Does Canned Food and Bottled Water Increase Your Abdominal Fat Through Hidden Chemicals?

...and 9 Tips to Minimize Your Exposure to these Harmful Chemicals
by Mike Geary - Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of best-sellers:  The Truth About Six Pack Abs & The Top 101 Foods that FIGHT Aging

You may have started hearing in the news about some of the hidden chemicals that might be lurking in your canned foods and bottled water and other drinks.  Some of them are known as xenoestrogens, which have the potential to cause serious health problems over time, as well as increase abdominal fat from the estrogenic effect.
Today, I want to share with you some important details about one of the MOST problematic chemicals that you're being exposed to specifically from canned foods and bottled drinks, etc...
It's called Bisphenol A (BPA).
BPA can be found as a component of some types of plastic bottles, and also in the lining inside of canned foods.
Since BPA is a known "xenoestrogen", it's been linked in animal studies (at surprisingly small doses) to all sorts of various health issues such as cancer, metabolic disorders, heart disease, diabetes, and fertility problems and birth defects or miscarriages... and of course, any xenoestrogens in large enough amounts can trigger your body to hold onto abdominal fat (aka - stubborn belly fat).
The major offenders to look for are polycarbonate bottles (some plastics with the #7 symbol on the bottom are polycarbonate, but not all) and also canned foods, since the lining of most canned foods contains BPA, which can leach into food.  The longer that a can of food sits on a shelf and the higher the temperature, the more BPA can leach into your food. The same can be said for polycarbonate bottles that contain food or drinks.
According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), BPA was detected in the bodies of 95% of Americans in one CDC study (this is a worldwide issue though, not just limited to the US).  This is nothing to shrug off either... look at this scary finding...
The Environmental Working Group reports, "analysis of our tests reveals that for one of every five cans tested, and for one-third of all vegetables and pastas (ravioli and noodles with tomato sauce), a single serving would expose a pregnant woman to BPA at levels that fall within a factor of 5 of doses linked to birth defects — permanent damage of developing male reproductive organs".
If that didn't get your attention, how about this... 
The EWG also reports evidence of... "An investigation demonstrating that low doses of BPA spur both the formation and growth of fat cells, the two factors that drive obesity in humans (Masumo et al. 2002)."
This is not surprising, since as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, BPA is a known xenoestrogen, and any xenoestrogens can contribute to what's been referred to as "stubborn abdominal fat" as well as cancer and other health problems.
It's also important to note that any canned tomato products (canned ravioli, pastas, canned tomato pastes, tomato sauces, etc) are some of the biggest offenders with the highest BPA concentrations due to the acidic nature of tomatoes, which leaches more of the BPA.
So what steps can you take to minimize your exposure to BPA and it's negative effects on bodyfat and other health risks?
 1. Try to always avoid canned foods as much as possible and choose frozen or fresh foods instead.  Buy the ingredients yourself and prepare the meal the old fashioned way instead of resorting to canned foods.  Also, a better alternative to canned foods is products in glass containers.
 2.  If you do resort to using canned foods instead of fresh foods, try to find labels that say that the cans are free of BPA.
 3.  If you need tomato products, always avoid canned varieties and search for tomato sauces, pastes, etc in glass bottles instead (unless the can specifically states that it is BPA-free).  Or just make your own tomato dishes from scratch with fresh tomatoes.
 4.  If you use plastic wrap, plastic ziplock bags, plastic containers for food storage, etc, try to investigate on the label if the product is BPA-free or not.  Some brands packaging will label if their products are BPA-free.
 5.  If you for some reason choose to use a microwave with your food (which by the way, microwaved food is thought to have negative health effects), then by all means, do not microwave the food in plastic containers as it can increase the leaching of chemicals including BPA.
 6.  If you drink bottled water, or water from reusable plastic bottles, make sure that it is not a polycarbonate bottle, or make sure that the label says BPA-free. Plastic that shows #7 on the bottom will sometimes contain BPA, but not always.  If a bottle shows "PC" on the bottom, it is made from polycarbonate, so it will contain BPA.  In addition, sometimes aluminum bottles will contain a lining that has BPA, so avoid these.
 7.  Avoid soda cans, as the EWG states analysis showed that 42% of soda cans contained BPA.  Of course, if you care about your health and your body, I'm sure you never drink soda anyway -- it's pure evil for your body... and yes, that includes unhealthy diet soda too, with it's dangerous artificial sweeteners.
 8.  Never use plastic cups for hot liquids such as hot tea or coffee, as this can accelerate leaching of BPA and other chemicals, depending on the type of plastic.
 9.  As much as you can try to avoid BPA and other xenoestrogens, you will most likely still be exposed to some levels of xenoestrogens from various chemicals in your foods (from pesticide/herbicide residues, packaging chemicals, etc), chemicals in your water supply, chemicals from cosmetics, lotions, etc.
However, you can help to protect yourself and counteract these harmful xenoestrogen chemicals in your body with certain powerful phytonutrients in foods like onions, garlic, chamomile and green teas, and cruciferious vegetables.  In fact, read this article to see how 3 specific veggies can help you to fight abdominal fat by counteracting xenoestrogens.
If you stick to most of these guidelines, you can help to protect yourself and your family from the health dangers of bisphenol-A (BPA).  And you can also help protect yourself against the issue of "stubborn abdominal fat" that can be caused by the xenoestrogen effect of BPA exposure too... which I'm sure you'd rather avoid!

Please share this article with your friends and family to help them protect their health from BPA exposure.

