Recommended Reading: Good Calories Bad Calories : Taubes

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
 Gary Taubes makes a living debunking scientific fallicies. This Book is no exception. Gary takes a deep look at Nutritional Science in America and how we view Carbohydrates, Fats and more, in detail with an incredible # of references as to what happened, where the confusion lies and why Mainstream Conventional Wisdom on Nutrition is not only wrong, it got it completely opposite of Accurate.

Its a highly controversial book, because it directly tells us, what we've been told our entire lives about Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, Carbohydrates, Etc. is Wrong.
Even if you think its quackery, read it. Check it out from the library, browse it at your local bookstore. It's widely printed. I consider it a must read if you're even remotely interested in your long term health.


Here is a Link to a Video discussing the Book and to some extent the content.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4362041487661765149#

I have a link to Amazon above, please note I get a small kickback from Amazon if you purchase this book or anything from Amazon after clicking this link, I feel its only fair to disclose that.
Please do not feel obligated in any way to purchase this book thru this link. Its here for convenience.
Please do read this book somewhere. If you're local to me, I will put you on my waiting list to borrow it.
I think its that important to share.

It will change the way you view Conventional Nutrition forever.

Wheat Legumes and Soy: Hidden Evil Part 1

Hidden Evils: Part 1

Image Courtesy of dglider

Wheat is Healthy for you! You've been told it all your life, it must be true!

You must get your daily serving of Healthy Whole Grains. Wow. Why?

Im gonna go with 1.6 Trillion Dollar Food industry... and the cheapest easiest ingredient around. Why let you know all the side effects. Big Pharma only tells you because they've been forced to! And the list is long.

What if your Bread had the same requirements?

Hows this look.

Your "Healthy Whole Wheat or Soy Based Health Snack has minimal nutrition content, downright crummy compared to Real Whole Food. But heres what you get in return.

• Increased Insulin Response, resulting in Decreased Insulin Sensitivity. See weight gain and diabetes.
• Increased Leptin Resistance, see weight gain and other health issues.
• Lectins: An Anti-Nutrient found in plants to protect them from would be predators. This binds to proteins in your body, causing all kinds of potential nasty results.
• Soy contains Genistein, increasing excess estrogen in your body. Not great for women, especially bad for men.
• An increase in Inflammation
• Weakening of your digestive track, a "leaky gut" opens immense health issues.
• Wheat contains Gluten, Generally related to Celiac Disease is a way of categorizing the most sensitive individuals. Its known that an incredible number of other people are sensitive to some degree and suspected that All of us are sensitive to a lesser degree.
• High Omega 6 content(the bad fatty acid)
• Low Omega 3 content(the good fatty acid)
• Wheat Germ Agglutinin
• Gastrointestinal Issues
• Neurotoxic Issues
• Potential Thyroid Issues
• other issues with Food Allergies on a delayed or lesser reaction.

Now before you all ignore the list and start shaking your heads and walking away. Let me clarify.

Some of these are clear as day, Insulin response, Leptin Response, Genistein, Inflammation, Low Omega 6, High Omega 3, these happen immediately and affect all of us. 

These alone are reason enough for me.

However, the rest of the list, is not noticable, harder to test for, may be delayed response, or may only affect you after a lifetime or a short time. If you a mildly sensitive, you may not even know that your Lethargy etc are affected by the Antinutrients found in your "Health Food".

Think back to Big Pharma, sure that pill may have a positive effect, but if you could get the positive effect with a different pill without all the side effects... wouldn't you?

Thats what were talking about here, Change the FOOD you eat to something more nutritionally dense, without the side effects and enjoy a Better, Healthier Life with less side effects.

You can reduce(but not eliminate) some of harmful antinutrients found in grains and legumes. Processing such as Soaking, Sprouting and Fermenting(Sourdough) make the Grains less damaging...but again, Do you want your arm cut off at the Elbow, the Wrist or not at all?

Processing a weak nutrient source to get some benefit from it and the effort behind doing so is considerate, seems a rather silly option when healthy food without the side effects is easily available.

Meats, Vegetables, even a limited amount of Starches(mmm. Sweet Potato) and small quantities of Fruit.(remember our sugar lesson) are all much healthier and much more nutritionally dense.

