Why eat meat but not often....

Today's Post:  Tuesday, 5-31-2016

As you likely have read, people who eat ONLY whole grains have tested to be healthier in several ways than people who eat refined grain foods.

And, while some people have serious problems with any gluten, the majority of people do not, except for hybrid, conventionally grown, wheat --particularly for grains like barley.

Meanwhile, factory farmed animals are fed grains that have been sprayed with herbicides and pesticides which are then bioconcentrated in their fat.

Worse, they are raised in overcrowded, filthy conditions.  So they are still raised with routine antibiotics.  That causes the people who eat them to eat these bacteria, some of which are resistant to antibiotics, and antibiotics each of which causes the same fattening effects in the people who eat them that they do in the animals.

They are also fed grains -- which causes their fat to have 10 to 20 times too much pro-inflammatory antibiotics.  That helps cause osteoarthritis, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and helps cause cancers.  (See the book, Anti-Cancer for details.)

Lastly, people who eat lots of vegetables other than potatoes and eat pieces of fruit daily or more have far less heart disease and strokes and die less often from any and all causes.

So, why not be a vegan vegetarian eating whole grains and eat no meat?

Clearly not eating meat and protein foods from factory farmed animals has some real problems that vegans avoid.

And, vegans who eat lots of vegetables other than potatoes and eat pieces of fruit daily have some real benefits.

But, vegans who eat wheat or lots of other whole grains for protein have some quite serious problems even if they are whole grains.

Today’s hybrid wheat causes gluten problems for people who otherwise might have escaped them.

And all grains with the possible exception of barley have problems due to causing blood sugar spikes and insulin resistance and high triglycerides.

You don’t feel those harmful effects directly or soon; but research is now showing that those problems reliably cause elevated blood sugar, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, high LDL & low HDL and the resulting heart disease.

And, people who eat grains also have the same problems factory fed farm animals do. 

If the grains are not organic, the grains they eat have been sprayed with herbicides and pesticides which are then bioconcentrated in their fat.

They also eat excessive omega 6 oils which causes their fat to have 10 to 20 times too much pro-inflammatory antibiotics.  That helps cause osteoarthritis, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and helps cause cancers.  (See the book, Anti-Cancer for details.)

But if both protein foods from factory farmed animals AND grains are very poor choices as protein foods, what can people eat instead?

Meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products from animals fed only their natural foods has solved this problem for humans for over 100,000 years.  Weston Price and others have found that some of the nutrients eating in that way gives people such as vitamin K2, B12, and other nutrients are essential for strong bones and the best health.

So has wild caught fish and seafood. So have raw tree nuts.

Lastly, many peoples have done well eating beans and lentils. And, organic vegetables other than potatoes are quite good sources of protein per calorie.

That means that meat from animals fed only their natural foods can be a health supporting choice to eat.

But why then eat more of the other foods we just listed and only eat meat sometimes or even very rarely?

There are three reasons.

1.  Meat is high in the amount of water and energy and land needed to support it.  All of those are overused and there are reasons why reversing that trend is important to support. Eating meat much less often helps use less of those resources.

2.  Many of the other choices we just listed work better for health.  So eating meat less often to make room for eating more of  those foods makes sense.

a)  For building muscle or keeping bone and muscle as you get older or both, whey from grass fed cows has been shown to be the best protein source in a number of ways.  It builds muscle best and avoids losing muscle best.

b)  Wild caught fish and sustainable, unpolluted seafood, are much higher the omega 3 oils, particularly DHA, that help grow new nerves and brain cells, lower chronic inflammation, AND lower triglycerides and boost HDL to protect your heart.

They provide the beneficial, almost mirror image, reverse of the harmful effects of eating grains!

c)  The oils in tree nuts for those not allergic and the oils of avocados and olives provide a way to get safe oils that avoid both the potential problems of animal fat and the harm of oils from grain.

AND, the nutrients and protein and micronutrients in tree nuts for those not allergic; and the nutrients and micronutrients in avocados and extra virgin olive oil also support health.

Stopping grain oils and fats from factory fed animals and eating more nuts and avocados and extra virgin olive oil supports health so well, dramatic improvements in health and heart health have shown up in just a few weeks in recent research.

d)  Whey and eggs and foods like cheese and whole milk from animals fed only grass or their natural diet are MUCH faster to fix each day than cooking meat from animals only fed grass or organic sprouts.  Unless you don’t work or can afford a chef, that’s a huge consideration.

Because real naturally fed meat is quite lean, the best way to fix it is to pretreat it with a mechanical tenderizer and cook it in a slow cooker too.  (Meat pretreated with a Jaccard or Butchers Kitchen needle tenderizer is as tender as if it was marbled with fat from stuffing the animal grains and penning it up.)  But the extra preparation and cooking time is a consideration that suggests doing it less often.

e)  Meat is only a health OK choice if it is from animals that are humanely treated and ONLY fed grass or organic sprouts!