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Body Part Isolation vs. Complex Movements in Strength Training

What you need to know about Weight Training for a strong lean body that both looks good and is injury resistant

by Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Working as a personal trainer & fitness professional, there is one type of question I get all the time that shows that many people are missing the big picture regarding the benefits of strength training. This popular question usually goes something like this:
“What exercise can I do to isolate my _______ (insert your muscle of choice – abs, quads, biceps, triceps, etc)?”
It doesn’t matter which muscle someone is asking about, they always seem to be asking how to ‘isolate’ it. My first response to this question is always – “Why in the world would you want to isolate it?”
The first thing I try to teach my clients is that the body does not work well in muscle isolation. Rather, it works better in movements along a kinetic chain; that is, large portions of the body assist other portions of the body in completing a complex movement. In fact, there really is no such thing as true muscle isolation. There is almost always a nearby muscle group that will assist in some way with whatever movement you are doing. However, this article compares attempting to ‘isolate’ body parts via single-joint exercises to the much more effective strategy of performing multi-joint complex movements.
When you attempt to ‘isolate’ muscles by performing single-joint exercises, you are actually creating a body that is non-functional and will be more prone to injury. Essentially, you are creating a body that is a compilation of body parts, instead of a powerful, functional unit that works together.
Now if you really want to end up hobbling around in a body bandaged up with joint problems, tendonitis, and excess body fat, then by all means, continue trying to ‘isolate’ body parts. On the other hand, if you would rather have a lean, muscular, injury-free, functional body that works as a complete powerful unit to perform complex movements (in athletics or even everyday tasks), then you need to shift your focus away from muscle isolation.
Believe me, focusing on how well your body functions will give you the side effect of a body that looks even better than it would have if you focused on muscle isolation. For example, take a look at the physiques of any NFL running backs, wide receivers, or even world class sprinters. Trust me when I say that these guys pretty much NEVER train for muscle isolation (their strength coaches wouldn’t be crazy enough to let them), yet they are absolutely ripped to shreds! Just look at guys like Maurice Green or Terrell Owens and tell me who wouldn’t want a physique like those guys.
Another benefit to moving away from the ‘muscle isolation’ mindset in weight training to a more ‘complex movement’ mindset is that you will find it much easier to lose body fat. The reason is that by focusing more on multi-joint complex movements as opposed to single-joint muscle isolation lifts, you not only burn a lot more calories during each workout, but you also increase your metabolic rate, and stimulate production of more fat burning and muscle building hormones such as growth hormone and testosterone.
Let’s look at an example. The machine leg extension is a single joint exercise that works mainly the quadriceps, can potentially cause knee joint instability in the long run, and doesn’t even burn that many calories. On the other hand, exercises like squats, lunges, step-ups, and deadlifts are all multi-joint complex movements that work hundreds of muscles in the body (including the quadriceps) as a functional unit, create more stable and strong joints in the long run (when done properly), and also burn massive quantities of calories compared to the single-joint exercises. 
Now although I do feel that multi-joint exercises should comprise the majority of your weight training workouts, I also think that there can be some benefits with just minor inclusions of single-joint exercises for variety, etc.  I choose to build my training programs with about 90-95% multi-joint exercises and about 5-10% single-joint exercises at most.
If you’re interested in discovering more ways to create a body that looks as good as it functions, pick up a copy of my innovative book The Truth About Six Pack Abs

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Junk Foods vs Healthy Food... Does Eating Junk Food = "Living a Little"?

By Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist 
Author of best-sellers: The Fat Burning Kitchen & The Top 101 Foods that FIGHT Aging


Whenever I happen to be over someone's house for a party or get-together of some sort, the subject at some point will inadvertently turn to someone asking me about my  fitness book which then leads us into other discussions about food or fitness.  With approx 70% of the population overweight or obese these days, it's not hard to find someone interested in eating healthier and getting in better shape.
The interesting thing that I have noticed over the years is that almost every single person that has told me that they are "trying" to lose weight, almost always has their house filled with tons of junk foods instead of whole unprocessed natural healthy foods.
It's not uncommon for people to tell me that they're trying really hard to lose weight, but I'll notice boxes of frosted flakes and fruit loops on their counter, cookies, crackers, and donuts in their cupboard, and soda or syrup-filled juices in their fridge.
So the question that always boggles my mind is that if all of these people really want to get in shape and lose weight so bad, why on earth does everybody still have their house filled with junk food instead of healthy foods?
I always tread lightly in these situations because if people don't ask for my advice, I certainly don't want to go spreading my fitness advice around without them wanting to hear my advice... but if they do ask for my help, then I'll ask about why they buy junk foods if they want to improve their body...
Interestingly, the answer usually is that they don't want to give up their favorite foods because they think that eating these junk foods allows them to "live a little" (more like "die a little" with each bite!).
In my opinion, eating junk food has nothing at all to do with enjoying life...actually, when you give up junk food you actually enjoy living more because you FEEL better all the time and have more energy every day...plus getting into better shape by NOT eating junk food gives you more confidence because you actually look better in addition to feeling better, thereby enjoying life more once again.
One thing that many people don't realize is that eating healthy DOESN'T mean eating bland and boring food.  Rather, when you learn to enjoy natural unprocessed foods and start exploring all of the varieties of natural healthy foods this planet has to offer, you discover that you enjoy the natural flavors of real food better than overly processed aggressive tastes so common with excessively salty and sweet junk foods.
An example of this is that the other day I was at a golf course and wanted an unsweetened iced tea, but all they had available was these bottles of heavily sweetened tea. Well, I haven't bought a fully sweetened tea in probably a couple years now... I've actually gotten used to drinking unsweetened tea and have learned to appreciate the natural taste of tea without needing sugar or dangerous artificial sweeteners.
I swear I almost gagged when I drank this bottle of iced tea... it was so syrupy sweet that it was just plain disgusting. 
Same thing for coffee... I used to need a lot of sugar in coffee, but after a while of slowly using less and less sugar, I can actually drink black coffee now and enjoy the natural flavor of it without needing sugar (although I prefer coffee with a tiny bit of stevia and also some grass-fed cream, which is actually quite healthy) ...
These are just examples of how once you start appreciating the natural flavors of real foods, you find that you no longer need the overly aggressive sugary, salty, or artificial flavors that have been ingrained in us by food manufacturers and all of the junk they push on us.

Anyway, I believe everyone should actually enjoy what you eat, but do it without eating overly processed foods... people are often surprised to hear that a lot of the foods that they think are junk foods, I actually consider healthy foods, but only because I put a healthy spin on traditional junk food...
For example:

• Junk food:  a cheap fast-food burger on a crappy refined white bun
• My healthy alternative:  A grass-fed burger (with higher omega-3's and CLA) with raw grass-fed cheese on a sprouted grain roll topped with avocado slices
   
• Junk food:  Deep fried and breaded chicken fingers with french fries (tons of nasty trannies)
• My healthy alternative:  grilled chicken breast strips with peanut dipping sauce and vegetables
   
• Junk food:  a piece of chocolate cupcake, chocolate donut, or chocolate candy bar
• My healthy alternative:  a couple squares of super-dark chocolate (greater than 70% cocoa content only)... higher in fiber and much less sugar

Now that's how to enjoy food while eating healthier at the same time!  I hope this gives you ideas on how to get a new perspective on what really constitutes junk food or healthy foods.

