Protein:

Protein helps maintain and support muscle formation and repairs within the human body. It can also help with energy. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, they suggest that athletes should consume between 0.5 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight. ⁽⁶⁾For example, an athlete weighing 150 pounds would consume between 82 to 136 grams of protein daily. Your best source of protein can be found in the following foods: meats, eggs, beans, seeds, nuts, sprouts, quinoa and nut butters. It is best to avoid proteins with processed soy, dairy, or pork and any lunch meats containing nitrates or nitrites.

Carbohydrates:

Carbohydrates are used to provide energy during a workout or athletic event. Foods that are highly processed or contain sugar unfortunately do not provide the body with adequate nutrition. Over time, processed carbohydrates can cause excess fat storages, low energy levels, and muscle loss. ⁽⁴⁾The carbohydrates you want to avoid...

There are hundreds of detox diets and programs out there that promise the consumer quick fixes for weight loss, improved energy, better digestion, and other reasons.  For many of these people, they may have been indulging in an unhealthy lifestyle for too long and want a fast way to reverse it. 

If you have been wondering if a detox is something that you should do, this may actually be the worst time for it because it is a sign that the body is in a weaker state and needs nutrient support.  The body naturally detoxifies itself every day through the liver, the colon, kidneys, skin, and the lymphatic system.  If, for example, the liver is already sick, and you do an extreme cleanse, you may end up with serious side effects or even a hospital visit. 

"A crash diet once won't hurt your heart. But crash dieting repeatedly increases the risk of heart attack"

Avoid crash diets for weight loss

Aggressive detox diets promoted by some celebrities like the...

Dietary fat serves many important functions and is good for the body when the right fat is consumed.  Secondly, having excessive adipose tissue—body fat—does not denote that a person lacks self-control or will power, but is the result of an inappropriate diet.  Humans evolved with a “famine reflex” that caused metabolic changes to conserve fat and ensured survival when food was scarce.

Humans depicted in Baroque traditional art, that by today’s standards would be considered, “fat” lived before industrial vegetable oils and seed oils became the norm in most processed food, and before our intake of processed omega-6 linoleic acid doubled or tripled, while our intake of omega-3s from plants and marine animals fell tenfold.

Luckily we can control this to a great degree.  The key is to reduce your omega-6 intake and to consume undamaged, unprocessed omega-6 in the form of plant seeds and tree nuts, not vegetable oils, while...

We’ve been told to avoid high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in our daily diets, but what is it? It is a particular type of sweetener that is derived from cornstarch. In order to create high fructose corn syrup, enzymes are added to glucose and converted into another simple sugar known as fructose.⁽⁹⁾ Most high fructose corn syrup is comprised of 42- 55% fructose; the rest is water or glucose. ⁽⁹⁾

High fructose corn syrup is typically cheaper than table sugar making it attractive in the food industry as a sweetener. It was originally developed in the late 1950’s, but it wasn’t until the 1970’s that HFCS was introduced as sweetener in soft drinks.  Coca-Cola was one of the first soft drink companies to use it in their products. ⁽⁴⁾ Since then the use of HFCS has sky rocketed in our food and beverage industry.

Americans are consuming more HFCS and sugar in pharmacologic quantities, never before experienced in human history: 140 pounds a...

Did you know that while 90% of Americans know having breakfast is important for health and function, only 49% report to eating breakfast every day.¹

It’s no wonder that after sleeping for eight hours, and being without food during the night, our brain and muscles need energy and fuel to function. Breaking this fast with consumption of a healthy meal including protein and fats instead of a high carbohydrate meal has been shown to have the biggest benefit. Research has shown the many benefits of including breakfast in your daily routine. These include weight loss, improved energy and concentration, improved physical endurance, and overall improvement of a quality diet.

A study was conducted on teen’s breakfast health habits. It found that those who skipped breakfast were likely to be five pounds heavier than a teen that ate breakfast.  They study also concluded that those who skipped breakfast, also made poor food choices throughout the day and experienced a...

Have you seen the scientific evidence that genetically modified foods are 100% safe with no long term health related side effects? Unfortunately, neither have we. What started out to help world hunger, has unfortunately created damage to agriculture, wild life and human health.

What is GMO?

A GMO, otherwise known as genetically modified organism, is a plant, animal and/or microorganism whose genetic makeup has been modified in a laboratory using genetic engineering or transgenic technology. ⁽²⁾ This has the potential to create unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that otherwise would not occur in nature. ⁽²⁾

A company called Monsanto is the world leader in genetically modified (GM) crops. According to their website, they believe that they are helping to solve world hunger and there are no adverse side effects of consuming GM products. Sadly, the truth is that studies have been conducted and have demonstrated that GM products have the...

Weight loss. one of the most talked about topics when it comes to women’s health.  Let’s face it, in today’s media driven society, we are putting ourselves on display more than ever and are even comparing ourselves to other women our ages all the time.  The weight may have creeped up over the years and now you feel stuck.  Or, your typical workout routines just aren’t enough anymore.  Women sometimes go to great lengths to try and discover the perfect weight loss product or program on the market.  And let’s be honest, there are way too many to choose from.  From fasting, to yo-yo dieting and detoxing, many of the weight loss programs out there now are too hard and too fast for the body to handle and, without proper guidance from a professional, you could end up causing more harm than good or even end up in the hospital!  Crash dieting has been known to cause heart palpitations, a drop in blood pressure, and even...

“Let Food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food” – Hippocrates

What is a Paleo Diet?

The Paleo Diet is one of the latest and hottest lifestyle trends to date. Celebrities endorse it some and restaurants are starting to serve Paleo style foods to keep their customers satisfied.

The Term “Paleo” is short for Paleolithic, an era that occurred at least 2.6 million years ago, and generally refers to the “caveman” lifestyle in regards to the popular diet. It is a nutritional approach that focuses only on foods that were available to humans during that period. Typically, these foods are high in nutrients, unprocessed and without artificial colors or additives.

The purpose of this lifestyle is to return our eating habits to a prehistoric state as it is hypothesized that our ancestors were unaffected by medical conditions experienced today. The foods they ate actually supplied the body with the right nutrients and allowed it to properly adapt to...