The Science of Nutrition continues to make advances in discovering the keys to a fat loss lifestyle.

When it comes to burning fat, there is one thing we all have in common: IT’S NEVER EASY. Okay, well maybe it’s easy for a short period of time, but for sustainable fat loss and lean lifestyle it will definitely take some effort. 

Here’s the other problem: The odds are stacked against you. It’s foolish to think that billions of dollars of marketing psychology tactics haven’t taken a toll on what you believe to be healthy. The first step is to let get of your perceptions of healthy eating and the next step is to educate yourself.

Eating healthy can be so simple, yet so complicated at the same time.

If you’re reading my blog, you probably already know that large corporations love to use buzz words to get you to buy their products. Let’s think of some buzz words… “all natural,” “good source of protein,” “sugar-free,” etc etc. Items that have these labels not only provide poor sources of nutrition, actually they might even be harmful!

Here’s a great example below of one of my vices that while has some nutritional benefits, is actually unhealthy for most Americans.

Look, I’m not going to say that under some circumstances that peanut butter isn’t a good option. Yes it is truly natural, so it gets points there. But allow me to explain why peanut butter should not be considered a healthy food for most people.

Reasons Peanut Butter is not a healthy food for most Americans:

• Peanut butter is NOT a good source of protein.
  • For every 28 calories of protein, you must also consume 144 calories from fat. Far from lean, folks.
  • Peanut butter protein actually LACKS some essential amino acids (building blocks of protein), and is also a weak source of the Branched Chain Amino Acids which are responsible for maintaining lean muscle.
  • It’s time to dissolve the myth NOW. Peanut butter is a weak excuse for a protein source.
• Peanut butter contains Fatty Acids that could ruin your health 
  • Let me clarify. Yes, peanut butter contains some essential fatty acids, but the problem is that it contains an excessive amounts of the particular fatty acids known as Omega-6.
  • While Omega-6 Fatty Acids are essential (meaning that we must consume it from diet, our bodies cannot synthesize it), the problem is that Americans already consume far too much Omega-6 from other sources. The standard American diet has an overload of Omega-6.
    • Omega-6’s are in high quantities in pretty much every vegetable oil and standard meats in America.
    • When you go to restaurants, you are consuming Omega-6 in high quantities guaranteed.
    • You will NEVER lack Omega-6. So the title of “Essential Fatty Acid” is technically true but highly misleading. More is not better.
  • Why is Omega-6 harmful in high quantities?
    • An overabundance of Omega-6 in the body creates a pro-inflammatory environment in the body which may be responsible for any number of preventable disease of lifestyle in America.
    • Study after study after study supports the argument against excessive Omega-6 consumption, and the importance of Omega-3 consumption.

The peanut butter example above is simply that. It’s an example of how Americans have been so mislead on dietary decisions. 

And that SUCKS. BECAUSE I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER. And I certainly limit my consumption. That being said, as a responsible consumer of food, I know that if I also consume high quantities of Omega-3 fatty acids, then I can mitigate the risk of peanut butter and then it may actually be a somewhat nutritious food for me.

Now that I have outlined just one example of common dietary mistakes we make, let me provide a list of three must-eat foods for fitness, fat loss, health, and disease prevention.

The other side of the Omega-6 coin is of course Omega-3. Arguably the best source of Omega-3 is seafood that originates from Alaska. The Alaskan seafood is some of the cleanest seafood available in terms of chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, and heavy metals (all of which are serious problems in our food supply chain otherwise).

1. Wild Alaskan Salmon

There are so many benefits to the regular consumption of wild Alaskan salmon that not only could I write an entire article about it, I could probably dedicate an entire blog to the promotion of salmon consumption. I feel so highly about wild Alaskan salmon that I would be doing a disservice to everybody by not educating about Salmon.