Guess what?  That costs way more than factory farmed meat.

So, it’s much easier and more affordable to eat meat once or twice a month to buy that kind of properly raised and processed meat!  

Losing fat at Restaurants and social occasions....

Today's Post:  Thursday, 5-26-2016

Most people gain fat when they eat at restaurant on while on vacation.

I’ve managed not to several times.

Last time I went on vacation in early January this year, when I came back I’d lost two pounds.

Naturally I was quite pleased.  But I was also a bit shocked because I ate very well indeed.  One meal was a feast in fact!

Later I’ll share what health and fat loss expert Mike Geary says about what NOT to eat.

But the formula I followed was simple while on my January vacation.

A.  So here is the summary in case you want the easy way to just do what works.

1.  For breakfast have fruit and protein foods.

( I also drank coffee instead of tea as I was on vacation; and ready-made coffee was available.)

2.  For lunch and dinner have vegetables and protein foods.

3.  At lunch perhaps and for sure at dinner, have one glass of a red wine you like before the meal and stop.

4.  If you have a chance to do hikes or walking from parking to things you want to do and see while on vacation, do that.

5.  Do a brief version of your normal workouts that require no weights in your hotel room first thing in the morning.

[When I’ve done that before, I’ve neither gained or lost fat or weight on the scale.  The readings after I came back were the same.

What I think caused the two pound fat loss on my January vacation was that the hikes and walking to things we were doing and seeing, was in the hilly part of Portland, Oregon with temperatures of 38 to 42 degrees with ten to twenty mile an hour winds.

And we always had over a half mile to walk each way and were always walking fast.

Between the cold and the wind and the hills and the brisk walking speed and how much we did each day, it was a decent fat loss program done for other reasons!

So, by eating in a way that didn’t add fat and that extra exercise I lost two pounds that week.]

So, that’s the basics.

Here are some tips also.

A lot of this produce is not organic, the fruit and vegetables.  And the protein foods are from animals sometimes fed grains and antibiotics.

Some of that I just did because it was only a few days.

But I also took a double dose of my probiotic.

I ate a few grapes and strawberries at breakfast.  But most of the fruit I ate at breakfast was banana, cantaloupe, and pineapple.  The pesticides and herbicides are much less because the outside part that was sprayed was peeled off.  That way I just ate the protected part of the fruit.

For protein, I had bacon, and scrambled eggs, and plain yogurt with the strawberries.

At lunch and dinner I had salad or a vegetable appetizer and my glass of wine instead of the bread when we first arrived.

Then I had some vegetables such as steamed broccoli or green beans and some salad greens with no dressing.

For dinners, because this was Portland where they had ready access to fresh wild caught fish, I was able to have wild caught fish – either Salmon or Steelhead trout which is about the same size and lifestyle as Salmon.

I ate enough that not ordering desserts was easy.

However, one restaurant we went to served multiple courses of ham, beef, chicken, and lamb and they offered baked peeled bananas between meat courses.  No sugar added.

I tried the baked peeled bananas and wound up eating four or five servings!

But because I also only ate the meat and vegetables and salad vegetables otherwise, it apparently added no fat.

(That meal was the feast!:

Fogo de Chão   Brazilian churrascaria steakhouse menu and locations in USA

fogodechao.com/    They have a location in downtown Portland, Oregon.

Not a place I’d allow myself to go often.  But it’s extremely well done and fun to go to.)

Other tips:

(With rare exceptions of dessert foods, I eat no foods that I know are fattening or harmful.

Why worry about that when you are on vacation when you can get foods without those problems!)

I ate no bread or other grain foods.  I ate no salad dressings with mystery ingredients.  And I ate no farmed fish.

Wheat is both harmful and fattening.   The foods it is in almost always have fattening and harmful ingredients added to them.

Some salad dressings use soy or corn oil or add high fructose corn syrup and/or MSG.  Those are also all harmful and fattening.

Farmed fish is so heavily polluted with so many kinds of pollutants, it should be illegal to serve.  NEVER eat it if you value your health. 

But restaurants can often get it and get it at much lower prices.  So if they have a fish dish, always ask if it’s wild caught.

If they know it is wild caught fish for sure and perhaps charge a bit extra that works.

Also, as far as I know halibut and Petrale sole are only wild caught.  So that can be a safe choice.

Lobster tails also work but cost about double what other entrees cost.

Skinless chicken breast also is a less harmful choice.  And, a good cook or chef can add enough flavor to it to make a good dish.

The data is in.  Red wine is the safest alcoholic drink because the phytonutrients from the grapes prevent the carcinogenic effects of the alcohol.

Gut bacteria that help with heart health and fat loss one study found are increased when you drink red wine.

The phytonutrients from the grapes are heart protective. They tend to increase your beneficial HDL too.

And the saponins in some red wines remove excess LDL cholesterol.  Pinot Noir and Zinfandel and Burgundy tend to have the most saponins.

