Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit

Learn to tip the scale in your favor by adopting the Eat-Fat Δ Get-Fit Lifestyle.

Dedications

This book is dedicated to my wife Kristy, who inspired me to pursue my passion by writing this book. A wonder-woman in her own right, Kristy continues to amaze and nourish me with her love, patience and grace.

This book is also dedicated and provided as a gift to my friends, family, friends of friends, and all my coworkers, in hope that they will take something away that will improve their health, fitness and overall quality of life.

For Further information, please visit: Eat-Fat-Get-Fit.org ISBN: 978-1-63173-271-3 Eat- -Fit

Endorsements for Eat-Fat FatΔ Get ∆ Get-Fit

Ted Neckowicz has great advice! This way of eating will enable you to think more clearly and feel great. And a wonderful added benefit is you will get to your ideal weight easily. Shawn Kent Hayashi, Best Selling Author of “Conversations That Get Results and Inspire Collaboration”, “Conversations for Creating Star Performers: Inspire Excellence Every Day” and “Conversations for Change: 12 Ways to Say It Right When It Matters Most”

Every American needs to read Eat-Fat Δ Get-Fit. If you are overweight, you will learn it is not your fault and how to lose the weight you want and regain your health for the long haul. Marilyn Ashton, Nursing Administrator and Author of “Quick Look Nursing Pharmacology”

The Eat-Fat Δ Get-Fit diet really works. You will feel healthier, sleep better and have more energy. I have been on this diet for several years and recommend for anyone wanting to look and feel great. Bill Cote, Retired Exelon, Gulf Shores Alabama

Thanks for including me in your book, which looks excellent! I’ve continued to lecture on the topic with invitations to speak at med schools and a cardiology conference. Dr. David Diamond, PhD, University of Southern Florida

With my Dad’s advice, I’ve lost weight with the Paleo low carb diet but Eat-Fat Δ Get-Fit clearly explained the theory on why it is so effective and how I can take my health to even higher levels through Superfoods, intermittent fasting and going Keto! Patricia Neckowicz, Computer Science Major, Dartmouth College

As the MediFit Director of the Exelon Fitness Centers, I’ve known Ted now for over ten years. At 165 lbs, Ted is in great shape for a 58 year old and has lost weight while achieving higher levels fitness over the years. How many men Ted’s age can pump out 70 military push-ups and 15 regulation pull-ups? If Eat-Fat Get-Fit works for him, there may be something to it. Eat-Fat Get- Fit is worth checking out! - Lisa Case, Director MediFit, Exelon Corporate Kennett Square PA.

Finally, a book that pulled it all together for me. Kudos to Eat-Fat Δ Get-Fit. Fat is finally In! Michael Richard, Senior Project Engineer – Sudbury Mass.

Ted in his book Eat-Fat Δ Get-Fit captures the essence of a healthy diet and lifestyle that I have researched and intuitively known for years and which has afforded me a long and healthy life.- Madeleine Herbert - 93 years young - Salem Virginia.

I lowered my Body Fat Thermostat and lost weight by adjusting my Fat to Carbohydrate ratio just like Eat-Fat Δ Get-Fit Recommends. It is so-so easy. They should teach this in schools! Anonymous - Baltimore MD.

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Acknowledgements Fat ∆ Get

My deepest thanks to my talented and dedicated family, friends, and associates, who have supported me, encouraged me, and inspired me to write this book. In particular:

My wife Kristy, for her encouragement to write this book and make a real difference in reducing obesity and promoting wellness around the world

My daughter Patricia, for trying the Paleo diet with me (which helped her lose her “Freshmen- 15”) and for her valuable input and editing.

My best friend Steve Ashton and his wife Marilyn (who teaches nursing), for their encouragement and feedback while reviewing early drafts of the book.

My dear friend and now retired work colleague Bill Cote, for putting an early draft of my book to good use to help him lose weight and improve his health and fitness.

My personal journey has led me to read over fifty books and countless articles on diets, and healthy foods and lifestyles. I have tried numerous diets and evaluated their effectiveness. The EAT-FAT Δ GET-FIT diet principles are based on the best of what I have learned over my quest for the ultimate diet. Yet, I realize that everyone is unique and that a specific diet that works well for one may not be as effective for another. EFGF is not a specific diet but is rather a set of dietary principles that are time-tested, supported by the latest modern science and which have optimally sustained the human genome for tens of thousands of years.

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TABLEFat OF ∆CONTENTS Get

Forward - Why This Book? Mission - The Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit Mission Statements Chapter 1 - Quick Summary: Every Thing You Need to Know Chapter 2 - My Story Chapter 3 - Obesity in America: The New Normal but at What Cost Chapter 4 - The Perfect Storm: The Creation of America’s Obesity Epidemic Chapter 5 - Tipping the Scales on Obesity: When Old Becomes New Chapter 6 - We Have Been Misled - The Story of Dr. David Diamond Chapter 7 - Good Nutrition – Part 1: Nourish Your Cellular Army Chapter 8 - Good Nutrition – Part 2: Food Really Does Matter Chapter 9 - Pyramid, Pyramid on the Wall Chapter 10 - When is a Calorie Not a Calorie? Chapter 11 - Endocrinology 101: It’s All about Insulin Chapter 12 - Good Nutrition – Part 3: Real Food Rules for Eating Chapter 13 - Sugar: The Sweet Poison Chapter 14 - Fats: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Chapter 15 - Protein: Not Too Little, Not Too Much, Just Right Chapter 16 - Eat Your Veggies (and a little fruit too) Chapter 17 - Grains: The Bane of Modern Man Chapter 18 - Paleo: Release Your Inner Animal and Reverse Devolution Chapter 19 - Ketosis 101: What’s On Your Breath? Chapter 20 - Supplements: Should We or Shouldn’t We? Chapter 21 - 25 Superfoods to Supercharge your Fitness and Health Goals Chapter 22 - Fasting: The Forgotten Principle of Healthcare Chapter 23 - Crood Fitness - Exercising the Caveman Way Chapter 24 - The EFGF 80/20 Principles: Commitment Redefined Chapter 25 - Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Chapter 26 - Help Getting Started Chapter 27 - My Favorite EFGF Meals

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Chapter 28 - Additional Resources and RecommendedFat ∆ ReadingGet Chapter 29 - What Can We Do, America? Chapter 30 - Words for Baby Boomers like Me Appendix 1 - Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit Dietary Recommendations Appendix 2 - EFGF Daily Motivation Work Sheet Appendix 3 - Completed Daily Work Sheet and Internet Food and Fitness Dairy Appendix 4 - Chapter References, Sources and Citations Epilogue

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Forward – Why this book?Fat ∆ Get The title of this eBook “Eat-FAT ∆ Get-FIT” must sound to most people like an oxymoron of extreme proportions. How can these two seemingly contradictory terms be paired? This goes against conventional wisdom, modern dogma, and everything we have learned in school and from our trusted doctors. Remember that famous food pyramid we all had to learn in health class? Well, if you don’t, I’ve included it below. We were all taught that fat is calorie-dense and bad for you. According to the USDA, AHA, ADA and pretty much every officially recognized US food and drug organization, we should all be eating a low-fat (especially a low-saturated fat) diet. Given all of this information, an obvious conclusion is that eating fat makes us fat. The fat we eat is structurally and chemically the same as the fat we carry on our bellies, love handles and hips. Fat contains over 9 calories per gram, whereas carbohydrates only have a mere 4 calories per gram. Need I say more?

Most of us were taught that fats (at the tip of food pyramid) are to be eaten sparingly

Well, if you care about your life and your health, it is time for a major wake-up call. In this book, I intend to present an abundance of scientific and empirical data, which will demonstrate that the conventional wisdom “fat makes us fat and sick” is merely a myth. I will show how eating more fat has improved my health - physically, emotionally and mentally. Taking the contrarian position, I hope to make a compelling case that fat, rather than carbohydrates, should be the foundation of each of our personal food pyramids. It is my sincere hope that you will take the time to read this book fully and spur your own investigation for improved health and a long, disease-free life. Don’t become a victim of our broken health care system where millions needlessly suffer chronic, debilitating illnesses in their precious final years on earth. Rather, join me with the intention to live long and drop dead (after 99 years or so), eating as nature and our genes intended. Get ready for a wild and interesting ride. Fasten your seat belts tightly because I expect them to be loose when you’re finished.

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The EAT-FAT ∆ GETFat-FIT ∆ Get Mission Statements

1. Prevent and reduce adult and childhood obesity (and the associated risks of chronic diseases) by teaching the benefits of a moderate/high-fat diet combined with the restriction of high-glycemic carbohydrates.

2. Raise public awareness of the causes of the U.S. obesity crisis and metabolic syndrome-related illnesses, and show what each of us can do to alleviate it at home and in our communities.

3. Demonstrate how we can all thrive rather than just survive through our food and lifestyle choices.

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Fat ∆ Get Chapter 1 – Quick Summary - (EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW!)

“Take Care of Your Body. It’s the Only Place You Have to Live” ― John Rohn

Obesity is by far the most serious health risk facing our nation today, and it is rapidly spreading across the globe. Rates of obesity have nearly tripled in the last 30 years, with over 30% of Americans obese. Some states have even exceeded 35% obesity. Even our children are not immune, with adult onset type 2 diabetes now appearing in obese preschool children. Over the same period of time, consumption of fat as a percentage of total calories has gone down while consumption of carbohydrates and sugars (including high fructose corn syrup) has gone through the roof. Major food companies have systematically reduced fat content of their processed foods while adding sugar to make their foods more palatable. This change actually causes us to eat more of their food because with less fat content our innate satiety signals are partially nullified. This phenomenon explains what is known among health enthusiasts as the “Snackwell” Effect, where dieters will actually eat more low-fat cookies, such as SnackWells, than they otherwise would eat traditional higher-fat cookies. More and more scientific studies are directly linking obesity to nearly all chronic diseases of modern society including: metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, hypertension, cancer, and arthritis. It is time to wake up from these weight related health risks and take control of our personal wellness. You don’t have look to the United States Government or even to your doctor for answers. You can be the solution just by monitoring what you buy and ultimately consume.

Knowledge is power. Take personal responsibility for your own health and fitness. Chronic illnesses are best prevented and cured by lifestyle changes, rather than by prescription drugs -- even though many doctors and pharmaceutical companies will not tell you that. What’s in it for them, if they can’t sell their miracle health-promoting drugs?

Your health is largely dependent on what you eat on a daily basis. There are no truer words than “YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT” Repeat this mantra often, especially before each meal and grocery store visit.

It is best for our health to limit our daily consumption of carbohydrates to less than 100 to 150 grams per day. This amounts to about 400 to 600 calories from carbohydrates which correspond to about 20% to 30% of a typical 2000 calorie daily diet. Our energy and blood sugar levels will become stabilized with no more sugar crashes and bonking (i.e. hitting the wall) during exercise. Excessive consumption of carbohydrates leads to elevated blood glucose levels which, if chronic (i.e. maintained over long periods of time), lead to a plethora of negative health effects. Most Americans typically eat over 60% of their calories from carbohydrates (that’s at least 1200 calories per day and over 300 grams (twice my recommended maximum normal daily limit.)

The majority of your daily energy supply should come from fat (either the fat you eat or the fat stored in your body). You cannot effectively burn your own body fat and spare essential lean body mass (i.e. your muscle) if your consumption of carbohydrates is high. Why, you ask? One Word: INSULIN. This hormone is the primary gatekeeper to our internal fat storage depot. When insulin is elevated, excess carbohydrates

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in the blood are converted to fat and shunted toFat our ∆fat Get cells. Fat in our cells cannot be effectively released and burned for fuel if blood insulin remains elevated. To gain access to our fat stores for our daily caloric needs, we must limit consumption of carbohydrates, because carbohydrates directly control insulin. Eating fat for fuel helps to maintain low insulin levels, unlocking the exit door to our fat cells and releasing stored fat for powering our bodily functions.

Ever since I started using a diet that is typically 50-60% fat, 20-25% protein and only 15-20% carbohydrates, stubborn fat has melted away from my 58 year-old body. My blood work has improved to such optimal levels that would make a twenty-year-old proud.

We humans are genetically built to thrive on a 10,000+ year old (Paleolithic) diet, dating back before the invention of agriculture and grains. The majority of our ancestors’ daily calories came from the animals they hunted and from the fruits, nuts, and vegetables they gathered. We can still choose to eat like that today (with a lot less effort I might add) if we don’t fall prey to all the heavily advertised products of the food industry, which are loaded with cheap carbohydrates, sugars, and processed, unhealthy oils. After experiencing some health issues in the last few years, I discovered the benefits of the “caveman” diet and have regained my health and zest for life.

To achieve optimal health and weight, eliminate or greatly restrict the following foods from your routine daily diet:

• All grain products except rice, including all breads, baked goods, breakfast cereals and pasta • Legumes, including beans of all varieties and peanuts (which are legumes, not nuts) • Anything with added sugars of any kind including HFCS, table sugar (sucrose), honey, maple syrup, etc. • Polyunsaturated (high omega-6) vegetable oils and all products containing partially hydrogenated oils. Hydrogenated oils (commonly known as trans fats) have been highly correlated to cancer and a host of other metabolic diseases. • Sugary drinks, including all soda, sports drinks and fruit juice. • Highly processed food or anything your great-grandparents would not recognize as food. I’ll explain why each of these food groups should be eliminated or greatly restricted in the chapters to follow.

Eat the following foods routinely:

• Eggs with the yolks (a real superfood) • Meat and fish of all kinds: beef, liver, lamb, fish, shellfish, poultry, and pork (preferably organic or free-range) • Generous combinations of cooked, fermented, and raw green and cruciferous vegetables (they taste great with lots of spices and healthy fats and oils) • Real soups and stews. Home cooking makes a comeback! • Did I mention eggs? Preferably from organic or free-range chickens.

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• Full fat dairy, including milk, cottage cheese,Fat ∆unsweetened Get yogurt, heavy cream, butter, and real full-fat cheeses. • Healthy nuts and seeds (better if raw and unprocessed). Almonds, macadamia, cashews, brazil- nuts, flax, sesame and sunflower seeds. Also seed and nut butters. • Healthy fats – coconut oil (superfood), butter, avocados, olives. • Healthy treats and indulgences in moderation - dark chocolate (high cacao), low carb spirits and wines • Low-glycemic fruits in moderation – berries, cherries, pears, apples, citrus fruits. Eat or blend the whole fruit to get the fiber and lower the blood sugar spike. Note: Eat starchy vegetables in moderation so that you don’t exceed the recommended maximum daily carbohydrate limit. Sweet potatoes and yams are best. Others include carrots, beets and taro. White rice may also be included as a safe starch provided total carbohydrate consumption is limited.

Did you notice that every recommend food listed above is REAL FOOD and not some highly-processed and heavily-advertised FAUX FOOD CRAP loaded with sugar, wheat, corn and/or soy products, preservatives, food colorings, and other unrecognizable chemicals?

These nutrition recommendations can be simply illustrated using the Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit Food Pyramid shown below.

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Fat ∆ Get

Here is a short list of my Top 10 Superfoods you should consider including in your daily diet:

Eggs with the Yolk (free range or organic) – rich in protein, vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. One egg contains all the nutrients and building blocks required to grow an entire baby chicken. Eggs are loaded with high-quality proteins, vitamins, minerals, good fats, and various trace nutrients. A large egg contains only 77 calories, with 5 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein with all 9 essential amino acids. Eggs are rich in iron, phosphorous, selenium and vitamins A, B12, B2, and B5 (among others). Eggs also are an abundant source of choline – a very important nutrient for the brain and liver. • Coconut Oil – A unique fat that is efficiently burned for fuel and not stored as body fat. It is composed of short and medium-length chain triglycerides whose thermogenic nature helps us lose fat while maintaining lean body mass. You will find lots of books and articles about the benefits of this stuff. I eat it right out of the jar. • Blueberries - Nature’s most potent free radical scavengers, thanks to high levels of anthocyanidans and ellagic acid. Blueberries are also high in beneficial fiber. Mix with yogurt (another superfood) for a very healthy desert. • Wild Caught Salmon - Wild salmon remains one of the world’s best sources of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. These essential fats can only be obtained through your diet, and they help to nourish your brain, reduce your risk of heart disease, and improve overall health. Other healthy alternatives include: cold water fatty fish such as sardines, mackerel, and herring. All are excellent sources of omega-3 fats EPA, and DHA, which are needed for healthy brain function. • Yogurt - Plain, full-fat yogurt (preferably organic) is a wonderfully dense source of energy, calcium, and beneficial bacteria (probiotics) for a healthy gut. • Brussels Sprouts - These little “cabbages” are high in fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, and calcium. But what makes brussels sprouts special is that they’re nearly 25% protein (higher than most vegetables.) • Almonds – Most nuts and seeds are naturally quite healthy (remember that a peanut is not a nut!) But almonds – particularly raw and organic ones– are among the healthiest, offering protein, fiber, vitamin E, and many other vitamins and minerals. • Swiss Chard, Kale and Spinach – Dark green leafy vegetables are powerhouses of phytonutrients and naturally-derived vitamins and minerals. They are excellent sources of vitamin K, a fat-soluble vitamin that helps protect your cardiovascular system (among several heart-related benefits) • Sweet Potatoes – This starchy vegetable is a great source of your recommended carbohydrates and contains high levels of vitamin A (as beta carotene), vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium, calcium, and iron. One serving of sweet potato has 7 grams of fiber. I eat mine drenched in organic butter sprinkled with cinnamon. It’s almost dessert!

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• Grass-Fed Beef – A source of high-qualityFat protein ∆ Get, grass-fed beef contains 2 to 6 times the omega- 3 essential fat found in regular beef and averages about 100 fewer calories per six ounce serving. Grass-fed beef is a great natural source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which contributes to maintaining a healthy weight. No hormones or antibiotics used. Healthy less expensive alternatives include organic or free range chicken or pork. • Liver – OK, I saved this one for last for good reason. I hated it as a child and I bet many of you still do too. That being said, liver is by far the most nutrient-dense food on the planet. Liver is loaded with fat-soluble vitamins like retinol (pre-formed vitamin A) that are crucial for reproductive health and difficult to obtain elsewhere in the diet. Liver is also a great source of highly absorbable iron, which helps prevent miscarriages and maternal anemia, and B12, which is required for proper formation of red blood cells and DNA. Liver is also a good source of bioavailable protein, zinc, and folate. You may be surprised to learn that in some traditional cultures, only the organ meats (like liver, heart, etc.) were valued and consumed. The lean muscle meats, which are what we mostly eat in the U.S. today, were discarded or perhaps given to the dogs.

Consider short-term, 1 to 2 day fasts or intermittent fasting to kick-start any weight-loss program and improving your health. Going without food for extended periods is a lost medicinal practice to cure illnesses and cleanse the body of toxins that are making us sick. In our modern society, where we are continuously exposed to toxic, manmade chemicals and food additives, fasting is needed more than ever.

By reducing your daily carbohydrate intake to less than 50 grams per day (it may be even less depending on your size), you will have your body transition into what is known as ketosis. While in ketosis, your body becomes far more efficient at mobilizing and efficiently utilizing its internal fat stores. Your body does this by forming ketones in your liver to fuel your cells (including your brain cells, which normally can only utilize glucose for energy when you are not in ketosis). Entering ketosis is not dangerous and is not to be confused with ketoacidosis, which is most common in untreated type-1 diabetes. Given their hunter-gatherer lifestyle, it was very likely that our Paleolithic ancestors experienced ketosis quite often during periods of famine or when fruits and vegetables were out of season. I sometimes “go keto” for up 6 to 7 days per month to easily drop 5 pounds or more. Being in ketosis explains the high effectiveness of the famous Atkins diet, which bucked conventional (low fat) wisdom of the 1970s and 1980s. Where the original Atkins came up short was focusing mostly on reducing carbohydrates through consumption of meat and fat, and not emphasizing the importance of low glycemic fruits, vegetables and other superfoods. There are also some additional supplements that should be utilized while conducting this Very-Low Carb (Ketogenic) diet.

We should obtain the majority of our required micronutrients (i.e. vitamins, minerals) from eating real food. That being said, I do recommend some supplements that everyone should consider and try out to see whether they improve our wellbeing. This is especially true if your food is not grown locally and certified organic. Modern farming, livestock, and water treatment methods greatly diminish the

Life Style Guide Page Eat- -Fit nutrient density of most conventional foodFat items ∆ as Get compared with those available even a hundred years ago. Finally, one last word about fitness. Many modern nutrition experts estimate that eighty (80) percent of our bodies’ composition is determined by what we eat. Exercise alone in the long term cannot compensate for a poorly constructed unhealthy diet. Through personal research and application, I have found that moderate exercise is often more effective than excessive over-exercising. Consequently, here are the required elements of any fitness program that I would recommend: • Move around every day at a moderate but non-strenuous pace. Target a minimum of moving around at least one hour per day. Movement is critical for any animal to thrive and not just survive. Once you have lost your ability to move and are confined to a chair or bed, your days left on this earth are numbered. Walk, ride your bike, swim. It doesn’t matter much how you move; just move. Your underappreciated lymphatic system requires movement to effectively perform its metabolic and immune support functions. I do not endorse chronic cardio like running for hours on end each week. I personally would like to keep the knees and hips that I was born with. Animals don’t run long distances for exercise, so why should we? We humans are supposed to know better! • At a minimum of 1 to 2 times per week, lift weights or resistance train to maintain your muscle mass and bone density. 15 to 20 minutes per session is all that is needed provided you push your muscles to their limit. If you do resistance training only once per week, make the session a minimum of 30 minutes so that all major muscle groups can be worked. Through personal discovery, I have found that slow-motion weight lifting is the most effective for both building strength and avoiding injury. Pick a weight for each muscle group, which you can lift and lower to failure for 4 to 8 repetitions at a pace of about 8 Mississippi’s up and 8 Mississippi’s down. One set per muscle group. That’s all there is to it. Trust me, if you do this right, the 30 minutes will feel like 3 hours. It’s the most important 30 minutes of your week. • Finally, once or twice a week, run/move as if your life depends on it for 5 to 10 minutes. It has been shown that occasional short duration high intensity workouts are much more effective at maintaining your fitness level than long duration chronic cardio. Depending on your current level of fitness, you don’t have to sprint like Michael Vick escaping the pocket, but the level of intensity has to be difficult for you to maintain for at least 30 seconds. Then take a short break (30 to 60 seconds) and repeat, repeat, repeat for up to 20 minutes. Initially, if your existing level of fitness is low, just do it once or twice. By following this routine religiously, your level of fitness will rapidly improve.

Through this quick summary, I hope I have given you the basics of my recommended health and fitness lifestyle. I will fully explain and justify this lifestyle in the remaining chapters in this book. However, you don’t have to finish the book to get started. Just begin putting into practice the basic principles and recommendations listed above. For you skeptics from Missouri (the “Show Me State”), I’ll next outline my personal journey to discovering the Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit Lifestyle. Let’s begin…

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Here are some words toFat live ∆ Get by as you read this book:

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Fat ∆ Get Chapter 2 – My Story: “There and Back Again” ― Bilbo the Hobbit

Who am I to write this book and dispense diet, health, and fitness advice? I am neither a medical doctor, nor biochemist, nor certified nutritionist, nor fitness advisor, all of which would give me professional credibility. Who I am, however, is a reasonably well- educated person who’s researched, studied, and put into practice the opinions and advice contained in this book. Even more importantly, I have absolutely no financial or any conflict of interest in the food, health, fitness and medical industry. I make my living as a corporate engineer for an electric power company, and I have a strong personal interest and quest for knowledge in healthy living. This interest now compels me to share the diet and fitness knowledge I have discovered with any and all seekers that have struggled with their own health and weight issues. In my own small way, I hope this book becomes one of many grass-roots campaigns to contribute to the final eradication of widespread obesity, which I hope is one day in the not too distant future.

In this chapter, I will detail the changes in my own health, as I have tried various diets and fitness protocols. Today, I am a 58 year-old white male at or near my optimum body weight, with excellent metabolic and blood test markers, extremely low risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and the muscle tone and endurance that most present day thirty year-olds would envy. Here begins my story:

I grew up in a lower middle income family from the Fishtown section of inner city Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I am the eldest of two children. My parents were high school educated. While growing up, my father worked as a security guard and my mother as a secretary for the local junior high school. Both my parents were born in 1918 and lived through the Great Depression as young adults, with my father serving proudly with the US Army 4th infantry division in Europe during World War II. My mother loved her Coca-Cola, candy, and baked goods, whereas, my father loved his beer, pretzels, and morning cereal. Both parents worked hard, lived modestly, and saved enough to put me and my sister through college at Penn State University. My parents were emblematic of Tom Brokaw’s “Greatest Generation” in America who sought to give their children a better life.

My mother, by all accounts, was obese with a weight of over 230 pounds on a 5’ 6” frame for many years, until her early 70s. My 5’11” father for most of his life was probably classified as overweight, and he hovered around 210-220 pounds during his mid-life years. He was an avid walker and was physically active, not through exercise but through manual labor for constant home improvement projects. While less active, my mother still walked a lot for her size, up until her early seventies. Unusual for their generation, neither of my parents smoked cigarettes, but my father did enjoy smoking his Edgeworth pipe tobacco in the evenings after dinner.

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I was born to the “Baby Boomer” generation inFat 1956 ,∆ and Get was brought up in the 1960s and 1970s, just as convenience foods like frozen dinners and processed baked good (like Entenmanns) were gaining popularity. My family also loved to visit the local cheesesteak and hoagie shop in our neighborhood at least once every week. On most days, breakfast was usually cold cereal with milk, with a sandwich and a Tastykake for lunch, followed by a home cooked meal on most evenings complete with some form of dessert like cookies, pudding, or JELLO. Ice cream sodas were our weekly Saturday night treat. We were not taught and knew very little about good nutrition. We did not take vitamins or supplements of any kind. It was generally assumed that anything that could be sold as food was OK to eat. Common sense dictated to just eat in moderation and not abuse high sugar foods for the simple reason that they led to dental cavities. By all accounts, I thought I ate a healthy diet. It never entered our minds that the foods we ate were making us overweight. If you were fat, it was because you were either born to be that way or even worse: you were a glutton, sloth, or possibly both.

Throughout most of my youth, I was a chubby kid of small stature. I routinely sold Philly soft pretzels for a dime on Saturday mornings walking the neighborhoods of Fishtown and Port Richmond. Being Philly born and bred, nothing tastes better than a freshly baked warm Philly soft pretzel with mustard (Fishtown’s Breakfast of Champions). I of course ate slightly into my profits by devouring at least 3 pretzels during the course of each pretzel run. I played no organized sports, but my parents did encourage me to participate in Boy Scouts. I struggled to earn Eagle Scout status just before the deadline of my 18th birthday. My weight and lack of conditioning posed a real barrier to earning the physically demanding merit badges like swimming, lifesaving, and personal fitness. I remember yearning to be more athletic and strong, but couldn’t find my way. I left high school at 5’ 7” and 190 lbs with a 38” waist. My Body Mass Index (BMI) was 29.8. I was overweight and borderline obese.

The summer after I graduated high school, I had an epiphany: I could actually control my weight and fitness through exercise. I started working a physically demanding outside summer job with PECO, the local electric power company. I also started walking miles on end, then jogged and finally ran, up to 5 miles every other evening. I bought a cool orange colored 10-speed racing bike that became my pride and joy. I biked everywhere – to work, to go shopping and for long 2-hour pleasure rides after dinner. I often came home after 9pm from my running and cycling expeditions; which was probably not too smart given some of the neighborhoods I traveled through. Saturdays included really long bike rides of 30 to 50 miles

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in length. With this kind of energy expenditure Fatwith daily∆ Get 1000+ calorie deficits, I dropped twenty pounds in less than two months. At the end of my freshman year in college, I was 5’ 9” and now less than 140 pounds (having lost 50 pounds in 1 year.) Not quite the typical “Freshman 15”! If only they had the “Biggest Loser Show” in 1973, I would have been a contender. Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels would have been proud of me. Exercise was the answer to weight control and good health; or so I thought!

Over the next few years, I grew stronger with my weight increasing to 150 lbs by college graduation which is still well within the normal recommended BMI range. For well over a decade, I continued to frequently exercise and bike ride allowing me to eat what I wanted when I wanted. I kept within my recommended weight range until my mid-thirties (the early 1990s) when the joy and demands of being married with children entered my life. Year after year, I slowly and steadily gained weight. I was 168 pounds in 1988 (Marriage), 173 pounds in 1992(1st Child Patricia), 180 pounds in 1995 (2nd child Mitchell), and 188 pounds in 1998 (3rd child Teddy). Eventually, my weight peaked at about 190+ pounds and I regained my old high schoolish 38” waist. In approximately thirty years’ time, my weight had gone full circle (190 to 140 then back to 190) -- “There and Back Again,” to coin a phrase from my favorite book and movie. I tried to exercise more but the demands and stress from work, my older parents, and family made any attempts mere token efforts with no meaningful results. For the first time, health issues were beginning to make an appearance in my life, including several bouts with kidney stones and gall bladder attacks. These were the only outward symptoms, and I feared that there were underlying health issues waiting to make an appearance. Something needed to change – and diet had to be the answer. But what diet? Before beginning to answer that question, let’s revisit my parents’ past one last time to obtain a glimpse of what our Golden Years may become.

Possibly because of their God-given genes and pre-WWII unprocessed food diet, both of my parents lived until their late-eighties. Unlike the majority of present-day adults, they avoided medicines for blood pressure and other age-related infirmities until they were both well into their fifties and sixties. That being said, their last ten years on earth were a horrible ordeal with a host of lifestyle-induced health problems that greatly disrupted not only their quality of life but also added great stress to all who cared for them. My father suffered a heart attack requiring bypass surgery in his mid-seventies, followed by a severe stroke in his eighties that left him unable to speak or swallow, and paralyzed on his right side. Remarkably, through shear will and determination, he regained his ability to eat without a feeding tube and became mobile once again without the use of a wheelchair. However, in his weakened state, my father evidently succumbed to frequent bouts of pneumonia and finally to prostate cancer that, when discovered, had already metastasized to his bones. My mother was not any luckier. In her late-seventies, she started exhibiting signs of dementia, and by her mid-eighties she had full-blown Alzheimer’s. While in that condition, my mother developed cancer, edema, and congestive heart failure. It was Alzheimer’s that finally claimed her. Both my parents died in 2006. As my own mortality stared back at me, I asked myself, “Are we all doomed to similar fates, of having the last years of our lives also being our worst years?" I was determined more than ever to not suffer the same fate as my parents. Modern allopathic medicine may have extended the lives of my parents by several years, but at what cost to their quality of life and personal dignity? I realized that modern medicine does not really cure chronic diseases but only attempts to manage disease by abating the most serious symptoms. At the same time, these medicines create new

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health issues requiring more drugs. This of courseFat is a∆ win Get-win scenario and profit generating strategy for the pharmaceutical industry. We should never lose sight of the fact that modern medicines are artificial chemical compounds that are not found in nature and are generally toxic to human cells. I was now more convinced than ever that prevention is the best medicine, and that good food is the best prevention.

With the death of my parents and my only remaining aunt in 2006, anxiety related health issues made their way into my life. I earnestly began my quest for improved health through diet adjustments and alternative medical practitioners. Unfortunately, I first went down the wrong road - at least for me. I started by eliminating all eggs, saturated fats, and red meats from my diet. I was taught to believe that they were responsible for modern disease. For months, I was juicing vegetables daily and eating lots of fruit. I became a vegetarian for a period of time. Orange juice was my go-to beverage. I became a “super supplementor”, trying all the latest nutritional supplements for detoxification, free-radical scavenging, stress relief, anxiety, etc. I became so caught up in this health-seeking vortex that my physical and mental health actually deteriorated. I reached my low-point in the fall of 2007 and through therapy and normalizing my diet, I slowly recovered my old self. But was this all I could hope to be? Finally after years of reading various books and articles on health, several books really resonated with me and launched my current and, I hope, final experiment in personal wellness. These books were “The Primal Blueprint” by Mark Sisson and “The Perfect Health Diet” by Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet, PhDs, and I am forever grateful. In 2013, I started applying the basic principles of this low-carb diet/primal lifestyle into my daily life. I began to track what I ate using free internet services like Livestrong.com, Fitday.com and MyFitnessPal.com. These internet services easily look up foods, adjust serving sizes, and calculate your calories and grams of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. And the best part is the basic nutrition services that you need are free, provided you are willing to put up with the internet advertising. Through these services, I finally began to realize how much carbohydrates and sugars sneak their way into my daily diet. I found that using them routinely really helped me stay on track and fine-tune my daily diet. Here is a glimpse of my totals for one day using MyPlate on Livestrong.com

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During 2013, my weight finally dropped below 170Fat pound ∆ Gets, and I started feeling better and more energetic. I had no cravings or sugar crashes whatsoever. I was sleeping better and noticed a warm feeling throughout my body, as if my internal thermostat was somehow set higher. I decided to really put the principles of the low-carb/high-fat diet to the test by conducting a 4-month experiment where I would average a diet of at about 60% fat (mostly of the saturated variety), no more than 20% carbohydrate, and approximately 20% protein. For the study, I tracked my morning blood sugar levels and conducted 3 blood tests for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors such as HDL, LDL Cholesterol, Triglycerides, and HDL/Total ratios. The data was important to validate my new assertions that CVD and associated risk factors are primarily caused by elevated blood sugar and NOT from the consumption of fat. I expected over this 3-month period for my blood triglycerides to decrease and my HDL cholesterol to increase. I also expected my weight and body fat percentage to reach my new target levels of 165 pounds and under 15% respectively.

For comparison, here are my baseline values obtained during my company’s annual bio-screening in June 2013. I had reduced my intake of sugar and other carbohydrates, and increased fat intake for several months before the baseline, but my fat consumption was only in the range 35-40% of total calories.

Here are my values approximately 1 month into the study in October 2013. Note the big jump in healthy HDL cholesterol and the improved (lower) C(T)/HDL ratio in just one month.

