Rethink Your Drink

The first thing I tell people who are interested in dropping fat and slimming down is to ditch the liquid calories. Check out the photo below to see the amount of sugar contained in various beverages.

We all know that beverages like soda are simply empty calories. They provide no nutritional value. However, even drinks that people think of as "healthy" like fruit juice is not a good option if you're trying to shed excess pounds.

Many of the nutrients found in fruit juice are added back in later because they are stripped out during processing. It's far better to eat a piece of fruit than to drink fruit juice. Besides the vitamins, you also get the fiber and phytonutrients that will be missing from juice.

So ditch the empty liquid calories and stick mostly to fresh, unprocessed foods if you're trying to trim down.

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Sugar Addiction

Low Carb? Low Fat? Low Calorie? Heeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllppppppppppppp!

I got this today from Total Health Breakthoughs. It's definitely worth a read and I recommend that you consider signing up for their newsletter.


Myth #1: Dieting Will Help You Lose Weight and Make You Healthy
By Tim Reynolds, MD

Every day we are bombarded with medical garbage. It comes from all sources — maybe even your doctor. There are also medical myths that have been passed on from one generation to the next — unfortunately, no one has looked carefully at where the information started and whether it is in fact valid or not.

In the following weeks, I would like to explore five of those myths and raise some questions. Hopefully, you will begin to think about them (and others) more critically…

I hate budgets and I hate diets. I think I hate them for the same reason — they make me want all the things I can’t have even more. Have you ever noticed that the word DIET is a four letter word and that the first three letters are DIE?! That’s how I feel about dieting. So many times we go to the doctor and he/she says “Well you are overweight and you need to start on a diet”. Unfortunately, many health professionals do not know exactly what this means — it is also the wrong approach to take to lose weight.

Instead of going on a diet, why not change the way you look at food and the way you approach your health? Why not change your reality and realize that food is nutrition that is good for the body as long as it’s the right kind and eaten in moderation? Food is not the enemy — choosing the wrong foods and overeating is the enemy.

A major problem started with flawed research that was then capitalized upon by food manufacturers. In the 1970s and 80s, it was erroneously determined that our high fat diet was making us all fat.1 Food manufacturers quickly caught on and soon every product had a label that said “low fat”. Unfortunately, we replaced the fat with sugar. As we all ate our low fat diets, the entire country got fatter.

A variation on the theme is being seen now with carbs. Everyone wants to be on a low carb diet. So now everything at the grocery store is advertised as “low carb”. Once again, most people have no idea what this means. There is more than one type of carbohydrate and not all carbs are bad.

Natural plant fiber is made from carbohydrates. Fruits are carbohydrates but should not be considered the same as carbohydrates from a doughnut. If we only look at the carb count, once again we will be led down the wrong path due to creative advertising.

So what are we to do? How can we figure all this out? I have two simple recommendations that will help. First get back to nature. I do not mean move to the mountains (although that does sound nice) — but start eating natural foods. Think of it this way — if you can’t catch it or pick it, don’t eat it. If you follow this rule, you can have all the fish, fresh meats, vegetables, and fruits you want.

In fact, if your diet consisted of just these foods, you would never be fat. As I write this, I am at a scuba diving resort in Borneo, Malaysia. This island does not have an overweight person on it. Why? Because they only eat what they can catch or pick. They have a natural high protein, low carb diet.

Second, if you are going to eat processed foods, always check the label. You will find protein content in grams, fat in grams, and carbohydrates in grams. Under carbohydrates it will list sugar in grams. If the grams of sugar are higher than 10 (8 if you want to be strict), put it back and choose something else.

You will be amazed at what does and does not have sugar once you start looking. Remember, it is not simply the fat or carbohydrates — as it turns out, the problem is the amount of sugar it contains.

Finally, I have an 85/15 rule. If you eat like I just showed you 85% of the time, you can eat what you like the other 15%. Food is energy — it is good for you. Choose the right foods and they will keep you healthy. Choose the wrong foods and they will make you ill. You are in fact what you eat.

Reference:

Fat Free Fallacy

About the Author:

Tim Reynolds, M.D., is a practicing physician and a health and lifestyle expert.

This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs which offers alternative health solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com

The Nine Habits of Highly Healthy People by Jonny Bowden

The Nine Habits of Highly Healthy People
by Jonny Bowden

For years, business and motivational gurus have known that there are basic habits that seem to predict professional success and excellence. Books like The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by motivational speaker and business guru Stephen Covey, which has sold over 15 million copies alone, shows that people are hungry for the secrets of success.

We don’t yet have the perfect formula for long life, happiness, and physical health, but a little careful distillation of the massive amount of research on health and longevity reveals that cultivating nine basic habits will significantly increase the odds of your living long, well, and happily — in a robust, healthy, weight-appropriate body.

Eat your vegetables. No kidding — and I’m talking at least 9 servings a day. Unless you’re following the most stringent first stage of the Atkins Diet, you should be able to consume 60-120 grams of carbs a day (depending on your weight and exercise level), and you’d have to eat a stockyard full of spinach to get to that amount. Every major study of long-lived, healthy people shows that they eat a ton of plant foods. Nothing delivers antioxidants, fiber, flavonoids, indoles, and the entire pharmacopeia of disease fighting phytochemicals like stuff that grows in rich soil.

