3 Simple Steps to Eat LOTS of Carbs
and NEVER Store Them as Fat...

By Shaun Hadsall

Did you know that if you intentionally avoid your favorite carbs all the time because you think they’re unhealthy or you believe they’re the root cause of your belly fat, it can be disastrous for your hormone levels and wreak havoc on your metabolism?
Did you know that if you’ve EVER dieted or used a low carb diet, your fat burning hormones automatically plummet, slow down your metabolism and can STOP your body from burning fat in LESS than a week?
Did you know that there are 3 steps you can use to STOP all this from happening and STILL enjoy all your favorite carbs WITHOUT getting fat?
In fact, once you discover these 3 simple steps, you can use carbs to speed up calorie burning, STOP your metabolism from slowing down, and keep your body’s #1 fat burning hormones at healthy levels day in and day out.
All you have to do is follow the 3 simple rules below to ensure that EVERY time you eat your favorite carbohydrates they’re NEVER stored as fat on your body.
This isn’t another hyped up gimmick or diet quick-fix. It doesn’t require any costly supplements. And it works for everyone. Regardless of your age, your gender, or your current condition you can watch your belly get significantly FLATTER in as little as 14 days using this approach.
My name is Shaun Hadsall, and my 15+ years of experience in the diet and nutrition industry have allowed me to acquire a proprietary nutrition secret that will keep your body looking young, help you CONTROL your fat-burning hormones, and legitimately make stubborn belly-fat your body’s DAILY “go-to” energy source.
I’ve used and taught this system to thousands of men and women of all ages from all over the globe, and all you have to do is apply these 3 simple steps right now, and you’ll NEVER store carbs as fat on your body again.
But I do have to warn you. What you’re about ready to read will probably be the exact opposite of what your local dietician, family doctor, or personal trainer will recommend.
That’s because the weight loss industry has fooled everybody into thinking carbs are the enemy and they’ll make you fat if you don’t stop eating them. Low carb, fad diets may work initially but for 95% of the population it’s just a temporary short cut and you’ll gain the weight back TWICE as fast as you lost it.

These 3 steps reveal what you absolutely MUST STOP doing... and it will only take you 14 short days to wake up your dying fat loss hormones, "spark" your dead metabolism, and quickly burn off belly fat –
WITHOUT Avoiding Carbs.

Below, you’ll find all 3 steps, and you’ll also discover how easy it can be to fix your broken metabolism and FORCE lower belly-fat to be your body’s “go to” energy source on a daily, ongoing basis…

Step 1: STOP Using Low-Carb Diets 

Low carb diets, low carb foods, low carb diet shakes, low carb everything. It’s been around for years now. Unfortunately, it’s not working. In fact, well over 90% of people who start a low carb or trendy diet gain all or more of their weight back within a year of losing it. Even worse, epidemics like obesity and diabetes are at all time highs.
This is why you shouldn’t be afraid of carbs – your body NEEDS them. Carbs stop muscle loss, speed up recovery, provide energy to your brain and body, elevate your metabolic rate, and stimulate your body’s most important fat-burning hormones. Yes, believe it or not, things like insulin aren’t always evil! Your body needs carbs to keep your metabolism healthy, happy, and burning fat.
People who go on chronic low carb diets radically alter their hormones and damage their metabolisms, so their bodies simply won’t burn fat. In fact, it only takes as little as one week of cutting carbs to start losing muscle, slowing down your metabolism and destroying your fat-burning hormones.
Besides, do you really want to constantly obsess over calories, count carbs all the time and deprive yourself of your favorite foods? Of course you don’t…you’ll be miserable.
But there is a “smart” approach you can take to ensure you get all these benefits of carbs WITHOUT fat-storage. It can even help you heal any previous damage you may have done from crash dieting. You’ll see exactly how this method works on the next page.

 

Step 2: STOP Carb-Based Fat "Spill-Over"

There are three simple stages of carbohydrate storage. If you understand how they work, you can eat your favorite carbs and NEVER have to worry about storing them as fat on the body.
But if you don’t, you’ll consistently suffer from carb-based fat “spillover” and continue to accumulate more belly fat and even develop ugly pockets cellulite.
Stage 1: Immediate Energy Needs: As soon as a carb hits your mouth, digestion begins and they are quickly made available for energy needs or stored for later use.
Stage 2: Storage in your Muscles & Liver: Your body then stores carbohydrates as glycogen in the muscle and the liver as a source of energy for movement and daily function. Storage continues until the muscle and/or liver is full.
Stage 3: Spillover / Fat Storage: After just a few short days, when energy intake is abundant and little or no energy is expended, muscle and liver stores over fill and the body starts storing the unused carbohydrates as fat.
In other words, if you’re not consistently utilizing more carbohydrates than you’re taking in, your muscles and liver will “fill up” with glycogen. When this happens, every time you consume carbs (unless you’re burning them off with strategic exercise) they start to “spillover” and automatically be stored as fat.
However, there is a super simple protocol you can use to STOP carb-based fat-spillover and STILL eat all the carbs you want. We’ll share more on the next page.

Step 3: STOP Eating Carbs at the WRONG Times

Carb timing confusion is one of the primary reasons that 95% of the population gains their weight back after losing it. 
But when you consume lots of your favorite carbs at the right times (and even cheat foods at specific times), you’ll NEVER have to worry about them getting stored on the body as fat.

Here are 3 simple ways you time your carb intake to LIMIT stage 3 fat-spillover and KEEP your body burning fat.

GOOD: A good time of day to eat your favorite carbohydrates is first thing in the a.m. when your metabolic rate is higher and insulin sensitivity is peaking “naturally”. This means there’s more room in your energy tank to let the carbs in without any fat storage.

BETTER: An even better time to consume impact carbs is 3 to 4 hours before you exercise.
This will ensure the carbs you consume are burned off during and after the workout to avoid fat-spillover and prevent muscle loss. It will also provide you with increased energy levels throughout your workout. Better performance equals more fat and calories burned during and after the workout.
BEST: The best time to consume your favorite carbs is post-workout. When you use the RIGHT TYPE of exercise, your muscles act like a sponge that’s been rung dry, so your body will literally “soak up” all your favorite carbs.
Timing your carb intake the right way is one the easiest ways to eat all your favorite foods while skyrocketing your fat-burning hormones and rebooting your dead metabolism.
This is how you can ALL the fat-burning benefits of carbs listed above and STOP fat-storage from your carb intake.
Simply put, if you eat carbs with the wrong foods - at the wrong times, you’ll STORE fat. If you eat carbs with the right foods at the right times, you’ll BURN fat.
All three of the steps above are part of a unique and proprietary nutrition method we’ve coined, Macro-Patterning™, which gives you the flexibility to eat the foods that you love while strategically using carbs, and all your favorite cheat foods, as a way to rapidly speed up your metabolic rate, preserve lean muscle tissue, and burn an INSANE amount of fat – all at the same time.
But unfortunately, those who don’t have access to this information will continue to consume carbs the wrong way, wreak havoc on their metabolisms, suppress their fat-burning hormones, and prevent stubborn belly fat from being their primary energy source.

