.  Dr. Eugene Shippen has a great book called The Testosterone Syndrome.  Here’s a GREAT podcast which contains a ton of information on testosterone by Dr. Ty Vincent.

Become informed and take charge of your own health.  Learn as much as you can, no matter what you’re dealing with.

Next up, more cholesterol news:  Jimmy Moore’s Cholesterol Clarity Book is finally out and it’s FANTASTIC.  He interviews 29 MAJOR experts in cholesterol, lipids/fats, and heart disease – literally the cream of the crop and the most breaking of breaking news.  He’s running interviews of these researchers and doctors on his podcasts, and here’s one from MIT lead researcher, Dr. Stephanie Seneff – this is a MUST listen to if you’re interested in your health.

Read, listen, learn:  become Invested, Involved, and In Charge of your OWN health.

Switching gears again,  did you know your brain uses more energy when you’re doing something you don’t like/don’t want to, i.e., exerting WillPower, than when doing anything else?? Isn’t that interesting?  The problem with that?  You can feel exhausted and weak;  in other words, using WillPower leaves you more vulnerable to falling off any wagon you’re on.  Obviously, WillPower can be used for many things: work, shopping, being lazy, procrastinating, exercising, etc, but I’m referring to healthy eating habits.   Want to use LESS willpower?  Fill your mind with Biological Facts about food, nutrition and your body!  It’s SO MUCH easier to make healthy choices when your decisions are guided by facts and not feelings.  This goes back to me saying make Health your priority, as opposed to Weight Loss.  If you think processed, refined foods are the devil, you won’t eat them.  If you just think they’re kind of high in calories, but you can make-up for that later, you’re sunk.

Lastly:  if you’ve been to any of my talks, you know that I love to talk about Digestion; specifically, that the pH of our stomach should be between 1.5 and 3.5, which means HIGHLY ACIDIC.  This is optimal because the acidity of our stomach is a line of immune defense against bacteria, virus, and pathogens, and because that high acid triggers digestive hormones and enzymes to break down our food to the barest little molecules for our body to use.  Gas, bloat, GERD, reflux – these are all signs of NOT ENOUGH ACID as opposed to too much.  Seriously.  If you’re on an acid suppressor, you’re in trouble.  I do long talks on this, but quickly,  know that if your stomach has INsufficient acid, you’re not getting the nutrients you need from your food, no matter how great your diet is.  Also, the parietal cells that produce the acid also produce Intrinsic Factor, which is the ONLY thing that allows our body to use Vitamin B12.  Low/No B12 means HIGH homocysteine.  High homocysteine is a leading factor in Heart Disease.     Low stomach acid also means minerals like Zinc are much LESS available;  zinc is a major mineral needed for Testosterone production.    Low stomach also also inhibits proteins from breaking down to Amino Acids.  Amino Acids are CRUCIAL for building Neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, GABA, etc) which promote good brain function – like having plenty of WillPower.

We’re not just a bunch of independent symptoms.  We’re a Whole Part.  Start thinking of your health and your body as Completely Connected, because it is.  Any questions?

Category: Fats, RWF /

Consistency and Mindset are the Keys; and Tips

September 5, 2013 / / Comments Off on Consistency and Mindset are the Keys; and Tips

woman eating chocolateHere’s an email I think several will relate to:

” Dear Debbie,

I can’t seem to stick to a Real Whole Foods Diet for more than 5 days, I just get so hungry, and my favorite foods aren’t the Real Whole Foods you talk about.  I don’t want to eat raw eggs and cream also grosses me out.  But I need to lose weight and I’ve tried several other diets.  I just got diagnosed as Pre-Diabetic, and because of your blog, I know enough to be worried.  Any advice?”

YES I have advice!!!  It’s all about your Mindset, and your Mindset allows you to either be Consistent (no matter what), or “be good”/”be bad” ( the Diet Rollercoaster – because you’ll make up for what you ate later…..).