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Make Better Choices When Forced to Eat Fast-Food

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer


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.


For a fully comprehensive program on losing as much body fat as you want by following a smart, scientifically designed training and nutrition program, check out
The Truth about Six Pack Abs. and lose your belly fat once and for all.

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The TRUTH about Potatoes, Glycemic Index, and "White Foods" - Friend or Foe for Fat Loss?

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Author of best-sellers:  The Fat Burning Kitchen & The Top 101 Foods that FIGHT Aging

I'd like to start a little discussion today about carbohydrates... and in particular, "white foods" as well as potatoes. One reason I wanted to mention this is because so many health and fitness professionals trash talk potatoes about being a bad carbohydrate choice because of the high glycemic index. Some even say such ridiculous things as "avoid any and all white carbohydrates".
Ok, now while I certainly agree that white bread and refined white sugar are two of the worst things we can be feeding our bodies, I definately don't agree with avoiding any and all "white carbohydrates". Now I know all of the buzz lately has been about colorful foods and the protective antioxidants that they contain. They tell you to focus on colors and stay away from white.
"White Foods" aren't necessarily always the enemy
It's true that colorful foods are great, but it is a big mistake to specifically avoid white foods! There are plenty of white foods that have specific nutrients that are hard to find elsewhere. Let's look at a few examples...
Onions & Garlic
What about onions and garlic? They are both white and they are chock full of protective phytonutrients, vitamins, and trace minerals that aren't easy to find elsewhere in a normal diet... such nutrients as allicin, quercetin (an important flavonoid), chromium, and other unique anti-inflammatory nutrients.
In fact, onions are so powerful for our health, that one study of centenarians (people that live to over 100 years old) identified that a common thread of these amazingly healthy individuals was that they ate a lot of onions throughout their lives.   And we also know that garlic is one of the most powerful substances for a strong immune system, among other qualities.  
Cauliflower
Another example of something white that is great for you is cauliflower. Cauliflower is loaded with vitamin C, fiber, minerals, and special compounds such as glucosinolates and thiocyanates, which are specifically abundant in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage.  And a little-known fact is that some of the compounds in cruciferous vegetables help to combat other estrogenic compounds in our food supply and environment and can help prevent excess belly fat.  So eat up on that cauliflower!
Mushrooms
Not many people realize this, but surprisingly, even white mushrooms have high levels of unique nutrients and antioxidants. White mushrooms are high in a couple types of antioxidants called polyphenols and ergothioneine.  And some types of mushrooms, such as portobella mushrooms, are surprisingly good sources of Vitamin D.
Potatoes
Now that also leads us to another example - white potatoes (which by the way, can also be found in red, yellow, purple varieties, etc). Many health professionals claim that potatoes are a bad carbohydrate because they are thought to have a high glycemic index. First of all, if you've read my Truth about Six Pack Abs ebook, then you understand that glycemic index is not necessarily the most important factor in choosing your carbohydrates.
While a generalization can be made that most low glycemic index carbohydrate choices will help you lose body fat easier than high glycemic index choices, it is not all that it's cracked up to be. There are many other factors that determine how your body will react-to and process the carbohydrates you ingest, such as glycemic load and also how you combine the high GI food with other foods such as protein, fiber, and fats, which all slow down absorption of the ingested carbs.
For example, using glycemic load as an example... it is known that watermelon has a high glycemic index. However, the glycemic load of a normal serving of watermelon is just way too low for your body to start packing on body fat just because you ate a high glycemic index fruit. You would have to eat such an enormous quantity of watermelon just to get enough grams of carbohydrates to have any negative glycemic effect, that it is just non-sensical.
Not to mention that watermelon is also a great source of vitamins, minerals, and lycopene. There's just no reason to avoid it simply because it has a high GI. My point is... candy bars, cupcakes, and donuts make you fat... NOT watermelons, carrots or potatoes... French fries excluded of course.
Also, as i mentioned, food combinations are important in how your body processes the carbohydrates and the associated blood sugar and insulin response you receive. For example, if you mix a high glycemic index carbohydrate with an extra source of fiber, healthy fats, or even certain proteins, many times the blood sugar and glycemic response will be slowed down considerably by the way you combined the food. Again, I talk in detail about this entire topic in my Truth about Six Pack Abs book
Alright, so back to my point that white potatoes are actually a healthy carbohydrate as long as you eat them in the right form... and please don't ruin them by deep frying them into french fries either! French fries are one of the most evil things ever invented for your health, but only because we ruin them by soaking them in a scorching bath of trans fats in the deep fryer from the hydrogenated oils that are typically used.
Keep in mind that potatoes contain so many vitamins and minerals that the list is way too long to even try.  
One Warning though about potatoes:  Please note that potatoes do contain low level toxins called glycoalkaloids (it's the plant's protection mechanism) that are concentrated in the skin, so it is a good idea to always peel potatoes before making any dishes with them.  This article explains about the toxins in potatoes and how to still enjoy potatoes while minimizing the toxins.
Will 7-9 potatoes per day make you fatter?
On the topic of potatoes not being so bad after all, I don't remember where I saw this referenced, but I recently saw a particular study that had participants eat something like 7-9 whole potatoes per day for several weeks.
At the conclusion of the study, the potato eaters had actually consistently lost weight! I'd venture a guess that the reason the people lost weight is that they were probably so full from eating all of those damn potatoes, that they actually consumed less calories than normal! An average sized potato only has about 100-120 calories, and I can surely imagine you'd be full constantly from eating 7-9 potatoes each day. 
Of course, this does NOT mean that french fries are ok to eat!  Those will only make you fat, and the trans fat will lead to an early death.  Seriously... fries are one of the most deadly foods in our food supply.  Plus, deep fried potatoes build up dangerous acrylamides from the frying oil reacting with the starch, and these compounds are carcinogenic. 
Anyway, back to the 7-9 whole potatoes per day... Now I would never recommend going to those extremes, but my point is that an occasional potato is not going to hurt your efforts to get lean, especially if you combine it with some other fibrous vegetables and maybe a healthy fat and some protein. On that note, I have one of my favorite recipes for you, using potatoes.
Geary's Lean-Body Potato Side Dish