The 5 best foods to eat before bed (for a flat belly)

The 5 best foods to eat before bed (for a flat belly)

You may have heard some trainers or gurus telling you that eating before bed is a big-time "no no" if you're looking to lose weight. In fact, you've probably even heard that eating late at night will undoubtedly cause you to GAIN weight...even worse!

Well, there's good news... not every food that you eat past 7PM will be automatically deposited to your belly fat, thighs, and love handles.

In fact, there are certain foods that you can eat as a late-night snack that can actually INCREASE your fat loss results through hormonal improvements! The key is knowing which foods to eat, and which to avoid, as the evening progresses.

Here's a good rule of thumb: Avoid carbs before bed in favor of slow-digesting high-quality protein and healthy fats. Fiber is ok too as long as it's low in starch or sugars.

Carbohydrate consumption causes significant rise in the storage hormone insulin, which also puts the breaks on fat-burning. That's a recipe for disaster in the late evening hours as your metabolism is winding down, but fortunately, slow-digesting protein isn't.

Instead, slow digesting proteins provide your body with a steady flow of amino acids throughout the night to help you recover from exercise and maintain your calorie-burning lean muscle as you lose fat.

Here are some of my top pre-bedtime food choices:

1. White Meat Protein  - White meat animal protein sources such as chicken and turkey are great pre-bed meal choices because they digest slowly and have a very low insulin release. These sources also promote the release of another hormone, glucagon, that assists the body with breaking down stored carbs and fat within your body to be burned for energy...a double win! 

Having some cooked ground turkey or chicken handy in tupperware in your fridge makes for a quick late night snack whenever you need it... my favorite way is to warm it up and add to a quick lettuce wrap with a little avocado and hot sauce whenever I need a night time snack.  A delicious way to aid your metabolism and fat loss efforts!

2. Cottage Cheese - Cottage cheese is very slow digesting and coats the stomach to be assimilated by the body over many hours. As a protein, it also stimulates glucagon release, which as I just mentioned is great for fat loss, making this a good pre-bedtime choice. Just make sure you're using plain cottage cheese, not the flavored varieties with added sugars.  Add some stevia and cinnamon if you need to flavor it up a little!

3. Green Vegetables - While these aren't considered a protein, they contain virtually no calories (insignificant), are high in fiber, and they're very filling. Often times when I get a late night craving I eat a big bowl of green veggies and it completely kills my craving...a diet savior to prevent you from giving in to junk foods late night!

4. Almonds, pecans, walnuts, or pistachios - These nuts are not only great sources of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants, but provide the fiber and healthy fats necessary to control your cravings late at night and make sure you don't give in to junk.

5. A Slow-digesting, Low-carb Protein Shake - I use a slow-digesting protein shake before bed a lot of times. It's a great dessert alternative that's much lower in sugar and better for your body. The vast majority of my clients have grown to love the habit as well...who doesn't love dessert before bed? :) I normally blend the shake with almond butter to get some healthy fats in there, and oh man, it tastes good with the right protein powder.

WARNING: Avoid taking a simple whey protein powder before bed...research has shown that it causes more of an insulin release than white bread! Instead, try this time-released blend that includes a blend of slow-digesting, high-quality proteins.

Studies Show 5 Proven Tricks to Eat Less Calories
by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of best-selling program - The Truth About Six Pack Abs

I found most of these five tricks (that are proven to help you eat less food and less overall calories) while reading a fascinating book recently called 59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman.  I think you'll find these very helpful if you're looking to control your caloric intake and reduce your body fat.
These tricks were tested in scientific studies and are quick and easy to implement.  I thought these were VERY interesting...
Trick #1 to Eat Less --  Several studies prove that the size of the bowl, plate, or spoon that you use can directly influence how much food and calories you consume.
Richard Wiseman, in the book 59 Seconds, talks about one study conducted where party guests were randomly given either 17 or 34-ounce bowls and 2 or 3 ounce spoons, and allowed to help themselves to ice cream. It was found that the party guests given the large spoons and large bowls had eaten 14% and 31% more ice cream respectively, than the people using the smaller spoons or smaller bowls.  Interesting huh!
Another study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania used a bowl of M&Ms that were left in the hallway of an apartment building. A sign next to the bowl told people to help themselves to the M&Ms. Some days a tablespoon sized scoop was used in the M&Ms and on other days, a larger scoop was used in the bowl.  The researchers found that the larger scoop caused people to take TWICE the amount of M&Ms on average compared to the people that had used the smaller scoop.
I've also seen studies referenced in the past that showed that people who used larger plates consumed more calories than those using smaller plates.
The lesson -- Use smaller plates, bowls, and silverware and you may inadvertently reduce your calorie intake.  This also means saying NO to seconds and thirds!
Trick #2 to Eat Less --  You've probably heard before that eating slower can help you to eat less because it gives time for the fullness signal to reach your brain and thereby shut off your appetite before you've eaten too much.
However, this study below found a twist on this!
According to Mr. Wiseman in the book 59 Seconds, a study at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center had overweight participants eat a meal at 3 different speeds:
a)  their normal rate
b)  half their normal rate
c)  their normal rate at first, followed by half their normal rate (normal-slow combo)
The results were interesting...  Eating at the slower rate caused the men to eat less, but not the women (that's weird!).  However, the 3rd group that combined the normal pace at first with the slower rate after that caused both the men and women to have a large reduction in their appetite and eat less.  The normal-slow combo was found to be more effective than just the slow-only group.  Why?  I have no idea, but those are interesting results!
Mr. Wiseman stated that the lesson here to eat less is "to start at your normal speed but then savor each and every mouthful".

Trick #3 to Eat Less --  According to the book 59 Seconds, a series of experiments conducted in offices compared putting chocolates right on people's desks vs placing the chocolates six feet away. In another experiment, the chocolates were put inside either transparent or opaque jars. When the chocolates were placed on the person's desk instead of 6 feet away, people ate on average 6 more chocolates per day per person.  Also, the chocolates in the transparent jars were eaten 46% more quickly than the opaque jars.
Just shows... out of sight, out of mind!  As you may already know, I recommend never even having junk food around your house at all...that way, you're never tempted by it and you're forced to only eat healthy foods... but then you can use your weekly cheat meals to eat junk food out at a restaurant. That way the junk food is never in your house to begin with!

Trick #4 to Eat Less -- This trick was reported based on a Georgia Tech study. The study essentially found that people tend to subconsciously eat bigger portions of food when their plate is the same color as their food.
It seems like an odd association, but remember that a lot of these are always subconscious things that we don't realize are happening.  In this particular study, the scientists theorized that less color contrast between plate and food makes our brains work harder to figure out appropriate portion sizes.  More color contrast between plate and food would make people eat slightly smaller portions subconsciously.

