If margarine is healthier, why won’t ants eat it?

Interesting question, and one I would like the health authorities to answer. Currently, we again have a big push to switch tasty, natural butter for artificial spreads or margarine, because, we are told, they are better for our heart health, and better for our waistline. The spreads look harmless enough. When I opened a carton recently, it looked inviting, smooth, pale yellow, soft, and spreadable. I am not sure about the taste though. Even the health organisations pushing margarine admit that our taste buds will have to adjust in time, and it is about our priorities. But is margarine really better for our health?

I recently offered the choice of butter or margarine to some ants, to see what they thought. Ants are simple creatures. I have noticed over the years, that they ignore non-food items, and swarm on food items. And, they favour some food over others. Their favourite food is proteins, which we observe daily if our cats leave a few strands of raw meat behind on their dinner plate. As a young child, I grew up without a television, so I spent a lot more time in nature than most. One of my favoured activities was sitting in the gutter feeding ants. I found them fascinating, watching the trails they made, and observing which items they would pick up and take to their nest, and which they ignored.

This is hardly a controlled, scientific study, but it is a very interesting observation, which speaks volumes. I left my plate of goodies out for them for the entire day, and took pictures at intermittent times. I put out one knob of butter, and two knobs of margarine (one was cholesterol-lowering).

The results? Interesting. The ants would not touch the margarine. I don’t know how you feel, but if we know ants only eat food items, and they won’t go near margarine, what are these artificial substances doing to our bodies? We are gobbling them down at an alarming rate. As I observed the ants, I frequently saw a lone ant approach the margarine, and once they hit a certain point, they would abruptly turn around and walk the other way. How did they feel about butter? They swarmed on the butter all day long.

In addition, hundreds of scientific studies have come to the same conclusion; the evidence that margarine is damaging, and NOT food, is undeniable.

Would we substitute petrol in our car for ‘fake petrol’ and expect it to run? No? Why then, do we think we can use fake butter and expect our body to function?

What is margarine?

We are continually reassured that margarine is just as natural as butter, but is it?

Once saturated fat had become the new ‘demon’ of health, we needed a substitute with similar properties to saturated fats like butter and lard. We needed solid fats for quality baking and for spreading on bread.

Because saturated fat has more hydrogen atoms than unsaturated, manufacturers add more hydrogen atoms using a process called hydrogenation; the chemists call the process ‘plasticisation’. That term in itself is concerning to me. The process starts with a very cheap vegetable oil, which is already damaged. The oil is heated to extremely high temperatures again (which damages the oil and creates free radicals), strong pressure is applied, and the hydrogen is forced into the structure of the oil to make it solid. This might not sound too bad, but they need to use toxic chemicals, for example, nickel oxide, to force the change in molecular structure.

And, the process isn’t finished yet. At this point, this chemically altered substance isn’t a replica of butter at all; it is actually grey and smelly. They bleach and deodorise it by using chemicals and more high temperatures. And, to make it resemble butter, they add artificial flavours and colours.

The hydrogenation process creates a different, unnatural molecule (a trans bond), which doesn’t occur anywhere in nature. ‘Health’ organisations love to say that trans fats occur in natural foods, including butter. Small amounts of trans fats exist in natural foods, but they aren’t dangerous. The man-made trans fats are a completely different story; they disrupt our natural bodily processes because our body doesn’t recognise their structure.

I remember my mother telling me that when she was young, the margarine came home from the store white, accompanied by a container of yellow colouring to mix through. At that time, it was illegal for companies to sell it yellow so people couldn’t mistake it for butter. The colour had to be mixed in at home.

The problem with margarine isn’t just the trans fats, it is a whole host of other things, including free radicals, synthetic vitamins, emulsifiers and preservatives, hexane and other solvents, bleach, artificial flavours, and sterols (added to lower cholesterol, but have been shown to inhibit sexual function). They also contain mono-and di-glycerides, which contain trans fats that don’t have to be declared on the label, and are used liberally in the spreads that are classified as ‘low-trans’.

But wait? Surely we would see all that stuff on the label? Not so. A lot of it doesn’t have to be on the label because it is part of the manufacturing process, not an ingredient.

The margarine companies and conventional health organisations like to tell us that margarine is very natural and isn’t processed any more than butter. One health organisation says, ‘Just as milk is taken from the cow to make butter, oil is extracted from plant seeds to make margarine.’  This statement is blatantly false, and anyone who has ever worked in a plant processing oils into margarine could attest to that.

One of the popular brands is ‘proud’ to show their ingredients:

1. Seed oils
2. Water
3. Salt
4. Milk
5. Less than 1% preservatives
6. Less than 0.5% colour and flavour

The ingredients are advertised with a rosy picture to make it look all pretty and natural. Even though it is a pretty picture, they have admitted to adding the preservatives, colours and flavours. And the seed oils have gone through the process I described above; all the nasties used to process the oils don’t need to be on the label—remember they are part of the process, not ingredients.

How does that sound? And this is the healthy alternative to protect us from heart disease? And, the ironic thing is, research shows that one of the biggest side effects to consuming these rancid, toxic, damaged fats is heart disease.

Butter has been falsely accused and replaced by the very substance that does contribute to heart disease. Actually, that pretty much sums up all the conventional ‘heart healthy’ advice. If we do the opposite of just about everything we are told, we will probably get it right. One day people will look back at the history books and shake their heads in disbelief.

And it gets worse. Not only do these damaged fats increase risk for heart disease, they also contribute to cancer, bone issues, hormonal problems, skin disease, infertility, problems with pregnancy and lactation, low birth weight, growth problems, learning disabilities and disruption of satiety signals (causing people to overeat). In addition, they have been proven to cause weight gain and damage our immune system.

These toxic oils also contribute to skin cancer. It seems logical that the sun would be the cause of any skin cancer, and that is certainly what we have been told, but in actual fact, trans fats interfere with the enzyme system that helps our body to repair damage from ultraviolet light, to detoxify and to eliminate carcinogens. And, most of us are now vitamin D deficient because we now fear the sun; the ironic thing here is that studies show that the vitamin D produced by sunlight protects us against skin cancer. I write a lot more about this in The Fat Revolution.