Here is a short list of the benefits of Wild Alaskan Salmon:

• Excellent source of high quality Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids with proven benefits.
• Excellent source of protein — high quality amino acids and unique amino acid peptides which recover the muscles more effectively than the protein of beef, chicken, etc.
• Excellent source of antioxidants — specifically the antioxidant known as Astaxanthin which gives Salmon its pink-red color (same reasons that Flamingos are pink and healthy).
  • Astaxanthin is a powerful anti-inflammatory antioxidant which has the special ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. Therefore, not only is it a strong way to protect the central nervous system (and there are several diseases you can potentially slow the progressive of or prevent such as alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis through nutritional intervention), it will also protect the physical structures of the eyes, organs, and skin. Wow.
    • By the way, the reason that farmed salmon is always labeled as artificially colored is because they use a synthetically produced version of astaxanthin that they feed to the fish. This synthetic version of astaxanthin is weak and has a mere fraction of the antioxidant capacity. It is also ILLEGAL TO BE SOLD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. And yet, we’ll feed it to our farmed fish, which we end up eating ourselves.

Again, I could go on and on and on about wild Alaskan salmon and I guarantee you will read more about Salmon in this blog in the upcoming weeks so stay tuned.

Next up…

2. Red chard / beet root /purple kale / red cabbage.

Okay so I realize these are multiple foods that are listed here. That being said, I believe they fall into similar families of nutrient density and antioxidants. Think of it as a bonus for you.

The color of vegetables and produce is truly an indicator of antioxidant families. A great example is purple kale vs green kale. Or green cabbage vs red cabbage. Take a guess which is healthier?

If you guessed purple kale and red cabbage, then you’re on to something. Researchers have been learning about the benefits of a class of antioxidants known as pro-anthocyanins that are linked to the healthy normal function of organs throughout the entire body. Again, we’re talking about cardiovascular health, eye health, brain health, joint health… I could go on.

So if somebody eats a iceburg lettuce salad and thinks that’s all they need to be healthy, then they have become a victim of the misinformation campaigns of large corporations that want you to buy their unhealthy products.

Just take a moment to think about the last time you consumed Red Chard, Purple Kale, or Red Cabbage. If you can’t remember the last time you consumed these vegetables, then you should eat this within 48 hours of reading this article. Because you need it.

3. Raw Kefir

I realize that most people will never be as dedicated to nutrition as I am. Which is why most people will succumb to miserable diseases of lifestyle at some point in their lives. And trust me, if I haven’t experienced misery in my life, then I wouldn’t be such a nutrition fanatic myself.

We all need to support the healthy bacteria balance in our bodies. Even though bacteria cells are smaller than human cells, there are 10 times as many bacteria cells than there are human cells in the body. The balance of bacteria in the gut (and other organ systems) has been strongly correlated not only with all types of disease, it has also been linked to the amount of body fat we carry.

So realize that if your bacterial balance is out of whack, it could be holding you back from fat loss. Worse though, if your bacterial balance is out of whack, you are more susceptible to all types of disease from your reproductive organs to your gut, heart, and skin.

Benefits of RAW Kefir

• Contains 30+ beneficial bacteria to promote the healthy balance of bacteria in the body
• Contains 5+ beneficial yeasts to promote the healthy balance of living organisms in the body
• Contains some of the highest quality, bio-active protein known to man
• Contains highly bio-available vitamins and minerals, such as Vitamin K2 and Magnesium essential to bone health/density/mineralization.
• Has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral capabilities — all while sparing and even PROMOTING the healthy organisms. It literally helps the host defend against the bad guys while reinforcing the good guys. 
• Again, I could dedicate an entire article or even an entire BLOG to the benefits of Kefir, which is why I must promote this super food.

I wish I had more time to write tonight, but I must draw this post to a conclusion. Don’t hate me if I have some spelling and grammatical errors on this one, I just really wanted to make sure I could pump it out by tonight.

Keep an open mind.

When people say, “oh but it doesn’t taste that good,” honestly I’m over that. I want to be your coach and help as much as possible, and truth be told I really don’t care if it doesn’t taste that good. That being said, when have a nutrient dense diet, then you start to appreciate the taste of some healthy foods (though not all). In general, we need to learn how to consume the truly bitter foods on a regular basis, ESPECIALLY if detox is of importance to you.

How does being lean and healthy taste? How does being lean and healthy feel? The more nutrient dense foods you eat, then the more leeway you have to eat crap on occasion. However, we have to re-define what it means to eat healthy. The problem is that the average person’s perception of healthy just doesn’t cut it anymore.

So I’m telling it like it is and I’m not going to sugarcoat anymore.

And since you’re reading this blog, trust me you’ve far surpassed average.

Stay tuned for more.