• Desired quantity of baby potatoes (I like to use this mixture I found recently at a health food store... it is a mixture of white, red, yellow, and purple baby potatoes)
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 or 2 onions
• a couple cloves of garlic, finely chopped (or mashed garlic from a jar, organic preferably)
• 1 or 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and/or virgin coconut oil
• a little salt and pepper to taste (I like using a sea salt instead of normal commercial salt)

Cut the baby potatoes into slightly smaller pieces and place in a steamer until soft all the way through. Slice up the peppers and onions into strips and add with the chopped garlic into a pan with the olive oil. Cook the peppers, onions, and garlic until tender, and then add the steamed baby potatoes. Stir it all together and serve. This is a delicious and healthy side dish that goes great with chicken or red meat.
I hope you've enjoyed this little topic today about potatoes, healthy carbohydrates, glycemic index, and my killer healthy potato recipe idea!

If you enjoyed this article today, feel free to share this page with your friends and family.

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Can "Energy Drinks" Actually Improve Your Strength, Endurance, and Energy Levels... Or is it All in Your Mind?

Interesting Results of Study:
 Can "Energy Drinks" Actually Improve Your Strength, Endurance, and Energy Levels... Or is it All in Your Mind?


Plus an important lesson on how to help your mind control your exercise and diet results

by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
author - The Truth About Six Pack Abs

You may have noticed from a lot of my ezine issues that I speak a lot about the power of your mind and how this controls the results you get in your body.
This is yet another example of the power of the placebo effect, and probably the only reason anybody gets any results whatsoever from typical supplements (I'm talking more about bogus "miracle" diet pill supplements rather than legitimate whole food or herbal supplements).
I recently read about an interesting study regarding energy drinks and whether they actually give any results (sorry, I don't have the exact citation or the exact numbers involved), but here was the general details of the study...
The researchers split the group into 2 large groups of people.  The first group they gave one of these typical "energy drinks" that you see everywhere (which I've mentioned before are a complete waste).
Now here's the important part... the researchers specifically told this 1st group of people that the energy drink they were receiving would increase their strength and endurance levels and increase their energy output.
The 2nd group received the exact same "energy drink" but was not told what the drink was, so nothing was said about it improving anything. For all these people knew, they were just being given a drink because they were thirsty.  They were not told that this drink was an "energy drink".
The very interesting results:
The 1st group, which was told that the energy drink would improve their strength and endurance, actually DID increase their strength outputs and endurance tests.
However, the 2nd group, which received the EXACT SAME "energy drink" was NOT TOLD that it would help anything, and therefore, they showed no measurable signs of improvement on any of the tests!
Wow... yet another powerful example of how it's ALL IN YOUR MIND! 
Energy drinks don't really help with anything, but if you strongly believe in your mind that something you are doing will improve your results, it really CAN help your results.  This is the placebo effect at its best!
One way that this phenomenon can be applied to your nutrition and workouts:
1. When you're performing certain exercises, you need to really strongly BELIEVE IN YOUR MIND that those exercises are transforming your body... in return, that strong belief will improve your results in the gym MUCH more than just mindlessly going through the exercises.
2. When you are eating healthy food, you need to really strongly believe and think about how much that food is making you leaner, stronger, and giving you more energy. If you believe strongly how much that food is helping you, it WILL help you much more than if you didn't think positively about what you were eating.
This is very powerful stuff!  Your brain really CAN control your fitness results or lack of results.

If you liked todays article, feel free to copy/paste and email this page link on to any of your friends, family, or co-workers that would enjoy it.


If you want to learn another super-powerful technique to make your MIND WORK FOR YOU in getting you the exact body that you want... make sure to read this webpage below... this is a secret that many have used after years of struggling to finally see success with their fitness results and permanent weight loss:

Have a great one!
Talk soon,
Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Founder - TruthAboutAbs.com 

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QUICK NUTRITION QUIZ - How do Your Breakfast and Lunch Food Choices Stand Up to the Test?

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal TrainerPersonal Trainer
Author - The Truth about Six Pack Abs


Which is a healthier meal choice for breakfast?

Meal #1: a low-fat blueberry muffin and an orange juice
Meal #2: a cheese and veggie omelet with chicken sausage and a half of a grapefruit
Meal #2 is the winner by a landslide!
First of all, Meal #1 is about 95% carbohydrates; and quick digesting, insulin spiking carbs at that. Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against carbs in general, and I have a whole lot against all of the extreme low-carb fad diets that eliminate entire food groups.
Meal #1 is bad because you need to strike a much better balance of carbs, protein, and fats.  And there is NOTHING remotely healthy about a low-fat blueberry muffin!  Usually, they are made mostly of sugar and refined wheat flour (which breaks down just as fast as sugar in your body).  It's just junk food labeled as "low fat".  And low-fat doesn't mean healthy.
Meal #1 will be sure to promote fat storage via the insulin surge you would get from this meal, and would also leave you starving again about an hour later.
Meal #2, on the other hand, provides a huge diversity of vitamins, minerals, and trace nutrients, as well as an excellent balance of quality protein, healthy carbs, and necessary fats to keep your appetite satisfied and body and mind functioning properly.  Also, don't forget that whole eggs are healthier than egg whites!

Which is a healthier meal choice for lunch?

Meal #1: a tossed salad with breaded chicken breast
Meal #2: a roast beef and swiss sandwich with tomato on whole grain bread

At first glance, it might seem to be a toss up. The seemingly healthy word “salad” might even fool you into believing that meal #1 is healthier. Well, meal #2 is the easy winner here. Why?
Well, because of the word “breaded” in front of the chicken breast in meal #1. “Breaded” almost always means deep fried in deadly artery clogging, belly fattening hydrogenated oils (trans fats), which have been implicated recently as THE main culprit in heart disease and many other degenerative diseases. Unless the breaded chicken specifically says “baked” or you baked it yourself, you can guarantee that it is deep fried in nasty hydrogenated oils.
If you understood the full story about what these artificially produced industrial trans fats do to you internally, you would never even be able to take another bite of something deep fried.
 On the other hand, meal #2 is made up of mostly wholesome nourishing real food – real meat, real cheese, real tomato, real grains; no industrially produced oil artificially altered under high heat, high pressure, flushed with hexane solvents, deodorants, and bleaching chemicals like the oil that is soaked into that breaded chicken breast.
The only areas for improvement on Meal #2 is if you can find grass-fed beef and use sprouted grain bread.  Sprouted grain breads have some nutritional benefits over just plain "whole grain" breads.  Also beware of whole grain breads that aren't 100% whole grain.  Some companies label their bread whole grain, but the first ingredient might still be refined wheat flour (which is a no-no if you want to lose fat ).