These damaged fats aren’t just in margarine; they are in a whole host of processed food products because they are cheap. They are normally identified on the label as hydrogenated vegetable oil, or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil/fat.

Because margarines and spreads are SO damaging, and have been directly linked to serious health problems like heart disease, cancer and much more, I believe that those who continue to assert that margarine is a healthier choice are now putting themselves at risk for future litigation. Especially since we have known, without a doubt, about the damaging side effects since the 1980s, and have chosen to completely ignore the evidence. And, the more this information comes to light, the more people are going to be extremely angry. Some people believe we are on the verge of the biggest class-action suit in history, and I certainly think that is a serious possibility.

Bots. D.M.L. and Katan, M.B. (2001). ‘Replacement of dietary saturated fatty acids by trans fatty acids lowers serum HDL cholesterol and impairs endothelial function in healthy men and women.’ National Centre for Biotechnology Information, 21(7) pp1233–7.

Enig, M. (2012). ‘A Response to the National Association of Margarine Manufacturers.’ Available at: http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/margarine-manufactures Accessed January 2012.

Gillman, M.W. et al. (1997). ‘Margarine intake and subsequent coronary heart disease in men.’ National Centre for Biotechnology Information, 8(2) pp144–9.

Griguol Chulich, V.I., León-Camacho, M. and Vicario Romero, I.M. (2005). ‘Margarine’s trans-fatty acid composition: modifications during the last decades and new trends’ National Centre for Biotechnology Information, 55(4) pp367–73.

Karbowska, J. and Kochan, Z. (2011). ‘Trans-fatty acids–effects on coronary heart disease.’ National Centre for Biotechnology Information, 31(181) pp56–9.

Kummerow, F.A. (2009). ‘The negative effects of hydrogenated trans fats and what to do about them.’ National Centre for Biotechnology Information, 205(2):458–65.

Mozaffarian, D. et al. (2007). ‘Consumption of trans fats and estimated effects on coronary heart disease in Iran.’ National Centre for Biotechnology Information, 61(8) pp1004–10.

Stop Trans Fats (2007). ‘Join the campaign to Stop Trans Fats!’ Available at: http://www.stop-trans-fat.com Accessed January 2012.

Tavani, A., Negri, E., D’Avanzo, B. and La Vecchia, C. (1997). ‘Margarine intake and risk of nonfatal acute myocardial infarction in Italian women.’ National Centre for Biotechnology Information, 51(1) pp30–2.

Willett, W.C. et al. (1993). ‘Intake of trans fatty acids and risk of coronary heart disease among women.’ National Centre for Biotechnology Information, 6:341(8845) pp581–5.

Yanagi, S., Yamashita, M., Ogoshi, K. and Imai, S. (1994). ‘Comparative effects of milk, yogurt, butter, and margarine on mammary tumorigenesis induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene in rats.’ National Centre for Biotechnology Information, 18(6) pp415–20.

Join the Fat Revolution – busting food myths keeping us fat

Help me start a fat revolution.  Why a revolution?

Diet and Fat: The Biggest Health Blunder in History!

…the biggest con in history….the biggest lie in history… and the biggest mistake in history…

And, it makes us fat.  It makes us sick.  It dulls our children’s intelligence.  In 50 years, we will look back and wonder what in the world we were thinking.  Now is a crucial time to expose the truth.  Think about it.  We all know deep down that something is wrong.

I want people to know the facts so they can make informed decisions.  Much to my publicist’s dismay, I often refer to other authors and books, like Gary Taubes or David Gillespie.  I also make sure Great Health is a Piece of Cake is stocked in libraries.  That’s because I don’t care where people get the information; I just want them to have it.  I want this food craziness to stop.  I want people to know there is an easier way.

Why do I care so much?  Why do I put my time and energy into this movement?

Because I’m tired of watching the MAJORITY of women (and a lot of men) struggle with weight, when I know a simple solution.  When I know it isn’t difficult.  When I know we are all being fattened like cattle.  How do they fatten cows?  With loads of fatty foods? No!  With grain.  We have the wrong information and it means we are always fighting a losing battle.

Because I’m tired of watching people diagnosed with heart disease receive exactly the WRONG advice.  Our loved ones are dying because of misinformation.  Isn’t this worth an investigation?

Because I’m tired of watching people suffer from man-made disease, chronic illnesses that are completely preventable.  In Australia, 1 in 2 will get cancer, 1 in 4 currently has diabetes, and someone dies from heart disease every 10 minutes.  Not to mention all the other man-made ailments cropping up like sports injuries (from connective tissue breakdown), chronic fatigue, and auto-immune diseases just to name a few.  This is crazy.  Is current dietary advice working?  Despite medical advances, disease is growing at an alarming rate.

Because I’m tired of watching children’s natural brilliance dimmed.  Even 10 years ago, a much smaller percentage of children suffered from learning disabilities, behaviour issues, and other problems.  Today, on MASS, children struggle with gross motor skill, focus, and energy.  And, I’m just going to say it; their IQ is a fraction of what it should be.  And, we now have the first generation expected to die before their parents.  That means, 5 to 10 years before we die, we have to watch our children die?  I don’t know how you feel, but this is not ok with me!

Our looks are changing too! Our natural human blueprint is beautiful (we are all meant to be attractive).  Because of major changes in western nutrition, our faces are changing.  Foreheads protrude, eyes develop closer together, teeth are crooked (yes, because of nutrition), jaws protrude, etc.  Adele Davis, a nutrition writer back in the 50s was the first to recognise this problem, and it isn’t getting any better.  Our children should be a picture of health, but many don’t look well, and most have blue circles under their eyes.  The answer is so simple, and this is so easy to change!

What’s the problem?  We all are misinformed.  In most cases, it’s simply a matter of mistaken consensus.  We’ve all been told fat makes us fat.  We’ve all been told that fat causes heart disease and stroke.  What if this theory was never based on fact, but has been accepted because it’s the consensus of the majority?  What if, like Gary Taubes says, “it has all been a big fat lie?”