Trick #5 to Eat Less --  Studies have found that people eat significantly more when they are distracted by TV, movies, games, or other distractions.  In one experiment mentioned in the book 59 Seconds, people who were more absorbed by a movie ate significantly larger amounts of popcorn compared to those that were paying less attention to the movie.
In another experiment, people who actively listened to a detective story during lunch (being distracted by the story), ate 15% more food than those who sat in silence during their lunch.
The lesson -- ditch the TV and other distractions and focus on your food!  Enjoy every bite of your food and you will naturally consume less calories while enjoying your food more.

7 foods that HEAL your digestion (and bowel movements)

7 foods that HEAL your digestion (and bowel movements)

Today's article about unique foods that can FIX your digestion is a short excerpt from our brand new manual recently released, The Top 101 Foods that FIGHT Aging 

If you have any digestion problems at all, or don't have "perfect" bowel movements daily... if you have constipation, diarrhea, bloating, gas, or just don't go regularly, then you NEED to pay attention to these foods I'm going to show you today.

These foods can dramatically improve not only your digestion, but your immune system as well, helping to keep you from getting sick!

Please note:  if you have food intolerances to foods such as gluten, dairy, or various grains, you'll still need to find out about those intolerances and get rid of those foods in your plan if you're going to completely fix your digestion issues.

But aside from food intolerances, I think you'll be amazed to see how rapidly your digestion and bowel movements improve once you start incorporating a LOT of these 7 foods we'll discuss below! 

This is important... even if you're already eating 1 or 2 of these foods below, it's MUCH more powerful to include as MANY as possible to dramatically improve your digestion.

So what exactly are we talking about... well, we're talking about probiotics from fermented foods!

Unfortunately, today’s modern diets are processed, pasteurized and basically ‘dead’ foods most of the time. What happens when people eat a diet heavy in processed, ‘dead’ foods, is that harmful bacteria can take over in the digestive systems, causing many problems—not only with the digestive system, but the body as a whole.

Many diseases start in an unhealthy environment in our guts. And this becomes even worse from taking antibiotics. While antibiotics can kill dangerous pathogens, they also kill off the healthy and beneficial bacteria in our bodies as well.

Probiotic actually means "for life," and probiotics like lactobacillus, plantarum and bifidis help immune cells fight disease, prevent diarrhea and constipation, protect the mucous lining of the intestine, assist digestion and provide the proper nutrients for healthy blood cells. Probiotics are also responsible for the manufacture of B vitamins and vitamin K right in the intestines where are immediately absorbed.

Eating too much unhealthy, processed, starchy or sugary foods can cause bad bacteria to grow out of control, making our immune systems weak, and affecting our ability to metabolize and synthesize vitamins and nutrients.

The intestines also function as one of the body’s most important immune defenses. In fact, 70-80% or so of the body’s immune cells are present in the intestines. Of course our immune systems protect us from dangerous viruses, bacteria, and parasites, but they also control responses to foods and food allergies as well.

Negative changes in our intestinal flora can be associated with inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. It is now thought that many allergic reactions, asthma, and even obesity are tied to bacterial imbalances in the gut.

The good news though, is that adding the right types of probiotics and good bacteria will maintain or restore a healthy balance in your intestinal tract and improve overall health in the entire body, and fight aging.

Although we typically think of probiotics benefiting just the intestines, they actually benefit the entire digestive system, including the mouth, throat, stomach, etc.

Some of the other ways probiotics can benefit your body:

•    Probiotics can help prevent wrinkles and give you a glowing complexion by eliminating the toxins and fighting free radicals that can damage skin and cause early signs of wrinkling and sagging. And probiotics help you digest your food better, so you get more nutrients in your body.

•    Probiotics can help you burn fat better by reducing cravings for carbohydrates, sugar and alcohol and help you have more energy to be more active.

•    Probiotics help to protect your liver which is reflected in your skin and eyes. When you keep toxins from building up in the liver, you have younger looking skin with less liver spots, moles and skin tags, and you have bright, clear eyes.

•    Probiotics help your hair and fingernails grow faster and stronger by keeping the blood vessels surrounding your hair follicles nourished. Healthy blood nourishes hair, skin and nails. Probiotics also help to break down proteins in the diet that benefit hair and nails.

So what are the best sources of probiotics?

Kimchi (also spelled Kim Chee sometimes) -This traditional spicy Korean condiment is made of cabbage and other vegetables and seasoned with salt, garlic, ginger and chili peppers. Fermented vegetables make them easier to digest as well as increasing the vitamin levels.  I like to have some Kimchi with my morning eggs for an extra daily probiotic boost.  The types of beneficial bacteria in Kimchi are quite different than the organisms in yogurt and other fermented foods, and variety works best when it comes to probiotics!

Kombucha Tea - This tea is made from a culture of symbiotic beneficial bacteria and yeasts that has been popular in China for thousands of years. Kombucha contains many important amino acids, B vitamins, and powerful substances that enhance the immune system. It’s also known to help prevent cancer.

Yogurt - Avoid the sweetened, heavily processed yogurts, and instead go for unsweetened, plain, organic types of yogurt. And be sure the label says, “Live cultures”.

Kefir - A cultured milk product and is generally helpful to those with lactose intolerance. Kefir contains different types of beneficial bacteria than yogurt does, as well as beneficial yeasts. Kefir contains more bacterial strains that remain viable in the digestive system, increasing the likelihood of intestinal colonization.  As with yogurt, try to avoid the sweetened varieties and get plain kefir and then add your own stevia if you need it a little sweeter.  Kefir is great to use in smoothies!

Sauerkraut - This cabbage dish has been salted and lacto-fermented over a period of weeks. The healthy bacteria in sauerkraut produce beneficial enzymes as well as having anti-carcinogenic substances.  Make sure it’s fresh and not canned sauerkraut which is likely to be “dead” from the heating during canning.

Tempeh - A healthier form of fermented soybeans (generally soybeans are not a healthy food-unless they are fermented). This soy food is easier to digest and provides many valuable vitamins and nutrients, as well as protein, calcium and iron. The mold that is produced from the fermentation produces a natural antibiotic that strengthens the immune system.

Fermented drinks - Besides kombucha and kefir, there are beginning to be many fermented fruit and vegetable drinks showing up on the shelves of many healthy grocery stores and health food stores. One of my favorites is called, “Inner Eco”, which is a fermented coconut water, and can be found at Whole Foods and other health food stores or specialty stores. This product contains one of the highest concentrations of beneficial bacteria that I've seen with over 100 billion probiotics per Tablespoon!

Some people don’t enjoy the taste of fermented drinks like kombucha tea, so what I often suggest for them is to mix kombucha tea with regular iced tea to balance the taste.  Personally, I love the taste of most brands of kombucha tea, and some of the newer flavors brewed with ginger (or other flavors) in them too are really delicious in my opinion.

