Make Better Choices When Forced To Eat Fast-Food

I was out recently with some friends and we stopped at a fast food joint. I hate fast food joints, but sometimes everybody else wants to go there, so you just have to make the best of it and find something at least somewhat healthy.

 

If you're forced to eat fast-food, here's a tip to make sure that you're not doing much damage to your body...

 

ALWAYS AVOID the soda and anything deep fried including French fries, hash browns, and anything breaded like chicken nuggets, chicken patties, or breaded fish sandwiches. These are all absolutely soaked in deadly trans fats from the industrial hydrogenated vegetable oils they use to fry all of these items. 

 

Note: Even though some fast food restaurants have vowed to not use hydrogenated oils loaded with trans fats any more, they are still using highly refined processed oils, which are still inflammatory and negatively affect your health (and waistline).

 

Remember, as I've said before, I've seen studies indicating that as little as 1 gram of artificial trans fat per day can have serious degenerative internal effects in your body such as inflammation, clogging and hardening of the arteries, heart disease, various forms of cancer...not to mention packing on the ab flab. That's as little as 1 gram!

 

Consider that a typical fast-food meal of a breaded chicken sandwich (or fish sandwich), along with an order of fries can contain as much as 10 grams of trans fat! Add on a cookie or small piece of pie for dessert (which are usually made with deadly margarine or shortening), and now you're up to about 13 grams of trans fat with that entire meal.

 

If 1 gram a day is slowly killing you, imagine what 13 grams is doing! And that was only one meal that you ate. Some people are consuming 20-30 grams of artificial trans fat per day, and not even realizing what they're doing to themselves internally. Please realize that nobody, I mean NOBODY, is looking out for your health, except for YOU.

 

Anyway, back to the topic of how to avoid this stuff and eat a reasonably healthy meal on the rare occasion that you're forced to eat fast-food. As for drinks, avoid the sodas...they're nothing but heavily processed high fructose corn syrup which will surely end up as extra belly fat. And yes, that mean NO DIET SODA either!  This stuff is pure evil to your body.  Here's an article I did about why diet soda makes you fat.

 

Your best bets for drinks are always water or unsweetened iced tea.  You get the added benefit of the antioxidants in the unsweetened iced tea (but stay away from any sweeteners).

 

At breakfast, the best choice is an egg, ham, and cheese on an English muffin (not on a croissant, which is full of nasty trans-fats!), or a fruit & nut salad.

 

At lunch or dinner, the best choices are a grilled chicken sandwich, the chili, a grilled chicken salad without croutons (again...croutons = more trans), or even just a plain cheeseburger.   This doesn't mean these fast-food items are truly healthy and organic, but they're the best options you have at most fast food places.

 

The main take-away point from this little fast-food article is that the nastiest stuff at these fast food joints are the sodas and fries, and any other deep fried items. If you stay completely away from those items, you're at least making better choices than 95% of most people.

 

For any of you that have seen the movie "Super-Size Me", you saw how eating fast food every day absolutely destroyed that guy's health, but did you happen to notice the one guy that was the king of eating big macs (or some kind of burger)? I don't remember what kind of burger it was, but basically this guy has eaten these fast food burgers almost every day of his life for the past 30 years or something like that. 

Did you notice that he stated that he almost never eats the fries or soda, even though he eats the burgers every day? And he's not necessarily overweight. Now I'm not saying that fast-food burgers made with their refined white bread and low quality beef and cheese are the healthiest thing, but the point is... it's the fries and sodas that are the real health disaster.

Alright, so next time you're out at one of these places, remember these tips and choose smart!

 

Personally, I can't remember the last time I ate at a fast food joint like mickey D's or BK.  If at all possible, I'll try to find some corner deli with fresh salads or sandwiches instead of fast food.

 

By the way, if you haven't heard yet, McD's has added a nutrition label to all of their food wrappers now. Remember that as little as one gram of trans may cause some internal harm and now you can actually see how many grams of trans fat you're eating right on the food wrapper. That might change your mind about finishing it.