Here are my final values at the conclusion of the 4-month study in February 2014. While my total cholesterol went up (which I am not concerned about (see below)), my good HDL cholesterol stayed high and my triglycerides stayed low. Also, my calculated (bad) VLDL Cholesterol was 10 (in the low end of the healthy range from 5 to 40 mg/dl). Please remember that cholesterol is absolutely needed for life. It’s the parent molecule for all the major sex hormones, including estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. It’s needed for the immune system, and it’s needed for a healthy, well-functioning brain. In fact, one of the most serious side effects of cholesterol-lowering medication is memory loss.

I decided to write this book in conjunction with my experiment in low-carb/high-fat dieting. My inspiration came from witnessing the heavily advertised, low-fat nutrition doctrine’s and its effect on obesity in the US. Some people, like me, are already convinced that this doctrine to be a big fat lie. But, there are tens of millions of overweight US population remaining to discover the real truth. I realized that I could make a

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small contribution to this effort through writingFat this book∆ Get. I hope that by reading it, you will find your own path to a renewed long and healthy life.

In the next chapter, I’ll present the current state on obesity in this country and explain why this is the most important crisis facing our nation since WWII. Regardless of your current weight classification, everyone should be fully informed and concerned about this national crisis. Our economy, national security, and future way of life as Americans will hang in the balance depending on how we respond individually and as a nation.

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Fat ∆ Get Chapter 3 – Obesity in America: The New Normal. But, at what cost? When I was young, overweight people were simply referred to as just “fat”. I don’t recall the word “obesity” being used until the 1980s, the 1st decade of our current obesity epidemic. In June 2013, The American Medical Association sparked headlines when it voted to officially classify obesity as a disease.

Really fat people with Body Mass Indexes (BMI)* over 40 were still relatively rare (< 10%) back before the 1970s. I even recall from the 1960s, a few Big Top Circuses that still had Fat Man or Fat Lady Exhibitions. Today, I suppose this would be considered politically incorrect. With our current state of obesity in this country, being really fat is no longer freakish, but instead the new norm.

Here is a picture of Fat Man Circus side show performers from the turn of the twentieth century. Today provided you dress these guys in sweatshirts and jeans and put them on their personal mobility scooters, they would just blend into the crowd at any Wal-Mart or modern day theme park.

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In fact the numbers of adults and children that are classified as obese have seen a staggering increase since the mid-1970s. The following table was obtained from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans issued by the US Department of Agriculture and the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Obesity in America – 1970s to Current

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), more than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are obese. A recent Forbes article put these numbers into perspective showing that represents more Americans than the populations of California, New York and Texas combined. You can see by the maps provided below how the levels of obesity in the United States have changed over the last twenty years alone. No state in our

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country is immune to the obesity epidemic, withFat the ∆southern Get states having the highest rates as compared to the rest of the country. The CDC website provides these graphs on a yearly basis (from 1985 to 2012) illustrating how obesity is increasing in an almost viral type manner.

One obvious cost of obesity is not looking good naked and having to buy poor-fitting, unfashionable clothes, but another cost is much more tragic. Obesity has now been directly linked to what is commonly known as Metabolic Syndrome, which includes a combination of the following medical disorders: type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and high triglyceride levels. According to the Center for Disease Control, obesity-related medical conditions include cardio-vascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer - all leading causes of preventable death! The complete list of diseases associated with obesity is staggering (see table 4-1). This list aside, the ever common sight of severely obese 40- and 50-year-olds barely able to move about and home-bound would have been simply unfathomable twenty years ago. The US Surgeon General has gone on record that the current generations of Americans will on average die sooner than their own parents, even though premature deaths associated with smoking have been greatly reduced since the 1980s.

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Many of these conditions will ultimately lead to what we fear the most – our untimely premature death. According to large-scale American and European studies, mortality risk is lowest at a BMI of 20–25 in non- smokers and at 24–27 in current smokers, with risk increasing along with changes in either direction. A BMI above 32 has been associated with a doubled mortality rate among women over a 16-year period. In the United States, obesity is estimated to cause from 111,000 to 365,000 deaths per year, and 1 million (7.7%) of deaths in Europe are attributed to excess weight. On average, obesity reduces life expectancy by six to seven years: a BMI of 30–35 reduces life expectancy by two to four years, while severe obesity (BMI > 40) reduces life expectancy by ten years. The negative effects of obesity on our quality of life will be even more profound. Shown below are charts of increased mortality risk (“hazard ratio”) over 10 years associated with BMI for both non-smoking white US men and women. On this chart, a hazard ratio of 1.0 means no increase of mortality risk, whereas 1.37 means a 37% increase of mortality risk. What is your hazard ratio?

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In 2008, the CDC estimated the annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in U.S. dollars; the annual medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight. This cost is expected to increase every single year since then and shows no signs of stopping. The healthcare costs associated with obesity may soon reach an unsustainable level, causing the healthcare system to collapse. Even the new Affordable Health Care Program (a.k.a. Obama Care) currently does little to control the cost and spread of obesity epidemic.

There are also indirect costs of obesity that are affecting businesses and our own pocketbooks. These include things such as insurance premiums, value of lost work, and lower wages. It is estimated that obesity related absenteeism in the U.S. costs employers as much as 6.4 billion dollars and that the annual cost of obesity related loss of productivity is at least $30 billion US dollars. Reducing the rate of obesity in this country by just 5% would lead to healthcare savings of almost $30 billion in 5 years and $150 billion in 10 years. Reducing obesity in our America will be one of the most effective ways of reducing government healthcare spending and reducing our national debt.

If you are obese, your overall quality of life is generally expected to not be as good as “normal” weight people. You may not be able to do things you'd enjoy as easily as you'd like. You may have trouble

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participating in family activities. You may avoidFat public ∆ places. Get You may even encounter discrimination. Other weight-related issues that may affect your quality of life include: depression, disability, physical discomfort, sexual problems, shame and social isolation.

Obesity seems to be well correlated with poverty and malnutrition. Consider McAllen, Texas, one of the fattest cities in one of the fattest states in America and also one of the poorest. McAllen pediatric dietician Licia Reinosa had seen a shocking number of obese children, some showing the signs of obesity related disease at a very young age. During a recent 2013 interview, Reinosa reported just that day seeing a 12- year old child who had hypertension, hyper-lipedemia, fatty liver, and acanthosis nigricans (a swelling of the skin that is a symptom of type 2 diabetes). Reinosa said, “I am shocked and I’m frustrated and sad because I know that child won’t get to be a senior citizen.” Unfortunately, similar reports of obesity in children are far too common and are happening in every state and probably in communities near you.

If you ask twenty people what causes people to get fat and obese, you may get twenty different answers. All are correct to one degree or another. Table 4-2 lists some of the obesity causes commonly identified.

One cause, however, stands out head and shoulders above the rest.

In three simple words – IT’S THE FOOD! More specifically it’s the cheap, unhealthy, processed, and addictive food, heavily subsidized and advertised, that is the primary cause of obesity in America and the world at large. I underline the word addictive to bring it special attention. Because cheap processed food is so addictive, if we don’t make daily mindful, nutrition-conscious choices about the food we consume, we may become victims of obesity. In this book, I will show you how to make mindful food choices and allow you to fight back against obesity for yourself and your family.

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How did this Happen? Major changes to our nationalFat ∆ food Get policy and food/agricultural industry started happening back during the 1970s and the current obesity epidemic is the end result. These policies were innocently put in place to reduce heart disease and to make food cheaper and more plentiful for Americans. Back then, there was far more concern over kids going to bed hungry than from kids getting fat. In the next chapter, I will show how seemingly well-intentioned policies went awry and created what is now being referred to as The Perfect Storm. Back then, no one had any foreshadowing of the consequences that The Perfect Storm would have on obesity in America.

According to Katherine Flegal, an epidemiologist at the National Center for Health Statistics, the percentage of obese Americans stayed relatively constant through the 1960s and 1970s at 13-14 percent, and then shot up by 8 percentage points in the 1980s. By the end of that decade, nearly one in four Americans was obese. That steep rise, which is consistent through all segments of American society and which continued unabated through the 2000s, is the singular feature of the epidemic. Any causation theory that tries to explain obesity in America has to account for that. As you will see in the next chapter, The Perfect Storm theory fits this obesity data perfectly.

US Surgeon General Speaks on Obesity

The US Surgeon General (USSG) historically represents the doctor of our nation and issues guidelines to address health concerns affecting our country. In 2001, the USSG issued a Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Overweight and Obesity. Unfortunately, even our nation’s doctor has been almost powerless to curb the rise of obesity and deter its negative effects on our country.

Click here to hear former USSG Richard Carmora discuss the threat of Obesity at a presentation in 2008.

Dateline - July 2013. Former Surgeon General, Regina M. Benjamin, has provided a stunning record of non-achievement during four years in her position. Most of her attention was focused on a single issue – obesity – but without anything new or specific to suggest. She promised to “help Americans lead healthier lives through better nutrition, regular physical activity and encouraging communities to support healthy choices.” Ironically, Dr. Benjamin herself is obese. Chapter Key Point: It’s The Food.

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Fat ∆ Get Chapter 4 – The Perfect Storm: The Creation of the Obesity Epidemic A "perfect storm" is an expression that describes an event where a rare combination of circumstances will aggravate a situation drastically. - Wikipedia

In the 1950s, America was coming into its own as the dominant world power. The United States was the undisputed champion of the last two world wars and had saved Europe from Nazi tyranny and crushed Japanese imperial aggression in the Pacific. The post-war economy was booming and the middle class was growing. A new invention called the television was becoming the center piece of the living room where the family gathered to watch “I Love Lucy,” “The Honeymooners,” “Bonanza” and “The Ed Sullivan Show.” It was a wonderfully magical time to be alive. It was the era I was born into in 1956, as a member of the Baby Boomer Generation.

While America enjoyed the trappings of her post WWII success, doctors in the 1950s began noticing that certain diseases like heart disease and cancer were on the rise. Our beloved President Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander of Europe in WWII suffered a heart attack while in office. Heart disease had become the number one cause of death of Americans. Something had to be done to defeat this new enemy of America. And here began the first set of events that, combined with other political and food industry changes during the 1960s and 1970s, formed our Perfect Storm. The forces creating the storm were powerful. Naysayers were summarily dismissed and discredited. There was no stopping it because nobody saw it coming.

Force # 1: “Saturated Fats Cause Heart Disease” – Ancel Keys American scientist/epidemiologist Ancel Benjamin Keys is famous for two things in his life. First he created K-Rations to feed U.S. military forces while in combat. But more important to our story, he became famous by correlating the consumption of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. After

Life Style Guide Page Eat- -Fit observing the highest concentration of centenariansFat ∆in theGet world (in southern Italy), Keys hypothesized that a Mediterranean-style diet low in animal fat protected people against heart disease and that a diet high in animal fats led to heart disease. The results of what later became known as the Seven Countries Study appeared to show that serum cholesterol was strongly related to coronary heart disease mortality both at the population and at the individual level. As a result, in 1956, representatives of the American Heart Association appeared on television to inform people that a diet which included large amounts of butter, lard, eggs, and beef would lead to coronary heart disease. This resulted in the American government recommending that people adopt a low-fat diet in order to prevent heart disease. Since fat was now out of fashion and deemed unhealthy, it had to be replaced with something else – more sugar and evidentially high fructose corn syrup.

There were several naysayers at the time, such as John Yudkin, PhD and others, that pointed to the consumption of sugar, not animal fat, as the true cause of heart disease and other chronic diseases. A number of critics have also pointed out that Keys excluded data from other countries that contradicted his hypothesis. One such present day critic GaryTaubes says, "Keys chose seven countries he knew in advance would support his hypothesis." Yudkin’s own research refuted Keys’ and showed that sugar rather than saturated fat to be much more correlated with CVD. Take a look at this excerpt from one of John Yudkin’s technical papers:

However Ancel Keys’ theories prevailed in the end, gathering political support as well as support from the American Medical and Heart Associations. Ancel Keys’ picture adorned the cover of Time Magazine and he became the editor and chief of “Circulation,” one of the most influential medical journals on CVD. Dr. Keys

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was the “toast of the town”, after having discoveredFat ∆the Get cause of heart disease. At least this is what we were led to believe.

There were dissenting opinions and conflicting research at the time, but as it is in life, sometimes it’s all “about who you know, not what you know.” Ancel Keys obviously knew and influenced the right individuals, individuals in powerful, politically connected positions in government and medicine. Any meaningful debate was crushed in 1977, when the United States Senate committee led by George McGovern issued its “Dietary Goals for the United States,” advising citizens to significantly reduce their fat consumption to abate the epidemic of killer diseases (e.g. heart disease) thought to be running amok in the country. This action was further reinforced in 1984 when the National Institute of Health officially recommended that all Americans over the age of 2 eat less fat. Lastly in 1992, the famous food pyramid institutionalized these recommendations, sealing our fate. Listed below is a small sample of the expert opinions and research disputing Ancel Keys’ “Fat Causes Heart Disease Theory,” which unfortunately still pervades current day nutritional and medical advice to reduce cardiovascular disease:

“A generation of citizens has grown up since the Diet/Heart Hypothesis was launched as official dogma. They have been misled by the greatest scientific deception of our times: the notion that the consumption of animal fat causes heart disease” – “Coronary Heart Disease – Doing the Wrong Things”, Nutrition Today – June 1985, George Mann, Sc.D, M.D. Professor Nutrition Biochemist, Vanderbilt University.

Key Findings: 1) Intake of Total Fat was not significantly associated with coronary events (heart attacks) or mortality. 2) Intake of Saturated Fat was not significantly associated with coronary events of mortality. 3) Fatal Heart Disease was not reduced by low-fat diets or by replacing saturated (animal) fats with polyunsaturated (vegetable) fats and oils. - “Dietary Fat and Heart Disease – Summary of Evidence from Cohort and Randomized Control Studies” – Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 2009, C. Murray Skeaff and Jody Miller, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, New Zealand

“The evidence that we accrued really suggested not only that the type of advice that people were getting was not useful; but it actually could be dangerous because some people were eliminating the very healthy

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types of fat that actually reduce heart diseaseFat risk” ∆ –Get Walter Willet M.D. Chair Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health.

Force # 2: The Creation of the US Grain-Based Food Industrial Complex In the late 1960s, America was embroiled in the Vietnam War. Richard Millhouse Nixon (a.k.a. Tricky Dick) was in the White House. US food prices were soaring wildly due to supply and demand pressures, and housewives were angry. Fearing he would lose his upcoming election, Nixon directed the US Department of Agriculture to take food prices off the table as an election issue. Newly installed Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz laid the groundwork for the creation of the US Food/Agricultural Industrial Complex. Smaller farms were consumed by larger farms to create giant farm conglomerates, and the super-farm was created. It was all about production. Grow as much as you can and as efficiently as you can. Farmers were told if you can’t sell it, the Federal Government will buy it from you or subsidize your loss. A win-win for everybody. Produce; produce more, more and more! Quantity over quality. Americans were now swimming in abundant food as never before in our history. U.S. food prices fell as a consequence of this new USDA policy and farm companies had to sell even more to maintain profit margins. America became the bread basket for the world and was always looking to sell US farmers’ grain, particularly wheat and corn, to any and all buyers. New markets for corn opened. Corn became feed for mass cattle production, instead of prairie grass, which is what cattle are genetically made to eat. Grains fell nicely in as the base of our newly created USDA food pyramid and supported the low-fat FDA doctrine established by force #1. The winds of the Perfect Storm were really beginning to kick-up, but we needed one more event to push it to a Category 5 and create the Perfect Storm.

Force # 3: High Fructose Corn Syrup - The Japanese Revenge The industrial production of HFCS was initiated by Japanese Scientist Dr. Yoshiyuki Takasaki during the late 1960s. While the Japanese did not have much in the way of a corn supply, America’s farm silos were brimming with corn ready to be converted to high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) thanks to Earl Butz’s USDA policies. It did not take long for HFCS to start making its way into processed American low fat foods to make them more palatable. HFCS was one third the cost of regular sugar from sugar cane. Starting in the mid-1970s, the food industry began to add HFCS to almost every processed food: bread, crackers, peanut butter, cookies, and processed meats like hot dogs. The list was endless. However, the biggest users of HFCS by far were soft drinks manufacturers. Even after much ballyhooed debate, cola makers Coca Cola and Pepsi changed their secret formulas in the 1980s to replace sugar with HFCS. Soda became cheaper than spring and filtered water. Worst of all, as you will discover in Chapter 13, both sugar and HFCS are addictive and very, very bad for your health. HFCS and natural sugar are basically and metabolically almost the same. The only difference is that the sugar from HFCS is far cheaper and far more abundant. Both are damaging when routinely consumed in excess. Americans are now consuming sugar/HFCS at rates never seen before. Before WWII, the estimated average consumption of sugar was only about 20 grams per day. In 1994, the US average daily consumption was about 55 grams, nearly 3x the pre-WWII amounts. Today, some adults and adolescents consume 70 to 100 grams per day. No wonder the incidences of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity have sky rocketed.

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By the 1980s, these three forces had fully coalescedFat into∆ Get the Perfect Storm, which was beginning to take its toll on the “Weight of the Nation.” The Perfect Storm significantly shifted the dietary patterns of most Americans away from fat and towards more carbohydrates, including sugars and grains, creating a “Tipping Point” for the obesity epidemic to be unleashed. Presently, the consequences of obesity are jeopardizing our overburdened healthcare systems and, if unchecked, will ultimately drain the U.S. economy worse than any World War or recession could. In September of 2013, David W O’Connor, in his 135-page thesis from The Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, CA, calls obesity in America a national and homeland security Issue. The Department of Defense states that 27% of all 17-24 year old American men and woman are too fat to serve their military. America’s future is inexplicitly linked with Americans maintaining a healthy weight. By 1985, the Center for Disease Control was so concerned that they started plotting its growth year by year, state by state. These are not opinions; these are now the facts of history.

I will close this Chapter with a quick summary of the Great American Meal (GAM): McDonald’s Big Mac, large French fries and a large Coca Cola. Two beef patty burgers from hormone treated cattle fed on corn meal. A triple white bread bun from refined wheat and sweetened by HFCS. A slice or two of processed pasteurized American cheese. Potatoes deep fried in a blend of polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Ketchup and/or special sauces also sweetened with HFCS. The “coup de grace” of the meal is washing it all down with a large 32-ounce Coke containing 310 calories all from the 85 grams of sugar from HFCS. Oh – I did forget to mention the shredded lettuce and sliced pickles that must count as our token green vegetables. Bon Appetite!

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The Great American Meal will be analyzed further in Chapter 9.

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Chapter 5 – Tipping the ScalesFat ∆ Geton Obesity When Old Becomes New (Relearning the Lessons of History)

“The people in power have created an obesity epidemic”– Robert Atkins MD

The year was 1972 and something revolutionary had happened, or so we all believed. Dr. Robert Atkins published his first book entitled Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution. Back then, Americans were just coming to terms with the proposition that fat, particularly the saturated fat found in meat and dairy products, was to be avoided. According to Ancel Keys and the medical establishment, these fats were the primary cause of heart disease. Atkins’ new book promised that we would lose weight eating steak, eggs, and butter to our heart's desire, because it was the carbohydrates (the pasta, rice, bagels) and sugar that caused obesity and even heart disease. Fat, Atkins said, was harmless. In 1972, this was tantamount to medical heresy! In spite of being vilified and slandered by the American Medical Association (AMA) through media and medical journals, Atkins did manage to sell millions of copies of his book and acquired a large number of devoted followers who effectively managed their weight using the Atkins Diet. In 2002, Dr. Atkins went on to write a second Book Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution that modified aspects of the diet but did not alter the original concepts. Finally in 2010, a third book The New Atkins for a New You which incorporated the most recent advances in low-carb diet science was authored by the trio of Dr. Eric C. Westman, Dr. Stephen D. Phinney, and Dr. Jeff S. Volek, PhD. All three are published advocates of the low-carbohydrate diet for health and longevity. Robert Atkins was not the first person to advocate a high-fat diet that restricted carbohydrates, but he popularized it to such an extent that the AMA considered Atkins a potential threat to America’s health. The AMA attacked the Atkins Diet as a ''bizarre regimen'' that advocated ''an unlimited intake of saturated fats and cholesterol-rich foods,'' and Dr. Atkins even had to defend his diet in Congressional hearings. These media assaults continued until Dr. Atkins’ accidental death from severe head trauma resulting from a fall on an icy New York City sidewalk in 2003. What's forgotten in the current controversy is that the modern day low-fat doctrine is only about fifty years old. Until the 1960s, the conventional wisdom was that fat and protein protected us from overeating

Life Style Guide Page Eat- -Fit by making us feel full. It was the carbohydratesFat and sugars∆ Get that made us fat. Let’s now revisit a few examples of this often forgotten but documented dietary/weight-control history:

In the 1825 ''The Physiology of Taste,'' considered among the most famous books ever written about food, the French gastronome Jean A. Brillat-Savarin says that he could easily identify the causes of obesity after 30 years of listening to one ''stout party'' after another proclaiming the joys of bread, rice, and potatoes. Brillat-Savarin added that the effects were seen sooner when sugar was added to the diet.

In 1864 in England, a short, stout man named William Banting (5’ 5” tall and 200+ pounds) became famous by losing 46 pounds after his doctor (Dr. William Harvey) prescribed a low carbohydrate diet of unlimited consumption of meat with no potatoes, bread, or sugar. His diet resulted in a widely read publication throughout Britain called “Letter on Corpulence”. This diet during the latter part of nineteenth century in England was popularly referred to as the “Banting Diet.” In the 1892 publication, How Nature Cures, Emmet Densmore MD provided principal arguments against the use of bread, cereals, pulses, potatoes and other starchy foods. “An obese person … may be given a diet of meat, excluding bread and potatoes, and the patient will reduce to his normal weight. As soon as the patient returns to his diet of bread and potatoes, he straightaway begins to increase in weight.” Sugar was not specifically called out since in the 1800s, sugar and sweets were relatively expensive and not a common everyday food. Throughout the 1950s, Dr. Alfred W. Pennington MD was frequently published on the treatment of obesity. Dr. Pennington advocated a diet of no bread, flour, sugar or alcohol. In fact, it was Dr. Pennington’s article on Weight Reduction that appeared in the 1958 Journal of American Medical Association that Dr. Atkins read, which inspired him to adopt a very low carbohydrate diet in 1963. Dr. Atkins lost weight effortlessly, had his epiphany and turned a fledgling Manhattan cardiology practice into a thriving obesity clinic. And the rest as they say is history. So, was Dr. Robert Atkins really that revolutionary? Or, was he just a Banting Diet copycat?

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Since Atkins, there have been a plethora of bestFat-selling ∆ dietGet books which put forth some variation of what scientists would call the Alternative Hypothesis: “It's not the fat that makes us fat, but the carbohydrates; and, if we eat fewer carbohydrates we will lose weight and live longer.”

Here is a just partial list of these low-carbohydrate / high-moderate fat diets:

1995 - The Zone Diet – A Dietary Road Map, Barry Sears 1997 - Protein Power Diet, Michael Eades 1997 - Diabetes Solution Diet, Dr. Richard Bernstein 2001 - Sugar Busters Diet, H. Leighton Steward 2003 - South Beach Diet, Arthur Agatston 2010 – The Perfect Health Diet, Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminent 10000 BC Paleolithic (Caveman) Diet – popularized by The New Evolution Diet (Arthur De Vany 2011) and The Primal Blue Print (Mark Sisson 2009)

Each of these diets emphasizes different macronutrient ratios, different food groups, and different nutritional aspects. However, they all share the following commonalities:

• They all encourage low glycemic, nutrient rich vegetables • They all include quality complete proteins from animals and fish • They all restrict refined carbohydrates including sugar, flour, cereals, pastas, etc. • They all restrict drinking calories, specifically sodas, juices, etc. • They all increase the amount of healthy fats Any of these diets, if followed diligently, could be used to lose weight effectively. The Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit diet is no different. My singular hope in writing this book is to introduce the benefits of low carbohydrate nutrition to as many people as possible.

The Perfect Storm effectively shifted the average American diet to be in favor of carbohydrates and sugars, with fat as a smaller percentage of calories. This change in turn shifted the tipping point of our metabolisms so that we are naturally encouraged to consume more calories and gain weight. The illustration on the right shows the effect of this tipping point change.

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A moderate to high Fat ∆ Get fat/low carbohydrate diet shifts the tipping point of our metabolisms so that we are naturally encouraged to eat fewer calories and more effectively burn our own body fat. The further we shift to fat from carbohydrates, the faster the potential weight loss. The illustration on the right shows the effect of this tipping point change. Of course calories do matter, but by eating more fat and protein and fewer carbohydrates, we will be more satisfied and less inclined to overeat.

In Chapter 11 – Endocrinology 101, we will learn the basic science behind why our metabolic tipping point changes as a result of the different food we eat.

Before closing this chapter, I would like to bring special attention to Gary Taubes, one of the most influential and intellectual writers advocating low carbohydrate Diets. Taubes is a former Harvard physics and Stanford engineering scholar that later gained a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Columbia. Previously a well published science writer, Taubes gained public prominence in 2002 following the publication of his New York Times Magazine article, "What If It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie?" The article questioned the efficacy and health benefits of low-fat diets, and was seen as defending the Atkins’ Diet against the medical establishment. Taubes later went on to write two bestselling books: “Good Calories Bad Calories” in 2007 and “Why We Get Fat: And What To Do About It” in 2010. Here is the opening paragraph of the 2002 NY Times article:

“If the members of the American medical establishment were to have a collective find-yourself-standing- naked-in-Times-Square-type nightmare, this might be it. They spend 30 years ridiculing Robert Atkins, author of the phenomenally-best-selling ''Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution'' and ''Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution,'' accusing the Manhattan doctor of quackery and fraud, only to discover that the unrepentant Atkins was right all along. Or maybe it's this: they find that their very own dietary recommendations -- eat less fat and more carbohydrates -- are the cause of the rampaging epidemic of obesity in America. Or, just possibly this: they find out both of the above are true.” – Gary Taubes 2002.

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Fat ∆ Get Chapter 6 - We Have Been Misled: The Story of Dr. David Diamond

I learned of Dr. Diamond’s story in a popular YouTube Video with over a 100,000+ hits entitled “How Bad Science and Big Business Created the Obesity Epidemic”. While I have never met Dr. David Diamond personally, I felt compelled to share his powerful story on how dietary changes of the type supported by this book completely reversed his markers of high CVD risk. I have watched his video at least five times and have highly recommended it to a number of my friends and work colleagues. In this video, David Diamond, Ph.D., of the University of South Florida College of Arts and Sciences shares his personal story about his personal battle with obesity and sky-high CVD risk factors. Diamond shows how he lost weight and reduced his cardiovascular disease risk factors (e.g. triglycerides) by eating red meat, eggs and butter while eschewing carbohydrates. What he discovered in his own quest to understand the science of obesity and heart disease is both eye opening and awe-inspiring. Dr. Diamond is one man who truly is making a difference.

“We have been misled! - Dr. David Diamond, PhD, University of South Florida

In the video, Dr. Diamond provides undeniable, easily understood scientific evidence that disproves the following myths that we have all been led to believe over the past 40 years.

Myth Number 1: Consumption of food high in saturated fat and cholesterol (butter, red meat) makes people fat and cause heart disease.

Myth Number 2: Cholesterol clogs arteries and causes heart disease – you will live longer if you take medicine to lower your cholesterol.

Finally, Dr. Diamond reveals how bad science and conflicts of interest among the food and drug companies and the U.S. Government have led to the poor dietary recommendations for optimal health and wellbeing (See Chapter 9 – Pyramid, Pyramid on the Wall).

Here is a summary of Dr. Diamond’s medical history and how he reclaimed his health.

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2005: Diagnosed with the following CVD risk factors:Fat ∆ Get • Triglycerides > 600 mg/dl (where above 150 mg/dl is associated with increased CVD risk) • Total/HDL of 6.3 (where above 5.0 is associated with increased CVD risk) Based on doctors’ recommendations, he adopted a strict low-fat diet to reduce CVD Risk – eating skinless chicken, low fat dairy, bread, vegetables, fruit, nuts, cereal and potatoes. He also began to exercise one hour every day.

2007: Several years into the diet and exercise program later, Dr. Diamond’s CVD risk markers were even worse: • Triglycerides were nearly 800 • Total/HDL was 6.7. • Body weight had increased slightly up to 173 (his ideal body weight was 150 lbs). Doctors insisted he go on Lipitor to reduce his cholesterol. He was told he was kidding himself and that diet and exercise are often not enough.

Where have we heard this before?

Instead, Dr. Diamond went to the library and through his own research developed his own cure through the adoption of a low carbohydrate and high fat diet. Starting in 2007, his primary diet consisted of eggs, butter, beef, chicken with the skin, full fat cheese, coconut, dark chocolate, nuts, and vegetables like broccoli. Dr. Diamond’s CVD risk factors finally started to improve, as you can see by the graph below obtained from Dr. Diamond’s presentation. Note that in his case, Dr. Diamond had to reduce his level of carbohydrates to less than 10% of total calories (or about 50 grams per day). This low amount of carbohydrates is near the Ketogenic (like Atkins’) diet induction phase level.

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Here are results of Dr. Diamond’s low carb lifestyleFat ∆ :Get

Source: Article by University of Southern Florida, College of Arts and Sciences: “USF professor discusses cholesterol, saturated fat and obesity myths” – www.cas.usf.edu/news/s/176

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Need more convincing? Please view and enjoy hisFat YouTube ∆ Get video and learn even more. In this video, Dr. Diamond explains what he believes partially led to the obesity epidemic. He will explain how Ancel Keys and others created “Fat Phobia” based on biased research and, together with the food industry and US government, endorsed the unhealthy dietary recommendations that we still have in place today. He also showed how the use of cholesterol lowering drugs are of no benefit for most individuals with levels less than 300 mg/dl, yet most doctors prescribe the drugs to everyone whose cholesterol level reaches 200 mg/dl. Why? Guidelines published by American Heart Association were developed by people with financial conflict of interests.

Dr. Diamond also showed the correlation between elevated triglycerides/cholesterol and sugar consumption. Finally, he showed how elevated blood sugar is the primary cause of cardiovascular disease by causing inflammation and damage of blood vessels. The layers of cholesterol found in arterial plague are actually from repair patches that our bodies produce and put in place to repair the micro-fissures of our blood vessel walls. Again, please take the time to watch this video. I believe it is well worth your time.

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Fat ∆ Get Chapter 7 - Good Nutrition, Part 1: Nourish your cellular army

“Eat to Live; Do Not Live To Eat!” - Buddha Similar quotes were also attributed to Socrates, Moliere, Marcus Cicero, and Benjamin Franklin

Imagine a huge army whose mission is to serve and protect its homeland from constant threats and attacks by deadly invaders. Now imagine you are the Quartermaster General of this army responsible for supplying the entire army with the resources (supplies and food) to sustain it for multiple campaigns over many years. Almost every person I know would take this responsibility very seriously and execute it with the best of their ability. Yet, most people don’t realize that they are the Quartermaster General of the trillions of cells making up their own body whose sole purpose is to maintain and defend their homeland (themselves) from all invaders foreign (viruses, bacteria) and domestic (cancer, heart disease). The lifetime campaigns include: infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, childrearing, middle age, grand parenting, and retirement. Naturally, a well-supplied, fit and nourished cellular army will stand a much better chance of moving from one campaign to the next, delaying the ultimate outcome of losing the war (death). “An army marches on its stomach” – Napoleon Bonaparte The cells of the human body are organized by cell type into specialized tissues, organs and organ systems, all with the basic mission to keep their homeland alive. When our bodies die, all the cells die. If we show respect and reverence for any creatures, it should be to these microscopic creatures whose loyalty and service extends until their death. Yet as they sacrifice themselves, usually they are often abused and neglected in return by our poor nutrition choices and sedentary lifestyle.

The most powerful microscopes still struggle to grasp all the complexity of a single cell. The finer the resolution, still the next layers of complexity are found. Human cells are not amoebas. They possess vastly complex internal structures with chemical processes of digestion and feeding. We still don’t know much about how they make decisions, communicate with each other, reason out problems, and react to the environment around them. The more we learn about our cells, the more complex a living human cell is revealed to be.

The foods we eat should supply these complex creatures with all the energy and nutrients they will need to stay strong, reproduce, and resist disease and mutation. Poor quality and toxic food weakens our cells and engorges our fat cells to rid our blood stream of excess sugars and toxic substances. While food science has discovered how to make our food irresistible and more profitable, humankind has yet to comprehend and recreate the nutrient quality found only in whole foods coming from nature herself.

Be good to your cells. Let’s learn how!

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Chapter 8 – Good Nutrition,Fat Part ∆ Get 2: Food Really Does Matter “Don’t eat anything your great-great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food….stay away from these” - Michael Pollan, author of “In Defense of Food” Most of us usually eat three meals a day, but do we really understand or even think about what the food we are eating is doing to our bodies? Is the food helping us or hurting us? Is it helping to keep us lean or make us fat? Are the trillions of cells getting all the essential nutrients they need to thrive, or are they being starved of nutrients making them easy prey and our bodies prone to disease? As you will come to understand, the elements of good nutrition is one of the most important lessons we can learn in life. Yet, I believe what we have learned in health classes has only reinforced the existing low-fat dogma and leaves us easy targets for the food company advertisements like “Open a Little Happiness” or “They’re Grrreat!” Recent changes in nutrition education over the past few years, which emphasize eating more fresh fruit and vegetables, appear positive, but unless carbohydrates are reduced on a global scale, we may not see tangible reductions in obesity and preventable chronic diseases. So let’s begin by understanding the makeup of what “Good Food” should be and what specifically to put on our plates.

Criteria for Good Food

#1 - Good Food must provide all the essential nutrients required by our bodies, including all the cells of our organ systems, to thrive and keep us healthy.

#2 - Good Food should have high nutrient density; by that I mean they should have more essential nutrients packed for the least amount of calories compared to other foods.