As a change of pace Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are good red wines also and there are some very good ones.

Always taste wine before ordering if you can.  Most of it is quite good and most of the rest is quite drinkable.  But some taste dreadful.

Note that by drinking it when you first arrive, by the time the food comes you are mellow.  But after dinner it has worn off a bit.  So you can do things after dinner and sleep well when you get home.

And, you avoid drinking enough to add fat too.

What if you want a red wine and a dessert drink?  Just drink them both before dinner!

(My sleep doctor taught me this one.  I now only drink wine before dinner.  I drink much less overall. I have five pounds less fat because of the wine I no longer drink.  And, I DO sleep better!)

So that’s my post with mostly what to do to feast and go on vacation without gaining fat.

B.  But in case you would otherwise be tempted to eat or drink the things that are harmful and will make you fatter, here’s Mike Geary’s article.

He does a good job!

“http://www.truthaboutabs.com/healthy-dining-restaurants.html

Here's a few tricks you can use to eat healthier and stay lean even while traveling on business or eating out any time for that matter...

The 3 most important things to avoid that are EVERYWHERE at restaurants are:

the deep fried foods

the refined starchy foods

and any sodas, juices, or other sugary foods (except whole fruits, which are great)

This eliminates the major food sources that do the worst damage in our food supply - the evil trans fats, the inflammatory refined vegetable oils, refined starches, and processed sugars.

This means trying to skip the table bread, skipping the French fries (that come with every single sandwich on every menu known to man), and reducing or eliminating all of the heaping portions of rice and pasta that are often loaded on the plates as well.

[Getting the red wine and a salad or protein or vegetable appetizer right away can keep your hunger from driving you to eat the bread I’ve found.]

How to do it healthier, but still satisfying...

Instead, … order just meat, side vegetables, and a salad, asking for the vegetables or salad as a substitute for the typical fries, rice, or pasta that the meal probably comes with.

Almost every restaurant I've ever been to will always allow me to substitute veggies or a side salad for the fries or chips that almost always come with sandwiches or burgers.

Side note:  It always amazes me how many people scrutinize me because I substitute veggies for fries by telling me that I'm "not living" because I won't eat fries...

Yet they are always the first to complain that they are overweight and have "tried everything", yet can't lose weight. 

I'm not sure why so many people think eating French fries equals "living it up"... I'm all for moderation with many things, but if there's 2 things that should be almost totally removed from everyone's diet because these foods are simply that evil... it's fries and sodas!

Example Substitutions:

Take a look at the typical difference this simple substitution makes between choosing smart and doing what most people do...

Most people will eat a meal out such as this:

Sandwich or burger -- the bread is usually the unhealthiest part of this

fries or chips -- source of deadly trans fats

soda or other sweetened drink -- mostly deadly high fructose corn syrup

A MUCH smarter alternative for a leaner, healthier body is very simply this:

A steak, chicken breast, or fish piece (this avoids the refined wheat of a sandwich)

veggies or salad (much better choice than fries or chips)

unsweetened iced tea or water with lemon (and no diet drinks -- unless you enjoy drinking carcinogenic poisonous artificial sweetener chemicals).

These 2 simple substitutions save at least 400 - 900 calories EACH time you dine out (depending on drink refills and fries portion sizes)...

AND you're cutting out the most harmful foods to your body as well by avoiding the trannies and high fructose corn syrup.”   

New help for muscle gain and fatloss....

Today's Post:  Tuesday, 5-24-2016

1.  I’ve posted before on how if you fail to do effective strength training you gradually lose bone and muscle mass a little bit each year.

If you do effective strength training and eat enough protein, you can avoid that until you get over 70.

If you don’t do that, since muscle burns 3 times the calories as fat, if you keep eating the same, the food intake that once kept you trim will gradually make you quite fat.

2.  Secondly, if you wish to lose fat you keep off it’s very important to do effective strength training and get enough protein.  That way all the weight you lose is fat.  And by continuing to do so, you can much more easily keep the fat off that you lost!

3.  But thirdly, sometime after age 70 an extra kind of muscle wasting tends to occur.

This can make adding or keeping muscle even with effective strength training and eating enough protein less effective.  And it can lead to being a frail, limited nursing home resident too.

Researchers at the University of Iowa, led by Christopher Adams, MD, looked into the details of how this occurs to see if there might be a way to prevent it.

( See http://now.uiowa.edu/2015/09/keeping-older-muscles-strong .)

They were able to slow that ursolic acid, a common plant micronutrient in apple peels and many spice herbs was effective in doing this.

4.  By accident I discovered that the supplement Holy Basil by Nature’s Way has 45 mg per four capsules. 

(BodyBuilding.com now also sells a 200 mg a day ursolic acid supplement. As you read this, you’ll see why I’m about to take that in addition to the 4 capsules a day of Holy Basil.)

So, to help me get stronger and build muscle mass in part to help me with my fat loss, I began taking that.

It has seemed to help a bit.