I hope you enjoyed these quizzes and hopefully they will help you to make more informed and healthier food decisions.
For more detailed information on meal balancing, the insulin process, healthy fats, healthy carbs, problems with trans fats, and other nutritional strategies that will make you lean and mean, grab a copy of my internationally best-selling book The Truth About Six Pack Abs. 

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Is Saturated Fat Evil or Possibly Even GOOD for You?

The myths, lies, and misconceptions about saturated fat and your health.
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Author - The Truth About 6-Pack Abs  & The Top 101 Foods that FIGHT Aging


I've written many times in the last couple years about the mistaken beliefs in society about saturated fat and the false perception in the media AND with MOST health professionals that saturated fat is bad for you.
If you've seen in some of my articles, I've even showed you why saturated fat can even be GOOD for you in some cases, despite every health/fitness professional in the world just accepting the false belief that it's bad for you. 
Note - I'm NOT saying that an "Atkins style" diet is good for you!  Atkins style diets are generally NOT a healthy or balanced way to eat!  Atkins style diets typically promote processed meats full of additives, excess salt, and imbalanced omega-6 to omega-3 ratios (since most grocery store meats are grain fed and not raised in a healthy manner).  Also, Atkins plans typically have a lack of many other important food groups, nutrients, and antioxidants. 
Rather, what you'll see in this article, is that saturated fat is a perfectly natural part of the human diet and has been for eternity... it is NOT the evil demon it has been made out to be!
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to FINALLY see a big name publisher have some guts to publish an article about why everyone in the world may be wrong about their beliefs about saturated fat.
I picked up a new issue of Men's Health magazine recently, and they have a huge 6-page article in there about the faulty research in the past about saturated fat, and some new emerging research that is showing why it may actually be more good for you than you would believe.
I've got to give them credit... the article was VERY well researched and put together beautifully to summarize where the studies in the past have gone wrong, and why recent studies are showing that everyone may have been wrong for the last 5 decades about saturated fat.
I'd highly suggest you read the entire article if you can. If not, I'm going to try to give you a quick summary of the findings here since it was a long article...
The "Fact" that saturated fat is bad for your health has never been proven by legitimate studies
First of all, did you realize that although doctors, nutritionists, fitness professionals, and the media all have told you that it's a FACT that saturated fats are bad for you, this "FACT" has actually never been proven!
It's actually not a "fact" at all. It was a hypothesis! This goes all the way back to a flawed research study from the 1950's where a guy named Ancel Keys published a paper that laid the blame on dietary fat intake for the increasing heart disease phenomenon.
However, there were major flaws to his study. For one, in his conclusions he only used data from a small portion of the countries where data was available on fat consumption vs heart disease death rate. When researches have gone back in and looked at the data from all of the countries, there actually was no link between fat consumption and heart disease deaths. So his conclusions were actually false.
Second, his blaming of fat intake for heart disease was only one factor that was considered. There was no consideration of other factors such as smoking rates, stress factors, sugar intake, exercise frequency, or other lifestyle factors.
Basically, his conclusions which blamed heart disease deaths on fat intake were really just a shot in the dark about what a possible cause may have been, even though all of those other factors I just mentioned, plus many others, may be the bigger cause.
Unfortunately, Keys study has been cited for over 5 decades now as "fact" that saturated fat is bad for you.  As you can see, there certainly is nothing factual about it.
Since that time, numerous other studies have been conducted trying to link saturated fat intake to heart disease. The majority of these studies have failed to correlate ANY risk at all from saturated fat. A couple of them made feeble attempts at linking saturated fat to heart disease, however, it was later shown that in those studies, the data was flawed as well.
Another issue with flawed studies is that many studies have lumped artificial trans fat intake together with saturated fat intake, and mistakenly laid the blame on saturated fat despite the overwhelming evidence that artificial trans fat is the REAL health risk.  This is a HUGE mistake as there is a vast difference in how your body processes nasty artificially created trans fats vs the perfectly natural saturated fats that have been part of the human diet since the beginning of man.
Do we actually have evidence that saturated fat may actually be good for you instead?
Well, let's consider a few examples...
Did you know that there are several well known tribes in Africa... the Masai, Samburu, and Fulani tribes... where their diet consists mostly of raw (unpasteurized) whole milk, lots of red meat, and cows blood?  The typical members of these tribes eat 5x the average amount of saturated fat compared to overweight, disease-ridden Americans. 
Despite their very high saturated fat intake, they display extremely low body fat levels, and heart disease and diabetes to natives of the tribe is virtually non-existant.
Now most critics of this example will say that it must be related to superior genetics... however this is false, as when they studied tribesman who had moved out of their native lands and started eating more modern day diets, their blood chemistry skyrocketed with heart disease risk factors.
This is true of certain pacific island countries inhabitants as well. Several studies have shown that certain pacific island nations had VERY high intakes of total fat as well as saturated fat from tropical fats such as palm, coconut, and cocoa. Tropical plants in general have naturally higher levels of saturated fats in their tissues due to the warmer climate.
Despite super-high intakes of saturated fat, these island natives were typically very lean and heart disease was virtually non-existant.  However, when researchers followed up with islanders that had moved away from their native island and adopted a typical western diet, the heart disease risk factors were through the roof.  Hmm, once again, another example of people that started eating LESS saturated fat and more processed western foods and INCREASED their heart disease factors.
In fact, did you know that although saturated fat intake does increase your LDL bad cholesterol, it actually increases your HDL good cholesterol even further, hence improving your overall cholesterol ratio, which has been proven to be more important that just total cholesterol level (actually total cholesterol is an almost useless number... inflammation is the REAL problem, but that's a whole different topic).
Another fact worth noting in favor of saturated fat...
Saturated fat is comprised of various different types... the 3 most common types are stearic acid, palmitic acid, and lauric acid.
Stearic acid is found in animal fat and cocoa in higher levels. Research continues to show that stearic acid has no negative impacts on heart disease risks. If anything, it's either neutral or beneficial. In fact, your liver breaks down stearic acid into a monounsaturated fat called oleic acid, which is the same type of fat that makes up most of heart-healthy olive oil. Bet you didn't know that!
Lauric acid is beneficial as well. Not only has it been shown to increase your HDL good cholesterol levels significantly, but it is also lacking in most Americans diet and has even been shown to have some powerful immune-boosting effects potentially. It is even being studied currently in HIV/AIDS research to help improve immune function in patients.
Tropical oils such as coconut and palm are the best sources of the healthy saturated fat - lauric acid.
Palmitic acid is the other main component of saturated fat and has also been shown to increase HDL good cholesterol to the same, if not greater extent than LDL bad cholesterol, thereby making it either neutral or beneficial, but certainly not bad for you.
So, if all of these researchers have tried so hard over the years to point the finger at saturated fat, but have continued to fail to show a correlation between saturated fat and heart disease risk, what are the REAL culprits for heart disease?
Well, here are the REAL causes of heart disease risk:

• Trans fats (artificially hydrogenated oils)... see my other Trans Fats article here on my blog
• Heavily refined vegetable oils such as soy, cottonseed, corn oil, etc. (inflammatory inside the body, and typically throw the omega-6/omega-3 balance out of whack...remember, inflammation is the REAL cause of heart disease, NOT dietary saturated fat or cholesterol).  Read more about healthy cooking oils vs unhealthy cooking oil on this blog..
• Too much refined sugar in the diet (including high fructose corn syrup)
• Too much refined carbohydrates such as white bread, low fiber cereals, etc
• Smoking
• Stressful lifestyle
• Lack of exercise
• Other lifestyle factors

So why does it seem that so many attempts over the years have tried to lay the blame on saturated fat... do you think it might have anything to do with the muli-billion dollar vegetable oil industry, which has taken over for cooking oils for what used to be mostly animal fats and tropical oils in decades past...
hmm... do multi-billion dollar industries really have an influence on the way data is portrayed to the public? Of course they do! And don't even get me started on the cholesterol meds industry! Again, I digress.
I hope this article has opened your eyes about the truth about saturated fat and how you've been misled over the years.
One other fact in favor of saturated fat... Researchers have discovered recently that a unique vitamin called vitamin K2 is strongly associated with protecting your body from heart disease. However, vitamin K2 is not found in many foods, and can you guess what one of the best sources is?  That's right, the fat from grass-fed dairy!  So that means one of the foods that "health experts" have been telling you to avoid for all these years, dairy fat, is actually one of the best sources of heart-protecting vitamin K2.
The true FACT is that saturated fat is a neutral substance in your body, and even beneficial at times as we've seen in this article, and not a deadly risk factor for disease. The REAL risk factors are what I listed above.

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Focus on Both Consistency AND Variability in Your Workouts for the Best Results and to Avoid a Training Platea

by Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

In one of my recent articles, I spoke about the fact that you must alter your training variables that make up your workouts if you want to continuously get good results, whether it is losing weight, building muscle, or toning up -- Exercise Variables for Breaking Plateaus
While changing your training variables is an integral part of the success of your training program, your workouts shouldn’t be drastically different every single time. If you are all over the place on each workout and never try to repeat and improve on specific exercises for specific set and rep schemes with specific rest intervals, then your body has no basis to improve on its current condition.
The best way to structure your workouts to get the best results is to be consistent and try to continually improve on a specific training method for a specific time period. A time period of 4-8 weeks usually works best as your body will adapt to the specific training method and progress will slow after this amount of time.
At this point, it is time to change around some of your training variables as I described in the "exercise variables" article, and then stay consistent with your new training program for another 4-8 weeks. To refresh, some of these variables are:

• the numbers of sets and reps of exercises,
• the order of exercises (sequence),
• exercise grouping (super-setting, circuit training, tri-sets, etc.),
• exercise type (multi-joint or single joint, free-weight or machine based),
• the number of exercises per workout,
• the amount of resistance,
• the time under tension during each exercise,
• the base of stability (standing, seated, on stability ball, one-legged, etc.),
• the volume of work (sets x reps x distance moved),
• rest periods between sets,
• repetition speed,
• range of motion,
• exercise angle (inclined, flat, declined, bent over, upright, etc),
• training duration per workout, training frequency per week, etc.

For example, let’s say you are training with a program where you are doing 10 sets of 3 reps for 6 different exercises grouped together in pairs (done as supersets) with 30 seconds rest between each superset and no rest between the 2 exercises within the superset. If you are smart, I’m sure you are tracking your progress with a notepad (weights used, sets, and reps) to see how you are progressing over time. Let’s say that after about 6 weeks, you find that you are no longer improving with that program. Well, now it is time to change up your variables, and start a new program.
This time you choose a classic 5 sets of 5 reps routine, but you group your exercises in tri-sets (three exercises performed back to back to back, and then repeated for the number of sets). This time you decide to perform the exercises in the tri-set with no rest between them, and then recover for 2 minutes in between each tri-set to fully recoup your strength levels.

There you have it…a couple examples of how to incorporate both consistency and variability into your training programs to maximize your results. Want to take the guess work out of all of this? Pick up a copy of my internationally best-selling Truth about Six Pack Abs program and try the scientifically designed programs already illustrated within.

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Are You Being Exposed to These Hidden Carcinogens in Bread, Cereal, Potato Chips, Fries, and More?

by Cat Ebeling - RN, BSN & Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist
Co-Authors:  The Fat Burning Kitchen


You've probably heard conflicting opinions out there in the nutrition world if breads, cereals, and other grain-based foods are good for you or not.  On one hand, you've got the mega-powerful multi-billion dollardollar food companies that make huge profits off of cheap grain-based foods and they attempt to convince the public that breads, cereals, etc are "healthy".

