Tender Homemade Baked Beans

Baked beans are filled with healthy protein and fiber. This homemade recipe is quick and easy to make and tastes great. Serve it hot from the oven, or enjoy it chilled – either way it’s a crowd pleaser. Servings: 12

Here’s what you need…

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 1 (6oz) can tomato paste
• 1/4 cup tamari (low sodium soy sauce)
• 4 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 Tablespoon mustard
• 3 (15oz) cans pinto or white beans, drained and rinsed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a large baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and sauté the garlic and onions until tender.
3. In a large bowl, mix the tomato paste, tamari, maple syrup and mustard until a thick sauce forms. Add the beans and onions and mix until fully incorporated.
4. Spread the beans into prepared pan, cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 134 calories, .5g fat, 25g carbohydrate, 5g fiber, and 8g protein.

“Empowered Communication” by Steven Edwards

I often think about how my relationships impact my wellbeing. Positive relationships can be extremely beneficial to psychological health, and to accomplishing things that are important to us in our lives. Effective communication enables relationship success and empowered action in our business and personal lives.

Crucial Conversations

A few months ago a friend and I had lunch and discussed things we found the most beneficial in yielding business sales results and personal life success. My friend said he had read a book called “Crucial Conversations” some time ago and that it had a more profound impact on business results and quality communication in his valued relationships than any book he had read. He challenged me to read it. I picked up the book that day and over the next few weeks carefully studied it.

The authors defined a “Crucial Conversation” as a discussion between two or more people where the stakes are high, emotions are strong, and opinions are varied. Reflecting on personal experiences I’ve had communicating with others in the crucial conversation context, I noticed as was pointed out by the authors, that either myself or the other party involved avoided the conversation, faced it and handled it poorly, or it was faced and handled well.

Handling Conversations Well

When the stakes are high in our associations it is important we handle them well, whether it’s a meeting with management to talk about the office promotion, a discussion with your teenage daughter about dating, or peace talks between governments.

It is critical that we have the intent and use the language that creates mutually desirable and beneficial results.

Enlightened Communication: The Mastermind

When two or more individuals come together with intent to create something positive and beneficial, the sum results can be far greater than the individuals involved, as they are magnified exponentially. Mathematically, the results equation might be stated as 1 + 1 + 1 = 100. Yes, the results can be dramatic!

This coming together of minds is often referred to as a “Mastermind”. In “masterminded” crucial conversations, positively magnified results are common.

Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism coined the term “Middle Way” or “Middle Path” to describe a path of moderation between self-indulgence and self-mortification that ultimately leads to enlightenment and liberation. This middle path does not mean the meeting of two extremes at a mid-point of compromise on a straight-line continuum. The “middle way” of wisdom represents a high center point like the apex of a triangle. The high middle point encompasses far more value than the intersection of mere compromise.

Masterminded results are powerful joint creations. Approaching our crucial conversations with the “mastermind” is to take the “middle way” that leads to fruitful, high-level results.

Such conversations can be transformational. When two or more people use genuine dialogue to create something new, a strong bonding occurs, like the bonding in a family when a new child is created. Loyalty, respect, and love are the fruits of this bonding.

I had a discussion with a member of my business mastermind group last night and I came away amazed at the joint creation of ideas regarding goal achievement and business productivity. Results obtained using multiple backgrounds and minds can be tremendously valuable.

Masterminding

Effectively managing crucial conversations and creating empowering dialogue through masterminding can be facilitated through the following ways:

1. Self assessment: consider your important relationships. Do you genuinely want to create something that is mutually beneficial? Do you feel genuine respect for others when engaged in important conversations? Are there crucial conversations you are avoiding or handling poorly? Do you find your emotions moving toward avoidance or anger? Do you hold mean opinions of others in your mind or use cheap shots or sarcasm? Assess how you are doing and determine how to improve.
2. Make the circumstances safe for all involved: when we feel threatened, the natural response is to fight or flee. By showing genuine concern and respect at all times for others we create fertile ground in which information flows freely and masterminding flourishes. When there is a pool of “shared meaning” with others, information tends to be relevant and accurate, and smarter decisions are made. It’s important to keep in mind that respect in our relationships is like air: if it’s not present, communication dies.
3. Ask yourself the question of what you really want to accomplish. Asking this question reminds you of your goal and helps maintain focus. When each party involved pays attention to key goals and objectives, much more is accomplished in much less time. It is important to understand conversation topics that contribute to “shared meaning” and those that don’t.
4. Live Stress Free: When we stay balanced in our lives, we can bring unbiased clarity to the table in our important interactions. Take time to exercise, eat healthy, and nurture your mind and body.
5. Look for mutual purpose: being proactive in seeking joint purpose facilitates higher-level, constructive communication. When all parties sincerely seek beneficial purposes, focus becomes clear and results are magnified.

