Nutrition Tips

  Mmm, coffee… almost everybody drinks it… some people have 3-4 cups per day or more. But most people don’t think of it as a “health drink”.  And it’s certainly NOT healthy the way most people make it with loads of added sugar or artificial sweeteners and artificial creamers. But I’ll give you my tips here on how I make a healthier cup of coffee and what to watch out for… First, you may have seen debate in the past about how coffee has some compounds in it that could have negative health effects such as some tars or other possibly inflammatory compounds in brewed coffee.  But, the good news is that coffee has such high concentrations of beneficial antioxidants, phenolic nutrients, chlorogenic acids, and other healthy compounds, that it more than counteracts any bad compounds. In fact, coffee provides the biggest source of antioxidants for most Americans.  Although a lot of that has to do with the fact that many Americans don’t get enough antioxidants from fruits and veggies, so coffee ends up being their biggest source.  You should try to diversify your sources of antioxidants from fruits, veggies, spices, berries, beans, unsweetened organic cocoa, teas, and yes, even coffee if you like it. So what’s the best way to make a healthy cup of coffee?  Well, here’s my 3 most important tricks to maximize the benefits of coffee and minimize the negatives: 1.  First of all, you need to AVOID adding any refined sugar or harmful artificial sweeteners.  What I do instead is use either a very small touch of organic maple syrup or a half packet of natural stevia to just lightly sweeten my coffee.  If you like your coffee black with no sweetener at all, that’s the healthiest way. If you’re […]

  Every time you flavor your meals with herbs or spices you are supercharging your food without adding a single calorie. You can transform something ordinary and bland into something truly extraordinary tasting and good for your body, just by generously adding herbs and spices to your meals. Did you know that certain herbs and spices contain a wide variety of some of the most potent antioxidants of any food? In fact, many herbs and spices rank even higher in antioxidant activity than many fruits and vegetables, with some spices such as cloves, turmeric, and cinnamon having as much as 10-50x more antioxidants measured by ORAC value (on a weight to weight comparison) compared to blueberries. The benefits of the antioxidants in spices include some very powerful protection against many serious diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, macular degeneration, Alzheimer’s, and overall aging. Herbs and spices add tons of extra flavor, and when combined with the nutrition in other foods, they actually exponentially boost the natural antioxidants, phytonutrients, and anti-inflammatory power of the food. Besides the super antioxidants, herbs and spices can also: Aid Fat Burning and Boost Metabolism – many herbs and spices are thermogenic, which means they naturally help to increase metabolism, partly because they are so nutrient-dense. Help Stabilize Blood Sugar – Some spices are also good at regulating blood sugar and controlling insulin–even as good as some diabetic drugs! When your blood sugar is well controlled, you are more likely to burn fat and not store calories as excess weight. Powerful Anti-Inflammatory Properties –Scientific studies show that herbs and spices can actually work as well or better than some medications at calming inflammation without the negative side effects of isolated drugs. Anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal – Many herbs and spices contain properties […]

Video shows how sugar not only causes heart disease and diabetes, but also feeds tumors and is as addictive as Cocaine to your brain I think everybody needs to watch this video from a recent 60 Minutes episode to see just how harmful to your health sugar really is.  I don’t think most people understand the seriousness of this.  People seem to blindly eat and drink loads of sugar each day (Americans consume a whopping 1/3 lb of sugar per DAY on average) without thinking about how this internally affects your body and your biochemistry. Please share this page with all of your family and friends to help protect their health. Mike’s comments: As you can see in the video, it should be no surprise to anybody that studies clearly relate excess sugar consumption to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. You might argue that some natural sugars have always been in the human diet, so why is this an issue.  Well, yes humans have always eaten small amounts of natural sugars from fruit as part of the ancestral diet, but we’ve never historically been exposed to the massive amounts of added sugars that we see in today’s world of sweetened drinks, candies, cakes, cookies, as well as added sugars in everything from condiments to dressings to tomato sauces. As you can see in the video, the average American eats a sickening 130 lbs of sugar per person per year, or 1/3 lb per day!  That’s just nasty if you ask me, and shows how little most people respect their body, or even think about what they’re putting in their body on a daily basis. The video also mentions that in one controlled study, they replaced 25% of […]

