Living Healthful

Eating fat does not make you fat

Isn’t it interesting how some really bad science told us that saturated fat and cholesterol cause heart disease and so we should eat less fat? Before World War II, when this was first raised, people used to have far less heart attacks and yet were eating butter and cream every week. Then things changed; we replaced butter with margarine made from industrial oils and creamy, whole milk was dumped for skim and fat-free.

The thought that fat makes us fat is now so engrained in people that doctors and nutritionists have a hard time helping people shake off the fear of fat! Eggs, avocados, nuts, I can’t eat that!” Yes, we can and you should!

First of all, calories are not all the same. The calories from a donut are not the same as those from an egg and our bodies do not metabolize them the same way. Eating a donut versus eating an egg does not have the same impact on our hormones nor our appetite.

The interesting thing is that when we restrict fat, our macro nutrients get out of balance. We are focused on carbs, sugars, and proteins only and our body can start to think we are starving it. The refined carbs and the sugars are the biggest culprit as they spike insulin which is the fat storage hormone. Now a vicious cycle starts: hunger pains -> more of the same foods, etc…

Spikes in insulin drives all available fuel in our bloodstream into our fat cells, especially the dangerous ones around our waste line and organs; the visceral fat. This tells our brain to eat more.

Based on countless recent research, I truly believe that since most of our fat-cell chemistry is controlled by the quality and type of food we eat, we should eat quality fat, lower refined carbs, good amounts of fiber, and excellent proteins in a balance manner.

The best products I have found to accomplish this is the ISAGENIX nutrition system. Incorporating this into our daily nutrient intake along with a regular low glycemic snacks and a balanced meal of 400 to 600 calories has had great results. Seeing the changes in people around me, including myself, has convinced me. My wife lost 4 inches from her waistline, for instance. She fought her body’s attempt to develop a muffin top and she won!!! Checkout the testimonials under the Our Products dropdown menu. Weight Wellness Testimonials

Why is meat not the best source of protein?

There’s no debating our bodies need proteins for healthy living. Proteins are needed to provide amino acids used to build cells. Amino acids are actually building blocks in almost all biological processes.

The problem with meat protein is that it brings along a whole slew of issues. This is not even including what some consider environmental or moral debates about how these are raised or farmed.

In the first half of the twentieth century meat, especially red meat, was viewed as playing an important role in a healthy, balanced diet as a natural source of protein and vitamins. However, in the second half of the century our attitudes toward meat shifted with an intensified debate about reducing meat consumption due to the risks of cardiovascular disease and overall mortality.

Additionally, advances in science have shown that your body works hard to get the proteins out of meats. Your stomach has to produce a higher level of hydrochloric acid to break down the bonds linking the amino acids¹ and this creates a more acidic environment which is not ideal.

The reason I love to fuel my body with ISAGENIX’s IsaLean® shakes is because they are nutrient rich and contain superior un-denatured whey and milk proteins. (A dairy-free version exists) They are more than a shake, it’s a meal replacement (240 cal.) with its proteins (24 g), energy-fueling carbohydrates (8 g fiber), good fats, and 23 vitamins and minerals per serving.

The un-denatured whey and milk proteins are of the highest quality and not processed in a manner that destroys the enzymes in them. You fuel your body with 2 shakes per day as well as 2 snacks and then enjoy a healthy low-glycemic, 400-600 calorie meal as your third meal. (More calories can be consumed once in weight maintenance). I often enjoy the great flavors of fish, chicken, and lean beef as part of my healthy meal while feeling I have reduced meat protein, yet fueled my body effectively for the day.

¹Scientific details: The gastric cells of the stomach secrete inactive pepsinogen enzymes for protein breakdown. Hydrochloric acid in the stomach is then used to activate the pepsinogen into pepsin enzymes. The pepsin is used in digestion to break down the bonds linking the amino acids. This process is known as proteolysis.

Turning back the clock–How our bodies benefit from this Nobel Prize winning science

This ISAGENIX product should be enough to make someone take a second look. The science behind it is amazing and its results are awesome. It’s simple and convenient as it’s included in our daily vitamin pack (Complete Essentials™ With IsaGenesis®). We don’t skip this step in our total health and wellness plan Check out this short video which covers the Nobel Prize winning science! Play video.