I am fully convinced that our relationships are fundamental to emotional balance and life satisfaction. The ability to communicate sincerely and with joint purpose empowers personal wellbeing and enables us to positively revolutionize the good we accomplish in the world.

“Understanding Protein” by Steven Edwards, M.S.

The word protein comes from the Greek “prota” meaning “of primary importance.” Proteins are organic compounds composed of amino acids. Amino acids bind together to form proteins that are associated with every process of your body’s cells.

Many proteins are enzymes involved in your body’s chemical activity. Proteins are vital to metabolism, to cell structure and to mechanical function. They form the scaffolding that maintains cell shape, and are used as building blocks to all lean tissues in your body.  Hair, skin, muscle tissue, and your internal organs are all constructed from protein. Protein is also utilized by the immune system to protect the body.

Your body cannot create all the amino acids that is requires, which means that you must eat the necessary protein. Some food sources contain relative amounts of all essential amino acids. Eggs, dairy, fish, beef and other meats, turkey, and chicken contain some of all the essential amino acids.

The body takes amino acids and mixes and matches them in combinations to form required proteins. If one amino acid is present but another required amino acid is not, the desired protein will not be created. Think of amino acids as letters in an alphabet soup. If you want to spell the word ‘cat’, you require three letters. If one letter is absent, you can’t spell the word. Likewise, if one amino acid is not available that is required to construct a given protein, that protein will not be built.

This is where things get tricky if you are a vegetarian. Many non-meat foods contain some essential amino acids and lack others. Vegetarians must learn to mix and match foods so the body can create the complete proteins it needs. Pita and split pea soup, chick peas and hummus, lentils and rice, brown rice and black beans, legumes and grains, corn and red beans, and tofu and sesame seeds.

If you consume complimentary vegetarian sources of protein within a reasonable time frame- about a day- your body can create needed proteins. If necessary amino acids are lacking however, the body goes to its most readily available protein source- muscle tissue. The body will break down muscle tissue to get what it needs. If your goal is weight loss, you don’t want your body cannibalizing its own muscle tissue as this actually depresses metabolism, making fat loss more difficult.

Determining Your Protein Requirement

Two factors dictate protein needs. First is the amount of lean tissue in your body that protein will sustain. Lean tissue is your body weight minus body fat. A 300 pound football player with ten percent body fat has a dramatically different protein need than a 300 pound person with 50 percent body fat.

The second factor dictating protein need is how much your body metabolizes. This will be largely effected by your activity level. Active individuals need more protein than inactive individuals. Also those with more muscle tissue require more protein to sustain muscle.

Your body can only metabolize a certain amount of protein in one sitting. If you eat more protein than your body requires in a given time frame, part of that protein can be converted to carbohydrate. Excess protein eaten beyond what your body requires or can use within that time frame will be converted to fat.

The amount of protein that can be metabolized will vary from person to person. Larger, more muscular individuals will likely metabolize more protein per meal than smaller individuals. Eating between 20 and 30 grams of protein per meal is about right, depending on your lean body mass.

During initial phases of strength training, you will probably require more protein than later phases.

As you are probably noticing, your protein intake is a balancing act. You want to eat what you need without going over-board.

Keys to balancing protein intake:

1. Eat small portions of protein that your body can put to use in each meal. Avoid excessive amounts of protein in those meals.
2. Spread those meals out over the course of each day, eating some protein in each meal you eat every three to three and a half hours. This will be about five meals per day.
3. Focus on lean meats that contain a wide spectrum of essential amino acids.
4. If you are a vegetarian, especially if you are active, learn how to eat complimentary food sources to get all the essential amino acids.

Protein Meal Replacements & Bars

There is a plethora of protein/nutrition bars available. Some are high quality. Most are not.

One of the latest fads is the “low carb bar” sweetened with sugar alcohol in which the term “net carbs” is used. The term “net carbs” is used to refer to the amount of carbohydrate that will have a significant impact on blood sugar levels. If a bar has 30 grams of carbohydrate with a total of four grams from fiber and 22 grams of glycerine or sugar alcohol, the bar might be said to have four grams of “net carbs”. Subtract the four grams of fiber and 22 grams of sugar alcohol from 30 and you have four net carbs. While the fiber content of the bar has a minimal impact on blood sugar levels in your body, the sugar alcohol is a different story. Sugar alcohols act like sugar in the body, so really the “net carbs” marketing is deceptive.

