The Shocking Truth about Dietary Fats and Saturated Fats

You've been deceived into thinking that saturated fats are bad for you, but let's look at some facts below...
by Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

I’ll preface this article by saying that it will help if you have an open mind and accept that some of these facts are a slap in the face to politically correct nutrition in this day and age where fats are admonished by many doctors, health "experts", and the mass media.
To start, eating an adequate supply of healthy dietary fats is vitally important to your overall health. Fats are one of the main components in all of the cell membranes throughout your entire body. If you eat enough healthy natural fats, your cellular processes will proceed normally.
On the other hand, if you eat man-made, heavily processed, chemically altered fats (damaged fats) that are found in most processed foods, your cellular function will be impaired as these damaged fats become part of your cell membranes, the body will have to work harder to operate correctly, and degenerative diseases can develop.
In addition, healthy dietary fats are necessary for optimal hormone production and balance within the body and are therefore essential for the muscle building and fat burning processes.  Other important functions that dietary fats play in a healthy body are aiding vitamin and mineral utilization, enzyme regulation, energy, etc.
I cringe every time I hear so called "health experts" recommend restriction of dietary fat, claiming that a low-fat diet is the key to good health, weight loss, and prevention of degenerative diseases.  Restriction of any one macronutrient (protein, carbs, or fat) in your diet works against what your body needs and can only lead to problems.
All three basic macronutrients serve important functions for a lean, healthy, and disease-free body.  As Dr. Mary Enig, Ph.D, and one of the leading fats researchers in the world, notes in several of her books and articles, there is very little true scientific evidence supporting the assertion that a high fat diet is bad for us.
For example, if these so called "health experts" that admonish fat are correct, and a low-fat diet is the solution to good health, then why did traditional Pacific Islanders who typically obtained 2/3 to 3/4 of their total daily calories from fat (mostly from coconut fat), remain virtually free from heart disease, obesity, and other modern degenerative diseases (that is, until Western dietary influences invaded)?
Also, why did traditional Eskimo populations, consuming up to 75% of their total caloric intake from fat (mostly from whale blubber, seal fat, organ meats, and cold water fish), display superior health and longevity without heart disease or obesity?
Why did members of the Masai tribe in Africa remain free from degenerative diseases and maintain low body fat percentages on diets consisting of large quantities of raw whole milk, blood, and meat? What about the Samburu tribe of Africa, which eats an average of 5 times the quantity of dietary fat (mostly from raw whole milk and meat) as overweight, disease-ridden Americans, yet Samburu members are lean, healthy, and free of degenerative diseases?
What about traditional Mediterranean diets, which are known to be very high in fat in some cases (sometimes up to 50-70% fat), and are also well known to be very healthy?

These examples of high fat diets and the associated excellent health of traditional populations around the world go on and on, yet it seems that many doctors, nutritionists, and media outlets still ignore these facts and continue to promote a diet that restricts dietary fat intake.
Well, the problem is that the good fats (the natural unprocessed health promoting fats) have gotten mistakenly lumped together in nutritional advice with the deadly processed fats and oils that make up a large percentage of almost all processed food that is sold at your local grocery store, restaurant, deli, fast food joint, etc. These deadly processed fats are literally everywhere and almost impossible to avoid unless you know what to look for and make smart choices in what you feed your body with.
Take note that I’m not recommending following a super high fat diet (although technically this can be more healthy than a high carb diet as long as you choose healthy fats).

However, in most cases, active individuals that exercise on a regular basis certainly also need adequate supplies of healthy carbohydrates for energy and muscle glycogen replenishment as well as good sources of protein for muscle repair. The above examples of the high fat diets of traditional populations and their corresponding excellent health were simply to prove the point that you don't need to be afraid of dietary fats as long as you make healthy natural choices and stay within your daily caloric range to maintain or lose body fat (depending on your goals).
Following is a list of some of the healthiest fatty foods (some will surprise you!) as well as some of the deadliest fatty foods to try to avoid at all costs:

The Healthy Fatty Food Choices:

• Nuts (any and all - walnuts, almonds, peanuts, cashews, macadamias, etc.): Nuts are great sources of healthy unprocessed fats as well as minerals and other trace nutrients. Macadamias, almonds, and cashews are great sources of monounsaturated fats, while walnuts are a good source of unprocessed polyunsaturated fats (including omega-3’s). Try to avoid nuts that are cooked in oil. Instead, choose raw or dry roasted nuts.
• High fat fish such as wild salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring, trout, etc.:  Just about any fish or seafood are good sources of natural omega-3 polyunsaturated fats, but the higher fat fish listed above are the best sources of omega-3’s. Due to the radical switch to a higher proportion of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats like soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, etc. in our food supply during the middle of the 20th century, the average western diet is currently way too high in omega-6’s compared to omega-3’s, which wreaks havoc in your body. This is where good omega-3 sources like high fat fish, walnuts, and flax seeds can help bring you back to a better ratio of omega-6/omega-3.  I also recommend Krill Oil, which has been shown to possibly have even more health benefits health  than standard fish oil
• Avocados or guacamole:  The fat in avocados (depending on where they’re grown) is approximately 60% monounsaturated, 25% saturated, and 15% polyunsaturated. Avocados are a very healthy natural food that provides many nutrients, fiber, and healthful fats, while adding a rich flavor to any meal. Try sliced avocado on sandwiches or in salads or use guacamole in wraps, sandwiches, or quesadillas.
• Dark, bittersweet chocolate (>70% cocoa):  The cocoa bean is a very concentrated source of antioxidants and responsible for part of the health benefit of dark chocolate. The fat portion of the cocoa bean (cocoa butter) is a healthy natural fat, composed of approximately 59% saturated fat (mostly healthy stearic acid), 38% monounsaturated fat, and 3% polyunsaturated fat. I’ll limit the description of healthy chocolate to ONLY dark bittersweet chocolate with >70% cocoa content. Most milk chocolates are only about 30% cocoa, and even most dark chocolates are only about 55% cocoa, leaving the remainder of those products composed of high amounts of sugar, milk fat, corn sweeteners, etc. Look for a quality dark chocolate that lists its cocoa content like Chocolove Extra Dark (77%) or Dagoba New Moon (74%), which contain mostly cocoa and very little sugar. Keep in mind that although dark chocolate can be a healthy treat, it is still calorie dense, so keeping it to just a square or two is a good idea.
• Extra virgin olive oil:  Olive oil is approximately 71% monounsaturated, 16% saturated, and 13% polyunsaturated. Choose “extra virgin” olive oil, which comes from the first pressing of the olives and has higher quantities of antioxidants. Unlike most other oils on supermarket shelves, extra virgin olive oil is not extracted with the use of harmful industrial solvents and is one of your healthiest choices for liquid oils. Try making your own salad dressing by mixing a small amount of olive oil with vinegar. This is healthier than most store bought salad dressings, which are usually made with highly processed and refined (chemically damaged) soybean oil extracted with industrial solvents.

• Coconut fat: Coconut fat is approximately 92% saturated fat, yet surprisingly to most people, is considered a very healthy natural fat. The health benefits of coconut fat lie in its composition of approximately 65% medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). Specifically, about 50% of coconut fat is a MCT called lauric acid, which has very potent anti-microbial properties helping to enhance the immune system. Also, MCTs are more easily utilized for immediate energy instead of being stored as body fat.  Coconut oil is also an excellent cooking oil for stir-frying, etc. since saturated fats are much more stable and do not oxidize like polyunsaturated oils when exposed to heat and light, which creates damaging free radicals. The best sources of healthy coconut fat are organic coconut milk, virgin coconut oil (available at http://coconut-info.com), or fresh coconut.
• Seeds (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds):  All of these seeds are great sources of natural unprocessed healthy fats. In particular, flax seeds have received a lot of attention lately due to their high omega-3 content. However, keep in mind that omega-3 polyunsaturated fats are highly reactive to heat and light, and prone to oxidation and free radical production. Therefore, freshly ground flax seed is the only way to go. Instead of using the store bought ground flax seed, you can buy whole flax seed and use one of those miniature coffee grinders to grind your own flax seed. Try grinding fresh flax seed into your yogurt, cereal, or even your salad.  If you’re using a flax oil, make sure it’s a cold-pressed oil in a light-proof refrigerated container, and use it up within a few weeks to prevent it from going rancid. NEVER cook with flax oil!
• The fat in organically raised, free-range animals:  This is where most people have been misinformed by the mass media. Animal fat is inherently good for us, that is, if it came from a healthy animal. Human beings have thrived on animal fats for thousands of years. The problem is, most mass produced animal products today do not come from healthy animals. They come from animals given loads of antibiotics and fattened up with hormones and fed un-natural feed. The solution is to choose organically raised, free-range meats, eggs, and dairy. At this time, the price is still a little higher, but as demand grows, the prices will come down. I've found an incredible website that actually offers free-range grass-fed meats delivered right to your doorstep at very reasonable prices. Believe me, it's very hard to find grass fed meats at any grocery stores, so I was pleased to find this site.