When consistency is difficult, work on your MIND.  Fill it with facts and information about Biology Based Nutrition:  excess carbs ALWAYS get turned into Triglycerides; fried foods from restaurants use RANCID oils that cause disease and weight gain; people who drink Skim Milk are HEAVIER than people who drink Whole; Insulin from carbohydrates and Trans Fats from junk food and restaurant food DESTROY arteries and my body has to build plaque to fix it; excess glucose and insulin have Mood Destroying Effects; if I eat ________, I’ll have gas/bloat/refulx – and that’s not normal and it’s causing damage to my gut; if I stop at Starbucks and get the candy coffee and the sweet (lowfat?) treat, I’m causing a MAJOR glucose/insulin rise. If I add MORE good FATS to my meal, I’ll stay Fuller LONGER and have more willpower to skip the snacks.  ETC ETC ETC.

Here’s a good one to meditate on:  there’s NO fixing a day or two of damage that happens every single week or worse, every few days.  You Have to get off the Diet Rollercoaster, and you can only do that by working on the Mindset that gives you permission to put junk in your body (because you’re going to atone for it later) and learning to be scared/leery/wary/anxious about the HEALTH effects of processed/refined sugar/flour/chemical foods.

Worrying about your Weight is NEVER EVER enough to keep you on the straight and narrow, oh you drink diet soda?ever.  If it was, 95-99% of all people who lose weight on a “diet”, wouldn’t GAIN IT ALL BACK.  Focus on what happens to your body from the food you put in your mouth, and if you have kids, think about what their food is doing to their body.

Our Mood, our weight, our health, they’re all the result of the ACCUMULATION of actions we do every single day.  Being “pretty good” half the week or most of the week can lead to “pretty bad” health, weight, and moods.  Next time you drink that diet coke, eat the McDonalds french fries, have half the box of carby cereal, run through the list of what those foods/chemicals/carbs/trans fats are doing to your body; it’s not a pretty picture.

Focus on Real Whole Foods:  clean meats, healthy fats, tons of vegetables, some fruits, some nuts and seeds, some beans, some good dairy (if you tolerate it).  Practice going hours between meals to allow Insulin to cease (fat storing hormone), and Glucagon to work (fat burning hormone).  Recognize food for the power that it holds over you, and the power that it has to change you.

And to the person who wrote this email:  you’re on the Right Track – because you’ve made the connection between the Diet Roller Coaster, your pre-diabetes, and eating Real Whole Food for more than 5 days!!  That’s a GOOD thing – so don’t be upset with yourself! The mindset that will get you health and at a good weight sounds like it’s developing.  Be patient with yourself and just keep working on it.  Rome wasn’t built in a day and you want PERMANENT change here, right?

me sprintingHere’s where I’d focus:  keep reading this blog and links to other blogs that talk about the BIOLOGY of your food and your body.  Stay away from Diet/Low Cal/Exercise a Ton examples of weight loss, as a matter of fact, TRY TO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT WEIGHT LOSS, just focus on your health and your mood.  Put sticky notes with positive reminders (‘my health matters’  ‘I want to feel good all the time’  ‘consistency matters’ ..)   all over the place (mirror, bedside lamp, computer, car, desk,…) .  What are your favorite foods?  Find the corresponding REAL whole food recipes (PaleoOMG, CivilizedCavemanCooking, StupidEasyPaleo) and PLAN a time to shop/chop/cook/pack (after it becomes Normal, it’s not an Effort).  Write a list of your health conditions (include mood)  and what foods can help improve them.  Commit to your Health, and Weight Loss will be a SideEffect – I promise.

