Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it seems that the rest of our diet is downhill from there.
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED: Naan bread, sour cream, garlic, dill, Monterey Jack cheese
Screening for prostate cancer with a PSA test is no longer recommended for men, according to revised guidelines published by a government panel.
Candy left on a desk at work barely lasts to the first coffee break. This curious workplace phenomenon of snacking on the closest food may also help you eat more fresh fruit and vegetables.
Rub it just right. If you soak it long enough, it will taste even better. But beware, once your meat has been drenched in a marinade of choice, it may be loaded with fat and low in nutrients.
Instead of grabbing jars of store-bought sauces, gather some basic ingredients—herbs, spices, fruits, oils—and try these easy, three-ingredient marinades that will add flavor and keep things lighter if you overindulge during the long weekend.
John La Puma, MD and author of Chef MD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine, whips up a few easy sauces that you’ll want to use way beyond the end of May.
Lemon is natural digestive aid and can help break down the proteins in meat, poultry, fish—even beans and eggs. This marinade, according to La Puma is the second-highest in antioxidant power of all marinades and complements the Mediterranean Diet.
Make your own Mediterranean spice mix:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl. For every 1 lb. Boneless or 2 lb. meat with bone, add 2 tablespoons of the Mediterranean mixture. Makes 1/3 cup. Let it store for 24 hours—or at least 10 minutes for quicker serving.
The third best marinade with antioxidants, according to La Puma, lime replaces lemon in this southwestern mix.
How to make southwest spice:
Mix into lime juice and olive oil and start rubbing down.
The most powerful herb of all in knocking out the cancer causing chemicals found in meats, rosemary also adds some aromatics and flavor to chicken, fish and veggies.
A powerful spice mix in knocking back free radicals and cancer-causing chemicals, the jerk spice mix is a mouth-popping rub.
Jerk Spice Ingredients:
Spices smack the palate and are packed with antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, has anti-bacterial properties and contains vitamins and nutrients—not to mention capsacin, a natural appetite suppressant.
*Ready-made spice blends are available in most supermarkets if you don’t have all the herbs and spices to mix them up from scratch.
Cooking and marinating on time
All these marinades decrease natural carcinogens, or heterocyclic amines (HCA), found in meat by up to 87 percent since they’re a barrier against the high heat. Grill beef at least 375 degrees. “The USDA says to cook poultry within two days of marinating, and beef within five days,” says La Puma. “If you marinate long, the food will either be so tender it’s falling apart, or tough as nails, depending on how much acid (i.e., vinegar, lemon, wine, other) you use.”
To keep grilling safe, just a dunk is necessary. With the right mixture, the longer you marinate, the stronger the flavor. La Puma recommends marinating meats in a pie plate or stainless steel bowl in the fridge to keep bacteria down.
In a move that could save more than 120,000 lives, the U.S.
Finishing off a juicy steak can be the highlight of your night out, but when that special meal becomes a regular occurrence, you could be harming your brain over the long term.
Trying to kick the coffee habit? If you want to live longer, you might want to rethink giving up your three daily cappuccinos.
Cost is often cited as a reason for people not eating healthy, but a new study by the U.S.
Maybe there’s a reason people eat sweet foods after a break-up.
Take that, obesity!
Endomorph /en´do-morf/ n. – A dude who looks at a donut and gains weight. See also: big man on campus.
Whether or not we like to admit it, genetics plays an important role in our ability to lose weight. And endomorphs have it rough. Marked by round physiques, high body fat, and a sluggish metabolism, the slightest divergence from a clean diet packs on pounds for these fellas. This makes getting lean a constant, discouraging struggle. Plus, our modern culture makes weight-gain so easy for all of us, with simple sugars and fried foods on every corner, it's like the world wants us to be overweight. If you’re an endomorph, you need to face facts: you are insulin dominant, your sympathetic nervous system is sluggish, and your carb tolerance is worse than Pavarotti’s.
