Say No to Fake Food

I can't believe it's not Butter..... If it's NOT butter then what is it?

It's chemically made by mixing unhealthy corn, soy or cottonseed oils with nickel oxide.

Then it's heated to very high temperatures, mixed with emulsifiers and starch, steam cleaned to remove the odor, bleached to remove the color and then dyed the color of butter.

Finally it's injected with flavor to taste like butter!

The takeaway? Eat real food.

Kerrygold Grass fed butter is a much better option.

#justsaynotofakefood

The Meat Sweats

Happy Thanksgiving!

Do you ever get hot after eating Thanksgiving dinner?

Did you know that protein, fats and carbohydrates have different thermic effects on our bodies, meaning they can heat our bodies up differently. This means that it takes more calories to processes certain types of foods which creates more heat inside your body. A calorie simply means a unit of energy aka heat.

Protein has the largest thermic effect, which explains the "meat sweats" many people have after eating a ton of protein on Thanksgiving. Upwards of 35% of the calories in protein are directly used to break it down and process it metabolically. So if you eat 100 calories from protein your body is actually only getting 65 of those calories because the other 35 are burned during processing, which makes you hot.

The thermic effect also explains why calories from protein are not equal to calories from carbohydrates or fat. Calorie counters don't take this into effect either.

Many people who are always cold should consider eating more protein especially in the winter because it will potentially help increase their body temperature!

Favorite natural cosmetic & skincare products

My wife Jen is often asked what her favorite cosmetic and skincare products are, we try to use as many natural products in our house as we can -- here is what she has found over the years that she likes the best. 

We research everything on EWG's Skin Deep website or Think Dirty which has a lot of great info. 

Tarte cheek stain |  Arbonne CC cream |  Honest Beauty eyeshadow 

Honest Beauty mascara | Pixi eyeliner

Ambre blends natural perfume  | Burt's Bees lotion for daytime |  Soapwall restorative face serum for nighttime (one bottle typically lasts 6 - 8 months)  |  Beautycounter rejuvenating radiance serum for nighttime  |  P.T. Pure lash & brow oil -- made in Michigan!

Pharmaceutical Drugs and Our Body

The idea behind pharmaceutical drugs seems great from a superficial standpoint.

Have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, depression, anxiety? Take a pill and you will be cured!

Unfortunately it’s not that simple.

Our bodies are far more complex than research could ever prove. Drugs typically only work on one reaction, such as inhibiting the conversion of a single enzyme that produces cholesterol (statins). However, when you change one reaction it can impact the way everything else functions in the body, hence the reason all medications have a list of side effects 3 pages long.

This graph is one I used in biochemistry to show the basic cycles of our metabolism and cellular function, you obviously can’t read all the names because the real chart takes up half a wall, but the main point is that everything on this chart (aka in your body) is highly connected and proper function is critical to be healthy. If you change one reaction with a medication it’s going to alter every other reaction in the body eventually.

Are there conditions and situations where pharmaceutical drugs are necessary? ABSOLUTELY.

But there are also plenty of conditions and situations which are simply better treated by regaining how the body is naturally designed to function, and this comes through education, nutrition, exercise, and stress reduction.

Vitamin D-3 for Seasonal Sickness

As we transition to less sunlight - both because there's les time during the day when the sun is out and because people spend more time indoors because of the weather - it becomes time to think about your vitamin D levels.

Sunlight increases the amount of Vitamin D-3 produced inside your body. Vitamin D-3 is actually a hormone that plays many vital roles in our bodies, especially in regulating our immune system.

Flu season follows the cycle of the sun around the world. Meaning anywhere in the world where sunlight is the least seasonally people are getting sick. Research has shown that lack of Vitamin D-3 is one of the big reasons for this.

Most people benefit greatly from taking 2,000 IU to 5,000 IU per day, but getting your levels tested is the only way to know exactly where your levels are at and what your supplementation amount should be!

Share this for anyone who suffers from seasonal sickness!

Grains Are Not Healthy

"...but I buy whole-grain bread."

Grains are not healthy, period.

1. They are inflammatory, they have a poor Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acid ratio. This ratio promotes inflammatory eicosanoid production which leads to disease.

2. They contain lectins which are a type of sugar protein called a glycoprotein, this can cause leaky gut syndrome and chronic irritation to the gut leading to auto-immune problems. Cooking doesn't deactivate lectins, which many people claim, the only way to break them down is to soak them and then pressure cook them.

3. They contain gluten. Most people think that gluten only causes digestive problems but it's involved in many other negative reactions in the body as well. It's reactions are simular to lectins. One example is that when it binds to cells inside the digestive tract it creates a substance called zonulin, this disrupts the tight junctions between the lining leading to leaky gut syndrome, which leads to auto immune reactions.

4. Grains are very acidic for their overall composition. Typically foods that have a high protein content are acidic because of the metabolic breakdown of protein which gets balanced out by fruits and vegetables, but grains are very low in protein comparatively which makes them one of the only foods with this makeup.

5. Calorie for calorie grains lack nutrient density. If you keep calories equal the same amount of broccoli has 36 grams of fiber and 2748 mg of potassium while whole grains have 4 grams of fiber and 144 mg of potassium, romaine lettuce has 39 grams of fiber and 4638 mg of potassium. Potassium is used because typically things that have potassium also have an excellent all around nutrient value.

6. They are loaded with carbohydrates and are broken down into sugar within seconds of eating them. Only a few pieces of bread or bowls of cereal is typically going to be more carbs than someone should be eating for a whole day. This leads to weight gain and dis regulation of insulin and glucose levels internally.

To you grain-free or grain-avoidant eaters - what do you substitute for grains?