How did this happen?

Humans have been eating fat for thousands of years, prior to it becoming taboo in the 1950s.  In the 1800s, we ate plenty of fat, and heart disease was practically non-existent.  It only started cropping up when we introduced sugar into our diet, so by the 1920s and 30s, it was well and truly on the rise.

The history of the biggest health mistake

In 1953, Ancel Keys came up with a theory that saturated fat intake increased risk for heart disease.  His theory was never proven (with a complete, scientific study), but it started a snowball, and became the newest big thing.  There were actually many scientists at the time who disagreed, but as the idea gained more and more momentum, and was taken on board by government, those who opposed were disregarded.

We now have loads of evidence discrediting the theory, however, it’s very slow for people to take it on.  I’m sure nobody wants to admit to such a blunder.  It’s so ingrained in our society; it would take a lot of guts to say, ‘Hey, we were wrong; let’s change our entire diet.’

In fact, many studies have been conducted over the years, and they have all proved that saturated fat doesn’t cause heart disease, but the results have been swept under the rug.  The Minnesota Coronary Study was done as early as 1972 and showed that people on a cholesterol-lowering diet had significantly greater mortality than those on a regular diet.  Did we hear about it?  No.  The results were finally published in 1989.  17 years later!  When interviewing Ivan Frantz Jr, Gary Taubes asked why the results weren’t published in 1972, and the response was “We didn’t like the results.”  Ancel Keys was a collaborator for the study.

In 1988, the surgeon general’s office (responsible for health mandates in the U.S.) decided to gather all the evidence linking saturated fat to heart disease, to prove the theory once and for all (probably to quieten people like me).  In 1999, after 11 years of research, they were unable to prove it, and killed the project.

No report was ever released, but I spoke to Gary Taubes personally, who interviewed the responsible parties.  The comment from Bill Harlan was “The report was initiated with a preconceived opinion of the conclusions, but the science behind those opinions was clearly not holding up.  Clearly the thoughts of yesterday were not going to serve us very well.”  In other words, the entire idea that fat caused heart disease was flawed, and in fact, completely incorrect.

Another recent study, published in 2010, was done at the Oakland Research Institute in California.  The researchers pooled the data from 21 studies, including 348,000 subjects, and found no difference in the risks of heart disease and stroke between people with the lowest and highest intakes of saturated fat.

We actually have NO evidence supporting the original theory presented by Ancel Keys, and loads of evidence telling us it is wrong.  But, because it is so ingrained, many people don’t even want to consider it.

Many well-known doctors, naturopaths, and nutritionists are now re-educating people that fat never was the issue, and is actually an essential nutrient.  Like I said before, the real culprit behind heart disease is sugar, and anything that turns to sugar in our blood (excess carbohydrates, like grain).

How does sugar cause Heart Disease?

In a multitude of ways, but here is one that we can easily understand.  Diabetics often have limbs amputated because their blood vessels and arteries become so clogged that they can no longer be repaired.  Excess sugar in the blood is quite sharp, so it scrapes the sides of the blood vessels; this causes holes on the inside of the vessel, which are repaired by scabs.  Each scab, gets broken again by the sugar, and is replaced with a bigger scab.  The process continues until the artery is completely blocked.  The medical term for this process is acute thrombosis.

So, what have we done to combat heart disease?  We advocate low-fat.  When fat is removed, products are loaded with sugar to replace the taste.  Low-fat products in the supermarket, recommended for heart health, are full of sugar.  One tub of low-fat yoghurt typically contains about 6 or 7 teaspoons of sugar.

Now that you know sugar is the culprit behind heart disease, can you see what we are doing?  We are giving people heart disease!  Not to mention all the other disease sugar causes.

Sugar is a poison

I know this sounds extreme, but it really is the case.  In addition to causing heart disease, sugar causes many other issues, including upsetting the PH of the body.  The body constantly tries to correct the imbalance, but needs loads of vitamins and minerals to do so, including calcium. It eventually has to take calcium from our bones, which causes bone loss and tooth decay.  Any form of tooth decay is also a sign of bone loss.  There was no tooth decay in traditional human societies (pre-civilisation), and they had no tooth brushes.  And, their teeth were perfectly straight; no crowding.

And, there are many delicious alternatives to sugar, so we can still enjoy our favourite foods, including chocolate, ice cream, cake, trifles, mousse, and more.

We must get over this crazy idea that fat is bad for us

Fat can't make you fat!

Saturated fat is healthy and a natural part of our diet.  In addition to other fats, our family eats over 2 kilos of butter per week, and we are all fit and healthy.  At 41, people often ask me for my secrets.  Eating fat is one of them.  When we remove it from our diet, we get fat, we get sick, and we age much faster than we should.

And, we don’t have to exercise hard to burn it off.  I love exercise, but when it comes to weight loss, it is completely unnecessary!  For those who think you have to work hard to get results, think again.  It is about the food we eat, not how much we do.  When we constantly fatten ourselves with grains and sugars, then weight loss is hard.  Weight-loss is simple and easy with the right diet.

Please help me spread the word.  Help me make this important message viral!  Be part of the revolution and help educate people!  Let me know what you do with the message, and we will mention you on the website.

If we all take action, we can make a huge difference to the health of the nation.  Share on Facebook or other social media by clicking the buttons below:

The healthiest alternatives to sugar

It is becoming well known that sugar is damaging to our health.  And, the danger of fructose is also now on people’s radar, which is great news for our health and wellbeing.  Fructose has been shown to seriously damage our metabolism, causing obesity and weight-gain, and is a major contributor to most modern disease, including heart disease.

Fructose in itself is not unhealthy (it is naturally occurring in fruits).  The fructose overload in our western diets is the problem.  Some health professionals recommend staying under 25g of fructose per day.  I actually think our ancestor’s natural diet would have contained around 15g a day, so I think that is a healthier benchmark.  However, for birthdays or the occasional treat, consuming 25g in a day won’t hurt.

