Archive for the 'Health' Category

I often get people telling me how they graze throughout the day. How it’s good for them and how their metabolism stays on overdrive. Wrong. We are not cows, people. We shouldn’t be grazing.

From Radiant Life Catalog:

So, what’s so bad about carbs?

Basically, all nonfibrous forms of carbohydrates are sugar once they are metabolized by the body. For many health reasons, we don’t want sugar to be our primary source of fuel! We need our fuel source to be fat, not sugar.

Consider a “fire as a source of heat” analogy.

Sugar is an incredibly volatile source of fuel. It burns quickly, much like paper and kindling when you are trying to start a fire. If you were going to heat your home with the fire in your fireplace, you would not want to keep the fire going with just paper and kindling. You would want to add some slow burning logs, so you could enjoy a steady source of heat, without constantly tending to the fire. Needing to add kindling every few minutes to keep the fire going is time consuming! It leaves time for little else if you want to stay warm.

When carbohydrates are your major source of fuel, you become pre-occupied with keeping the fire burning, as your source of fuel is being burned so quickly. Utilizing sugar as your body’s primary source of fuel requires a constant supply of carbohydrates. (Does the term “grazing” come to mind? Grazing is a continual search for nourishment. It can also manifest itself as a constant craving for carbohydrates.) You are constantly experiencing blood sugar spikes and dips. Your body becomes obsessed with trying to maintain a balanced blood sugar level. True endocrine balance can never occur if sugar is out of balance!

Using fat as your primary source of fuel on the other hand, allows you to adopt a ketone based metabolism (more on this in a future post). Dietary fat burns in a prolonged and sustained manner. This allows for more time to do other things besides think about how you are going to stave off hunger, feel satiated, become less anxious, etc. A steady, long-burning, efficient fuel, it’s like adding a large log to the fire before going to bed.

Switching from carbohydrates to fats as your major source of fuel frees you up to do other things besides think of what you need to eat in the next hour or so, when you are once again starving and/or anxious!

Consume healthy fats helps to ensure that your are getting the necessary essential fatty acids: EPA, DHA, and GLA, as well as the correct ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Eat foods from a variety of natural sources.

It is important to use an optimized macronutrient ratio of the following:

• grass-fed meat
• pastured poultry and their eggs
• wild-caught seafood
• coconut oil
• avacado
• grass-fed butter or ghee
• heavy cream (raw)
• olive oil
• sesame oil
• tallow
• organic lard
• nuts
• seeds
• evening primrose oil, black currant seed oil and organ meats
• high quality cod liver oil and krill oil

Consuming a higher percentage of healthy fat- eating only as much as you really need to satisfy hunger- can play a significant role in your health and vitality. The more that dietary fat serves as your primary source of fuel, and not carbohydrates, the better you will become at fat burning!

I’m not sure if you all have gotten the news, but fat is good for you. Think about how many neurological disorders there are out there: Alzheimer’s, ALS, Parkinson’s, Autism, and probably the biggest affliction – depression. Well, what is your nervous system, including the brain, made of? Primarily fat. And here we are trying to push a low fat, low calorie lifestyle. Does it make sense?

About 3 years ago, I was telling people that coconuts would be the next superfood in about 10 years. I’m going to forego modesty and say, I told you so!!

It’s about time we start understanding the power of whole, natural foods. You rarely hear about the effects of foods because no company will fund studies for it. Food makes them no money. There are no sources, scientific studies, peer-reviewed journals, etc. It’s common sense, folks.

We don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on medications. Hippocrates knew it when he said, “Let Food Be Thy Medicine”.

Do you have something wrong with you? By all means, keep taking drugs. That will solve the problem. I mean, those families on TV look so happy and healthy. It must be a result of the drugs they’re taking. Right?

Come on folks. Are lifestyle habits really so hard to change that you’re willing to put up with feeling like shit all day long dealing with illness, disease, side effects, and fatigue?! Get your butt to a CrossFit gym and you have an instant support group. I am continuously amazed at the changes I’ve seen in people who start attending CrossFit gyms. It’s not just about exercise. It becomes your lifestyle!! We’ve changed so many lifestyles already and yours can be next. Our members have been through it and are just waiting to support YOU!!

CrossFit – The Drug I Need.

In the past 25-30 years, the rate of autism has gone from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 100. 1 in 100!! 1 in 100!!!! That’s ridiculous. What, in the world, could be going on to increase the rate of autism 100 times in only 25 years?! Do vaccines play a part?

Allergies are on the rise. Autoimmune disorders (Celiac, Hashimoto’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Type I Diabetes, etc.) are on the rise. Neurological disorders (Depression, Alzheimer’s, Insomnia, Autism, etc.) are on the rise. Do vaccines play a part?

Why do we always believe what our doctors tell us? Cause they’re really smart, right? (Can you sense the sarcasm?). Most doctors are just regurgitating information that they’ve been spoon fed. Nobody questions anything because it’s the way we’ve done it for so long. Well, guess what. We’re not getting better.

So do vaccines play a part? You’re smart too. Watch the video and make your own informed decision.

Remember when we thought Orange Juice was good for us? We were silly and naive back then, weren’t we? If you’re not freshly squeezing it at home, you’re drinking a chemical cocktail. Yum Yum!!

Ever wonder why each and every batch of your favorite orange juice tastes the same? I mean, not every orange tastes exactly the same, right? So, how in the world can our orange juice taste exactly the same no matter the month or season? Because our food is engineered!!

According to a Food Renegade article:

For industrially-produced orange juice, after the oranges are squeezed, the juice is stored in giant holding tanks and the oxygen is removed from them, which allows the liquid to keep for up to a year without spoiling.  It also makes the juice completely flavorless. So the industry uses “flavor packs” to re-flavor the juice.

“Juice companies therefore hire flavor and fragrance companies, the same ones that formulate perfumes for Dior and Calvin Klein, to engineer flavor packs to add back to the juice to make it taste fresh. Flavor packs aren’t listed as an ingredient on the label because technically they are derived from orange essence and oil. Yet those in the industry will tell you that the flavor packs, whether made for reconstituted or pasteurized orange juice, resemble nothing found in nature. The packs added to juice earmarked for the North American market tend to contain high amounts of ethyl butyrate, a chemical in the fragrance of fresh squeezed orange juice that, juice companies have discovered, Americans favor. Mexicans and Brazilians have a different palate. Flavor packs fabricated for juice geared to these markets therefore highlight different chemicals, the decanals say, or terpene compounds such as valencine.

The formulas vary to give a brand’s trademark taste. If you’re discerning you may have noticed Minute Maid has a candy like orange flavor. That’s largely due to the flavor pack Coca-Cola has chosen for it. Some companies have even been known to request a flavor pack that mimics the taste of a popular competitor, creating a “hall of mirrors” of flavor packs. Despite the multiple interpretations of a freshly squeezed orange on the market, most flavor packs have a shared source of inspiration: a Florida Valencia orange in spring.”

And do I really need to get into all that sugar that you’re drinking? I think we’re well past that, don’t you?