Companies can use the term “net carbs” to market their products because sugar alcohols have not been categorized as sugar by the FDA. Some common sugar alcohols include Isomalt, Maltitol, and Maltitol Syrup.

Remember, if you want to lose fat, be conscious of the sugars you are eating, including those you might consume by way of food bars.

There are a few bars on the market made from whole foods that can be a quick and convenient supplement to your regular diet. One fantastic product made from organic fruits and vegetables is ReBar, available at www.healthcocanada.com or at your local health food store. These bars don’t contain added protein, but are a great way to get healthy fruits and vegetables in your diet. One bar is like eating 9 servings of veggies and fruits. Another great Rebar product is their Seeds & Greens bar which contains a small amount of protein from the seeds in the bar.

The Raw Revolution Organic Live Food Bars are another quality whole food product (see www.rawindulgence.com for more info). Raw revolution bars come in these flavors- Chocolate & Cashew, Raspberry & Chocolate, Coconut & Agave Nectar, and Spirulina & Cashew.

Greens Plus is another tasty organic food bar (www.greensplus.com). They have protein bars in Natural Peanut Butter and Peanut Butter/Chocolate flavors.  They also have energy bars in Natural and Chocolate flavors. I particularly like the Chocolate energy bar. Many health food stores sell Greens Plus.

Whey protein has a high biological value (it contains all essential amino acids required by your body). “Jay Robb” whey protein is a high quality product. “Natural Factors” is also an excellent product. Both are available at Whole Foods. Most products on the market, especially those in large tubs are generally low quality: they contain artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame, Acesulfame Potassium (K), and Sucralose, and the whey is poor quality.

Conclusion

Use only protein sources that will strengthen and build your body, and avoid poor quality supplemental protein products.

Supply your body with a steady stream of protein throughout the day in smaller, usable amounts.
Ensure that you are getting adequate protein to sustain lean body mass (or to increase muscle tone and promote weight loss if that is your goal).

Remember, it is essential to provide the right building blocks to maintain good health. Eating poor quality protein and other foods is precisely like using termite infested wood to build your home. Using high quality materials will help preserve life-long quality of health.

“Muscle is Hard to Build and Easy to Lose” by Dr. Joseph Mercola

As you age, it becomes harder to keep your muscles healthy. They get smaller, which decreases strength and increases the likelihood of falls and fractures. New research is showing how this happens, and what to do about it.

Researchers have already shown that when older people eat, they cannot make muscle as fast as the young. Now they’ve found that the suppression of muscle breakdown is blunted with age. This may explain the ongoing loss of muscle in older people — when they eat they don’t build enough muscle, and in addition, their insulin fails to shut down the muscle breakdown that rises between meals and overnight. However, weight training may “rejuvenate” muscle blood flow and help retain muscle for older people.

These findings fall into the category of common sense, along the lines of “use it or lose it.” As you age, physical exercise becomes an ever more important aspect of optimal health and longevity.

How to Prevent and Reverse Muscle Wasting

This study explains the biological processes that cause muscle wasting as you move into your senior years.

As you likely know, protein is essential for proper muscle growth and maintenance, but this study found that as you age, your body becomes increasingly less able to use the protein in your food for building muscle.

In addition, they found that, in seniors, insulin no longer prevented the muscle breakdown between meals and overnight as it normally does in younger subjects.

This double-whammy adds up to significant muscle wasting in sedentary seniors. And poor blood supply, which prevents proper delivery of nutrients and hormones to your muscles, may be an important factor.

Exercise is the natural remedy for poor blood circulation, and the team confirmed that three weight training sessions per week over 20 weeks rejuvenated blood flow in the extremities to the point that they were identical to those in the younger group!

How’s that for results!!

Beware of Drugs That Can Cause Irreversible Damage to Your Muscles

Before going any further, I also want to remind you of one very common cause of excessive muscle wasting, aside from a sedentary lifestyle, namely: statin drugs.

Statins are a class of drugs used to lower your cholesterol, and are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the world.

They have many dangerous side effects, one of which is a serious degenerative muscle tissue condition called rhabdomyolysis, which can be fatal (as your heart is a muscle, and can be affected by these drugs).

Statins such as Lipitor, Zocor, Pavacol and Mevacor lower your cholesterol by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, a key enzyme in cholesterol synthesis. But they can also activate the atrogin-1 gene, which plays a key role in muscle atrophy.

One recent study showed that even low concentrations of these drugs led to atrogin-1 induced muscle damage. And the higher the dosage, the greater the damage.

