The Energy Drink Scam

Do Energy Drinks Help You, or Can They Actually Make You Fat?
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

Today I have a little rant on energy drinks...
I receive a ton of questions about all of these new "energy" drinks that have hit the market over the last few years. They seem to be all the rage, and they promise you the world with outrageous claims of all of the super energy that you are going to have, and how you'll become the best athlete in the world, start lifting cars over your head, and get a perfect body.
So a couple questions arise:
Are these "energy" drinks really any good for you?
Do they actually increase your energy?
Do they really have some sort of magical energy formula?
Will they help you lose weight?
First of all, let's look at what most of these energy drinks are usually made of. Most of them are simply carbonated water loaded with gut-fattening high fructose corn syrup (or other added sugars), caffeine, the amino acid taurine, and some crappy artificially-derived vitamins added for show to trick you into thinking there's something healthy about these concoctions.
Let's start with the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or other syrups and sugars.  Well, here we've got empty calories that will go straight to your belly fat, and that are possibly even WORSE for you than plain old refined sugar (although that's up for debate, but semantics in the big picture).  Some energy drinks use other added sugars instead of HFCS, but it doesn't really matter, because they are all gut-fattening empty calories with no nutritional benefit.
Ok, so you say that they also have low-sugar or sugar-free varieties as an alternative to the sugar-laden energy drinks. Yes, but now you have the problem of the harmful chemicals in the artificial sweeteners which have their own set of health dangers.
Another problem with artificial sweeteners is that there are some research studies that indicate artificial sweetener use leads people to inadvertently consume more calories and gain more weight in the long run... in addition to having a negative hormonal effect in the body.  I won't go into all of the details on that topic because that would fill up an entire discussion by itself.
Just trust me that artificial sweeteners and artificial chemicals in food in general, are ALL bad news for your body!  It's never a good idea to try to "trick" your body with artificial tastes.
What about the caffeine?
Well, first of all, caffeine doesn't in itself provide "energy". Technically, the only substance that actually provides energy is calories.
However, caffeine can be an aid for livening or waking some people up, by means of stimulating the central nervous system.
Instead of caffeine artificially added to some carbonated "energy" drink, I'd rather get my caffeine from a natural source like green, white, or oolong teas (or my new favorite - yerba mate teas), or even a good organic coffee, all of which actually provide very powerful healthy antioxidants too!
Keep in mind though, if you're a regular daily coffee drinker, and drink more than 1 cup of coffee per day, you probably have some level of addiction to caffeine and probably wouldn't receive too much benefit from the caffeine in an energy drink anyway.
Tip:  try to drink more tea and reduce your coffee intake to only ONE cup of coffee per day max to reduce your dependency on caffeine. Keeping total caffeine intake to around 100-150 mg/day max is helpful to prevent adrenal issues and addiction to caffeine.  Most teas contain much less caffeine than coffee, and some teas (such as green, white, and oolong) contain synergistic phytochemicals that work to slow the response of the caffeine that they do contain.  This means you get a milder response from the caffeine in green, oolong, or white teas compared to the harsher jittery response that some people get from too much coffee, or from coffee on an empty stomach.
Now what about that so called magical blend of taurine and B-vitamins that they load into these energy drinks?
Well, big deal...you get taurine in almost any protein source. And the vast majority of those artificially added B-vitamins are simply coming right out into the toilet in your pee. Vitamins are best obtained naturally from a REAL food source, not artificially added to some carbonated drink. Your body just doesn't use fake sources of vitamins as readily as natural sources from real food.
So as you can see, in my opinion, I give all of these energy drinks a big time THUMBS DOWN!  Don't fall for the ridiculous marketing of all of these so-called "energy drinks".
Instead, here's my recipe for my own home-made 
energy drink:
1.  Make a big iced tea mixture using green tea, white tea, and yerba mate tea.  I like to add a little fruit flavor, so I'll use 1 tea bag of a raspberry or blueberry hibiscus tea, and then use 2-3 green and/or white tea bags, and 2-3 yerba mate tea bags, and make a gallon container of iced tea.  I just use a small amount of stevia to lightly sweeten the batch of tea.
2. I buy a container of organic coconut water from a health food store, or buy fresh coconuts to obtain the coconut water from the inside.
3.  For my healthy energy drink, I mix a half of a glass of the white/green/yerba mate iced tea mixture and fill the rest of the glass with the coconut water.
This is actually a delicious and truly healthy energy drink instead of the chemical-laden crappy energy drinks that everybody is getting suckered into buying these days.
The green, white, and yerba mate teas contain a small dose of caffeine along with a diverse mixture of powerful antioxidants and synergistic phytochemicals.  Plus, the coconut water is a rich source of electrolytes and a diversity of vitamins and minerals, including as much potassium as a banana, but with only 1/3 the amount of carbs and calories as a banana.  Coconut water is known to provide a good instant energy source.
So enjoy this natural healthy energy drink, knowing that you're doing your body good instead of filling it with chemicals with normal store-bought energy drinks.