  At this point, the anti-fat propaganda has died and almost everybody understands by now that eating fat doesn’t necessarily make you fat.  In fact, it’s absolutely imperative to get enough healthy fats in your diet to keep your hormones balanced, blood sugar under control, and prevent cravings.  Here are 7 examples of “fatty” foods that can actually HELP you to get lean… 1.  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 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 […]

  Well, I’ve totally outdone myself with today’s healthy chocolate pudding recipe… this is damn good!! As you know, I always look for ways to make seemingly unhealthy foods into healthy fat-burning versions.  Some popular recipes of mine in the past were when I made a truly healthy chocolate fudge (super popular), as well as my recipe for the worlds healthiest cheese steak. But today, I want to show you my recipe for an amazingly healthy fat-burning chocolate pudding that’s high in fiber, healthy fats, protein, and low in sugar, with ZERO artificial sweeteners and NO added sugars! I know… I’m a freakin mad scientist with this stuff.  But I actually got the idea for this recipe from Mens Fitness magazine… however, I changed it all around because I didn’t like some of their ingredients, plus their recipe was too high in sugar in my opinion…and I added more protein. Some of the ingredients may sound weird for a “pudding”, but trust me, everybody I know that’s tried this has loved it! Here’s the Geary version of Healthy Fat-Burning Chocolate Pudding: (This recipe will make about 2-4 servings and is a great healthy dessert or late night snack) 1/2 of a ripe avocado (soft to touch) approx 3 tablespoons of almond butter (preferably raw if possible) approx 1/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk (preferably organic) 2 heaping tablespoons of organic cocoa powder 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla 1 packet of stevia (or enough to your desired sweetness level) 1/2 to 3/4 of a scoop of chocolate protein powder (my new favorite is an awesome GRASS-FED raw whey protein I found here) just a small pinch of sea salt Put the avocado and almond butter into a bowl and mash together with a fork until smooth.  Then add all of the other ingredients into the bowl and […]

  If you’ve been following my fitness newsletters for some time, you may have noticed that I NEVER include canola oil in any of my recipes or any of my lists of healthy foods. Many people have asked me why, because all they hear in the mainstream media is that canola oil is “heart healthy” and a good source of monounsaturated fats similar to olive oil. Well, first of all, you need to realize that much of what you hear in the mainstream media has been influenced by heavy handed marketing tactics by big food companies.  Canola oil is cheap for them to produce so they want to fool you into thinking it’s a “health oil” so that people, restaurants, etc will buy it up as their main oil of choice. The dirty truth about canola oil Yes, it’s true that canola oil is high in monounsaturates, but let me explain why canola oil is anything but “healthy”. Canola oil is made from something called rapeseed. Rapeseed actually had to be bred over the years to reduce the percentage of a problematic component of rapeseed, which is erucic acid. Important note on canola oil “urban legends”:  There is a problem with most websites that DEFEND canola oil, saying that internet “urban legends” on the dangers of canola oil are unfounded.  The problem is that these websites that defend canola oil ONLY talk about the issue of erucic acid.  The issue of erucic acid IS an urban legend, because erucic acid has been bred out to very low levels over the years, so it is a non-issue. However, these websites that defend canola oil are barking up the wrong tree because they don’t address the issue of the processing of canola oil and oxidation of the […]

  I’ve been traveling a lot for business in the last year, and I’ve noticed that most people totally fall off their fitness routines while traveling… In fact, eating out at restaurants frequently is one of the biggest reasons why so many people fatten up while traveling. It’s almost damn near impossible to eat healthy when you dine out, UNLESS you follow a couple simple tricks that I use to make every restaurant meal healthier, reduce calories, and not lose control. Here’s a few tricks you can use to eat healthier and stay lean even while traveling on business or eating out any time for that matter… The 3 most important things to avoid that are EVERYWHERE at restaurants are: the deep fried foods the refined starchy foods and any sodas, juices, or other sugary foods (except whole fruits, which are great) This eliminates the major food sources that do the worst damage in our food supply – the evil trans fats, the inflammatory refined vegetable oils, refined starches, and processed sugars. This means trying to skip the table bread, skipping the french fries (that come with every single sandwich on every menu known to man), and reducing all of the heaping portions of rice and pasta that are often loaded on the plates as well. Instead, try to order just meat, side vegetables, and a salad, asking for the vegetables or salad as a substitute for the typical fries, rice, or pasta that the meal probably comes with. Almost every restaurant I’ve ever been to will always allow me to substitute veggies or a side salad for the fries […]