We all naturally seek out sweet food, and there is still a lot of confusion about which alternatives are healthiest.  And, there is also a lot of misinformation, which I would like to clear up to make it easier.

I find the easiest way to achieve vibrant health and wellbeing is to emulate our hunter-gatherer ancestors.  If a food can be grown, and was naturally accessed (albeit irregularly in the case of sweets), then I consider it a healthy alternative.  But, here is some specific information to help navigate the maze of choice.

Stevia

I sometimes see stevia listed with artificial sweeteners, but it is actually very natural.  It is a small green herb, and its leaves are 1,000 times sweeter than sugar.  If you can find a plant (try an organic nursery), you can grow it in the back yard, and grind the leaves in a mortar and pestle.  It has no fructose, so it is my favourite sweetener.  However, you do need to be careful to avoid stevia based sweeteners that have been mixed with other ingredients (usually sugar alcohols or chemicals).  Use a pure, natural stevia.  My favourite brand is Nirvana.

Some people insist that stevia has a bitter aftertaste, but if you use a quality brand, it just tastes sweet; no aftertaste.  It comes in a powder, drops, or tablets (easy to add to hot drinks); my preferred form is the extract powder.  Nirvana comes with a tiny scoop that is equivalent to 1 tsp of sugar, so it makes it easier to measure.   ½ a tsp is equivalent to 1 cup of sugar.

Raw Honey

Honey is starting to get a bad rap now that everyone is more aware of the dangers of fructose.  However, there are a few facts about honey that many people aren’t aware of.  Even though it is quite high in fructose (around 50%), raw honey contains compounds that reduce the insulin response, so the fructose doesn’t have the same impact.  Studies also show that raw honey stabilizes blood sugar levels.

In addition, raw honey is full of antioxidants, and is also loaded with minerals, enzymes, amino acids, and vitamins.  Raw honey also contains nutraceuticals, which are nutrients found to neutralize free radicals and improve the immune system.  It is a wholesome food that has been eaten for centuries, before we started loading our diets with sugar.

Having said all that, because raw honey does contain fructose, its use does need to be limited.  I recommend no more than 1 tsp in a day, which equates to about 4 g of fructose.  When I use raw honey in a recipe, I use one or two tablespoons in the entire recipe, which means each serve contains less than a tsp of honey.  If you see a recipe asking for 1 cup of honey, consider using stevia instead.  Keep in mind that once you are sugar-free, your taste buds will change, and you will no longer want your desserts to be super sweet.

Notice that I keep saying ‘raw honey’.  Commercial honey has been super-heated, and no longer contains any beneficial compounds, and you may as well be consuming high fructose corn syrup.  Honey also becomes toxic when overheated.

Maple Syrup

Maple syrup is also around 50% fructose.  I won’t get too technical here, but the monosaccharide fructose form of fructose (the type in high fructose corn syrup) is the most harmful.  Raw honey has around 42g of monosaccharide fructose per 100g, while maple syrup only has around 4g per 100g, so it is very low in the dangerous kind of fructose.  However, while we know that raw honey is beneficial to health, and has properties mitigating its high fructose content, maple syrup isn’t a whole food because it needs to be boiled extensively to reduce the maple tree sap into thick syrup.  As a result, its nutritious value and enzymes are destroyed.  It would be lovely to think the syrup simply pours out of the tree, but that isn’t the case.

Agave Syrup

The blue agave plant is a succulent, traditionally grown in Mexico, but also found the U.S. and South America, and is the source for Tequila.

Agave syrup has been marketed as a healthy alternative to sugar, and many raw desserts sold in health food shops are loaded with it.  It is advertised as healthy because of the Glycemic Index.  The GI measures the glycemic response in the body, and ‘low GI’ foods have been deemed healthier by many health professionals.  Using GI does actually work in a lot of cases, but there was one huge problem with the entire theory.  Fructose has a very low GI, and we now know that high levels of fructose cause major health issues.

Even though agave syrup is ‘low GI’, it is 90% fructose, so is actually quite unhealthy.  In addition, it is not a natural, whole food with enzymes.  The agave syrup is not made from the sap, but from the bulb.  Heat and chemicals are used to convert the bulb into syrup.  Some syrups are processed under 50°C, so are marketed as ‘raw’, but they are not raw or wholesome.

In addition, natural enzymes are physically removed to prevent the mixture from fermenting (and becoming tequila).  Once agave syrup is processed, it becomes a condensed fructose-syrup, with no nutritional value; far higher in fructose than any other commercial sweetener, including sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

Sugar Alcohols

The term ‘sugar alcohol’ sounds pretty natural, but the name comes from the chemical structure, which is similar to sugar and alcohol.  Sugar alcohols are carbohydrates; some are extracted from plants, but most are manufactured from sugars and starches.   Sugar alcohols are popular because they have half the calories of sugar.  I personally don’t believe calories have anything to do with maintaining a healthy weight, but the reason they have less calories is because the body doesn’t absorb them completely.  As a result of the malabsorption, they often cause bloating, gas, and diarrhoea.  The common sugar alcohols are:

• Erythritol
• Isomalt
• Lactitol
• Maltitol
• Mannitol
• Sorbitol
• Xylitol

Are they natural?  I think most people can tell from the chemical sounding names that they aren’t.  Sugar alcohols do occur in nature in tiny amounts.  We can’t go out into nature to collect sugar alcohols to use as a sweetener.  They are manufactured products, and I recommend avoiding them.

Glucose/Dextrose

Dextrose (the commercial form of glucose) is now quite commonly being used as a sugar alternative.  Extensive research has shown that fructose is the dangerous part of any sugar; testing has also shown that glucose, dextrose, and starch don’t cause obesity or health issues.

However, that being said, there is new research suggesting that diabetics and people who are insulin resistant actually make fructose from the glucose.  It happens with something called the ‘polyol pathway’.  Eating too much fructose activates the polyol pathway, and we begin to make fructose from other sources as well.  Researchers are learning more about this pathway, but they have definitive evidence that glucose turns into fructose with an insulin resistant person.  Unfortunately, with the high levels of sugar in western diets, most people are insulin resistant (unless they have been sugar-free for a substantial period).