In addition to the naturally fermented foods we’ve talked about here, considering that we consume a lot less bacteria in our food compared to our natural ancestral diet, I think one of the smartest supplements you can take to FIX your digestion and boost your immune system is a probiotic…

Something that I personally use, and is brand new on the market is called: Pro-X10

It's one of the most powerful probiotic supplements that I've seen yet to date… it also uses a patented technology called micro-encapsulation which prevents most of the probiotics from dying in your stomach and making it to where they need to be... this gives Pro-X10 the equivalent of 50 Billion CFU compared to other probiotic supplements since much more survive through to your intestines.

But perhaps most interesting ingredient in Pro-X10 is something called Actazin™ ... this unique substance supports the regeneration of gut-lining cells, as well as enhanced gut lining protection. This means that even if the gut lining has been damaged by exposure to harmful compounds, including dangerous wheat fragments like gluten (which most people’s guts have), Actazin™ shows strong promise in being able to help heal the damage and return the gut to normal function.

The Vitamin You May Have Never Heard Of… Vitamin K!

by Chris “the Kiwi” Ashenden, and Liana Ashenden, PhD

Hey Mate,
I hope this finds you ROCKING!
Last week, my big sis and I outlined a vitamin D action plan and explained why getting sunshine on your skin is so important to your health .
If you missed it, or my speech on why the sunscreen industry approach is SO WRONG (and hurting your health) then get reading.
Vitamin D Action Plan
Why Your Doctor is WRONG About Sunscreen
Today let’s chat about a wonderful friend of ours, whom you should have over to dinner frequently.
A friend most people have never heard of, the all important Vitamin K.
Vitamin K is VITAL to the blood clotting process that stops you bleeding to death from injury. It helps to prevent fractures and has been linked to protective effects against coronary heart disease and some types of cancer. It may have a role to play in the brain and cognitive health.
Keep reading if you care about

• Not bleeding to death
• Preventing fractures
• Protecting against heart disease
• Brain health
• Looking good naked

Vitamin K shares a number of similarities with vitamin D. Both substances are fat-soluble. Like vitamin D, vitamin K is important for bone health. Also like vitamin D, vitamin K has been studied for almost a century in relation to one particular area of health (blood clotting), while recent studies have suggested a much wider role in the body.
Some people confuse vitamin K with potassium, because the chemical symbol for potassium on the periodic table is K. These are NOT the same substances and have very different effects in the body.
I will show you why your mother was right about eating greens – they really are good for you – and why eating the whole animal makes sense from both a vitamin K perspective and evolutionary perspective…. Organ meats, anyone? Yummy.
The detailed version starts below, if you are in a hurry, you can skip all the science stuff if you want and go straight to the recommendations part, which will be marked like this
**********
BUT that would be boring and you won’t learn much.
For those sticking with me, let’s get to it.
First, some science background.

What is Vitamin K

Vitamin K is best known for its crucial role in blood clotting. Its name actually comes from the German ‘Koagulationsvitamin’, or ‘coagulation vitamin’, although vitamin K plays a role in anticoagulation and many other physiological functions as well.

Figure 1 Historically vitamin K is known for its role in blood clotting, but it may have a much wider role in the body (photo credit: Sansculotte)

Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin, along with vitamins A, D, and E. Vitamin K is not one substance but rather a group of compounds with a similar chemical structure. The two naturally occurring forms identified so far are vitamin K₁ and K₂ and both are biologically active in animals and humans.
Vitamin K₁ is found in green plants, where it plays a role in photosynthesis.

• The richest dietary sources of vitamin K₁ (400-700 mcg/100g) are the dark green leaves of kale, spinach, collards, Swiss chard, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, parsley, cabbage, mustard greens, and turnip greens.
• Vitamin K₁ can also be found in soybean, olive and rapeseed oils (50-200 mcg/100g).

Figure 2 Kale and other green leafy vegetables are a good source of Vitamin K₁. (Photo credit: Evan-Amos)

Vitamin K₂ is primarily made by bacteria.

• Bacteria in the human gut produce long-chain subtypes of vitamin K₂, but it remains unclear how much of this we absorb.
• The vitamin K₂ subtype menaquinone-7 (MK7) is found in foods produced by bacterial fermentation like natto (fermented soybeans) and cheese.
• Human and animal tissues such as the brain and arterial walls convert vitamin K₁ into a different subtype of vitamin K₂, menaquinone-4 (MK4).
• Dietary sources of MK4 include egg yolks, liver and other organs, and (to a lesser extent) meat.

Figure 3 Natto (made from fermented soybeans) is rich in vitamin K₂, but doesn’t appeal to everyone as a delicacy! (Photo credit: Gleam)

Synthetic forms such as vitamin K₃ are toxic and to be avoided.
Babies derive vitamin K₁ and K₂ from their mothers’ milk (or from formula if you are unlucky).

Geek box:

• Vitamin K compounds all have a methylated naphthoquinone ring structure.
• In photosynthesis, vitamin K₁ (phylloquinone) acts as an electron acceptor during the electron transport chain in Photosystem I.
• In bacterial anaerobic respiration, vitamin K₂ (menaquinone) transfers electrons between enzyme complexes in the electron transport chain.
• Cruciferous vegetables belonging to the Brassica genus contain particularly high levels of vitamin K₁.
• Vitamin K₁ is called phylloquinone, phytonadione or phytomenadione.
• Vitamin K₂ is called menaquinone or menatetrenone.
• Vitamin K₃ is called menaphthone or menadione.

Completely random side-note.
Whenever I hear the word K2 I can’t help but envisage the MOUNTAIN of the same name in the Himalayas.
Famous for being the second highest mountain in the world and also the second deadliest taker of lives (as big mountains go), this thing is a beast and is considered one of the world’s most difficult summits to climb. Two movies about it I remember are K₂ and Vertical Limit, but I digress.
Sorry.

The MOUNTAIN K₂ – A beast, but this is not what we are talking about here. (photo credit: Svy123)

Health

Vitamin K₁ and K₂ are necessary for an important chemical process called carboxylation that allows certain important proteins to function properly. Without vitamin K, these Gla proteins, also known as vitamin K-dependent proteins, would not be able to bind calcium and interact with cell membranes.
Frequently referred to with a traffic light analogy, after speaking about it with my sister, we decided that perhaps the best analogy was your local postal system.

Figure 3: Think of the postal system (photo credit: kladcat)

Think of the postal system. Without stamps (calcium), chances are the envelopes and parcels (Gla proteins) in the mail won’t reach their destinations (tissues throughout the body). When mail doesn’t get delivered, especially crucial mail, life can suck.
The good folks at the Postal Service put the correct stamps in the correct place at the correct time in the correct amount on your mail, ensuring that the system works well (this is the role of vitamin K and associated enzymes).
Vitamin K-dependent proteins play important roles in tissues throughout the body.
Their function is still being understood and is a growth area in science – my bet: vitamin K₁ and K₂ will have many surprises in store for us yet as the science evolves.