From NutritionData.com, heres a small portion of Whole Wheat Bread(roughly 2 slices) compared to a smaller portion of Asparagus.

• 278 Calories compared to 68
• 45g of Insulin Spiking Carbohydrates compared to 6g
• 3.8g of Sugar compared to 0g (try eating bread with no sugar used,Blech)
• 317mg of Omega 3 compared to 14.2mg (asparagus is not a great Omega source)
• 2621mg of Omega 6 compared to 273mg (but its 1/10th of the bad stuff)
• 8.4g of Protein compared to 9.2g
• Vitamin Content, under 20% of anything compared to 7 solid Vitamins, 2 over 100%
• Mineral content, Manganese and Selenium. vs a nice spread of the rest.

Lets Look at one of my favorites. Half of a Wild Salmon Filet.

278 Calories compared to 281 (pretty close!)

45g of Insulin Spiking Carbohydrates compared to 0

3.8g of Sugar compared to 0

317mg of Omega 3 compared to 3996mg

2621mg of Omega 6 compared to 341mg (wow look at that Ratio!)

8.4g of Protein compared to 39.3g

Vitamin Content, under 20% of anything compared to 6 solid Vitamins

Mineral content, Manganese and Selenium. vs a nice spread of the rest.

my point is, we can do this all day. Comparing Wheat and Grains to Meat and Veggies, the Satiety Factor is less with Grains, the Insulin response is higher, the Inflammation is higher, the Omega Ratios are Terrible, The Vitamins are lower, across the board theres no compelling nutritional argument for Wheat OVER Meat/Veggies... and Wheat has all the side effects...

So why is it the base of our Food Pyramid?

First one to answer correctly gets a Grain-free Cookie, and yes it's tasty. Personally Ill keep eating my Surf and Turf. mmm.

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

Sugar: The Bitter Truth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

This is a must watch, as soon as you have 90 minutes to spare sit down
and watch this. I want to hear opinions and comments. Email, Facebook,
or Blog, tell me what you think.

This guy spells it all out in layman's terms.

Aegis's Top Ten Weightloss for Life Rules.

These are my simplified guidelines,

To get you started, for more
details... Keep reading my blog or do some research, learn something I may be interested in or you want me to discuss in more detail, shoot me a message or leave a comment.

Thor Says: Do what you want. This is what worked for Aegis. This can work for you, but You have to make the choice to make the changes. little changes, little results. Big Changes, Big Results.
Cheating delays results, but if you must you must. Just don't cheat every day.

#1. Eliminate Sugar- refined or otherwise, it's in everything
Limit yourself to 1 medium fruit or a small amount of berries/day if you must
Resist Temptation, the sugar cravings will go away.

#2. Avoid Refined Carbohydrates-
Especially wheat and flours, not just for insulin and leptin effect
but the multitude of anti nutrients, immune response, the list goes
on, maybe this should be rule 1? Check Ingredient lists wheat/flour is
in everything and its Bad. We will talk more about it later.

#3. Eat more healthy fat- Saturated, Mono-unsaturated, Omega 3, animal
fats. Avoid trans fat and polyunsaturated fats- low fat is a bad bad
myth- check ingredients for veggie fats, canola, corn oil etc are Bad sources of omega 6's

#4. Imtermittently Fast - skip a meal or two and do not replace it/
binge at the following meal. The health benefits go far beyond simple
calorie restriction

#5. Train Fasted/Train High Intensity Interval Training - you have to
adapt to it, but training fasted will MELT the Lbs and is healthier,
HIIT will create a very beneficial hormone environment for weightloss
and health 2-3 days a week. 10minutes. Huge difference. HI means High Intensity, its only 10min, push yourself.

#6. Don't Binge- don't starve, but stop when your satiated, not when
you're stuffed. Eat slower, drink more Water and let your food digest

#7. Track/accountability- make a logbook, record your weight, ask a
friend to help. Make sure you're clear why you want to be healthier for life.. Then use that motivation to keep yourself on track.

#8. Don't drink Calories even Diet- your body doesn't recognize the
calories the same, Drink Water, Tea(especially Green), Black Coffee
Avoid Psuedowater, etc. Check all labels for sugar/calorie count/ingredients.