Category: Carbs, Cooking, Fats, Food Additives, Psychology of Eating, RWF /

Hormones Rule – So Every Bite Matters

September 4, 2013 / / Comments Off on Hormones Rule – So Every Bite Matters

guy:dog reading paperHave you been able to read my posts in the past week and a half on fat and cholesterol?  If you didn’t, check out here, here, and here.  I’m trying to get the point across that we’ve been under an umbrella of really, really, bad misinformation about what causes heart disease, weight gain,  or makes poor health – or good health for that matter, for decades.  Good fats from clean animal sources and tropical oils are huge sources of nutrients that our body uses to build and repair:  brain cells, heart cells, hormones, organs, etc. These healthy fats also induce NO/ZERO/ZIP/ZILCH insulin response; healthy fats also build healthy cell membranes that are “properly” insulin sensitive (as opposed to insulin resistant).    Insulin is an anabolic hormone – it builds our muscles, it builds our fat stores.   Trans fats and Omega 6 vegetable oils have health destroying effects on our heart, our brain, our hormones, our organs, etc. When our body uses trans fats and inflammatory Omega 6 vegetable oils to build cell membranes, our cells AREN’T properly insulin sensitive, they are much more likely to be insulin resistant.

Sugar and flour products, with their propensity to induce high blood sugar, and their lack of nutrient density, are also huge culprits in heart disease, poor health, and weight gain.  When our blood sugar is above normal, the pancreas releases the hormone insulin to sweep it out of the blood stream and into the muscles, the liver, or to remake the excess glucose into triglycerides.  Eat simple, refined, processed foods all day long (bagels, cereals, anything made with flour or sugar), and have a blood stream full of glucose andcereal:time to make insulin – all day long.  Talk about serious damage to the lining of your entire cardiovascular system: the endothelial cells become damaged and inflamed from these substances (excess glucose and insulin), and your body works hard to “patch up the bad spots” (hello plaque);   your extremities, your kidneys, and the backs of your eyes – these areas CAN’T develop Insulin Resistance, and the cells of these areas are literally killed by the onslaught (hello Diabetes).  For the muscle cells that can say NO (i.e., can be Insulin Resistant), they suffer from nutrient deficiencies because when the cell says NO to insulin and glucose, it also says no to other nutrients it needs to live/produce energy.

When insulin is high and present, Cortisol is often high and present.  When Insulin is present at all in the blood, the FAT BURNING hormone Glucagon CAN’T be released into the blood.  It’s  an either/or hormone situation.  That’s why some people work out for hours, but because they’re eating 6 “mini-meals” of carbs throughout the day, no fat loss is happening.

How long does it take Heart Disease to develop? 25 to 30 years.  How long does it take the average disease condition to develop? 20 years.  Keep that in mind when you shop for your family or eat:  cereals, chips, crackers, frozen foods, fast foods, these things are poison; they’re all refined, processed flours and sugars.  HUGE insulin response, low to zero nutrient value.   Damage occurs EACH TIME these foods are eaten, you just can’t see it, but the hormonal response is there.

Here’s an inspiring post from the Wheat Belly Doc, I love that guy!

kids:donutsIf you’re new to this way of thinking, and the thought of going without sugar and flour seems overwhelming, or even unnecessary in it’s “extremity”, consider that we have an epidemic of obesity and disease like NEVER before.  For the first time ever, kids are predicted to NOT live as long as their parents.  It’s The Food!  We’re not a country who’s deficient in Pharmacuticals, we’re a country deficient in Real Whole Foods.  If you’re stumped as to what you could eat, or feed your family, check out my What I Eat page for ideas.  Once it becomes normal, it’s not an effort anymore.

 

Category: Carbs, Fats, Looks Healthy But Isn't, RWF /

Fun Facts on Cholesterol and Statins

August 30, 2013 / / Comments Off on Fun Facts on Cholesterol and Statins

dog suntanningHow about some Cholesterol facts to take you into the Holiday Weekend?