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Honey vs Sugar?

Are There Really Any Health Benefits to Raw Honey, or is it as Bad as Refined Sugar?

I'm sure from reading these newsletters, you already know my stance that artificial sweeteners are pretty much one of the most evil things you can put in your body.

This leaves many people confused about what to use to sweeten their tea and other food and drinks.

First of all, the less of any sweetener you can use, the better... if you can slowly over time adjust your taste buds to enjoy the natural taste of foods and drink without the need for heavily sweetening them, you'll see many benefits for your body including maintaining more stable blood sugar and insulin levels, managing your body weight, and reducing inflammatory effects of too much sugars and artificial sweeteners.

However, this leaves the question... If you really want to at least use a little sweetener for your tea, coffee, or other foods or drinks, should you use sugar or honey, or another sweetener?

The easy answer is that honey is definitely better for you than refined sugar. However, keep in mind that they are both calorie dense and eating large amounts of honey will still make you deposit body fat if it means you exceed your caloric maintenance level.

However, refined sugar is a "negative" nutrient... this means that it is literally devoid of nutrition and using it actually makes your body use up stored nutrients to process it.

Honey on the other hand has many beneficial nutrients, enzymes, and antioxidants... raw honey is best as typical honey processing (the kind of honey you'll find at your grocery store) destroys many of the enzymes and antioxidants that give the benefits of raw honey.  Personally, I don't use any honey other than raw honey... it's a no brainer.

Also, another benefit of honey (raw) is that it has been shown in several studies to improve the body's ability to process glucose, whereas refined sugar negatively affects your body's ability to process glucose over time.
I've also seen studies that indicate another benefit of raw honey may be in the reduction of symptoms of allergies (if the raw honey is from the region you live in most of the year).

In fact, I don't use refined sugar for anything at all. It's either raw honey, pure maple syrup (not fake corn syrup), or the natural non-caloric sweetener stevia for all of my sweetening needs. Those are better choices than processed refined sugar or nasty health-destroying artificial sweeteners.

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Don't be lazy, be lean.

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Founder - TruthAboutAbs.com
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The Best and WORST Protein Bars

Don't be fooled by "protein bars" that are really candy bars in disguise... read below for
The 6 Most Important Things to Look for in a Bar
by Mike Geary - Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of best-seller:  The Truth About Six-Pack Abs

I know there's a lot of confusion these days about what actually constitutes a truly healthy "protein bar" or meal replacement bar... let's face it... most protein bars on the market have at least one or more of these evil ingredients:

• Too much sugar
• High fructose corn syrup
• Soy protein  (and no, soy protein is NOT healthy)
• Nasty artificial sweeteners  (anybody want some cancer with that protein bar?)
• Other chemical additives
• Artificial forms of vitamins, instead of naturally occuring
• Excessive amounts of sugar alcohols
• and even occasionally, shockingly, trans fats in some bars!