The Importance of Weight Training for Optimal Health

Unfortunately, many ignore weight training when devising their exercise plan, thinking they don’t want to “bulk up.” But gaining more muscle through resistance exercises is an integral part of any well rounded fitness program, especially if you want to lose weight. However, weight training is not about vanity.

The intensity of your resistance training can achieve a number of beneficial changes on the molecular, enzymatic, hormonal, and chemical level in your body, which will help slow down (and many cases stop) many of the diseases caused by a sedentary lifestyle.

Therefore it’s also an essential element if you want to prevent common diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, or weakening of your bones (osteoporosis), limited range of motion, aches and pains, and yes, prevent excessive muscle wasting as you age.

I recently published an article on exercise for weight loss, so let’s take a look at some of the other benefits of exercise as it relates to maintaining optimal health well into your senior years.

How Weight Lifting Can Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes and Heart Disease

Your body has two types of fat: visceral and subcutaneous.

• Subcutaneous fat is the fat located just below your skin, and is the type that causes dimpling and cellulite.
• Visceral fat, on the other hand, shows up in your abdomen and surrounds your vital organs including your liver, heart and muscles. It is this visceral fat that has been linked to serious health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and stroke, among many other chronic diseases.

A key strategy to reduce your risk of heart disease (and a host of other chronic diseases), is to keep your inflammation levels low, and avoiding gaining visceral fat is part of this equation.

Exercise is a critical component for reducing heart disease risk because it both lowers inflammation in your body, and is one of the best weapons against visceral fat. For example, in one study volunteers who did not exercise had an 8.6 percent increase in visceral fat after eight months, while those who exercised the most LOST over 8 percent of their visceral fat during the same amount of time.

This occurs because muscle burns more calories, and it consumes calories around the clock, even when you’re resting and sleeping. So, as you gain more muscle, your body naturally increases the amount of calories burned each day, which reduces fat stores.

As for lowering inflammation, physical exercise accomplishes this naturally by lowering levels of a C-reactive protein (CRP) that is linked to inflammation. High levels of CRP in your body is associated with a higher than average risk of cardiovascular disease, and has even been suggested as a better indicator of possible heart attack than high cholesterol.

How Strength Training Reduces Osteoporosis

Weight-bearing exercise is one of the most effective remedies against osteoporosis.

The last thing you want to consider is to take a drug to improve your bone density, as without question, that is more likely to cause long-term harm than benefit.

Your bones are actually very porous and soft, and as you get older, your bones can easily become less dense and hence, more brittle. Especially if you are inactive.

Resistance training can combat this effect because as you put more tension on your muscles it puts more pressure on your bones, which then respond by continuously creating fresh, new bone.

In addition, as you build more muscle, and make the muscle that you already have stronger, you also put more constant pressure on your bones.

Keep Yourself in Motion!

Optimal health is dependent on an active lifestyle; eating fresh, whole foods, avoiding as many processed foods as possible, and addressing the stress in your life.

Ignoring any of these basic tenets of health will eventually lead to a decline in health and any number of diseases. So start moving, and don’t stop no matter what your age.

And do include strength training into your fitness routine. It is the number one way for you to remain strong, young, and independent well into old age.

“Appreciating Yourself” by Steven Edwards

I’ve come to conclude that there is no more powerful emotional state than that of gratitude for enabling life satisfaction, quality focus on what matters, and empowerment to accomplish things that are important to us.

I want to make an important point. This is a point I want to emphasize and re-emphasize: how you view yourself is fundamental to your success. Confidence and healthy self-perception enables your success.

High self-esteem leads to high performance, low self-esteem to low level performance. Anything you can do to build healthy self-perception is powerful success fuel.

Take time to acknowledge yourself and the things in your life. Doing so creates an energy that is magnetic in attracting other positive people and things to you.

Building Self-Esteem: the Mirror Exercise

Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul and other experts I have been affiliated with over the years recommend the “Mirror Exercise”. It is a very simple practice that involves standing in front of the mirror, looking yourself in the eye and complimenting yourself on the great job you did that day (sounds a little funny I know, but it works!)

Think about the little things you did that day that were positive. Perhaps you exercised in the morning and felt great all day. Congratulate yourself on a job well done. If you made a positive comment to a co-worker that made them feel better, this is a good time to take note of it. Think back on all the little things you did that day and the positive way they make you feel.

Complete this exercise by telling yourself how much you love yourself- that’s right, look yourself in the eye and say “I love you.” I know this may sound a little weird (especially to other people who may be watching!), but trust me on this one, it’s extremely effective in building self-appreciation, confidence and self-esteem.