Dextrose has been a good alternative for a lot of people, and has assisted many in losing a lot of weight.  And, it is clear that when someone isn’t insulin resistant, that it won’t cause the issues linked to fructose.  But, because of the issue with insulin resistance, I recommend other alternatives.

If you want more information on the new research being done about the polyol pathway, Dr. Richard Johnson, the chief of the division of kidney disease and hypertension at the University of Colorado, is continuing that research.

Artificial Sweeteners

There is SO much evidence out there showing detrimental effects of artificial sweeteners, so I will just give you a brief synopsis.  There are over 10,000 documented reports of reactions to artificial sweeteners, including death.  Aspartame and sucralose have been shown to cause bloating, weight-gain, depression, migraines, anaemia, kidney dysfunction, infertility, and spontaneous abortions.  They also destroy healthy gut bacteria.  Aspartame is also an excitotoxin, which causes overactive brain cells; to the point that they die.  The ester bond in aspartame is broken down into formaldehyde and methanol, toxic substances that have been shown to cause cancer.

Again, to achieve optimal health and weight, it is better to look for something naturally occurring in the environment.  These dangerous chemicals don’t even work; they may not have calories, but one of their proven side-effects is weight-gain.

The Best Alternatives

My favourites are stevia and small amounts of raw honey.  If nothing else, it does make it simple.  Easy healthy meals and desserts are simple to make once you know the right way to use these beautiful sweeteners.

Improve Your Child’s IQ with Food

A new study (2011) shows just how much poor nutrition choices can impact your child’s IQ.  The study showed that children who ate mostly processed food when they were younger had lower IQ scores as they got older.  The more processed food they ate, the lower the IQ score.

The opposite was also true.  The healthier the diet, the higher the IQ.

The study also showed that feeding children poorly when they are younger increases the likelihood that they continue to make poor food choices as they grow up, and will continue eating food with little or no nutritional value.

Woodland Hall Academy in the U.S. has also done research that shows that the intake of sugar lowers IQ for a few days.  One boy was tested at 140, but later tested at 100, which is a dramatic reduction.  The day he tested 100, he had a visit from Grandma, who made him pancakes with sugary syrup.  Three days later, he tested at 140 again.

Children who are eating sugar every day, are working at a distinct disadvantage, because their IQ is permanently lowered.  We can boost our children’s energy, gross motor development, concentration, focus, and their intelligence by feeding them well.

And we don’t need to deprive them to do it.  We can offer them healthy alternatives to all their favourite sweets, desserts, and snacks, including cupcakes, muffins, chocolate mousse, chocolate, cake, ice cream, and more.

For free recipes, look inside Great Health is a Piece of Cake.  Most recipes can be prepared in 10 or 20 minutes; faster than buying takeout.

And, kids love the food.  They don’t even realise it is healthy.  Enjoy!

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Getting Fit – The Easy Way

I am going to tell you how you can get fit with very little effort, but first I am going to tell you why it works.

While it is true that many people aren’t moving enough, and a sedentary lifestyle isn’t recommended, those who are moving are often working too hard.  We were designed to have balance.  Our ancestors were active and moved regularly; however, most of their movement was slow, unless they happened to be chasing prey.

Life was slow-paced for our anscestors.  There was no TV or other electronic devices, no jobs to rush off to, no commuting, and no fast-paced exercise classes.  If you think about what a person would have witnessed during his or her day of work back then, they could have easily described every detail of their day within a few minutes.  If you compare that to the life we live today with the hundreds of events we experience in a day, it is a very different lifestyle.

The best way to describe natural balance is with the eastern philosophy of Yin and Yang.  Yin helps us build energy (recharge our energy stores).  Yang is a strong output of energy.  We are designed to have an equal balance of both, but these days, we have a strong domination of yang.

Examples of yin activities include:

• Yoga
• Pilates
• Meditation
• Slow breathing
• Resting
• Massage
• Internal martial arts like Tai Qi or Qi Gong
• Stretching

Examples of yang activities include:

• Running
• Cycling
• Fast-paced exercise classes like RPM, Body combat, aerobics, or zumba
• External martial arts like Tae Kwon Do, Karate, or Kung Ku
• Rushing in the mornings
• Rushing throughout the day
• Stress
• Nervousness or anxiety
• Fast-paced jobs
• Eating food on the run
• Mind-chatter (thinking about what you need to do, when, and what could go wrong, and what did go wrong, and who really pissed you off, etc)

As you can see, most people are too yang.  Does it matter?  Yes. Too much yang energy burns out our adrenal glands.  It is like using a battery over and over again, without recharging it.  Eventually, it runs low, and is trying to power something with very little energy.  And then, it runs out completely.  We need to re-charge, just like a battery, so that we can keep living with energy and vitality.  Most people don’t realise just how burnt out they are, and just how hard their adrenals are overworked.  This causes many issues later in life.  One obvious symptom is chronic fatigue, but there are many others, including hormone imbalance.  Women make the appropriate level of hormones to help them function well, and once their own natural hormones decrease, the adrenals kick in and take over hormone production.  What happens if you have burnt out adrenals?  You guessed it.  Hormone imbalance and severe peri-menopausal or menopausal symptoms, when otherwise there wouldn’t be.  Some of the major symptoms of hormone imbalance during this crucial time are depression, complete lack of energy, and no lustre for life.  What an awful way to go through your prime years; your 40′s and beyond.

What is the answer?  There is nothing wrong with yang exercise, and in fact, it is meant to be part of our lives.  But we do need a balance, and time to recharge.  Replacing some of our yang activities with some yin activities is a great start.  The best way to do that is to eliminate stress, and rushing around.  We can still achieve an enormous amount, and in fact, often a lot more, if we are calm, and move slowly through life.  Regular meditation is a great way to slow down.  As you move through the day, become more conscious of what you are doing moment to moment, and enjoy it; stop thinking about what happened previously and what will happen.  Then some yang exercise is a great way to release energy, emotion, and get fit.

