4 Unhealthy 'Health' Foods

I meet LOTS of women in NYC who tell me they want to get in shape, lose body fat and look & feel fabulous.

Many of them are really excited to tell me about their diet and exercise routines and say things like 'this works for me' or 'I love it.'

I have yet to figure out WHY they are meeting with me in the first place if what they are doing is 'working so well' or they 'love it' so much.

The truth is this - the dark circles under the eyes, fatigue, late afternoon energy drop, coffee addiction & sugar cravings, bloating and excess bodyfat tell me a different story.

Just because something is popular in magazines, gyms or on TV does not mean that is true, that it works or that it is HEALTHY.

Here are 4 'health food' myths that are very popular right now in New York City that are anything but 'healthy.'


1 - RAW FOOD DIETS - Yes, its popular and no it is not natural, sustainable or healthy. Plan on skiiing this year? What about a trip to Costa Rica? Visiting family in Illinois or Florida? Other than fruits, vegetables and some nuts, you won't have much luck finding raw foods restaurants anywhere except Manhattan or LA.

It is very important to have raw foods in your diet, including fruits and certain vegetables. However, there is insufficient protein and saturated fat to make raw foods a healthy diet for any human being. The idea that saturated fat is bad for you or clogs your arteries is completely false and not supported by any real science and I discuss this in my f.r.e.e report www.12FatLossSecrets.com.

Since raw foods are heavy in calories (loaded with nuts & coconut), one small desert can pack on the pounds. If you have a sweet tooth, these are better desert choices, but you'll have to plan your meal accordingly.

I love Pure Food and Wine take out, as an addition to my main course and only once in awhile.

The premise of the raw foods philsosophy is that raw foods are 'alkaline' and becoming too 'acidic' makes you sick and diseased. They say that eating meat or cooked foods makes you 'acidic.'

What they don't understand is that exercise also makes you 'acidic.'

So if you the 'alkalinize or die' motto were true, all my female clients who are lean & strong, yet still maintain a beautiful feminine aesthetic with excellent posture and have an abundance of energy - would have died a long time ago from all the squatting, interval training or med ball conditioning that we do.

Also, there are cultures around the world, who live healthy, robust and long lives and are free from cancer, heart disease, diabetes and many other self-induced diseases adn they eat plenty of meat - including raw meat and organ meats.

The idea that any one food acts the same in all people is ignorance. This 'one size fits all' approach to eating is DEAD.

Don't fall for it. Get my report or go to www.mercola.com and sign up for his newsletter to learn what works and what doesn't work for women's nutrition.

2 - WHOLE GRAINS - Yes, whole grains are better than refined, processed grains, but they are still not healthy. If you compressed human history into one year, we have only been eating grains for about one day. The human being is not designed to eat grains and all you have to do is look at your co-workers to see who eats the most grains and who eats the least and you will see the difference.

This is a popular myth that causes many women to have skin problems, bloating and excess body fat. The bottom line is this - grains are carbs. All carbs are sugar. Reduce grains and you reduce sugar in your diet. What does that mean? You will lose more body fat, stabilize your blood sugar levels & mood, improve your health and prevent disease.

I suggest my new clients avoid grains except for millet, buckwheat and starchy carbs like brown rice & corn. Since 75% of the poppulation is sensitive to gluten (the protein in grains) grains are best left alone to the rest of America who is addicted to sugars.

3 - Dairy Products - Although yogurt is popular and your OBGYN may have suggested it for its active cultures(aka probiotics), pastuerized dairy is anything but healthy and may be causing your skin issues and bloating and make it difficult to lose that last 5 pounds.

Simply put - commercial dairy products contain hormones, antibiotics and pesticides from their feed. Commercial dairy cows are fed grains, not grass, like they are designed to. This changes the composition of the fats, especially the CLA content.

Here is an excerpt from Sally Fallon, author of my favorite cookbook 'Nourishing Traditions':

'Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamin B12 and vitamin B6, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer.

Calves fed pasteurized milk die before maturity.'

You can get better quality probiotics whi I highly recomend from www.mercola.com or www.vsl3.com

Do your body good by finding raw milk in your area or just don't touch it. Look up www.realmilk.com

NOTE - even people who cannot tolerate dairy generally can eat butter. I recomend butter to everyone.

If you want to learn the importance of butter and see why pasteurized dairy products are crap, go to www.westonaprice.org to learn more.


4 - Cliff Bars or other junk food 'health' food bars -
Here is where raw foods comes in handy. Raw food bars are the only healthy bars on the market and the most popular bars are usually the worst, especially Cliff bars, Power bars and Balance bars. These 'energy' or 'protein' bars that you find at Whole Foods are full of sugars, grains and synthetic, processed dairy products and other ingredients and require MORE ENERGY TO PROCESS than teh actual energy they deliver. Thats one of the problems. The bloating and farting is another.

What does that mean to people who love these bars?

It means you will have to eat real food and plan your meals if you really want to be successful and lose fat, get fit and live a healthy and inspired life.

Making some of these changes may seem difficult if you are just starting out, but go back to the previous posts about Planning Your Success and everything will work out for the best. I promise.

Peace
Antonio