Simple Food Rules 2-10
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Food Rule #2.
Focus on quality protein sources such as wild game, wish fish and seafood, grass-fed meats, and free-roaming organically fed eggs, while trying to avoid most farmed meats and farmed fish that were fed mostly grains and kept in unhealthy “factory farm” environments. If you want to learn more request my article about why grass-fed meats are superior to grain-fed meats.
Food Rule #3.
Most people need to be more aware of the omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio of the food they eat. The ancestral human diet of the Paleolithic era appears that it had a ratio of approximately 1:1 to 2:1 omega-6 fats to omega-3 fats. The current average western diet contains anywhere from 20:1 to 30:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats. This is a major problem and one of the causes of degenerative diseases.
In order to balance this out better, you need to AVOID corn oils, soybean oils, cottonseed oils (or anything cooked in these oils), and minimize grain-fed meats and farmed fish that were fed grains. Instead, focus on wild fish, grass-fed meats, grass-fed dairy, free-range eggs, as well as other foods that can help you get more omega-3’s like chia seeds, walnuts, hemp seeds, and fish oil and/or krill oil, which are vitally important sources of DHA and EPA. I personally take both fish oil and krill oil, as the fish oil has a larger quantity of DHA and EPA (and more omega-3 volume overall), while the krill oil has more antioxidant benefits from the astaxanthin and a higher absorption rate than the fish oil.
Take note that animal sources of omega-3 fats are MUCH more powerful to your health than plant sources of omega-3’s like walnuts, chia, and flax. This is because animal sources of omega-3’s already contain DHA and EPA already converted whereas plant sources don’t, and your body is very inefficient at converting plant sources of omega-3 fats to DHA and EPA.
Food Rule #4.
Aside from processed sugar, if I had to pick 3 of the WORST foods in the average western diet that would be most important to start avoiding, it would be corn, soy, and wheat, and their derivatives such as corn syrup, corn oil, soybean oil, soy protein, etc. Do you want to hear an appalling statistic about what the average person eats… Currently, the average adult eating a typical modern western diet in countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, etc consumes approximately 67% of their total caloric intake from only 3 foods — CORN, SOY, AND WHEAT (and their derivatives).
Keep in mind that ancestral humans have historically eaten over 80,000 species of plants, animals, and fungi throughout human history, yet modern humans are getting 67% of their calories from only 3 foods. That’s a problem! If you are interested, I have an article talking about why it’s a terrible idea to get most of your calories from corn, soy, and wheat and the health problems this is causing worldwide.
Food Rule #5.
Beware of hidden calories and inflammation-causing ingredients in condiments and dressings. You can go back some months & read my blog post here on my vote for the top 5 picks for healthiest condiments as well as the worst.
Most people don’t realize just how many calories and metabolism damaging high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) they are ingesting in things like ketchup, salad dressings, cocktail sauce, marinades, etc. For example, 1 Tbsp of ketchup has 5 grams of sugar (usually from HFCS), but the average person uses 2-4 Tbsp of ketchup with a typical burger and fries meal. That’s anywhere from 10-20 grams of EXTRA sugar just from the ketchup alone, and not even counting the sweetened drink that most people have with the meal too.
Be a label reader and avoid HFCS! And BEWARE deceptive advertisements out there from the corn refining industry that claim “HFCS is no worse than sugar and is natural“, this is far from the truth as you can go back a few months here on my blog and read why HFCS is indeed worse than plain sugar, despite them both being terrible for you.
Food Rule #6.
Speaking of sugar, most people don’t realize that they are addicted to sugar, and just how bad sugar is for your body internally. I hear people say things all the time when eating candy or drinking a sweetened drink that “oh, it’s just sugar, I can burn it off easy”. Oh, if it were only that simple. You can request the article here about why sugar is actually TOXIC in your body.
That’s right… not only does sugar make you fat, it’s one of the direct causes of diabetes, heart disease, as well as feeding cancer cells. Avoid sugar as much as possible with the exception of a small amount of natural sugars in a piece of daily fruit.
Food Rule #7.
Avoid canola oil as much as possible… despite the false marketing claims that canola oil is “healthy” and contains lots of monounsaturated fats just like olive oil, canola oil is NOTHING like olive oil from a biochemical standpoint and how it reacts internally in your body. Request this article for the full story on why to AVOID canola oil at all costs. Note that most canola oil is genetically modified too, so yet another reason to avoid it.
Food Rule #8.
In addition to avoiding canola oil, I highly recommend avoiding soybean oil, corn oil, or cottonseed oil as much as possible too. These oils are highly inflammatory in your body, disrupt your omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid balance in your body, and also are typically made of genetically modified crops, of which the long term health consequences are not yet fully understood by scientists.
I have an article that details everything you need to know about which cooking oils to fully avoid and which oils are healthy for you let me know if you would like a copy. You might be surprised to see why fats you falsely thought were unhealthy such as butter, lard, and coconut oil are actually the healthiest fats/oils to cook with.
Food Rule #9.
Butter vs margarine? I have no idea why anybody is still debating this… I use grass-fed butter on a daily basis, but I would NEVER even touch margarine… not even the so-called “healthy” margarines, which usually still contain inflammatory soybean or corn oils. REAL butter is the only answer in this case. You can request my article here with more details about why real butter can actually HELP you to get lean.
Food Rule #10.
Egg whites vs whole eggs? Once again, I have no idea why anyone is still debating this. Most of the general population has still not gotten the memo that, egg yolks are actually the healthiest part of the egg with over 90% of the micronutrients and antioxidants, and 100% of the fat soluble vitamins that are so important for our health. Why anybody would only eat egg whites and avoid yolks is beyond comprehension. And no, the dietary cholesterol in eggs is not bad for your heart… in fact, it increases your good HDL cholesterol. Request the full article here on why whole eggs are much healthier than egg whites, help increase your fat burning hormones, and why I personally eat 3-4 whole eggs per day and how this helps me to stay in a low body fat range .
Knowledge is KING!!
Arm yourself with this info as you set up your weekly menus/shopping list and as you try to determine what foods are REALLY good for you.
Have a “FIT” day