High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) – This trash is found in EVERYTHING! And it is just that, trash. Probably the most harmful product in our lives, this guy is responsible for an epidemic rise in Type II Diabetes and linked to liver disease, heart disease, cancer, and auto-immune disease. Just type High Fructose Corn Syrup into Google and you’ll find a myriad list of resources citing its ill-effects. If you follow one bit of advice from this guide it better be to eliminate HFCS from your diet. HERE is a good starting point for your quest to HFCS enlightenment.
Start taking Fish Oil – Despite all the arguments on diet/health (low carb, low fat, vegan, South Beach, Paleo) and what’s best there is one thing that EVERYONE seems to agree on and that is that everyone should be supplementing with Fish Oil. Basically what this boils down to is Omega3:Omega6 ratio. An ideal O3:O6 ratio would be 1:1. Too bad we are hangin’ out in the 1:20 and even as high as 1:30 range. In short Omega6 = bad, these are found in vegetable oils, soy bean oil, margarine, and grain fed animal fats, they are PRO-inflammatory and need to be balanced with ANTI-inflammatory Omega3s. Go to your local health food store (in Vernon I prefer Nature’s Fare) and hunt down the fish oil product with the highest EPA and DHA, ideally anything over 1,000 mg. Buy this and take 3-6 tablespoons or 8-12 capsules a day. For a definitive guide to fish oils check out Mark’s Daily Apple
Make it yourself – That’s right, you’ve probably heard this one before but it really is that important. No more buying bread from the store, no more instance pancakes (think about HFCS), no more Kraft Dinner. If you wanna eat it, make it yourself. Throw out all those old convenience items and start cookin’! I’m not a supporter of bread/pasta/grains but if you just can’t live without them then make sure you’re making it all YOURSELF. Include lots of vegetables and freshly prepared meat in your diet and you’re well on your way to a healthier lifestyle.
Pt. 2 tomorrow.
WOD
3 Rounds for time:
10 Thrusters 135/95
10 Burpees
September 1st, 2010 - 6:57 pm
YAAAAY BURPEES!!!
September 2nd, 2010 - 3:30 am
Fish oil may be overrated. This just came out:
Study: Omega-3 Fats May Not Help Heart-Attack Survivors
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100831/hl_time/08599201460300
For heart-attacks they should have tested grain consumption. And for fish oil there are probably other benefits that they should have been looking for.
September 2nd, 2010 - 3:43 pm
Don,
Look at the source of Omega3s in that study. Therein lies your problem. Omega3s from vegetable based oils (margarine) are a far cry from Omega3s from fishoil. The problem with these oils is that rather than being the EPA/DHA version of Omega3 that I talked about (found in fishoil) they are full of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). This ALA needs to be converted in the body into EPA/DHA. Aside from that it’s almost guaranteed that any oils in margarine or derived from vegetable sources are hydrogenated. IF by chance they aren’t hydrogenated then they undoubtedly are turned rancid just by the process of extraction. Hope this was informative!