5.  But I found out recently that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

By taking more each day, ursolic is even more effective than I’d thought to help you build muscles with effective strength training.

Secondly, the weeks I cut calories, taking ursolic acid will help prevent any of the weight lost from being fat.  Specifically, it preserves muscle mass under even fasting conditions.

Third, when you cut too many calories for too long – as the recent Perfect Loser contestants did, you normally get the failsafe famine response as they apparently did with your hunger hormones set higher and your metabolism slower to strongly force you to regain the fat.

There is some evidence that ursolic acid does the reverse!!

If this tests out to be a strong enough effect – and it looks like it might – taking ursolic acid may help prevent calorie cut backs from causing this famine response!

And, if you have the famine response now, taking ursolic acid may be an effective antidote!

Ursolic acid apparently does 5 things of value.

a) In men, it lowers estrogen and aromatase thus increasing free and usable testosterone.  

In both sexes, ursolic acid prevents muscle wasting in the fasted state and increases size and strength in people who do effective strength training.

So it helps lower fat percentage by adding muscle

b) It also does things that prevent the famine response so you can cut calories somewhat and lose fat without rebound effects.

It lowers ghrelin AND increases leptin!  (This is the reverse of the effects of the famine response!)

c)  People who take it DO get to lower body fat percentage as a result

d) It rebuilds cartilage in joints and prevents or helps cure osteoarthritis

e) Astonishingly, with its anabolic effects it may reduce some cancers!

In fact, I found this;

“In one study, 16 men were put on regular weight training routines for 8 weeks. The men who were given Ursolic Acid showed significant increase in muscle strength, IGF-1 and Irisin hormones (which increase muscle grownth), and decrease in body fat percentage.

16 male test subjects performed resistance training for eight weeks.

Those randomly assigned to group that were given Ursolic acid exhibited significant decrease in Body fat percentage, increased IGF-1 and irisin, and increased muscle strength.

These findings suggest that ursolic acid may increase skeletal muscle strength

Promotes fat loss Test subjects given Ursolic acid became leaner, had less abdominal fat, lower blood glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol levels.

A significant decrease in ghrelin 4 was thought to be responsible for these results.

Ghrelin is secreted in the stomach and has an appetite increasing and fat accumulation effect, so less ghrelin is a good thing. Thus, ursolic acid fights excess body [fat] by several methods.

Increased Energy Expenditure – Test subjects showed a significant increase in the hormones leptin.

Leptin is secreted from fat cells themselves and is important in regulating energy expenditure – more leptin signals the body to expend more energy.

Lower blood glucose and cholesterol Another study showed that ursolic acid stimulates glycogen synthesis in the liver, which is very important in controlling blood sugar levels.

Anti-catabolic – Preservation of Muscle Mass

This was actually the primary interest of researchers that led to the discovery of all the other beneficial effects of Ursolic Acid.“

Conclusion:

Taking ursolic acid as a supplement at 200 mg a day may be a significant force multiplier for people working to add muscle and lose fat they keep off!

My monthly fatloss report....

Today's Post:  Monday, 5-23-2016

A.  Here's the key news. 

1.  I lost about one pound from 162 to 161. 

(And I might have lost a bit more.  One of my scales said I did.

Neither of my two scales will measure to the hundredth of a pound or reliably weigh me at the same weight two times in a row.

But a few days ago, I had a doctor’s appointment; and the scale in my doctor’s office DID measure to the hundredth of a pound!  So, just now I phoned to see if I might get the brand of the manufacturer.  If that company will sell to individuals for less than $200 I’ll get one and let you  know in this post and do one just on that topic.

And, I’m not done.  Some company must have this; and almost all of us trying to lose fat or add muscle will buy one if we simply find out which company!)

Again the new method I’m using still worked!

I’m now at my goal weight or very close to it, 161 pounds.  But when I looked good at that weight several years ago I clearly had something like 16 pounds more muscle since I clearly need to lose about 16 pounds of fat to look good now!

However, I’m making some progress perhaps, due to losing about six pounds since the end of last year that I’ve kept off, I’m beginning to look leaner in the mirror!  (Continuing my strength training also has helped do that!)

And, I found a way to use more weight exercising my legs which despite having too much fat, has possibly added some muscle to them. 

My legs feel much more muscular and hard than they did a few months ago. 

So If I can add another level of weight to my exercises for them which I plan to do in July and lose another few pounds of fat, they will begin to look muscular too!

Since the changes I reported last time resulted in a bit more fatloss apparently, I’ll keep doing them!:

a) Before, for breakfast, with my fruit of the day, I had been continuing to eat 4 ounces of oatmeal every other day plus milk and a bit less than that in cooked lentils with no milk every other day. 

Also, I had just eaten the cooked lentils with no milk each day on my cut down week.  And, even though I was not losing belly fat, my blood sugar and heart measures have been excellent.