On the other hand, you've got the select camp of scientists, journalists, some nutritionists, etc that believe that humans are still adapted to eating more of a "Paleo" style of dietdiet, which greatly limits grains of all types, since grains historically never comprised more than a tiny percentage of the human diet until just the most recent agricultural age, which allowed mass production of grains for the first time in human history.

But let's forget about the "whole grain is healthy" propaganda camp vs the Paleo style nutrition camp (which I lean towards mostly, except for weekly cheat meals... because let's face it, breads and cereals are tasty, and even if we weren't meant to consume large amounts overall, I know I still want my weekly cheat meals!) ... Instead, let's focus on one particular nail in the coffin for breads, cereals, and the biggest offender, fries and chips...
The Carcinogenic Acrylamides (there's good and bad news)
You may have heard about "Acrylamides" and that their possible negative health effects as a Acrylamides, but maybe you were unsure which foods have the highest concentrations.  Well, fried starchy foods are one of the worst offenders!  Acrylamides are created mostly from starchy foods that have been subjected to a high temperature. That includes foods like potato chips, french fries, corn chips, cereals, bread, crackers, pretzels and more.
Basically any starchy carbohydrate cooked at a high temperature through any method of toasting, roasting, baking, or frying will contain higher levels of acrylamides.  Acrylamides generally don't form if a food is cooked using water.  It can also be found in toasted and roasted cereal grains and bread products -- again with the highest levels contained in those baked to a golden brown... so that brown crust on the bread actually contains the highest levels of this carcinogen.
And, sorry french fry lovers... the highest acrylamide levels have been measured in any type of fried potatoes.  Potato chips and french fries fried to a golden brown contain the highest levels of nasty acrylamides.
How bad are Acrylamides?
Acrylamides in foods were discovered in 2002 by Swedish scientists, and made some big headlines (at least in America) when they were first reported. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) really has not acknowledged the negative impact of cancer-causing acrylamides, and food manufacturers, so far, are not putting warning labels on their products concerning the levels of acrylamides, either.
Acrylamides are cancer-causing chemicals that are created when foods are grilled, fried, baked or roasted at fairly high temperatures.  It is thought that an amino acid found in starchy foods, changes its form when heated to become acrylamide. High-temperature cooking methods, such as frying, baking, or broiling, have been found to produce the most acrylamides, while boiling and steaming produce far less.
Researchers in Europe and the United States have found acrylamides in certain foods that were heated to a temperature above 120 degrees Celsius (248 degrees Fahrenheit), but not in foods prepared below this temperature.
The World Health Organization, (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated that levels of acrylamides in certain foods pose a "major concern" and more research is needed to determine the dangers.
In one study, it was found that women who consumed 40 micrograms or more of acrylamides each day had twice the risk of endometrial and ovarian cancerovarian cancer risk of women who ate foods with little or no acrylamides. 40 mcg is the amount of acrylamides in a small portion of potato chips.
Acrylamide levels in certain foods:

• Potato chips - 546 micrograms/kg
• French fries - 698 micrograms/kg
• breakfast cerealbreakfast cereal - 131 micrograms/kg
• coffee - 8.5 micrograms/kg

Take note that although coffee is listed here with very small amounts of acrylamides (due to the roasting process of the beans), it is theorized that the high antioxidant levels in coffee counteracts any negative effects of this small amount of acrylamides.
Are there substances that protect your body from acrylamides?
Considering that acrylamides are found in the highest amounts in foods you should be avoiding anyway, here is yet another big reason to avoid those foods. It's particularly important to stay away from the biggest offenders as much as possible:  French fries, potato chips, corn chips and cereals.
But let's be real... although they should be limited as much as possible, not many people want to fully give up these foods!  So with that said, how do we protect ourselves from possible harmful effects of acrylamides when we do choose to indulge?
The answer lies in antioxidants!
Researchers found that three types of antioxidants in particular -- tea polyphenols, resveratrol, and a substance found in garlic, slow down or counteract the damage that acrylamides can do to our bodies.
Polyphenols are found in all types of teas -- black tea, green teagreen tea, white tea, red tea, etc., but it is green tea and white tea that contain the highest levels of healthy polyphenols.  With that it mind, it might be a good idea to drink high antioxidant teas on the occasions that you are eating high Acrylamide foods.
Resveratrol is the famed antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine.  It is also found in peanuts that have red skins, like Spanish peanuts.  Again, you might hypothesize that a glass of red wine and the antioxidants within can help protect against the effects of foods with Acrylamides.
Diallyl trisulfide is a compound found in fresh garlic that has been roasted, smashed or minced. Besides fighting off the bad effects of acrylamides, it is also a potent immune system booster.  All three of these compounds are also extremely effective antioxidants.
Although these particular types of antioxidants were pointed out by researchers as potentially helping to inhibit negative effects of acrylamides, I wouldn't assume that other powerful antioxidants don't help too.  As you know, cinnamon, turmeric, and other herbs such as basil and oregano, as well as all berries are extremely potent sources of antioxidants that could potentially be protective as well.
The bottom line:  As much as you can -- avoid fried, roasted or baked starchy foods... especially french fries, potato chips, and corn chips; as well as processed cereals, breads, and crackers.
Not only are these specific foods empty calories with very little micro-nutrition density, they are also insulin increasing (can pack on belly fatbelly fat), and potentially cancer-causing foods.  Acrylamides are simply one more reason to avoid them.
On your "cheat meals" when you choose to eat starchy foods that may be high in acrylamides, make sure to wash it down with some high-antioxidant green teagreen tea, oolong tea, white tea, rooibos tea, or another great source of antioxidants.  Prograde Longevity is another great source of potent synergistic antioxidants that can also help to protect your body when you eat these foods.
If you don't already have a copy, make sure to check out our Fat Burning Kitchen program for our fully comprehensive system to transform your kitchen and your body into a fat-burning machine.


Please feel free to share this article with your friends and family to help protect their health.

