Planning Diets Natural Nutrition

Here is a very typical email I get from someone trying to lose weight on a starvation diet. They think they are eating well but have no idea how close their bodies are to starving and that it’s actually the reason they can’t seem to lose any weight.

Hi, I am a 24 yr old student trying to lose weight, I ran across an article of yours on line and thought it was wonderfully direct and to the point (thank you, those are so rare). So I decided to send you an email, I never do this, so I’m not really sure exactly what info you need (or if this is even the right way to go about this) but here it goes: (more…)

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You see them all over the place these days… Nutrition bars that claim to be healthy and good for weight loss or muscle building, but when you read the label, you see an endless list of chemicals, sugars, processed trans fats, and other harmful overly processed ingredients.

There are so many types of “Nutrition bars” and “protein bars” on the market today, how do you know if you are actually getting something healthy or just junk food in disguise? (more…)

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It’s quick and easy and it won’t make your abs look bad. Here is a quick video of how to prepare a squash and it only takes about 35 minutes cook time. Squash goes great with just about anything but chicken is a great choice.

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In our diet and weight conscious culture, carbohydrates are often considered the biggest culprit and even a curse against losing excess weight-thus the plethora of no carb or low carb diets.

Here’s a very simplified description of what happens when you eat carbohydrates: Our pancreas secretes the hormone insulin which controls blood sugar. During digestion, carbs are broken down to the simplest sugar-glucose. How much glucose stays in the blood and how much goes into the cells is regulated by insulin. Our blood sugar levels can shift erratically when insulin levels are too high or too low. Diabetes is the consequence of high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia). Headaches, spaciness, shakiness, muscle weakness and mental confusion are some of the symptoms of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). (more…)

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Of the three macronutrients, protein is the most important for health and achieving the body you want. The bottom line is that protein is the ONLY nutrient out of the three that restores and repairs every single cell in your body. Now, every day your body with its trillions of cells is constantly being broken down and being rebuilt. In fact every 7 years you are literally a completely new person - there is not one cell in your body that was there 7 years ago. To stay alive we need enough protein to grow new cells to replace the old ones. It’s that simple. With our hectic modern lives, the breakdown is even greater and so to stay healthy we need to make sure we are getting enough each and every day. Individual requirements will vary however a good minimum is anywhere from 1.5-3 grams per kilo of bodyweight when you are exercising depending on your specific goals and needs. This amount is necessary because as you exercise you breakdown a great deal of protein in the body to train it to adapt and grow new muscle that will fire up your metabolism and help you burn more body fat. (more…)

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The Dairy Calcium Myth Milk is not as high in calcium as the dairy industry would have you believe. In Healthy Vitamins and Minerals by Jane Turner, under the section on Calcium, milk doesn’t even make the first page and sits 35th on the list with 120mg of calcium per 100g.

Some of the foods that beat it by far are sesame seeds (670mg/100g, more than 5 times!), sardines (540), Nori seaweed (470), both more than triple, almonds (240, double!), figs (230) parsley, spinach, watercress, kale (200-170, and these are green vegetables!) even hazelnuts and oysters (140).

More importantly though what little calcium milk actually has is offset by the fact that it is barely absorbable by humans since cows milk is meant for baby cows. Dr William Ellis has conducted thousands of blood tests in people who drank 4 glasses of milk a day and found that they had lower levels of calcium than the rest of the population.
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What are phytonutrients and why are they so important? Phytonutrients are thought to have a variety of beneficial and significant benefits to our health and exist in a kind of limbo between being vitamin and being mineral.They are found in the skins of fruits and vegetables. They are found in supplements that are the extract of pigments where nutrients are concentrated, meaning that they draw the best from antioxidant foods, leaving the calories and sugar behind. Phytonutrients are powerful and healthy substances to include in your diet.They are plant compounds with health-promoting qualities and can also be found in liquid vitamin supplements.

Fruits and vegetables that are high in carotenoids appear to protect humans against certain cancers, heart disease and age related macular degeneration. Elderly men whose intake of dark green and deep yellow vegetable put them in the highest quartile for consumption of these vegetables had about a 46% decrease in risk of heart disease relative to men who ranked in the lowest quartile.While these phytonutrients aren’t essential by traditional definitions, they apparently reduce risks of diseases of aging. This can reduce cardiovascular disease risk by interfering with the clumping of blood platelets-the first stagein clot formation. Lycopene from tomatoes can also be a preventive measure in regards to your health. Lycopene,for example,from tomatoes is in clinical trials for cardiovascular diseases and prostate cancer. A host of fresh fruits, especially berries are rich in disease-fighting phytochemicals. Serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stomach ulcers. More than 80% of all chronic disease is preventable, but only if you know how. (more…)

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There is strong epidemiological evidence that olive oil offers significant cardioprotective benefits. In plain English, olive oil is good for the heart.

Heart disease. Like all vegetable oils, olive oil is 100 percent fat, and fat is a prime contributor to heart disease and cancer. So how could olive oil be good for the heart? The reason appears to be that it is neither saturated, like the fats in meats, butter, and dairy products, nor polyunsaturated, like the fat in many other oils. It is monounsaturated. Greeks and Italians consume almost as much total fat as Americans do - most of it in the form of olive oil - but have heart disease rates considerably lower than ours. In fact, Americans should eat like people in those Mediterranean countries. It was argued to junk the USDA’s new Food Pyramid, which recommends meat and dairy products two or three times a day, and replace it with a Mediterranean Pyramid, which discourages meat and dairy foods and promotes a semi-vegetarian diet with olive oil as the major source of fat. Of course, like any fat, olive oil should be used sparingly in the context of a low-fat diet. But recent research suggests that this tasty oil is a real healer. (more…)

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Hi Ray. Thanks for your emails helping me with my diet plan. Your enthusiasm for my success shows through the “cold” email medium. This helps me a great deal and I really appreciate this.

Some background for you so you know where I’m coming from:
While I am excited about starting your fat to fit program, I am somewhat anxious because this is uncharted territory for me (not only a change in working out but how I change my life to live a healthy lifestyle).

My gym school gym experience (competition focused not lifetime fitness oriented) was not the best. So I disliked exercise for a long time (even though I would have benefitted from lifetime fitness gym exercises (burpees, pushups, etc.), until I got some iron in my hand after college. But my weight training came from the magazines and books without any particular focus and inconsistent results. (more…)

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Everybody loves stir-fry! There is a ginger flavour from the dressing that is super! This is a good one for making a double or triple recipe and keeping it in your fridge. This way when you are really hungry you can still stick with your diet by eating already prepped food right from the fridge. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes - takes 20 minutes total

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (500 grams) boneles beef sirloin steak, cut into thin strips.
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 package of frozen stirfry vegetables (750 grams) (or cut your own)
• Half cup of Kraft Asian Sesame Dressing
• Quarter cup of lite soy sauce
• 3 cups of hot cooked long grain rice (brown is best for getting a six pack, not flavour!)

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