This is a very interesting exercise and more beneficial than you might think. For some people who do it the first time there is a level of discomfort in complimenting themselves. Do it anyway. Make the effort. It will be worth it. If you commit to doing this consistently for a month, it will make a tremendous positive difference in your life.

Real Gratitude

I feel that true gratitude is paying it forward. It is shown by how we live our lives reaching out to make a constructive difference in the lives of those around us.

The emotional state created by recognizing the blessings in our own lives and extending that energy outward invites more of the good in our lives: in our relationships, in our careers, and in our physical and emotional health.

Green Smoothie

Green smoothies consist of 3 basic ingredients: greens, fruit and water. Have fun experimenting with a wide range of varieties of both the greens and the fruit in order to reap the most benefit. You may be surprised to find that the simple combination of greens and fruit is quite delicious. Servings: 1

Here’s what you need…

• 1 bunch (2 cups) red dandelion greens (feel free to use spinach or any other dark greens)
• 1 cup strawberries
• 1 banana
• 1-2 cups filtered water

In a high speed blender mix the ingredients until smooth.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 199 calories, 1g fat, 47g carbohydrate, 10g fiber, and 6g protein.

“Effective Cardiovascular Exercise: Catch the Wave” by Steven Edwards, M.S., PES, LMT

Benefits of Cardiovascular Exercise

There are many physiologic adaptations occurring in the body in response to cardiovascular exercise. Some of the commonly noted benefits include decreased resting heart rate and lowering of blood pressure. The stimulus of aerobic exercise increases capillary numbers that supply muscle fibers from a normal 4.4 capillaries per muscle fiber up to about 5.9 capillaries. Aerobic programs expand the size of heart chambers which increases blood volume pumped per heart beat, decreasing the heart’s workload.

Total blood volume and hemoglobin numbers are also enhanced through exercise (hemoglobin is the iron-protein component of red blood cells that transports oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitric-oxide, and gives blood it’s red color).

The body also responds to exercise by increasing mitochondria size and numbers within muscle fibers as well as increasing myoglobin numbers (myoglobin is a molecule that carries oxygen to mitochondria, the “powerhouse” of the cell, where nutrients are converted into adenosine triphosphate or ATP to fuel cellular activities).

Interval Training

Interval training refers to an exercise profile with varied intensity through the duration of the activity. This can be done in high intensity bursts or sprints followed by lower intensity rest periods. An interval profile might increase intensity incrementally in step by step fashion followed by step by step or abrupt drops in intensity. One might gradually and smoothly increase and decrease intensity or more abruptly zigzag intensity level.

“The Wave” Interval Training Method

The “Wave” method of cardiovascular exercise was developed by Barbara Lockhart, a professor of Exercise Science Department at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Barbara is a former Olympic speed skater who has researched how steady state cardiovascular training compares to interval training in the human body.

Barbara found after competing in the 1968 Olympics as she got older, that high intensity extended duration exercise became more and more difficult to do (joint pain, etc.). She attempted to continue training at Olympic level intensities to maintain a low resting heart rate- hers was about 40 beats per minute as an Olympian- but this became increasingly difficult over time.

Barbara instinctively developed a system involving a series of intervals in which the heart rate is elevated to target levels, and then brought down to a predetermined target level. Points of elevation in heart rate will be percentages of max heart rate you’ve figured from the formulas described above, or numbers determined from a VO2 max test.

With each interval, there is an incremental increase in heart rate from one peak elevation to the next, followed by an incremental decrease per peak. For example, let’s say you started out by bringing your heart rate to the first peak elevation at 120 beats per minute. The second peak was 130, followed by peaks of 140, 150, and 160. If 160BPM was your highest peak, then subsequent peaks would taper back down: 150, 140, 130, and finally 120.

After achieving each peak heart rate, you will decrease exercise intensity to bring the heart rate down to within about 20 beats of active resting heart rate (active resting heart rate refers to the level your heart rate is normally during the day, not first thing in the morning).

If your heart rate is normally 70 beats per minute during the day, you would drop heart rate to 90 beats per minute during rest intervals. During rest intervals, you may have to drop exercise intensity to a very low level to achieve the desired decrease in heart rate.

As Barbara used this cardio program she found her resting heart rate dropped to levels approaching those she had as an Olympian with a fraction of the overall effort she put into her Olympic training.

As she tested this system using a variety of research subjects of different ages, she found subjects experienced the positive benefits we discussed above: resting heart rates dropped substantially, blood pressure plummeted, and cardiovascular efficiency was improved.

Her conclusion was that steady state exercise at a predetermined level is not necessary for positive cardiovascular adaptations.