Cholesterol isn’t a dangerous substance that our body sadly makes a ton  of, that goes straight to our arteries and causes plaque build up.  Cholesterol is a Gift from God, seriously.   Our liver sends it to heal areas of damage and inflammation in our body. It’s an antioxidant.  Cholesterol is also a “recipe” component of Vitamin D; all our adrenal and sex hormones (no Testosterone or Estrogen without it); every SINGLE cell membrane; our neurotransmitter receptors (want your Serotonin?); and our bile salts (they break down fats).   And that’s a short list.  You can’t live without cholesterol, and studies, (study after study after study for decades) show that people with higher cholesterol LIVE LONGER.  Here’s a blurb from Dr. Brownsteins Blog about women and mortality:” Compared to those with a cholesterol of less than 190mg/dL, women with cholesterol levels from 190-308mg/dL had a 41-43% reduction in all-cause mortality.  Similarly to men, cholesterol levels over 308mg/dL had an insignificant (2%) rise in all-cause mortality.”   Don’t hear that every day, do you.  Cholesterol is CARDIO-PROTECTIVE.  The pharmaceutical industry’s push to get you to lower cholesterol has been about money, not your health.  There’s a great analogy that blaming cholesterol for your heart disease is like blaming the firemen at the scene of the fire.  They’re there to put out the fire, they didn’t cause it.

If you’re one of the more than 30 million Americans on a statin drug, maybe you should rethink that.  The side-effect list of these drugs is scary:  memory loss and confusion, muscle weakness, liver damage – we’ve all heard these; but did you know that about 60,000 people A YEAR are developing Type 2 Diabetes from their statin drug?  (if that’s happened to you, different law firms are running ads looking for clients to represent – maybe some settlement money will ease the pain.)  And what about someone who’s already Diabetic being put on a statin?  Diabetes is a condition of too much glucose/blood sugar, and too much insulin.  Guess what increases blood glucose and insulin?  Statin Drugs!  Hmm.    Oh, and Insulin – which is a very irritating, damaging hormone – damages the arteries, which causes the liver to makeeat the junk food cholesterol to send to the site of the damage and patch it up.  So the statin drug that lowers cholesterol, supposedly to prevent heart disease ( studies show it doesn’t), actually causes damage to the cardiovascular system.    Here’s another tidbit about statins:  we now know that some types of cholesterol have more potential to cause damage than other types (small, dense LDLs are more prone to oxidation than large, fluffy LDL, ONLY oxidized cholesterol is dangerous;   HDL is considered cardio-protective).  Statins lower ALL cholesterol – not just small, dense LDLs.  There’s NO drug that can do that.  There’s also NO drug that raises HDL.   Diet does though – the right diet.  Lower carbohydrate, higher fat diets,( that keep your blood glucose in the NORMAL range of 80 – 100mg/dcl), lower LDL and raise HDL.  This diet also lowers your triglycerides, which are a DIRECT reflection of the amount of carbohydrate you eat. (the success rate of Standard Health Advice, i.e. eat low fat, high carb, exercise a ton, has failed abysmally) Did you know that for all the triglycerides you make out of your excess carbs, your liver has to make LDL – small and dense, to transport it? Isn’t that interesting??!!!  I just learned that last week.  Interested in learning more yourself?  Here’s a Dr. Mercola article, or you could pick up this book:http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Cholesterol-Myth-Disease/dp/1592335217, or this book:  http://www.amazon.com/Cholesterol-Clarity-What-Wrong-Numbers/dp/1936608383.

catsdogsschoolReview:  lower your cholesterol with a statin drug, and you’ll also:  lower your production of Vitamin D; lower your production of sex and adrenal hormones;  decrease integrity of your cell membranes; impede your neurotransmitter uptake (serotonin, dopamine, gaba..) lower your ability to heal wounds; and raise your risk for artery damage, Type 2 diabetes, liver damage, muscle weakness and soreness, and memory loss.  OH!!  Some of the same cells that produce cholesterol also produce CoQ10 – an enzyme that’s vital for the jobs of every single cell in our body. Turn off cholesterol, turn off C0Q10.   Wow.  That’s a long list, and I haven’t even covered everything.

There’s some food for thought (Real Whole Food), for the long holiday weekend.  Happy Labor Day!

 

Category: Fats /
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