So with that said, some of the worst protein or "energy" bars out there have at least 1 or more of these problems above.
In all honestly, it's actually really hard to find a good bar that doesn't have one of these problems.  I've even seen some bars marketed as "healthy" that contain corn syrup as the 1st ingredient!  No, I'm not joking... they should be arrested for false advertising like that!
I'm not going to "name names" and name all of the junk protein bars (because there's simply too many bad ones to name), but you now know to avoid everything listed above.  And also, here's the absolute MOST important things I look for...
The 6 most important things that I look for in a good protein bar are:
1.  One of the first things I look for on the ingredient label is to make sure there is ZERO soy protein.
Remember that soy protein and soy products in general are one of the most contaminated crops with pesticide and herbicide residues (which are xenoestrogens that increase your "stubborn" belly fat)...
Soy is also the most genetically modified of any crop (which has it's own potentially scary issues we won't even delve into in this article)... and even worse, soy proteins in particular typically concentrate much of the phytoestrogens in soy (different than xenoestrogens), which adds a double whammy for adding belly fat to your body.  Organic soy is a step in the right direction, but I'd still stay away from it for many reasons.
Instead of soy protein, I look for healthier protein sources in my bars, such as brown rice protein, hemp protein, whey protein, or even just obtaining the protein content from various nuts and seeds.
2.  The 2nd most important thing that I make sure to avoid in protein bars are artificial sweeteners.... so I look out for sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame potassium (a.k.a acesulfame K), or any other artificial sweeteners.
I also try to avoid large amounts of sugar alcohols.  If a bar only has 1 or 2 grams of sugar alcohols, that's not a big deal, but I try to avoid anything more than that.
3.  The 3rd thing I look at is total carbohydrates and total grams of fiber.  Specifically, what I look for is a good ratio of grams of fiber to grams of total carbohydrates.  The higher the ratio of fiber compared to total carbs, the better this bar will be for your blood sugar stabilization, and therefore, appetite control.
For example, if bar1 has 5 grams of fiber, but 50 grams of total carbs, that's only 10% fiber content out of total carbs.  Not good!
However, if bar2 has 4 grams of fiber, and 16 grams of total carbs, that's actually 25% fiber content out of total carbs!  Bar2 had 1 gram less fiber, but had a MUCH better ratio (2.5x better ratio) of fiber to total carbs.  Bar2 is the clear winner... assuming it doesn't contain the other evil ingredients we talked about above.
4.  The 4th most important thing I look at on the nutrition label of a protein bar or energy bar is the protein content vs the carbohydrate content.
Generally, I look for at least 10 to 15 grams of protein or more, and maybe no more than 20-30 grams of total carbs.  However, we have to make sure that there's no soy protein, and also, if the fiber content is super high, it doesn't matter if the total carb amount is over 30 grams, as long as the ratio of fiber to total carbs is very high (at least 25% or more fiber content of total carbs)
5.  Another thing I generally look for in a good bar is about 8-15 grams of healthy fats (usually obtained from nuts and seeds in the ingredients, coconut oil, or almond butter).  This is important not only for having a good tasting bar, but also to make sure the bar has a better glycemic profile (which the healthy fats help with), and help to satisfy your appetite longer.
6.  The last thing I look for in a good bar is simply a bonus if it does contain any... and that would be if it has any superfoods or greens... superfoods such as spirulina, maca, blue-green algae, kelp, chlorella, goji berry, raw cacao or organic cocoa powder, and other greens, etc.
So with all of those things in mind, what are the BEST bars out there?
Well, I previously used to recommend a couple that were my favorites - Larabars and Organic Food Bars.
I still think both of these are excellent bars, and use almost solely organic, raw, natural ingredients without any soy protein, HFCS, artificial sweeteners, or other junk.  However, I've always felt they could do slightly better on the fiber content and the protein content... as those are 2 of the most important aspects of a good bar that I look for.
So, just last week, I found a NEW bar, that has just become my new favorite bar!  It's called the Boku Superfood Bar and I just received my box in the mail a couple days ago... and I'm blown away at not only how delicious these bars taste, but also how practically perfect they are in terms of nutrition!
And they're even cheaper than most bars at my local health food store... and better quality.  Needless to say, I'm a little excited about this new find!
Here's why I think these bars are almost perfect nutrition-wise:

• 15 grams of protein (from raw sprouted brown rice protein... and some from the almond butter too)
• a whopping 11 grams of fiber out of 30 grams of total carbs!  (that's a 37% ratio of fiber content... pefect for blood sugar stability)
• there's 13 grams of healthy fats (mostly from the almond butter and almonds)
• these bars also have some sprouted quinoa, and celtic sea salt (but are still low sodium)
• and best of all, they contain loads of superfoods from the Boku Superfood blend of greens, maca, goji berries, antioxidant-rich mushrooms, probiotics, enzymes, and more

Overall, these are the best bars I've found in terms of taste and nutrition combined!  You've gotta give em a try!
Also, I love this company because of their focus on super high quality ingredients.  I've also tried their Boku SuperProtein and and their Boku SuperFood, and I love the quality of both of those products too.  I think they're one of the best companies out there these days in the health food space for sure.
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Grocery Store Health Deception - Understanding the Truth about Food Labels

Nutrition & Weight Loss Tips that Start with Your Food Shopping

by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist

I was at the grocery store the other day picking up some ingredients for a black bean & brown rice with seasoned venison strips dish I was planning to make, when an interesting thing happened.
I had gone straight to the grocery store after training a couple clients at the gym. Well, as I was grabbing some frozen veggies, a friendly lady (who must have seen that I was a fitness coach from my shirt), asked me my advice on a couple frozen prepared box meals she was picking out which had "healthy" claims on the labels (by the way, those prepared frozen meals are usually highly processed crap loaded with sodium and other chemicals).
Now I will say that this woman was VERY overweight, and she mentioned that she has "tried everything" to lose the excess weight and has always failed.
Keep in mind I hear about 50 people a day tell me they've "tried everything" to lose weight and get in shape. The problem that they don't realize is that they're trying all of the wrong things... they're trying all of the gimmicks and fat loss fads that are out there instead of just adopting a TRUE healthy active lifestyle that will make them lean and healthy for life.
Back to the woman in the store...
So we started chatting about her struggles with losing weight and getting in shape, and I began scanning her grocery cart. If I can remember, these were some of the contents she thought were healthy:

• Slim fast shakes (far from healthy...they're actually loaded with high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and a bunch of other chemicals)
• Fat Free Rice Cakes (ok...despite so many people believing these pieces of crap are healthy...they really are nothing but pure refined starch with zero fiber, which basically breaks down immediately into sugar in your body, spiking insulin and promoting fat storage...doesn't sound so good anymore, huh)
• Protein bars "Scientifically Slim Body Engineered" or some BS statement like that (I took a gander at the ingredient list of these so called "healthy" protein bars and sure enough... hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, and enough sugar alcohols to give you diarrhea for a week!)
• Canned fruit in syrup (I guess she could do worse here...but still, why not just eat fresh whole fruit which still contains the skins, fiber, active enzymes, etc, instead of resorting to processed, canned fruit that's been cooked and loaded with syrup)
• Reduced Sugar Dessert Cakes (ok, so these are loaded with nasty artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, preservatives, and a chemical ingredient list about 15 lines long)

Do you see what's going on here? This is the same scenario that I see all the time.
Most people are fooled by what the FRONT OF THE BOX says, leading them to believe what they are buying is healthy. On all of these items, the FRONT of the packages had all kinds of great sounding things like "fat free", "reduced sugar", "high protein", "low cholesterol", "low carb", etc.
However, the TRUTH is on the BACK OF THE BOX! Ah yes, the ingredient list and nutrition info is where the real truth is. However, I've realized that most of the general public doesn't know how to fully understand the ingredient list and nutrition info, so they rely on the advertising claims on the front of the package to guide them.
BIG MISTAKE!
If you notice, this woman thought she was doing great with her grocery shopping and buying all kinds of healthy stuff for her and her family.
In reality, EVERYTHING she was buying was highly processed and full of chemicals and industrially refined ingredients. No wonder "nothing has worked" for her to get in shape and lose the excess body fat... she actually hasn't been doing anything right. She's been mislead by all of the confusing marketing and labeling and conflicting nutrition info in the mass media.
If you want to discover the TRUTH about what it really takes to eat a truly healthy diet that maximizes your metabolism, brings your hormonal balance back to normal, reduces cravings, and strips off body fat faster than you'd believe is possible... it's all found in my Truth about Six Pack Abs program.
Here's what some of my readers from all over the globe are saying about their experiences with this fat loss program:
Truth about Six Pack Abs Reviews
Have fun and choose wisely on your next grocery store trip!
Feel free to copy/paste this link (or share below) on to any friends, family, or coworkers you think might enjoy this article.

Stay lean,

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Founder - TruthAboutAbs.com

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The Top 20 Food Rules You NEED to Know to be Truly Lean & Healthy