You will find this type of exercise relaxing, challenging, meditative, and very beneficial at any time whether you are new to exercise or are an advanced exerciser. Wave training is particularly enjoyable when you physically don’t feel like working at higher intensity levels.

By the way, there is some flexibility as to how to apply this system. The heart rate can be gradually waved up to peak levels and down to resting levels. Or you can abruptly drop the heart rate as soon as peaks are reached, and elevate heart rate immediately upon reaching the rest interval heart rate goal.

The number of peak intervals you achieve can vary depending on how you feel or on how much time you spend with the workout. If you spend 50 minutes of activity, you could easily achieve 10 or more peak intervals. In twenty minutes you might only perform five peaks.

Another modification would be to increase the resting level heart rate to a slightly higher number than 20 beats above resting heart rate (that means if you have an active resting heart rate of 70 beats per minute, rather than dropping heart rate to 90 beats per minute in valley intervals, you might drop to 100 beats per minute). You will find however that much of the benefit to this type of cardio activity is the meditative nature of relaxing to get heart rate down.

Progressing in a “Wave” cardio routine can be done very gradually if you are new to exercise. Those unaccustomed to exercise might start with 10 minutes and gradually increase one to five minutes a week. If you are an experienced exerciser, you could spend an hour or more doing your “Wave” routine.

This exercise protocol is great for anyone. Older individuals or those with joint issues or other health challenges find this system do-able, yet very beneficial. Even as an elite athlete, don’t underestimate the value of this kind of cardiovascular activity.

Finally, remember that we reap the benefits of exercise when we actually do it. The Wave can be a great way to mentally stay in the game and get the exercise done even if physically you don’t feel at the top of your game.

Catch the wave!

“Corn Syrup Linked to Diabetes” by Joseph Mercola, D.O.

A new study attributed the significant rise of diabetes cases to the growing consumption of refined carbohydrates. The study also supported evidence that the advice from public health regarding limiting their intake of sugary foods and lowering their fat intake might have backfired. Over the past 40 years, the number of obese people and those diagnosed with diabetes has risen dramatically.

Experts blamed these rising health problems on the high numbers of sedentary lifestyles and poor diets.

A study gathered information on food composition and consumption over the years 1909 to 1997. Data from these findings were compared to the rates of disease from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When researchers evaluated the results they found that the drop in fiber consumption and heavy consumption of corn syrup found in most processed foods were at the root of the problem, not the number of proteins, fats or carbohydrates.

Other studies have shown that people who consumed a great deal of carbohydrates over a long period of time were in the higher risk brackets of developing diabetes.

The study also revealed that the amount of corn syrup people ate really escalated around the time the low-fat craze began to take off. Many nutritionists have recommended whole grain alternatives over refined carbohydrates, which they warned to keep away from.

If you read my past article about why corn is making us fat, you won’t be surprised that neither fat consumption nor protein seem to be the root cause of the problem. Instead, the diabetes rise best matches dropping fiber consumption and increasing consumption of corn syrup.

Never before have people eaten so many refined carbohydrates.

The finding supports the idea that corn syrup and other highly refined carbohydrates such as white flour, white rice and sugar put people at risk of obesity and diabetes.

Statistics show that 65 percent of Americans are overweight and 27 percent are considered clinically obese. One of the reasons behind this growing epidemic is our addiction to starches and sugars.

It’s not the fat in the food that’s making people obese; it’s the excess carbohydrates from grains and sugars.

If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, chances are very good that the excess carbohydrates in your body are, in part or whole, to blame:

• Excess weight
• Fatigue and frequent sleepiness
• Depression
• Brain fogginess
• Bloating
• Low blood sugar
• High blood pressure
• High triglycerides

We all need a certain amount of carbohydrates, however through our addiction to grains, potatoes and sweets we are just consuming far too many and this leads to serious chronic health problems like diabetes.

The link between obesity and diabetes is apparent and the most harmful consequences happen during the breakdown process of carbohydrates.

The body’s storage capacity for carbohydrates is quite limited, so here’s what happens to all the excess: they are converted, via insulin, into fat and stored in the adipose, or fatty, tissue.

Any meal or snack high in carbohydrates generates a rapid rise in blood glucose. To adjust for this rise, the pancreas secretes the hormone insulin into the bloodstream, which lowers the glucose. Insulin is essentially a storage hormone that stores the excess calories from carbohydrates in the form of fat in case of famine.

Even worse, high insulin levels suppress two other important hormones–glucagons and growth hormones–that are responsible for burning fat and sugar and promoting muscle development, respectively. So insulin from excess carbohydrates promotes fat and then wards off the body’s ability to lose that fat.