The Deadly Fatty Foods:

• Hydrogenated oils (trans fats):  These are industrially produced chemically altered oils subjected to extremely high pressure and temperature, with added industrial solvents such as hexane for extraction, and have a metal catalyst added to promote the artificial hydrogenation, followed by bleaching and deodorizing agents…..and somehow the FDA still allows this crap to pass as food. These oils aren’t even worthy of your lawnmower, much less your body! They’ve been linked to obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and more. Even small quantities have been shown in studies to be dangerous. If you care about your health, check the ingredients of everything you buy, and if you see partially hydrogenated oils of any kind, margarine, or shortening, protect yourself and your family by choosing something else. 
• Refined oils:  Even if the oils are not hydrogenated, most oils on your supermarket shelves are refined, even most of the so called “healthy” canola oils. Most refined oils still undergo the high temperature, high pressure, solvent extraction, bleaching, and deodorizing processes. Anything labeled vegetable oil, soybean oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, safflower oil, and even many canola oils have been damaged by this refining process (unless they say "virgin" or "cold expeller pressed"). This damages the natural structure of the fats, destroys natural antioxidants, creates free radicals, and produces a generally unhealthy product. Take note that the explosion of heart disease in the middle of the 20th century coincides quite nicely with the rapid increase in the use of hydrogenated and refined oils in the food supply.
• Anything deep fried: including tortilla chips, potato chips, French fries, donuts, fried chicken, chicken nuggets, etc. All of this crap shouldn't even pass as real food in my opinion!
• Homogenized milk fat - Milk fat is a very healthy fat in its natural raw state. Milk and beef from grass fed organically raised cows is known to have higher quantities of healthy fats like conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and omega-3 fatty acids compared with grain fed cows. Traditional populations around the world have thrived in perfect health while consuming huge quantities of raw, non-pasteurized, non-homogenized, full fat dairy products.  Once again, food processing ruins a good thing by pasteurizing and homogenizing milk fat, rendering it potentially dangerous inside the human body. Unfortunately, you will find it almost impossible to find raw milk in the US unless you personally know a farmer. Check out http://www.realmilk.com for more info on the benefits of raw milk and to find out if it’s available near you. As an alternative, cultured dairy products like yogurt have at least had beneficial microorganisms added back to them making them better for you.  Realistically, since you probably won’t find raw milk, sticking to skim milk is the best option to avoid the homogenized milk fat. If you use butter for cooking, your best option is grass-fed butter.

I hope this article has shed some light on the truth about dietary fats and made you realize their importance in a healthy diet.

A fully comprehensive analysis on dietary protein, carbohydrates, and fat, and how to compile all of this information into a diet that promotes a lean healthy body with a low body fat percentage is provided in my book “The Truth About Six Pack Abs”.  Give it a try and you won’t be disappointed!

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3 Counterfeit Foods Marketed as "Healthier" - these are Deceptive