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3 So-Called "Healthy" Foods to STOP Eating (if you want a flat stomach & healthy body)

by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of best-sellers:  The Fat-Burning Kitchen  & The Top 101 Foods that FIGHT Aging

I was reading a statistic in a nutrition book recently, and this is going to shock you...
Now before I tell you the statistic, let's keep an important fact in mind... according to well renowned nutrition author Michael Pollan in his book, In Defense of Food, humankind has historically consumed approximately 80,000 different species of edible plants, animals, and fungi, and approximately 3,000 of those have been widespread foods of the human diet.
Now get ready for a shocking and appalling statistic...
Currently, the average adult eating a typical modern western diet in countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, etc consumes approximately 67% of their total caloric intake from only 3 foods -- CORN, SOY, AND WHEAT (and their derivatives).
What would be considered a reasonably healthy amount of corn, soy, and wheat in the human diet?
Based on hundreds of thousands of years of human history, and what the natural diet of our ancestors was (indicating what our digestive systems are still programmed to digest most effectively), this would probably be in the range of about 1% to 4% MAX of our total calories from corn, soy, and wheat.
Considering that modern humans are eating 67% of their total calories from corn, soy, wheat... you can see why we have massive problems in our health, and our weight!
It's not a surprise that we have so many intolerances and allergies, specifically to soy and wheat (and gluten intolerance) ... the human digestive system was simply never meant to consume these substances in such MASSIVE quantities.
Keep in mind that these massively high levels of corn, soy, and wheat in our modern human diet is a relatively new phenomenon that originated from the economics of the multi-billion dollar corn, soy, and wheat industries.  It really HAS been all about the money... NOT about our health!
By "derivatives" of corn, soy, and wheat, this means the food additives such as:

• high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
• corn oil
• soybean oil (hydrogenated or plain refined)
• soy protein
• refined wheat flour
• hundreds of other food additives such as maltodextrin, corn or wheat starch, soy lecithin, mono and diglycerides, etc, etc

This doesn't surprise me... consider how much soda or other sweetened drinks (with loads of HFCS) that the average person drinks daily... this is a LOT of calories from just 1 sole corn derivative.  Even marinades, salad dressings, ketchup, breads, and 100's of other foods contain loads of belly-fattening HFCS!
Also think about how many processed foods we have that are either fried in soybean or corn oil... and even if the foods are not fried in these oils, these oils are additives to almost every processed food... chips, candies, cakes, salad dressings, tomato sauces, burrito wraps, corn chips, breaded chicken, etc, etc.  This is a LOT of calories from these 2 other corn and soy derivatives... both of them EXTREMELY UNHEALTHY!
On top of that, think about how much breads, cereals, pastas, muffins, and other highly processed wheat products that most people consume each day.  Again, this is LOADS of unhealthy, blood-sugar spiking, nutrient-poor calories, that more than half of the population has some degree of intolerance to anyway.
It gets even worse!
Not only are we (as a society) eating 67% of our total calories from corn, soy, and wheat... but because of the economics involved (specifically with cheap corn and soy) we are also feeding most of our farm animals corn and soy now too... again amplifying the amount of corn and soy that passes through the food chain and (from a biochemical standpoint) ends up in our bodies.
Probably the 2 worst examples of this blatant mismanagement of our food supply is how our factory farmed chickens and cows are fed.
Cows are fed mostly corn in factory feedlot farms, even though their digestive systems are only meant to eat grass and other forage. This makes the cows sick (hmm... E-coli anyone?), alters the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of the fats to unhealthy levels, and also diminishes the healthy CLA fats that would occur naturally in grass-fed beef.  All of these problems go away if our cows are fed what they were made to eat naturally - grass and other green forage!
Our chickens are also fed a diet of mostly corn and soy and crowded in tight pens in horrendous conditions... when the fact is that a chicken was meant to roam around the outdoors eating a mixture of greens, insects, worms, seeds, etc.  When chickens are kept inside in tight quarters and fed only grains, it leads to an unhealthy meat for you to eat, and less healthy eggs compared to free-roaming chickens allowed to eat an outdoors diet.
But it doesn't stop there...
Our food supply has gotten so screwed up that we're even feeding our salmon and other farmed fish corn and soy...again because of the economics involved.  How ludicrous is this, considering that fish are meant to eat a diverse diet of smaller fish, worms, bugs, etc.  Again this makes farm raised fish unhealthy in terms of nutrition compared to their wild counterparts.
So even when you're eating chicken, beef, and fish, you're still essentially getting even MORE corn and soy into your body (from a biochemical standpoint) ...considering that the cows, chickens, and farmed fish ate mostly soy and corn.
So it's actually WORSE than just 67% isn't it!
Why is it so unhealthy to consume 67% of our calories from corn, soy, and wheat?
Well, this section could encompass an entire book, so to keep this short, I'll just throw out a few random reasons...

• Skews the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in our diet to as high as 30:1, when a natural ratio of 1:1 to 2:1 in our ancestral human diet is considered healthy.  This imbalance causes massive inflammation in your body, which is a leading cause of many diseases, cancer, and even weight gain.
• Increasing problems with gluten intolerance -- related to heavy wheat consumption that is rampant these days, combined with foreign gluten proteins that have been formed from hybridization of wheat crops.
• Problems with weight gain, blood-sugar swings, and reduced insulin sensitivity (and progression of diabetes) due to excessive refined corn and wheat flours, as well as excess HFCS in the average person's diet.  Important Note:  the starch in wheat (yes, even so-called "whole wheat") is a unique and problematic type of carbohydrate called Amylopectin-A which has been shown in blood sugar testing to skyrocket your blood sugar even HIGHER than pure table sugar... and this can cause hormone imbalances, cravings, prediabetes, and weight gain... Yikes!
• Soy and corn are the most genetically modified crops (which also allows more pesticides and herbicides to be used, which act as "xenoestrogens", causing hormone disruption in women, man boobs in some cases in men, and what's been termed "stubborn belly fat" in both sexes 
• Soy products and soy derivatives contain a double-whammy of xenoestrogens as well as phytoestrogens... again creating an environment in your body for fat storage, carcinogenic effects, and even "man boobs" for some men in very severe cases.
• and the list could go on and on and on...
   

So how do you fight against all of the deceptive marketing in the food industry, and finally take control of your weight and your health?
The next page will show you the SOLUTION to stop being tricked by the food industry and start taking control for yourself to get a lean body, flat stomach, and prevent diseases like cancer and diabetes.
On the next page, I'll show you 23 so-called "healthy" foods you NEED TO AVOID if you want to be healthy and get a flat stomach.  I'll also show you which surprising foods you thought were unhealthy that can actually BOOST your metabolism and flatten your belly:

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