One way you can protect your body from storing fat and rising insulin levels is through eliminating grains and sugars from your diet. I detail the importance of restricting grains and sugars from your diet in my Total Health Program. Aside from providing you with a healthy way to lose weight, this book will also act as a tool that will provide you with nutritious and great-tasting-recipes that will lower your risks of developing obesity, diabetes and other health problems.

If you have not read Dr. Rosedale’s insulin article, I would strongly recommend doing so. Dr. Rosedale is the physician who helped me appreciate the importance of insulin in 1996. I have had many patients share with me how helpful his article was in understanding insulin.

*About Dr. Mercola: Dr. Mercola has made significant milestones in his mission to bring people practical solutions to their health problems. A New York Times Best Selling Author, Dr. Mercola was also voted the 2009 Ultimate Wellness Game Changer by the Huffington Post, and has been featured in TIME magazine, LATimes, CNN, Fox News, ABC News with Peter Jennings, Today Show, CBS’s Washington Unplugged with Sharyl Attkisson, and other major media resources. Dr. Mercola’s website is www.mercola.com.

*To find out more about Dr. Mercola’s powerful Total Health Program, click here.

Chicken and Veggie Bowl



This recipe serves up a refreshing new twist on chicken. Delicious veggies and chunks of tender chicken are coated in a savory sauce, and served over wild rice. It works great as a weekday meal, since it only takes about 20 minutes to make. Servings: 6.

Here’s what you need…

• 2 cups wild rice, cooked
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 sweet potato, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup mushroom, sliced
• 1 Tablespoon ginger root, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tablespoons mirin (rice cooking wine)
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon corn starch
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 cups green beans, chopped
• 4 cups chicken breast, cooked and cubed

In a large saucepan place the sesame oil over medium heat. Add the sweet potato, onion, mushroom, ginger and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl combine the mirin, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, cornstarch and red pepper. Set aside.

Add the green beans and chicken into the pan and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Pour the soy sauce mixture in and mix until fully incorporated. Cook for another 3 minutes.

Serve over wild rice.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 299 calories, 8g fat, 23g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, and 33g protein.

“Brain Benefits of Exercise” by Joseph Mercola, D.O.

There is an old proverb that says:

“Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness.”

It is my strong belief that it is virtually impossible to achieve optimal health without some type of regular exercise program.

As you age, there is the potential for your brain function to steadily decline, leaving you confused and unable to care for yourself. However, your lifestyle, and specifically your dedication to regular exercise, can do wonders to keep your brain in top form, even later in life.

Impressive Brain Benefits from Exercise

In the latest pair of studies to document the positive effects that physical exercise has on brain function, it was found that performing moderate exercise, such as aerobics, yoga and strength training during midlife lead to a 39 percent decreased risk of developing mild cognitive impairment.

Moderate exercise late in life was associated with a 32 percent lower risk.

The second study even found that high-intensity aerobic exercise for six months was enough to improve brain function in those already suffering from mild cognitive impairment — without the extra cost and dangerous side effects that occur when drugs are used instead. The authors stated:

“Six months of a behavioral intervention involving regular intervals of increased heart rate was sufficient to improve cognitive performance for an at-risk group without the cost and adverse effects associated with most pharmaceutical therapies.”

These are impressive results, considering that mild cognitive impairment affects about 20 percent of people over 70, according to the American College of Physicians. This condition often causes memory problems and blips in language, reasoning, judgment, and even reading and writing.

Mild cognitive impairment is often described as a transitory phase between normal brain function and more serious problems like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. While 1 percent to 2 percent of people develop dementia, this rate rises to 10-15 percent among those with mild cognitive impairment.

So the more you can do to keep your brain functioning at its peak, and avoid any type of cognitive impairment whatsoever, the better off you will be.

How Does Exercise Protect Your Brain?

Exercise encourages your brain to work at optimum capacity by causing your nerve cells to multiply, strengthening their interconnections and protecting them from damage.

Lab tests on animals have shown that during exercise, their nerve cells release proteins known as neurotrophic factors.

One in particular, called brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF, triggers numerous other chemicals that promote neural health. Further, exercise provides protective effects to your brain through:

• The production of nerve-protecting compounds
• Greater blood flow to your brain
• Improved development and survival of neurons
• Decreased risk of heart and blood vessel diseases

A regular exercise program can also slow the development of Alzheimer’s disease by altering the way damaging proteins reside in your brain. In animal studies, significantly fewer damaging plaques and fewer bits of beta-amyloid peptides, associated with Alzheimer’s, were found in mice that exercised.