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

author of best-selling program:  The Truth about Six Pack Abs

I was at the grocery store yesterday and had to shake my head at all of the deceptive labels with everything claiming all sorts of things that are supposedly "healthy", but aren't really. 
One of the things that really disturbed me was that I saw several examples of healthy foods in their natural state, but I saw counterfeit versions of these foods claiming that they were healthier than the original...
Yet in reality, all of these "counterfeit" versions were actually MUCH worse for you than the original, and more highly processed... and they still have the balls to claim that their overly processed "junkified" versions are better.
This is food marketing deception at it's worst!
Example #1:  Product claiming "Better than peanut butter" by being a low-fat peanut butter
This product is ridiculous!  I can't believe anyone would ever believe that this junk is better for them than natural peanut butter.
What I'm talking about here are the types of peanut butter that claim to be "lower-fat peanut butter"...  But remember that "low-fat" many times just means more added sugars and carbs to replace the fats they took out.  Not good!
First of all, if you buy a good simple peanut butter (organic is best), it is usually nothing but 2 ingredients... peanuts and salt. And they don't add much salt so it's not high in sodium. 
Note: Remember to always avoid peanut butters that contain harmful hydrogenated oils.  Peanut butter that contains palm oil is a better alternative than added hydrogenated oils... but natural peanut butter with just peanuts and salt is best.
Back to the counterfeit peanut butter... This counterfeit peanut butter which claimed it was "better than peanut butter" (trying to seem healthier than peanut butter based on it's label claims) had a list of junk in it you wouldn't believe. First of all, they strip most of the healthy fats out of the peanuts so that it is a "low fat" product. Ok, now you've just taken away one of the healthiest parts of the product...the appetite satisfying healthy fats that you need to control cravings and manage more stable blood sugar levels.
To make things worse, the healthy fats were replaced with TWO different types of sugary syrups as well as additional dehydrated cane juice (aka SUGAR), in addition to added refined starches.
This product has taken something as simple and natural as peanut butter, and turned it into what should really be called some sort of processed candy. Yet, they claim that it's healthier than peanut butter because it's "lower fat".  And somehow they get away with deceiving people like this. Don't be their fool! 
This overly processed peanut butter may be lower in fat (by removing the healthy fats), but it's also higher in sugar and total carbohydrates, bringing the calorie total pretty close to regular peanut butter.
Example #2: Product claiming to be "better than eggs".
I won't get as detailed on this one because I recently talked about this entire topic in another newsletter.
But basically, this product was just egg whites with a bunch of added chemical colorings, flavorings, and other nonsense, including fake added vitamins.
Again, this product has essentially ruined a good thing by removing the healthiest part... the YOLKS!  And yes, the yolks ARE the healthiest part of the egg. Anybody that tells you different doesn't understand much about REAL nutrition.  The important thing to look for in quality whole eggs are cage-free and organic, and also the diet that the hens ate.  Most commercial egg farms are a disaster for the health of the hens, as they are crowded inside hen houses and never see the light of day, and are fed unhealthy amounts of grains.
Your best bet is to find a local farmer that you know allows the hens daily time outdoors to roam freely on land and eat a variety of greens, bugs, etc.  I understand that not everybody can find a local farmer that does this type of thing... so what you want to look for at the grocery store is organic, free-range eggs, and also brands that claim higher amounts of DHA or omega-3's. 
A slight improvement over standard eggs is if the hens had flax seed or algae feed included in their diet to increase the omega-3 content of the eggs.  These eggs will have a better ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats.
If you missed my previous article about whole eggs vs egg whites, you can view it here...
Click here, Are Whole Eggs or Egg Whites Healthier?
Example #3:  A product claiming to be "better than butter".
This was essentially crappy margarine loaded with highly processed and deadly trans fats, yet it had the nerve to claim it was "better than butter".
Who are they fooling!
Even low quality butter is healthier than ANY margarine. One problem with butter can be pesticides and hormones from improperly raised cows.
For this reason, you always want to choose organic butter, and if you can find "grass-fed" organic butter, then I would even say it can be healthy for you.  In fact, a little known fact is that adding a little butter to your steamed vegetables helps your body to absorb more of the vitamins and minerals in the veggies.  It's true...having veggies with a fat source aids your assimilation of vitamins and minerals.  If you missed the article the other day about why      Click here:- healthy grass-fed butter can even help fat loss, read that here .
Another factor in favor of butter:
Due to the content of stable saturated fats in butter, this makes butter one of the healthiest oils or fats to cook with. Oils high in polyunsaturated fats are the worst to cook with due to their highly unstable nature, which contributes to excess free radical production.  For more info about this topic, here's an article I did about healthy vs unhealthy cooking oils
What about the saturated fats in butter?
No, the saturated fat in butter is NOT bad for you. If you've been reading my newsletters for some time, you know that we've already beaten that topic to death. If you're new to this newsletter, you can go back to this page to see why saturated fats are a perfectly natural part of the human diet and always have been: Click here:-Evidence that saturated fat is NOT bad for you
Feel free to share this article with your friends and family and help to protect their health:

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3 Healthy Food LIES Reveal Why Your Kitchen Is Full Of "Fat Storing" Ingredients...

Picture the foods that are in your fridge at this very moment.