#9. Move daily- 30min minimum anywhere, the mall, the grocery store,
around the block. Just get your circulation going, every day. Doesn't have to be fast, just daily.

#10.Sleep - 8 hours quality sleep
The goal is to not need an alarm clock
This means avoid stimulants late in the day as they disrupt sleep
patterns. This will effect, hunger, mood, hormones, everything. Don't do the rest and skip Vital Rule #10.

But, I don't want to give up my ________.

This was summed up to exactly the point I'd like to make.

Why give up certain things you've grown accustomed to?

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/but-i-like-my

Follow that link, read it, if required, read it again.

And seriously think about it. We are talking about your LIFE.

Your Long Term Health.

many of you will shrug and continue making poor choices, and as long as you're ok with that, that's fine.
But don't weakly justify your way out of what could be a better longer stronger life.

If you can trade Sugar for Fitness and Longevity, thats your choice. I'll silently disapprove(especially if I like you and want you to live longer), but I wont take the doughnut out of your hand.

Thats your Choice.

photo courtesy of SezzRS

`you are not responsible for the thoughts that come into your mind – but you are responsible for those you chose to act upon’

I may think I want that tasty treat, but I think about how my Insulin and Leptin will be affected, how my Blood Sugar will spike and crash and how I will feel afterwards, how my digestive system and immune system will be compromised....

and its not so hard to turn it down. Honestly, The sweet stuff is too sweet now anyways. Cravings change when you don't eat garbage all the time.

I find it hard to turn down a Good Steak... then I realize, there's no good reason for me to do so.

I don't want to control your decisions, I'll just help provide the information that will let you make informed decisions. After that, the choice is up to you.

Keep Reading and see just how deep the rabbit hole really goes.

Eating Healthy doesn't mean it tastes bad.

Im appalled. Honestly. Where did this misnomer come from?
Where did the confusion come from that FOOD of all things must not be good for you if it tastes good?

Is it the Lack of Sugar? Honestly, I dont crave sugar anymore. I crave Meat.

Someone asked me the other day, if you dont eat sugar, what do you do on your birthday?

I said, If you feel the need to stick a candle in something, make me a Very Large Steak, Medium Rare to Rare and stick a candle in it. We will all enjoy it much much more than that sugary concoction and resulting crash.

So were going to dispel that hideous rumor that food can't taste good without sugar.

Im going to be adding recipes to my blog. Real Food, Real Healthy, No Sugar, Real Tasty.

Heres that Same Tasty Grass Fed Steak, with Zucchini, Scallops, and a Cinnamon Sweet Potato. Mmm.

Heres a Flax Seed Crust Pizza, Homemade.Only Carbs are in the Veggies. Easy.

One of my Favorite Meals, Ginger Garlic Salmon, Cayenne Shrimp/Scallops, Asparagus, Zucchini/Squash, Sauteed Mushrooms.

even old favorites like Apple Muffins can be made healthy. These were a special treat due to a little Raw Honey drizzled on top.

So don't even begin to think that if you decide, you want to eat healthy that you have to sacrifice Taste Flavor or even comfort foods, There are ways to make virtually all your old favorites. and realize that some misconceptions like that silly smaller than your fist portion size of meat is just that... silly.

I eat Large Healthy Portions of REAL Food.

Minimally Processed Tasty Tasty Food.

Got a favorite? Want to share it or just want to know how to make it healthy? Let me know!

Fat doesn't make you fat. SUGAR and Hormones make you Fat.

Lets dispel a quick myth here. DIETARY FAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU FAT. Thats all in caps, because I want you to read it again.

There are Essential Amino Acids(Protein), There are Essential Fatty Acids(FAT), There are no Essential Carbs.

Thor Says: Not all Fat is bad, Sugar is the real problem!

(my private Disclaimer: This is NOT Atkins. Atkins got the no sugar thing right and so many other things wrong. Ill do another writeup on the "fad diets" and what they did or didnt get right scientifically)

Now, our body can use Carbohydrates. Its a quick source of fuel for filling up muscle and liver glycogen for activity. However our body is designed to store Fat and use Fat when needed for energy. Its our own personal Battery Pack. Some of us carry around Backup Batteries, but thats easy to change.