You simply do not have the same genes as the skinny dude who has trouble gaining weight. But the silver lining of endomorphia is that your body can pack on lean muscle easier than “hard-gainers”. Embrace your genetics by lifting heavy weights and keeping your rest periods to a minimum in the weight room. Then follow a few simple nutrition and supplementation rules to keep your body from storing excess fat and you’ll soon look more like the Jonah Hill from 21 Jump Street instead of the Jonah Hill from Moneyball.
It takes a lot more effort for your body to digest protein than fats or carbs—some evidence suggest that as much as 30% more. This means you can eat 100 calories of protein and your body will only have access to 70. Protein is also essential for building lean muscle which is metabolically active and makes your weight-loss goals more manageable. Use this to your advantage by including lean protein EVERY time you eat. That means eggs for breakfast, turkey for lunch, a post workout protein shake and beef for dinner.
I know this may seem counterintuitive, but eating fat will help make you skinny. Up to 40% of your calories should come from fat. Like all food groups, the type of fat is also important. 1/3 of your fat should come from monounsaturated fats (olive oil, nuts and nut butter, avocado), 1/3 of your fat should come from polyunsaturated fats (some nuts, fish, fish oil, flax seeds), and 1/3 of your fat you come from saturated fats (animal fats—egg, meats, butter—and coconut oil). Don’t get too caught up in the percentages. Instead, focus on including more mono- and polyunsaturated fats, which tend to be lacking in our diets. That means adding olive oils, avocados, and fish oil to a diet high in protein and vegetables.
You should only eat starchy and/or sugary carbs immediately after your workouts. Other than that, avoid starchy/sugary carbs all-together (still eat mounds and mounds of vegetables). Carbs are hard on your body because of your relationship with insulin. Insulin is a hormone that tells your body to absorb glucose (sugar) from the blood and use it as energy. Fat and protein both have very little effect on insulin. Carbohydrates, however, have a profound impact on insulin. The problem is, through a combination of genetics and environmental conditioning, your body isn’t efficient at using insulin to lower blood sugars. Make it easy on your body by not giving yourself sugary or starchy carbohydrates that send your blood sugars and insulin levels bonkers. The only exception to this is post-workout. Because of a physiological cascade of hormones released during exercise, your body is actually in a good place to process carbohydrates after your workout. In fact, an insulin spike post workout helps switch you into recovery mode. This means you can have carbs post workout, but the rest of the day, no dice.
The benefits of fish oil and fiber are numerous and well documented. Fiber adds necessary roughage to your system which helps with hunger levels, digestion, and bowel regulation. Fish oil has a positive effect on most every disease known to man, including the big ones that you may be a more prone to like coronary heart disease, hypertension, chronic fatigue syndrome, and diabetes. Fish oil is also great for cell membrane health, it’s anti-inflammatory, it helps with DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), and it will make you happier by increasing your serotonin levels and reducing stress and adrenal activation, etc, etc, etc. Basically, it’s awesome for you. Most importantly, both fish oil and fiber will make you more insulin responsive, which will make you leaner.
How much to take? With fiber, you must gradually increase your intake to prevent gastrointenstinal discomfort. I like the 5x5x5 rule. Start with 5g of fiber in the morning. After 5 days, add 5g more until you reach 30g. Once your body is cool with 30g, then you can get into the fiber cycling (which is also important, as your body gets used to the types of fiber as well). As for fish oil, take 1g per % of body fat. If you’re at 25% body fat, that means 25g per day. Yes, that’s a boat-load of fish oil, but it will make a world of difference. As you get leaner, gradually reduce your fish oil intake. For higher dosage fish oil, liquid is both easier to take and more affordable.
You need to eat every 3-4 hours. This will continuously give your metabolism a kick-start, plus you'll never get the point where your body is famished. This allows your brain, not you belly, to make sound nutrition decisions.
Yes, vegetables have vitamins and minerals. They’re also packed with phytonutrients which are powerful anti-oxidants and have a strong, beneficial influence upon our hormones. They seem to suppress cancer development, protect our cell’s DNA, and stimulate enzymes that help our body fight disease. Vegetables are also important for balancing out our bodies pH. Veggies provide an alkaline load to the blood which helps neutralize the strong acid created from the breakdown of proteins. Too much acid and not enough base means less bone mass and smaller muscles, no bueno. Bottom line: a strong, lean body needs lots and lots of vegetables.