Everything you wanted to know about protein, carbs, calories, probiotics, vitamin D, cooking oils, foods that burn fat, foods that make you fat, foods that can kill you slowly, and much more.
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
This article is one that you're going to want to bookmark to come back and reference at any time.  And you'll also want to share this page with all your friends and family to help spread what true healthy nutrition is all about.  Seriously, there's more great information about nutrition on this page than a lot of entire books.
I'm going to rattle off a bunch of random important facts (in no particular order) about food and eating healthy that you need to know.  I'll also refer to any of my previously published articles where appropriate, and where a more full explanation might be needed if you want more details on that topic.  All references to other articles will open in a new window so that you can stay on this page when you're done any of the other reference articles.
Before we start this list, let's establish a big picture view first, before we dive into various smaller topics like specific foods...
The Big Picture View (most people have never thought of food in this way)
Let me give you something to think about, and this is VERY big picture and VERY important... if we took away modern society and plopped you on a deserted island, what is the #1 most important thing in your life at that point?   That's right... FOOD!  What will I eat to survive and thrive.  At that point, you can forget about careers, technology, video games, television, nightlife, cell phones, and just about every other aspect of modern life... the single most important thing you need to focus on at that point is what to eat.
However, in our modern day, most of us don't have to think about what to eat at all, and in fact, most people NEVER think about what they put in their mouths... they just eat whatever they see in front of them that they know tastes good, without any thought about whether it's an appropriate food for humans to eat.
You can call that the "See-Food Diet"... you "see" the food and you eat it.
Isn't that a major disconnect?  Food is quite literally one of the most important things in our daily lives, yet barely anybody thinks about the ramifications of what they eat and how it will affect their health and the quality of their life (until, of course, they lose their health).
Since food is one of the most important things in our lives for our quality of life, don't you think that it should be a priority as one of the fundamental topics that children learn about throughout school?  It should be a priority, but it isn't.  Kids get a thorough education on topics such as Math, History, Science, Languages, etc, but never get more than a couple hours in their entire 12 years in school about the most important thing in our lives...what to eat.
If you think about it, that's absolutely insane...  One of THE single most important aspects of our lives is never really taught to children in school.  And parents don't generally pick up the slack and teach kids nutrition because they were never taught about it either.  This is a modern day phenomenon because the abundance of food all around us in modern day life means that we don't have to think about what's appropriate to eat.
If you want to be lean and truly healthy, obviously you NEED to think differently than the average person who eats the "SEE-food diet" where they eat without thinking.
There needs to be some simple rules to follow if you want to successfully navigate the current food landscape out there where so many foods are making you fat and sick.
And THAT's why I wrote this page for you... to simplify and give you some simple food rules to be lean and healthy, yet still ENJOY food.
Food Rules Simplified
Okay, so let's simplify nutrition a bit here... everyone out there seems confused about what is the best "diet" to be on.  People seem to love to always jump from fad diet to fad diet such as low-fat diets, atkins diets, south beach diets, grapefruit diets, detox diets, vegetarian diets, and other sometimes ridiculous diets that most times are based on one person's opinion or marketing scheme (or personal agenda) rather than based on actual science.
The only "diet" that's actually based on real science is the study of paleolithic nutrition (aka - paleo diet).  But I hate to call it "paleo diet", because it's not like any other fad diet, since it's based on real archaeological nutritional science about what our ancestors ate before the agricultural revolution came around.  The idea is simply that for the first 99.5% of our existence (ancestors back as far as 1.9 Million years ago, homo erectus), we only ate wild plants and animals, while for the last 0.5% of our existence (since the agricultural revolution in the last 5,000-10,000 years), humans now almost entirely eat farmed plants and animals.  The biggest change this represents is the massive inclusion of grains in our current diet (and what our animals are fed) now compared to our Paleolithic ancestors.
There are lots of other changes this represents too, such as the presence of chemicals in our food supply (pesticides, herbicides, xenoestrogens, etc) that didn't exist in the ancient diet, as well as the dramatic changes caused by hybridization of many of our foods, which creates versions of fruits and vegetables bred more for size, sweetness, and appearance as opposed to natural nutrition... this aspect has decreased micronutrient content in the modern day food supply (just look at wild blueberries vs cultivated blueberries as an example of that with wild berries coming in at more than DOUBLE the antioxidants from ORAC testing).
Many people think that we don't know what ancient humans ate... but this is false. 
Nutritional archaeologists know pretty convincingly what ancient humans ate as they study a lot of evidence such as ancient fossilized feces remains as well as studying isotope ratios in ancient human bone samples from all over the world through every time period in history to determine ratios of animals vs plants that ancient humans ate -- which by the way, was always an omnivorous mixture of plants and animals, and a fairly high protein intake...there was no such thing as ancient paleolithic vegans...any Nutritional Archaelogist can confirm that ancient vegans simply didn't exist.  We were all omnivores that ate different ratios of plants and animals based on what part of the world, what latitude we lived, and the time of the year.
So what exactly did our Paleolithic ancestors eat for the first 99.5% of our existence, representing what we are still programmed to eat?  Simple:

• Wild meat, fish, and seafood  (animals that ate the right foods, unlike most of our current factory-farmed meats and farmed fish)
• fruits
• veggies
• eggs (various types)
• nuts
• roots (sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, etc)
• seeds

Grains were only a very TINY fraction of the ancient Paleolithic diet (and only in certain parts of the world) as there was no way to process large amounts of grain back in that day into flour, so amounts of wild grain would have been small such as a handful or two of gathered grains added to a meal of meat and veggies.  As you can see, this is vastly different from the modern human diet that includes grain at almost every meal and in very large quantities in cereals, breads, pasta, muffins, bagels, etc.
One other note... I mention "wild meats" above, and for most people, that's not realistic since you might not hunt. However, as you'll see below in my 20 rules, grass-fed free-range meats can have the same health benefits as wild meats, while avoiding the harmful nutritional components that come with factory-farmed grain-fed meats.

So with that big picture explained...let's get into the details of my top 20 food rules:

Food Rule #1.  Not all carbs are bad, but...
Carbohydrates don't need to be eliminated... they are not inherently "bad" in reasonable quantities.  But grains and processed sugars in particular should be minimized.  So to make things simple, you will be leaner and healthier if you get most of your carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables instead of grains and processed sugar.
The biggest problem with grains (breads, cereals, pasta, bagels, etc), aside from the abuse to your blood sugar regulation system (pancreas and insulin sensitivity), is that grains typically contain a lot of anti-nutrients which prevent your body from absorbing some minerals, as well as gluten and other substances that cause chronic gut inflammation and even possibly digestive system damage in some cases of severe gluten intolerance.
Please note that potatoes, sweet potatoes, and other tubers have less problems in terms of digestive system inflammation than grains do. Tubers were a more common part of the ancient human diet as a source of carbohydrates than grains ever were.  Potatoes and sweet potatoes can be much better tolerated by very active people that have no problem burning off the extra carbohydrates.
What do I personally do?  Well, I avoid grains as much as possible, except on 1 cheat day per week.  That will always be a meal dining out, so that we're never tempted with breads and cereals in our house.  I eat whole fruits (never juice) and veggies daily, and might have an occasional potato or sweet potato once or twice a week.
Food Rule #2.  Healthy vs deadly protein sources
Focus on quality protein sources such as wild game, wish fish and seafood, grass-fed meats, and free-roaming organically fed eggs, while trying to avoid most farmed meats and farmed fish that were fed mostly grains and kept in unhealthy "factory farm" environments. 
Food Rule #3.  Your "Omegas" are out of whack
Most people need to be more aware of the omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio of the food they eat.
The ancestral human diet of the Paleolithic era appears that it had a ratio of approximately 1:1 to 2:1 omega-6 fats to omega-3 fats.  The current average western diet contains anywhere from 20:1 to 30:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats due to the high consumption of grain and soy-based foods and derivatives like soybean oil and corn oil that is pervasive in the food supply (and don't forget the corn and soy that's used as the main animal feed component instead of natural forage).  This is a major problem causing massive inflammation in most people, and one of the causes of many degenerative diseases.
In order to balance this out better, you need to AVOID corn oils, soybean oils, cottonseed oils (or anything cooked in these oils), and minimize grain-fed meats and farmed fish that were fed grains.  Instead, focus on wild fish, grass-fed meats, grass-fed dairy, free-range eggs, as well as other foods that can help you get more omega-3's like chia seeds, walnuts, hemp seeds, and fish oil and/or krill oil, which are vitally important sources of DHA and EPA.  I personally take both fish oil and krill oil, as the fish oil has a larger quantity of DHA and EPA (and more omega-3 volume overall), while the krill oil has more antioxidant benefits from the astaxanthin and a higher absorption rate than the fish oil.
Take note that animal sources of omega-3 fats are MUCH more powerful to your health than plant sources of omega-3's like walnuts, chia, and flax.  This is because animal sources of omega-3's already contain DHA and EPA already converted whereas plant sources don't, and your body is very ineffecient at converting plant sources of omega-3 fats to DHA and EPA.

Food Rule #4.  80,000 species of plants, animals, and fungi?
Aside from processed sugar, if I had to pick 3 of the WORST foods in the average western diet that would be most important to start avoiding, it would be corn, soy, and wheat, and their derivatives such as corn syrup, corn oil, soybean oil, soy protein, etc. Do you want to hear an appalling statistic about what the average person eats... 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).
Keep in mind that ancestral humans have historically eaten over 80,000 species of plants, animals, and fungi throughout human history, yet modern humans are getting 67% of their calories from only 3 foods. That's a problem! 
Food Rule #5.  Beware of hidden sugars
Beware of hidden calories and inflammation-causing ingredients in condiments and dressings.  You can read my article here on my vote for the top 5 picks for healthiest condiments as well as the worst.
Most people don't realize just how many calories and metabolism damaging high fructose corn syrup they are ingesting in things like ketchup, salad dressings, cocktail sauce, marinades, etc.  For example, 1 Tbsp of ketchup has 5 grams of sugar (usually from HFCS), but the average person uses 2-4 Tbsp of ketchup with a typical burger and fries meal.  That's anywhere from 10-20 grams of EXTRA sugar just from the ketchup alone, and not even counting the sweetened drink that most people have with the meal too.
Be a label reader and avoid HFCS!  And despite deceptive advertisements out there from the corn refining industry that claim "HFCS is no worse than sugar and is natural", this is far from the truth as you can read in this article on my blog that shows why HFCS is indeed worse than plain sugar, despite them both being terrible for you.

Food Rule #6.  Sugar is TOXIC in your body
Speaking of sugar, most people don't realize that they are addicted to sugar, and just how bad sugar is for your body internally.  I hear people say things all the time when eating candy or drinking a sweetened drink that "oh, it's just sugar, I can burn it off easy".  Oh, if it were only that simple. 
That's right... not only does sugar make you fat, it's one of the direct causes of diabetes, heart disease, as well as feeding cancer cells.  Avoid sugar as much as possible with the exception of a small amount of natural sugars in a piece of daily fruit.

Food Rule #7.  Do NOT eat these oils or foods with these added

AVOID soybean oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, and other cheap "vegetable oils" as much as possible.  These oils are highly inflammatory in your body, disrupt your omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid balance in your body, and also are typically made of genetically modified crops, of which the long term health consequences are not yet fully understood by scientists.
I have an article on my blog saying what oils to have and ones to avoid.  You might be surprised to see why fats you falsely thought were unhealthy such as butter, lard, and coconut oil are actually the healthiest fats/oils to cook with.