 

Source: Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Never Grill Meat, Unless You Do This First...

The problem with grilled meats and HCA formation - how to counteract carcinogens and make meat healthier.

 

Most people aren't aware that when you cook meat (whether it's grilled, broiled, or seared) there are carcinogenic compounds that can form called HCA's (heterocyclic amines).  Now don't panic...you ingest various carcinogens all the time, even with some vegetables. You can always protect yourself with more antioxidants.

Please Note:  When you cook meat in a water base as opposed to grilling, broiling, or searing, you eliminate the HCAs. So for example, meats cooked in a soup, or meats cooked in a crock pot will not have the problem of the carcinogenic HCAs and is a healthier way to cook meat.

But let's face it... grilled meat tastes awesome and there's no way I'm giving up my grass-fed steak from the grill, or my grass-fed burgers!

That's why it's important to know that there's a way you can use spices to both counteract, and also drastically reduce the carcinogens formed when you grill meat...

If you're going to grill meats, marinating meats for hours beforehand in liquid mixtures that contain rosemary and other herbs/spices can dramatically help to reduce HCA's (heterocyclic amines), which are carcinogenic compounds that can form when meats are grilled.  So using rosemary, thyme, garlic, oregano and other spices in a meat marinade before grilling meats can drastically reduce any carcinogens that normally would form on grilled meat. 

The antioxidants in rosemary and thyme from a marinade were specifically cited in studies at being powerful inhibitors of HCA formation when grilling meats.  But it was also noted that other spices such as garlic, oregano, and others can help to prevent HCA formation as well, so I suggest using a variety, which tastes great anyway!

One more important point about grilling meat:

Remember that the more well-done a meat is cooked, the higher concentration of carcinogenic HCA's can form, so rare, medium-rare, or medium are healthier choices than well-done.  I've never understood why anybody would want to ruin a good steak by burning it to oblivion anyway.  But hey, if you're one of those folks that likes your steaks well-done, just remember that you're eating a lot more carcinogens than a steak that's cooked less, so make sure to load up on your antioxidants (spices, teas, berries, etc) to help combat those extra carcinogens.  

Washing down your barbequed meal with a glass of unsweetened iced tea (rich in antioxidants) and also a good salad with lots of raw veggies can provide the antioxidants needed to counteract the effect of HCAs in your body from grilled meat. 

By the way, even charring vegetables on the grill creates different carcinogens such as acrylamides, so don't think that the negative effect of charring only applies to meats.

Hey, we all love a great barbeque, so no need to give that up just because of HCAs or acrylamides, but at least now you know how to counteract the effects of these in your body to protect yourself, and also how to use spices to drastically reduce the formation of HCAs on grilled meat!

Lastly, remember that you can use superfoods such as spices, herbs, fruits, veggies, and even some animal-based superfoods to fight against cancer development, reduce high blood pressure, prevent diabetes, prevent heart disease, and even BOOST your metabolism for a flatter stomach.

 

Source: Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist

The #1 WORST Food that CAUSES Faster Aging (BEWARE Fellow Hubbers!)

Do you eat these foods that HARM your blood sugar and age your joints and skin faster?  Some are even deceptively marketed to you as "healthy" by giant food corporations.  Avoid or minimize these and look 5-10 years YOUNGER than your real age.

 

Due to biochemical reactions in your body that occur with every type of food you eat on a daily basis, some foods age you FASTER than your real age, while other foods help to FIGHT aging.

Eat the wrong foods regularly, and you can look and feel 10 or more years OLDER than your real age (not fun!) ... but eat the right foods, and over time, you can start to look 5-10 years YOUNGER than your real age.

Three of the processes that go on inside your body that have a MAJOR impact on your rate of aging are called "glycation", "inflammation", and "oxidation". 

When we talk about aging, we're not just talking about wrinkles on your skin or how thick your hair is... we're also talking about factors that you can't see, such as how well your organs function, and whether your joints are degrading.

Yes, I'm sure you'll agree this is much more important than just how you look superficially (although we'll show you how to improve BOTH below!)