Did you know that almost every single one of these foods contain “hidden” fat-storing ingredients that can slow down your metabolism, sap your energy, and block your fat burning potential by a whopping 82% – even the ones you think are “healthy”?
Did you know that there’s a super simple way to rid your life of these “fattening” foods and SWAP them with delicious foods that BOOST your metabolism and dramatically accelerate your fat loss?
In fact, once you uncover the so-called "healthy" foods inside your kitchen that STOP your body from burning fat, you'll instantly be able to create your own fat burning kitchen loaded with foods that will automatically make stubborn belly fat your body's daily "go-to" energy source.
All you have to do is to read through the short article below and you’ll discover the easiest way to transform your kitchen and FIX your slow fat-loss – and you’ll do it in LESS than 24 hours.
This isn’t another quick fix or diet scam where you’ll end up being sold some miracle weight loss pills. It doesn’t require you to buy expensive organic foods or shady supplements. In fact, this information is CRITICAL for everyone to understand – even those who shop at health food stores and farmers’ markets all the time.
It doesn’t matter if you’re young, old, or anything in-between...or what your current goals are. It doesn’t matter how much experience you have OR how good you think your diet already is. If you eat food, this information will revolutionize your nutrition plan AND help you burn more stubborn fat.
My name is Nick Pineault, but people call me “The Nutrition Nerd” because I’ve spent the last 7+ years relentlessly researching, reading articles, and analyzing studies to master my knowledge on nutrition and the unique power of fat burning foods.
What I’ve uncovered is startling and it exposes the hundreds of dirty little tricks the big food industry, the diet industry, and even Governments try to hide from you because they don’t want you to know the real truth. These dirty little food tricks age you faster, block your body’s ability to burn fat and prevent you from feeling great.
Even though all the “bad guys” hate me for being honest, I’m on a mission. And now dozens of renowned fitness experts, nutritionists and fat loss coaches from all around the world endorse my work.
Just read the short article below and you’ll uncover a few of the most shocking discoveries I made so you can STOP being scammed into buying the wrong fat storing ingredients.
But I do have to warn you. What you’re about to read is often considered highly controversial and goes against the grain of the mainstream diet and nutrition industry.
In fact, you’ll see how these little-known truths are the exact opposite of what you’ll hear from your local dietician, your family doctor, and almost all old school nutritionists and personal trainers.
So if you’re ready to uncover the REAL truth about fat burning foods and you’d like to burn 82% more fat every single day, with just a few small tweaks in the foods you eat, then keep reading.
But if you still believe everything you hear in the media is true and you can’t accept the fact that you’ve probably been force fed dozens and dozens of food lies, then this article is definitely not for you.
However, if you choose to continue reading you’ll finally discover ALL the “healthy” foods that are making you store more belly fat – WITHOUT you even knowing it.

These 3 reasons reveal what you MUST STOP doing the next time you shop for "healthy" food because it's DAMAGING your metabolism… and EXACTLY how you can "transform" your diet to quickly burn off belly fat – in 24 hours or LESS.

Just follow the 3 simple steps below and you’ll discover which foods can “shut off” your cravings and “turn on” your body’s fat-burning switch with each and every bite making it IMPOSSIBLE for you NOT to burn MORE stubborn belly fat.
Below, you’ll find all 3 steps, and you’ll also discover an easy and delicious way to “fix” your broken diet and KEEP your body in a consistent, fat burning environment 24 hours a day – all while eating MORE of your favorite foods.

Step #1: STOP Trusting Food Labels (They're NOT trustworthy)

Everyone believes reading labels is a good way to determine if a food is healthy or not – but that’s only partially true.
To make more money from uneducated consumers, most food manufacturers use dirty little tricks to hide dangerous and fattening ingredients in common foods that you eat everyday. And worst of all, these fake ingredients are specifically designed to make you ADDICTED to their stuff.
One of many examples is “trans fats”. If you don’t know by now, this is one of the most dangerous foods in existence.
Eating just a tiny amount of this nasty ingredient can increase your risk of heart disease and promote accumulation of visceral fat – a dangerous kind of belly fat that’s almost impossible to get rid of.
Well, believe it or not, MANY of the foods that show “Zero Trans Fat” on the label actually contain a TON of it.
Thanks to the FDA, manufacturers are allowed to label ANY food, even so-called “healthy” ones, with less than .5g of trans fat per serving as “Trans Fat-Free”. Almost every manufacturer lowers their portion sizes on the labels to hide their claims on their products while filling them with this dangerous and fattening ingredient.
Here’s a powerful, eye-opening example. When you eat just ONE handful of “Zero Trans Fat” crackers you poison your body with a couple grams of toxic, fat-storing trans fat – WITHOUT even being aware of it.
But wait. It gets even worse. There’s one common food in particular that’s probably in your pantry, right now, and it contains loads of trans fat that don’t appear ANYWHERE on the label.
That’s right. NOT on the ingredients list, NOT in the nutrition facts, and not even on your favorite Internet food database. Nowhere.
Very few people know this, but vegetable oil (made from fat-storing corn, soybeans or canola) has to go through an extreme 5-step processing method before it ends up on your supermarket shelves.
This high pressure, high temperature process destroys all the “heart-friendly” fats originally contained in the oil and transforms it into dangerous trans fats.
According to a shocking study by the University of Florida at Gainesville, your vegetable oil can contain up to 4.6% hidden trans fat that’s not on the label. Kind of scary, I know.
But there’s a super easy way to avoid these hidden and dangerous fats.
You can read all about it on the next page.