Food Rule #8.  Canola oil is terrible for you
Avoid canola oil as much as possible... despite the false marketing claims that canola oil is "healthy" and contains lots of monounsaturated fats just like olive oil, canola oil is NOTHING like olive oil from a biochemical standpoint and how it reacts internally in your body. Note that most canola oil is genetically modified too, so yet another reason to avoid it.

Food Rule #9.  Why you should LOVE butter & cream!
Butter vs margarine?  I have no idea why anybody is still debating this... I use grass-fed butter on a daily basis, but I would NEVER even touch margarine... not even the so-called "healthy" margarines, which usually still contain inflammatory soybean or corn oils.  REAL butter is the only answer in this case.
Also, it's not just butter that's good for you... dairy fat in the form of grass-fed cream, aged cheeses, full-fat yogurts and other dairy fat has even been shown in some studies to PROTECT your arteries from clogging!  Don't believe me?  Read this article for the full story:
Food Rule #10.  STOP avoiding egg yolks -- eat whole eggs
Egg whites vs whole eggs?  Once again, I have no idea why anyone is still debating this.  Most of the general population has still not gotten the memo that egg yolks are actually the healthiest part of the egg, with over 90% of the micronutrients and antioxidants, and 100% of the fat soluble vitamins that are so important for our health.  Why anybody would only eat egg whites and avoid yolks is beyond comprehension.  And no, the dietary cholesterol in eggs is not bad for your heart... in fact, it increases your good HDL cholesterol.  I have a full article on my blog why whole eggs are much healthier than egg whites, help increase your fat burning hormones, and why I personally eat 3-4 whole eggs per day and how this helps to stay in single digit body fat range.

Food Rule #11.  Beware of chemicals in your foods
Let's start with this one to avoid:  This additive makes you 3x more likely to be overweight.
Also, beware of the carcinogenic and estrogenic chemical BPA that is commonly found in some canned foods and bottled drinks. BPA has been linked to increased abdominal fat, birth defects, cancer, and more.  Remember that canned tomatoes are one of the worst offenders with highest concentrations of harmful BPA because of the acidic leaching effect of the tomatoes.
Food Rule #12.  Why I haven't used a microwave in 10 years
In my opinion, it's best to AVOID microwaved foods.  Some scientists believe that microwaving food changes the the biochemistry of the food in ways that cause negative effects in the body compared to raw or conventionally cooked food.  Think of this from a logical perspective... the human digestive system evolved over a period of approximately 1.9 million years (our ancesters homo erectus & neanderthal, as well as current homo sapiens) eating a combination of raw and cooked food that was cooked with either fire or hot water, not microwaves.
Microwaves are a new invention which cooks food in an entirely different way than hot water or fire, creating damaged molecules in food that were not found in nature previously, and that our body does not know how to deal with.  Logically, it's easy to understand how this could have health consequences.  Read this article on my blog here for a full description of why I never eat microwaved foods anymore and have not for at least the last 10 years.  We also show you how easy it is to live without a microwave and heat up your foods in healthier ways.

Food Rule #13.  Add herbs and spices to everything (your body will thank you)
One of the healthiest things to include in your daily diet are herbs and spices.  In fact, herbs and spices typically contain LOADS more antioxidants than most fruits and vegetables.  Spices are extremely powerful, and almost medicinal for your body.  Turmeric has been shown to have protective effects against cancer.  Cinnamon has powerful blood sugar controlling effects.  Many spices boost your immune system.  Read this article on my blog to see our top 10 votes for the most powerful spices that boost your metabolism and protect your body from degenerative disease.
Bottom line...spices rule!  Use them generously in all of your cooking for the best health benefits.

Food Rule #14.  Saturated fats have been falsely accused
Remember that despite all of the bad nutrition information you hear from the government and the media, saturated fats have been falsely villified in the past, and are much healthier for you than most people realize.  In fact, in recent years, scientists have become a lot more clear that saturated fats are actually important for health and hormone balance, your cell membranes, and many other vital functions in your body.  You can read my article here on my blog about why saturated fats aren't so bad after all, and can even be healthy sometimes depending on source.
If you're interested in more of the actual science about why saturated fat can be healthy for you, I have an article below written by a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry called The Truth about Saturated Fat - it's a must read if you want to understand the science about why saturated fats have been falsely villified and how to enjoy these foods that have always been part of the ancestral human diet.