#3 - Good Food should be preferably “whole foods” coming directly from Mother Nature with minimal processing and adulteration by food companies. Whole foods do not contain artificial, synthetic or irradiated ingredients. Organic foods are a further subset of whole foods with even more strict requirements. Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods of organic farming which restrict the use of synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Animals that are fed organic grains and vegetables can also be certified organic. Man over the last 50 years has attempted to make food better – but have we really? Or does Mother Nature really know best? Of course, these are rhetorical questions.

#4 - Good Food should be readily available, reasonably priced, and taste good. Goji berries organically grown on the southern slopes of the Himalayas might be good for you but won’t make this cut and neither will a Kit-Kat bar. Sorry for the bad news. We are talking about good foods like eggs, sweet potatoes, butter, broccoli, almonds, and free range oven roasted chicken (with the skin I might add.)

#5 - Good Food should always work to make us healthy in the following ways:

a. They should elicit a healthy hormonal response; the most important being insulin. b. They should support our immune system, and since most of our immune system is associated with our gastrointestinal system, good food should support a healthy gut. c. They should not be toxic and cause systematic inflammation of our cells and tissues.

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d. They should not invoke an unhealthy psychologicalFat ∆ Get response such as create addictive food cravings.

You should know that there are very few neutral foods. Foods are either making us healthier or unhealthier. Some foods are toxic at any level, and seemingly healthy foods can become unhealthy if consumed in excess. So even for healthy foods, variety and moderation are important.

With all these requirements, what’s left to eat? Actually, plenty, but most of it is not the heavily advertised stuff on television or promoted by the weekly supermarket coupons. Stay clear of the middle sections of most supermarkets where the processed stuff (like cookies, snacks, cereals, boxed juices, etc.) are usually displayed with the most profitable products (and not necessarily the healthiest) directly at our eye level. Buyers beware!

Macronutrients - Now that we know the criteria for good food, let’s find out what food really is and the essential nutrients we need. First off, all foods in a scientific sense are groups of bio-chemical compounds of varying degrees of complexity. These compounds are mostly comprised of biological molecules, primarily made from carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. This is true whether we are talking about sirloin steaks, Snicker bars, or string beans. To help organize all this, these compounds are classified into three major compound groups (or macronutrients). The three well-known macronutrients are: carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. We are all familiar with these names since they appear on the FDA food labels of every processed food product. Most foods we eat are usually a mixture of at least two macronutrients. For example, mac and cheese shown in the sample food label on this page contains all three, with 31g of carbohydrate, 12g of fat, and 5g of protein per serving. Macronutrients are consumed in bulk since they provide fuel for running our bodies and structural compounds for cellular repair and replacement. Let’s now briefly review each macronutrient.

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Carbohydrates – These macronutrients, also knownFat as∆ saccharidesGet , are mainly used as energy for all bodily functions (e.g. body heat, thinking and movement). Carbohydrates are further subdivided into simple carbohydrates (sugars), complex carbohydrates (starches), or fiber (cellulose). Carbohydrates are broken down by digestion into monosaccharides for use by our bodies, the most important one being glucose, or blood sugar. All carbohydrates contain four (4) calories of energy per gram. Common sources of carbohydrates include cereal, grains, bread, flour, rice, potatoes, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. The effects that these different foods have on blood sugar levels vary considerably (see Glycemic Index below). Carbohydrates often use the acronym CHO based on their chemical makeup of only carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. While carbohydrates are a common source of energy in living organisms, no carbohydrate is an essential nutrient in humans.

This is worth repeating: Not one single carbohydrate is essential for our survival.

Humans are able to obtain 100% of our energy requirements and essential nutrients from fats and protein. In humans, carbohydrate energy can be synthesized from amino acids and fatty acids. Humans only have a limited storage capacity of carbohydrates in our muscle tissue and liver in the form of glycogen. At any given time, our maximum glycogen storage capacity is in the range of only 2000 calories, which can be slightly increased using glycogen-loading techniques practiced by performance athletes.

Glycemic Index (GI) – Since all carbohydrates are associated with raising blood sugar, a measurement scale called the Glycemic Index was developed to indicate how quickly blood sugar rises for each carbohydrate food. The glycemic index estimates how much each gram of available carbohydrate (total carbohydrate minus fiber) in a food raises a person's blood glucose level following consumption of the food, relative to consumption of pure glucose. Glucose has a glycemic index of 100. Carbohydrate foods are categorized into high, medium and low GI categories as follows:

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Fat ∆ Get

Fats – Despite having a bad name and a bad rap, fats are really not so bad. Like carbohydrates (CHO), fats can be used to provide energy for all bodily functions. In addition, fats are our only source of essential fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6) which make up the phospholipids found in all cellular membranes. Many people incorrectly believe that eating fat will make you fat, which is simply not true. The only thing that will make you fat is consuming more calories than you burn. Not only is fat essential for human growth and development, but fat has been scientifically proven to help your body better absorb nutrients and vitamins (like vitamin D) from the foods we eat. Fats also make food taste better and make you feel fuller for longer, reducing your food cravings. Fats in food are broken down through digestion into fatty acid molecules to be used for cellular energy. Except for brain cells that require glucose, all other human cells can use fatty acids directly for energy. The energy yield from fat is approximately 9 calories per gram which is more than twice the energy density of CHO at 4 calories per gram. Another advantage of fat is that it does not require extra water to store energy unlike the storage of the carbohydrate glycogen (which requires 2 grams of water for every gram of glycogen.) This means that stored fat can hold more than six times the amount of energy per unit of storage mass as compared to stored carbohydrates. Putting this another way, if the human body relied on carbohydrates to store energy, then a person would need to carry 67.5 pounds of hydrated glycogen to have the energy equivalent to 10 pounds of fat.

Hibernating animals provide an excellent example of utilizing fat reserves as fuel. For example, bears hibernate for up to 7 months, and, during this entire period, they go without food deriving all of their life energy from their internal fat stores. Being able to readily store excess energy as fat is a human genetic trait that was highly advantageous for Paleolithic humans, who had to hunt and scavenge for their food. However, in modern society with plentiful high carbohydrate foods, this once genetic advantage has

Life Style Guide Page Eat- -Fit become a colossal disadvantage by making us fat.Fat Humans ∆ Get have been known to fast beyond 40 days or more subsisting on only water and their own body fat and be the better for it at the end. Nowadays it seems that people are afraid to skip a meal. How can that be? The answer lies in the fact that we are not able to efficiently access our own fat stores due to our high carbohydrate based diet. We’ll talk more about this in Chapters 10 and 11.

Fat doesn’t sound so bad, except for the fact that doctors keep telling everyone that eating lots of fat, especially saturated fat and cholesterol from animals and eggs, will lead to heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases. I hope from all the evidence presented in this book that you will start to question this long held but incorrect belief. More and more evidence is becoming available to disprove it, one just has to look. For the American Medical Association to admit that they got this all wrong 40 some years ago is like a babysitter admitting that she threw the baby out with the bathwater. That’s not happening, folks!

Not all fats are good fats, however. The only common ground that I do have with FDA recommendations is that more monounsaturated fats (e.g. olive oil) and fats/oils containing omega-3 fatty acids are needed in our diets. We will learn the rest of the story about fats in Chapter 14 - Fats: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Now it’s time to move on to proteins, the most complex macronutrient of all.

Proteins – If you thought carbohydrates and fats were confusing, proteins will blow you away. The human body is composed of tens of thousands of unique proteins and scientists are still discovering more. Proteins make up the basic machinery of all cells. They assist all cellular biochemical reactions (enzymes), they signal metabolic events (e.g. insulin, leptin, growth hormones), they provide immunity (antibodies), and they transport oxygen (blood hemoglobin). They are the building blocks of everything in the human body from the cytoskeleton and mitochondria of every cell to our tendons, ligaments, hair, nails, and connective tissue. Even the parts of a cell which are made from other molecules, such as cell membranes (by phospholipids) are built by their interaction with proteins. Proteins can range in size from tiny di- and

Page Eat- -Fit tri-peptides containing perhaps a few dozen atoms,Fat to∆ giant Get linked chains like keratin that make up our hair and fingernails. While there are more proteins than we can possibly count, there are only 22 known protein building blocks, collectively referred to as amino acids. Proteins are comprised of one or more amino acid molecules linked together by peptide bonds. We can think of amino acids as the individual letters of the alphabet and proteins as the words they create. All the proteins we create are based on the encoded instructions provided by our genetic DNA. Unlike carbohydrates and fats, amino acid molecules contain other atoms besides Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen, with Nitrogen being the most common. Amino acids are so named because they contain both an amine group (-NH2) and a carboxyl group (- COOH).

When we ask the question “How much protein should we eat?” what we’re really asking is: “Which amino acids do we require, what relative proportions do we require them in, and to what degree are the foods containing them digestible, bioavailable, and not otherwise poisonous or disruptive to our metabolism?” Does your brain hurt yet?

Of the 22 known amino acids coded by our DNA to make protein, adult humans can only synthesize 13 of them. The other nine must be consumed from our food (no exceptions), so we call them essential amino acids. Here is the list of all 22 essential and non-essential amino acids.

As you can see, we humans have a non-negotiable requirement for dietary amino acids in order to sustain the basic processes of life. Unfortunately, we have no way to store amino acids. As you may recall from the earlier chapter sections, we have a tremendous capacity to store fatty acids in fat cells, and a very limited capacity to store glucose (as glycogen in our muscles and liver)—but we must either use amino acids to synthesize proteins, burn them for energy, convert them to glucose, or (very rarely, and if all else fails) excrete them. Therefore, we have a daily requirement for each one of the amino acids necessary to live, in the quantities required by whatever proteins the trillions of cells in our bodies are making (minus our ability to synthesize some of them). How do we manage to do this? Answer: include complete high quality protein sources which contain all the essential amino acids in your daily diet. The best source of high quality, complete protein is derived from animal foods (meats, fish, poultry, cheese, eggs, yogurt, and

Life Style Guide Page Eat- -Fit milk). Proteins derived from plant foods (legumesFat, grains, ∆ Get and vegetables) tend to have less of one or more essential amino acids.

Imagine a factory that assembles cars. Let’s say you have 400 wheels and tires in inventory, 200 headlights, 100 chassis, 100 engines…but only 10 steering wheels. It doesn’t matter that you’ve got almost enough parts to build 100 cars: Ten steering wheels means you can build ten cars. Whichever part you have the fewest of limits how many cars you can build.

Our bodies have the same problem when building proteins. For instance, leucine is an essential amino acid—so if we haven’t consumed any leucine, we can’t build any proteins that contain leucine, no matter how many of the other amino acids are available. This leaves us with two options:

• Don’t build that protein. This is not usually a viable option, as it results in signals not reaching the intended recipient, damaged cells and tissues not being repaired, pathogens not being attacked…in other words, the failure of basic metabolic processes. • Disassemble existing tissues in order to get the amino acid(s) we need. This is known as catabolysis or “going catabolic,” and this is what actually occurs: we start consuming ourselves. Muscles are the first tissues to be catabolized, as becoming slightly weaker is usually less harmful than impairing the function of other critical organs. This may explain the loss of muscle mass as we grow older and don’t consume quality protein.

There are widely different schools of thought about protein consumption. Strength athletes and body builders can’t get enough. Vegans swear it destroys our kidneys and we’re eating far too much. The FDA claims 56 grams per day is more than enough for anyone—yet even the most conservative and fat-friendly templates recommend closer to 100 grams. Paleo eaters and omnivores enjoy pointing out that animal protein is “complete,” unlike most grain and vegetable proteins, while vegetarians and vegans swear by “protein combining.” I recommend nominally 100 grams per day of quality protein with 50 grams minimum per day. That’s about 0.6 to 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. Lastly, I don’t include water as a macronutrient since it doesn’t supply energy even though it is required in bulk by the human body. All fruits and vegetables contain some amount of water.

Essential micronutrients are different from macronutrients (like carbohydrates, protein and fat) because they are necessary only in very tiny amounts. Nevertheless, micronutrients are essential for good health, and micronutrient deficiencies can cause serious health problems. Micronutrients include such dietary minerals as zinc and iodine, and they are necessary for the healthy functioning of all our bodies’ systems, from bone growth to brain function. Below is a more complete list: Minerals (Major) – calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium and chlorine

Minerals (Trace) – iron, iodine, copper, zinc, manganese, cobalt, chromium, selenium, molybdenum, fluorine, tin, silicon and vanadium.

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Vitamins and Coenzymes – These are required toFat support ∆ Get various metabolic processes and can be obtained from a wide variety of good food sources. A quality multi-vitamin/mineral supplement should be considered by most people to make up for any potential shortfalls in our regular diet.

Other Compounds - Phytonutrients are natural chemicals found in plants. Phytonutrients have health- promoting properties including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and liver-health-promoting activities. Antioxidants inhibit oxidation of other molecules in living cells, reducing free radical damage. These phytochemicals are what gives healing power to the herbal remedies that existed long before modern medicine and are still widely used in Traditional Chinese medicine. Translation: Eat more greens, herbs, and spices.

Now that we know the criteria for what makes Good Food and also know what food actually is, it’s finally time to talk about the specific foods we should eat.

Foods to Eat Vegetables – Vegetables should represent the bulk of your diet by weight. Fresh, non-starchy vegetables, especially organic or locally grown, pretty much meet all of our established criteria for Good Food. A variety of vegetables, including some of the dark green leafy variety (spinach, kale), contribute a wealth of minerals and phytochemicals. This is why a lunch or dinner salad should routinely be consumed. Some low glycemic vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, onions, brussels sprouts, and bok-choy taste better steamed or sautéed and served with butter or another quality oil (olive or coconut). Fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut and Kimchi are particularly good for our digestive systems by promoting healthy intestinal function. Lastly, starchy vegetables like carrots, beets, and sweet potatoes can be eaten (in limited amounts) to obtain your desired maximum level of carbohydrates. Vegetables meet all the criteria for Good Food and, except for starchy vegetables, don’t contribute a lot of calories or glycemic load.

Healthy Fats – Healthy fats should make up the bulk of your daily caloric intake. Since fats have nearly twice the amount of calories per gram than either carbohydrates or proteins, the actual amount of fat may not be as high as you think. In other words, you won’t need to eat butter by the stick (this has been done by arctic explorers with no ill effects). Sources of quality fats include red meat, fatty fish (e.g. salmon), eggs, nuts, seeds, avocados, olives, full fat dairy (yogurt, cream), coconut, and monounsaturated and omega-3 healthy oils (e.g. olive oil, fish oil). Fats can be used to make creamy, delicious sauces that make eating vegetables a delight rather than a chore. Fats are a far better source of food energy than our most common carbohydrate sources like bread and cereals, which more often than not work against our good health. More on this topic can be found in Chapter 14.

Meat/Fish/Eggs – These are your primary real food sources of quality complete protein. Try if at all possible to buy meat and poultry that are naturally raised rather than from cattle/chicken factories. Fish should be wild caught rather than from fish farms for similar reasons. This is to avoid the toxic hormones and antibiotics stored in the fats of these animals from being fed an unnatural diet. Remember that when you eat animals, you are in effect eating what they have previously eaten.

Fruit – Fruits may be included for the value of the micronutrients and fiber they provide, but should be avoided as a primary source of carbohydrates because they are a high source of fructose. Except for

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replacing glycogen stores for you athletic types,Fat all of ∆ the Get other metabolic pathways for processing fructose is counterproductive to good health. Fruits contain natural fiber (e.g. pectin), their own packaged antidote for counteracting these toxic effects. Drinking fruit juice without its natural fiber is not advised; while the juice may contain some vitamins, its toxic effects on our metabolic pathways are as bad as soda. It is always better to eat the real fruit. Fruits with lower levels of fructose are preferred. Such fruits include all citrus fruits and berries. Lastly, if you are trying to lose weight, avoid fruits until you reach your desired healthy weight range.

Other Foods (Dairy) Other real foods include full fat dairy products. They are an excellent source of protein as well as healthy fat. I prefer to eat butter from grass fed cows (e.g. Kerrigold brand), hard cheeses, and full fat yogurt or kefir with some natural unsweetened berries. Fermented products are very good for your digestive system and many people who are lactose intolerant can still eat yogurt. Don’t fret if milk and cream aren’t for you, you can get calcium and vitamin D from other real food sources.

Foods to Avoid

Let’s start with the stuff you should avoid completely or consume sparingly:

Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats and oils – While everyone agrees these are bad, they still appear in some processed foods simply because they are cheap and extend shelf life. The only problem is they will not extend YOUR shelf life. Even if a product claims it contains no trans-fats, these fats could be hiding in plain sight. If in doubt, check the food label and reject any product with the word “hydrogenated” or vegetable shortening.

Soda – One hundred percent of the calories in regular soda come from sugar or high fructose corn syrup – it is nothing short of liquid candy. The excessive consumption of soda among our children has been clearly associated with childhood obesity. Also included in this group are sport drinks and packaged fruit drinks which have as much sugar as soda.

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Processed meat products – Not only do theseFat products ∆ Get come from the worst source of animal meats, where the fat is tainted with trace hormones, antibiotics, and who knows what, these products all contain sodium nitrite which has been linked to a variety of cancers. Unfortunately, this includes most hot-dogs.

Now let’s get to the foods we should avoid, but are very difficult for many of us to give up. But we will learn shortly why each of them is adversely affecting our health, even as youngsters.

Sugar/HFCS – This includes sweeteners and any food product where the majority of calories come from sugar or HFCS. You won’t believe how bad sugar really is. See Chapter 13 - Sugar: Sweet Poison.

Grains – This includes all foods made from cereal grains such as wheat, barley, oats, and corn. All breads, bagels, and baked goods made from grain flour should be avoided or consumed in limited quantities. This also includes breakfast cereals, snack bars, pretzels, corn chips, cookies, and crackers. Both refined and whole grain varieties are to be avoided. Pretty much all boxed and packaged snack foods found in the center aisles of the supermarket fall in this group of foods to avoid. For most of us, this change in behavior will be our toughest challenge. See Chapter 17 - Grains, the Bane of Modern Man.

Vegetable oils – Seed-based polyunsaturated vegetable oils, such as corn oil, canola oil, and safflower oil, are inflammatory, with excessive omega-6 oil concentrations. See Chapter 14 - Fats: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Legumes - These include most varieties of beans, lentils, peanuts, and soy. Except for peanuts you probably won’t miss these much anyway.

Enough said for now. Next Up … The Food Pyramid.

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Chapter 9 – Pyramid, PyramidFat ∆ Geton the Wall

Over two decades ago in 1992, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created a powerful icon called the Food Guide Pyramid. Back then, obesity was finally starting to be recognized as a growing problem. But, as you may recall from obesity statistics in Chapter 3, the problem was far less serious than today, with average obesity being less than 15%.

The simple illustration was to readily convey the USDA recommendations for what constituted a healthy diet. The Food Pyramid was taught in schools, appeared in countless media articles and brochures, and was plastered on cereal boxes and food labels. In retrospect, the Food Pyramid was an abject failure. In fact, it was part of the problem.

Tragically, the information embodied in the USDA Food Guide Pyramid didn’t point the way to healthy eating. In fact, obesity continued to rapidly rise during its 12 year lifespan. Why? How could this be? As we will discover, its foundation was based on shaky scientific evidence, and its minor changes over the years fail to reflect major advances in our understanding of the connection between diet and health. Of course, the experts on the Food Pyramid review boards were not unbiased nutrition scientists but influential leaders and lobbyists for the huge industrial agricultural conglomerates. Company profits, not necessarily our improved health and well-being, were their top priority. The three largest sections of the Food Pyramid base are comprised primarily of carbohydrates and a small

Page Eat- -Fit amount of plant-based protein. This translated Fatinto the∆ GetUSDA/FDA recommending that 60% to 75% of our daily caloric intake coming from carbohydrates. That corresponds to 300 to 375 grams of carbohydrates a day on a typical 2000 calorie diet. Unless you are an active teenager or well-conditioned athlete you will gain weight on this diet. Are you starting to get the picture?

Probably in response to America’s obesity crisis, the USDA retired the Food Guide Pyramid in 2005 and replaced it with MyPyramid—basically the old Pyramid turned on its side, without any explanatory text. The most dramatic effect was a figure running up the stairs of the pyramid to emphasis the importance of exercise. Critics lambasted the symbol from the start for being even more confusing than its predecessor. So in June 2011, with great fanfare, the USDA replaced its much- maligned MyPyramid with a new simpler food icon, the fruit- and-vegetable rich MyPlate.

The good news is that these changes have dismantled and buried the original, flawed Food Guide Pyramid and its underwhelming MyPyramid successor. The bad news is that the new MyPlate icon, while an improvement over the Food Guide Pyramid and MyPyramid, still falls short on giving people the nutrition advice they need to choose the healthiest diets. What do you think? Where are the good fats? The primary food groups of grains, vegetables, and fruits are heavily comprised of carbohydrates with only a modest amount of incomplete protein and no fat. MyPlate continues to drive us to consume the majority of calories from carbohydrates and strictly limit fats. Lean protein and skim/low- fat dairy are also endorsed over fatty protein as often found in nature. It is amazing to me that thirty years from the start of the US obesity epidemic, the government continues to endorse nutrition guidance that is fundamentally unchanged and shown to be flawed. I recently visited the MyPlate.gov website and was surprised to see how healthy naturally obtained saturated fats like butter, animal fat (tallow, lard) are unfairly grouped with partially hydrogenated oils and fats found in shortening (e.g. Crisco, stick margarine, and Pam). Fortunately, I now know butter!

I want to illustrate the fundamental differences between the Eat-Fat ∆ Get- Fit Diet with the diet recommendations still endorsed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Before doing that however, I first want to distinguish the differences in food recommendations between what the USDA and FDA provide. The USDA provides food group recommendations (via Food Pyramids or MyPlate). On the other hand, the FDA provides the recommended composition of the macronutrients we consume (% carbohydrates/fiber, proteins, and fats). While the USDA recommendations have changed in appearance over the years as noted previously,

Life Style Guide Page Eat- -Fit the FDA recommendations have largely remainedFat intact ∆ Get and heavily skewed in favor of carbohydrates due largely to fat phobia. The USDA and FDA recommendations are inherently linked since the food groups determine the amount of macronutrients that we ultimately consume.

Both FDA and my EFGF recommended values are based on a 2000 total calorie daily diet.

Food Pyramid Notes • FDA includes sugars in carbohydrates and does not provide minimum or maximum values • FDA wants you to limit saturated fats to less than 10% of calories and less than 30% of total fat • EFGF recommends that the majority (>50%) of your fat be saturated (butter, animal, cream, coconut) and to limit polyunsaturated vegetable oils (omega-6) • FDA’s @ level includes fats, oils, sweets • EFGF’s @@ level includes sensible indulgences – dark chocolate, red wine, etc. The two pyramids shown above clearly illustrate the differences between the USDA/FDA dietary recommendations and those endorsed by the EFGF diet. The only place they appear similar is the protein (meat/fish/egg) grouping. However, the EFGF diet recommends free range or organic but does not restrict naturally occurring animal fat. The USDA recommends that animal protein be mostly lean.

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Level 1 - The base of the EFGF diet is composedFat of healthy ∆ Get vegetables with the caveat to limit starchy vegetables to manage carbohydrate intake. Leafy green and colorful vegetables are micronutrient rich but low in calories and glycemic loading. The consumption of green vegetables is self-limiting and need not be consciously controlled. On the other hand, the USDA base is comprised of grain-based products like bread, cereal, rice and pasta. This grain base supports the high percentage of carbohydrates recommended by the FDA. It also directly supports the US agricultural complex dominated by the wheat/corn super farms.

Level 2 - It is this next level where the pyramids really appear to differ. Level 2 of the EFGF pyramid recommends healthy fats, which are to make up at least 60% of your daily calories. Good sources of healthy fats would include avocado, olives, butter, full fat dairy (cream) and nuts like cashews, macadamias and almonds. Coconut oil is another wonderful fat, and due to its unique structure is metabolized quite differently than most other fats/oils and offers many outstanding benefits. There will be more about coconut oil later in Chapter 21. Level 2 of the USDA pyramid includes fruits and vegetables. While not bad by themselves, they contribute to the already high carbohydrate loading established by their grain base. Also, fruits are not de-emphasized over vegetables, and fruit juices are not de- emphasized over real fruits. Fruits contain fructose, and as we will learn in Chapter 13, fructose is the worst half of the sucrose (table sugar) molecule, which is toxic to our bodies at any level. Fruits are only beneficial in small quantities in order to obtain the micronutrients and fiber from the fruits themselves. Fruit juice should not qualify as a fruit serving and in my opinion is only marginally better than drinking soda.

Level 3 – This level of the EFGF pyramid is for meat/fish/eggs. Both the USDA and EFGF dietary recommendations are based on the same minimum amount of dietary protein (10% of total calories). I am inclined to push my protein consumption to about 20% in order to build and sustain muscle mass as I grow older. However, there is a limit to the amount of protein that the body can effectively utilize. Even serious body builders limit protein to about 30% of total calories. Eating a very lean protein diet with limited carbohydrates and fat is extremely unhealthy, and in extreme cases (e.g. “rabbit starvation”) can lead to death. Symptoms of excessive protein diets include diarrhea, headache, fatigue, low blood pressure and heart rate, and a vague discomfort and hunger (very similar to a food craving) that can only be satisfied by consumption of fat or carbohydrates. Since the EFGF is not about limiting fats, it does not restrict proteins to lean sources only, and does not endorse egg whites without the fattier cholesterol-rich yolk. Since animal fat does potentially store environmental toxins and artificial hormones, animals should be of the free range, grass-fed variety, and organic.

Level 4 – The food components at level 4 should be eaten, but only in limited quantities. Here again the EFGF and USDA recommendations are quite different. Level 4 of the EFGF pyramid is for whole fruit in limited quantities. Low glycemic whole fruits like berries are recommended over higher glycemic fruits like bananas. I recommend eating the whole fruit in order to gain the benefits of the fiber and reduce the glycemic loading. In part due to the pressure of the US Dairy Association, dairy is called out as their distinct food group in level 4 of the USDA pyramid. The US Dairy Association claims that dairy is necessary for the important calcium content and vitamin D that milk provides. That is not necessarily true as these elements are also found in other food sources (e.g. spinach and kale are rich in calcium). Vitamin D can be made by

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our own bodies through exposure to natural sunlightFat ∆ and Get is also found in many fish as well as egg yolks. While EFGF does not restrict dairy, it is not deserving of its own food pyramid level. As you may recall, full fat dairy is included in Level 2 of the EFGF pyramid.

Level 5 (shown with @ and @@) – This is the indulgence level, so eat these sparingly. Here the EFGF and the USDA have elements that are similar yet widely different. Sugary sweets and candies should be restricted but the EFGF encourages small quantities of sensible indulgences such as extra dark chocolate with high % of cacao for the antioxidants it provides. The USDA puts fats and oils here in level 5 which is obviously misaligned with the EFGF pyramid. USDA also promotes high omega-6 polyunsaturated vegetable oils over monounsaturated oils (e.g. olive oil) and saturated fat like butter and coconut. I vehemently disagree. You will learn much more about fats in Chapter 14.

Now that we know a little more about food pyramids and dietary recommendations, let’s revisit the Great American Meal (discussed in Chapter 5) and evaluate the macronutrient contents and how well these values stack up against USDA/FDA recommendations and the Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit guidance.

Let’s imagine you are eating the Great American Meal (GAM) for lunch at your neighborhood McDonald’s. It tastes great and initially fills you up. However, this one meal has over 68% of the daily calories recommended for the average American and depending on your lifestyle and prior breakfast; you may be already at or close to your daily calorie limit. But due to the high sugar and carbohydrate content, the meal does not provide long-term satiety and will leave you wanting another full meal by dinner time. Why? In short, the high carbohydrate and sugar load is spiking your blood sugar, elevating your insulin, and through a process known as lipogenesis, the converting your blood sugar to triglycerides for storage in your fat cells. Much of the food energy you have just eaten is not available for your body to metabolize and use as energy to move, think, and work. With meals like the GAM, an unhealthy percentage of the calories you eat are turned into body fat. As soon as the blood glucose levels drop, you begin to get hungry. However because your insulin is still elevated, you are blocked from accessing your most abundant stored energy supply—your own body fat. One pound of body fat alone provides nearly two days’ worth of energy for the average American. Your body senses this and responds by tapping into your emergency energy supply from stored glycogen in the liver and muscles. You are now very hungry and still not effectively burning your own body fat. You are now compelled to eat and the cycle repeats.

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How do you break the cycle? Simple: Change theFat food ∆ you Get eat.

Let’s modify our McDonald’s lunch with EFGF guidance in mind. First, ditch the soda. It’s just empty carbohydrates and too high in fructose. Coca-Cola tastes great, but it is so bad for you. Immediately, we dropped 85 grams of sugar and our total carbohydrates are now just over 100 grams. At least now we are in the ball park. If you aren’t a fan of water, drink unsweetened ice tea or coffee instead. Diet soda/drinks that are calorie-free are best avoided. These drinks contain unnatural chemically derived sweeteners that many consider to be toxic, and studies have shown diet drinks to be ineffective at controlling our weight in the long term. It would be to your benefit to further reduce carbohydrates by eating fewer fries (buy a kid’s size if you must) or even get a side salad instead. Since Big Macs have more bread than the average McDonald’s burger, it’s better to buy a double quarter pounder (DQP) and eat only half the bun. Here are your new totals for a DQP with kid’s fries plus a side salad with Newman’s Own Creamy Southwest Dressing:

Your body will begin to function much differently in response to smarter food choices like this. Blood sugar will rise only moderately after this meal and insulin requirements to process the blood sugar will be significantly reduced. Far less food energy will be shunted to your fat cells for storage. Even though this revised meal has only 65% of the calories as the Big Mac GAM, it provides more sustained energy through the higher amount of fat and protein combined. With lower insulin, your body’s fat cells soon become efficient at releasing stored fat energy to fuel your body. Of course, lunch at McDonald’s may not be your first choice when eating in accordance with EFGF guidelines, but as we just demonstrated, it can be done. At first, you may get a few unusual stares or be asked to “say that again,” but you will get used to it. For more on this topic, check out the movie “Fat-Head” which provides a comical venture into low-carb/high- fat fast food eating.

Final Chapter Note: The USDA/FDA dietary recommendations have not fundamentally changed in the past twenty years yet obesity is clearly out of control. Consider for yourself if the carbohydrate-rich USDA endorsed diet sounds healthy and provides a path to long term wellness even if sugars and other Level 5 foods are completely eliminated. If you are still not convinced, keep reading as I breakdown the effects of good and bad foods in the chapters to come.

“Think about it. It’s the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Pyramid NOT the U.S. Department of Staying Lean and Healthy Pyramid”. – Charles Hunt, Author of Charles Hunt’s Diet Evolution

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Fat ∆ Get

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Chapter 10 – When is a CalorieFat ∆ Get not a Calorie? The answer: When you eat them. Confused? This chapter will explain why.

The Official Cause of Obesity – Too many calories?

“Obesity occurs when a person consumes more calories from food than he or she burns” – The National Institutes of Health, 2008

“Overweight is the result of calorie imbalance (too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed) and is mediated by genetics and health” – US Surgeon General, 2008 Based on the official statements above, the cause of being overweight or obese is excess calories, consumed over the amount of calories expended. But is this really the cause, or are they just being “Masters of the Obvious”? I and many others of like mind submit that the latter is true. The conventional wisdom of “calories in” exceeding “calories out” (abbreviated as CICO) is just a restatement of the 1st Law of Thermodynamics, the Law of Conservation of Energy. It is not the cause. If CICO were the cause, then the blame shifts to us as individuals and the choices we make about eating and exercising. Most of us don’t choose to be overweight. Nearly all of us who have been overweight in our lives know firsthand how hard losing weight on a sustained basis really is. Trying to combat the issue from the simple perspective of reducing CI or increasing CO just doesn’t work.

Reducing CI Doesn’t Work – Calorie restriction can achieve short-term weight loss but the weight loss has not been shown to be sustainable in the long-term. Study after study shows this to be true and everyone who is overweight knows it. An Australian research study documented in the 2002 Cochrane Collaboration stated “fat-restricted diets are no better than calorie restricted diets in achieving long term weight loss in overweight or obese people. Overall, participants lost slightly more weight on the control diets but this was not significantly different from the weight loss achieved through dietary fat restriction and was so small as to be clinically insignificant.”

Increasing CO Doesn’t Work – The lack of daily exercise has been suggested as one of the leading causes of America’s weight problem. Exercising more has been the focus of many childhood obesity initiatives such as the NFL’s PLAY60 and Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move”. Yet while we may be making minor inroads at improving the physical condition of some children, these efforts are fighting an uphill battle as physical

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education and sports programs are being cut nationallyFat ∆ Getdue to school budget cuts. Further, Americans in general are far more physically active today than in 1970 when obesity was not a national problem. In the 1970s finding a fitness center or health club usually meant going to your local YMCA. However, by 2008 there were approximately 30,000 fitness centers open with over 10,000 new openings in the last decade alone. Over 41 million Americans are now members of a health club, yet Americans are now heavier than ever. Something is obviously not working. At the Planet Fitness center where I work-out, more than half the people using the cardio-equipment for hours on end are seriously overweight. There must be something else going on.

Calorie Balancing? - If you go to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website, they talk about practicing calorie balancing. “When it comes to maintaining a healthy weight for a lifetime, the bottom line is – calories count! Weight management is all about balance—balancing the number of calories you consume with the number of calories your body uses or ‘burns off.’" But if you really think about energy balancing at a practical level, it is technically impossible to perform on a day-to-day basis. Let me explain.

If you remember my history section, where I mentioned gaining 20 pounds over the 10-year span from 1988 to 1998, this translates into eating just under 20 extra calories on average every day. Let’s look at the basic math to see how I came up with this number:

20 pounds over 10 years corresponds to an average weight gain rate of 2 pounds of fat per/year. Since there are about 3500 calories in each pound of fat, this corresponds to 7000 excess calories per year (2 x 3500). Now divide this number by 365 days in a year to finally get the number of excess calories per day of just 19.1. For our discussion here, I rounded this number up to 20 calories per day.