Step #2: STOP Avoiding Saturated Fats (You've been lied to)

The media, doctors and the big food industry spend millions of dollars every year trying to convince all of us that red meat is “fattening” and why you should avoid it if you want to lose belly fat. After all, it does contain a lot of dangerous saturated fats – right?
Don’t fall for it. It’s just another nutrition myth that prevents you from eating some of the BEST fat burning foods on the planet.
In fact, the RIGHT kind of saturated fat is actually good for you and can even help you lose belly fat. Recent studies actually prove that saturated fat REDUCES your risk of heart disease and supports weight loss. (Reference: Ann Intern Med. 2005 Mar 15;142(6):403-11)
That’s because “healthy” saturated fat sources like grass-fed beef and pasture-raised eggs contain a natural fat burner called CLA – plus a ton of other essential nutrients that can BOOST your metabolism and accelerate your fat burning.
But if you continue listening to all the nonsense and false information everybody tells you about this “friendly” fat-burning fat, you’ll be missing out on one of the most powerful fat-burning foods you could ever eat.
You’ll learn exactly what kind of fats you can eat to burn MORE fat using the system on the next page.

Step #3: STOP Using Fake "Health" Foods (They're in your kitchen right now)

If the first two reasons didn’t surprise you, this one surely will.
Thanks to the relentless greed of most food manufacturers, that obviously couldn't care less about your health, some of the healthiest foods in your kitchen may be fake.
Here's proof.
In 2010, Consumer Reports – one of the most credible non-profit organizations fighting for consumer rights in the US – revealed that around 20% of ALL olive oils are fake and have been mixed with other cheap oils, while still claiming they are 100% pure.
This food hoax was uncovered once again in 2012, when the UC Davis Olive Center found out that only 27% of all olive oils passed the quality test to be labeled “extra virgin” – the best and most nutritious kind of olive oil there is.
So the olive oil you have in your kitchen RIGHT NOW might contain up to 100% vegetable oil, even though the label “says” it’s healthy. And don’t forget, vegetable oils are LOADED with dangerous, fat-storing trans-fat.
You can go ahead and TRY to find a manufacturer who actually cares and delivers a legitimate olive oil to support your weight loss goals, but it’s a crapshoot.
Or you can my use my 10 second breakthrough method on the next page where you’ll discover the TRUTH about choosing the right olive oil and uncover whether or not your oil is really fake.

WARNING: These Food Truths May Be Hard To Swallow

If you’re still questioning whether or not everything I’ve revealed above is really accurate, or you’re willing to accept the blatant lies the food industry has force fed you about fat burning foods, then The Truth About Fat Burning Foods system is simply NOT for you.
However, if you’d like to learn how this unique solution works, just click the “Next Page” button below and you’ll discover a simple system that will show you EXACTLY how to rid these fat-storing foods from your kitchen – and how you can quickly and easily swap them out with mouth-watering foods that accelerate your metabolism, help you conquer your cravings and FORCE belly fat to be your “go to” energy source on a daily, ongoing basis.
It’s proven, it’s efficient, and it’s one of the fastest ways to transform your kitchen from fat STORING foods, to fat BURNING foods in LESS than 24 hours.
And since 82% of your fat loss comes from nutrition, this is also one of the surest and easiest ways to get a flat, attractive belly and six pack abs fast, WITHOUT strict, complicated diets, long boring exercise sessions, OR having to buy outrageously expensive organic groceries.

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Stay away from this stuff!

