Does Your Pace In Life Dictate Your Eating Habits?

I just received a great email from my buddy Brendon. He was overseas living and working abroad in the UK for the past 5 months and decided to give me a run down of his healthy living experiences while there. Check out the email below. He makes some great points that follow along with what I've known and blog about all along. Here's his exact email for you...

Hey Bob!!


Hope all is great for you in Illinois. I have a couple of interesting observations for you as it pertains to my health and the health of people in the USA.


As you know, I just spent several months in the UK. I often ate on the run and was busy traveling and scarfing down every kind of food imaginable. London has the greatest food markets in the world and I was on vacation!


Pollution and "Hay fever" (really bad allergies) are common in London during the summer and I was suffering from them. It's really, really bad.


But, despite being on the airplane several times, taking the London tube (subway) every day, riding on public buses and eating a sometimes questionable diet, and usually drinking a lot of alcohol, I DID NOT GET SICK ONE DAY.


Here are some of the "surprising" reasons that I believed helped me remain "healthy" for the most part:


1. I did not drink very much milk at all. If I had milk on cereal, it was only once a week maximum and it was full-fat un-homoginized. My refrigerators were not big enough to store milk.


2. I did not drink milk with meals. Instead I drank water or alcohol. I drank water mostly.

3. My biggest meals were often at night. I'm not kidding. I did eat during the day, but sometimes it was a piece of fruit and decent sized lunch. Sometimes just little bits of food until I got home at night.


4. My favorite dessert or part of dinner that I had several times a week, sometimes twice a day was a BIG container of full-fat plain (probiotic filled) Greek yogurt (I often added my favorite British jam because it tasted so good) This was probably my STAPLE food over there.


5. I spent most of my time outdoors! The only time I spent inside was waking up in the morning and then cooking dinner and sleeping at night. I had no TV and wanted to see everything in Europe that I could. In Arizona, I am spending a lot more time indoors. Indoor air pollution is making people sick!!!! It's so bad....


6. I walked a lot. In London and in Europe you walk almost everywhere. Up and down the stairs. Uphill downhill everyday. No gym is no problem, because I found an outdoor jungle gym when I needed it.


To sum up what I think kept me healthy:


A. Being outdoors (indoor toxins and pollutants, no dogs/cats indoors)
B. Walking a lot every day
C. Eating tons o full-fat natural probiotic Greek style yogurt almost every day
D. Not drinking Milk. Not drinking Milk. Not drinking Milk.
E. Not sticking my hands in my mouth, ears or eyes. (Swine flu had no chance!)
F. I cooked my eggs slightly, but I had free-range eggs kept at room temp on the counter all the time.


A lot of people here in the U.S. are telling me that they have a cold and are getting sick and I'm wondering why???????


How can I live in a crowded, busy city, eat a hectic diet, travel on public transport, fly on planes and NOT get sick. Yet people in the U.S. with all of our comforts and wealth are getting sick?


My solution, stop drinking milk, eating refined carbs, open the windows in your house, get outside and get moving.


Ok his email was great and through the ramble here are the main points:

1. No pastuerized milk
2. High Fat Meals including tons of yogurt
3. Lots and lots of Water
4. Being outdoors most of the day or at least as much as you can
5. Walking a lot
6. Eat fresh fish & eat as much of it as you can (ie. whole sardines, makeral, etc.)
8. Some days if you're traveling or busy and your day might lack veggies make a huge salad at night with cucumbers, red beats, carrots, spring onions and fresh goat cheese.

Here are my buddy Brendon's final thoughts...

Keep in mind that I did drink a TON of alcohol and I did eat lots of things that are BAD for you like sweets, bacon, ham, burgers, cheese etc. Sometimes even white rice!! What I want people to know is that even seemingly big slip-ups in diet, the threat of swine-flu, or the hectic pace of life does NOT have to lead to sickness if your foundation is strong. Staying active outdoors is the number 1 thing I recommend.

Processed food, sitting around, spending time indoors, eating lots of carbs and drinking pastuerized milk can make you sick.

Wow! What a great message Brendon. Thank so much for the email and for allowing me to post it on my blog so that other can benefit from your own personal experiences.

As always, I love hearing your feedback and comments. Brendon would love to hear from you too and any of your own experiences outside the U.S. Please leave your comments in the section below.

Thank YOU!

Interview With Bob Garon & Anthony McClellan Part 4

I hope you've been enjoying the series we've been having on the nutrition in my audio interview with Anthony McClellan. I'd like to hear from you and what you've thought in the comment section below.