There is not one of us that can begin to balance our daily requirements of CI against CO to this level of precision. 20 calories corresponds to just 1% of the daily calorie requirement for most sedentary adults and the percentage gets even smaller if you have a job that requires physical work. 20 calories is less than that contained in just one Hershey Kiss (22) or a half of an Oreo Cookie (53 each). 20 calories is less than 2 ounces of Coca Cola (23). Who drinks just 2 ounces (that’s just 1/6 of a 12 oz. can of Coke)? I don’t know about you, but my weight which I routinely measure first thing in the morning can vary by as much as 2 pounds per day based on my previous day’s level of activity, hydration, and elimination history (you know,

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whether I recently did a number two). Thus, myFat daily ∆ weight Get variation is about the same as my yearly annual average gain. Calorie balancing simply cannot work. What is the CDC thinking here?

As an engineer, I don’t deny or reject the 1st Law of Thermodynamics or that CI > CO will cause excess energy to be stored. However, I do reject it as the cause of obesity and that we can manage our weight by counting calories. The law is intuitive and work wells for gasoline engines where the gasoline (the car’s food) is used exclusively for energy production. But the human body is far more complicated than a gasoline engine. Unlike gasoline engines, human beings do not burn the food they eat in a fire and convert the heat into mechanical work. As we learned back in Chapter 8, food is much more complicated. Let’s explore this some more.

Before proceeding any further, let’s make sure everybody understands what a calorie really is. A calorie is just a measurement of energy – more precisely it is the amount of energy needed to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius at standard atmospheric pressure. Second, it’s also important to note that calories in food are actually measured in kilocalories, so it’s 1000 actual calories for every 1 calorie listed. Since food provides energy and our bodies need this energy to function throughout the day, it is only logical that foods be rated by the number of calories they contain. A bomb calorimeter is a device that can be used to actually measure the calorie content of food or any chemical compound. The food calories are stored in food as chemical energy within the molecular bonds of the food itself. You may remember that carbohydrates and proteins contain about 4 calories per gram and that fat contains 9 calories per gram. Incidentally, I’m hoping to burn several hundred calories while writing this chapter since it takes a lot of brain power to write this stuff.

But food is much, much more than just calories. The food we eat has many possible fates than just being a source of energy. Here are just the major ones:

• Food can be used to build and repair our tissues, both cellular (e.g. muscles, skin, nerves) and acellular (e.g. hair, collagen, bone mineral). • Food can be used to build enzymes, cofactors, hormones, and other molecules necessary for cellular function and communication.

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• Food can be used to build bile, stomachFat acid, ∆ mucus Get, and other necessary secretions, both internal and external. • Food can be used by gut bacteria to keep themselves alive, and the waste products of the food’s metabolism can meet any of the other fates listed here. • Food can fail to be digested or absorbed, and be excreted partially or completely unused (e.g. maybe some spoiled bean dip you ate by mistake). • Food can be converted to a form in which it can be stored for future use, such as glycogen (carbohydrates) or triglycerides (fat). • Food can be transported to an individual cell that takes it in, and converts it to energy, in order to perform any one of thousands of metabolic tasks. • Finally, food can be toxic at either an acute level (poison) or chronic level by disrupting our hormone balance.

Key Point: The fate of a “calorie” of food depends completely on its specific molecular composition, the composition of the foods accompanying it, and how those food molecules interact with our current metabolic and nutritional state. In other words, the food we eat actually has a major influence on how it is processed and ultimately used. There is no biochemical system in our bodies whose input is just a “calorie”.

Instead of thinking CICO, let’s construct a more appropriate mass & energy balance rather than a bomb calorimeter.

2. 1. Baseline Expenditure Food we eat Digestion and drink Daily Activities 3. Exercise What we - - = 4. Net Weight Growth eliminate Gain or Loss Mass & Energy Mass & Energy Mass & Energy What’s Left IN Used Out

Now this diagram provides a more accurate accounting as to what is actually happening to the food we eat. First, consider the food we eat as the mass and energy input to the human system (box 1). Now the human system makes use of this input for five major metabolic activities (box 2) which include: a) baseline/basal expenditure (staying alive), b) food digestion, c) daily activities (working, thinking, eating), d) exercise (walking, running, swimming, weight lifting), and finally e) physical or muscle growth depending on age and level of physical activity. The human body is an open system that must dispose of the metabolic waste and undigested food—the mass and energy output (box 3). The net result of all this is

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either weight gain or loss (box 4). Adding to theFat level ∆ of Getcomplexity, the boxes are actually dependent rather than independent of each other.

For example, what you eat actually changes how you use and expend energy. Similarly, how you use the energy changes what (and how) you eat. To be even more nuanced, what you eat further impacts what you subsequently eat. As you gain or lose body fat, this in-turn impacts how you expend energy. When you are overweight and out of shape you are less likely to enjoy and perform exercise. I’ve tried to illustrate these dependencies by the double arrows all over this diagram. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already intuitively know. When you exercise your appetite rises relative to when you don’t exercise. When you eat a high carbohydrate meal you are more likely to eat again sooner compared to when you eat a high fat/protein meal due to less satiety.

This diagram should make it clear that weight management is not a simple matter of calories in versus calories out.

I’m not at all saying that the calorie content of food doesn’t matter. But what matters much more is what the food we eat does in and to our bodies. Will the food we consume create an environment in our bodies where we want to consume more energy than we expend? Will the food we consume create an environment in which our bodies prefer to store excess nutrients as fat rather than mobilize fat to burn off? These are the choices we make every time we put something in our mouth. In Chapter 11 - Endocrinology 101, we will learn why this happens so we can learn to make the best food choices.

Our Body Weight Thermostat

Despite the complex mass-energy balance portrayed on the last page, our body weight stays relatively constant over time thanks to the presence of what amounts to a body weight thermostat. Most of us can attest that while our body weight goes up and down sometimes as much as a pound or two per day, we generally find that our weight is often very stable and within a pound or two from where it was months previously. Thanks to our central nervous systems’ ability to generate metabolic and psychological feedback, we normally maintain a state of homeostasis of lean body mass and fat (adipose) tissue. This process often happens in spite of significant changes such as temporary enforced dieting and short-term exercise programs. When the diet or exercise program ends, both lean and body fat mass generally will return to the starting level. This is analogous to the engineering concept of a “set-point,” similar to how the familiar wall thermostat works to maintain a relatively constant temperature in our homes.

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Fat ∆ Get

Based on my research into the concept of a body weight thermostat, I have come to conclude that the baseline setting of this thermostat has a genetic predisposition which varies somewhat as we age, but can be adjusted up or down by one or more of the following mechanisms:

A. Protracted change in the composition of the food we eat (macro-nutrient ratios and nutrient content) B. Protracted change in exercise/activity level C. Protracted change in food consumption (forced calorie restriction or overconsumption) D. Protracted change in baseline stress /happiness level or significant hormonal changes

Of all these set-point control mechanisms, the one we can most effectively change in order to lose weight is Option A. Option B and C require sustained willpower and their application is generally unsuccessful in the long run (unless of course, it is our desire to feast on cheesecake and gain 50 or more pounds). Regarding Option D, controlling and managing stress and healthy hormone levels should be done for multiple health reasons with weight management being only one of many.

By increasing the ratio of fat to carbohydrates in our diet and by eating highly nutritious foods, almost anyone can reduce their weight thermostat setting. By doing so, our meals will more readily satisfy our appetites at both the macroscopic and microscopic (cellular) levels. I and millions of others are living proof that this is not simply a theory but fact. Whether we call it our metabolic tipping point or our body weight thermostat, the effect of permanently changing the fat/carbohydrate ratio of our meals is one and the same. Now it is time to find out why.

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Chapter 11 – EndocrinologyFat 101 ∆ Get … It’s all about Insulin

If you have been diligently reading each chapter up until now, it should be abundantly clear that excess carbohydrates are somehow linked to America’s obesity problem and possibly to our individual weight management issues. As we saw in Chapter 4, the Perfect Storm suddenly and significantly shifted America’s macronutrient ratios to heavily favor carbohydrates over fats, and our current obesity problem is the end result. We learned that for well over a hundred years (before the Perfect Storm) low carbohydrate diets were the one effective cure for obesity. We learned in the last chapter, that food is much more than just calories, and that it is either helping us or hurting us based on its makeup. All food calories in excess hurts us by direct application of the First Law of Thermodynamics, but one particular macronutrient in excess causes us to consume all food in excess. That macronutrient, ladies and gentlemen, is… [Drum roll please!]

CARBOHYDRATES!

Carbohydrates are the only food macronutrient group that, if consumed in excessive proportions, creates a metabolic environment where our bodies actually prefer to store energy in the form of fat, rather than mobilize fat from our adipose tissue to burn. This can even occur when we are keeping total calories low, since our bodies can slow down our metabolic rate and obtain needed energy by way of breaking down lean body mass (protein is converted to glucose via gluconeogenesis). And because all this energy is being directed to the fat cells instead of being efficiently used as body fuel, our bodies want to consume more energy than we expend - which further exacerbates the situation. Eating more carbs is like throwing gasoline on fire.

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Remember the alternative hypothesis briefly presentedFat ∆ Getin Chapter 5: It's not the fat that makes us fat, but the carbohydrates, and if we eat fewer carbohydrates we will lose weight and live longer.

Let’s restate this alternative hypothesis as follows:

Excessive and disproportionate carbohydrate consumption creates a disorder of fat accumulation in our bodies. Overeating and sedentary behavior are the residual compensatory effects - not the cause. We don’t get fat because we overeat; we overeat because our fat tissue is accumulating excess fat.

The science behind this alternative hypothesis is called endocrinology (the study of hormones) and is based on the action of one hormone in particular: insulin. Basic endocrinology requires a simple understanding of how carbohydrates affect insulin and blood sugar, and in turn fat metabolism and appetite. “This is basic endocrinology,” said Dr. David Ludwig, a researcher at Harvard Medical School who runs the pediatric obesity clinic at Children's Hospital of Boston, and who prescribes his own version of a carbohydrate-restricted diet to his patients. While the science behind obesity is becoming clear, it has to fight 40 years of anti-fat prejudice, infrastructure, and politics still promoted by United States government and influential organizations with vested interests in maintaining the status quo.

The influence and effects of the hormone insulin can be summarized in the following statements:

• When insulin is secreted or chronically elevated, fat accumulates in our adipose tissue. • When insulin levels drop, fatty acids can escape from our adipose tissue to be burned for energy and our fat cells shrink. • We secrete insulin in response to carbohydrates in our diet. • The only non-surgical and non-pharmaceutical treatment for excess fat accumulation due to elevated insulin is to restrict or remove the offending casual factor (i.e. the carbohydrates).

Your understanding of how insulin works at both a practical and biochemical level should be your most important takeaway from this book. With this understanding you will have an excellent working knowledge of how and why each of your food choices is affecting you and how to optimize them for weight management, sustained energy, and good health. Like so many things in life, a moderate amount of insulin is essential for life but a lot of insulin can be very, very bad. Unlike the AT&T commercial where the kindergarten children sitting in a circle debating the merits of “more”, more insulin is not always better.

Now, it’s time to become insulin experts to better manage our own insulin.

Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas, which is located behind our stomach. Insulin is probably the most important hormone when it comes to how we utilize food energy and whether we store or burn fat. Insulin causes cells in the liver, skeletal muscles, and fat tissue to absorb glucose from the blood. In the liver and skeletal muscles, glucose is stored as glycogen, and in fat (adipose) tissue, it is stored as triglycerides. People with type-1 diabetes cannot manufacture their own insulin and as a result cannot regulate their blood sugar without insulin injections. Without insulin injections, type-1 diabetics effectively starve by not being able to have the glucose in their bloodstream getting to their cells. However, today our

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biggest problem is associated with type 2 (or insulinFat resistant∆ Get ) diabetes and it’s directly associated with metabolic syndrome and obesity. When you become insulin resistant due to chronic elevated levels of blood sugar and insulin over time, your own cells reject insulin’s signals to take in glucose, amino acids and fatty acids. The consequences of insulin resistance are multi-faceted and all bad.

Insulin is a large protein, or what we call polypeptide (remember these from Chapter 8). Beta cells in the pancreas secrete insulin directly into our bloodstream, so it acts systemically. Once in the bloodstream, insulin can interact with any cells that have “insulin receptors.” When you eat food, it will stimulate insulin to varying degrees, depending on what’s in it. Carbohydrates stimulate insulin more than any other food. And even within the carbohydrates group, we see different amounts of insulin stimulus, depending on the glycemic index of the food consumed. Proteins also stimulate insulin, but to a much lesser degree. Fat doesn’t stimulate insulin at all.

So, here’s how it works. Let’s say you take a bite of your sugary Frosted Flakes cereal in the morning. This cereal starts breaking down as soon as you begin chewing it, turning into mush. The cereal mush which contains very little protein or fat rapidly makes its way through the stomach, and enters the first part of your bowel called the small intestine (duodenum). This is where the digested food, which is now mostly simple sugars (glucose and fructose), gets absorbed into your bloodstream where blood glucose levels are tightly controlled by the actions of Insulin and other hormones secreted by our liver. When blood sugar levels are too low, you become tired, blackout, and possibly die. High levels of blood sugar over time are also very bad, as we will see later. At any given time, an average adult’s bloodstream contains just 5 grams of glucose which corresponds to about 1 teaspoon. Whereas, a bowl (12 ounces) of Frosted Flakes

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cereal contains 56 grams of sugars and simple carbsFat, ∆which Get is over ten times the amount normally maintained in our blood under ideal conditions. So it’s insulin to the rescue to send all that extra blood sugar to any and all cells with insulin receptors that can receive it. When the insulin hits that receptor, it starts off a cascade of events inside the cell. One of the most important events triggered by insulin is the activation of the GLUT-4 transporter. It’s just a fancy word for a conduit or pipeline, which inserts itself in the membrane of the cell and allows the glucose to enter the cell. Effectively, insulin acts like a key to open the door to allow glucose to enter a cell.

With all that sugary cereal, insulin levels remain elevated until the blood sugar is brought down to normal healthy levels, but this can take some time depending on the amount of food and glycemic index of the food just eaten. The first and best choice for where the blood sugar should go is our glycogen stores located in our liver and muscles. However, our glycogen storage capacity is not very large, so we’re very likely to exceed this storage capacity with a typical high carbohydrate modern diet. The average person can only store about 400 grams of glycogen (storage form of glucose), with highly trained athletes perhaps storing up to about 600 grams. Unfortunately, most sedentary folks have little spare room in their glycogen stores. So now what? Any remaining blood glucose that is not being used in “real time” by your organs, muscles, or brain get converted to triglycerides in the liver and sent to fat cells for storage. To make things even worse, the same fat cells that are loading up on triglycerides from the excess glucose are also storing any fat you ate. Like the butter and cream cheese that went with the breakfast bagel loaded with 60 grams of carbs. Lastly, elevated insulin effectively blocks the release of fatty acids from our fat tissue for use in meeting our bodies’ energy demands. If the pattern of high insulin generated meals continue, our fat cells swell up and we gain body fat.

If we want to gain access to our enormous reservoir of stored energy in our fat tissues, it is imperative that we keep insulin levels as low as practical. Our bodies are genetically developed to efficiently burn fat as our primary energy source, but we have negated that biological advantage by our excessive consumption of carbohydrates. Eventually, especially among individuals who don’t exercise much, our glycogen storage cells become “insulin resistant” where the receptors become desensitized to insulin’s storage signals requiring even more insulin to do the job and overtaxing the pancreas.

If this manner of eating and inactivity continues, we become overweight then eventually obese as our fat cells continue to accumulate fat. Ultimately, even our fat cells reach their limit and they too become insulin resistant. At that point, our bodies’ last line of defense against high blood sugar begins to fail us, and all hell breaks loose via high blood glucose toxicity and high insulin damage. These effects are listed in the table below. Trust me; you don’t want this to happen.

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Fat ∆ Get

By this primer on basic endocrinology, I hope to have proven (or have you seriously considering) the alternative hypothesis that obesity is caused by a fat accumulation disorder associated with excessive consumption of carbohydrates, rather than the conventional CICO wisdom. Now that you understand this, we can work to correct this by simply changing what and how we eat using EFGF as our guide.

The YouTube Video entitled “The Skinny on Obesity” contains a segment describing how Insulin affects fat storage and also explains how elevated insulin blocks the effect of the hormone Leptin to signal us to stop eating. This is a must watch video. Click on the link below.

Click for YouTube Video

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Chapter 12 – Good Nutrition,Fat ∆ Part Get 3: Real Food Rules for Eating

From Chapter 8 we learned what real foods to eat and what food products to avoid. Then in Chapter 9, we learned about the basis for the EFGF food pyramid and why it is superior to the USDA equivalent pyramid. With this information in hand, we know the basics of how to construct our daily menus. Finally, in this chapter, I would like to suggest several real food rules for eating that will serve you well on your path to lose weight and regain your health. Let’s get started.

#1 - Eat meals rather than consume food. Families often don’t sit down at a table and dedicate themselves to eating and enjoying the meal experience. This is one of the loss pleasures of modern life. We consume food while watching TV, driving our cars, and working at our desks. Other than sleeping, when are we not afforded an opportunity to snack? By eating real meals centered on the EFGF real food philosophy, you will enjoy your food more, be more satisfied and eat the right foods to spur on your health and fitness goals. Make eating meals a habit.

#2 - Slow down, eat slowly, and enjoy your real food. Digestion actually begins in your mouth by the enzymes contained in your saliva. You will notice that the taste of your food changes usually for the better the more you chew it. You may already be aware of this by slowly eating bread and notice that it tastes sweeter the more you chew. This is due to the action of the enzyme amylase which breaks down starches into simple sugars. Sorry, but this is not an open invitation to continue consuming bread. By chewing our food fully, we allow our digestion systems to work to their maximum capacity so they can extract as many nutrient s from the real food we eat. This in turn will allow time for our satiety hormone Leptin to kick in and tell us we have had enough. You will eat less as a consequence. An ancient Chinese proverb once said “To be healthy, you should eat your liquids and drink your food.”

#3 - Avoid food products containing ingredients that are unfamiliar or unpronounceable and more than five ingredients. Real foods have few ingredients and many have only one. Twinkies have a reported 37 ingredients with many derived from petroleum products. With all that sugar and HFCS, you can hide the taste of just about everything. Yummy!

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#4 –Buy quality over quantity. Pay more for realFat good ∆ food Get and eat less. We are human beings and not Coneheads after all and should not be “eating mass quantities.” Is it just a coincidence that our income spent on food has declined while spending on healthcare as soared over the last fifty years? According to Michael Pollan, in 1960 Americans spent 17.5% of their income on food and only 5.2% of their income on healthcare. In the five decades since, these percentages have flipped, and our weight has skyrocketed while our health has precipitously declined. Today, our spending on food is just 9.9% while spending on healthcare has climbed to over 16% of our income. Some food for thought!

# 5 - Don’t drink your calories – Many of us, especially kids and adolescents, drink 500 or more calories of juice, soda, chocolate milk, or sports drinks daily. For adults add in the beer, mixed sugary cocktails, and wine. That’s one quarter or more of our daily energy supply. Don’t get me wrong, I like to go out and have a glass or two of wine or some beers during weekend dinners out or other special occasions. But if I had a lot of weight to lose and my health was at risk, I would hesitate then. Drink water. Buy a water filter and use it. Enjoy coffee and regular or herbal teas. Studies have shown that sugary drinks including the artificially sweetened drinks actually increase your appetite rather that satisfy, making you eat more in the end.

# 6 – Don’t eat anything that your great grandparents would not recognize as real food. This simple food test will help us quickly identify which foods are overly processed, filled with lots of sugar and those unpronounceable ingredients. Remember that this stuff increases the food’s shelf life, not ours. Now, let’s take a pop quiz and test your knowledge on which foods will and won’t qualify as real food.

Pretty easy isn’t it! But in case you still have any questions on which are the real foods, the answers are B, D and F. Are all beginning to see the problem? In the next chapter, we will examine the worst food of all – sugar.

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Chapter 13 – Sugar: The SweetFat ∆ Get Poison

“Sugar is a Poison by itself” – Dr. Robert Lustig M.D.

Dr. Robert Lustig is a Man on a Mission. This pediatric endocrinologist from the University of California, San Francisco is leading a national campaign to spread the word that sugar, when consumed in excess, is inherently toxic to us humans. Since May of 2009 when his ninety minute lecture entitled “The Bitter Truth” first appeared on YouTube, Dr. Lustig has appeared in numerous news reports, magazines, and radio and television spots, including CBS’s 60 Minutes and Good Morning America. His YouTube video, which has gone viral with over 4 million views, details the facts supporting this harsh, controversial, and thought provoking claim. Motivated by his own patients (mostly sick and obese children), Dr. Lustig has concluded that sugar, more than any other substance, is to blame for their conditions. Lustig claims that obesity in America is at pandemic levels with excessive sugar consumption being one of the leading causes. He adamantly believes that the time has finally come when sugar must be regulated and controlled like cigarettes and alcohol. Before proceeding further, let’s learn more about what sugar really is and its destructive history.

What we know as table sugar, the white granular crystals that go in the sugar bowl, is a simple carbohydrate known as a disaccharide, made up of two monosaccharides (glucose and fructose) connected by a weak molecular bound. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is essentially the same as table sugar, but is a liquid mixture of fructose and glucose monosaccharides with a slightly higher fructose concentration. Lustig maintains that they are both equally bad. Whether it’s sugar, corn-sugar, or HFCS, it doesn’t really matter. Due to the fructose they all contain, “they are all toxic,” claims Lustig. “Fructose is a poison. It’s not about the calories. It has nothing to do with the calories. Fructose is a poison by itself.”

Sugar is sweet and fructose (fruit sugar) is even sweeter. We humans, as were our Paleolithic ancestors, are genetically programmed to love the taste of sweet. In nature, the only abundant foods naturally sweetened by fructose are seasonal fruits and honey. Natural fruits also come with fiber and water that lessen the impact of the fruit sugar and fill us up so we eat less. Plus fruits also come with plenty of other micronutrients that more than offset any toxic effect from its fructose content. Simply put, you won’t get fat, sick or obese just by eating moderate amounts of real fruit. Fruits are nature’s only true dessert.

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A Brief History of Sugar – A Very Sour Story Fat ∆ Get Some 10,000 years ago on the island of New Guinea, sugarcane was first domesticated. There people picked the sugarcane and ate it raw, chewing on stalks until the taste hit their tongues like a modern day Starburst. I’ve personally also done this during family vacations to visit my wife’s relatives in Malaysia. Trust me you won’t be eating too much sugar this way. Chewing sugarcane is way too labor intensive and your jaw gets really sore after just a few minutes of cane chewing.

The cultivation of sugar as a crop spread slowly, finally reaching the Asian mainland around 1000 B.C. It wasn’t until over a thousand years later, in about 350 AD that humans discovered how to refine and crystallize sugar. For hundreds of years, sugar refinement remained a secret science, passed master to apprentice. By 600 AD, the art had spread to Persia and the Middle East, where rulers entertained guests with sweets like marzipan. It is believed that the first Europeans to fall in love with sugar were Christian Crusaders who went east to rescue the Holy Land from the non-believers.

Seeking new territories to exploit for sugar production, Columbus himself planted the New World’s first sugarcane in Hispaniola in the West Indies. This site, not coincidentally, is where the great slave revolt occurred several hundred years later. Within decades of the first planting, sugar mills dotted the Caribbean landscapes, where rainforests had been cleared and the native population eliminated by disease or war, or enslaved in the sugar trade. Sugar was what brought millions of Africans to the Western Hemisphere in chains to work on the vast sugar plantations in the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

By the 18th century, the marriage of sugar and slavery was complete. Due to mass production in the Western Hemisphere, sugar transitioned from a luxury spice like nutmeg and cardamom, to a staple food, first for the middle class, then eventually for the poor. By the turn of the twentieth century, the abolishment of slavery in the Western Hemisphere caused the price of sugar to increase and become a more volatile commodity. Even then many American housewives kept their prized sugar bins well-guarded with some even under lock and key. Candy and other sugary confectionaries still remained a special treat. But as you may remember from The Perfect Storm, it was the combination of the mass production of high fructose corn syrup and America’s transition to a lower fat diet that changed everything. The increased use of HFCS in the 1970s in United States mirrored the rapid increase in obesity. Let’s take a quick look at how our fructose consumption has changed over the last hundred years.

Trend in Average Fructose Consumption Among Americans (From Dr. Lustig’s YouTube Video)

15 gm / day Natural consumption of fruits and vegetables 18-25 gm / day Pre-World War II 37 gm/day 1977-78 USDA National Food Consumption Survey 55 gm/day 1994 - NHANES III 72.3 gm/day 2009 Adolescents (average estimate)

As far back as 1675, when Western Europe was experiencing its first sugar boom, Thomas Willis, a physician and founding member of Britain’s Royal Society, noted that the urine of people afflicted with

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diabetes tasted “wonderfully sweet, as if it wereFat imbued ∆ Get with honey or sugar.” Two hundred and fifty years later, Haven Emerson at Columbia University pointed out that a remarkable increase in deaths from diabetes between 1900 and 1920 corresponded with an increase in sugar consumption. And in the 1960s the British nutrition expert John Yudkin conducted a series of experiments on animals and people, showing that high amounts of sugar in the diet led to high levels of fat and insulin in the blood—known risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. But Yudkin’s message was unfortunately drowned out by the Ancel Keys-led coalition of scientists, doctors and politicians, who blamed the rising rates of obesity and heart disease on too much saturated fat in the diet. Yudkin has since passed away, but Dr. Lustig has become a “Yudkin disciple” and believes that everything Yudkin discovered concerning the adverse effects of sugar remains absolutely true. Yudkin’s book entitled “Pure White and Deadly” was just recently republished in 2012 with a new Introduction by Dr. Robert Lustig.

Fructose Metabolism In his YouTube video, Dr. Lustig shows how glucose, fructose, and ethanol (alcohol) are metabolized by our bodies (in particular by our livers). What makes fructose especially harmful is that, unlike glucose, which can be used by all our cells directly for energy, fructose must be metabolized by our liver. It is this metabolic processing, more akin to how the liver metabolizes alcohol, which is at the heart of the problem. Fructose has all the characteristics of a toxin like alcohol to our livers; the only difference is that fructose is not metabolized by our brain and doesn’t make us drunk. Lustig goes on to demonstrate that chronic fructose exposure leads to many of the same conditions as chronic alcohol exposure.

There are two major pathways that the liver uses to metabolize fructose. When there are small amounts of fructose, e.g. fruit consumption, the liver can rapidly dispose of fructose via conversion to glycogen. This pathway only works when the liver’s glycogen stores have space available. When glucose is consumed in excess, the only available metabolic pathway for processing fructose is conversion to fat. It is through this slow pathway that the fructose toxicity occurs. As more fructose is consumed, the liver is poisoned and becomes fatty, a condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Since the liver processes fructose the same way is handles alcohol, excessive fructose consumption results in almost the same set

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of problems as alcohol abuse: high blood pressure,Fat bad ∆ Getlipid profiles, heart attacks, pancreatitis, obesity, cirrhosis, and fetal insulin resistance. A controlled study performed by Kimber Stanhope, a nutritional biologist from UC, showed that the effects of fructose on adverse blood lipid profiles can show up in less than two weeks, as seen in the 60 Minutes Special “Is Sugar Toxic” (April 2012). The fat most commonly generated by fructose has also been found to be the more dangerous visceral fat (the internal fat the surrounds our internal organs), rather than the subcutaneous fat found under our skin. As 60 Minutes reported, tests have been clinically conducted on humans that have traced the direct conversion of consumed fructose to visceral fat.

Fructose processing in the liver and body (Source: Robert Lustig in The Bitter Truth – 2009)

As seen in Lustig’s YouTube Video, one of the first steps in fructose detoxification is its conversion to fructose-1-phosphate. The phosphate is drawn from the energy molecule ATP (adenosine triphosphate), creating a shortage of phosphate and excess of adenosine. The adenosine is disposed of by conversion to uric acid released to the blood. Excessive fructose consumption leads to an accumulation of uric acid crystals in the joints - a very painful condition known as gout. Excessive uric acid is also harmful to your kidneys, causing kidney stones and other kidney disorders.

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Through the combined effect of elevated uric acidFat levels ∆ Get and liver poisoning, fructose causes high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome, which is the first and crucial step toward developing diabetes. In fact, fructose consumption has been correlated with diabetes rates in countries worldwide.

Study after study has shown fructose to be far more fattening than glucose. One possible explanation is that fructose consumption causes leptin resistance. Leptin is the satiety hormone that acts on the brain to reduce appetite and maintain or lose weight, but leptin-resistant people don’t respond to leptin and tend to become obese. “Starch-based foods don’t cause weight gain like sugar-based foods and don’t cause metabolic syndrome like sugar-based foods,” says Dr. Richard Johnson, chief of Renal Disease and Hypertension at the University of Colorado.

Other Issues with Fructose and Sugar Fructose is seven times more likely than glucose to react with proteins to form Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs), which disrupt normal protein functions. AGEs crosslink collagen to cause inflammation such as stiff joints, skin aging, damaged DNA, and blood vessel damage (including retinopathy and kidney disease).

Sugar consumption has also been correlated with increased cancer rates, so says Lewis Cantley, a Harvard professor and the head of the Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center. During the 60 Minutes exposé on sugar, Lewis stated that when we eat or drink sugar, it causes a sudden spike in the hormone insulin, which can serve as a catalyst to feed certain types of cancers. Why? Nearly a third of some common cancers cells, including breast and colon cancer cells, have something called insulin receptors on their surface. Insulin binds to these receptors and signals the tumor to start consuming glucose. Cantley is now the leader of one of five scientific “dream teams,” financed by a national coalition called Stand Up to Cancer, to study the link between a specific insulin-signaling gene (known technically as PI3K) and tumor development in breast and other cancers common to women. Cantley put it this way: “Sugar scares me.”

Sugar is Addictive If sugar is so bad for us, why do we crave it? The short answer is that an injection of sugar into the bloodstream stimulates the same pleasure centers of the brain that respond to heroin and cocaine. All tasty foods do this to some extent—that’s why they’re tasty! In this sense, sugar is really an addictive drug! Addictive substances all work in the same way, via the neurotransmitter dopamine, which signals

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pleasure. However, it’s a lot harder to abstain fromFat a ∆ drug Get that is so readily available and hidden in so many food products.

Dr. Richard Johnson believes that fructose metabolism by the liver is the result of a genetically programmed “fat switch,” that causes us to rapidly gain weight when consuming high fructose foods. He asserts that most animals in the animal kingdom, including humans, have this built-in switch, which served as a survival mechanism for our Paleolithic ancestors. When you think about what life must have been like for our hunter-gatherer ancestors, natural fruit was seasonal and in the northern hemisphere usually ripened at the end of summer or early fall. Paleolithic man probably gorged on fruit during this brief harvest to rapidly gain excess fat to survive during the late fall and winter months, when food was scarce. Unfortunately, this genetic trait is now killing us rather than helping us survive, due to the excessive availability and consumption of sugar…far beyond what nature ever intended.

Battle Stations over Sugar In March 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it was dropping its maximum sugar intake recommendations from 10 percent of your daily calorie intake to 5 percent. For a normal adult, that works out to only about 6 teaspoons (or 25 grams) of sugar per day. According to the WHO, many people don't realize how much of the sugars they take in are "hidden" in processed foods. A can of soda may contain up to 10 teaspoons or 40 grams of sugar. A tablespoon of ketchup has 1 teaspoon of sugar.

As a result of this change, nutrition scientists are gearing up for a battle royal with the powerful food industry. Nutrition researchers fear a backlash similar to that seen in 2003, when the WHO released its current guidelines stating that no more than 10% of an adult’s daily calories should come from ‘free’ sugars. In 2003, the US Sugar Association, a powerful food-industry lobby group based in Washington DC, pressed the Bush Administration to withdraw funding for the WHO if the organization did not modify its recommendations. The WHO did not back down, and has now cut the recommended maximum intake to only 5% of total calories. “These are reasonable limits,” says Walter Willett, head of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts. “Five per cent of calories is just a bit less than in a typical serving of soda, and we have good evidence of increased risk of diabetes with that intake, which of course increases with greater intake.”

With all that we know about the harmful effects of too much sugar, one would think there would be a recommended maximum limit for sugar on the FDA Nutrition labels like they have for Saturated Fat. Unfortunately, there are no such nutrition label limits even though the WHO has established a maximum recommended sugar limit since 2003. Even with the new and supposedly improved nutrition labels coming out in 2014 fail to establish a limit on sugar. Sad but true.

What can we do? Every concerned parent should be monitoring the sugar intake of their children and teaching them the benefits of healthy eating. For example, we should be giving our kids fruit to satisfy their daily sweetness cravings. People who are overweight, who are at risk of heart disease or diabetes, or who have cancer

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should cut all forms of sugar out of their diets completely.Fat ∆ Get This will go a long way in slowing down and possibly reversing obesity and other related diseases.

Click for a Honest Cola Commercial Video

All parents can join with concerned parent groups to ensure healthy foods are served in our schools and that access to sugary beverages (our dietary weapons of mass destruction) is restricted. We can also join with Dr. Lustig to support local legislation to impose taxes on sugary drinks (sodas, juices, etc.) and foods, in order to drive the price up and demand down. Soda should not be less expensive than purified water and other healthier alternatives. Back in 2010, the Philadelphia City Council was debating a 2-cent/ounce tax on sugary soda drinks, proposed by Mayor Nutter. Doctors from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia testified about the dangers of soda and other sugar sweetened drinks. The proposed tax was projected to bring in $20 million for obesity prevention programs and dissuade overconsumption of soda. So what happened? The proposal was tabled without a vote, following a donation of $10 million dollars to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia from the Foundation for a Healthy America, a front group of the America Beverage Association, which is the soda industry’s lobbying group. As usual, big business wins again at the expense of our health and that of our children.

Chapter End Note Since it began to be cultivated in the Americas, sugar has always been associated with slavery. Two hundred years ago, sugar enslaved millions in physical bondage. Now as you have discovered, sugar is imprisoning many of us in our own bodies. Many of us have become inactive and immobilized, and are succumbing to an assortment of preventable diseases by eating too much of “The Sweet Poison - Sugar”.