Back to my original point about getting fit with little effort.  We don’t need to exercise hard and make it a slog to get fit.  In fact, we can be fit with much less effort than we think.

I recommend everyone do weights to keep their bones strong, especially later in life.  But, I do them slightly differently than most people.  I recommend getting a trainer at first, just so you can learn how to do the basic exercises in the correct position.  However, after that, you can continue on your own.  I used to train twice a week, but now I only lift weights once a week to maintain my strength.  I know many people who train 5 or 6 days in the gym, and we are fairly comparable in how we look, even though, I am in the gym only a fraction of the time.  That being said, my diet helps me burn more fat and build more muscle, so I have an advantage.  More about that later.

Many people think that they need to run long distances or do a lot of cardio to burn fat, but that isn’t the case.  The easiest and most effective way to do cardio is to do the following type of interval training.

1. Go as hard as you can for 30 seconds to 1 minute (make sure you can breathe through your nose. If you get puffed, breath in through your nose, and out through your mouth. Mouth breathing, or panting, is a sign that your body is stressed).
2. Rest for 2 to 3 minutes (until you feel you can do it again)
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 four or five times.

The best way to do this is using something that emulates a natural movement, like a rowing machine, or skipping.  Treadmills aren’t natural, so aren’t the best option.

Using this method, you will burn more fat, and be fitter than if you were using the traditional slow options, like running on a treadmill for 40 or 50 minutes.

And, the amount of physical effort needed is minimal.  If you chose the 1 minute option, and repeated 5 times, your total effort would be grand total of 5 minutes!  As you get better, you can increase to 2 minute intervals, but it isn’t necessary.  This process only takes approximately 20 minutes.  A perfect warm up before your weight session

Martial arts and similar sports naturally train in intervals, but obviously the intervals are longer and harder.

And, the secret to maintaining a great weight is all in the diet.  Most people are at a strong disadvantage because a lot of the foods they are eating actually make them gain weight instead of losing weight, or maintaining a good weight.  There is a lot of misinformation in the fitness industry about nutrition, but with the right info, it is simple to maintain a good weight.  For more information about easy healthy meals that will help you lose weight, check out some of my other blog posts; they include free recipes.

Note: When doing weights, avoid the machines; they isolate large muscles and work only those muscles, which doesn’t emulate natural movement, is less effective, and can cause injuries.  Use free weights.  The best exercises are squats, deadlifts (only when trained correctly), lunges, pullups, pushups, and a variety of bicep and tricep exercises.  Cable machines are great for emulating natural movement, and are great for working out your core.

Also, many trainers don’t actually teach the best technique, so shop around, choose someone who looks very fit, whose clients look fit, and who come highly recommended as knowing their stuff.

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The Great Cholesterol Myth

Do you think cholesterol is bad for you?  Do you carefully watch your fat intake?  Especially saturated fat?  Understandable because that is what we have all been told.  But think again.  The world’s most hated substance is actually good for you.

Don’t take my word for it.  Here are some of the experts who kindly granted me permission to reprint their quotes in Great Health is a Piece of Cake:

Healthy Dessert Recipes

The much-maligned saturated fats—which Americans are trying to avoid—are not the cause of modern diseases.  If they were, and if the saturated fat or cholesterol myth were true, none of us would be alive today because saturated fat was the primary energy source for most of our ancestors.  Studies of North American Indians, Eskimos, and other tribes suggest that as much as 80% of their daily caloric intake was from fat, most of which was saturated animal fat.  Paul Chek, How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy!

So what is it about [saturated fat] that is so deadly?  Frankly, I’m the wrong person to ask, because I don’t happen to think that saturated fats are in any way damaging or dangerous.  If they were, they wouldn’t taste so damn delicious.  Nature tends to warn us off dangerous foods by making them taste bitter or icky.  Or giving them a bright-red colour.  Dr Malcolm Kendrick, The Great Cholesterol Con

Based on information [supplied by the mainstream health industry], most people naturally think of cholesterol as something damaging, something to be avoided.  But cholesterol is absolutely essential for life.  It is not some alien chemical that we can remove from our diets, or our bodies…I sometimes remark to those who think my ideas on heart disease are entirely batty, “Why do you think that an egg yolk is full of cholesterol?” Because it takes one hell of a lot of cholesterol to build a healthy chicken.  It also takes a hell of a lot of cholesterol to build, and maintain, a healthy human being.  In fact, cholesterol is so vital that all cells, apart from neurones, can manufacture cholesterol, and one of the key functions of the liver is to synthesize cholesterol.  We also have an entire transportation system dedicated to moving cholesterol around the body.  Dr Malcolm Kendrick, The Great Cholesterol Con

Healthy Snack Recipes

It is nigh impossible to eat enough cholesterol to meet your daily cholesterol needs.  In order to meet this gap, the liver has to produce four or five times as much cholesterol as you ingest.  In fact, you would need to eat about six to eight egg yolks each and every day to meet your daily requirement.  As most of us never do that, the liver fills the gap.  Dr Malcolm Kendrick, The Great Cholesterol Con

Fats from animal and vegetable sources provide a concentrated source of energy in the diet; they also provide the building blocks for cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances.  Fats, as part of a meal, slow down nutrient absorption so that we can go longer without feeling hungry.  In addition, they act as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.  Dietary fats are needed for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A, for mineral absorption and for a host of other processes…Most people, especially infants and growing children, benefit from more fat in the diet rather than less.  But the fats we eat must be chosen with care.  Avoid all newfangled hydrogenated fats and polyunsaturated oils.  Instead, use traditional vegetable oils like extra-virgin olive oil.  Acquaint yourself with the merits of coconut oil for baking and with animal fats for occasional frying.  Eat egg yolks and other animal fats with the proteins to which they are attached.  And, finally, use as much good quality butter as you like, with the happy assurance that it is a wholesome—indeed, an essential—food for you and your whole family.  Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions

And here is one of my quotes:

Beautiful skin at 40

One of the best-kept secrets for radiant skin is eating fat.  That’s right.  One of the most hated substances actually keeps us looking younger, and helps us feel energised.  Fats provide energy and are essential for cell rejuvenation and hormone production.  They also help us assimilate vitamins A, D, E, and K, so serving vegetables with butter is a perfect combination.  Fat is also essential in converting carotene to vitamin A, and is vital for many other processes within a healthy body.