Here's Part 4 for you and this is a very good part too. Well they've all been good, but that's just my very biased opinion and that's okay. In this part we talk about cholesterol and some of the myths regarding eating fat makes you fat. Truth: It doesn't. You don't get fat from eating fat. In fact it's the exact opposite.


Listen to the rest of our interview for more. You'll hear how we may have found the chicken that laid the yolk-less egg and how my favorite cow is the brown cow... producing chocolate milk. :)





Q. Does it harm raw eggs to scramble them or cook them? Does it oxidize the cholesterol?
A. No at all. The whites should mostly be eaten cooked, as raw egg whites contain enzyme inhibitors that can cause digestive problems. Oxidation only occurs during commercial processing when the eggs are forced out of a tiny hole at high temperatures and pressure.

Q. I am confused because my farmer feeds grains to chickens; is that okay?
A. Cows and sheep are ruminants and should get mostly grass.  But chickens and turkeys have to get grain or they won't grow right or lay enough eggs.  We wish farmers wouldn't give soy because the isoflavones do end up in the egg yolks and the fat.  Unfortunately, most farmers doing pasture feeding are giving soy to their chickens.

Egg White Eating Can Create A Biotin Deficiency
Although biotin deficiency is very rare, the human requirement for dietary biotin has been demonstrated in two different situations: prolonged intravenous feeding without biotin supplementation and consumption of raw egg white for a prolonged period (many weeks to years). Avidin is a protein found in egg white, which binds biotin and prevents its absorption. Cooking egg white denatures avidin, rendering it susceptible to digestion, and unable to prevent the absorption of dietary biotin

Sources:
1. http://www.westonaprice.org/faq.html
2. http://www.oralchelation.com/ingred/biotin.htm#ref7


In case you missed Parts 1, 2, & 3 be sure to listen to them.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3 

And I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments. Please leave some below. Thanks! 

Interview With Bob Garon & Anthony McClellan Part 3

Here's Part 3 of the really cool series I recently did with Anthony McClellan of Get Fit Boot Camps. This part covers my intermediate fasting strategies, why raw dairy, and eating little to no grains and when you eat them not to eat gluten.

I'm VERY lactose intolerant... I mean REALLY intolerant. If I drank a teaspoon full of pasteurized milk I'd be in the bathroom feeling like Wolverine was just unleashed inside my intestines and the results are an uncontrollable unloading of more liquid from my body than I knew a human body ever had. Well raw dairy is my answer. The same seems to be true with everyone I encounter and recommend eating raw.

What exactly is pasteurization do you ask? Why does it cause so many problems when it's supposed to be "helpful". What about Ultra Pasteurized?  And what about Homogonized?


Here's all the details for you. Yes it's wordy, but all excellent info. Part 3 of our interview is also below. Enjoy!

PASTEURIZATION

Pasteurization is a process of heat treating milk to kill bacteria. Although Louis Pasteur developed this technique for preserving beer and wine, he was not responsible for applying it to milk. That was done at the end of the 1800s as a temporary solution until filthy urban dairies could find a way to produce cleaner milk. But instead of cleaning up milk production, dairies used pasteurization as a way to cover up dirty milk. As milk became more mass produced, pasteurization became necessary for large dairies to increase their profits. So the public then had to be convinced that pasteurized milk was safer than raw milk. Soon raw milk consumption was blamed for all sorts of diseases and outbreaks until the public was finally convinced that pasteurized milk was superior to milk in its natural state.
Today if you mention raw milk, many people gasp and utter ridiculous statements like, You can die from drinking raw milk!” But the truth is that there are far more risks from drinking pasteurized milk than unpasteurized milk. Raw milk naturally contains healthy bacteria that inhibit the growth of undesirable and dangerous organisms. Without these friendly bacteria, pasteurized milk is more susceptible to contamination. Furthermore, modern equipment, such as milking machines, stainless steel tanks and refrigerated trucks, make it entirely possible to bring clean, raw milk to the market anywhere in the US.
Not only does pasteurization kill the friendly bacteria, it also greatly diminishes the nutrient content of the milk. Pasteurized milk has up to a 66 percent loss of vitamins A, D and E. Vitamin C loss usually exceeds 50 percent. Heat affects water soluble vitamins and can make them 38 percent to 80 percent less effective. Vitamins B6 and B12 are completely destroyed during pasteurization. Pasteurization also destroys beneficial enzymes, antibodies and hormones. Pasteurization destroys lipase (an enzyme that breaksdown fat), which impairs fat metabolism and the ability to properly absorb fat soluble vitamins A and D. (The dairy industry is aware of the diminished vitamin D content in commercial milk, so they fortify it with a form of this vitamin.)
We have all been led to believe that milk is a wonderful source of calcium, when in fact, pasteurization makes calcium and other minerals less available. Complete destruction of phosphatase is one method of testing to see if milk has been adequately pasteurized. Phosphatase is essential for the absorption of calcium.