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Chapter 14 – Fats: TheFat Good, ∆ Get the Bad and the Ugly Saturated Fat is a Good Fat! There, I said it. Now let’s find out why.

HOW LIFE IMITATES ART

A strange conversation between 22nd century doctors looking back to 1973 as portrayed in the 1973 Woody Allen Movie: Sleeper

Dr. Melik: “You mean there was no deep fat? No steak or cream pies ..?”

Dr. Aragon: “Those were thought to be unhealthy, precisely the opposite of what we now know to be true.”

In 1911, Procter and Gamble (P&G) introduced Crisco, an all-vegetable shortening that was advertised as “a healthier alternative to cooking with animal fats.” Previously used for making candles and soap, Crisco was a new kind of fat which now can be used instead of animal fats like lard (pork fat), tallow (beef and lamb fat), and butter for baking and cooking food. P&G mounted a campaign to convince Americans to use Crisco instead of these alternatives (their sale of candles at that time was dwindling due to the invention of the light bulb). Crisco was made using a newly invented process that insufflates hydrogen into vegetable oil (in this case, cottonseed oil), giving it a solid texture resembling lard (the name Crisco is derived from CRYStalized Cottonseed Oil). With the introduction of Crisco, trans-fats were officially born. With Crisco successfully marketed as a food, it and other partially hydrogenated, unnatural vegetable oils began to replace natural saturated animal fats and tropical oils in the American diet. And so began the twentieth century war on saturated animal fat. It took until 2006 for the USDA to require listing of tran- fats on nutrition labels, even though it had been known for quite some time that trans-fats are harmful. Unfortunately, saturated fats are still vilified by many in the medical establishment and USDA official nutrition policy, even though saturated animal fat was mankind’s primary fat source for tens of thousands of years until the mid-twentieth century. Go figure.

Back in Chapter 8, we introduced fats as energy dense macronutrients and made a distinction between healthy and unhealthy fats. In this chapter, we will become fat experts and learn everything we need to know about the various types of fat, which ones we should eat and which ones to avoid like the plague.

According to Wikipedia, fats (a.k.a. lipids) consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure and composition. Although the words "oils," "fats," and "lipids" are all used to refer to fats, in reality, fat is a subset of lipids. "Oils" are usually used to refer to fats that are liquids at normal room temperature, while "fats" are usually used to refer to fats that are solids at normal room temperature.

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The simpliest fats are referred to as fatty acids.Fat Chemically, ∆ Get fatty acids are comprised of a chain of carbon atoms with a carboxyl group (-COOH) at one end. Each carbon atom in the chain is attached to hydrogen atoms. If all the mid-chain carbon atoms have two hydrogen atoms attached, the fatty acid is considered saturated (full of hydrogen). If one or more of the mid-chain carbons only have one hydrogen (because of a double bond), the fatty acid is considered unsaturated. Natural saturated fatty acids form straight chains, pack tighter and are normally solid at room temperature (butter, lard, etc.), whereas unsaturated fatty acids create a floppy bend at the site of the single hydrogen atom and are usually liquids (unless they are unnaturally hydrogenated). If the fatty acid only has one floppy bend it is known as a monounsaturated fat; if the chain has 2 or more bends, it is known as polyunsaturated. Humans require small amounts of polyunsaturated fats, known as omega-6 and omega-3 fats, because we cannot manufacture them ourselves. You can tell omega-3s from omega-6s and other polyunsaturated fats by locating the first double bond (single hydrogen atom) and counting from the last carbon on the chain (the omega carbon). Shown below is a simple 4-carbon saturated fatty acid (butyric acid) and 18-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acid (omega-6 linoleic acid - with 2 double bonds in the middle the first d-bond 6 carbons from omega-C).

Short Chain Fatty Acid (Left) and Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid (Right). Source: The Perfect Health Diet, Jaminet

Inside our bodies, fats are normally organized into triglycerides or phospholipids. Triglycerides are the storage form of fat where glycerol molecular backbones are attached to three fatty acids. Like all oils, triglycerides are insoluble in water. Phospholipids make up our cell membranes and are very similar to triglycerides, except that one of the fatty acids is replaced by a phosphate group and a simple organic molecule such as choline. The phosphate group makes phospholipids polar, allowing them to be water soluble. Because of their polarity, phospholipids form a double layer in cell membranes, with the insoluble fatty acids in the middle and the water-soluble phosphate group heads on either side, in contact with the blood stream and cellular cytoplasm. Shown below to the left is a triglyceride with 2 saturated fatty acids and 1 monounsaturated acid. To the right is a phospholipid, with choline attached via a phosphate group to the glycerol backbone (in place of a fatty acid).

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Fat ∆ Get

Example Triglyceride and Phospholipid. Source: The Perfect Health Diet, Jaminet

Sterols are the last major group of lipids and are an essential structural component of animal cell membranes, required to establish proper cell wall permeability. Cholesterol is the most widely known and important of the sterol class lipids. Brain cells need cholesterol to make connections with other brain cells. Cholesterol is the precursor molecule for our most important hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, and cortisol. Our bodies make vitamin D from cholesterol in the presence of sunshine. Cholesterol is used for making bile salts to assist in the digestion and absorption of fats. Finally, cholesterol is used to repair damage in blood vessels caused by inflammation. It is strange that we blame cholesterol for heart disease, when in reality, blaming cholesterol for arteriosclerosis is like blaming firemen for the fire they are trying to put out. Cholesterol is so important that your liver actually makes upwards of 1400 milligrams a day even if you are trying to avoid it. Because cholesterol has the characteristics of fat and does not dissolve in water, it needs to be carried in the bloodstream by special spherical molecular globules called lipoproteins (part lipid, part protein) that look like microscopic baseballs. If you are an adult and watching your cholesterol, you are already familiar with the following two cholesterol lipoproteins: HDL - High Density Lipoprotein and LDL – Low Density Lipoprotein. We are taught that HDL cholesterol is good and LDL is not so good. But as is usually the case, there is more to this story.

So let’s recap what we learned thus far about fats:

Saturated Fats (SFA) – The carbon chain is fully saturated with hydrogen and forms straight chains causing them to tightly pack together so that they are normally solid at room temperature. They are also highly stable, because all the carbon-atom linkages are saturated with hydrogen. This means that they do not normally go rancid, even when heated for cooking purposes. Sources include animal fat (lard, tallow), whole milk products, meat, eggs, butter and cheese, and tropical oils (coconut and palm). Contrary to popular belief, saturated fats as you will soon see, are one of our preferred energy sources. Most animal fats are made up of a mixture of saturated fats and cholesterol.

Monounsaturated Fats (MUFA) – The fatty acid carbon chain has only one unsaturated carbon atom and has one floppy bend. MUFAs are normally liquid at room temperature. Like saturated fats, they are relatively stable. They do not go rancid easily and hence can be used in cooking. The monounsaturated fatty acid most commonly found in our food is oleic acid, the main component of olive oil as well as the

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oils from macadamia nuts, almonds, pecans, cashews,Fat ∆ peanuts Get , and avocados. There is general agreement that monounsaturated oils are also good for you.

Polyunsaturated Fats (PUFA) – The fatty acid carbon chain has two or more unsaturated carbon atoms with multiple floppy bends. Like MUFAs, PUFAs are normally liquid at room temperature. Omega-6 sources include vegetable oils (soybean, safflower, sunflower, corn, cottonseed, peanut, and rapeseed (canola) oils. Good omega-3 sources include fish and krill oils and flax seed. As you will see later, too much of these are toxic and some should be avoided all together.

Since most commonly available fats/oils are a mixture of SFA, MUFA and PUFA, the following table provides a breakdown by percentage of our most common sources. As you can see, coconut oil has by far the most saturated fat at 92%, which we will later find it to be truly one of the healthiest due to its short/medium chain structure. Butter, palm oils, and beef fat are all above 50% saturated. Next in line come olive oil, lard, and high oleic oils, which have high levels of monounsaturated fat. The percentage of polyunsaturated oils increases as you move down the list into the processed vegetable seed oils.

Source: The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance, Jeff Volek, PhD and Steven Phinney, MD, PhD

The next table shows the breakdown of fat in common everyday foods. No surprise here with animal fat, full fat dairy, and eggs having high percentages of saturated fat. Olives, avocados, and most of the nuts shown are good sources of monounsaturated fats.

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Fat ∆ Get

Source: The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance, Jeff Volek, PhD and Steven Phinney, MD, PhD

What about those hydrogenated trans-fats like Crisco? Such trans-fats and all partially hydrogenated fats and oils are man-made and not found in nature. These ugly “Franken-fats” are created by electrical/chemical processes that unnaturally change the molecular structure of vegetable seed oils. This hydrogenation process effectively extends their shelf life (not ours!) and the shelf life of processed foods. These processed fats are now known to be dangerous by causing free radical reactions that damage cell membranes and compromise immune function. Research has confirmed that consumption of these artificial fats promotes cancer, inflammation, and accelerated aging. Yet even today, trans-fats and partially hydrogenated fats are still plentiful in our processed food. Fortunately, the USDA in the mid 2000s, after intense pressure from unbiased research and consumer groups, finally required the food industry to label all processed foods to identify the amount of hydrogenated fats present. These unnatural fats are found in all sorts of processed food snacks, like cookies, crackers, cakes, and processed peanut butters. It is best to avoid them at all costs. Please check the labels.

The Good Fats (Saturated and Monounsaturated Fats)

Now here comes the good part. This is where I try to convince you why a high fat (even high saturated fat) diet is not the villain but actually good for you. First I’ll make a series of logical arguments for why this must be true. You don’t have to be a research scientist or a college degree to be able to judge this for yourself. Next, in the section “Voices in the Wilderness,” I’ll present the results of a growing list of scientific publications and expert opinions that are shooting holes in the current Lipid Hypothesis (which is based on flawed 50 year old research that diets high in saturated fat lead to cardiovascular disease).

Logical Arguments for a High Saturated Fat Diet

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Evolution: Since the start of human evolution, mankind’sFat ∆ Get primary source of fat was from animal fat, which is highly saturated. Up until ten thousand years ago (before the invention of agriculture), animal meat and fats represented the dominant source of calories for our Paleolithic hunter–gatherer ancestors, lasting for hundreds of thousands of years. If you believe in Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection (a.k.a. evolution), our human biology should be optimized for a diet high in saturated fats. Archeological estimates of the macronutrient ratios for Paleolithic humans consisted of 5% to 35% carbohydrates, 50% to 70% fat, and 15% to 25% protein, with higher carbs near the Equator and more fat and protein at the northern latitudes. The mid-range is 20% carbohydrates, 60% fat, and 20% protein, what EFGF recommends.

Body Composition: Believe it or not, a lean human body excluding water and minerals is 56% fat and 44% protein by weight. This translates into 74% fat and 26% protein by calories. We are not made of carbohydrates, which are only a substitute source of energy and raw material. If we follow the argument that we should eat what we are, then we should be eating a high fat diet. The fatty acids that make up the majority of trigylcerides in human fat tissue consist of SFA and MUFA.

Breast Milk: If human breast milk is a complete perfect food for infants, it is reasonable to assume that the macronutrient ratio of breast milk would also benefit adults. On average, 54% of the calories in mother’s milk are from fat (a lot of it saturated), 39% from carbohydrates, and only 7% from protein. The cholesterol in human milk supplies an infant with close to six times the amount most adults consume from their food. Both cholesterol and saturated fat are essential for growth in babies and children, especially the development of the brain. Since an infant’s brain reportedly consumes up to 50% of its calorie consumption and cannot burn fatty acids directly, adults should have an optimal fat calorie percentage even higher than infants.

All Mammals Thrive on a 20C:60F:20P Ratio Diet: The Perfect Health Diet by Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet, both PhDs, makes the technical case that all mammals naturally consume a diet that is high in fat with a macronutrient ratio close to 20:60:20. This applies to carnivore cats, grazing herbivore cows, and omnivore primates like gorillas. They go on to demonstrate that the digestive systems of these animals actually change the macronutrient ratios before absorption in their specialized digestive tracts. It’s not what they eat; it’s what they absorb. For example, herbivore digestive tracts actually ferment all the grass and other greens into very high fat diets, mostly of the short-chain fatty acid variety with no residual carbohydrates. Their livers convert these short-chain fats to ketones to meet neurologic energy needs. Humans have that same capability, as we will discover in Chapter 19.

Eating Fat Makes You Fat-Adapted: Once your primary energy supply is from fat and you keep you carbohydrates and insulin levels low, you will become “fat-adapted” and efficiently utilize fat as your primary energy source. Once fat-adapted, your energy levels become stable as your body seamlessly transitions from burning the fat you eat to burning your own body fat without skipping a beat, even when your recent meal’s energy supply is exhausted. No more hunger pains, crankiness, and brain fog. It’s a win- win situation.

Saturated Fats and Monounsaturated Fats are Non-Toxic: Most macronutrients when consumed in excess cause toxicity. Excess glucose above 600 calories a day for sedentary adults causes blood sugar and

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high insulin toxicity. As we will see in Chapter 15Fat, consuming ∆ Get more than 600 calories a day of proteins is also toxic. As you may recall from Chapter 13, fructose is toxic at very low doses and is converted to triglycerides in the liver. Even the relatively healthy omega-3 PUFAs have a toxicity limit of about 100 calories per day. SFA and MUFAs are the core structural fats of the human body and therefore are inherently non-toxic. They are the primary and preferred energy source for most of the body (except the brain) and are a healthier form of energy than glucose. Remember that it’s healthier to eat fat than to eat carbohydrates that get converted to fat. You are always better off stopping carbohydrate consumption at the limit of your body’s needs. By consuming saturated fat instead of carbohydrates, you can reach your required calorie requirement without the intermediate toxicity from elevated blood glucose and insulin levels.

Improved Blood Lipid Profiles and Reduced CVD Risk: This is where the latest scientific research is butting heads with the stubborn FDA and American Medical Association, who are clinging to their 40-year, ill- conceived and incorrect, low fat recommendations. The most pronounced effect of a high fat/low carbohydrate diet is reduced triglyceride (TG) and elevated HDL (good) cholesterol levels. Many well- informed doctors and patients now realize that these two lipid markers are the most important for assessing our CVD risk. It is desirable to get our TG/HDL ratio as low as possible. Despite what doctors tell us, LDL is pretty much useless for predicting our risk of heart disease. In fact, it’s not even part of the risk assessment for metabolic syndrome, which everyone agrees is the central link to heart disease (and virtually all other chronic diseases we’re afflicted with). Remember earlier when I said there was more to the cholesterol story? According to Peter Attia, MD (co-founder of the Nutrition Science Initiative – known as NuSI) and Gary Taubes (we talked about Gary in Chapter 5), the rest of the story is that the number, size, and density of cholesterol particles in your blood are much better predictors of heart disease risk. Here is a quick summary:

• Large, buoyant LDL particles are good (these are associated with low carb, high fat diets) • Small, dense LDL are bad (these are associated with high carb, low fat diets) • Small HDL particles are less protective • Large HDL particles are more protective (these are associated with low carb, high fat diets)

As you can see LDL alone is not all that helpful. Unfortunately a standard blood test does not provide this information. To keep it simple, just make sure your trigylcerides are low and HDL is high. In most cases, this can be accomplished by dietary changes. You will see later in Chapter 19 how Peter Attia achieved superior fitness and CVD risk levels by adopting a Ketogenic (very low carb) diet once he was diagnosed with metabolic syndrome in 2009 (at the time, he was a competitive long distance swimmer). Over a two year period, Peter reduced his CVD risk by lowering his TG/HDL-C ratio from 4.97 to 0.95. Here are his lipid profile results, and please note the increased HDL and the reduced TG:

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Fat ∆ Get

Source: Peter Attia's Website: The Eating Academy

So much for high fat diets causing increase cardiovascular disease risk. Peter’s results are typical of what tens of thousands of Americans have discovered. Look at my results and those of Dr. Diamond presented earlier. That same high-carbohydrate, low-saturated fat diet is the leading cause for obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes, and is also the cause for heart disease.

Voices in the Wilderness

While the conventional wisdom about saturated fat being bad for you still prevails medical doctrine, the opposing “voices in the wilderness” are being heard more and more and are finally gaining public acceptance. Many of these voices are established experts in their chosen medical or scientific fields, including cardiovascular doctors, research scientists, and other educated professionals who have put their own bodies and health to the test just as I have. Thanks in large part to the internet and social media, the message surrounding the Big Fat Lie is available to anyone seeking the truth. Despite the best efforts of the USDA/FDA and medical associations to suppress it, the truth ultimately is destined to come to light. The Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit eBook is just another way to bring the message to the masses. Listed below are some of the other voices speaking to all of us. Let’s listen to what they have to say:

Dr. Robert Atkins, MD – The late Dr. Atkins took the brunt of the fire from government and medical organizations which vilified his low carbohydrate-high saturated fat diet. Nevertheless, his diet books were widely popular through the 1980s and remain so even to this day. Why? Simply because they worked by helping people lose weight, lower blood sugar/insulin levels and blood lipid profiles. His diet books have evolved over the years to include more healthy nutritionally dense food choices, allowing them to become the foundation of a healthy lifestyle rather than a quick diet for losing weight.

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Dr. John Yudkin – Despite his best efforts, Yudkin’sFat documented ∆ Get research (which showed that sugar, not saturated fat, was the cause of heart disease) was largely ignored by the establishment. In a paper published in the May 1978 edition of Lipids, Yudkin stated the following: “Experiments have shown that a high consumption of sucrose produces not only the wide range of abnormalities seen in coronary heart disease (CHD) but also an increased blood concentration of insulin and cortisol. Since a low intake of sucrose confers many other health benefits, it is a more logical dietary recommendation than that of substituting polyunsaturated fat for saturated fat.” Yudkin wrote several books (Pure White and Deadly) denouncing the effects of sugar on a multitude of illnesses, including CHD, and publically argued against the McGovern’s Low Fat Dietary Recommendations for America.

Gary Taubes – Gary is a Harvard educated physicist and independent science writer who, up until 2002, was principally known in the scientific circles for his writings on topics like cold fusion. Then in 2002, he wrote the article entitled “What If It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie” for the New York Times based on his own independent review of available data concerning the current USDA/AHA Low Fat doctrine and the Alternative Hypothesis. Since then Gary has gone on to write two bestselling books: the first in 2007 entitled “Good Calories – Bad Calories,” and the second in 2011 entitled “Why We Get Fat: And What To Do About It.” Both books lay out exhaustive and detailed arguments supporting the Alternative Hypothesis. Gary is a YouTube superstar for promoting his message, and is a popular guest speaker on television and for nutrition/fitness groups such as CrossFit.

Dr. Mary Enig, PhD - A graduate student at the University of Maryland at the time of the McGovern 1977 committee report, Mary Enig questioned the conclusion of the report. She knew that the consumption of animal fats in America had been declining steadily since the turn of the century, replaced by the consumption of trans-fats and polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Her research pointed to hydrogenated fats such as margarine as being much more responsible for CHD rather than traditional saturated fats. Several of her research publications provoked the food industry and USDA lobbyists. Soon her financial support as a graduate research assistant began drying up and she became a scientific outcast. Her research was unfairly criticized, and she was often not allowed to publically refute critics. Now, she is finally being vindicated. Dr. Enig teamed up with Sally Fallon, CEO of the Westin Price Foundation, on a paper entitled “The Oiling of America,” in which she describes the “shenanigans” in Congress, the AHA, and the food industry to suppress the evidence showing hydrogenated fats are unhealthy. She also co-wrote “Eat Fat, Lose Fat” with Fallon to show how one can eat a healthy diet of saturated fats like coconut oil to easily lose body fat and feel great. Dr. Enig has performed more research on fats, both good and bad, than perhaps anyone in the world. The attached article “Know Your Fats” will answer any question you can possibly have on dietary fats and make you a bonafide fat expert.

Dr. Peter Attia, MD - As mentioned earlier Dr. Attia is a proponent and practitioner of a high fat Ketogenic diet, and he has personally applied it to totally eradicate his metabolic syndrome markers and improve his health. He has taken the message even further by showing that one can apply an extremely low carbohydrate, high saturated fat diet and still maintain an elite level of fitness. You cannot help being impressed by what Dr. Attia has demonstrated. In 2013, Dr. Attia joined Gary Taubes to establish the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI), a non-profit organization with the mission to reduce the economic and social burden of obesity and obesity-related chronic disease, by improving the quality of science in

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nutrition and obesity research. The unbiased scientificFat ∆ research Get supported by NuSI should one day soon provide the undeniable evidence to change everything we have been taught about healthy nutrition.

Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, MD - One of the biggest proponents of rewriting the book on saturated fat is cardiologist Dariush Mozaffarian, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the author of more than 100 scientific papers on nutrition and health. He believes that the conventional wisdom on saturated fat is misleading, and that eating saturated fat in moderation may be the healthiest move you can make. The Mozaffarian Study, published in the 2004 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that replacing saturated fats with high-glycemic index carbs was associated with a 33% increase in heart attack risk. . This finding was so surprising that the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a 2004 editorial called “Saturated Fat Prevents Coronary Artery Disease? An American Paradox.”

Dr. Donald Miller, MD - A cardiac surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington Medical School, Dr. Miller, unlike most present day cardiac surgeons, has fully bought into the assertion that high saturated fat diets were never the cause of heart disease; he recommends for his patients a high saturated fat diet to replace refined carbohydrates. Dr. Miller is a vocal supporter that saturated fat is good for you, and he frequently speaks on this topic as you can see from this YouTube Video. This is a very informative video, please watch it. Also speaking in this video are Dr. Mary Enig and Dr. Michael Eades MD, among others.

More Dents in the USDA and AHA Lipid Hypothesis Armor

The French Paradox – It is a well-known fact that the French are known for eating a diet much higher in saturated fat and cholesterol than Americans, and yet have lower levels of CHD risk. This paradox points to errors or flaws in Keys’ original research and hypothesis. Nowadays much more statistically accurate data is available from which we can draw on. One such source of data is the 2008 edition of European cardiovascular disease statistics, which you can download here. In this document you can find information on the percentage of the diet contributed by saturated fat (page 75) in more than 40 countries, as well as the rates of death due to heart disease in those countries (page 28). Percentage of calories from saturated fat range from less than 4 percent (Bosnia and Herzegovina) right up to 15.5 percent (France). In other words, the difference in percentage of calories from fat is vast (about a 4-fold or 400 percent difference). The rates of death from heart disease are also very different, ranging from 22 deaths per 100,000 people to 215 per 100,000 (1998 figures). By plotting this data together, we can see the relationship of dietary saturated fat with respect to heart disease. Thanks to Dr. John Briffa, here are the results:

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Well, it seems that this ‘paradox’ is not limited to France, but is alive and well in several other countries too, including the UK, Germany, Austria, Finland, Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. In other words, it’s not a paradox at all. It’s only a paradox if one believes saturated fat causes heart disease. Keys’ Seven Country study looks like it is full of bologna. For more on that topic, check out this YouTube video.

Diets of Indigenous Peoples with the Lowest Risk of Heart Disease Here are several native populations which still eat their traditional diets that are all high in saturated fat yet have some of the lowest rates of CHD. • Maasai (Kenya and Tanzania, Africa) - Primarily meat, milk, and blood from cattle. Butter for infants. Diet is 66% saturated fat. • Inuit/Eskimos (Arctic) – Primarily whale meat and blubber. Diet is 75% saturated fat. • Tokelau (Pacific atoll islands and New Zealand) – Primarily fish and coconut. Diet is 60% saturated fat.

The Framingham Heart Study is a long-term, ongoing cardiovascular study on residents of the town of Framingham, Massachusetts. The study began in 1948 with 5,209 adult subjects from Framingham, and is now on its third generation of participants. Dr. William Castelli, the 3rd director of the study states, “In

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Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat oneFat ate, ∆the Get more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person’s serum cholesterol … We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active.” Archives of Internal Medicine 1992: 152: 1371-1372.

With all this evidence, I’m certainly not afraid of increasing my saturated fat and cholesterol. How about you? Now let’s take another look at the so-called heart healthy fats: the polyunsaturated fats and oils.

Polyunsaturated Fats – The Heart Healthy Fats (or are they?) "Vegetable oil" certainly sounds healthy, doesn't it? After all, the stuff comes from vegetables, and we all know that vegetables are good for you! These oils are probably made by just taking a bunch of garden- fresh veggies like kale and cabbage and squeezing them really, really hard until they release a stream of golden ooze, right? Not quite. Sure, a small number of oils are produced via extraction and minimal processing from plant sources, like avocado oil, coconut oil, or olive oil. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about the vast majority of vegetable oils found on supermarket shelves (and in just about all processed food products), which are made from seeds, grains, and legumes.

Unlike animal fats and sources of monounsaturated fats, processed vegetable oils have only been around one hundred years (remember Crisco), with many oils like soybean and canola even less. Vegetable oils (and margarine, made from these oils) are oils extracted from seeds like the rapeseed (canola oil), soybean (soybean oil), corn, sunflower, safflower, etc. Unlike butter, olive, or coconut oil, these vegetable oils can’t be extracted using simple presses and other natural separation methods. They must be chemically removed, deodorized, and modified in the process. These are some of the most chemically altered foods in our diets, yet they get promoted as healthy. Does this really surprise anyone? Vegetable oils are found in practically every processed food, from salad dressing, mayonnaise, Cool Whip to processed nut butters and spreads.

Take for instance, Canola oil, the beauty queen of the vegetable oil industry. It was developed by making a hybrid version of the rapeseed, and it was given its name in the 1980s as part of a marketing effort. Rapeseed oil contains high amounts of the toxic erucic acid, which is poisonous to the body. Canola oil is an altered version, also called Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed (LEAR) and it is commonly genetically modified and treated with high levels of pesticides. Canola (modified rapeseed oil) is produced by heating the rapeseed and processing with a petroleum solvent to extract the oil. Then another process that involves heating and the addition of acid is used to remove nasty solids (wax) generated during the first processing. At this point, the newly created canola oil must be treated with more chemicals to improve color and separate the different parts of the oil. Finally, since the chemical process has created harsh smelling oil, it must be chemically deodorized to be palatable. Butter should be sounding a whole lot better by now. This web article has fascinating videos contrasting the production of vegetable oils and butter.

If the vegetable oil is going to be made into shortening or margarine, is undergoes an additional process called hydrogenation to make it solid at cold temperatures. Unlike saturated fats (butter, coconut oil, etc.) vegetable oils are not naturally solid at these temperatures and must be hydrogenated to accomplish this. During this process of hydrogenation, those lovely trans-fats we’ve heard so much about are created.

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The Big Problem with Vegetable Oils Fat ∆ Get Our bodies were never meant to consume vegetable oils. Remember the previous adage: “Eat What You Are”? The fat content of the human body is about 97% saturated and monounsaturated fat, with only three percent polyunsaturated fats (half of that three percent is omega-3 fats). Vegetable oils contain very high levels of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, and these oils have sadly replaced many of the saturated fats in our diets.

The body needs fats for rebuilding cells and hormone production, but it has to use the building blocks we give it. When we give it a high concentration of polyunsaturated fats instead of the ratios it needs, it has no choice but to incorporate these unnatural fats into our cells during cell repair and creation. The problem is that polyunsaturated fats are highly unstable and oxidize easily in the body (if they haven’t already oxidized during processing or by light exposure while sitting on the grocery store shelf). These oxidized fats cause inflammation and mutation in cells. In arterial cells, these mutations cause inflammation that can clog arteries as cholesterol is used to repair the damage. When these fats are incorporated into skin cells, their mutation causes skin cancer. When these oils are incorporated into cells in reproductive tissue, some evidence suggests that this can spur problems like endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In short, the body is made up of saturated and monounsaturated fats and it needs these for optimal health.

You may still ask: how do I get the polyunsaturated fats that I still need, like omega-3s and some omega- 6s? Adequate amounts of these fats can be obtained from the other healthy fats we mentioned previously. Remember from the fat and oil charts presented earlier that most natural foods come with a mixture of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Eat eggs, a few nuts like almonds, and some fish occasionally, and you will have your polyunsaturated omega-3 and -6 needs completely covered. Besides, just living in this modern world and eating any processed food whatsoever you will be exposed to plenty of polyunsaturated fats. So why add to your troubles by using polyunsaturated vegetable oils and shortenings? It’s just not healthy.

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Fat ∆ Get

Nevertheless, despite the mounting evidence to the contrary, the bad advice from the AHA/AMA/FDA still continues to this day. The AHA unjustly combines saturated fat with trans-fat as the Bad Fat Brothers (SAT and TRANS) and unjustly combines less healthy polyunsaturated with healthy monounsaturated fat as the Good Fat Sisters (POLY and MON).

Truth be told, I and many others would recombine them as Good and Evil Brother & Sister Pairs: with the Good Pair being SAT and MON (just remember the days of the week) and the Bad Pair as TRANS and POLY.

The Last Word on Fats Outside of the United States, the myth that saturated fat and cholesterol cause heart disease is quickly falling apart. A leading cardiologist in the U.K. made shock waves recently by appearing in the mainstream media and stating that refined carbohydrates, not saturated fats, were the cause of heart disease. Now, ABC TV in Australia has released a documentary with the title: “HEART OF THE MATTER: The Cholesterol Myth: Dietary Villains and Cholesterol Drug War.” This documentary interviews cardiologists, scientists, and other experts who expose the saturated fat and cholesterol myth. Mary Enig in her article “The Skinny on Fats” states: “our choice of fats and oils is one of extreme importance. 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 processed foods containing newfangled hydrogenated fats and polyunsaturated oils. Instead, use traditional vegetable oils like extra virgin olive oil and small amounts of unrefined flax seed oil (high in omega-3s). Acquaint yourself with the merits of coconut oil for baking and with animal fats for occasional frying. Enjoy egg yolks and other animal fats with the proteins to which

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they are attached. And, finally, consume good qualityFat ∆ butter Get with the happy assurance that it is a wholesome -- indeed, an essential food for you and your whole family.”

Click Here for Time Magazine Video “The Truth about Fats”

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Chapter 15 – Protein: Not TooFat Little,∆ Get Not Too Much, Just Right

We talked about protein back in Chapter 8 and learned that they are the cellular building blocks of every organ in the human body. We learned that of the tens of thousands of different proteins, all are constructed from 22 unique amino acids, the building blocks of every protein much like letters of the alphabet. In addition, proteins can be broken down by the body if necessary and used as a source of energy, supplying 4 calories per gram similar to carbohydrates. Finally, we learned that the body has no long term storage capability for protein and what we don’t use we lose. Sounds like the perfect macronutrient. Or is there more to the story?

Well as nature will have it, protein is the one macronutrient that should not make up more than 30% of our daily intake of calories. Eating too much protein is actually very toxic and potentially very dangerous if maintained at high levels even over a period of just several weeks. This is primarily due to ammonia poisoning which results from all the left over nitrogen generated when proteins are metabolized for energy. Remember proteins contain nitrogen, whereas fats and carbohydrates do not. The body’s ability to convert ammonia to urea for elimination in our urine peaks with a protein intake of about 920 protein calories/day; when this limit is exceeded, cellular ammonia levels will rapidly rise to make us sick with nausea and diarrhea. This is symptomatic of “rabbit starvation,” an illness named by arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson and experienced by his exploration party when stores of fat had run out and lean rabbits were the only available food.

Depending on our lifestyle and health goals, a healthy protein range by percentage of total calories is between 10 % for sedentary types and 30% for active individuals looking to maintain or build muscle. Most recommendations for protein intake are given in terms of grams per pound (or kg) of lean body weight. The RDA for protein is 0.36 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight and assumes you are sedentary, not

Page Eat- -Fit interested in gaining muscle, and free of healthFat issues. ∆ ItGet should be considered a minimum baseline from which you can experiment to find what works best for you. Just don’t average less than that value per day. Studies for active individuals and athletes recommend optimal daily protein intake from 0.8 to 1.4 grams per pound of bodyweight which would correspond to 128 to 224 protein grams per day for a 160 pound man. 128 grams of protein is equal to that from 1 chicken breast, 1 chicken drumstick, 2 hamburgers, and 2 eggs. To reach 224 grams of protein requires a real appetite for protein that most of us frankly will never reach, unless you plan to play professional football or enter Philly’s annual Wing Bowl.

For most of us, it so happens that our protein intake is adequately regulated by our appetites. Upon digestion, complete proteins as contained in animal flesh send signals to our brains telling us we are full and well-nourished and that we can stop eating. We naturally find protein tasty when we need it, bland when we don’t, and gravitate to an optimal protein intake. Except for some protein-deficient vegans and misguided bodybuilders, almost everyone eats an adequate amount of protein. “Not too little; Not too much; Just Right” as Goldilocks would say. The real question for most of us is: where do we get our protein?

Vegetarians often claim that animal products shorten life span, but a cursory look at some of the most long-lived ethnic groups proves that this is not the case. Weston Price, who became famous for studying the dietary habits of native populations, showed that those who ate diets with lots of fatty animal meat and whole milk products often had very long average life expectancies. This included the Georgian populations from Russia, the inhabitants of Vilcabamba (Valley of Longevity) in Ecuador, and the native Hunza from northern Pakistan. Native Okinawans who are also known for their longevity routinely consume pork and lard (pig fat) on a daily basis. On the other hand, the vegetarian inhabitants of southern India have one of the shortest average life spans in the world.

You may recall that animal sources provide complete protein (all required amino acids) whereas vegetable sources do not. The table below presents the most important food groups as protein sources. It also lists their respective performance as a source of common limiting amino acids (in milligrams of limiting amino acid per gram of total protein in the food source). The green highlighted cells represent the protein source with highest density of the respective amino acid, while the yellow highlighted cells represent the protein source with lowest density of the respective amino acid. This confirms that animals, nuts and seeds are superior to grains and beans as protein sources. Besides, as we will see in Chapter 17, grains and legumes have other toxicity issues, which suggest that they should be avoided or at least not be a significant component of your daily diet.