Great Health is a Piece of Cake is full of other quotes from the experts.  It is absolutely fascinating to hear what they have to say about the taboo subject.

Live life to the full!  We all love to eat fat, and now you can enjoy eating it.  If you are concerned about gaining weight, read my last post, Fat can’t make you fat.   For free recipes for easy healthy meals, check out my other blog posts.

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Fat Can’t Make You Fat

Fat can’t make you fat.  I have included a few photos of me to help prove my point.

The food industry has perpetuated several myths that you might find shocking.  The first is that eating saturated fat causes heart disease and makes you fat.  Yes, you read that right.  It isn’t true.  Another is that a major part of our diet should be cereals and grains.

Our bodies are designed to eat saturated fat, and we have been doing so for thousands of years.  In fact, it has been proven that the strong link to heart disease is sugar; not saturated fat.  The food industry has actually caused more disease by naming fat as the culprit and advocating “low-fat” boxed products that are loaded with sugar.

And, fat can’t make you fat.  It is physiologically impossible.  Guess what farmers feed cows to fatten them up?  Low-fat grain.  What does make you fat?  Anything that produces insulin.  What produces insulin?  Carbohydrates (that is, low-fat grain and sugars).  We are designed to eat carbohydrates in the form of vegetables, fruits, and a small amount of grain.  In today’s society, we eat too many carbohydrates, and this is what causes weight gain and obesity.

Here is a simple description of how it works.  We eat carbohydrates, which causes our body to produce insulin (because of the sugar in the blood).  The insulin stores any extra sugar in our muscles as glycogen.  This is a very useful process and is needed for our bodies to function effectively.  When we consume too many carbohydrates, the body produces too much insulin.  The extra glycogen is distributed to the muscles, but they don’t have room for the excess.

The body then has to decide what to do with all the extra glycogen; it has two options.  It can either store the excess in the fat cells, which means we become overweight.  Or, the thyroid can deal with the excess, which means we stay thin, but become fatigued.  Eventually, the body will get sick of the process, and give up making insulin entirely.  The result is diabetes.

Eating fats also produces a hormone called Cholecystokinin (CCK), which is what makes you feel satisfied (full) when you eat.  This is why you can eat an entire packet of cookies (pure carbohydrate) and still not feel satisfied.  If you eat a meal with healthy fats, you will feel full, and stop eating.  It is no wonder that our nations are getting fatter and fatter on low-fat diets.  People overeat because they never feel satisfied, even though they feel bloated and uncomfortable.

If we sit down and really think about it, without even looking at the mountains of research available to support this theory, it does make sense that the recommendations made by mainstream health profession are false.  Our ancestors could not have eaten the diet advocated in the widely-accepted food pyramid. Some mainstream doctors and other health professionals are starting to advocate fat as an essential nutrient, but they are very conservative with their recommendations and encourage us to stick with nuts, avocado, olive oil, etc., for small quotas of fat.  Fat is an essential nutrient and it needs to be a regular part of our diet, rather than being eaten in minimal doses only.

Easy Healthy Meals

The real foods accessible by our ancestors were meat, vegetables, eggs, butter, and unpasteurised milk products (mostly cultured).  Our ancestors had access to some fruits and a few grains, but grains weren’t the staple of their diet.  Any grains or nuts they used would have been soaked and fermented.

As you can see from my photos, fat can’t make you fat.  I have been eating plenty of fat for the last 10 years.  In case you think that I flog myself in the gym, and that I must burn it all off, that isn’t the case either.  In fact, in this photo for my book cover, I was injured, and hadn’t been able to exercise for 6 months.  My weight doesn’t change at all when I don’t exercise; I just don’t look quite as buff as I do when I am exercising.  And, even when I do exercise, I don’t flog myself in the gym.  I never go to the gym more than twice a week.

Food without fat is like life without love.  Modern Proverb

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The easy way to that great figure

Have you ever looked at someone with a great body and wished you had the time, energy, or motivation to look like that?  I know a lot of people work really hard to obtain the perfect body, but I am here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be that hard.

Most people have the wrong information about food.  We are all told to eat low-fat, often low-protein diets, with plenty of whole grains.  The health food industry often endorses low-fat boxed products that are loaded with sugar.  The health food section in the grocery store is packed full of products that are full of sugar.  What people don’t realise is that the sugar is making them fat, and they are avoiding the things that could help.

Fats are the only type of food that produces a hormone called Cholecystokinin (CCK), which is what makes you feel satisfied (full) when you eat.  This is why you can eat an entire packet of cookies (pure carbohydrate) and still not feel satisfied.  If you eat a meal with healthy fats, you will feel full, and stop eating.  It is no wonder that our nations are getting fatter and fatter on low-fat diets.  People overeat because they never feel satisfied, even though they feel bloated and uncomfortable.

I avoid all types of sugar and empty carbohydrate, but that is easy because I can eat as much as I want.  And, I do eat plenty.  Most people would be shocked to see just how much I eat, and also how much fat I eat.  It is absolutely wonderful to be abundant with food, and not have to monitor and deprive yourself, and then feel guilty if you ‘fell off the wagon’.

I also don’t have to avoid sweet food.  I just make alternatives to all the sugary food out there.  I make chocolate (yes, chocolate), ice cream cake, cookies, and much more.  And, I also make my own chips because I can do it in a healthy way without all the free-radicals.

Once you have the right diet, it is very easy to obtain the perfect body.  I only ever work out in the gym twice a week.  Many of the people you see in the gym who look good, and also many who don’t look good, workout 5 or 6 times a week.  It is a hard slog to get the results they want.

