Now I know, I’m not supposed to make guarantees about your health. But here’s the thing: when you start fueling your body better, you’ll feel better and it will improve your health to some degree (though I can’t predict how much.)

A quick analogy: if you put cheap gas in a Maserati, it’s not going to perform as well as if you put the high octane premium stuff in, right? 

Your body is the same way.

The trick with your body is understanding what’s high octane and what’s garbage. Sometimes we can be misled.

But what IS high octane for the human body?

It’s not the rich stuff that makes up much of people’s diets today. It’s not the concentrated fat & protein in cheese. That’s high octane for a baby cow!

It’s not large amounts of animal food. You’re not REALLY a carnivore. Just look at your teeth compared to your dog’s or cat’s; the difference is obvious. That stuff is high octane for Rover but not you!

High octane for the human body is whole plant food. It’s the stuff our cells need to make all the healthy things to fuel our bodies. It’s the stuff our gut microbiome needs as well. Does that make sense?

I could pretty much end this blog with that and it would be complete, except that I wouldn’t have given you the 5 rules!

So here they are:

1. Always keep fresh and frozen fruit in the house.
You can use this in a variety of ways.

I like to use fresh fruit in my oatmeal in the mornings. In the summertime, I eat berries of all types; blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and more. In the wintertime, it might be apples or pears.

I eat fresh fruit with a cup of tea for dessert after dinner. It satisfies that urge for something sweet and keeps me away from chocolate, my nemesis.

I also eat fresh fruit for my afternoon pick-me-up instead of junk food or candy.

2. Increase your fiber intake.

What IS fiber anyway? Fiber is that part of plants that we don’t really digest well. And that is the beauty of fiber. It fills up our tummy and keeps it working so we are satiated with fewer calories. All plant foods contain fiber.

Fiber also feeds the good-guy bugs that make up your gut microbiota. Now I know you’re hearing more about the importance of your gut bugs lately because we’re learning more about them daily.

Basically plant foods help feed the healthy ones and animal foods and processed foods help feed the bad-guys. So you choose!

To get more fiber, just eat more plants! Plants at breakfast (cereal). Plants at lunch, plants at dinner (vegetables, beans, grains).

3. Put things together that you normally use together in advance to save time.

Here’s an example: I use ground flax seeds & chia seeds together for a couple of different things so I grind about ½ cup of each and put them together in a mason jar. Every couple of weeks, I need to grind more.

What do I use flax & chia for?

(i) I add them to my oatmeal for protein and omega-3s.

(ii) They can be used as an egg substitute in cooking and baking. Mix 1Tbsp. With 3 Tbsp, of water and let sit for about 5 minutes. Use as 1 egg.

(iii) I add them to smoothies to thicken and add nutritional value.

If you find yourself using the same things together all the time, mix them in a container & make it easier.

4. Use spices or fruit instead of sweeteners.

Some examples: I have a mix (see #3) of cinnamon, ginger and cardamom that I use in my oatmeal. I also use it in baked sweet potatoes and other places where I might want a little hint of sweet flavor.

You can use mashed up banana, applesauce or crushed pineapple in place of both sweetener and oil in baked goods. (I’ll publish some recipes soon.)

5. Don’t be afraid of whole-grain carbs.

Perfect example: I was talking to a potential new client yesterday. She mentioned that she didn’t eat avocado toast for lunch because of a concern about the calories in the toast. Two pieces of toast are about 180 Calories. Add the 1/4 avocado; probably 280 Calories total. Meanwhile, she had resisted getting herself a fast-food burger when she picked one up for her husband at his request. (Refusing to do that might also be a conversation!)That would have been closer to 600 calories.

Of course, better than that would have been a bowl of intact whole grain like quinoa, millet, or brown rice. It could have been made in advance and simply warmed up. Add some beans (whole canned beans are fine) and a ½ cup of frozen spinach. Throw it in the microwave and top it with some salsa and you have a hearty lunch for just a couple hundred calories with virtually no fat.

The point of any of this is NOT Calorie counting. It’s Calorie and nutritional AWARENESS.

Here’s what calorie awareness looks like:

A cup of most vegetables contains less than 50 Calories
A cup of most fruit is about 100 Calories
A cup of starchy vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, etc.) about 100.
A cup of most whole intact whole grains (cooked) 200-300
A cup of ground beef is about 5.3 ounces and has 617 Calories with 40 gm fat

Conclusion: When you fuel your body with mostly plants and you don’t add liquid oils (at 270 Calories per OUNCE!), losing weight is much easier.

With weight loss comes decreased inflammation. That leads to easier movement which helps fitness, energy and a host of other things.
Like I said. . .improved health.

Want more specifics for your particular health issues?
Join me in my new Empowered Wellness Membership Program.

Your first 30 days are free with no obligation. Check it out here. If you have any questions, I’d love to talk with you.

The post 5 Simple Ways to Advance Your Health Today appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

People point to the changes that happened in the ’80s when the USDA switched to using the infamous pyramid and started emphasizing low-fat eating. Then, over the next decade, Americans started gaining weight.