BUT  I found out that the reason zero non-wheat grains and beans—including lentils—are included in the Paleo diet – for health reasons! – is that they contain lectins.  Many foods do; but in low enough concentrations their health impact is small.

Both oatmeal and lentils have soluble fiber that helps remove excess LDL cholesterol.

However, the huge news is that these lectins DO have a big impact on belly fat. 

They cause some harm to the lining of your gut – contributing to acid reflux – AND causing your body to add to your intestines in size and cause extra fluid retention. 

I realized that this means that if I cut oatmeal and lentils another 95 to 100 % AND replaced them with nonfat cottage cheese with as much protein and fewer calories too – PLUS I did that EVERY WEEK, not just my cut down week, over time I’d have a shot at losing more fat each month.  That’s because I’d stop gaining back so much by eating fewer calories on the weeks that weren’t my cut down week.

And, if that information is accurate, it may also mean that I’ll lose two inches or more from losing the excess intestinal growth and retained fluid IN ADDITION TO any inches lost from losing fat.

The best news is that eating in this new way is quite doable.

So, if it works as well as I expect it to do, by next month, I’ll have lost more on the scale and may also have more progress to show on losing inches off my waist too.

So, far I am still losing fat as shown by looking more muscular and losing on the scale.

2.  Since last month this time, I lost a half inch on my chest; lost a quarter inch off my waist; and a quarter inch off my hip measurement.

Because I want to gain more muscle in my upper back and chest than I lose in fat and want to add more muscle in my buttocks and lower back AND show all my fat loss on my waist, last month was a bit of fat loss only. 

I had hoped that by this time, after 6 weeks on the new program, each of the measures should be less.  But the loss on my waist should finally show more inches off than the others.

Nope.  In fact, the tape measures I use are not super accurate as I have to hold them myself; and I try to do two waist measures: one where my tummy is about as slightly tense as if I was walking and one where it’s quite relaxed as if I had just eaten dinner and was relaxing after.

So, until and unless those measures drop a full inch or more, they likely are staying close to the same.  And my tummy still makes me look quite fat even though the rest of me is beginning to look better.

So to make that happen I will need to keep losing fat for quite some time; and/or use the cold laser direct fat removal; or find a supplement that actually causes extra belly fat.

(So far, none of the supplements with the reputation of helping lose belly fat or total fat has had ANY effect. 

But there is one I’m already taking to help me add muscle, ursolic acid, that I may need to take more of that to get the full effect; and some studies DID also show increased belly fat loss too when people took that much.

(My post tomorrow, Tuesday, 5-24 will have more details.)

B.  My calorie cut back week:

I keep the added whey protein and most of my protein foods such as milk from grass fed cows at breakfast I mix the whey into, the wild caught canned & smoked salmon, and 4 whole eggs from pastured chickens a week, and my regular nonfat cottage cheese; and the protein I get from broccoli and artichoke hearts.

But I cut some of my cheese from grass fed cows about in half by eliminating a third of it in one set of dishes and substituting all of it with nonfat cottage cheese at other times.

I cut out all of my oatmeal and lentils and ate nonfat cottage cheese instead. (This step also eliminated about 24 ounces or more a week of the whole milk from grass fed cows I was having on the oatmeal on those two days each week.)

I cut my dark chocolate and Brazil nuts in half.

(I cut my Tablespoons of Apple Sauce each week from 10 to 3; and have made that every week too since my first week doing it.)

I do still eat 100% of my daily piece of fruit.

And, I cut my extra virgin olive oil one Tablespoon servings from 10 to 7 by using only one each day instead of adding a second one three times a week.

And, because of its extremely high nutrition, very appetite reducing effect, and its very health enhancing very strong percentage of monosaturated oils, I kept the two tablespoons a day of avocado paste.

Because I kept the things I kept that were high protein, or high nutrition, or high fiber and mostly cut extra fat or carbs, I wasn’t even hungrier than usual much to my great surprise!

And, since it is only every four weeks, I won’t get a cumulative effect of extra hunger because of the failsafe famine response either.

So losing over 11 pounds more fat for a total of 16 or more this year, looks like a lock!

The math says it is! 

(Forty percent less a quarter of the time is 10% less calories for the year.)

Since it has that likely potential and is that easily doable, I certainly will do it!

But there is more, the other lower carb week and every week, I’ll keep up some of what clearly works to reduce my carb intake a bit but not my protein intake.

For, example, I have been eating the double dose of whey every other day otherwise.

Now, I’ll do it every day.  And, I’ll eat a bit less no sugar apple sauce every week and nonfat cottage cheese instead of lentils every week.

(In addition to cutting back on lectin sources, these changes may cut my calories another 10% for the year.)

Since I wrote that last time, I’ve also cut back a bit on the cottage cheese and added a Saturday night protein only dinner.  I had a turkey burger with a half slice of pineapple once and herbed skinless chicken breast twice in the last three Saturdays.

(See D below also!)