Four Principles of Exercise

Your body is an efficient machine, and if you do the same type of exercise day after day, you’ll become quite good at it. However, when exercise becomes easy to complete, it’s a sign you need to work a little harder and give your body a new challenge.

So when you’re planning your exercise routine, make sure it incorporates the following types of exercise:

1. Aerobic:Jogging, using an elliptical machine, and walking fast are all examples of aerobic exercise. As you get your heart pumping, the amount of oxygen in your blood improves, and endorphins, which act as natural painkillers, increase. Meanwhile, aerobic exercise activates your immune system, helps your heart pump blood more efficiently, and increases your stamina over time.
2. Interval (Anaerobic) Training: Research is showing that the BEST way to condition your heart and burn fat is NOT to jog or walk steadily for an hour. Instead, it’s to alternate short bursts of high-intensity exercise with gentle recovery periods. That is one of the primary reasons I am so fond of the exercises my personal trainer has been showing me.This type of exercise, known as interval training or burst type training, can dramatically improve your cardiovascular fitness and fat-burning capabilities. Another major benefit of this approach is that it radically decreases the amount of time you spend exercising, while giving you even more benefits. For example, intermittent sprinting produces high levels of chemical compounds called catecholamines, which allow more fat to be burned from under your skin within the exercising muscles. The resulting increase in fat oxidation increases weight loss. So, short bursts of activity done at a very high intensity can help you reach your optimal weight and level of fitness, in a shorter amount of time.
3. Strength Training: Rounding out your exercise program with a 1-set strength training routine will ensure that you’re really optimizing the possible health benefits of a regular exercise program. You need enough repetitions to exhaust your muscles. The weight should be heavy enough that this can be done in fewer than 12 repetitions, yet light enough to do a minimum of four repetitions. It is also important NOT to exercise the same muscle groups every day. They need at least two days of rest to recover, repair and rebuild.
4. Core Exercises: Your body has 29 core muscles located mostly in your back, abdomen and pelvis. This group of muscles provides the foundation for movement throughout your entire body, and strengthening them can help protect and support your back, make your spine and body less prone to injury and help you gain greater balance and stability. Exercise programs like pilates and yoga are great for strengthening your core muscles, as are specific exercises you can learn from a personal trainer.

You might be aware that I have recently become interested in Ayurvedic medicine, and yoga is an important element of that. In March I visited the Miraval Health Resort in Tucson and had a great introduction to yoga and am now committed to applying that as a regular discipline in my life and will start seeking yoga instruction very soon.

Focusing on your breath and mindfulness along with increasing your flexibility is an important element of total fitness.

Is Staying Motivated an Issue for You?

More than half of U.S. adults don’t get the recommended amount of exercise, and one out of four don’t exercise at all.

The most common reason why people say they don’t exercise?

A lack of time.

Unfortunately, not enough people are willing to arrange their schedules around exercise, and this is due to something much deeper than time management — it’s due to psychological resistance.

No matter what reason you have for not exercising – feeling it’s too hard, getting bored with your routine, not knowing where to start – you can help yourself get into a more positive frame of mind by giving the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) a try. It can help you remove the negative emotional blocks that are preventing you from successfully implementing your program.

Further, instead of focusing on the negatives, like the work and the time it takes to stay active, focus on how great you’ll feel once exercise becomes a regular part of your life.

In case you weren’t aware, exercise does far more than just assist in weight loss. I’m going to list some of the many, many things exercise can do for your mind and body. Go ahead and print this list out, send it to your exercise buddy or take it with you to the gym. Then, whenever you’re thinking of quitting, take a look. These benefits are just too good to pass up.

1. Improve your brainpower
2. Lower your blood pressure
3. Fight off a cold
4. Manage arthritis
5. Lower your risk of heart disease
6. Cure insomnia
7. Fight depression
8. Lower your risk of diabetes and reverse pre-diabetes
9. Build strong bones
10. Lose weight
11. Reduce your risk of cancer
12. Boost your IQ and think better
13. Relieve chronic knee pain
14. Increase your energy levels
15. Slow down your aging process

*About Dr. Mercola: Dr. Mercola has made significant milestones in his mission to bring people practical solutions to their health problems. A New York Times Best Selling Author, Dr. Mercola was also voted the 2009 Ultimate Wellness Game Changer by the Huffington Post, and has been featured in TIME magazine, LATimes, CNN, Fox News, ABC News with Peter Jennings, Today Show, CBS’s Washington Unplugged with Sharyl Attkisson, and other major media resources. Dr. Mercola’s website is www.mercola.com.