But, is the inherent “fattening-ness” of a baked potato really the underlying cause of our obesity?

I say NO! Here are some reasons:

Checking websites from the USDA, the Farm Bureau, and other commodities, I quickly uncovered that
we are currently consuming several times as much vegetable oil and more than double the amount of cheese we were in the ’70s.
We are also eating more than double the amount of chicken; far more than the amount of red meat we’ve decreased.

Compare:

• a pound of cooked chicken breast = 748 calories
• a pound of ground meat = 1,506 calories
• a pound of baked potatoes = 350 calories!

And it’s no secret that we’re eating more processed starches; white flour & cornmeal products that are laden not just with empty-calorie starches but also empty-calorie fats and sugar.

The white flour & cornmeal, devoid of nutrients, are bad enough but add the sugar and the fat and you’ve got a
5-part recipe for obesity:

1. Processed starches; devoid of both fiber and nutrients.
2. Processed sugar, corn syrup or similar sweeteners also devoid of nutrients.
3. Processed fats (mostly vegetable oils); which are not only devoid of nutrients, but also raise cholesterol and LDL levels, cause inflammation and more; again, with no nutrition and lots of empty calories. (a graph I found indicates that vegetable oil consumption in the US rose several-fold between 1980 & 2000.)
4. The lack of fiber means they are quickly digested and don’t have enough volume to stimulate stretch receptors in our stomachs, leaving us hungry in as little as an hour even though we’ve consumed several hundred calories. Our satiety centers are never satisfied by this “food.”
5.  The lack of nutrients means the other thing that stimulates our satiety centers (taking in nutritious food) also isn’t happening here.

So it’s not the “starch” per se that’s the problem, it’s the combination of processed dead starch and processed dead fat & sugar.

Back to the baked potato; it’s not the problem. It’s the sour cream, bacon bits, cheese, and all the other stuff people commonly add to it.

As our per capita consumption of pizza and burgers has skyrocketed along with the “foods” mentioned above that are even more devoid of nutrition, our obesity rates have also skyrocketed. Meanwhile, our consumption of nutritious starches like beans, whole grain rice, barley, millet, quinoa, and more have plummeted. (Except for quinoa recently because it’s in vogue. But eating it once every week or 2 doesn’t make up for what we’re not getting on a daily basis.)

Taking this a little further and looking around the world, we find that the Okinawans, famous for their longevity, eat a diet that is over 60% sweet potatoes, squash, and gourds. . . starches!  They have virtually no heart disease, diabetes, or cancer in their 80s, 90s, and beyond! We also find that in other regions of the world where people eat traditional diets and remain healthy throughout life, they eat predominantly beans, whole grains (starches), and veggies. They typically eat less than 10% of their calories from animal foods (they use meat as a condiment; for flavor). They also use little added oil and little or no dairy.

Further, contrary to what you (and your doctor) may think, animal fat in the diet the cause of type 2 diabetes.

So, if you insist you must have sour cream on your baked potato, here you go!

Vegan Sour Cream
1 lb. silken tofu
2Tbsp. lemon juice  
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt.
Blend in blender or food processor until smooth.
Notes: Silken tofu can be found NON-refrigerated, usually near the canned beans or condiments in your health food store. It comes in a box similar to that of (unrefrigerated) non-dairy milk or juice. (I always buy organic soy products so I know they’re not genetically modified.)

Other baked potato toppings:
Salsa
Steamed broccoli
Nutritional yeast (this is a powder or flake. I use it with other stuff as it adds richness)
Spiced black beans
Let your imagination go, there’s much more.

So, when you eat the baked potato mentioned above, you can round it out to a full meal by adding the vegan sour cream or black beans as a protein source, adding a veggie, a salad, or both and completing the meal with a piece of fruit for dessert.

Stay tuned for more ideas.

The post Starches: Weight-gain, Diabetes & more; the truth. appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

I just learned that a long-time business associate, someone I consider a friend died very recently of a heart attack. She was in her mid-60’s and was overweight for as long as I knew her (30 years). One simple measure; healthy eating could’ve made a huge difference in her life and I was sad to learn nothing I or others had said or done had made enough difference to get her to act before it was too late. If YOU are reading this now, healthy eating could make a difference for you. But thinking about it and following through on it are two very different things for most of us.

I’m going to share ONE SIMPLE MEASURE for healthy eating you can start on today. It can make a significant difference.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to go down the rabbit hole, get paralyzed & go nowhere.

What do I mean by this?

We know that Americans eat way too much sugar, empty carbohydrates, and processed foods. In fact, the average American gets more than half their daily calories from foods that have almost no nutritional value. Graphic here

It’s easy to say, “Stop eating processed foods.” However, many people don’t understand what is processed and what isn’t. There’s a TON of vegan processed junk food out there, for example. Some people are under the impression it’s “healthier.”

It’s easy to say, “Stop eating high-fat foods.” But people don’t consider chicken or fish to be high fat, though it is higher in fat than what most people realize. Not to mention that while eating a small handful of nuts can be healthy, eating a 12 oz. bag while watching a football game can add a walloping 2,000+ calories and 200gms of fat (1800 calories’ worth of fat!) to your daily intake!