Geek box:

• Vitamin K compounds all have a methylated naphthoquinone ring structure.
• Vitamin K is a cofactor for the enzyme gamma-glutamyl carboxylase.
• This enzyme converts the glutamate (Glu) units or residues of vitamin K-dependent proteins into gamma-carboxyglutamate (Gla) residues that are able to bind calcium.
• The binding of calcium ions is essential to the Gla proteins’ structure and function, facilitating interaction with phospholipids such as cell membranes.

Figure 4 3D image of a Gla protein (photo credit: proteinboxbot)
(note: I am pretty sure I drew this as a three year old)

Blood

Hemostasis is the first stage in wound healing and causes bleeding to stop via the blood clotting cascade. Vitamin K (especially K₁) is essential to this process.
Drugs prescribed to prevent thrombosis such as warfarin act by blocking the action of vitamin K in all in forms. Warfarin decreases the concentration of vitamin K in body tissues and results in clotting factors with inadequate Gla. People taking warfarin or other vitamin K antagonists need to be especially careful and consistent with their vitamin K intake – please consult your doctor if you are on these medications.

Figure 5 Without the blood clotting cascade you would bleed to death from even a small injury. (photo credit: crystal)

A severe vitamin K deficiency results in bruising and bleeding. It is very rare in adults, but can sometimes occur in newborn babies. This is because vitamin K₁ and K₂ are not easily transported across the placenta and the baby’s intestines have not yet been colonized with vitamin K₂ -synthesizing bacteria. Some pediatricians recommend supplementation with vitamin K for newborns, either orally or through an intramuscular injection. However this is a controversial practice because some studies suggested a correlation between newborn vitamin K supplementation and childhood cancers such as leukemia, although a causal link has not been substantiated.
Geek box: the vitamin K-dependent blood clotting cascade proteins carboxylated in the liver are coagulation factors II (prothrombin), VII, IX, and X, and anticoagulant proteins C, S, and Z.

Bone

Studies show that vitamin K has a protective effect against bone fractures and that osteoporosis is associated with low levels of vitamin K.

Figure 6 X-ray showing osteoporosis in the hand and wrist (photo credit: Nevit Dilmen)

Vitamin K₂ may be more important than vitamin K₁ in this regard, although some studies show also a beneficial effect of vitamin K₁ on bone health:

• A number of clinical trials showed that supplementation with vitamin K₂ (but not vitamin K₁) protects against fractures in the elderly, especially in post-menopausal women.
• In Japan the vitamin K₂ subtype MK4 is recommended as a treatment for osteoporosis.
• Japanese people derive the vitamin K₂ subtype MK7 through their dietary consumption of natto.

There is inconsistent evidence on vitamin K’s effect on bone mineral density. Some scientists suggest that vitamin K mediates its skeletal effects through other mechanisms, perhaps through collagen metabolism.
Some of you have asked me about the interaction between vitamin K and vitamin D.
Both are important for bone health. For example, vitamin D’s active form, calcitriol, regulates the synthesis of a protein called osteocalcin, but vitamin K activates this protein into a form that can bind calcium. The two vitamins also appear to have a synergistic effect. A clinical study showed that healthy women who took combined vitamin K₁, vitamin D and calcium supplements showed greater increases in wrist bone mineral density than the women who took vitamin K₁ only or vitamin D and calcium without vitamin K₁.
Want good bones, you don’t just need good Vitamin D status, you need to get some Vitamin K action.
Some nutritionists suggest that potential toxic effects of very high vitamin D consumption are in fact only due to vitamin K deficiency, and therefore they advocate co-supplementation as a way to increase total vitamin D intake to higher levels. There is no rigorous evidence to support the safety of this approach.

Geek box:

• Vitamin K-dependent proteins involved in bone metabolism include osteocalcin, matrix Gla protein and periostin.
• Vitamin K-dependent protein S is made by osteoblasts (bone-forming cells).
• Osteocalcin plays a role in bone mineralization and osteoblast and osteoclast activity, and is used as a marker of bone formation.
• The vitamin K₂ subtype MK7 induces more complete carboxylation of osteocalcin than vitamin K₁.

Cardiovascular System

A build-up of calcium (calcification) in the arterial walls decreases their elasticity and increases the risk of clot formation. In atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), calcification of the atherosclerotic plaque occurs at a late stage of the disease.

Figure 7 Atherosclerosis in the internal carotid artery (photo credit: Patho)

Vitamin K helps to prevent a build-up of calcium in the arteries. A number of large, prospective cohort studies have shown that intake of K₂ (but not K₁) is associated with reduced risk of coronary heart disease and a protective effect against calcification of the coronary and aortic arteries. Vascular calcification is a potential side effect of taking vitamin K-antagonists such as warfarin.

Geek box:

• The mechanism for vitamin K₂’s action is likely to be through two vitamin K-dependent proteins that are carboxylated within the blood vessels (rather than in the liver).
• Matrix Gla protein is not only found in bone and cartilage, but also in blood vessel walls and other soft tissues. In the arterial wall, it is expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells and is a potent inhibitor of arterial calcification.
• Gas6 affects vascular smooth muscle cell apoptosis (cell death) and movement.

Cell Growth

Vitamin K may have an effect on cell growth through the vitamin K-dependent growth specific gene 6 protein, or Gas6, which promotes cell survival and inhibits cell death. Gas6 protein binds and activates receptor tyrosine kinases, enzymes that can stimulate cell replication and transformation.
In cancer cell lines in vitro, vitamin K has the opposite effect and inhibits cell growth. Prospective studies in humans suggest that dietary intake of K₂ (but not K₁) is associated with a reduced risk of prostate and lung cancer. However, rigorous clinical trials are needed to explore the potential effects of vitamin K₂ on cancer.

Central Nervous System

It is possible that vitamin K in all its forms affects cognitive health via the carboxylation of proteins involved in the brain and nervous system. Vitamin K is involved in the biosynthesis of sphingolipids. These complex lipids are a structural component of cell membranes throughout the body and also play a role in cell signalling. They are present in high concentrations in neuronal and glial cell membranes in the brain. Two other vitamin K-dependent proteins are relevant here. Gas6 protein is involved in cell signalling in both the central and peripheral nervous systems and the anticoagulation protein S is expressed in the brain.

Figure 7: Sphingolipids, Gas6 protein, and protein S are found in the brain – These are all related to Vitamin K (Wiki Commons)

Gut Health

Studies in rats suggest that vitamin K₁ and K₂ may trigger gene expression of alkaline phosphatase in gut epithelial cells.

