If you’re like most people, you don’t have much time to make breakfast in the morning after hitting the snooze button a couple times and racing through a shower.

But breakfast is the most important meal of the deal because it jump starts your metabolism, replenishes a body that has been devoid of food for 7-8 hours (you are getting between 7-8 hours of sleep every night right??), and keeps your brain focused on getting to work and not the hunger pangs.

Below is a guideline from Men’s Fitness.com to eating a healthy breakfast whether you’re eating at home, on the go or have zero time to waste.

IF YOU’RE EATING AT HOME, REACH FOR . . .
· 2 eggs fried in extra-virgin olive oil
· 2 slices whole-grain toast with low-sugar jam
· 1 8-oz. glass 1% milk
· 1 cup fresh berries

IF YOU’RE EATING ON THE GO, GRAB . . .
· 2 hard-boiled eggs
· 2 slices whole-grain toast with low-sugar jam
· a carton of milk
· a 1-oz box of raisins

THE NEXT BEST BET . . .
· 1 cup whole-grain cereal
· 1 cup low-fat milk
· 1 slice whole-grain toast with 2 tbsp peanut butter
· 8 oz orange juice with added calcium and vitamin D

The best advice I can give concerning fat consumption is to increase your intake of omega 3s, like EPA and DHA found in fish oil, and reduce your consumption of polyunsaturated fats like vegetable oil.  Polyunsaturated fats contain high amounts of omega 6 fatty acids, which in excess are detrimental to our health. Probably most importantly however, is to eliminate trans fats if your like most Americans who consume processed foods. By switching the fats one consumes you can increase your overall health, prevent heart disease, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, ulcerative colitis, depression, Alzheimer’s, and a host of other diseases..

These two types of fat, omega-3 and omega-6, are both essential for human health. However, the typical American consumes far too many omega-6 fats in their diet while consuming very low levels of omega-3. America’s consumption of vegetable oil has increased by 437% in the past 80 years.  We evolved on a fairly high fat diet. The problem is that the types of fats we were eating back in the Paleolithic days were quite a bit different from the fats we eat now.

In the Paleolithic era, our ratio of omega 6s to omega 3s was very close to 1:1. We ate like this for millions of years. These days it has been suggested that this ratio is 30:1 up to 50:1! So why should we be concerned? The change in the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 plays a role in pretty much every major disease that’s killing us in Western civilization. The primary sources of omega-6 are corn, soy, canola, safflower and sunflower oil. These oils are overabundant in the typical diet, which explains our excess omega-6 levels. Avoid or limit these oils. Omega-3, meanwhile, is typically found in flaxseed oil, walnut oil and some fish. 

By far, the best source of omega-3 fats are those found in wild fish. Wild caught fish like salmon is high in two omega-3 fatty acids crucial to human health, DHA and EPA. These two fatty acids are pivotal in preventing diseases as mentioned earlier. The human brain is also highly dependent on DHA. Low DHA levels have been linked to depression, schizophrenia, memory loss and a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Eat more salmon

How did our country get so unhealthy? In this second part of a series, “Our Deteriorating Diet”, I explain what caused our weight gain and its inherent health risks. Many experts claim we, Americans, just eat too much. Is it just a matter of calories in versus calories out? Are we really eating too much or is it what we eat? Do man-made substances in our food supply really make a difference in our ability to maintain a healthy weight? Find the answers to these questions, and other interesting facts you wont see anywhere else.

Humans are carnivorous animals and the Stone Age diet, Dr Voegtlin challenges, was primarily one of a meat and fat eater. Like the carnivorous dog, our jaw moves in a vertical motion. A herbivores’ jaw moves in a rotary fashion. We have canine teeth, ridged molars and incisors designed for crushing and tearing. Unlike herbivores that lack canines and have flat molars, mastication is unnecessary and we do not ruminate or chew cud. Our stomachs hold two quarts, empty in about three hours, secrete hydrochloric acid, lack bacteria and cannot digest cellulose. A herbivorous sheep’s stomach holds eight and a half gallons, never empties, digests cellulose, and bacteria are vital to its function. A herbivore’s stomach doesn’t secrete hydrochloric acid, which is primarily for the digestion of protein. Carnivores like man feed intermittently while herbivores continuously feed (graze). A herbivore’s digestive tract is five times the size of man’s relative to our body size. Unlike herbivores, man’s colons are short and our rectums are small and do not contribute to digestion. Man’s gall bladder has a vital function and is well developed. The function of a herbivore’s gall bladder is weak or nonexistent because of the lack of fat in their diet. The volume of feces from man is small because our digestive efficiency borders on 100 percent. A herbivore’s feces are voluminous because their digestive efficiency is less than or equal to 50 percent, and they must eat large quantities of food.