  You may have started hearing in the news about some of the hidden chemicals that might be lurking in your canned foods and bottled water and other drinks.  Some of them are known as xenoestrogens, which have the potential to cause serious health problems over time, as well as increase abdominal fat from the estrogenic effect. Today, I want to share with you some important details about one of the MOST problematic chemicals that you’re being exposed to specifically from canned foods and bottled drinks, etc… It’s called Bisphenol A (BPA). BPA can be found as a component of some types of plastic bottles, and also in the lining inside of canned foods. Since BPA is a known ”xenoestrogen”, it’s been linked in animal studies (at surprisingly small doses) to all sorts of various health issues such as cancer, metabolic disorders, heart disease, diabetes, and fertility problems and birth defects or miscarriages… and of course, any xenoestrogens in large enough amounts can trigger your body to hold onto abdominal fat (aka – stubborn belly fat). The major offenders to look for are polycarbonate bottles (some plastics with the #7 symbol on the bottom are polycarbonate, but not all) and also canned foods, since the lining of most canned foods contains BPA, which can leach into food.  The longer that a can of food sits on a shelf and the higher the temperature, the more BPA can leach into your food. The same can be said for polycarbonate bottles that contain food or drinks. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), BPA was detected in the bodies of 95% of Americans in one CDC study (this is a worldwide issue though, not just limited to the US).  This is nothing to shrug off either… look at this scary […]

  I’ve read about this very interesting Harvard University study about exercise multiple times in the past, but I was just recently reminded about this study again while reading the fascinating book called 59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman. Pay attention, because this actually shows a pretty powerful trick that you can use to literally make ANY workout or exercise program a LOT more effective and results producing. According to the book 59 Seconds, here’s how this study was carried out: Researchers at Harvard University studied over 80 hotel room cleaning attendants from 7 different hotels.  The hotel room attendants naturally received a lot of exercise from their daily jobs, which included cleaning an average of 15 rooms per day at about 25 minutes per room.  This work involves a good deal of exercise in carrying things, scrubbing, lifting objects, vacuuming, and so on. The researchers knew the hotel maids led an active lifestyle from their work, but also questioned whether most of the maids may not realize that their work was actually good for their health.  The researchers set out to study the effects on the hotel attendants of making them very aware of how beneficial the exercise they got while working was for their health, and to see if this increased the results that they actually received from the exercise. Basically, the question was… Would telling them that their work was great exercise improve their health, lower their blood pressure, and help them to lose weight compared to the hotel attendants that didn’t realize their work was in fact “exercise”? The hotel attendants were split into 2 groups: 1. This group was informed about the benefits of exercise and told how many calories they were burning while doing their hotel cleaning work each day. They were […]

    I’m sure you can think of all sorts of condiments that are obviously NOT healthy… What about Mayo? Sorry… With processed refined soybean oil as the main ingredient in most mayos, there’s NOTHING healthy about mayonnaise. It causes internal inflammation and harms your omega-6 to omega-3 balance with excess omega-6 fats. Tartar sauce has the same issues as mayo. If you can find a mayo made with 100% olive oil instead of soybean oil, this would actually be a healthy choice. Ketchup? Not quite… Yes, ketchup is made from tomatoes so it does contain the beneficial nutrient lycopene. Unfortunately ketchup has a high % of sugar, and most brands are made with nasty high fructose corn syrup. Not good. Hey, I’m a ketchup lover myself, but I just try to keep the quantity small to minimize the sugar intake. Barbeque Sauce? Nope… BBQ sauce is actually worse than ketchup because it has higher levels of sugar or HFCS and lower levels of actual tomato. Strike 3 with BBQ sauce. Salad Dressing? Not most store brands… As you know from this salad dressing article of mine, there’s not much healthy about most store bought salad dressings…most contain HFCS and soybean oil or unhealthy canola oil as the main ingredients. Most “fat-free” salad dressings are simply loaded with extra sugar. Plus, remember that you need a good fat source to go with your salad to help absorb the vitamins and minerals in your veggies, so fat-free dressing is not a good option. Even most salad dressing brands that claim to be “made with olive oil” only have small amounts of actual olive oil, while unhealthy soybean or canola oils are main oils used. Instead, follow my healthy […]