Why This Bottled “Health Food” Isn’t

You hear it all the time, and everybody seems to be in 100% agreement. I’ve never met a doctor who didn’t tell me that it’s great for you. It’s like a default position that you should be drinking more fresh-squeezed fruit juices.
But wait a minute… let’s take a step back and look at juice. Is it really as healthy and natural as people say?
The juice producers love to tell you how “healthy” their juice is. How it’s like a multivitamin, and you should have some every morning. The cartons scream at you that it’s “100 percent natural” and has “no added sugar” or “no preservatives.”
And what’s not to believe? Seems simple… you pick the fruit, squeeze the fruit, and put the juice in a container, with pulp or without. Delicious and freshly squeezed… right?
Not really.

I’m No Different Than Howard Stern

“You should see it, Robin. You should see the belly on me. I’m running, I’m lifting weights… for like two hours a day.”
“I’m thinking of giving up. I hate it.”
I was listening to the Howard Stern Show in my car for a few minutes on the way to the clinic and Howard was telling his co-host Robin Quivers about how upset he was with himself.
Then he said something like, “I don’t get it. I eat right. I have a low-fat baked potato every day. And I still have this 10 pounds I can’t get rid of.”
I’ve read scores of books on nutrition, I’ve attended multiple conferences and I’m a certified clinical nutritionist. I’ve been thinking and living this and doing everything I can to eat healthier since I was a small child… and I’ve made the same mistake.

They Ate Up All My Blueberries!

Blueberries have lots of fiber which helps prevent heart disease, and they’re low on the glycemic index (40), so they don’t spike your blood sugar. And eating them can help your memory and other mental abilities.
But the newest research on blueberries has found two exciting things. They can help fight hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) and protect your liver.
In one study, researchers from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture looked at animals with atherosclerosis. They gave a formula with only 1 percent freeze-dried whole blueberries to one of two groups. The other group’s formula did not contain the berry powder. After 20 weeks, the blueberry formula group had as much as 58 percent less artery hardening than the non-blueberry group

The Whole-Grain Hoax

“Whole grains are your best bet,” declares the Harvard School of Public Health website. Don’t be afraid of carbs from whole grains. They’re good for you, the site says.
The modern health industry and big business do a lot of advertising, advising and talking about how good for you whole grains are. And now everyone seems to have fallen for the whole-grain lie. Even the smart people at Harvard.
What they should be warning you about are the whole grains.
The whole idea behind eating a grain “whole” is this: Your body breaks down dietary starch – carbohydrates – into glucose, spiking your blood sugar. If a grain is left whole, you won’t break it down as fast, and it won’t raise your blood sugar.
It sounds like a nice theory, but it doesn’t work in the real world.
Let me show you what I mean.

Reset Your Hormone Switch to "Normal"

Have you ever shivered on a cold day? Felt a little light-headed when you stood up too fast? I’m sure you’ve broken a sweat while doing your PACE exercises, right?
In all these situations, what you’re feeling is your body trying to return itself to a “normal” state. In medical terms, we call it homeostasis – a fancy way of saying that your body is reacting to its environment and trying to get back within its natural chemical, hormonal and temperature ranges.
For example, when your energy levels are low, the conventional wisdom would tell you that your hunger hormones (like leptin and insulin) signal your body to “eat more, expend less.” And when you’ve eaten enough, your hormones should tell you that you’ve had enough.

Don't Be a Chicken – Eat Some Turkey

Thanksgiving is here, so let’s set the record straight: Eating a few extra helpings of turkey will not make you fat.
It’s the stuffing and the potatoes that pack on the holiday pounds. The bottom line is insulin and how much your body makes. Starchy foods like bread and potatoes send your blood sugar through the roof, triggering waves of fat-producing insulin.
So how can you tell the difference between foods that spike insulin and those that are less harmful?

Turn Off Your Obesity Gene

Have you resigned yourself to gaining weight because it “runs in the family”?
Bad genetics doesn’t have to catch up with you. You can change your genes simply by making a few adjustments to your diet.1
When you eat certain foods, nutrients release hormones that switch your genes on and off. And the nutrients in low-glycemic foods turn off genes that lead to weight gain and diseases that may follow.
We found this out when we studied the response to the glycemic index (GI) in people who have metabolic syndrome…

3 Foods You Should Never Eat

If you enjoy breakfast or lunch on-the-go, I understand. Our lives are so busy; we don’t always have time to cook.
But beware: Some “convenience foods” aren’t worth it. You’ll pay for it with added inches to your waistline. And those excess pounds lead to chronic diseases like obesity, cancer, and heart disease.
Here are three foods that will put you on the fast track to fat:

Enjoy a Few Cold Ones at Your Super Bowl Party Without the Beer Belly

This year, I’m lucky… I have tickets to the Super Bowl.
On Sunday, I’ll be driving down to Miami with a few friends to watch the big game. I’m extra excited because my new fitness book, P.A.C.E.: The 12-Minute Fitness Revolution, is being featured in the official program for the event.
The Super Bowl is a truly American tradition that brings families and friends together for a day of good fun and good food.
And good beer.

Carbs Can Cause Cancer

The other night, my son Dylan and I were in line at the grocery checkout, and I couldn’t help but notice the woman in front of me.
As she unloaded potato chips, pastries, waffles, and pasta onto the conveyor belt, I wondered if she understood the risks she was taking. If she knew empty carbs were linked to breast cancer would she still buy them?