Americans currently pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Canadians, Europeans, and even citizens of Mexico pay only about one-half to as little as one-tenth the price paid by Americans for the very same chemicals. Drug companies actually import many of the raw materials used in drugs from other countries, meaning that some U.S. medicines are already sourced from countries like the U.K. and Germany.

Drug companies mark up their prescription drugs as much as 569,000% over the price of the raw materials. A typical markup is more in the 30,000% - 50,000% range. Retailing pharmaceuticals is hugely profitable. There is no business in the world with more profit built into the retail price of the product. How many business owners would like to have those profit margins?

The purpose of restricting Americans from buying drugs from other countries is to enforce a medical monopoly in the United States, forcing consumers to purchase drugs at the highest prices in the world, further padding the profits of powerful and influential pharmaceutical corporations who exert strong influence over the U.S. Congress.

To learn more about how the phamaceutical industry is fleecing America go HERE.

By the mid 1950’s, CVD became our number one killer and remains the leading killer today. It was around this time that the lipid hypothesis started to gain popularity. The lipid hypothesis, which was proposed by Ancel Keys in the late 1950’s, is a theory claiming there is a direct relationship between the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet and the incidence of CVD. This theory however, is simplistic and unfounded; the biggest health scam in American history.

Today in the United States one person will die from CVD every 37 seconds.6 This year in the U.S. an estimated 1.26 million people will have a new or recurrent heart attack, and just short of half will die.7 Approximately 80,000,000 people or more than 25% of The U.S. population has one or more forms of cardiovascular disease.7 In 2002 CVD mortality was nearly 60% of “total mortality” in the U.S.6 This means that out of 2.4 million deaths from all causes, CVD was listed as a primary cause on about 1.4 million death certificates. CVD causes more deaths than the next 7 causes combined. It’s safe to say CVD had a meteoric rise from the 1930’s to the 1950’s to become number one and to this day the incidence is still rising. (We’re a Fat Unhealthy Nation. part I)

Did you know…

…cholesterol is a substance vital to the health of all cells in your body?

…your body produces 3 to 4 times more cholesterol than you eat?

…when you decrease your consumption the body increases it’s production and visa-versa?

…despite the same amounts of cholesterol flowing through them, veins never become sclerotic?

…arteries that pass through the bony channels of the skull and the few branches that pass through heart muscle never become sclerotic?

…studies of the hearts of people who have died from heart attacks showed approximately 1/5th of the victims had no evidence of coronary atherosclerosis?

…oxidized cholesterol is what accumulates in vessels not normal cholesterol?

…3/4’s of the lipids found in plaque is polyunsaturated?

…in Japan more people die of cerebral hemorrhage than in most other countries, and is greatest in those with the lowest cholesterol levels.

…there is no correlation between saturated fat consumption and cardiovascular disease? In fact, many societies have decreased their animal fat consumption with a corresponding increase in cardiovascular disease.

…there are countless scientific and observable contradictions to the Lipid Hypothesis? Only one scientific contradiction is needed to disprove a hypothesis.

Do your homework and judge for yourself.

Whether you know it or not the body needs certain types of bacteria in order to maintain optimum health. Within our digestive tracks live all types of bacteria. There is a constant battle being waged in our intestines between “good” and “bad” bacteria. The “good” bacteria are called probiotics and fight bad bacteria like E. coli and other pathogenic types.

When our probiotics start to loose the battle in our intestines, one can develop a disorder called dysbiosis. This disorder has been linked to a number of problems including; indigestion, bloating, IBS irritable bowel syndrome, gas, diarrhea, lactose intolerance, bladder infections, skin rashes, colon and breast cancer. Is a probiotic deficiency common? The answer, yes. Many factors can cause a deficiency including; stress, antibiotics, poor diet, infections and aging. Many experts feel without supplementation it’s hard for the average person to have a sufficient amount of probiotics.

When probiotics are winning the battle they perform a number of functions. They are essential in the proper digestion and absorption of food. They keep our immune systems functioning properly – prevent food allergies – repair and maintain the GI tract lining – and suppress “bad” bacteria.

I have found the best product out there to be Theralac. Take 2 capsules per day for the first 2 weeks and once the GI tract has been colonized you can reduce the dose to 2 caps per week.A

Yes, there are people who actually argue that conventionally grown food is as nutritious as organically grown food.  And as the popularity of organic foods increases, so does the debate.  Well, the debate over whether organic food is healthier than conventionally grown food may be coming to an end, according to results from the largest study of it’s kind into organic food.