With the title of this article, you might have guessed that obvious answers like sugar or trans fat would be what we talk about in this article.  Yes, we all already know those are bad, but I want to discuss another food that ages your body faster than normal... and it's one that you might not expect!

So let's dig right in and I'll show you how your rate of aging can be directly related to the foods you might eat every day, and how to protect yourself...
 

The #1 WORST food that ages you faster:

Wheat based foods (yes, even "whole wheat")

Before I tell you why wheat can actually speed up the aging process in your body, let's clarify some simple biochemistry in your body...

This deals with "glycation" in your body, and substances called Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs).  These nasty little compounds called AGEs speed up the aging process in your body including damage over time to your organs, your joints, and of course, wrinkled skin.

So with that said, what is one of the biggest factors that increase production of AGEs inside your body?  This may surprise you, but high blood sugar levels over time dramatically increase age-accelerating AGEs in your body.  This is why type 2 diabetics many times appear that they have not aged well and look older than their real age.  But this age-increasing effect is not just limited to diabetics.

So, let's get back to how "whole wheat" relates to this...

Here is a little-known fact that's often covered up by the massive marketing campaigns by giant food companies that want you to believe that "whole wheat" is healthy for you... but the fact is that wheat contains a very unusual type of carbohydrate (not found in other foods) called Amylopectin-A, which has been found in some tests to spike your blood sugar HIGHER than even pure table sugar.

In fact, amylopectin-A (from wheat) raises your blood sugar MORE than almost any other carbohydrate source on earth based on blood sugar response testing that's documented in studies.

This means that wheat-based foods such as breads, bagels, cereals, muffins, and other baked goods often cause MUCH higher blood sugar levels than most other carbohydrate sources.  If you don't believe me, here's something you should know... I ran personal blood sugar tests on myself using a blood glucometer about 45 minutes after eating 2 slices of wheat bread vs eating a bowl of oatmeal, with equivalent grams of carbs. 

Article Sources: Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist
& Catherine Ebeling - RN, BSN

The blood sugar test results:

2 slices of whole wheat toast:
45 minutes after consumption:  Blood sugar spiked from 86 fasting level to 155.

1 Bowl of Oatmeal (equivalent grams of carbs to 2 slices wheat toast)
45 minutes after consumption:   Blood sugar raised from 86 fasting level to 112 

As you know now, the higher your average blood sugar levels are over time, the more AGEs are formed inside your body, which makes you age FASTER.  Clearly, the whole wheat spiked blood sugar MUCH higher than the oatmeal, and if you don't know, 155 is a massive blood sugar reading that will certainly contribute to faster aging if you eat wheat frequently.

You've probably also heard about the potential health-damaging effects of gluten (another problematic compound found in wheat that can cause inflammation in your digestive system) in the news recently, but this blood sugar aspect we just covered is not talked about that often, and is yet another reason to reduce or eliminate wheat-based foods in your diet.  Your body will thank you by aging slower and looking YOUNGER! 

And losing bodyfat is typically another fun side effect of eliminating or reducing wheat in your diet!

Yet another problem with wheat-based foods and aging...

As it turns out, baked wheat products contain carcinogenic chemicals calledacrylamides that form in the browned portion of breads, cereals, muffins, etc.  These carcinogenic acrylamides have been linked in studies to possible increased risk of cancer and accelerated aging.  Note that acrylamides are also found in high levels in other browned carbohydrate sources such as french fries or any other browned starchy foods.

Don't worry though... There's a trick that you can use to protect yourself from these carcinogenic acrylamides, and it has to do with eating the RIGHT foods that COUNTERACT damage from these nasty chemicals.  I'll show you how to find the EXACT foods that protect your body on the next page!

Other foods to watch out for that can increase aging in your body include corn-based foods that also disrupt blood sugar highly (corn cereals, corn chips, corn syrup), soybean oil and other "vegetable" oils that contain excessively refined and processed fats that cause inflammation in your body, and also excess sugars from candies, cakes, and sweetened drinks.