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The truth is that in terms of protein quality andFat calories, ∆ Get vegetable proteins are not nearly the bargain they were thought to be, since they do not contain sufficient amounts of the essential amino acids. Plant sources of protein can be useful in a mixed diet that also includes protein from meat, milk, and eggs, but alone or as the major source, plant proteins fall short for most people.

So what constitutes healthy animal protein sources? Here is a list of recommended animal sources worth considering adding to your diet:

In all cases, animals should be wild or naturally raised rather than produced from industrial farm complexes, where the animals are fed an unnatural diet; kept in crowded, inhuman and unsanitary conditions; and fed hormones and antibiotics to promote health until slaughtered for sale. Starting with the adage “You are what you eat” can be readily extended to the following: “You are what ‘what you eat’ eats”. Protein should be consumed with the natural fat that nature provides. Did you know that fatty cuts of meat were treasured by our ancestors who often discarded leaner meat cuts to their dogs?

If money is an issue going all organic and grass fed, trim the fat off the protein as much as possible since this is where the unhealthy toxins fed to the animals will be concentrated. Then obtain your fat from healthier sources like butter, coconut milk, and avocados.

Animals are more than just a source of protein and fat. Animals provide dense quantities of micronutrients such as minerals and nutrients, especially organ meats which are considered a proverbial superfood. All types of meat contain the most bioavailable form of Vitamin B12 and iron which is essential for good health and healthy blood cell formation. You blood cells are completely replaced every six months, so there is a constant demand for these very important nutrients.

An often forgotten source of nutrients in modern society is animal bone broth, which is relatively cheap and easy to make. While not high in protein, bone broths contain amino acids not normally found in

Page Eat- -Fit muscle meat. Besides its amazing taste and culinaryFat uses,∆ Get broth is an excellent source of minerals and is known to boost the immune system (like homemade chicken soup when you are sick) and improve digestion. Its high calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus content make it great for bone and tooth health. Bone broth also supports joints, hair, skin, and nails due to its high collagen content.

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Chapter 16 – Eat Your VeggiesFat ∆ Get(and a little fruit too) Mom Was Right After All!

You may recall from Chapter 9 where I presented the EFGF pyramid that vegetables (a.k.a. plant food) were at the base. While eating according to the EFGF lifestyle, plants will make up only a small fraction of our diet by calories (less than 30%), but they should make up the majority by volume. Thus, healthy nutrient dense low glycemic vegetables become the foundation of our daily diet. And all for very good reasons, I might add. Let’s examine several. Reasons to Love Your Vegetables Plants contain abundant amounts of all three classes of micronutrients that are crucial for our health, which as you may recall are vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. The finding of thousands of phytochemicals compounds in naturally grown plants is one of the most significant discoveries in nutritional science in the past fifty years. These nutrients are essential for maintaining our immune systems and contain powerful antioxidants that provide protection from common diseases of aging, like cancer. Most vegetable plants are naturally low in calories and provide dietary fiber to help us feel satisfied. Though plants will be our primary source of carbohydrates, the recommended fruits and vegetables will be relatively low on the glycemic scale in order to maintain optimal blood sugar and insulin levels. Remember, we will normally want to limit our carbohydrate intake at or less than 150 grams per day for healthy weight maintenance and even lower to induce efficient and effortless weight loss. Most vegetables are anti-inflammatory, which will help to reduce rather than cause systemic inflammation. As we age, systemic inflammation is linked to a host of diseases like arthritis, eczema, fibromyalgia, stroke, coronary heart disease, and certain types of cancer. As you may recall from Chapter 8, good food should not promote inflammation and most inflammation starts in our guts.

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Lots of nutrient-dense vegetables, optimal amountsFat ∆of completeGet animal protein, and quality sources of non-toxic saturated and monounsaturated fats are an unbeatable macronutrient combination that we can all easily live with and learn to love. Cravings are eliminated, our energy needs are easily met, and we can easily lose weight without resorting to unsustainable low-calorie high-carbohydrate percentage diets. Vegetables and Nutrient Density Make no mistake, there are no unhealthy vegetables provided they are eaten raw or cooked properly, like steamed or sautéed with healthy fat. Commercially available French-fries obviously don’t qualify and neither does ketchup. However, some vegetables are better than others. Dr. Joel Fuhrman in his book, “Eat for Health,” has developed a clever scoring system based on nutrient per calorie density called Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI for short). Dark green leafy greens are at the very top of the list with scores of 1000, and cola sodas come in with a putrid score of 0.5. Vegetables dominate the high scores of the nutrient density list. Here are some of the top scoring vegetables that are on my favorite vegetable list:

A variety of vegetables should be eaten, with about half eaten raw and the other half cooked and/or fermented like sauerkraut or kimchi. Fermented vegetables are one of my superfoods, as they are uniquely beneficial to our guts, and should be included in everyone’s diet at least once or twice a week. In addition to the micronutrients, fermented vegetables provide digestion enhancing enzymes and natural probiotics (i.e. the good bacteria needed for digestive tract health). Dr. Joseph Mercola, a popular internet natural health doctor, highly encourages the consumption of these superfoods. Choose vegetables in season and locally grown if possible. Vegetables will start to lose some of their nutrient values as soon as they are picked, so fresh is always best. Frozen vegetables are an acceptable substitute when out of season, but avoid most canned processed vegetables unless you have no other choice. Canned vegetables tend to lose a lot of nutrients during the preservation process (notable exceptions include tomatoes and pumpkin).

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I want to clearly differentiate between starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, taro, carrots, and beets and non-starchy leafy green, nightshade, and cruciferous vegetables. You will use the starchy vegetables and some fruit to obtain your daily recommended amount of carbohydrates. Remember you can have about 150 grams for weight maintenance and less than 100 grams for weight loss. The other vegetables can be eaten until satisfied, with no limitations, as they are too low in net calories for us to be concerned about their macronutrient composition. If you can, please include sea vegetables like seaweed in your diet once or twice a week. Seaweed provides important minerals like iodine that is not readily obtained from other dietary sources. Dried seaweed products can always be found in Asian supermarkets and are showing up at more and more conventional supermarkets in their “Ethic Foods” aisles. I particularly love to snack on the Kirkland Roasted Seasoned Seaweed which I purchase at Costco in bulk. If all else fails, you can buy kelp, chlorella and spirulina in the form of dietary supplements at your local health food store. What’s not a veggie? Corn, for one, is not a vegetable. Corn is technically a grain, and as you will see in Chapter 17, grains and grain products should be avoided. Beans, peas, and lima beans are technically legumes and are not included in our good veggie list. But I hate vegetables! Just get over it. Besides, vegetables are really not so bad when you consider that healthy fats and flavorful spices can be added to our cooked vegetables to make them mouth-wateringly delicious. In fact, it is a good idea to combine vegetables with fats and meats with each meal. Beneficial nutrients in vegetables can be more efficiently absorbed in the digestive tract when combined with fat, and the antioxidants provided by the vegetables also protect meat protein from oxidation. As you drop the sugar and processed foods, your taste buds will quickly adjust to savor the favor of the natural healthy foods. So be good to your cells and eat you vegetables. A Little Fruit On the Side Too

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Fruits are plants and real foods too, and for mostFat of us∆, Getfruits taste better than vegetables. Fresh fruit provides your taste buds with the natural sweetness we crave but in a much healthier (nutrient-dense) package than candy, cookies, and cake. Fruits provide lots of beneficial micronutrients and fiber, but they also contain the one anti-nutrient we discussed back in Chapter 13: our old nemesis fructose. Because most fruits contain as much fructose as glucose, we don’t want to get the majority of our carbohydrate calories from fruits. Consequently, we should limit our fruit consumption from 1 to 2 servings per day. However, if you are trying to lose weight, you should refrain from consuming fruits entirely. Fruits are also not a substitute for vegetables. While fruits are micronutrient dense and delicious, they are not nearly as nutritious as vegetables. Vegetables in our diets are mandatory; fruit, however, is optional.

Fruits and Nutrient Density Shown below are the ANDI nutrition scores for common fruits. As you can see, the overall scores are less than those of vegetables. Berries should be noted as having the highest ANDI scores. Berries are clearly the superfoods among fruits taking the top 4 of 5 spots of the fruits listed.

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My favorite fruit treat is a small dish of berries with some full fat cream drizzled on top. When fresh berries are out of season, buy the frozen berry blends for a powerful antioxidant treat. Berries also blend well, so they have become a fixture in my power protein smoothies.

Because of their high fructose loading and diminished nutrient quality, processed juices should be avoided. These beverage products are really not much better than soda. Especially these little juice boxes that we give to our kids thinking they are healthy. Think again! Instead of juicing your fruits and vegetables, blend them; if you can afford it buy one of those power blenders like Vitamix or BlendTec. Blending your fruits and vegetables preserves all the valuable phytochemicals and valuable fiber and reduces their glycemic loading. You will fill up faster and consume fewer calories in the process.

Chapter End Note While we may differ on every other aspect of nutrition science, almost every nutrition expert in the world will agree that eating plants, especially leafy greens, is good for us in so many ways. So, eat your veggies! You will be glad you did.

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Chapter 17 – Grain: The BaneFat of ∆ Modern Get Man “Grains, Sugars and Carbohydrates are Poisons to Your Brain,” Dr. David Perlmutter on the Dr. Oz Show on 10/21/2013

On October 21 2013, Neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter appeared on the Dr. Oz Show on TV to talk about his new book entitled GRAIN BRAIN. In his NY Times bestselling book, Dr. Perlmutter presents evidence on why and how carbohydrates, sugars, and even our sacred whole grains are unhealthy particularly to our brains. Dr. Perlmutter links the explosive rise of Alzheimer’s disease cases to America’s transition to a more low-fat diet as a direct result of America’s fat phobia. American TV show host Dr. Oz admitted on his show that some heart doctors like himself “are now buying in to the idea that what causes us to die from heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s is inflammation in the body… and that these are not caused by fats that we have been eating for 2.5 million years, but rather much more recent changes to our diets.” Dr. Oz goes on to say that “if you are worried about Alzheimer’s and dementia, cutting calories from carbohydrates and replacing them with healthy fats can help protect your brain... It’s the only tool we have.” Now that I have your attention, let’s learn even more about why we should eliminate or at least limit grains and grain-based products from our everyday diet. Cereal grains like wheat, corn, rice, barley, oats, millet, sorghum, and rye are the seeds of grasses. They are the staple crops of the modern human diet, ever since the advent of agriculture some 10,000 years ago. These grains provide the majority of food calories and about half the protein consumed by humans worldwide. Before the advent of agriculture, our Paleolithic ancestors subsisted for hundreds of thousands of years on a grain-free, high-fat hunter gatherer (H-G) diet which was largely comprised of animal flesh, plants, nuts, and seeds (with insects and grubs too, but I know you don’t want to hear that). Those H-G

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foods are the ones that human beings are designedFat to∆ thrive Get on, since genetically we haven’t changed much as a species over the short span of 10,000 years. Perlmutter says that in our hunter-gatherer days, there were times when we humans didn’t have food, and this would “create a small stress to our genome. When we didn’t have excess calories, life-sustaining protective genes would be activated, increasing antioxidant coverage and reducing inflammation, which are ultimately very beneficial for the brain.” All grains contain toxins to inhibit digestion by grazing animals, allowing some of the seed to pass through the digestive tracts of ruminant mammals like buffalo, cattle and sheep. Mixed with manure, the seeds take root at a new location, thus spreading the grass plant. Grazing animals with their specially adapted digestive systems have evolved defenses for these grain toxins. On the other hand,, we humans lack this ability and are comparatively defenseless against these toxins’ injurious effects. Grain toxins are most abundant in the bran sheath, but are present in all parts of the grain kernel. Since wheat is the dominant grain that most of us consume, let’s focus on the primary toxins found in wheat. Gluten is a sticky, water-soluble protein belonging to the Prolamin group and makes up to 80% of the protein in grains like wheat, rye, and barley. Grains like corn, rice, and oats have similar Prolamin proteins. Gluten and similar grain-based proteins work to break down the nutrient absorbing microvilli in your small intestine, eventually letting particles of undigested food leech into your blood stream (a lovely term called “leaky gut syndrome”) which cause allergies, digestive disturbances, and autoimmune problems. It has been shown that gluten containing grains trigger inflammation in nearly everyone; no one is absolutely immune, it’s just a matter of degree. People with diagnosed celiac disease have the most acute symptoms, but we all eventually will suffer the ill effects of prolonged exposure to gluten containing grains like wheat. Some of the more common symptoms include dermatitis, joint pain, reproductive problems, acid reflux, and other digestive disorders like gall bladder disease. Lectins are another mildly toxic protein also found in grains like wheat, which inhibit the repair of the human digestive track. Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA) is the principal toxic lectin found in wheat. Lectins like WGA are not broken down in the digestive process and bind to receptors in the intestine, and if they permeate the intestinal wall they can bind with glycoproteins in our blood vessels and nervous system. It is the combined immune response to gluten and lectins that experts believe to be the root cause of many diseases. Phytate (a.k.a. phytic acid) can be found in the bran portion of most grains. Phytate functions as an anti- nutrient that blocks the absorption of the healthy minerals found in whole grain, by binding these micronutrients into an indigestible complex that passes right through our digestive tract and out the other end. Remember, micronutrients are only good for us if we absorb them. Consequently, it’s much better to get your micronutrients from vegetable sources that don’t contain any phytate. Societies reliant on grains for survival developed ways to prepare them to mitigate some of the inflammatory and anti-nutrient effects. These included prolong soaking, sprouting, and fermenting which would partially breakdown some of the phytates and inflammatory proteins. Some even suggest that fermenting grains into alcoholic beverages like mead and ale may actually be a healthier way to consume our grains. Beer drinkers rejoice!

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Opioids found in wheat make it addictive, similarFat to ∆sugar. Get Wheat contains opioid peptides which have the same pleasure stimulating effects as morphine. Many people have diagnosed gluten sensitivity characterized by acid reflux and bowel inflammation, yet continue to eat wheat for this reason. Lastly wheat has been shown to deplete vitamin D stores as well as block its protective function, making us more susceptible to infections from bacteria and viruses. Chronic infections have been implicated in aging, autoimmunity, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s, and multiple sclerosis. According to the latest epidemiological research, people that consume wheat die younger than those who don’t. The China Study entailed millions of Chinese nationals and is considered the largest epidemiological research study on this topic of its kind. This study included participant interviews, medical checkups and tests, ultimately yielding statistical correlations between diet and disease rates. One of the most eye- opening correlations from the China Study are those involving grains. Since different regions of China eat different staple grains, the China Study correlations provide a reliable measure of the impact of these different regional grains on human health. The correlations were:

• Wheat had a +67% correlation with heart disease deaths; • Rice had a -58% correlation with heart disease deaths; • Other grains had a +39% correlation with heart disease deaths. Clearly, wheat was by far the most toxic food identified in the China Study. White rice, which does not contain phytate, gluten, and other toxic proteins, is considered a safe starch and carbohydrate source.

On top of all this toxicity, grains in conjunction with sugar are the primarily contributor to elevated blood sugar and insulin levels in humans. So just pass on the bread basket and skip the side of pasta. Try going grain-free for 90 days on the EFGF diet! If you find that you hate the diet, you can always go back to your bread and pasta consuming ways and live the rest of your shortened life in bagel paradise. More likely, skipping grains will have you feeling better than ever, with more energy (like you did as a kid); just maybe, you won’t even want the grains anymore. To learn even more about the problems with consuming grains, check out the following books: The Perfect Health Diet, Wheat Belly, It Starts with Food and, of course, Grain Brain. Legumes Aren’t That Good Either Legumes, another group of plant food, include beans, peas, lentils, and peanuts. Like grains, when we eat legumes we are actually eating the legume plant seed, which like grain contains a concentrated amount of

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carbohydrates in addition to some protein. LegumesFat ∆unfortunately Get have some of the same toxicity issues as grains since they all contain phytate. However, since most people don’t over consume legumes, go ahead and enjoy your occasional edamane appetizer, Texas chili, or Moroccan lentil soup. I still do. Nobody’s perfect. Chapter End Note The most harmful element of present day dietary conventional wisdom is that grains are healthy and are the “staff of life”. However, in truth, grains provide only one primary nutritional benefit, that being a concentrated cheap source of carbohydrate energy. Grains also come with lots of negative attributes that wreak havoc on our digestive and immune systems causing systemic inflammation. No one is untouched by grain’s deleterious effects. If you are looking for good wholesome nutrition, grains should be one of your last food choices. Over the millennia, grains allowed societies to grow by feeding the masses. For many past agricultural societies where life expectancy was fifty years or less, it often came down to just surviving rather than thriving. Today, we should be eating to thrive, rather than survive, into old golden years. I choose to THRIVE. How about you?

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Chapter 18 – The Paleo DietFat ∆ Get Release the Animal Within and Reverse Devolution

Let’s recap what we have learned thus far. First we now know to eat real foods, rather than processed foods loaded with additives and preservatives. We know to eat lots of fresh vegetables, and that a little fruit is fine even though it contains fructose. Further, we learned that good fats (remember Sat and Mono?) provide a healthy source of calories and fatty acids. We learned that we need to eat enough quality protein from animal sources, but not too much. We learned that the following foods are harmful to us and should be avoided: sugar, grains, legumes, and polyunsaturated vegetable oils. You don’t need any of these toxic foods to be healthy as the USDA would have you believe. Finally, we should limit the consumption of all carbohydrates to less than 150 grams per day, or about 30% of our total calories, in order to keep our blood sugar and insulin levels within healthy ranges. The diet that I’m describing here is not new or rocket science; in fact, the diet is as old as man himself. It is the native, natural diet that our genome is primed for: the “Paleo diet”.

We humans should never forget that at our core we are fundamentally just animals. And all animals, if left to live and eat as nature intended, remain lean with just enough adipose tissue to supply needed energy when food is scarce. The same forces of physiology, biology, geography, climatology, and sociology that determine an animal’s health and ability to thrive apply equally to us humans. Anthropologists estimate that the human species started about 2.5 million years ago with Homo-Erectus & Habilis leading up to Homo-Sapiens (the modern human genome) about 200,000 years ago. The human species over this entire period up until about 10,000 years ago (i.e. end of the Paleolithic Era) lived and flourished on a natural omnivore diet supported by their hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Homo sapiens (that’s us) are naturally omnivores that can derive energy and nutrients from a diet consisting of a variety of sources that normally include mostly native plants and animals. This diet included things like a variety of indigenous fruits & vegetables when in season, nuts, seeds, and above all, animal flesh. Research shows that whenever and wherever it was ecologically possible, our Paleo ancestors consumed high amounts (45–65% of energy) of animal food. Most (73%) of the worldwide hunter-gatherer societies derived the majority (>50%) of their subsistence from animal foods, whereas only 14% of these societies derived the majority of their subsistence from gathered plant foods. This high reliance on animal-based foods, coupled with the relatively low carbohydrate content of wild plant foods, produces universally characteristic macronutrient

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ratios in which protein and fat are elevated at theFat expense ∆ Get of carbohydrates (20–40% of energy). Vegetarianism was simply not an option for successful Paleolithic societies to survive. Our human ancestors could not realistically obtain all the macronutrients they required from plants alone. Animals and fish provided a concentrated source of protein and fat which were needed for early man’s survival. It was a rare day for Paleo man to eat more than 150 grams of carbohydrates, as grains and legumes were not yet part of his diet. This is the basis for what is commonly referred to as the “Paleo Diet” or “Caveman Diet,” and is widely popular among modern health and fitness enthusiasts. When you get right down to it, why the Paleo Diet works makes absolute common sense. We humans evolved over a period of 2.5 million years, genetically adapting to thrive on a hunter-gatherer based diet as creatures of nature. Our human genome is encoded to function optimally eating such a diet. However, this all changed with the end of the Paleolithic Era and the dawn of agriculture and civilization some 10,000 years ago, in what is historically known as the Fertile Crescent area of the Middle East. The Neolithic Age had begun, but according to Paleo experts and devotees, so began man’s decline as a physical specimen. Many anthropologists agree that the development of agriculture, domestication of animals, and civilization actually caused the human species to become smaller and unhealthier (due to contagious diseases and eating more toxic foods). With the adoption of grains as our staple food, our stature became smaller, our muscles and tendons weakened, and human skeletal remains showed signs of detail cavities and osteoporosis. According to Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint, average life expectancy of our Paleo ancestors was about 33 years. While not impressive by modern standards, primitive man actually lived longer and healthier than his civilized successors practically until the 20th century when medical advancements like antibiotics, hospitals, and sanitation drove life expectancy skyrocketing upward. Provided that they could stay clear of fatal accidents and infectious diseases, our primal relatives could enjoy long lives with excellent health and fitness up until old age by modern standards. Dr. Richard Cutler, a published gerontologist and longevity expert, estimated the maximum lifespan potential for Homo sapiens 15,000 years ago to be about 94 years. How many healthy and fit 94 year-olds do you know? Today’s chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes were unheard of in the Paleo Era. Back then you had to remain healthy and fit or you became lunch for the local saber-tooth tiger or just bug-food.

The Perfect Storm in 1970 led us more astray from our Paleolithic roots and to another precipitous decline in our overall health and quality of life. Considering all the comforts and medical advancements of modern

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life, one can easily argue that our species now existsFat ∆in aGet state of “devolution.” But for us as individuals, this doesn’t have to be the case. With this new knowledge, we can choose a diet that is in line with our genetics, still encoded from our Paleolithic ancestors. And by doing this, we will release our inner animal and begin to reverse devolution of the human species. It starts with each of us. So let’s all “live long - drop dead” and eat more like Paleo Man as popularized by Mark Sisson in “The Primal Blueprint”. The Paleo Diet relies on using modern food to mimic the food groups of our pre-agricultural, hunter- gatherer ancestors. According to Dr. Loren Cordain, PhD and author of “The Paleo Diet “ book, the following seven fundamental characteristics of hunter-gatherer diets will help us optimize our health, minimize our risk of chronic disease, and lose weight.

• Higher protein Intake • Lower carbohydrate intake • Higher fiber intake • Moderate to high fat intake • Higher potassium and lower sodium intake • Net dietary alkaline load that balances dietary acidic food • Higher intake of naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and plant phytochemicals

Here is Dr. Cordain’s Paleo Diet in a nutshell:

Note 1: While adopting many Paleo Diet principles, the EFGF diet does allow for some dairy and potatoes that are not Paleo by strict standards. Like other Paleo-based diets, such as the Primal Blueprint and Perfect Food Diet, just because a food did not exist during the Paleo Era doesn’t mean we need to specifically exclude it. We are humans after all and have brains that can think, reason, and choose wisely. Fermented vegetables, full fat yogurt, butter, and potatoes were not commonly eaten back during the Stone Age but are now known to be good for us.

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It was my reading of Mark Sisson’s “Primal BlueprintFat ”∆ fo Getllowed shortly after by Jaminet’s “The Perfect Health Diet” that pointed me towards my personal recipe for perfect health, from which sprang the inspiration for writing Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit. I highly endorse both books for you to read and fully digest.

Another aspect of Paleo Era life that is now being shown to be very healthy was the random and often infrequent timing of meals. This intermittent fasting often led to Paleo man entering a state of Ketosis which, as we will see in the next chapter, is very good for humans in a variety of ways even today.

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Fat ∆ Get Chapter 19 – Ketosis 101: What’s On Your Breath?

The human species, as we have learned in the last chapter, is a marvel of nature, an omnivore and a highly adaptable one at that. Humans are designed to readily survive days on end without any food whatsoever, while still managing to hunt and gather. This genetic adaptation is mainly through the ability to enter a state of ketosis where our bodies actually create a new fuel source for itself called ketones (a.k.a. ketone bodies) from body fat. Ketones provide an alternative fuel source for our cells, and many critical organs in our bodies (such as our hearts, kidneys and most importantly our brains) actually prefer burning them in place of glucose. George Cahill in his paper “Ketoacids - Good Medicine?” calls the principal ketone beta- hydroxybutyrate (BOHB) generated by our bodies a “superfuel”, since it provides ATP energy to the body more efficiently than either glucose or fatty acids. BOHB has also shown to protect neuronal cells from toxins associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's diseases. For over a hundred years to this day, Ketogenic diets are used to treat epilepsy. The reason a person can live for 40-60 days or longer without food is precisely because humans can turn fatty acids into ketones and convert ketones into substrates for the Krebs cycle in the mitochondria of our neurons. In fact, the fatter you are, the longer you can survive while functioning in this state. As an extreme example of this, you may want to read this remarkable case report of a 382-day medically supervised fast (with only water and electrolytes)! That’s more than an entire year with no food, resulting in a total weight loss of 276 pounds (granted, he started from 456 pounds). Since our brains cannot utilize fatty acids directly like muscle, if we had to rely on glucose to fuel our brains, we would die in a matter of a few days when our limited glycogen supply is depleted. Being in a state of ketosis makes us highly adapted to burn fat (either the fat we eat, or our own stored body fat) very efficiently so that we function even better when in this state. When we become fully fat-adapted, we will have direct usable access to our entire stored fat reserves (over 40,000 calories and much, much more if you are obese) to supply all our bodies’ needs while sparing muscle mass in the process. If we are not fat adapted, once we run out of stored glucose, we “hit the wall” (better known in athletic circles as “bonking”). Which fuel supply would you rather have easy access to?

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Obviously, we can enter a state of ketosis and become fat adapted by depriving ourselves of all food. This is called fasting, and there are many benefits of adopting short and long term fasts. But that is a topic for another chapter yet to come. There is however a much easier way to achieve ketosis involving much less deprivation. It’s through the adoption of a ketogenic diet, or what we would otherwise refer to as “nutritional ketosis.” What exactly is the ketogenic diet? The ketogenic diet is where we reduce our carbohydrate consumption significantly below the maximum 150 grams per day recommended by EFGF. How much lower really depends on your specific genetics, and can vary from 20 to 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. At this very low level of carbohydrates, EFGF approved foods like starchy vegetables, fruits, and many nuts will have to drop off your diet for as long as you want to stay in ketosis mode. The process also doesn’t happen overnight. It may take several days for blood and urine ketone levels to reach the level that technically puts us officially into ketosis. Becoming fully “keto-adapted,” where our innate fat-burning machinery is gradually brought up to full capacity, may take several weeks to a month according to “The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance” by Volek and Phinney. “Keto-adaptation is a complex and coordinated sequence of highly orchestrated events requiring adaptations in the type of fuel used by most cells in the body.” And if this sounds a lot like the Atkins Diet, you’re absolutely right. The Atkins Nutritional Approach is a ketogenic diet. That is why the Atkins Diet has been so effective and popular over the past 30 years for weight loss, even in the face of all the anti-fat propaganda. What are ketones - they sound kind of dangerous? Ketosis is a metabolic state in which the liver produces small organic molecules called ketone bodies from available fatty acids. There are technically three types of ketones produced during this process: 1) acetone, 2) acetoacetone (AcAc), and 3) beta-hydroxybutyrate (BOHB). The last 2 ketones are 4-carbon molecules that retain some similarities to the fatty acids from which they originated. However, unlike fatty acids, these two ketones are water soluble, making them easily transportable by the blood, much like the simple sugar glucose that they are intended to replace. Our bodies produce small amounts of these ketones even when we eat a carbohydrate-rich diet, but their production significantly ramps up in direct response to decreased carbohydrate availability. This response is perfectly natural and represents a vital human genome adaption in fuel partitioning. The other ketone molecule, acetone, is a 3-carbon molecule that cannot be used and is excreted as waste, mostly in the urine and by our breath. [You may be more familiar with acetone for its use as a cleaning solvent in laboratories and in products like paint thinner and

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nail polish remover.] People in nutritional ketosisFat often ∆ Gethave a distinct breath odor caused by increased acetone (a.k.a. Ketone breath). If enough acetone is in our urine, it can be detected using a test strip commonly found in drug stores under the brand name Ketostix. The higher the concentration of ketones in the urine, the more purple the strip will turn.

You may have heard from some people and even some doctors that ketosis is a life-threatening condition. If so, they are likely confusing Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) with nutritional ketosis, or keto-adaptation. So let’s set the record straight. While in the healthy keto-adaptive mode, blood ketone levels are readily maintained in an optimal range of 0.5 to 3 mM (a.k.a. mmol/L). This is not the case for DKA, which is only a problem for Type-1 diabetes or late stage Type-2 diabetics. When a diabetic fails to receive enough insulin, they go into a state of cellular starvation. While they may have plenty of glucose in their bloodstream, without insulin, their cells can’t burn it for energy. Their livers respond to this emergency condition by pumping out ketones. However, in their condition there is no internal feedback loop to control the process, and more and more ketones are generated without stopping. Ultimately this results in serious metabolic and PH imbalances that will make the diabetic patient critically ill, and if these imbalances are not corrected with insulin injections, the patient will soon die.

But why would I want to become keto-adapted?

Ketogenic diets are becoming more popular for a variety of reasons. In addition to weight loss, they are beginning to be studied as treatments and preventative measures for other conditions. They are already well-established as a treatment for epilepsy, and researchers are studying their uses for other neurological conditions. A June 2013 paper in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition listed the following conditions as possibly being helped by ketogenic diets: Strong evidence • Epilepsy • Overweight and obesity (weight reduction) • Type 2 diabetes • Cardiovascular risk factors (particularly improving triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, and patterns of LDL cholesterol most associated with arterial plaque). If you recall, Dr. Diamond from Chapter 6 cured his weight and CRF issues by adapting a high fat (ketogenic) diet.

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Emerging evidence (some evidence with moreFat research ∆ Get in progress) • Neurological diseases other than epilepsy, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, narcolepsy, brain trauma, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis • Polycystic ovarian syndrome • Acne • Some types of cancer (especially some types of brain cancer) Other bonuses of adopting a ketogenic diet include: • Body fat loss while retaining lean body mass (this is not the case on a low calorie, low fat diet) • Available energy while dieting, as opposed to low carbohydrate lethargy • Appetite suppression effect • Tastier, satiating food makes adherence easier than low fat or restricted calorie diets • Diet can be randomly cycled on and off (just like our primal ancestors were forced to do) In addition, many individuals are now experimenting with ketogenic diets to enhance athletic performance and endurance. This is the basis for the book “The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance.” If you recall the picture of fuel gauges shown earlier in the chapter, this makes perfect sense for endurance athletes. If endurance athletes could fully access their fat stores for energy, they could run, swim, cycle longer than those who are not fat-adapted. Peter Attia, MD from The Eating Academy and cofounder the Nutrition Science Initiative has adopted and maintained a ketogenic diet to cure his symptoms of metabolic syndrome, lose weight, gain muscle, and improve his overall athletic performance. His YouTube Video on the subject provides an excellent in-depth explanation of ketosis and the benefits that he has personally derived from becoming fully keto-adapted. Getting started on a ketogenic diet

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For those individuals who have been eating a standardFat ∆ highGet carbohydrate diet for many years, dropping carbohydrates to the level required for ketosis would be quite a shock. So I recommend that everyone start slow, by first adopting the EFGF diet to bring your carbohydrates down to about 30% of daily consumption and begin slowly reducing it week by week as you feel comfortable. Try at least several weeks in the 100 to 150 gram range, then transition to 75 to 125, etc. In a month or two, you will reach the range required for nutritional ketosis, which is detectable using Ketostix or a blood glucose/ketone meter for more precise measurements. Remember, to reach the ketosis level, you will be eating mostly fat and some protein, with some green or other non-starchy vegetables. Starchy vegetables and all fruits must be eliminated at least at first. It goes without saying that all grains, legumes, and sugars are verboten. Once keto-adapted, you may be able to incorporate some slow-release sources of carbohydrates, like root vegetables and low glycemic fruit like berries. Fats should be your primary energy source while keto- adapted, comprising 65% to 80% of your total calories. Protein is necessary, but too much is problematic even in a keto-adapted state. Again with protein, remember the Goldilocks’ adage “Not too Much, Not too Little, Just Right.” Volek and Phinney recommend protein intake between 0.6 to 1.0 grams per pound of lean body mass. For a 200 pound man with 20% body fat, that’s 96 to 160 grams of quality protein, which should be mostly animal based. Most of the EFGF recommendations still apply except for the amount of carbohydrates. That also includes the emphasis on monounsaturated and saturated fats over unhealthy polyunsaturated omega-6 varieties. According to “The Perfect Health Diet,” short chain fats are the most ketogenic of all fats, meaning they are the most likely to be converted into ketone bodies and released into the blood. This is why short chain fats like coconut oil can be used to provide most of the calories in therapeutic ketogenic diets. It has also been found that ketosis can be more easily maintained with a higher level of carbohydrate consumption when short-chain fats are consumed. There are many other benefits in consuming short chain fats like coconut oil which is why it is included in my list of 25 superfoods. Additional resources for ketogenic diet

Think of going keto as another resource in your EFGF tool kit. It is not for everyone, but it seems to work great for a large number of people. I only use it very occasionally to kick start weight loss, such as after the holiday season, and then sporadically throw in some short duration ketogenic fasts a few times per year. For additional resources on ketogenic diets, please check out the Ketogenic Diet Resource on the internet before you start going keto.

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Chapter 20 – SupplementsFat: Should ∆ Get we or shouldn’t we?

As we may recall from Chapter 7 for our bodies to be healthy, the cells of our bodies need to be kept healthy. For the cells to be healthy, we must supply the optimal amounts of micronutrients from what we eat and drink. This is best done by consuming real foods, like fresh locally sourced vegetables, quality animal protein, and healthy fats. Nutritional supplements still have a place because the nutrient density of our foods today are often greatly diminished from what they were even one hundred years ago, when every whole food we ate was locally grown and organic. At one point in my life back in the early 2000s, I was a super-supplementor, taking between 20 to 25 supplement pills and capsules every day. Looking back, did they make me feel better than I do now? The answer is unequivocally NO! Supplements are not a substitute for a good diet. Some supplements if taken in excess can even be harmful. Remember supplements are meant to supplement, not replace, good eating and lifestyle habits. Ever since my diet changed in accordance with the EFGF guidelines, my need for supplements has greatly declined. Since then, I have shifted my paradigm with respect to nutritional supplementation requirements to what I refer to as essential supplements. In order for a nutrient to qualify as an essential supplement, it must be an essential nutrient (i.e. cannot be made by the body, and therefore it must be provided through our diets), and it must be difficult to consume adequate amounts in even the best diet. Through my own research and self-experimentation, the following essential supplements are recommended by Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit:

• Whole Food Supplement (e.g. Green Powder blend) - Provides a balanced mix of essential vitamins and minerals along with phytochemicals and natural enzymes. Stay clear of commercial multivitamins like One-A- Day that are made from synthetic chemicals. Take at least 3 to 4 times weekly. • Probiotics - Helps maintain healthy intestinal flora and gut health, which is essential for immune system and digestive health. Buy quality, take daily, and keep refrigerated to maintain potency. • Fish Oil - Use only if you don’t routinely eat fatty fish like wild salmon to obtain sufficient omega-3 EFA. • Vitamin C - Antioxidant and immune system support. Take 500 mg to 1 gm daily; more when feeling ill.