Biochemistry

By now you should have figured out that vitamin K₁ and K₂ can be obtained from the diet, and that our own bodies can make K₂ from K₁. The bacteria living in our gut can also provide us with K₂ (as shown by vitamin K deficiency in people taking antibiotics). Both forms of vitamin K are transported around the blood by lipoproteins.
Vitamin K in both forms can be reused in the body because it undergoes a cycle of oxidation and reduction (the vitamin K cycle). However, it is also extensively metabolized in the liver and excreted in the urine and in feces (in bile), which means that vitamin K levels need to be continually replenished. Vitamin K₁ is the major circulating form of vitamin K and vitamin K₂ is the major form stored in the human liver. Vitamin K₂ has a longer half life.
As outlined above, the two forms of vitamin K appear to have different physiological actions. Vitamin K₁ is preferentially used up by the liver in the synthesis of active blood clotting factors, which may explain its low stores in the liver. Vitamin K₂ is linked with skeletal and cardiovascular health.

Deficiency

Symptoms of deficiency include bleeding (including the gums and gut), heavy menstruation, and bruising. Severe deficiency results in low levels of carboxylated blood clotting factors and can lead to uncontrolled bleeding (hemorrhage).
If you’re worried, have a blood test. High serum levels of under-carboxylated prothrombin (coagulation factor II) can indicate sub-clinical vitamin K deficiency. Remember the postal analogy? This is like finding lots of mail without stamps.
Severe deficiency is very rare. People with the following conditions may be at risk of a sub-clinical vitamin K deficiency:

• Fat mal-absorption syndromes
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Liver disease
• Pancreatic insufficiency
• Cystic fibrosis
• Anorexia and/or bulimia
• Chronic alcoholism

Newborn infants have a higher risk of vitamin K deficiency.
Drugs can affect vitamin K₁ and K₂ levels in your body. For example, taking antibiotics is associated with low levels. Conversely, large, sudden increases or decreases in vitamin K₁ or K₂ intake can alter the effectiveness of warfarin and other anti-thrombotics.
If you have any of these medical conditions or are on medication, PLEASE seek your doctor’s advice before taking vitamin K supplements or increasing your dietary intake.
***************

Kiwi, I GET IT. Vitamin K IS Important – But what should I DO?

Clearly, vitamin K is important for the health of our blood, artery walls, and bones.
And vitamin K is likely to have a host of other physiological effects not yet elucidated by science.
No question, food is first, and food is best. I advocate consuming vitamin K in both of its forms through your DIET wherever possible.
Tip: remember that the bio-availability of vitamin K is improved by eating fats and by adequate bile synthesis and fat absorption in the gut. Take down some olive oil with that salad.
Strategically optimize your dietary intake of both K₁ and K₂ as they appear to have different effects in the body:
For vitamin K₁ and blood health:

• Eat plenty of dark green vegetables, such as kale, spinach, collards, Brussels sprouts, parsley and broccoli. When I’m eating out I often order an extra side dish (or two) of spinach.
• Eat them alongside good fats and oils to increase bioavailability of the fat-soluble vitamins in the gut.

Figure 8 Mmm broccoli – a great source of Vitamin K_{1  (photo credit: David Monniaux)}

Figure 9. DOUBLE MMMMMM Chicken livers fried with onions – organ meats are a great source of Vitamin K_{2  (photo credit: Ludovic Peron)}

For vitamin K₂ and bone and arterial health:

• Eat eggs and organ meats from poultry, fish and animals. Goose liver pate is a rich source. Our ancestors ate more of the animal than just the prime cuts – why not try it out.
• Other good sources of vitamin K₂ include cheese and butter from cows that eat dark green leaves containing vitamin K₁ (i.e. grass), but I don’t recommend eating diary products because many people are lactose intolerant.
• Athletic Greens contains 80 mcg of the vitamin K₂ subtype MK7. This is processed via fermentation from the same type of bacteria that produce the dietary source of MK7 from natto (see below)
• The richest dietary source of MK7 is natto, a heavily fermented Japanese “delicacy” but due to its smell and slimy texture few non-Japanese people can stomach it. If you’re not brave enough for natto (not many of us are), or if you want to avoid eating legumes for other reasons, just get your vitamin K₂ from the sources mentioned above.

Figure 10 Egg yolks are a good source of vitamin K₂, and also choline, another one of my favorite nutrients (photo credit: Paul Goyette)

What Dose Is Best, Kiwi?

In 2001, the non-governmental organization the Institute of Medicine published Adequate Intake (AI) recommendations for vitamin K of 120 mcg/day for men and 90 mcg/day for women.
You can safely consume more than this in the diet if you want to, because no cases of vitamin K toxicity have ever been reported, to my knowledge. Please note that I’m talking here about the naturally occurring forms vitamin K₁ and K₂. Do NOT take synthetic vitamin K₃ as it can harm you.
As shown by the complementary effects of vitamin D and K on bone, the fat-soluble vitamins can often act synergistic-ally. I recommend that you optimize your intake of vitamins A, D, and K.
The dietary sources for the fat-soluble vitamins tend to overlap, which is helpful. You can get your vitamin A from the same leafy green vegetables and liver that you’re going to eat for vitamin K₁ and K₂ intake, respectively.
Get your vitamin D from exposing your skin to sunshine, eating oily fish or taking D3 supplements. For more information on vitamin D see my previous post.
Alrighty then mate?
Of course, the good folks at team Athletic Greens were nice enough to put Vitamin K₂ in the formula, but as always I want you to start with food. Athletic Greens is there for the supercharge component.
So get eat your delicious dark green vegetables, eggs and organ meats to ensure your vitamin K and A intake, and while you’re at it, get outside for some sunshine and vitamin D.

The type of bean to AVOID eating

The type of bean to AVOID eating

While beans are actually one of the healthiest carbs sources out there, loaded with fiber and protein, there's actually one variety of beans you should be AVOIDING at all costs:

Baked Beans.

Fact is, manufacturers of commercial "baked beans" are completely RUINING this health food by piling in sugars galore along with a slew of artificial ingredients.

Many brands are now even including high fructose corn syrup and numerous other corn ingredients, such as corn starch, in their products...bad news!

For example, a 1-cup serving of canned "baked beans" contains more than 20 grams of ADDED sugar on average while the same 1-cup serving of regular kidney beans, pinto beans, red beans, etc, contains only a gram or two of naturally occurring sugar. BIG difference!

That said, when buying beans and adding them to your diet (which is actually a great choice), make sure to avoid commercial "baked beans" products and instead go with bean products that don't add all the extra junk.

Some great varieties of beans and legumes are:

Pinto Beans
Red Beans
Navy Beans
Lima Beans
Black Beans
Black-eyed Peas
Marrowfat Peas
Chickpeas
Butter Beans
Lentils

And there are even some natural packaged versions of the above listed beans and legumes that add a number of healthy and natural seasonings to spice them up a bit. The lesson here is to avoid "baked beans" in favor of the plain stuff (which you can then spice up at home) and when buying anything packaged, take a good, hard look at the ingredients and nutrition facts.