C.  What if I also get the muscle gain effect of Vince Del Monte’s students and gain five or six pounds of muscle over the upcoming year too!

If that happens my waist will finally shrink and I’ll lose visceral fat with the extra health benefits that produces!

So I am working to make that happen too!

Last month I said I’d have more on that this month. 

I’ve been doing a split squat style deadlift for 5 to 7 slow rep repetitions twice a week once with the 40 in my left hand and once with the 50 in my right hand and then a repeat changing the 50 to my left hand.

I already have begun stepping forward more than I was plus it has gotten easier to do those more challenging version exercises.  Stepping forward more increases the weight on my thigh and hip muscles. And, I can feel the hip muscles work harder.

So, I’m soon going to buy a 70 pound dumbbell and will use a 50 and a 70 instead of a 40 and a 50.  That will add to my leg muscles and my glute muscles in the back of my hips.

My hope is that it will add at least a pound of muscle which will force a loss of 3 pounds of fat and a drop of more 2 pounds on the scale – AND it will add to my looking less fat!

D.  To ensure my fat loss happens this year and minimize gaining fat back during each four weeks, AND to help prevent weight gain on my week I cut back some but not 40% and force progress each month, I’ll cut back more but not as much as my big cut down that week every four weeks.

To help prevent weight gain on my week I cut back some but not 40% and force progress each month, I’ll cut back more but not as my big cut back week every four weeks.

(Since last month, it was clear I needed to do a bit more the other weeks to ensure progress each month.  And, the new changes do that,)

I’ll kept 100 percent of the protein on my cut down week AND I have cut my dark chocolate and Brazil nuts in half on the one week in four when I cut down the most..

I’ll also cut my extra virgin olive oil with one Tablespoon servings from 10 to 7 by using only one each day instead of adding a second one three times a week where I was not doing so before.

Plus, I cut my Tablespoons of Apple Sauce each week from 10 to 3; and have made that every week too since my first week doing it.

Could you do the same thing?

You can if you eat a regular style of eating almost every day that you tweak in similar way; you eat a double serving of whey each day;

eat or drink nothing that is harmful or super fattening such as soft drinks or wheat foods;

and you do some form of power lifting or superslow strength training each week.     

Best eating styles....

Today's Post:  Thursday, 5-19-2016

What are the best eating styles?

For health and fat loss that’s beginning to be very clear

And some eating styles are dramatically better than others for health and fat loss and have been tested to be so.

There are several styles that work.  That’s a good thing because people have different preferences and goals.

And, a style that has great benefits that you cannot or will not eat won’t work for you!

Most people eat foods they really like and foods they find OK but not great but eat so often they become like old friends.

Few people eat foods they really find to taste awful or directly make them sick at all often.

The eating styles that rate well or extremely well for health and fat loss can be listed by which foods they contain and by the names they have been given or the people who discovered them.

This post does it both ways.

We post often on what NOT to eat and drink; but that is not here in this post. 

However, if it is NOT  listed here in one of the categories TO eat, that food or drink is likely to be one NOT to eat or drink.

The one exception is wheat and to a lesser degree other grains. 

None of the most health supporting styles include ANY! 

(Note that if refined grains get an F and whole grains are better and get a C-,

 the people who get an A all eat zero grains or very, very close to it.)

A.  The foods in eating styles that help cause good health and prevent disease and enable permanent fat loss:

Organic Vegetables & Organic Fruit are number one.

ALL the healthy eating styles have them.  

(Why organic? 

Two reasons for this are the multiplier factor and the diseases caused by herbicides and pesticides when consumed that much are horrid and cause suffering disability & death.

One exposure or even a few to a fruit with pesticide or herbicide residue may be safe.  But we are talking of what you eat all the time.  If you eat Strawberries that tend to be heavily sprayed with pesticides if not organic twice a week for 30 years however that’s 4680 times and quite likely is NOT safe. 

That level of exposure in people with the wrong heredity causes MS, apparently most ALS --one recent study put it at 90%, and a good bit of Parkinson’s disease.

At that level of exposure it may also cause cancers.)

Why are vegetables and fruit the foundation of all the health producing and supporting styles of eating?

They prevent disease, support good health, AND because they are calorically dense and relatively high in fiber, you can eat enough without taking in enough calories to be or stay fat I most cases.

A UK study found that eating 6 or more vegetables a day prevented heart disease and stroke and many cancers.  And it cut the risk of dying of those diseases and from all causes significantly!

That’s challenging to do in today’s world.  But the closer you get to it and the more organic cruciferous vegetables and vegetables high in carotenes you include, the healthier you will be.

And, those vegetables also give you the most cancer protection.

The same UK study found that people who at ONE or more servings of organic fresh fruit a day got truly jaw dropping protection from BOTH kinds of stroke from just that.

For fat loss eating lower glycemic fruit such as berries or whole apples or even taking fruit concentrate supplements is a good way to go.