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

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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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3 SATURATED Fats that Actually SLOW Aging in Your Body

Yes, ALL three of these foods have a high ratio saturated fats, but studies are showing that they actually improve your heart health and fight aging. Read on...

by Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist & Catherine Ebeling - RN, BSN
Authors of the best seller: The Top 101 Foods that FIGHT Aging

The majority of the population these days still seem to "fear" fats in the diet because of all of the fat-free and low-fat propaganda of the 80's and 90's that falsely made people think that all fats are bad for us.  Nothing could be further from the truth!
As a health author, blogger, and Nutritionist, I observe people's eating habits all the time... and I still constantly see well-intentioned, but misinformed people choosing egg whites instead of whole eggs, even though studies show that the "fatty" yolks contain almost all of the anti-aging benefits, heart-health benefits, and 90% of the valuable antioxidants and vitamins/minerals in an egg, whereas the whites contain very little nutrition at all.  Not only that, but egg yolks have been proven to raise your GOOD cholesterol, and improve the good to bad ratios.
I also still observe people constantly choosing "low-fat" and "fat-free" options of various foods at the grocery store despite the fact that most of these options contain a LOT more carbs and sugars to replace the fats that are taken out, which actually leads to FASTER AGING by increasing the amount of Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) that your body produces.  These nasty little compounds called AGEs speed up the aging process in your body including damage over time to your organs, your joints, and of course, wrinkled skin.

Plus, it's high blood sugar from all of those extra sugars and carbs in "low-fat" and "fat-free" choices that increase AGEs in your body on a daily basis leading to faster aging.  On the other hand, all of those FATS that people have been avoiding for years can actually SLOW the aging process by keeping your blood sugar lower and more stable, hormones balanced, and for other reasons too.
In fact, it's absolutely imperative to get enough healthy fats in your diet to keep your hormones balanced, blood sugar under control, prevent cravings, and to SLOW the aging process in your organs, skin, and joints.
And I'm NOT just talking about the obvious healthy fats that you hear about in the news all the time, such as almonds, walnuts, avocados, fish oil, and our beloved olive oil... all of those examples ARE definitely healthy and contain loads of beneficial nutrients that can help you to live longer, healthier, and leaner...
BUT...
Here are THREE more examples of "fatty" foods that most people falsely think are "unhealthy" simply because they do contain certain ratios of saturated fat... But in reality, these foods are shown in studies to protect our bodies from the ravages of aging and even help us to stay lean...


1.  Grass-fed (pasture-raised) butter & cream
Yes, delicious smooth and rich BUTTER (real butter, NOT deadly margarine!)... It's delicious, contains loads of healthy nutritional factors, and does NOT have to be avoided in order to stay healthy and get lean.  In fact, I personally eat a couple pats of grass-fed butter several times daily (and a Tbsp of heavy cream in my coffee daily) and maintain very lean body fat most times of the year.
There's a lot of confusion about this topic... in fact, I just saw a TV show today that was talking about unhealthy foods and one of the first things they showed was butter.  It just shows that the majority of the population still doesn't fully understand that butter (grass-fed only!) can actually be a healthy part of your diet.
In fact, there's even ample evidence that REAL butter can even fight aging and help you to lose body fat for a couple of main reasons:
   a.  Grass-fed butter is known to have high levels of a healthy fat called CLA, which has been shown in numerous studies to have anti-cancer properties, and also has been shown to help burn abdominal fat and build lean muscle.
   b.  Grass-fed butter also has an ideal balance of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids (unlike conventional grain-fed butter) which helps fight inflammation in your body, and can help balance hormones, thereby helping to slow the aging process, and keep your body lean.
   c.  The healthy fats in grass-fed butter also contain MCTs (similar to the MCTs in coconut oil), which help to boost your immune system and are readily burned by the body for energy.  The healthy fats in grass-fed butter also help to satisfy your appetite and control blood sugar levels, both of which help you to stay lean!
If you have a hard time finding a grass-fed butter at your grocery store, Kerrygold Irish butter is one of my favorites, and the cows are 100% grass-fed on lush green pastures in Ireland. It's one of the richest butters in color that I've seen, which indicates high levels of carotenoids, powerful antioxidants that help fight aging.  Another great brand is Organic Valley which has many options for pasture-raised butter and cream.
Note for people who are dairy sensitive or think they might be: 
People that are dairy sensitive or intolerant are generally NOT sensitive to butter or cream. This is something that's highly misunderstood in the nutrition industry, even by most authors and doctors.  The truth is that it's almost always either the lactose or the casein that people are sensitive to, and butter or cream has nothing more than traces of either since butter and cream is solely the fat portion of dairy while the lactose and casein have mostly been removed when the fat is skimmed off the milk.  The amount of casein in butter or cream is negligible compared to milk.
Also, fermented dairy generally doesn't give people any problems either (kefir or plain yogurt) because the lactose has been digested by the microbes, making kefir 99% lactose free usually.  Plus, even the casein in kefir and yogurt is MUCH more highly digestible because the microbes have already performed a little pre-digestion on it.