It’s easy to say, “Eat less sugar,” but there is hidden sugar in many foods. And drinking juice by itself (which many consider ‘healthy’) can adversely affect your blood sugar and triglyceride levels as much or more than a candy bar.

And it goes on and on and on.

A simple change isn’t easy for most

It’s easy for someone like me to come along & tell you that you “should” change it all. It’s too easy for you to say, “That’s too much. I’m just going to continue eating what I want and hope for the best.”

That’s the rabbit hole I’m referring to: the one where you get stuck in all the ‘I could, I should’s’ but you stay paralyzed and don’t do a thing to change.

Then, you’re like my friend mentioned above… .6 feet under. . . or suffering the consequences of chronic disease, in constant pain, living between doctor’s appointments and feeling like crap. I don’t want that for you.

Fortunately or unfortunately (your choice) as I often point out, for most of us, how we take care of ourselves during mid-life will dictate how much suffering we do over the final 5-10 years of life. (For simplicity sake, if you’re looking for numbers, we’ll consider mid-life 35-70+.)

One Simple measure of healthy eating you can improve on

What if there were an easy simple solution that would just steer you in the right direction? One thing that you could continually measure and continually work to improve? And what if there were substantial proof that it WOULD make a difference? The good news is that there is.

Now, this solution is far from the ‘end all be all’ but if used in the way I suggest, it will, at least head you in the right direction. Then you can take more steps, by working with me, for example, to better structure your diet for a long healthy life.

So, what is this measurement? You ask.

Simply this: Take a look at your diet; overall; day-in and day-out. What is the percentage of your diet that is plant-based whole food?

More Plant-based Whole Food

By plant-based whole food, I mean fruit, vegetables, beans, and whole (unpulverized) starches. A little more specifically: corn is a whole starch, cornmeal is not. A potato is loosely considered a whole starch, but a French fry, mashed potatoes or baked potato slathered with butter, no. Bread, even whole wheat or gluten-free grain is pulverized; so, not a whole food. Brown rice=whole grain, white rice=NO. Steel-cut or thick rolled oats=yes; quick-cook or instant=no. Quinoa, barley, millet, buckwheat, and amaranth are more examples of whole grains if they are not pulverized and ground into flour.

This doesn’t mean don’t ever eat pulverized grains again. Just be aware of how much you are eating and work toward more whole food (more below).

Similarly, whole fruits are great; juiced fruits; fruit in cans with sugary syrup; not so much. A glass of plant-milk is fine as is a little juice in a smoothie (again, more below).

For practical purposes, don’t concern yourself about juiced veggies but know that pulverizing them in a Vitamix or blender is better than a juice extractor.

Now understand, none of this means your diet needs to be 100% whole foods. That’s nearly impossible; even for crazy health nuts like me!

For most Americans, the sad fact is that their diet is less than 15% fruits, vegetables, beans & grains. The most abundant vegetable in the American diet is the French Fry and the most common fruit is (fiber-less) fruit juice! When calculated out of the mix, Americans get about 10-12% of their daily calories from whole plant foods! NO WONDER WE ARE SO SICK! 

We get over 1600 calories per day from processed grains, added fats and sugar alone! In fact, according to Governmental studies, the average 51-70-year-old gets 73.8% of their calories from 30 foods that are all either processed & prepared or are animal-based.   

So, the ONE SIMPLE MEASURE for HEALTHY EATING is this: What percentage of your calories daily comes from WHOLE PLANT FOOD?

That number may be difficult to accurately calculate but you don’t necessarily need to. Just look at your diet and estimate realistically. Then, start by adding an extra serving each of fruit and vegetables daily. Get to at least 5 per day if you’re not already there. An additional step can also be to start substituting beans as a protein source/main dish.

Just getting to 5/day along with other simple measures like getting a mere 30 minutes of exercise 5 days/week, not smoking and limiting alcohol to 14 servings or less/week meets the basic parameters for the mid-life changes shown to make a substantial difference. 

Once you’re at 5/day, increase to 7/day then more. Become more aware of how much processed foods you eat and start choosing to change that. This will automatically help your one simple measure of healthy eating.

Don’t have the time to avoid eating junk food? Does it take ANY less time to open a potato chip package than it does to bite into an apple? Does it take any less time to cut up cheese and get out crackers than it does to peel an orange? You can buy ‘baby carrots’ & cut up broccoli crowns and dip them hummus (email me for a no-added oil recipe or experiment on your own.) A lot of this is awareness, choice and which isles of the grocery store you choose to spend your time in. (Hint: spend more time in the produce aisle, go to Farmer’s Market or sign up with a local CSA group for home delivery)

Now, if you have major or minor health issues; are on medication, are over-weight, have a hormonal, gut or other health problems, this step-wise progression may be too little to make the progress you need quickly enough to make a difference. I urge you to contact me today and have a Complementary Conversation to discuss working together to help you get the results you need before it’s too late.

For the rest of you, I urge you to begin today. Comment below and let the world know what you’re commi

The post Healthy Eating Starts with One Simple Measure appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.