Americans and for the most part modern civilization has taught our bodies to pull energy from a steady constant intake of carbohydrates, being very adaptive, our bodies are more than willing to accede.

However, whenever we take in Carbohydrates, our bodies release Insulin, the Hormone that shuttles those carbs to storage.

if the primal batteries, our muscle and liver glycogen are full.. we gain fat. If we release too much insulin due to being insulin resistance, we store it as ... Fat.

If you dont eat many refined Carbohydrates or Sugar, your Insulin is not released, therefore your body is not primed to shuttle that energy to the fat cells and instead uses it.

Sugar can invoke a number of other responses besides the unnecessary release of Insulin

• Sugar is Inflammatory, creating stress in your body.
• Sugar disrupts Protein to Muscle conversion.
• Chronic High Blood Sugar causes Leptin and Insulin Resistance, leading to Diabetes, Obesity and Worse.
• Sugar is the preferred food choice for all kinds of bad gut bacteria.(Candida etc)
• Sugar has been linked directly with Cancer.
• Sugar can lower your Immune System.
• Irritable Bowel
• Accelerated Aging of Cells

Heres a Great PDF on the Adverse Effects of Dietary Fructose:

http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/.fulltext/10/4/294.pdf

Mark Sisson, over at Mark's Daily Apple does a great job explaining the Sugar/Diabetes Connection

Ready for this? Let’s go:

1) The levels of blood glucose stay higher longer because the glucose can’t make it into the muscle cells. This toxic glucose is like sludge in the bloodstream clogging arteries, binding with proteins to form harmful AGEs (advanced glycated end-products) and causing systemic inflammation. Some of this excess glucose contributes to a rise in triglycerides, increasing risk for heart disease.

2) More sugar gets stored as fat. Since the muscle cells are getting less glycogen (because they are resistant), and since insulin inhibits the fat-burning enzyme lipase, now you can’t even burn stored fat as easily. You continue to get fatter until eventually those fat cells become resistant themselves.

3) It just gets better. Levels of insulin stay higher longer because the pancreas thinks “if a little is not working, more would be better.” Wrong. Insulin is itself very toxic at high levels, causing, among many other maladies, plaque build-up in the arteries (which is why diabetics have so much heart disease) and increasing cellular proliferation in cancers.

4) Just as insulin resistance prevents sugar from entering muscle cells, it also prevents amino acids from entering. So now you can’t build or maintain your muscles. To make matters worse, other parts of your body think there’s not enough stored sugar in the cells, so they send signals to start to cannibalizing your precious muscle tissue to make more – you guessed it – sugar! You get fatter and you lose muscle. Woo hoo!

5) Your energy level drops, which makes you hungry for more carbohydrates and less willing to exercise. You actually crave more of the poison that is killing you.

6) When your liver becomes insulin resistant, it can’t convert thyroid hormone T4 into the T3, so you get those mysterious and stubborn “thyroid problems”, which further slow your metabolism.

7) You can develop neuropathies (nerve damage) and pain in the extremities, as the damage from the excess sugar destroys nerve tissue, and you can develop retinopathy and begin to lose your eyesight. Fun.

8) Eventually, the pancreas is so darn exhausted, it can’t produce any more insulin and you wind up having to inject insulin to stay alive. Lots of it, since you are resistant. Congratulations, you have graduated from Type 2 to Type 1 diabetes.

So to summarize. Stop Eating or Drinking Sugar.

if you must have sugar, get it from fruit, not because Fruit Sugar is magical, but because we are better able to disperse the sugars when its release is more controlled by the natural fruit fibers, (this means no juice)

Also its significantly better to have your sugar, starches or Carbohydrates AFTER exercise, so that you can restore your muscle and liver glycogen, rather than just storing as fat.

Eating them before exercise just prevents your body from using fat as fuel and uses the carbs, and stores all the excess as Fat. But thats a lesson for another day.


Sugar causes Insulin and Leptin Resistance, and if we return to Lesson 1, thats what makes you fat. As your body becomes less and less effective, you store more as fat and use less as energy. What you mistakenly call (metabolism slowdown) is Hormonal Resistance aka Metabolic Syndrome. Its not a disease, its a lack of understanding how the body works, and it can be fixed. It just takes Time and a little Willpower.