2.  Super Dark Chocolate (at least 72% cacao content or higher)
It might not be a secret anymore, but yes, dark chocolate (NOT milk chocolate) can be a very healthy food, even though it is technically calorie dense.
However, I would contend that dark chocolate can actually HELP you to burn off more body fat if you're the type of person that has a sweet tooth and likes to eat a lot of desserts.  In this case, just 1 or 2 small squares of dark chocolate can many times satisfy your sweet tooth for only 30 or 40 calories as opposed to 500 calories for a piece of chocolate cake or a piece of pie.
Also some brands of dark chocolate that are in the mid 70's in % cacao content or higher, can have a fairly high ratio of fiber content (I've seen some brands have 5-7 grams of fiber out of 15 grams of total carbs per serving), and relatively low sugar content compared to the amount of healthy fats.  In fact, that's one of the "tricks" I use to select a good quality chocolate... I look for more total fat than total carbs (or about the same number of grams of each).
The importance of that fact is that it means many dark chocolates will not greatly affect your blood sugar and will have a fairly blunted blood sugar response compared to other "sweets".
In addition, dark chocolate is also very rich in healthful antioxidants, including a powerful compound called theobromine which has been shown to help lower your blood pressure and have other health benefits.
Dark chocolate also contains antioxidants called flavanols with dozens of health benefits... One study found that eating as little as 6.7 grams of chocolate per day has a protective effect on your heart.  Other studies show benefits to your digestive system by improving the ratios of good to bad bacteria in your gut, possibly due to the catechins and polyphenols in cocoa.
The reason I say to choose dark chocolates with at least 72% cacao content is that the higher the % of cacao, the lower the % of sugar.  However, this does mean that any chocolate over 80% cacao content will generally start to get a more bitter taste and have very little sweetness.  If you like this type of taste, then the higher % cocao, the better. Otherwise, a good 75% dark chocolate is in my opinion an almost perfect combination of lightly sweet with a rich velvety chocolate taste.
You can also reap the benefits of the antioxidants and fiber without all of the calories by using organic unsweetened cocoa powder in your smoothies or other recipes.
The bottom line is that you can enjoy small to moderate amounts of dark chocolate and also cocoa powder daily, and it only helps you to stay lean and fight the aging process in your body.


3.  Coconut oil, coconut meat, coconut flour, and coconut milk
Coconut milk and oil are great sources of a super healthy type of saturated fat called medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), including a component called lauric acid, which is a powerful nutrient for your immune system, and is lacking in most western diets.  In addition, MCTs are readily used for energy by the body and less likely to be stored as body fat compared to other types of fats.
Eating coconut oil can help improve the health of your skin from the inside out... But in addition to being healthy internally, coconut oil is also known to be great for the health of your skin externally as a skin moisturizer that's healthier for you than most lotions since natural coconut oil allows you to avoid the harmful chemicals found in many lotions.
Coconut oil is even shown to help improve your thyroid function as well as helping to protect your brain from Alzheimers.
There are even direct studies that show that coconut oil can help you burn off abdominal fat more efficiently.
Along with coconut milk and coconut oil as healthy fat choices, we've also got coconut flour as a healthier flour option for baking. Coconut flour is an extremely high fiber flour alternative (almost ALL of the carbs in this flour are fiber and not starch!).  Coconut flour is also VERY high in protein compared to most flours and is also gluten free!
Just beware that if you're going to use coconut flour for baking, it absolutely NEEDS to be mixed with other flours as it sucks up moisture like crazy... I've made delicious baked goods by mixing coconut flour with almond flour and quinoa flour in equal parts, and adding slightly more liquid ingredients than the recipe calls for.

Let's look at more shocking anti-aging foods, spices, teas, and nutrients...

We'll show you MORE delicious foods, spices, herbs, and nutrients 
that PROTECT your body from the ravages of aging on the
next page!
These specific foods you'll discover on the next page will:

• Naturally boost your energy, 
• Help KILL your joint pain,
• Lower your blood pressure,
• Fight diabetes & control blood sugar,
• Boost your brain health,
• HEAL your digestion problems,
• and raise your metabolism
   

You will also discover over a dozen surprising tricks you can use daily to FIGHT aging, helping you to look 5-10 years YOUNGER... click the button below to go to the next page to discover unique and delicious anti-aging foods, spices, herbs, teas, and other potent youth-enhancing nutrients: 

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