Food Rule #15.  Artificial sweeteners make you fatter (and damage your gut too?)
Always avoid artificial sweeteners!   Just because they don't contain calories doesn't mean they don't harm your body.  In fact, many studies link artificial sweetener use to weight gain.  New research is also showing that artificial sweeteners can "trick" your body into releasing insulin due to cells in your mouth and stomach that sense the sweetness and are expecting sugar.  Remember that high insulin levels can cause body fat deposition. Also, triggering insulin in this way can cause more cravings for carbohydrates and sugar in the hours after eating or drinking the artificially sweetened product.
You can read my article here on my blog with more details about why artificial sweeteners are terrible for your health, including possible long term health consequences such as cancer.
Also, did you know that Splenda can DAMAGE your gut health.

Food Rule #16.  Vitamin D controls your immune system, hormone balance, and makes you younger
Pay attention to your Vitamin D levels.
Vitamin D is one of the most important substances in your body.  It's one of the single most important things in your body that control your hormones as well as your immune system.  If you get sick often or have hormone imbalances, it's quite likely that the cause is linked to low vitamin D levels.
Unfortunately, it's estimated that almost 90% of Americans are deficient in vitamin D.  Get your blood levels of vitamin D tested.  Your goal should be blood levels between 50-70 ng/ml, where hormonal balance and immune function seems to be maximized.  Sadly, most people typically clock in with levels in the 20's or 30's or lower, and these sub par levels can cause a lot of health problems.
Mid day sunshine is the most important source of vitamin D as your body produces vitamin D from a reaction with oils in your skin and UVB rays from the sun.  Fatty fish, egg yolks, and organ meats are the best sources of dietary vitamin D, but it is hard to get enough vitamin D from diet alone, so small doses of daily mid-day sun is also important for your health (without burning).
For lots more great info on vitamin D, and it's powerful benefits to your body, you can also read a really interesting article here on my blog that shows why vitamin D can even make you the equivalent of 5 years YOUNGER!

Food Rule #17.  Pay attention to your gut flora
Probiotics rock!  And most people have a harmful imbalance between good and bad bacteria in their guts.  This is made worse by things you consume that damange your gut flora such as chlorinated drinking water, artificial sweeteners, pesticides, and the worst of them all -- antibiotics.  One round of antiobiotics can permanently disrupt the balance of your gut flora and leave you susceptible to other infections and diseases.  Antibiotics have their place for life-threatening injuries and medical situations, but are overused in western medicine to the detriment of our health.
Along with vitamin D levels, probiotics are one of the single most important things you can do for your health.  Probiotics are equally important to your immune system as your vitamin D levels.  Probiotics are your first line of defense in keeping pathogens at bay and preventing sickness.  They're extremely important for your digestion too.
Your "microbiome" in your gut is made up of TRILLIONS of microbes in total and hundreds of types of these friendly probiotics.  These serve so many more vitally important functions in your body than most people realize, and imbalance of good to bad bacteria in your gut can cause over 170 diseases and conditions.
Food Rule #18.  Counteract or minimize carcinogens
Beware of carcinogenic acrylamides in browned carb-based foods.  This is yet another reason to minimize grains as much as possible as breads and cereals are some of the worst offenders with acrylamides.
Food Rule #19.  Why I avoid GM foods
Avoid the unknown health consequences of eating genetically modified foods.  Again, going back to the principle that we are most adapted to eating what our ancesters ate for almost 2 million years, that list of foods obviously did NOT include genetically modified foods, since these "frankenfoods" weren't included in the human food supply until the 1990's.
There are still no long term health studies proving that GM foods are safe to eat.
Food Rule #20.  Beware of "healthy whole wheat"
In a groundbreaking new best-selling book called Wheat Belly, Dr William Davis, a well respected cardiologist has intensely researched the effects of wheat-based foods (cereal, breads, pasta, baked goods, etc) and what this so-called "healthy whole wheat" actually does to your body from a biochemical standpoint internally.
His findings are not pleasant... some of the problems that whole wheat or any wheat foods can cause for your health are summarized in this article:
11 Ways that "whole wheat" can HARM your body (including abdominal fat, acne, joint problems and arthritis, IBS and acid reflux, cravings, addictive behaviors, increased overall calorie consumption, diabetes, heart disease, accelerated aging, and autoimmune diseases)

Food Rule #21.  Enjoy your food, eat slowly, savor each bite
Lastly, enjoy your food!  And enjoy good company with food.  Don't just mindlessly eat food in front of the TV.  Studies show that people unknowingly eat more calories and gain more weight when they mindlessly eat in front of the TV.  Instead, focus on your meal instead of a distraction...savor each bite you have.  Pay attention and enjoy the subtle flavors and aroma of each bite.  This makes you enjoy your food more, while eating less calories.
One last thing... Make sure to read this page below if you don't already have my Fat-Burning Kitchen book:
Does your kitchen contain fat-burning foods or 
hidden fat-storing foods?
Please share this "20 food rules" article with all of your friends and family!  They will thank you for helping them to think about food differently now and enjoy better health.

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