In fact, I have been injured for the past 8 months, and haven’t really been able to exercise much at all.  My body shape has not changed.  I just don’t have as much muscle as I did prior to my injury (which is fine, because I still have plenty).  You can stop torturing yourself, and make it easy with the right diet.  For more information, and for plenty of easy healthy meals, have a look at Great Health is a Piece of Cake.

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Greatest gift for our children

I am a Rhee Tae Kwon Do instructor, and I am amazed at the inability of this generation of children to stand still and focus. Most just can’t do it. My heart goes out to these children, because it isn’t their fault. But, what a handicap for life. Imagine continually fidgeting, unable to be still, and wanting to jump out of your skin. And, children are normally continually reprimanded for it. I worry about their future as adults.

I also feel for the parents because it isn’t their fault either. We have been fed so many lies by the food industry and government. Also, one would assume you could go to the supermarket and buy “food” and that it should be okay for your family. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case, and the “food” in the supermarkets and food outlets is destroying our children’s lives. As Jamie Oliver says, “This is the first generation of children that is expected to die before their parents.”

Easy Healthy Meals

Healthy children are full of energy, mentally and physically, and can focus for long periods of time. They are happy, and have good dispositions. They don’t have blue under their eyes (you will be hard-pressed to find one or two children in each classroom these days without blue under their eyes). They have clear fingernails (without white marks on them). They eat well and eliminate well.

People often comment about my children; they find them amazing. As I am writing this section, my daughter is playing a tune on the guitar; she only started learning guitar a month ago, and she is playing not chords, but a full tune. She is multi-talented; she sings, dances, and is one rank from being a black belt in Rhee Tae Kwon Do. She is 10, but her reading level was just tested at school, and she reads at a 14 year old level. She is as smart as a whip. When she was very little, she could sit for very long periods of time focused on something. When she was one year old, she was doing complex puzzles. She is also well-rounded and spends most of her time playing, twirling, painting, drawing, and being a child.

Easy Healthy Meals

My son is 15, and he has in-depth conversations with adults about serious topics. He is a very deep thinker, and I can tell he will do something very important in his adult life. He is highly intelligent and self-driven. I never ask him to complete his homework; he does that on his own. He is currently working on a project with a friend so that they can become financially free by the time they are 18 and do what they choose as adults, rather than working for a living. My son is also happy and spends a lot of time doing teenage things; staying at friends’ houses, playing the Magic trading card game, and other hobbies.

Some people probably think they are just lucky, or have good genes; that maybe they are in the genius category. No, they aren’t. They just have the advantages that most children don’t have these days. They have been fed real food. Children are naturally amazing if we don’t give them a handicap.

Children are also designed to be beautiful. We all are. Inadequate nutrition has caused our faces and bodies to form differently than intended. Without adequate nutrition during pregnancy, breast feeding, and childhood, children’s features form differently than they would otherwise. Faces become narrow, teeth crowd, eyes form too close together, foreheads protrude, jaws jut out, and the general balance of the face that forms the foundation for beauty isn’t there. Adelle Davis was a pioneer of this kind of thinking in the 1950s, and she documented these phenomena back then. Imagine what she would say now.

There is global concern for the malnutrition being suffered in developing world because of poverty. What people don’t realise is that children are suffering from malnutrition in our “developed” countries, even though they have enough to eat. They may look well-fed, or over-fed, but they are malnourished.

Healthy Snack Recipes

If you have children, please consider changing their diet. You will give them such an advantage in life. It will be a real gift for them. They will initially resist, but they will eventually get over it if there aren’t other choices. I hear a lot of parents say that their child won’t eat vegetables. They have been trained and enabled not to eat vegetables. If you take away all fake food, and keep only real, healthy food, they will eventually give up and eat it.

Some parents cook multiple meals for their children, because their children refuse to eat certain things; this isn’t a good way to teach children respect for you. If I have spent time planning meals, shopping, cooking, and serving, and people I serve it to turn up their noses at it, then I am not teaching them respect for me if I don’t say something. My children rarely complain about their food because they know that complaining about it is not okay and not respectful (also because their food is normally delicious). On the rare occasion that they have complained, I just look at them, and say something like, “Are you serious?” They quickly say, “Sorry Mum.” As adults, we would never do this to others who had cooked us a meal, so we shouldn’t allow our children to do it by cooking special meals when they complain.

Healthy Snack Recipes

If you know families with children, then Great Health is a Piece of Cake would be a great gift. If I can change the life of even one family or child by writing this information down, then the time spent on this project has been worthwhile. Easy healthy meals and desserts are simple and delicious, so are a great investment for our children.  And, the children won’t be missing out.  I can make an alternative for just about any commercial meal or snack, just like these Freddo frogs.  The only thing missing is the tinfoil wrapping!  All recipes shown in the pictures are included in Great Health is a Piece of Cake.

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Healthy Breakfast Recipes

Healthy Breakfast Recipes.  

Early morning is the most important time to eat protein and fat.  My favourite food for breakfast is eggs.  Eggs are natures perfect food; easy to prepare, a first-class protein, and delicious.  I normally have three fried eggs every morning, sometimes with vegetables on the side.  But, if you would like more variety, there are many interesting things you can do with eggs.

A good breakfast makes a huge difference to your day, and will help you avoid those blood sugar lows that tempt you to reach for a sugary, mid-morning snack.

For a wonderful side dish in the morning, I love to sauté mushrooms and spinach in butter, and then drizzle with tamari.

Easy Healthy Meals

Devilled eggs

8 eggs

2 or 3 tbsp mayonnaise

Salt and pepper

1. Boil the eggs for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the yolks in the centre.
2. Remove the eggs from the heat, discard the hot water, and replace with cold (room-temperature) water.
3. Peel immediately.
4. Slice in half, and remove all yolks.
5. Mash the yolks with a fork.
6. Add the mayonnaise, salt, and pepper.  Mix into a smooth paste.
7. Add the yolk mixture back into the eggs, and garnish.

Healthy breakfast recipes and easy healthy meals are simple with a few different ideas.  Enjoy!

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