Protein foods and fats and oils don’t go as well in all styles but it’s ideal to get enough protein to maintain your muscle mass and bones and enough health OK proteins, fats and oils to keep from getting too hungry.

Vegan vegetarians can be quite healthy.  Nuts and hemp protein and beans and lentils for those who aren’t allergic to nuts or react badly to the lectins in beans and lentils plus the mandatory taking of the many supplements of lacking nutrients can make an organic vegan an OK way to go.  (The eating style recommended by Dr Furhman is hard for most people to stick with and must have the supplements added to be OK for good health.  But it contains these foods only and may be the best one for fat loss.  This is so much the case that eating some health OK animal protein every other day and eating Dr Fuhrman style every other day can be a great fat loss and keeping it off strategy.)

Paleo adds to the fruits and vegetables and nuts protein from wild or naturally fed animals and fish – except beans and lentils and dairy.

If ALL of the animal protein foods are from wild caught or naturally fed animals AND you make sure to include the high intake of vegetables and the daily serving of fruit, Paleo gets great health results.

Paleo plus some beans and lentils and dairy products from naturally fed cows only can be less expensive and more doable than Paleo. 

And, such cheese, whole milk, whole milk yogurt, and particularly Whey protein supplements  can be a real asset to people who do effective strength training.

These foods can help people to lose fat, to ONLY lose fat, and to have enough muscle to make keeping the fat lost off much more likely.

Beans and lentils are starchier and for some the lectins can fight fat loss.  So eating fewer of these or none can help fat loss.  But for people who tolerate them and are already trim, they do fill you up, provide lots of protein and nutrients and cost very, very little. 

Lentils are the best choice as they are very high in nutrition and have the lowest glycemic index.  For people following the Furhman diet, lentils have the highest ANDI score having the most nutrients per calorie.

(Given their negative health effects, soybeans are basically a kind of grain and have most of the problems of grains. They should NOT be included.)

Health OK fats and oils in addition to those found in animals fed only their natural diet include extra virgin olive oil, nuts, avocados, and the omega 3 oils from fish – and coconut oil.

When people get these in moderation they get natural vitamin E in all its forms; and needed essential oils; and have better bioavailability of the carotenes they eat and are much less hungry than people who do not. 

This makes them essential for successful fat loss and particularly for keeping it off.

Besides the Vegan diet and the related Furhman diet which is vegan that needs many extra supplements for good health, the other styles that work are:

The DASH diet with no grains and a bit more vegetables and some nuts.

(If you eat factory farmed animal protein foods, the DASH diet’s recommendation to eat fat free, very fat-trimmed, and lowest fat version is sound because it eliminates the excessive omega 6 oils and bioconcentrated herbicides and pesticides in the fat.

The DASH diet with protein foods that are only from wild or 100% naturally fed animals is a better choice if you can afford it and get those foods.)

The Mediterranean diet with extra vegetables and wild caught fish and zero grains has a dramatically positive track record.  It also has enough good tasting recipes and extra virgin olive oil and red wine in moderation all of which makes it easy to stay on!

The Wahls diet as described in Dr Wahls book uses even more vegetables including seaweed and includes eggs and heart and liver.  She designed a diet that includes ALL of the known nutrients successfully.  It’s high enough in vegetables to be as good as Dr Furhman’s diet for fat loss, and by adding the liver provides the nutrients vegans would otherwise need to supplement! 

It’s two drawbacks are that it is extremely challenging to eat that many vegetables each and every day; and it’s unsafe to eat liver from animals that eat grains because the liver super-bioconcentrates the herbicides and pesticides in the grain AND it’s as yet very hard to get liver from naturally fed animals.  THAT I expect will change however!

The common things that Dr Weston Price found his native peoples to eat are quite similar to Paleo or Dr Wahls style but with a much larger variety of animal protein foods.  Of course all of those protein foods were from animals fed their natural diets and free of herbicides and pesticides.

The vitamin that enabled all these peoples to have near perfect teeth was in the fats of those animals, vitamin K2.

Because of the importance of this vitamin NONE of the peoples he studied were vegan.

If you are new to health oriented eating this post will give you a background of the best eating styles and a guide for making your own version!

Safer protection from TIA & AFIB....

Today's Post:  Tuesday, 5-17-2016

What are these?

A TIA is a partial stroke that soon gets better on its own. 

(The letters stand for:

Transient Ischemic Attack and it’s just what it sounds like, a temporary obstructive stroke.)

AFIB, Atrial fibrillation, is an abnormal heart rhythm characterized by rapid and irregular beating.

Like TIA's they are often temporary.  But they can be scary, cause lightheadness or even fainting.

Most people with AFIB are at increased risk of stroke. Clearly people who have had a TIA are at increased risk of stroke.

It’s been found that giving people who have these aspirin or the blood thinner, Warfarin, cuts the risk of ischemic or obstructive stroke.

This is a dangerous and an incomplete treatment according to the data I’ve seen.

Both taking aspirin and Warfarin have a death rate from their use.  Aspirin is safer but less protective from ischemic strokes.