Since your relationship to insulin is already troubled, avoid starchy and sugary carbs (except post workout), keep your fats healthy and balanced, and eat lots of lean meats and phytonutritent-packed vegetables. Add a fish oil supplement such as this Opti-EFA and a fiber supplement such as Primal Fiber to your routine. And before you know it, the lean, muscly physique underneath your body fat will start to be revealed, you’ll have to get your pants taken in and Grandma “won’t even recognize you”. They say that genetics loads the pistol, but our environment fires the gun. We can’t control our genes, but we can certainly control how they are expressed.
It’s no surprise that scientific experts love to study chocolate: Not only does the average American eat over 10 pounds of the stuff annually, but we're pretty sure the researchers are sn
Many of us lead a double life. We stay up late, hanging out with friends or watching television.
Chicken breasts are the classic lean muscle building protein. Don’t get stuck in the monotony of eating bland baked chicken breasts day in and day out. You can shred cooked chicken breast with two forks and toss it in a vinegar-based/East Carolina style BBQ sauce for a brand new flavor without extra calories. Another option is tossing a couple chicken breasts in a Ziploc bag with balsamic vinegar and fresh rosemary the night before you are going to cook it for an easy and essentially calorie free marinade.
Protein (4 oz.): 27g
Mahi-Mahi is the steak of fish. It has great texture, taste, and grills very well. A 3.5-oz serving of Mahi-Mahi barely contains half a gram of fat but brings with it 18 grams of complete protein. Marinate your Mahi-Mahi with cilantro, salt, pepper, cumin, and lime juice before grilling.
Protein (3 oz.): 16g
Despite heavy marketing claiming that it is the “other white meat” pork is actually red meat. But don’t let the often overstated associations between red meat and mortality scare you off; pork tenderloin is a great lean protein source. Oftentimes you can find pork tenderloins pre-marinated in the meat case at the supermarket making them ready to just pop in the oven or on the grill.
Protein (3 oz.): 13g
When buying ground turkey ensure that the percent leanness is specified as lower quality ground turkey products omit this information when they mix in turkey parts other than the breasts. The uber leanness of 99% lean ground turkey can make it very dry when cooked as meatballs or burgers. To combat this problem, add finely diced red peppers and onions for more flavor and moister meat.
Protein (3 oz.): 21g
With just 0.9 grams of fat more per 3.5-oz serving compared to a skinless chicken breast, eye round steaks are the leanest cut of beef you can get. Finding the grass fed version of this cut will make it even leaner. When selecting beef, choose Choice or Select grade cuts as they will be leaner than similar cuts graded Prime.
Protein (4 oz.): 20g
Usually not on most muscle building protein lists, scallops are a great lean protein choice. One 3.5-oz serving contains only 0.5 grams of fat. Scallops are easy to cook as they can just be seasoned with salt, pepper, a little peanut oil (which has a neutral taste and high smoke point), and placed on a very hot pan. Sear each side for 60-90 seconds (depending on the size of the scallops) and you’re ready to eat.
Protein (3.5 oz.): 15g
The variety of ways that you can purchase and eat shrimp make them a versatile and convenient choice. They can be purchased shelled and cooked so you just need to add them to a robust salad or eat them cold dipped in cocktail sauce. You can buy them raw and cook them as part of your favorite vegetable stir-fry or grilled on skewers.
Protein (4 oz.): 18g
A 3.5oz serving of tilapia only contains 2 grams of fat. Tilapia is often served frozen and pre-portioned making it very user-friendly when looking to control portions. A great way to prepare tilapia is to coat it in blackened seasoning and roast it in the oven.
Protein (5 oz.): 22.2g
Maybe the leanest protein around, turkey breast consumption is usually unfairly confined to Thanksgiving and deli meats. Roasted turkey breasts are often readily available in supermarkets alongside rotisserie chickens making them a simple and fast source of high quality lean protein.