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• Vitamins D and K2 - Research reveals that mostFat of us ∆ are Get deficient in both these vitamins especially if we work indoors. Take 1000 IU of D and 1 mg of K2 per day, especially during winter months. • Magnesium (Mg) - Since many of us at deficient in Mg take 200 to 400 mg/day; chelate & citrate are the most bio-available forms, with no downside risk. Over 300 critical enzymes require Mg. It’s also needed for bone health and cellular ionic transport. If you are going keto, you will also need to supplement your electrolytes by a consistent intake of sodium and potassium. Everyone who follows the keto or low carbohydrate lifestyle needs to heed this warning; otherwise they will likely suffer fatigue, light-headedness, and impaired performance. This can be done through either food sources like bone broths or supplements like potassium bicarbonate tablets.

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Chapter 21 – Superfood Fat ∆ Get 25 Superfoods to Supercharge Your Fitness and Health Goals

There are real foods, and then there are superfoods that pack a superpower boost to your quest for nutritional excellence. Through my own journey, I’ve identified my top-25 superfoods that you should consider adding to your Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit diet regimen. In order to keep the chapter brief and a quick read, I’ve limited my commentary to a short paragraph and an internet hyperlink for each superfood. You can discover much more on each of these superfoods by exploring the internet link on your own. So let’s get Up, Up and Away by eating more superfoods.

Vegetables Broccoli (Cruciferous family) - An excellent source of natural vitamins A, B2, B5, B6, C, and K. Broccoli is also a great natural source for essential minerals like potassium, manganese, and magnesium. This vegetable is also an excellent source of a family of anticancer phytochemicals called isothiocyanates and of the two carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, which are recognized superstars of eye nutrition. (ANDI Score: 342) Brussels Sprouts (Cruciferous family) - Brussels sprouts are not sprouts at all, but members of the cabbage family. They provide even more natural vitamins than broccoli, with higher levels of C and K per ounce serving. Brussels sprouts contain a phytochemical called sinigrin which has been shown to suppress the development of precancerous cells. Brussels sprouts also provide more folate, fiber, and protein than broccoli. I eat these little guys whenever I can. I love them sautéed with olive oil mixed with a little garlic and onions. (ANDI Score: 672) Cabbage and Bok Choy (Cruciferous family) - We just can’t get enough of these cruciferous vegetables. Researchers now realize that different types of cabbage (red, green, and savoy) contain different types of anticancer agents called glucosinolates. This new knowledge means that your broadest health benefits from cabbage are likely to come from inclusion of all varieties in your diet. Cabbages and other cruciferous

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vegetables contain phytochemicals called indoles.Fat Indole ∆ Get-3-carinol, one of the main indoles in cabbage, helps maintain healthy estrogen levels in both women and men. Cabbage juice has been considered healthy, but more recent studies have looked at the overall health benefits of cabbage for the stomach and digestive tract as a whole. So eat your cabbage. (Bok Choy ANDI Score: 824) Carrots (Umbelliferae family) Carrots have one of the highest concentrations of natural carotenoids, both alpha- and beta-carotenes, which are known for anticancer and antioxidant properties. Recent studies show that the consumption of carrots greatly reduces cardiovascular disease risk. Carrots are another rich source of lutein and zeaxanthin, good for eye health. Cooking carrots slightly by steaming or sautéing makes the nutrients in carrots more bioavailable. Also, to get the most of the carotenoids found in carrots, eat them with some butter. Carrots are a great addition to fruit and vegetable smoothies too. (ANDI Score: 240) Cauliflower (Cruciferous family) - Yet another cruciferous vegetable makes the list. Ridiculously low in calories, cauliflower contains 3 gm of fiber with over 85% RDA for vitamin C, 21% for vitamin K, 15% for folate, and 10% RDA for potassium. In addition to indoles, cauliflower contains sulforaphane which activates detoxification enzymes in the liver; these enzymes disarm carcinogens throughout our bodies. Cauliflower mashed with some butter and sea salt makes terrific faux (low carbohydrate) mashed potatoes. (ANDI Score: 295) Kale and Collard Greens (Cruciferous family) - Even with all the competition, kale is head and shoulders considered the top rated superstar of all superfoods. Kale has an ORAC rating (oxygen radical absorbance capacity rating, which measures a food’s antioxidant capability to neutralize free radicals) of 1770. Note that the next best vegetable is spinach, a distant second with a ORAC rating of 1260. Kale’s natural bone- building vitamin K is through the roof at over 1000% RDA. Kale is also loaded with vitamins A, C along with calcium, potassium, copper and iron. Researchers can now identify over 45 different flavonoids in kale. With kaempferol and quercetin heading the list, kale's flavonoids combine to provide superior antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. (ANDI Score: 1000)

Spinach (Chenopod family) - Among the world's healthiest vegetables, spinach comes with the second highest ANDI score of our top 25 Superfoods. Rich in vitamins, particularly vitamin K and minerals, it is also

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concentrated with health-promoting phytonutrientsFat ∆such Get as carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin) and flavonoids that provide powerful antioxidant protection. Enjoy baby spinach in your favorite salads or blend in a smoothie. Spinach is one of only three vegetables that we recommend cooking to help reduce its concentration of oxalic acid particularly if you are prone to kidney stones. For men, a carotenoid in spinach known as neoxanthin has been shown to protect against prostate cancer. Research published in the September 2004 Journal of Nutrition showed that this compound causes prostate cancer cells to die and retards their replication. No wonder Popeye loved this stuff. (ANDI Score: 697) Sauerkraut and Kimchi - These foods combine one of the healthiest foods with one of the healthiest forms of preparing them via fermentation. In addition, kimchi combines cabbage with radish, garlic, red pepper, ginger and onion. Any of these ingredient would make the list of top 50 foods on its own right. Both sauerkraut and kimchi are potent sources of healthy probiotics that our intestinal and immune systems love. Kimchi is very popular among the Korean and Japanese cultures, with many eating it as a condiment on a daily basis. They also say “Kimchi” instead of “Cheese” when posing for photos! Animal Protein The Incredible Edible Egg (Free range or organic) – Eggs are rich in quality complete protein, healthy fats including omega-3 EFA, vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. They are the ultimate complete food. One egg contains all the nutrients and building blocks required to grow an entire baby chicken. A large egg contains only 77 calories, with 5 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein with all 9 essential amino acids. Eggs are rich in iron, phosphorous, selenium and vitamins A, B12, B2 and B5 (among others). Eggs also contain an abundant source of Choline – a very important nutrient for the brain and liver. Eggs are also good for your eyes since they contain lutein and zeaxanthin. Beef, Lamb and Game (Grass fed or naturally raised) - Remember we still have the same human genome as our Paleo ancestors. That means we are born to eat animal meat for quality protein, nutrients and healthy fats. Grass fed and naturally raised animals have a much more favorable ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 EFAs and have fewer toxins for our livers to process. Ruminants like cows and sheep contain a very important substance called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA for short) which is believed to have anticancer benefits and is a known slimming supplement to reduce abdominal fat accumulation. Behind salmons and sardines, lamb is the next best source of vitamin B12, which is normally lacking from plant food sources. Liver and Other Offal - In all of recorded history, “Liver has ranked above all other offal (organ meats) as one of the most prized culinary delights. Its heritage is illustrious--whether savored by young warriors after a kill or mixed with truffles and cognac for fine patés de foie gras.” So wrote Margaret Gin and Jana Allen, authors of Innards and Other Variety Meats (San Francisco, 1974). Liver is loaded with fat soluble vitamins like retinol (pre-formed vitamin A) that are crucial for reproductive health, and difficult to obtain elsewhere in the diet. Liver is also a great source of highly absorbable iron and copper, which helps prevent miscarriage and maternal anemia, and B12, which is required for proper formation of red blood cells and DNA. Liver is a good source of bioavailable protein, zinc, and folate. Liver is also loaded with natural CoQ10 and has a yet unidentified anti-fatigue factor which helps prevents exhaustion. Yes, liver is high in cholesterol, but as you know from Chapter 14, I’m good with that.

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Wild Caught Salmon (Omega-3 EFA, protein) - WildFat salmon ∆ Get is perhaps the best source of omega-3 EFA on the planet. Omega-3s are needed for heart and brain health and work to reduce inflammation while increasing blood circulation. This improves all aspects of mental performance like memory, learning and information processing. Try to stay away from farm raised salmon which are fed grain instead of their natural diet of krill, sardines and other small fish. This reduces the nutrition content of farm raised salmon compared to wild caught. Salmon is also a superb source of vitamin D, protein and vitamin B12. I’m in the mood for some lox and cream cheese right now, but I’d better hold the bagel. Sardines and Anchovies (Omega-3 EFA, protein) - These little guys are rich in numerous nutrients that have been found to support cardiovascular health. They are one of the most concentrated sources of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which have been found to lower triglycerides and cholesterol levels. One serving (3.25 ounce can) of sardines actually contains over 50% of the daily value for these important nutrients. Sardines are an excellent source of vitamin B12, second only to calf's liver as the world's healthiest food - most concentrated in this nutrient. Dairy and Fats

Avocados and Guacamole - Avocados contain an amazing array of anti-inflammatory phytonutrients. Included in these are phytosterols (especially beta-sitosterol for us guys); carotenoids (e.g. beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and violaxanthin); flavonoids (e.g. epicatechin); and polyhydroxylated fatty alcohols. Alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid) and oleic acid (monounsaturated) are excellent fats provided by avocado. Avocados are a good source of bone supportive vitamin K as well as heart-healthy dietary fiber, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and folate. Avocados are also a good source of energy-producing vitamin B5 and muscle-healthy potassium. In fact, they are higher in potassium than a medium banana. Although they are fruits, avocados have a high fat content of between 71% to 88% of their total calories—about 20 times the average for other fruits. A typical avocado contains 30 grams of fat, but 20 of these fat grams are health-promoting monounsaturated fats, especially oleic acid. Like other high-fat plant foods (for example, walnuts and flaxseeds), avocado can provide us with unique health benefits precisely because of its unusual fat composition. Butter / Ghee – Wait, butter is a Superfood? Some people will tell you that you are crazy, since they have been told to avoid the stuff like the plague because it contains all that saturated fat and cholesterol. But, we now know butter. Butter is a rich source of easily absorbed vitamin A, needed for a wide range of functions in the body, from maintaining good vision to keeping the endocrine system in top shape. Butter also contains all the other fat-soluble vitamins (E, K, and D). Butter is rich in trace minerals, especially selenium - a powerful antioxidant. Ounce for ounce, butter has more selenium per gram than either whole

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wheat or garlic. Butter has appreciable amountsFat of butyric ∆ Get acid, used by the colon as an energy source, and is also a known anti-carcinogen. The lauric acid in butter (a medium chain fatty acid), is a potent antimicrobial and antifungal substance. Butter also contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which gives excellent protection against cancer. Ghee is clarified butter (where the milk solids are removed) and has a long history in Ayurvedic medicine to strengthen ones’ Ojas that is at the root of our well-being and immunity. Go with butter from natural grass fed cows like KerriGold.

Coconut Oil (MCFA) - A very traditional food, coconut oil is making a big comeback these days as a popular cooking oil. Much of the saturated fat in coconuts is of a very healthy medium-chain variety. In fact, coconut oil contains between approximately 55-62% medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), with healthy lauric acid accounting for as much as 75% of this oil's total MCFAs. MCFAs have been used for many years as dietary supplements in situations where absorption of nutrients needs improvement, including situations involving premature infants and adults with compromised bowel function. The fatty acids in coconut oil have been shown to be antimicrobial, antibacterial and antiviral. According to naturopath Bruce Fife, ND (naturopathic doctor) who wrote an entire book on the benefits of coconut oil, claims that lauric acid kills bad bacteria but doesn’t harm the friendly bacteria needed for healthy digestion. Coconut oil is also highly supportive of ketogenic diets for health and weight loss. Cow’s Milk (Raw organic) - Raw certified organic milk is absolutely delicious and a great source of protein and calcium. Once you tried raw milk, conventional reduced fat is like water and tasteless. Milk from grass-fed cows contains higher levels of cancer-fighting CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) and is rich in a full gamut of vitamins and minerals. Raw milk is loaded with nutrients including beneficial bacteria such as lactobacillus acidophilus. If obtained raw, and not subjected to the high heat of pasteurization, the good bacteria along with beneficial enzymes aiding digestion are not destroyed. While not always easy to find, drinking raw milk may be worth the extra effort.

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Yogurt - (Full fat) - Over a century ago, yogurt wasFat a little∆ Get known secret eaten by long lived Bulgarians. Today, yogurt can be found in the dairy case of every food store, and frozen yogurt shops are popping up like dandelions. The question of whether this packaged modern yogurt is even close to the same food that the rugged centurions of Bulgaria ate is another matter entirely. Real yogurt is a wonderful, rich source of good bacteria cultures called probiotics which are extremely helpful in maintaining healthy gut flora and increasing immunity. The National Yogurt Association (NYA) has developed a “Live and Active Cultures” (LAC) seal for the yogurt label to identify yogurt that contains significant levels of live and active cultures. This is NOT the same as “made with active cultures” which is inherently true for any yogurt. The LAC label means that the yogurt contains at least 100 million cultures per gram of yogurt at the time of packaging after pasteurization. Other ways to enjoy plain full fat yogurt include: smoothies, toppings (for baked sweet potatoes or berries), homemade salad dressings, or mixed with cauliflower and butter to make delicious faux (low-carb) mashed potatoes. Please also try Kefir and Lassi. Almonds and Unsweetened Almond Butter - The almond that we think of as a nut is technically the seed of a fruit similar to peaches and apricots. Almonds are high in healthy monounsaturated fats, the same type of health-promoting fats as found in olive oil. Almonds are also loaded with 3 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein per ounce, so they are highly satiating and a great power snack. In addition to healthy fats and vitamin E, a quarter-cup of almonds contains almost 99 mg of magnesium (that's 24.7% of the daily value for this important mineral), plus 257 mg of potassium. Magnesium is nature's own calcium channel blocker. When there is enough magnesium around, veins and arteries breathe a sigh of relief and relax, which lessens resistance and improves the flow of blood, oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. I even make my own almond milk by throwing some almonds in a blender with some coconut water. It tastes terrific! Brazil Nuts - You know those large, crescent-shaped nuts which you often pass over to get to the cashews, almonds and peanuts when eating a can of mixed nuts? To say the brazil nut is one of the healthiest foods on the planet is a bit of a understatement. Brazil nuts contain 2500 times the selenium found in any other nut in the world! That is an amazing fact. Just one ounce of Brazil nuts will provide more than 10 times the daily recommended allowance of selenium. Selenium is a trace mineral and micronutrient that is a very powerful antioxidant which protects against free-radicals leading to heart disease and prostate cancer. In fact, Brazil nuts are the only nut that comes with an ANDI rating above 100 (scoring 119) while most other nuts have ANDI ratings of less than 30. Your thyroid is dependent on selenium to function properly. I recommend that you eat 2 to 3 Brazil nuts a day as a snack. Because they contain so much selenium, it is probably not smart to eat too many of these big nuts. Pecans/Walnuts - Pecans deserve their reputation as a health food because of their substantial monounsaturated fat content. Pecans are also loaded with micronutrients like potassium, vitamin E, phytosterols and beta-sitosterol, a plant compound that has been shown to lower the bad LDL cholesterol. Walnuts on the other hand contain the highest amounts of healthy omega-3 EFA of any nut. Both pecans and walnuts provide lots of heart- and digestive-healthy fiber. So eat your nuts. To guide you further, the table below provides a more complete listing of nuts and seeds, listing their fat, fiber and calorie content. Remember to limit your omega(Ω)-6 fats.

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Carbohydrates and Fats in Nuts and SeedsFat (1 Ounce)∆ Get

Fruits

Blueberries - In the popular press, blueberries have reached superstar status in terms of their unique health benefits. Anthocyanins, the colorful antioxidant pigments that give many foods their wonderful shades of blue and purple are usually the first phytonutrients to be mentioned in descriptions of blueberries and their amazing health-supportive properties. One of the most exciting new areas of

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research on blueberries is in the area of cognitiveFat benefits. ∆ Get “When it comes to brain protection, there is nothing quite like blueberries,” according to James Joseph, PhD, lead scientist in the Laboratory of Neuroscience at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. “Call the blueberry the brain berry,” says Dr. Joseph. Strawberries - Among all fruits, strawberries come out as the best fruit source of antioxidant vitamin C. After raspberries and grapes, strawberries also rank as the best fruit source of manganese. Because of its key role as a cofactor for antioxidant enzyme activity by the enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD), manganese is considered to be a key antioxidant mineral. Yet, strawberries’ “claim to fame” in the antioxidant department are really reserved for their phytonutrient content. Given their unique combination of the 19 known phytonutrients, there is strong research support for health benefits of strawberries in three major areas: (1) reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, (2) improved regulation of blood sugar, with decreased risk of type-2 diabetes, and (3) prevention of certain cancer types including breast, cervical, colon, and esophageal cancer. On the negative side, strawberries are one of the most consistently contaminated fruit and vegetable with pesticides. Therefore, when you buy strawberries you should spend a little extra and buy organic. Raspberries / Blackberries - These berries deserve a place of honor in my list of 25 Superfoods for no other reason than their being a high-fiber powerhouse. For a measly 64 low glycemic calories per cup, you get 8 grams of dietary fiber. These berries are one of the best sources of the phytonutrient, ellagic acid, which has been shown to inhibit the growth of cancer tumors. Lastly, one of the most fascinating new areas of raspberry research involves the potential for raspberries to help control our weight. Although this research is in its early stages, scientists now know that metabolism in our fat cells can be increased by phytonutrients found in raspberries, especially rheosmin (also called raspberry ketone).

Dark Chocolate- Originating from the cacao (cocoa) bean, dark chocolate is another great addition to my list of Superfoods. Studies show that dark chocolate (not the sugary milk chocolate) can improve health and lower the risk of heart disease. Dark chocolate is loaded with organic compounds that are biologically active and function as antioxidants. These include polyphenols, flavanols and catechins, among others. Flavanols in cocoa modulate a compound in the body called nitric acid which is critical for healthy blood flow, limiting blood pressure and even improving our libido. Cocoa also contains stimulant substances like caffeine and theobromine, which may be a reason it promotes cognitive brain function. I can feel quilt free including dark chocolate as a sensible indulgence several times a week.

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Chapter 22 – Fasting: The ForgottenFat ∆ Get Principle of Healthcare

"Instead of usi ng medi ci ne, r at her , fast a day" – Pl ut ar ch

“ But t o eat when you ar e si ck i s t o feed your si ckness." - H i ppocr at es

Fasting is the oldest therapeutic treatment and cure known to man. It is mentioned multiple times in the bible and found throughout medical texts of ancient Egypt and Greece. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, was a proponent of routine fasting as a means of achieving good health. In almost every culture, fasting has been used to improve spiritual and physical well-being. Moses, Elijah and Christ were all reported to have fasted for 40 days. Traditional Asian societies have long recommended fasting to enlighten mind and body. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims go without food during daylight hours to cleanse their bodies, hearts and souls.

Fasting, or going without food for an extended period of time, is completely natural and contrary to what others may tell you, tremendously healthy. Fasting is the primary healing method that is built into our DNA since the dawn of man. It has been shown to cure incurable diseases when all medication and treatments devised by man had failed. Animals instinctively fast whenever they are sick or injured even when food is available until their health improves. Humans, for the most part, often ignore this basic instinct. When we are sick, we are often told to “eat something to keep up your strength” and pressured

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to eat food even when we should know better. FatSo we ∆ load Get up with foods which require energy to digest, life energy that could better be used for healing. Hippocrates is quoted as saying, “But to eat when you are sick is to feed your sickness.”

Fasting is Not Starvation. Many people somehow are led to believe that if they don’t eat for a day or two they will begin to starve and do harm to themselves. Nothing can be further from the truth. Just like our Paleolithic ancestors, we are well equipped to handle even long periods without any food sustenance. Fasting can continue as long as the body’s nutritional and energy stores hold out. Starvation begins when the process is continued beyond that time and only then. Even relatively lean people with only 10 to 15% body fat have enough stored energy reserves to fast for well over 30 days with water being the only nutritional requirement. You will recall from Chapter 19, that successful medically supervised fasts have even surpassed a full year.

In order to illustrate the power of fasting compared to poor eating, consider this true story about Paul Bragg, one of the 20th century pioneers of modern nutrition and fasting. While fasting only on water, Paul Bragg challenged and defeated 10 college athletes who were about 50 years younger than him to a 30 mile hike across Death Valley, California in the middle of summer. An escort truck accompanied the hikers across the desert supplying them with food and drink. The college boys drank cold soda and ate sandwiches and associated fast-food snacks while Bragg drank only pure lukewarm water. The students began dropping like flies after 10 or so miles. By 4 pm in the afternoon, the last remaining 2 students finally collapsed and had to be returned to the ranch where they started. Bragg persevered and completed his hike in 10.5 hours with no ill effects. He reportedly camped the night and repeated the trek in reverse by himself the next day again with no food. Remarkably, the college athletes who were eating along the trek had less strength and endurance than the elderly Bragg who ate nothing. Incidentally, Paul Bragg is credited for opening the first health food store in America, and his national health crusades through the 1920s into the 1950s inspired a large number of loyal followers including Hotel Tycoon Conrad Hilton and Jack Lalanne, the popular television fitness star of the 1950s and 1960s.

While I don’t advise anyone to conduct a challenge like Bragg’s desert hike, several important lessons are made here: 1) Eating and digesting food is not a free pass and can pose a liability especially when energy demands are critically needed elsewhere; 2) Eating toxic and high sugar foods can actually sap your energy and make you sick as your body responds to external stress, and 3) the human body, if properly maintained, can perform remarkable feats of endurance relying only on its stored energy rather than

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constantly relying on a steady intake of food. WildFat animals ∆ Get hunt when they are hungry. So did Paleo man, sometimes days on end without food. So why are we told to eat breakfast every day to ensure a good day’s work? Maybe, just maybe, to buy those high-carb breakfast foods rather than support our good health. Hmmm … what do you think?

One of the greatest nutritional educators of the early 20th century, Professor Arnold Ehret, said, "Life is a tragedy of nutrition." We humans are often slaves to our food; we must have breakfast, lunch and dinner at regular meal hours every day, year in and year out. We often eat whether or not we are hungry, and our poor bodies are continually burdened by overeating [often] combined with poor nutritional choices. No wonder so many of us are overweight and physical wrecks. But through simple changes to our diet and eating patterns, we all have the power to dramatically improve our health and well-being. From the preceding chapters, we have learned how and what to eat; now it is time to learn how not to eat. It is time we learn how to fast with little to no effort.

I’m not sick or too overweight so why should I Fast? Here are my top reasons to consider fasting:

1. Fasting promotes detoxification Processed foods contain lots of additives which are often toxic to our bodies and lead to increased risk of cancer. Some of them promote production of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Most of these toxins are stored in our fat cells. When we fast, we burn our fat and these stored toxins are released and processed by our kidneys and livers for elimination. It is wise not to start a prolonged fast from an unhealthy toxic diet as this can result in more toxins released into our blood streams than what we can effectively eliminate. This will make us feel very ill while our organs of elimination catch up in what is referred to as a detox healing crisis. So start slowly by gradually increasing your fasting periods as well as getting your diet in order by eating healthy before starting any fast.

2. Fasting rests our digestive systems During fasting, the digestive organs receive some well deserved rest. The normal physiologic functions continue especially production of digestive secretions, but at greatly reduced rates. Think of fasting just like you think of rebooting your computer after it is stuck or performing poorly. Fasting effectively reboots our digestive systems. You should consider a short term fast if you experience some digestive issues like diarrhea, heart burn and indigestion.

3. Fasting resolves inflammatory response Some studies show that fasting promotes resolution of inflammatory diseases and allergies. Examples of such inflammatory diseases are rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis and skin diseases such as psoriasis. Some experts assert that fasting may promote healing of inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis.

4. Fasting reduces and stabilizes blood sugar With no excess glucose in the blood stream from consumed carbohydrates, blood sugar is reduced and stabilizes with reduced insulin production. This condition also rests the pancreas, one of our most abused and overworked digestive organs. As discussed in Chapter 11, by keeping both blood sugar and insulin in check, we can prevent a host of metabolic diseases.

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Fat ∆ Get

5. Fasting increases fat breakdown and promotes weight loss The first response of the body to fasting is to start consuming our glycogen (carbohydrate) stores. When these stores start running low, ketosis begins in earnest. As we learned in Chapter 19, ketosis is a process that breaks down available fats into small molecules that can be used directly for energy by all our cells (including nerve and brain cells) just like glucose. During ketosis, our fat burning really kicks into high gear.

6. Fasting reduces cardiovascular disease risk factors Periodic fasting is one of the non-drug methods that we can use to improve our blood markers for lower cardiovascular disease risk including higher HDL and reduced levels of triglycerides. The lower blood sugar levels will also act to reduce arterial inflammation which can lead to atherosclerosis.

7. Fasting promotes a healthy lifestyle It has been observed that fasting reduces craving for processed foods. It promotes desire for natural real foods. This is one way fasting promotes a healthy lifestyle.

8. Fasting boosts immunity The practice of fasting allows the body to put more energy and focus into the process of effective immune regulation. Fasting, while drinking water and other cleansing beverages, will flush out the digestive system and reduces the number of natural microorganisms in the gut which are not needed. The microorganism count is typically regulated by the immune system. So this allows the immune system to divert energy to other more important areas. Intermittent fasting is a terrific regulator of the immune system as it controls the amount of inflammatory cytokines that are released in the body. Two major cytokines, Interleukin-6 and Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha, promote an inflammatory response in the body. Studies have shown that fasting reduces the release of these inflammatory mediators.

9. Fasting turns on autophagy Fasting turns on autophagy which is the process by which cells recycle waste material, eliminate or down- regulate wasteful processes, and repair themselves. It is through autophagy that we build and maintain muscle mass, and inhibiting it induces atrophy of adult skeletal muscle. It reduces the negative effects of aging and reduces the incidence and progression of aging-related diseases. In fact, researchers have determined that autophagy is the essential aspect of the anti-aging mechanism of fasting. Without the autophagy that fasting provides, you would get very few of the benefits. Fasting even increases neuronal autophagy which aids in maintaining mental health and function.

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10. Intermittent fasting provides the ultimate Fatin flexibility ∆ Get Some people fast for a 24 hour period once or twice a week. Others try shorter but more frequent fasts by restricting their meals into a window of four to eight hours. Intermittent fasting is intended to be very flexible and easy to work into our busy lives with more time doing things rather having to eat and drink. Remember to drink water and other zero-calorie liquids during the fasting hours to boost energy levels and prevent dehydration. Short Intermittent fasts that are less than 24 hours are the quick and easy way to start getting the benefits from fasting. So what’s stopping you?

Let’s get ready to fast! But before we really get started with any kind of fasting regimen, we first need to get blood sugar stabilized and lower our insulin level by implementing the rest of the EFGF diet lifestyle for at least a month. That means cutting out grains, sugars and most if not all processed foods along with getting our daily carbohydrate grams consistently at or below 150 (the lower the better). If we do this first, skipping a meal or two will actually be a piece of cake (I know we shouldn’t eat cake but I can’t think of another idiom). No sugar crashes, no brain fog, no bonking. Fasting is made easy.

Intermittent Fasting According to Wikipedia, intermittent fasting (IF) is a pattern of eating that alternates between periods of fasting (usually meaning consumption of water and sometimes low-calorie drinks such as black coffee) and non-fasting. There is evidence suggesting that intermittent fasting may have beneficial effects on the health and longevity of animals that are similar to the effects of caloric restriction (CR). Intermittent fasting is not a diet, but rather a dieting pattern. In simpler terms: it’s making a conscious decision to skip certain meals. By fasting and then feasting on purpose, IF means eating your calories during a specific window of the day, and choosing not to eat food during the rest.

Now, there are a few different ways to take advantage of IF:

• Regularly eat during a specific time period. For example, only eating from noon-8 PM, essentially skipping breakfast. Some people only eat in a 6-hour window, or even a 4-hour window. The choice is entirely yours. • Skip two meals one day, taking a full 24-hours off from eating. For example, eating on a normal schedule (finishing dinner at 8PM) and then not eating again until 8PM the following day. • Eat normally, then fast 1 to 2 times a week: Consume your normal meals every day, then pick one or two days a week where you fast for 24 hours. For example, eat your last meal on Sunday night, and then don’t eat again until dinner the following day. • Fast occasionally at random intervals: probably the easiest method for the person who wants to do the least amount of work. Simply skip a meal whenever it’s convenient. On the road? Skip breakfast. Busy day at work? Skip lunch. Over ate all day Saturday? Make your first meal of the day dinner on Sunday.

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“Intermittent fasting sounds crazy; it’s not for me.” That’s cool, and totally your choice. But are you losing unwanted body fat, building muscle, and getting a clean bill of health from your doctor? If you can say yes to those things, keep doing what you’re doing because it’s working. However, if what you’re doing isn’t working, or you’re not getting the results you were hoping for, why not give IF a chance? Dr. Perlmutter is a proponent of the one-day fast, as it allows the body to perform more efficiently. In this YouTube video, Perlmutter explains why and how periodic fasting provides tremendous health benefits especially for our brains. Hopefully, this video and dozens of books and studies on fasting will at least pique your curiosity. Self-experimentation is the best way to determine what methods work for you. Speaking of someone who is into self-experimentation (a.k.a. bio- hacking), check out this humorous and interesting YouTube video. If this doesn’t convince you, perhaps nothing will. A last word on fasting Intermittent fasting seems to be one of the hottest fads among nutrition geeks. But once again, old has become new again. Check out this free book entitled “The No Breakfast Plan and The Fasting Cure” by Dr Edward Dewey of Meadville PA circa 1900. The book provides unbelievable true life accounts on the power of intermittent fasting and how extended fasts cured the incurable.

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Chapter 23 – Crood Fitness:Fat Exercising∆ Get the Caveman Way

Our Paleolithic (Caveman) ancestors were believed to be fitter, stronger and healthier than the average present-day human. Indeed, fitness was a necessity and a natural result of their daily routine, which mainly consisted of hunting and gathering for food. Cavemen likely walked many miles a day combined with short intense periods where strength and speed were the difference between life and death.

“Walking is man's best medicine” - H i ppocr at es The 2013 movie THE CROODS by DreamWorks Animation introduced a fictional cavemen family that had to flee the safe confines of their cave due to a geological upheaval to search for a new home. While the movie was pure fantasy combining Paleolithic man with dinosaurs, it did accurately convey their basic hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Through this lifestyle, early man was able to stay extremely fit and survive in this primitive, harsh and unforgiving world. Back then it was hunt or be hunted and eat or be eaten. Yet Paleo man survived and maintained his fitness without YMCAs or home gyms. While we don’t have to live like a caveman, we can apply these natural fitness practices to become fit like one. Here’s how. Stop trying to save energy. Make moderate physical effort part of your life. Walk and move at a moderate pace as much as you can. Don’t waste time looking for the closest parking space: just park and walk. Walk a mile at lunch and another mile after dinner. Use the stairs and pass on the elevator. Shovel your own snow and split your own firewood. Unless you’re a cabinetmaker or construction worker, do you really need that cordless screwdriver or circular saw?

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Don’t do cardio. The only way to improve is toFat push ∆ your Get limits and occasionally run for your life through High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). You’ll lose more weight and gain more strength from periodic bursts of short, intense exercise than from hours of cardio. You’re a human, not a hamster; get off the treadmill! Imagine this: every time you get hungry, you and your six closest friends have to chase down an antelope or spear a woolly mammoth—and if you can’t, none of you get to eat. That is the required intensity. That is HIIT. So start doing High Intensity Interval Training and breakout in a healthy sweat today. Play hard, challenge yourself, then rest. The world is your playground and your body is your gym! Lift heavy objects, sprint until you’re out of breath, walk steps, kick balls, shoot baskets. Be a kid again. Practice agility as well as strength and endurance. People will stare at you if you’re doing it right, because you’re enjoying yourself rather than shuffling down the road in ‘running shoes’, with that vacant look of resigned suffering.

Do bodyweight exercises, and get some dumbbells or kettlebells for home. That way you can finish a workout in the time it takes you to drive back and forth to the gym. The EFGF objective is health through functional fitness, whereas a fitness model’s body takes a lot more work. (Do it if you want, and I admire those with the dedication to body sculpt themselves but it’s not necessary and may be counterproductive

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to health if taken to excess.) Great bodyweight Fatexercises ∆ Get to include in your routine are squats, pushups, pull-ups, dips, lunges, mountain climbers, planks, crunches, bicycles and those exhausting burpees (better known in my youth as squat thrusts). Another great fitness resource that I have discovered on the internet is called Fitness Blender. At Fitness Blender, the husband and wife team of Daniel and Kelly Segars demonstrate a host of short intense HIIT, bodyweight and dumbbell exercise routines that anyone can call up at any time for free. You select the training type, body focus, level of difficulty, minutes and estimated calorie burn, and Fitness Blender gives you a list of workouts to select from and do on your schedule anytime and anywhere. Naturally, the routines best for you are dependent on your current level of fitness. If in doubt, start with a lighter weight and gradually increase the weight as your strength increases. Keeping track of your improving performance also helps keeping you motivated. I also suggest that everyone should mix it up and add variety and imagination to their fitness program so that they don’t become boring. By varying the number of repetitions and weight for each set of weight lifting exercises, you will keep your muscles guessing, encourage growth and assist overcoming performance plateaus by way of a principle called “muscle confusion”. Lastly, it is also better to infuse an element of play into your fitness program whenever possible for obvious reasons. Below, I have included two possible weekly fitness routines to illustrate how your fitness routine can and must be customized based on your age and current fitness level. Suggested Fitness Program for most beginners with no formal pre-existing exercise program:

1. Daily walks at a brisk pace lasting at least one hour total. These can be divided into a morning, lunch and evening walk. As your endurance increases, use light 2-3 pound hand weights and step up your pace. The pace of these walks should result in achieving 50% to 70% of your maximum heart rate (HRMAX=220 - age).