But both can cause bleeding or hemorrhagic strokes and internal bleeding in the gut. 

That’s how they do kill some people.

And, it has recently been found that continuous use of Warfarin causes Alzheimer’s disease. 

(In an email recently, Jenny Thompson sent this:  “In a new study out of the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City, researchers looked at health records from more than 10,000 patients who used warfarin for six to eight years. 

And the folks with Afib were up to three times more likely to develop dementia or Alzheimer's.

People whose dosages were frequently adjusted -- which is common with the drug -- were at the most risk. 

Of course, the researchers claim that you're only in danger if you're using warfarin over a long period of time. 

Yeah, well, that's not exactly comforting -- especially when the mainstream has made habit out of keeping Afib patients on warfarin for life. “

(One mode of action for this is the small hemorrhagic strokes it causes gradually putting holes in the brain’s network of neurons.

It’s comparable to blowing holes in the freeway.  If you keep doing it, your chances of blocking the freeway go up.  And it might happen right away.)

Given those drawbacks, isn’t there a safer way to protect people from these two things?!

YES!

Does it net out saving more people than the blood thinner approach?  That experiment has not been done.

It looks to me as if the odds are better than 10 to 1 that it would test as dramatically more protective however.  And it also looks like fewer people would get strokes!

A.  Let’s start with the best stroke preventive I’ve ever heard of that’s easy to do AND lowers the death rate from all causes in people who do it!

A study in the UK found that people who eat 6 or more servings of vegetables a day are less likely to get any kind of blood vessel or heart disease and lower their risk of death from any cause.

For that many servings a day, I think it imperative to eat organic vegetables only. 

And, eating even 3 to 5 vegetables other than potatoes each day is challenging.

BUT, there is better news!

The same study found that eating one or more servings of whole fruit a day prevented BOTH kinds of stroke and also lowered the risk of death from any cause.   Best of all doing this was even more effective at preventing bleeding or hemorrhagic strokes.

Again, given doing this daily, I think it imperative to eat organic fruit only. 

Blueberries have separately been found to prevent strokes and test as making people who eat them younger in their memory and thinking skills.  So eating blueberries two or three days a week and a variety of other fruit the other days of the week looks like a sound strategy.

B.  There are other ways to reduce blood clots that are effective and can be effective in a few days.  Guess what?  Not only are they safer (presuming you don’t take blood thinners), they have other health benefits!

The big one is adding omega 3 oils.  Dr Dean Ornish said this: 

"The omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil tend to inhibit thrombus formation, which is the underlying cause of 90% of strokes."

In fact, adding the omega 3 oil, DHA, daily as a supplement; adding a purified fish oil omega 3 supplement daily, and eating wild caught fish high in omega 3 oils such as herring or Alaskan salmon two or three times a week PLUS stopping all wheat and high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners and excessive sugar—AT THE SAME time can drive your risk of heart attacks and ischemic strokes quite low within days.

(See:  http://iehealth.blogspot.com/2016/03/advanced-heart-attack-prevention.html

& http://iehealth.blogspot.com/2016/03/fast-and-easy-way-to-prevent-heart.html

for more information.)

So instead of artificial blood thinners, you can get the same or considerably better stroke prevention by doing both things:

1.  Eating more organic vegetables as you are able; eating one or more pieces of organic fruit a day –

2.  AND adding more omega 3 oils plus stopping the foods and drinks that boost triglycerides.

Can you do even more?

Yes!

For both things, TIAs and AFIB, you can take ginkgo biloba. 

Ginkgo is an effective enough blood thinner when you go in for surgery, doctors ask you to stop taking gingko a few days before and to not resume until the cuts have mostly healed.

But if you don’t have surgery or add drug blood thinners while taking it, ginkgo not only is a blood thinner, it’s much safer than aspirin or blood thinners!

It’s even better than that! 

Ginkgo is best at increasing blood flow in the brain AND a study found that people who had been taking ginkgo for some time who DID have a stroke had less damage than people having similar strokes did!

A well done study found that the artificial vitamin E, alpha tocopherol acetate,was slightly carcinogenic.

At the same time, studies of vitamin E from food sources found it prevented cancers instead!

AND, naturally sourced alpha tocopherol as a supplement plus eating foods high in tocopherols such as extra virgin olive oil and raw tree nuts for those not allergic and avocados are also blood thinners with other health benefits.

Then, if you do these things, you can get added protection by adding exercise.

Lastly,

If you follow these methods which have you stop ingesting the foods and drinks that make people fat and eating lots of organic fruits and vegetables, you can lose fat you keep off.

In many cases this is the very best treatment for AFIB!  People who use these methods to lose fat often stop getting AFIB at all!

(Some just get it much less often and have it be milder.  But that too is quite protective from having AFIB cause strokes!)

Similarly, losing fat you keep off often lowers high blood pressure enough to reduce the risk of strokes even more.