If it's got added sugar and artificial ingredients, skip it!

The 5 best foods to eat before bed (for a flat belly)

The 5 best foods to eat before bed (for a flat belly)

You may have heard some trainers or gurus telling you that eating before bed is a big-time "no no" if you're looking to lose weight. In fact, you've probably even heard that eating late at night will undoubtedly cause you to GAIN weight...even worse!

Well, there's good news... not every food that you eat past 7PM will be automatically deposited to your belly fat, thighs, and love handles.

In fact, there are certain foods that you can eat as a late-night snack that can actually INCREASE your fat loss results through hormonal improvements! The key is knowing which foods to eat, and which to avoid, as the evening progresses.

Here's a good rule of thumb: Avoid carbs before bed in favor of slow-digesting high-quality protein and healthy fats. Fiber is ok too as long as it's low in starch or sugars.

Carbohydrate consumption causes significant rise in the storage hormone insulin, which also puts the breaks on fat-burning. That's a recipe for disaster in the late evening hours as your metabolism is winding down, but fortunately, slow-digesting protein isn't.

Instead, slow digesting proteins provide your body with a steady flow of amino acids throughout the night to help you recover from exercise and maintain your calorie-burning lean muscle as you lose fat.

Here are some of my top pre-bedtime food choices:

1. White Meat Protein  - White meat animal protein sources such as chicken and turkey are great pre-bed meal choices because they digest slowly and have a very low insulin release. These sources also promote the release of another hormone, glucagon, that assists the body with breaking down stored carbs and fat within your body to be burned for energy...a double win! 

Having some cooked ground turkey or chicken handy in tupperware in your fridge makes for a quick late night snack whenever you need it... my favorite way is to warm it up and add to a quick lettuce wrap with a little avocado and hot sauce whenever I need a night time snack.  A delicious way to aid your metabolism and fat loss efforts!

2. Cottage Cheese - Cottage cheese is very slow digesting and coats the stomach to be assimilated by the body over many hours. As a protein, it also stimulates glucagon release, which as I just mentioned is great for fat loss, making this a good pre-bedtime choice. Just make sure you're using plain cottage cheese, not the flavored varieties with added sugars.  Add some stevia and cinnamon if you need to flavor it up a little!

3. Green Vegetables - While these aren't considered a protein, they contain virtually no calories (insignificant), are high in fiber, and they're very filling. Often times when I get a late night craving I eat a big bowl of green veggies and it completely kills my craving...a diet savior to prevent you from giving in to junk foods late night!

4. Almonds, pecans, walnuts, or pistachios - These nuts are not only great sources of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants, but provide the fiber and healthy fats necessary to control your cravings late at night and make sure you don't give in to junk.

5. A Slow-digesting, Low-carb Protein Shake - I use a slow-digesting protein shake before bed a lot of times. It's a great dessert alternative that's much lower in sugar and better for your body. The vast majority of my clients have grown to love the habit as well...who doesn't love dessert before bed? :) I normally blend the shake with almond butter to get some healthy fats in there, and oh man, it tastes good with the right protein powder.

WARNING: Avoid taking a simple whey protein powder before bed...research has shown that it causes more of an insulin release than white bread! Instead, try this time-released blend that includes a blend of slow-digesting, high-quality proteins.

Is "paleo" the healthiest human diet? (controversial)

Is "paleo" the healthiest human diet? (controversial)

The hottest thing in nutrition over the last few years is the "Paleo" style of eating (aka, Paleolithic nutrition).  In some ways, it's a simple concept, and it's common sense... eat a similar hunter-gatherer diet like our ancestors did for over 1.9 Million years, and since this is the diet that the human digestive system is most adapted to during 99% of our existence, good health will follow, and getting a lean body becomes easier.

Some paleo authors though forbid even tiny amounts of grains and dairy in their recommendations, while other mainstream health authors and experts just aren't convinced yet (or haven't been explained the science yet) that whole grains can possibly be bad for you in any way. 

My thought on this is that not all grains are necessarily bad for you, but some are a LOT worse than others... this is where I see "paleo" nutrition in a slightly different light than some very strict Paleo authors that advise to 100% eliminate ALL grains.  I don't quite see it that way.

A couple things that I keep in mind in terms of deciding on the healthiest paleolithic nutrition plan:

1.  For people that are extremely active such as long distance bikers, runners, and athletes that do intense activity for several hours per day, the extra calories from starch that grains give can be useful. The extra calories and carbs from grains can also be useful to those looking to build muscle mass. 

However, there's no reason at all that these types of people can't fuel their carb needs with potatoes, sweet potatoes, fruit, squash, quinoa, and other non-grain carb sources, and still get the calories and carbs they need without getting all of the gluten and other problematic anti-nutrients that are in many popular grains.

2.  Some grains are worse than others.  For example, rice and oats still have anti-nutrients, but have a lot less anti-nutrients than wheat does.  Rice and oats also don't contain gluten (unless they contain traces from processing machines that also processed wheat or barley), and as you know, chronic gluten intake can irritate the gut and cause internal inflammation in a large majority of us, even if we're not Celiac.

This means that rice and oats are more "neutral" than wheat is, and if you're extremely active and burn boatloads of calories with hours of exercise each day, then rice and oats can be a reasonable source of calories, although still not necessarily the "best" carb source per se.

However, if you're an average person that exercises a couple days a week, and not daily for hours each day, there's really no need for the extra calories and carbs that even "neutral" grains provide. 

3.  It's important to know that grains are NOT "essential" to the human diet in any way.  After all, before agriculture started approx 10,000 years ago, grains were just a very tiny % of the human diet, dating back almost 2 Million years. 

Currently, it's estimated that the average modern day person obtains 67% of their total calories come from only 3 foods -- wheat, corn, and soy and their derivatives. 

However, ancient paleolithic humans most likely only consumed about 1 or 2% of their total calories from wild grains that they could have gathered.  Mass produced grains to make bread, baked goods, and pasta that are modern day staples simply didn't exist back then.

This means that for 99% of human existence, humans only ate grains in a very tiny fraction of their total calories, and for the last 1% of human existence, we now eat 67% of our total calories from wheat, corn, and soy alone (although technically, soy is not a grain...it's a legume, but soy has it's own health issues as well).

Ancient paleolithic humans were very active hunting and gathering each day (and probably fighting off predators too in most locations!), yet somehow us humans managed to "fuel our bodies" for almost 2 Million years without the need for large amounts of grains like modern day athletes resort to as the go-to carb source.

Although I'm not personally a competing athlete in anything, I'm a very active skier, mountain biker, hiker, and weight lifter.  But I don't fuel my body on grains, and I don't necessarily fuel my body on primarily carbohydrates either.  And I feel amazing every single day!