Protein (3 oz.): 26g
Tuna rivals chicken for the hallmark bodybuilding protein source but make sure not to overdo your tuna intake. If you find yourself reaching for more than one can of chunk lite tuna per day, you’re at risk for consuming too much mercury and you should pick something else on this list.
Protein (4 oz. canned): 20g
Next time you’re out for Indian or Thai food, order the curry. A compound in turmeric, a spice commonly used in these dishes, is being tested in the U.K.
Multivitamin
A handful of walnuts or half a piece of salmon a day may protect against Alzheimer’s disease.
North of the Mediterranean—way north—there’s another eating routine that’s geared toward guys who want more energy, better performance (in the gym and at home) and some extra longevity. It’s called The Nordic Diet, and it’s the everyday meal plan of fitness-conscious, green-minded Scandinavians from Oslo to Reykjavik.
While you might associate the region’s cuisine with starch-ridden potatoes and the gravy-soaked Swedish meatballs you’re likely to find at IKEA, most Nordics eat simple food that’s raw and in season.
Trine Hahnemann, author of The Nordic Diet says that Scandinavian food consumption is built on what’s local, in-season and tastes good. “To be healthy, the most important thing is to eat tasty food that will fulfill your senses,” says Hahnemann. “Grains, vegetables and fatty fish will sustain you, give you more energy and lead to a better quality of life.”
Herring, salmon or mackerel are a must, according to Lars-Erik Litsfeldt, author of Diabetes, No Thanks (Scandinavian Diet).
Rich in protein and other nutrients and low in calories, fish is filled with omega-3 fats, which serve as an anti-inflammatory and balance omega-6 fats. People generally get 15 times more omega-6 than omega-3 according to Litsfeldt. “The ideal amount would be close to a 1:1 ratio of omega-6 and omega-3,” he explains. “It might be bad to eat something that contains inflammatory fat, but we still need some. It’s used when the body defends itself from intruders.”
Spelt, rye, oats and barley are some of the main grains grown in colder climates. Incorporating fiber-rich grains into any diet helps with digestion and packs in the protein. Studies have shown that rye can help fight cancer, in particular prostate and colon cancer. Rye breads are the core of the Nordic diet, according to Hahnemann. “We eat slices of rye bread for lunch or breakfast every day,” she says. “Nordic diets even use rye flakes in porridge, and whole grains are boiled and used in soup and eaten instead of rice for dinner and used in pizza and tart crust.”
Blueberries, blackberries, red and black currants, raspberries, rose hips and even the more Nordic lingonberries, cloudberries are better than regular fruit, according to Litfeldt. They’re sweet without using any refined sugar, so they’re a better way to satisfy your sweet tooth than a can of soda of a slice of cake. If you don’t have access to Scandinavian lingonberries or cloudberries, opt for the more abundant (and just as antioxidant-rich) blueberries, raspberries and blackberries in the U.S. Hahnemann says that the Nordic region is rich in berries because of all the light during the summer, which keeps the fruits rich in antioxidants, ripe and tasty. High in vitamin C, berries are eaten morning through night in Scandinavia—added to AM yogurt and oatmeal, and added to teas and grilled alongside fish and meats in the evening.
Low in calories and high in protein, root vegetables are at their seasonal best in the fall or winter. Carrots, beets, parsnips, parsley root, Jerusalem artichokes and all that grow beneath are rooted in the Scandi-diet, according to Hahnemann. Of course, nutrient-rich green veggies like nettles, ramps, garlic, Swiss chard, asparagus, peas, spinach and leeks are just as prevalent in Nordic meals. “Vegetables are so important in our diet,” says Hahnemann. “Because of the climate, we have to eat less meat and instead eat locally grown vegetables.”
The other “super” veggie gets a category all its own. Whether white, red or savoy, the close relative of kale and Brussels sprouts grows well in cooler climates and is packed with iron and other vitamins and minerals, Hahnemann says. In fact, the University of Oslo found that cabbage contains some of the highest levels of antioxidants in any vegetable and are good source of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin K. Pack some cabbage into stews, salads and on pizza or wherever these leaves may fit.
We are all well aware of the ill effects overeating has on your waistline and your heart, but have you ever stopped to consider what it’s doing to your brain? You should.