ULTRAPASTEURIZATION

As the dairy industry has become more concentrated, many processing plants have switched to ultrapasteurization, which involves higher temperatures and longer treatment times. The industry says this is necessary because many microorganisms have become heat resistant and now survive ordinary pasteurization.
Another reason for ultrapasteurization is that it gives the milk a longer shelf life–up to four weeks. The grocers like this but many consumers complain of a burnt or dead taste. The milk is virtually sterile–is that what you want to drink?
Milk producers are not advertising the fact that they are ultrapasteurizing the milk–the word is written in very small letters and the milk is sold in the refrigerator section even though it can be kept unrefrigerated until opened. Horizon, the major organic brand, is ultrapasteurized, as are virtually all national brands.

HOMOGENIZATION

Milk straight from the cow contains cream, which rises to the top. Homogenization is a process that breaks up the fat globules and evenly distributes them throughout the milk so that they do not rise. This process unnaturally increases the surface area of fat exposing it to air, in which oxidation occurs and increases the susceptibility to spoilage. Homogenization has been linked to heart disease and atherosclerosis.

Source: http://www.westonaprice.org/transition/dairy.html

Listen to the interview below...

Heres an excerpt from an article from Raw Milk.com

“Back in the 1970s, a couple of blokes were sitting in an English pub, bemoaning the consolidation of the brewing industry in England and the decline of British beer and ale. A commodity that represented the soul of Britain–carefully brewed ales from countless small-scale manufacturers, each with a distinctive color and taste–had been edged out by the insipid canned beers of a few large monopolistic breweries. What was needed, they decided, was a return to traditional brewing methods. They launched A Campaign for Real Ale, which soon became the force that turned back the mega-brewers and reinstated varied and delicious ales to English tables and pubs.
Back in the 20s, Americans could buy fresh raw whole milk, real clabber and buttermilk, luscious naturally yellow butter, fresh farm cheeses and cream in various colors and thicknesses. Today’s milk is accused of causing everything from allergies to heart disease to cancer, but when Americans could buy Real Milk, these diseases were rare. In fact, a supply of high-quality dairy products was considered vital to American security and the economic well being of the nation.”

And from RawMilkBenefits.com:

“The benefits are numerous and plenty. First, it is very rich in enzymes and actually contains all of the 22 essential amino acids. This includes phosphate, which is important for the absorption of calcium. And forget about all the synthetic calcium supplements out there, raw milk is truly the best source of calcium available.
It is also a great source of vitamins, in particular vitamin B12, which is an important vitamin that is hard to find in non-meat sources. It also contains the enzyme IgG and vitamins A, B, and C.
Research shows that it also contains enzymes and antibodies that actually render milk less susceptible to bacteria. Lipase is also present which aids in the digestion of fats.
Another great benefit is that it also contains CLA, or conjugated linoleic acid, which has been noted to fight cancer.”

Here are some great websites regarding much more info on raw dairy:
www.SaveYourDairy.com | www.Raw-Milk-Facts.com | www.RealMilk.com

You'll also hear me mention and talk about two movies: "King Corn" and "Food Inc." 

In case you missed Parts 1 and 2 be sure to listen to them.

Part 1
Part 2

Stay tuned for Part 4 showing up soon.

Interview With Bob Garon & Anthony McClellan Part 2

Here's part 2 in our series of my really cool interview with Anthony McClellan of Get Fit Boot Camp in New Jersey.

Some of the points we cover are:

1) Why Eating During The Day Keeps You Fat & De-Energized
- Why it is best to eat after 6pm every night.

2) Why Avoiding Gluten Grains Is Best For Your Inflammatory Health
3) Eating Real Food & The Best Food Combinations
4) What A Humongo Salad Is

Listen to our information packed interview below.

What & When Is Best To Eat and Why... My Interview Part 1

I recently had a great interview with my friend Anthony McClellan of Get Fit Boot Camps in New Jersey. I talked with Tony for over 60 minutes about nutrition, specifically my own philosophy and day to day eating plan. We talked about everything from raw milk, to why you should always avoid wheat, to why grass fed meat should be your only red meat option, and why the food pyramid is making you fat.

Listen to Part 1 of our interview here and you can also download it onto your iPod.

By the way I always got a kick outta this pyramid...