The four-year, European-Union-funded 25 million dollar study found that:
* Organic fruit and vegetables contain up to 40 percent more antioxidants
* Organic produce had higher levels of beneficial minerals like iron and zinc
* Milk from organic herds contained up to 90 percent more antioxidants

The researchers obtained their results after growing fruit and vegetables, and raising cattle, on adjacent organic and non-organic sites.

According to NewsMax Health Alerts, the five foods proven to fight cardiovascular disease are:

1. Spinach — Spinach is high in folate which helps prevent the accumulation of homoscysteine in the blood. Homoscysteine is a major risk factor for heart disease.
2. Salmon — Salmon is high in omega-3 fatty acids which reduce inflammation and help prevent plaque from blocking arteries.
3. Tomatoes — Tomatoes are rich in lycopene which lowers cholesterol.
4. Oatmeal — Oatmeal is a great source of soluble fiber which absorbs excess cholesterol and removes it from your body.
5. Pomegranates — Pomegranates are rich in polyphenols, which are antioxidants that keep hearts healthy by neutralizing cell-damaging free radicals, and may also reduce LDL “bad” cholesterol.

The above foods although nutritious,  are going to do very little in the way of warding off heart disease.  There are other foods wich are literally poisons that need to be avoided if one is trying to eat heart healthy.  Conversely, there are also foods and nutrients which you need to add to your diet that are much more heart healthy than the above list.

Despite what you have learned, high cholesterol is not your enemy. Our enemy in this battle against heart disease is vegetable oils.  That’s right, the very same oils that are promoted as heart healthy.  Studies using rabbits in the early 1900’s are often touted as proof positive that a diet high in cholesterol, which raise cholesterol, promote heart disease.  If you look up these studies you’ll find that the researchers used corn oil or partially hydrogenated oil. 

One study used corn oil with the same amount of cholesterol people normally consume.  The rabbits in this study like all the others developed rampant atherosclerosis.  As we’ve known for decades through past, as well as recent studies, vegetable oils and hydrogenated oils facilitate atherosclerosis without adding cholesterol.  Only God knows how many people have died or suffered as a result of the mass marketing of vegetable oils as heart healthy over the last 7 decades.

Men’s Fitness.com helps you create a healthy lunch that actually tastes good with their guide to building the ultimate sandwich.

GO WITH THE GRAIN
Just because the bread’s brown doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Check out the ingredient list. “Whole wheat” should be the first thing listed—not “refined grains,” which have fewer nutrients and less fiber than their whole-grain counterparts. Also be sure the loaf has at least 3 grams of fiber per serving and doesn’t contain any high-fructose corn syrup.

RAID THE PRODUCE AISLE
Pile on all the cucumbers, tomatoes, pickles, onions, bell peppers, or jalapeños you want. The extra calories they add to your meal are virtually nil.

ALL ABOUT MEAT
Ham: It’ll only set you back around 60 calories yet packs 11 grams of protein. Select a nitrate-free variety, though (these preservatives have been shown to increase the risk of cancer when consumed over time). Less sodium means you’ll also avoid that after-lunch bloat.

Turkey: The king of the healthy lunch meats. It’s low in calories, fat, and sodium but loaded with protein. Buy 100% baked or smoked sliced turkey breast.

Roast Beef: Red meat gets a bad rap for being high in fat, but with many lower fat brands out there, you can now pile on the beef without adversely tipping the scale.

Check out the rest of Men’s Fitness ingredients to the ultimate sandwich, here.

Fat is it friend or foe? Well if you ask most, including health care professionals, they’ll say foe. It’s time for people to wake up! The current ways of eating aren’t working. Just a few years ago, for the first time in history the top six books on the New York Times Best Seller list, were about the same subject: diets low in carbs, moderate to high protein, high in fibrous carbs (vegetable), and moderate fat. Why is this topic so popular? They work!

One of the biggest reasons protein diets work is the consumption of fat. That is, fat minus the abundance of carbs. Fat has many functions outside of being used as an energy source, and certain fatty acids are essential. Without eating them you’d literally get sick and die.

But how does fat help our diet? Well, fat satiates the appetite, and helps to stop the cravings for sugar. And probably most importantly, fat when combined with a low sugar intake actually aids in burning fat as fuel. That’s right, fat helps burn fat. When fat is restricted, our bodies have a defense mechanism built in through evolution for survival. Our bodies will actually stop using fat as fuel in an effort to preserve our stores for future use.

Bodybuilders have known this for years through trial and error, while dieting for shows, they would reach a certain body fat percentage and suddenly plateau for no apparent reason. We found that by adding fat to the diet like olive oil, or coconut oil, would jump-start the body to burn body fat. It’s not the amount of food you consume that is the problem. It’s the types of food you’re consuming.

Sounds bizarre doesn’t it.