I tend to prefer to fuel my body primarily from healthy fats like avocados, nuts, egg yolks, seeds, olive oil, coconut oil, and grass-fed butter and cream.  But I still also fuel my body with small to moderate amounts of carbs each day from eating loads of veggies, raw honey in my morning or afternoon tea, maybe a few potatoes or sweet potatoes each week, squash, and one or two pieces of fruit a day.  This type of plan replicates the ancient paleolithic hunter-gatherer diet much more closely than these modern plans loaded with grains at every meal.

I'm sure we'll talk more about this topic in upcoming newsletters, but let's look at the big picture here...

The way I see it is that you can probably find a lot of examples of people you know that eat a lot of grains and yet remain lean, and seemingly healthy.  This doesn't mean that gluten and other anti-nutrients they are consuming daily aren't causing at least some form of moderate internal inflammation, blood sugar problems, or minor digestive problems though in many of these grain-eaters.

I personally don't avoid grains altogether, but I would say that I only eat grains about 1 day per week, and I try to get variety when I do instead of only one type of grain, so that I'm not always consuming the same types of anti-nutrients which might affect specific minerals from being absorbed in the body.  This can lead to some mineral deficiency with over-consumption of certain grains too often.

2 Pre-Meal Tricks to Control Your Blood Sugar Response and Stay in Fat-Burning Mode

In several other articles, I've told you about some of the really cool experiments that Tim Ferriss has done in his new book that I read recently, The 4-Hour Body, and I wanted to show you this one today, because it's pretty cool, and also a simple thing to do...
You may have heard different websites or anecdotes in the past about these 3 substances and their possible effects on reducing the blood sugar response of a meal (taken either before or during a meal), which can, essentially help to keep insulin levels lower post-meal and keep the body from depositing extra body fat.  Maintaining lower and more stable blood sugar levels also helps to prevent cravings and slow the aging process by reducing formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in your body.
These 3 substances that he tested pre-meal are:

• vinegar
• lemon juice
• cinnamon

But do they actually work in controlling blood sugar response from a meal?
Well, that's what Tim decided to test out on himself as one of his experiments that he did in The 4-Hour Body.  Tim actually used a blood sugar meter (normally for diabetics) that attached probes into his abdomen to get constant measurements and graphs of his blood sugar and response to different foods and meals.
In his tests, he tested ingesting all 3 of these "substances" before meals in separate tests.
The results?
The pre-meal vinegar
The vinegar failed!
Tim tested both white vinegar and balsamic vinegar and neither showed any lowering effect on his blood sugar in his tests.  He even drank 3 Tbsp+ of vinegar before meals as a last attempt to see if vinegar could have any blood sugar controlling effects.  But he found no effect.
Tim includes some theories in his book on why the vinegar didn't have any effect.
The pre-meal lemon juice
Better news with the lemon juice! 
In Tim's personal tests, he used 3 Tbsp of fresh-squeezed lemon juice (not store-bought stuff with preservatives and artificial additives) prior to his meals and this lowered his blood sugar response to meals (compared to his controls) by approximately 10%.
Remember that lowering the blood sugar response to a meal can help to control insulin levels and therefore keep your body in fat-burning mode for longer...and prevent cravings too!
The pre-meal cinnamon
Yet another score!
If you've read my articles in the past, it's no secret that cinnamon can be powerful in terms of helping to blunt blood sugar response to a meal.  In fact, I regularly take 2 cinnamon capsules (approx 1 gram) if I know I'm going to eat a meal that contains moderate or high levels of carbohydrates.  Some studies show that cinnamon can reduce the glycemic response of a meal up to 29%!
But there are different types of cinnamon...so which is best?
Tim actually tested 3 types of cinnamon in how they affected his blood sugar response to meals.
Saigon cinnamon (aka Vietnamese cinnamon) was found in Tim's tests to be the most effective at controlling blood sugar.
Cassia cinnamon came in 2nd place in effectiveness
Ceylon cinnamon came in 3rd place in Tim's tests in effectiveness in controlling blood sugar response to a meal.
Tim did note however that all 3 types of cinnamon helped control blood sugar to some extent.  I personally like to use cinnamon in smoothies, in yogurt or oatmeal, with apples and almond butter, or in capsule form before any meals that are going to have more than 35 grams of carbohydrates.
Keep in mind that if you take medications, you need to consult with your doctor to make sure that cinnamon use does not interfere with the medications (especially with blood thinners).  Tim also warns that 4 grams per day (about 1.5 teaspoons) is probably the max amount of cinnamon that anyone should take.

So there you go!  Lemon juice and cinnamon are the 2 tricks that Tim revealed through his own blood sugar testing that helped to control blood sugar response, fight cravings, and therefore can help you to maintain lower blood sugar and insulin levels and stay in fat-burning mode longer!
And remember that yet another benefit of maintaining lower blood sugar levels is that you help to SLOW the aging process, since high blood sugar levels over time increase glycation in your body, which ages you faster.

Do cereal and bread cause heart disease?

Do cereal and bread cause heart disease?

We talked a little bit the other day about the truth about cholesterol and why most people have been misinformed about "reducing their cholesterol" when in fact, total cholesterol has almost nothing to with heart disease risk.

But we also need to talk about another related topic that is equally important...

Most people over the years have been misinformed by the media that dietary fats are the cause of heart disease. In recent years, scientists have become quite clear that this is not the case.  Sure, artificial trans fats are a big cause of heart disease, but not necessarily healthy natural fats from unprocessed foods (except in the case of excess omega-6 fats compared to omega-3 fats).

But here's another cause of heart disease that most people aren't aware of...

First, remember that LDLs can be broken down into big puffy LDLs (type A, which don't contribute to plaque in the arteries) and small dense LDLs (type B) which do contribute to plaque in the arteries.

Now this is where it gets interesting... High insulin levels from a high carbohydrate intake over time cause your body to produce higher levels of nasty small/dense LDL particles in your blood (type B LDL particles), which are known to be atherogenic (causes plaque in your arteries).

Yes, that's right... a chronically high carb intake can actually be one of the causes of heart disease.

What does the government recommend... a high carbohydrate diet.  Doesn't make much sense does it?  Is their recommendation biased to support big business?  I'll let you decide on that.

Now another thing to keep in mind are your triglyceride levels.  Higher triglyceride levels in your blood are another risk factor for heart disease.  According to well-known nutrition author Rob Wolf , "Triglycerides are a measure of circulating blood fats, so you would think a high-fat diet would mean high triglycerides, right? Interestingly, this is not the case.  Triglycerides are in fact an indicator of high dietary carbohydrate and insulin sensitivity. High carbs and poor insulin sensitivity = high triglycerides."

Once again, everything you've been told over the years about eating a high-carb diet being healthy, is not quite accurate.  Eating moderately higher protein and healthy fats along with loads of fibrous vegetables, nuts, and small amounts of fruits (while minimizing grains and sugars) can all be exactly what we need to prevent heart disease and also diabetes.