2. Twice a week for about 30 minutes, perform resistance exercises using body weight, resistance bands, dumbbells or exercise machines. Create an exercise space at home or take advantage of the fitness center at your work, or join Planet Fitness for about $10/month. Begin with a 5-minute warm-up (important!), followed by a 20-minute workout session, then spend 5- to 10-minutes to cool down and stretch (also important!). Remember to start easy and know your limits, but push yourself harder with each session so that your muscles are challenged to adapt and grow stronger.

3. Lastly, perform some sort of interval training once or twice per week for about 20 minutes where you reach 75% to 90% of HRMAX. For example, alternate walking with short 15 to 30 second spurts of running/jogging depending on your ability. Playing sports and active games provides the benefits of interval training and is even more fun. You can perform intervals while cycling, swimming or any cardio machine (e.g. stair climber, elliptical). I am convinced that extended daily periods of intense cardio (at >

70% HRMAX) for an hour or more a day are detrimental to your long term fitness goals, due to wear and tear of your joints and the resultant inflammation. My Weekly Routine: 1. Every morning: Stretching and ½ mile dog walk before breakfast. 2. M-W-F: 20 minute High Intensity Interval Training before lunch. After lunch: brisk 20 minute walk.

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3. T-Th: 30 minute weight training mid-afternoon.Fat Evening: ∆ Get ½ - 1 mile dog walk. 4. Saturday or Sunday: 3-4 hours of hiking, golf, bike riding at a brisk but enjoyable pace. 5. Skip a day: No intense exercise except for walking and stretching. Our ability to move with confidence, strength and endurance is a wonderful gift that we appreciate more and more as we grow older. Those who routinely exercise know how great it feels by flooding our bodies with feel good endorphins, raising neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin and increasing healthy hormones like somatotropin and testosterone. Human growth hormone (hGH), or somatotropin, which is released from the anterior pituitary gland helps to mobilize free fatty acids from adipose or connective tissue, and it helps maintain your body’s blood glucose level. This hGH elevation then works to stimulate insulin-like growth factor, causing protein synthesis, a process by which your cells generate new proteins. The increase in testosterone helps to amplify your lean body mass and strengthen your muscles while simultaneously helping to lower your body fat percentage. Testosterone also boosts sexual libido, improves bone density and augments metabolism.

A March 2007 article in Newsweek noted that exercise improves brain functioning in many ways. According to scientists, vigorous exercise can actually cause older nerve cells to form dense interconnected webs that make the brain run faster and more efficiently. Exercise helps pump more blood and oxygen to the brain to nourish brain cells. New scanning technologies have shown that exercise actually causes the brain’s frontal lobes to increase in size putting to rest the belief that the loss of brain cells as we age is permanent. Exercise appears to be the best medicine for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. In a 2013 article from Science Daily, new research out of The University of Maryland School of Public Health shows that exercise may improve cognitive function in those at risk for Alzheimer's by improving the efficiency of brain activity associated with memory. The study, led by Dr. J. Carson Smith, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology, provides new hope for those diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). "We found that after 12 weeks of being on a moderate exercise program, study participants improved their neural efficiency -- basically they were using fewer neural resources to perform the same memory task," says Dr. Smith. "No study has shown that a drug can do what we showed is possible with exercise."

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Fat ∆ Get

Exercise and movement can be especially effective in assisting the body cleanse and detoxify. The often overlooked lymphatic system provides critical immune function support. The lymphatic system has no pump like the heart, so it is completely dependent on daily movement to ensure proper lymph flow. Daily bouncing on a mini-trampoline is one of the best ways to stimulate and move the lymph system. These rebounders are fun and easy to use even for adults in their seventies. I personally own one and use it weekly. So let’s get hopping!

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Fat ∆ Get Chapter 24 – The EFGF 80/20 Principles: Commitment Redefined “Eighty percent of your ability to reduce excess body fat is determined by how you eat with the other twenty percent depending on proper exercise, other healthy lifestyle habits and genetic factors.” - Mark Sisson, THE PRIMAL BLUEPRINT

The Pareto Principle - You may be familiar with the “80/20 Rule” also known as the Pareto Principle. It is often referenced in business and project management to keep managers focused on the really important stuff. The rule originated in 1906 when Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. In the late 1940s, Dr. Joseph M. Juran inaccurately attributed the 80/20 Rule to Pareto, calling it Pareto's Principle. The 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20 percent) are vital and many (80 percent) are trivial. The value of the Pareto Principle for any person is to identify and focus our attention on the 20 percent that really matters either positively or in some cases to prevent negative things from happening. Of the things you do during your day, only 20 percent really matter. Those 20 percent produce 80 percent of the results. Using the Pareto Principle as a guide, I have listed new, more specific 80/20 principles that you should consider applying to the Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit Diet/Lifestyle.

20% Daily Commitment - For about 20% of our waking hours we are planning, purchasing, preparing or eating our meals. This is the time when we really have to pay attention and apply the Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit Diet principles. This is a “day in and day out” commitment that must be made if you hope to have any success with EFGF. These few hours have more influence on your health and long term fitness than any other period of the day.

Managing Your Carbohydrates - 80% of the long term success of this diet is all about keeping your carbohydrates, blood glucose and ultimately insulin under control. By simply managing your carbohydrate intake on a daily basis, limiting it to 150 grams a day or less, you will have the key to effectively manage your weight. If you need to lose a few pounds, the first thing you should do is look to reduce your daily carbohydrates to 100 grams or less. If you have a lot of weight to lose, you should be managing your daily carbohydrates in the 50 to 100 gram range and occasionally going Keto for up to seven days at a time to really boost your weight loss progress. On the EFGF diet, approximately 20% of your daily calorie content should be from Carbohydrate sources.

Eat Your Vegetables - 80% percent of the food eaten by volume should be derived from land and/or ocean plants with the remaining 20% reserved for animal derived foods. While the EFGF diet is mostly fats by calories, it is mostly plants and vegetables by volume. If you recall the base of the EFGF Food Pyramid from Chapter 9, the large bottom base is set aside for low-glycemic low-calorie vegetables. On this diet, there is no limit to the amount of green and cruciferous vegetables eaten. Also, don’t forget those fermented and sea vegetables. The more vegetables you eat the better. Many of the fats on the next pyramid level up are also derived from plant sources like avocados, coconut oil and nuts and nut butters. Plants in general are alkalizing to our bodies helping us to more readily achieve the desired natural slightly alkaline state. Please note that the pH of our blood and cellular fluids are naturally regulated within a very narrow range. The

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Leave the Table When Eighty Percent Full - Eat until you are 80% full, leaving 20% available to promote better food digestion. Many of us, including me at times, have “eyes that are bigger than our stomachs.” We often eat huge portions, consuming foods well beyond the point of satiation. This practice puts a huge amount of stress on our overworked digestive systems leading to digestive distress and ineffective nutrient absorption. If overeating is also combined with a poor diet, a toxic environment is created where bad bacteria and yeast infections like Candida can multiply, leading to gut inflammation, leaky gut syndrome and a host of digestive diseases.

Quality of Life - Without a healthy diet, the chances of maintaining lifelong good health and quality of life are greatly diminished. Our daily diet and nutrition choices are the most important wellness promoting aspects we can control, which I believe are even more important than what is out of our control: our genetic predisposition. But nobody is perfect. So as our last Rule, we are asking you to be at least 80% perfect - complying with the EFGF diet/lifestyle at least 80% of the time to affect profound improvements to your Quality of Life. Translation - that means one day a week we can cheat a little and have a forbidden treat like our favorite ice cream or a piece of birthday cake. We can let our carbohydrate grams hit 200 instead of 100. This 80/20 principle is not a license to not give your best effort to improving your health. You should always stay vigilant and be aware of all your food choices each and every day. So strive to be an A+ student of the EFGF diet/lifestyle, but you will still pass with a B-.

Our Quality of Life (Based on Diet, Genes and Exercise) Quality of Life Remember the 80/20 Rule Worse Better Best

Bad Diet Obesity Bad Genes Metabolic Diseases No Exercise Die Young The 80/20 Rule:

Bad Diet Skinny Fat Eighty percent of our body composition Good Genes Metabolic Diseases and our prospects for good health are No Exercise Still Die Young determined by what we eat with the remaining 20% determined by lifestyle Bad Diet Delaying the Inevitable habits (exercise) and our genetic makeup. Good Genes Metabolic Diseases Exercise Stubborn Fat

Good Diet Better than Most but Bad Genes Room for Improvement No Exercise Especially muscle tone

Good Diet Look Good, Feel Good Good Genes but not our best. No Exercise Its Our Choice

Good Diet You Hit The Jack Pot – Good Genes Live Long and Prosper Exercise

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Chapter 25 – Put Your MoneyFat ∆ WhereGet Your Mouth Is

How much is good food worth? Eating and living in accordance with Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit Principles is neither difficult nor too expensive for most Americans. However, unless you live on a family farm, eating healthy foods is likely to cost more than eating junk food every day. In the end, each of us has to decide how much more we are willing to spend on good food to support our health and fitness goals.

By eating healthy foods, you will likely lose unwanted weight; you may likely reduce or even eliminate your need for over the counter and prescription drugs. Eating healthy and living healthy will build your body’s immune systems to defend and protect it against both internal (cancer) and external (germs/viruses) attacks. By reducing sugar and insulin you will reduce the primary cause of all metabolic diseases, tissue inflammation and accelerated aging. You will likely feel better, have more energy and you will gradually lower your biological age by looking and feeling younger. Some in-the-know baby boomers in their sixties have an effective biological age of thirty-something; yet on the other side of the coin, there are thirty year-olds with such poor diets and lifestyles that their biological age is already over fifty. It is important to note that it is not our chronological age that determines when we all die but rather our biological age. Our food choices in large part determine how fast and how healthy or unhealthy we grow old biologically. Put simply, good food is the proverbial fountain of youth! How much would you pay for this fountain of youth? Would you forgo your daily Starbucks Frappuccino®, put off upgrading your iPhones, subscribe to less on-demand programming on your TV or consider purchasing a less expensive car, so you can eat more organic vegetables and buy more fresh quality meats and seafood? By eating healthy now, you can be putting money in your health savings account for tomorrow and for hopefully many years to come. By eating well, you are actually investing in your long term health and vitality each and every day. Wealthy people in poor health are willing to spend millions to regain what they have lost. Yet, most people are literally throwing away their health by choosing cheap, poor quality foods. Hopefully by taking the time to read this book, you now realize the importance of our food choices, and will take steps to start making deposits to your personal health savings account and those of your immediate family. My personal journey has led me to read over fifty books and countless articles on diets, and healthy foods and lifestyles. I have tried numerous diets and evaluated their effectiveness. The EFGF diet principles are based on the best of what I have learned over my quest for the ultimate diet. Yet, I realize that everyone is

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unique and that a specific diet that works well forFat one ∆ may Get not be as effective for another. EFGF is not a specific diet but is rather a set of dietary principles that are time-tested, supported by the latest modern science and which have optimally sustained the human genome for tens of thousands of years. Isn’t it time to put your money where your mouth is, by eating in accordance with the EFGF principles?

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Fat ∆ Get Chapter 26 – Getting Started with Eat-Fat Δ Get-Fit

Having read the preceding chapters and believe that this stuff might work for you, it is now GO Time. It is time to start putting the Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit Diet / Lifestyle into daily practice. It is time to start losing weight, getting stronger, and feeling and looking better. While the EFGF guidance is fairly straight forward to apply, we humans are easily distracted and tend to revert to old habits that we have established over the years. But old, bad habits can be broken and replaced with new good ones; it just takes a little commitment, focus and maybe just a little help. So, I’m here to help by giving some advice and tools to make EFGF part of your day, every day.

Mark your calendar and make a promise to yourself to adopt the EFGF diet/lifestyle for at least 30 days. At least 30 days is recommended in order to firmly establish new good habits and break old bad ones. Set a start date, weekly check-ins and a 30-day completion date to celebrate your achievement. If possible find a friend or significant other and make a commitment together to keep each other on track.

Visualize yourself happily eating healthy foods and obtaining the body and health that you desire. The more vivid the visualization the better will be the effect. Immerse yourself in the visualization and try to feel as if it were completely true right now. Create the necessary scenes in your mind that make robust health and fitness your temporary reality. Do this for several minutes when you wake up and when you go to bed when you mind is undistracted and most open to your suggestions. This applies “The Universal Law of Attraction” as portrayed in “The Secret.” Even if you are a skeptic, what do you have to lose by spending 5 minutes a day doing this?

Track your progress - Take before and after pictures of yourself in your underwear or swimsuit. Some say that nothing motivates us more to lose weight than seeing ourselves naked. Comedian Ed Bluestone in one of his routines was quoted as saying, “I have a great diet: You're allowed to eat anything you want, but you must eat it with naked fat people.” Measure and log your weight and body fat measurements in order to see how you are doing. It is important to remember that daily weight fluctuations can be as much as 2 or more pounds per day due to your level of hydration and elimination status. So keep this in mind. Weight loss trending is more effective when performed at the same time each day, say just after waking. Also pay more attention to the weekly trend and not the daily fluctuations. Using a graph or spreadsheet will really help you keep track of your progress.

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If possible, get baseline blood workFat done ∆ Get so you know your fasting glucose, HDL and total cholesterol and triglyceride levels. It is hard to assess your progress if you don’t know where you are beginning. Through Life Extension Foundation, you can obtain a basic blood test without seeing a doctor at a member rate of $35. Repeat the test after 90 days of adhering to the program to see if EFGF reduced cardiovascular and metabolic disease risks for you.

Nothing breeds success like prior success. Set a reasonable and easily achievable initial goal. Make your initial goals easy then make new, more challenging ones as you build momentum. A reasonable and easy goal may be to lose 1 pound of fat over a week’s time. Program adherence and establishment of good healthy habits should be your primary initial goals. If you fall off the horse, dust yourself off and get right back on. Remember, nobody is perfect but we can all expect SUCCESS.

For the first 30 days, strive for perfect adherence to the EFGF Diet and Lifestyle rules and principles. Don’t make any conscious slipups. During these first 30 days, we are creating new good habits and eliminating old bad ones. Consciously eating foods that do not meet the EFGF real food criteria will be self-defeating and hinder your progress in establishing good healthy habits. If EFGF real food is not available where you are, then skip that meal and eat more EFGF quality food at your next meal. If necessary, prepare your lunch and bring it with you. You can always pack some healthy nuts, celery and carrot sticks wherever you go. Here again are the basic EGFG rules to get started:

• Lower your daily carbohydrate intake to 150 grams or less. I recommend that you shoot for 100 grams at first since we usually underestimate all the carbohydrate sources we eat. • Eliminate most if not all processed and packaged foods. This includes crackers, cookies, cakes, breakfast cereals and granola bars. This is pretty much anything sold in a box. • Eliminate grains, grain products and legumes as a concentrated source of carbohydrates. This includes all breads, baked goods, pastas, and most savory processed snacks. • Don’t drink your calories. Drink water with lemon, unsweetened tea and unsweetened coffee. Use a naturally derived zero calorie sweetener if needed like Stevia. • Eat plenty of green and cruciferous vegetables. Eat a big salad for lunch and several cooked vegetables for dinner. Remember that about 80% of your daily plate should be vegetables or other plant derived foods. • Your primary source of energy should be coming from saturated fats, monounsaturated fats and omega-3 EFAs. Remember that SAT and MON are the good fats and your best friends. Excellent sources include naturally raised animals, nuts, avocados, butter, coconut and olives/olive oil. Fish like salmon and sardines are your best sources of omega-3 EFAs, • Stay clear of anything with added sugar and HFCS. That includes soda, processed sweetened teas and juices and energy drinks, candy and pretty much all processed and low-fat foods. • Add several Superfoods to your daily food menu and alternate them to get the best they all can offer. • Obtain your quality protein from naturally and humanly raised animal sources. Remember not to over consume on protein. “Not too little, Not too much, Just Right.” About 1 gram per pound of lean body mass for most of us.

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Purge your kitchen, refrigerator and pantry of aFatll unapproved ∆ Get foods. Give the food away to the local food bank if that makes you feel better. You will need to get rid of those convenient, tempting and unhealthy food choices in order to maximize your success with the EFGF program. Then go on a shopping spree and restock your kitchen with healthy real food choices. Here is a suggested shopping list to consider: • Eggs - Pasture raised or certified organic is preferred. • Vegetables for omelets - Onions, peppers, spinach, salsa, mushrooms. • Vegetables for lunch salads - Romaine lettuce, spinach, spring mix, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and avocados. • Cooked vegetables for dinner - Asparagus, beets, bok-choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, egg plant, kale, sweet potatoes and squash and/or zucchini. • Fermented and sea vegetables - sauerkraut, Kim-chi, dill pickles, seaweed. • Full fat organic dairy - Heavy cream, and your preferred cheeses for omelets and snacking. • Spices and condiments to enhance your meals - Garlic, ginger, pesto, apple cider vinegar, lemons, limes, Dijon mustard, other fresh herbs and spices. • Fruit - Berries and most fruits while in season. Organic apples are great for fruit/veggie smoothies. Citrus fruits like lemon, limes, grapefruits and oranges. Remember to buy the whole fruit rather than the processed juice. • Meat, fish and fowl. Buy organic or naturally raised if possible. You can buy quality meats and seafood in bulk at Costco and save a few bucks over Whole Foods or other premium food suppliers. • Healthy nut choices - Almonds, pecans, macadamia and brazil nuts make a nice high fiber snack mixed with coconut flakes. Nuts contain a healthy ratio of good fats, carbs and protein. • Oils and cooking essentials - Coconut oil, coconut milk (for yummy curries), organic butter and extra virgin olive oil.

To further aid your transition and assist with meal planning, I have provided Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit Daily Dietary Recommendations in Appendix 1. Also, consider using a diary/log for the first 30 days to track your progress. I have included in Appendix 2, a one-page Daily Motivation Worksheet for you to record all measurements, foods consumed and exercises performed. The worksheet includes helpful reminders and a section to tabulate your daily macronutrients in grams and by percent to help keep you on track. I suggest keeping the worksheet handy throughout the day to record all your foods and then in the evening use MyPlate, Fitday or other internet diet tracker services to calculate your macronutrient totals. Remember to set aside at least one hour every day for your caveman exercises and walking. No excuses, please. At the bottom of the worksheet is a place to rate your progress with the EFGF Diet/Lifestyle Program. The relative scoring system from 1 to 10 will assist tracking expected improvements in the following areas: Diet, Fitness, Energy, Mood and Sleep. READY, SET, GO!

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Fat ∆ Get Chapter 27 – My Favorite EAT-FAT Δ GET-FIT Meals

While the Eat-Fat ∆ Get-Fit Diet principles open the door to an abundant variety of great, tasty and wholesome foods, when we are looking to get started with a new diet, fewer choices may actually be more helpful. With this in mind, I have listed below my favorite meals and snacks for you to consider or to prompt your own personal inquiry.

Breakfast • 3-egg omelet with a choice of cheddar cheese, onions, turkey, ham or bacon, mushrooms and/or salsa. • Fresh berries or frozen berry blend with organic heavy cream • Fruit and Vegetable smoothie - Carrots, apple, spinach, coconut water, flax seed, berries, and whey protein well blended with a little ice • Bulletproof coffee - Good quality Arabica Coffee, butter, coconut oil (and, if desired, whey protein) Lunch • Lettuce Wrapwiches - Your favorite sandwich or burger just wrapped in lettuce and without the bread. These are both guiltless and delicious. The nationwide sandwich chain Jimmy Johns now makes these low-carb lunch delights which they market as the Unwich. • Soups and Salads - Salads and soups are the staple of my lunch time meals. I love to eat a large healthy salad every day. I am lucky that my work cafeteria puts out a great salad bar spread for me to pick from. I also mix my own salad dressing from olive oil and either red wine or balsamic vinegar rather than using commercial salad dressings that are made from those less healthy processed vegetable oils. My favorite soups are vegetable beef barley, chicken and wild rice and curry rice and tomato bisque. Snacks • Handful of raw almonds, pecans and/or macadamia nuts • Celery and olives, or celery with almond or other nut butter • Cheddar cheese and an apple • Tablespoon of Coconut Butter

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Dinner • Salad greens followed by entrée with one or two cooked vegetables • Favorite entrees: o Grilled salmon fillet or salmon burger with avocado o Green or red curry with chicken, beef, pork or shrimp served over a small amount of rice o Hearty beef stew o Liver and onions made with my wife’s secret recipe o Oven roasted free range chicken • Favorite green vegetables - Brussels sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, kale, carrots and beets • Favorite fermented vegetables - Kim-chi, sauerkraut, homemade sour pickles • Favorite starches - sweet potatoes, red bliss potatoes or white rice (remember to watch your carbs) • Favorite desert or indulgence - berries, small piece of dark chocolate, red wine

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Chapter 28 – Additional ResourcesFat ∆ Get and Recommended Reading

While I have written Eat-Eat ∆ Get-Fit to serve as a standalone reference, I highly encourage you to do more exploration on your own to further refine what diet and fitness program work best for you. To that end, this chapter provides several recommended resources and additional books that you should evaluate to see if they have something to offer you. All of these resources are in general agreement with the EFGF dietary principles but provide more specifics and details that are beyond the scope of this book. These resources are supported by well-maintained websites which provide testimonials, user forums, free downloads, links to other resources, and even products for purchase. As I mentioned way back in Chapter 2 - My Story, several of them led me to my current EFGF diet and fitness lifestyle that I plan to continue as long as my maker allows. Below are my top recommended selections.

The Primal Blueprint By Mark Sisson (see also Mark’s Daily Apple)

Of all the books I have read, this one was my favorite and it’s an easy read. In this book written by Mark Sisson, a former world-class endurance athlete, Mark lays out ten fundamental lifestyle and dietary principles which are aligned to our Paleolithic derived human genome to provide effortless weight loss, vibrant health and boundless energy. As the title suggests, the book is all about adopting a Paleo-based

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diet, fitness and lifestyle fundamentals. Mark illustratesFat ∆ Get these principles in his book through two fictional families, the primitive Groks and their contemporary counterparts, the Korgs. While the Groks’ life was very primitive, occasionally dangerous and unimaginably difficult, they in many ways enjoyed superior health and fitness than their modern counterparts, the Korgs. In addition to the low carbohydrate hunter- gatherer diet, the Groks’ primal existence was simpler and slower paced with life-or-death high stress events coming infrequently and lasting just momentarily. If they could avoid serious injuries, infection or other tragedies, the Groks could expect to enjoy robust health and fitness well past age 70. Compare that to the modern Korgs, emblematic of a typical American suburban family whose lifestyles have dramatically diverged from the healthy lifestyle and diet fundamentals adopted by the Groks. Poor diets, work pressures, insufficient sleep, exhausting exercise, excessive digital stimulation and use of OTC and prescription drugs led the family to a stressful modern existence and consequent health and family issues. But in the end, most if not all of these issues created by the Korgs’ modern lifestyle can be corrected by the simple Primal Blueprint inspired lifestyle and diet adjustments. The Primal Blueprint is a fun read and very inspiring. So try out The Primal Blueprint and “Grok On!”

The Perfect Health Diet By Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet, PhDs

My next favorite book was written by a husband and wife team of PhDs: one a Harvard astrophysicist and internet entrepreneur, and the other a molecular biologist and cancer researcher. No doubt, a combined IQ over 300 with these two individuals. That being said, they both suffered from declining health with various medical issues into their forties until they both recovered their health and youthful vigor fundamentally through diet changes. Paul suffered chronic rosacea (a facial skin inflammation), physical sluggishness, neuropathy, memory loss and impaired mood. Shou-Ching in turn suffered painful endometriosis, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids, allergies and various digestive disorders including constipation, acid reflux and bloating. Due to their hectic daily schedules both of them frequently ate widely different foods. Paul’s busy 60-hour work week led to primarily fast readymade food like French bread, cheese, and lots and lots of soda for the combined caffeine and sugar rush. Being influenced by low-fat and anti-meat nutritional advice and a parent’s premature death from stroke, Shou-Ching avoided

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meat and eggs. Instead, rice, soy and vegetableFat oils became ∆ Get staples of her diet. They both estimated they were probably getting as much as 70% of their calories from carbs which were generally devoid of micronutrients. They later discovered through their journey to regain their health that they were eating very high qualities of toxic foods: wheat and fructose in Paul’s case, and vegetable oils and soy in the case of Shou-Ching. With doctors being of little to no help, both husband and wife began experimenting with a low-carb Paleo diet. Through additional research and self-experimentation with diet and supplements, they eventually developed a diet that worked for both of them to eradicate their health issues and restore youthful vitality -- they developed the Perfect Health Diet (PHD). Consistent with the EFGF diet principles, the recently updated PHD is by calories a low to moderate carb (30%), high fat (55%), and moderate protein (15%) diet. By weight, the diet is about 65% healthy plant foods with the remaining 35% from animals, fish and fats. A key focus area of the book surrounds the premise of completely avoiding known toxic foods which have no or minimal nutritional benefit, and maximizing the nutrition benefit and minimizing toxicity of all other foods by staying in what they call the “plateau range.” The Jaminet’s determined that there is an optimum quantity of most nutrients above which toxicity begins to occur. They claim that the PHD is the ideal diet that gets every nutrient into its plateau range. The Perfect Health Diet is defined by the following principle: Eat so as to gain all possible benefits and no toxicity from food. The PHD is principally a Paleo-based diet, since Paleo era foods are found to be the least toxic to humans. However, the PHD is far from a strict Paleo diet and does allow non-Paleo foods like rice and other non- toxic safe starches. The PHD is also highly supportive of intermittent fasting and occasionally taking longer Ketogenic fasts with coconut oil, a little protein but no carbs. The Perfect Health Diet supports limited supplementation, vitamins C, D3 and K2 and the following minerals: magnesium, selenium, iodine and chromium. The Jaminet’ s book makes difficult concepts easy for most to understand and apply. I highly recommend The Perfect Health Diet.

It Starts with Food (The Whole30 Diet) By Dallas and Melissa Hartwig

It Starts with Food is the book behind the Whole30 Diet that is a very popular 30-day nutrition program available over the internet. Written by another husband and wife team who discovered that by rigorously applying dietary rules to eat only real foods and eliminate all possible sources of food allergies for at least 30 days, one can effectively cleanse and reboot the body’s systems for improved health. Part diet guide, part tough love and behavior coaching, the book is highly motivating to get you fully committed and

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immersed into the program. The authors argueFat that strict∆ Get adherence to the Whole30 rules are crucial in order to eliminate old established habits and to fully cleanse our bodies of any toxic effects from any foods that may be doing us harm. The Whole30 diet rules are simple to understand but require real perseverance to fully commit to it for 30+ days. Below is a summary of theWhole30 Nutrition Program.

The Whole30 Rules - For at least thirty days or more, strictly comply with the following: Eat Real Food: • Eat meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. • Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re totally natural and unprocessed. Don’t Eat or Consume the Following: • Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. • Do not consume alcohol in any form, not even for cooking. • Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. This also includes all the ways we add grains into our foods in any form. • Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin). • Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream… with the exception of clarified butter or ghee. • Do not eat white potatoes. This is somewhat arbitrary, but they are trying to change your habits (chips and fries) and improve the hormonal impact of your food choices. • Do not consume foods with the following ingredients: carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. • Do not eat baked goods, desserts or junk foods, not even those made with Paleo approved ingredients. No counting calories and stay off the scale for the first 30 days. The Whole30 is more about restoring health than losing weight. According to the book, several hundred people worked through the first iteration of the Whole30 program. Most experienced effortless weight loss, better sleep, consistent energy, improved mode and increase athletic performance. Some individuals even reported significant improvements with the following ailments: seasonal allergies, asthma, blood pressure, cholesterol, heartburn, and tendonitis. If this sounds good to you, dive right in and check out the Whole30 Diet.

The 4-Hour Body - An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman - By Timothy Ferriss

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Fat ∆ Get

And now for something a little different, a little irreverent and a lot outside the box. Say hello to Tim Ferriss and his book, The 4-Hour Body (4HB). Tim Ferriss, author of the 4-Hour Manager and more recently, the 4-Hour Chef, is the ultimate bio-hacker. Ferriss spent more than a decade researching, monitoring, and noting the progress of his own mind and body. He served as his own laboratory guinea pig and also played the role of a doctor, physical therapist, and coach to create this book. Like a school teacher, Ferris tells us how to get our homework done fast so we can go out and play. He asks us to be skeptical of the book and try only that which we think will help improve ourselves. More than a book about diet, the 4HB is about optimizing our human potential in multiple areas. The 4HB covers how to subtract fat, gain muscle, obtain more effective sleep, reverse injuries and even improve our sex lives. Each chapter is great entertainment and has lots of valuable nuggets that we can apply in our daily lives. Tim organized the 4HB in a non-linear way that actually encourages readers to jump around and skip sections that might be boring (I personally love the geeky science stuff, so I read every single word in the book). All of the 4HB recommendations are based around the concept of “Minimum Effective Dose” which Tim defines as doing the bare minimum to obtain the desired outcome. Regarding fat loss, Tim recommends what he calls the Slow Carb Diet (SCD). Though not fully in compliance with EFGF principles, here are the basic SCD rules: Rule #1 Avoid "white" carbohydrates - That includes all bread, rice (including brown), cereal, potatoes, pasta, tortillas, and fried food with breading. Rule #2 Eat the same few meals over and over again - Here are the foods he recommends: • Protein - eggs, chicken, beef (preferably grass-fed), fish, pork • Legumes - lentils, black, pinto and red beans • Vegetables - spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, or any other cruciferous vegetables) • Fermented vegetables - sauerkraut, kimchee Eat as much as you like of the above food items, but keep it simple. Pick 3 to 4 meals and repeat them. Rule #3 Don’t drink Calories - Do not drink milk (including soy milk), soft drinks, or fruit juice. Limit diet soft drinks to no more than 16 ounces per day if you can, as the aspartame can stimulate weight gain. Rule #4 Don’t eat fruit - The only exceptions to the no-fruit rule are tomatoes and avocados. Say no to fruit and its principal sugar, fructose, which is converted into triglycerides via the liver for fat storage. Rule #5 Take one day off per week (i.e. Binge once a week) - Dramatically spiking caloric intake in this way once per week increases fat-loss by ensuring that your metabolic rate (thyroid function and conversion of T4 to T3, etc.) doesn't downshift from extended caloric restriction. That's right: according to the 4HB eating pure crap can help you lose fat.

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The 4HB has a ton more useful information thatFat you too∆ Get can put to the test and possibly rapidly reconstruct yourself. One that I recommend you investigate is the weight loss supplement stack Tim calls PAGG. You will have to read the book to find out more.

The Warrior Diet by Ori Hofmekler

I like to think of Ori Hofmekler’s Warrior Diet as the Gladiator Diet based on his frequent reference to ancient Greek and Roman warrior lifestyle. What distinguishes the diet the most is the application of daily intermittent fasting (Undereating Phase) during most of the day, followed by large evening meals (Overeating Phase). The diet is Neolithic in nature by allowing some whole grains during the evening meal but even these are only to be consumed after eating all your vegetables and animal protein and fat. Ori contends that the controlled fasting fosters a period of daily detoxification through the elimination of toxins and burning stored body fat. He states that during the Undereating Phase, growth hormone, insulin, glucagon and the stress hormone cortisol are manipulated naturally to an optimum balance that promotes anti-aging, fat burning, vigor and resilience against fatigue and stress. By limiting the Undereating Phase to mostly raw fruits and vegetables, you will be loading your body with live food enzymes that will give you more vitality, accelerate healing and reduce the effects of aging. Ori Hofmekler is a romantic of natural history whom I believe is all about self-sacrifice and finds strength in resisting temptations. This isn't Weight Watchers; you can't eat 20th century reduced fat junk food for 14 hours out of the day and expect to keep a healthy body weight. The Warrior diet will be challenging and normally requires and adaptation period of one to three weeks for the daily routine to become entrenched. You will be hungrier at times than you have ever been, and maybe for the first time in your life you will truly experience hunger. It's hard to explain if you have never felt it, but a long fast brings a sense of peace. You become in control. It connects you to your animal instincts, and while your co-workers are jittering for lunch, you know lunch can wait. It makes you feel like a wolf among sheep. Below is the Warrior Diet in a nut shell. Undereating Phase - Morning through afternoon • Consume raw Fruits and vegetables and/or freshly prepared fruit and vegetable juices.

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• A limited amount of light protein such as plainFat yogurt, ∆ Get whey protein shake, pouched or boiled eggs is also allowed. • Take supplements – e.g. liver detoxifier like milk thistle, probiotics, and multivitamin and minerals. Overeating Phase - Evenings • Start off with a fresh leafy green salad with some raw vegetables and homemade dressing. • Next, have your animal or fish protein with one or more cooked vegetables with some healthy fats like butter, olive oil, avocados. • Finish your meal with a healthy carbohydrate like rice, potatoes, yams, quinoa, corn or barley, or alternatively finish with a small amount of raw nuts or seeds. If you think there is a Spartan warrior inside you then the Warrior Diet might be for you. Just don’t let get to your head and go around yelling, “I AM SPARTCUS!” unless you are armed with sword and shield and you are hopefully at a Halloween party.