Eat fish and/or take fish oil. The omega-3’s found in cold-water fish like salmon deserve the title of “wellness molecule of the century.” They lower the risk of heart disease, they lower blood pressure, they improve mood, and they’re good for the brain. And if you’re pregnant, they may make your kid smarter!

Connect. And I’m not talking about the internet. In virtually every study of people who are healthy and happy into their 9th and 10th decades, social connections are one of the “prime movers” in their life. Whether church, family, volunteer work, or community, finding something you care about that’s bigger than you, that you can connect with and that involves other people (or animals) — will extend your life, increase your energy, and make you happier — always.

Get some sun. At least 10-15 minutes three times a week. Interestingly, a recent study showed that the four healthiest places on earth where the people were longest-lived, were in sunny climates.1 Sun improves your mood and boosts levels of cancer-fighting, performance-enhancing, bone-strengthening vitamin D — a vitamin most people don’t get nearly enough of.

Sleep well. If you’re low in energy, gaining weight, grumpy, and looking haggard, guess what? Chances are you’re not sleeping long enough or well enough. By sleeping “well,” I mean uninterrupted sleep, in the dark — without the television on, in a relaxing environment. Nothing nourishes, replenishes, and restarts the system like 7-9 hours sleep. Hint: start by going to bed an hour early. And if you’ve got a computer in the bedroom, banish it!

Exercise every day. Forget this 20 minutes three times a week stuff. Long-lived people are doing things like farm chores at 4:30 in the morning! Our Paleolithic ancestors traveled an average of 20 miles per day. Our bodies were designed to move on a regular basis. New studies show that merely 30 minutes a day of walking not only reduces the risk of most serious diseases, but can even grow new brain cells!2

Practice gratitude. By making a list of things you’re grateful for, you focus the brain on positive energy. Gratitude is incompatible with anger and stress. Practice using your under-utilized “right brain” and spread some love. Focusing on what you’re grateful for — even for five minutes a day — has the added benefit of being one of the best stress-reduction techniques on the planet.

Drink red wine or eat grapes. The resveratrol in dark grapes is being studied for its effect on extending life, which it seems to do for almost every species studied. (So does eating about one third less food, by the way.) If you’ve got a problem with alcohol, you can get resveratrol from grapes, peanuts, or supplements. (And if you’re a woman, and you choose the alcohol option, make sure you’re getting folic acid every day.)

Get the sugar out. The number one enemy of vitality, health, and longevity is not fat, it’s sugar. Sugar’s effect on hormones, mood, immunity, weight, and possibly even cancer cells is enormous — and it’s all negative. To the extent that you can remove it from your diet, you will be adding years to your life and life to your years.

This list may not be perfect and it may not be complete, but it’s a start. As my dear grandmother used to say, “Couldn’t hurt.” Not one of these “habits” will hurt you, all will benefit you, and some may make the difference between life and death.

And it’s never too late to start cultivating them.

Enjoy the journey!


References

Buettner, D, The Blue Zones, National Geographic Books, 2008; ISBN 1426202741.
http://biomed.gerontologyjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/61/11/1166.

Dr. Bowden is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health. He's a board certified nutrition specialist with a Master's degree in psychology and the author of five books including The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. His latest book is The Most Effective Cures on Earth.

This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs which offers alternative health solutions for mind, body and soul.

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Sugar, Sugar

No, this isn't a post about that annoying Archies song. Then again, it wasn't as bad as Seasons in the Sun. :-p

Anyway...

Although sugar consumption has been linked to raising levels of obesity, tooth decay and diabetes, food companies are continuing to increase the amount of sugar they add to many of their products. Processed foods contain some of the highest amounts of sugar, often with levels closely approaching or even higher than 20 grams of sugar per 100 grams of food.

When you think of sugary foods, you may think of cupcakes and pies but breakfast cereals, bread, and even soup have seen large increases in added sugar. It’s now routine to find whole grain bread that contains almost a teaspoon of sugar per 3 slices. In 1978, tomato soup had less than 3 grams of sugar; today it has more than 6 grams. In that same time period, Kellogg’s Special K went from approximately 10 grams of sugar for every 100 grams of cereal to 17 grams, almost equal to the sugar level in vanilla ice cream.

U.S. sugar consumption has climbed dramatically over the years. At the end of the 1800's it averaged about 20 pounds per person per year. Current estimates range from 142-170 pounds per person per year!

The average American eats 20 teaspoons of added sugars per day, twice the USDA recommended limit of 10 teaspoons for people eating a healthy 2,000 calorie diet.

People are always looking for the latest diet. No fat, low fat, low carb, no carb, cabbage soup, etc. If you did nothing else but limit your consumption of processed foods (most anything that comes in a bag or box) and added sugar, you would lose weight.

And it's not just a matter of expanding waistlines. For information on the negative effect on excess sugar on your health go to Sugar's Effect on Your Health
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