Here are some other benefits — 12 ways you benefit from Complete Essentials™ With IsaGenesis®

How many days per week do you eat five fruits and vegetables? Did you consume two servings of fish last week? What about getting the vitamin D your body needs?

Sure you can get the right amounts of vitamins and minerals from food, but not only is it difficult to do—for example, it would take ten tablespoons of corn oil (1,200 calories and 136 grams of fat!) or five cups of boiled spinach to meet daily recommendations for vitamin E—it’s also inconvenient and requires strict adherence to a healthy, balanced diet.

Most Americans fail to meet recommended dietary intakes of many essential vitamins and minerals, resulting in nutritional gaps and increased disease risk (1). Only one in four adults in the U.S. eats five or more fruits and vegetable servings daily, only one in five adults eats the recommended two servings of fish per week, and only half get enough vitamin D during the winter months (2-4).

Complementing your diet with essential vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients gives you nutritional insurance so you know you are providing your body with the right amounts and kinds of nutrients to support overall health and wellness—even on days when your diet isn’t up to par.

More than just a multivitamin, here are 12 reasons why you should be using Ageless Essentials™ with Product B™:

1. Complete Age-Defying Nutrition
Ageless Essentials with Product B provides a complete foundation of health for your body with more than 20 essential vitamins and minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, age-defying plant phytonutrients, and potent cellular protectors such as CoQ10 and alpha-lipoic acid.

2. Advanced Cardiovascular Health Support
They say a person is only as old as his or her arteries. Ageless Essentials with Product B provides the correct dosages of nutrients for cardiovascular support. These include highly concentrated fish–derived omega-3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA), resveratrol, vitamin D, vitamin K2, and highly absorbable CoQ10.

3. Advanced Brain Support
Your brain function decreases significantly as you age. Ageless Essentials with Product B provides nutrients for optimal brain health. These include highly concentrated fish-derived omega-3s, vitamin C, and turmeric for protection against oxidation. It also contains vitamin B12 as stability-ensured cyanocobalamin for brain support.

4. Advanced Bone Support
Strong healthy bones begin with regular physical activity and correct doses of nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D. Ageless Essentials with Product B provides five different forms of calcium, as well as vitamin D in its natural and more bioavailable form (cholecalciferol). In addition, the packs provide green tea extract, which also supports bone health.

5. Advanced Liver Detoxification Support
Your liver is the workhorse of your body, continually detoxifying pollutants, free radicals, and drugs, while metabolizing your food. Ageless Essentials with Product B also provides selenium, milk thistle, turmeric, and other bioactive compounds to improve efficiency of detoxification and antioxidant enzymes.

6. Support for Blood Sugar Control
Blood sugar control is imperative for long-term health. Ageless Essentials with Product B provides B vitamins for proper carbohydrate metabolism, as well as chromium and vanadium for improved glycemic support.

7. Comprehensive Telomere Support
More and more research is showing that telomere shortening is directly involved in the aging process. Put simply, bad things happen when telomeres get short. Ageless Essentials with Product B provides the latest that science has to offer in the form of vitamins and bioactive compounds to improve efficiency of antioxidant enzymes that help lower oxidative stress and support telomere integrity.

8. Comprehensive Antioxidant Support
Controlling oxidative stress by preventing excessive free radical production is a primary goal to slow down the aging process and ensure optimal health and wellness. Antioxidants function to prevent oxidative stress. Ageless Essentials with Product B uses the latest nutritional and scientific research to provide four forms of vitamin C, alpha-lipoic acid, resveratrol, and the herbal polyphenolic blend of Product B. Together these vita-nutrients help guarantee your body has all the essential components of a strong antioxidant defense system against unwanted oxidative stress.

9. Obesity Support
Obesity brings with it unique dietary nutrient challenges. Ageless Essentials with Product B supplies vitamins such as omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D3, and plant polyphenols such as resveratrol that can support against the ravages of obesity.

10. Pharmaceutical Support
Did you know statin drugs and other pharmaceuticals may deplete the body’s levels of CoQ10 and vitamin E? Ageless Essentials with Product B helps replenish the body’s stores with naturally derived vitamin E, which is more potent than synthetic forms, as well
as CoQ10.

11. Advanced Nutrient Delivery
Ageless Essentials with Product B employs advanced delivery systems for greater absorption of nutrients. For example, Essentials for Men and Essentials for Women feature rapid disintegration technology to increase solubility and absorption of minerals such as calcium and zinc. In addition, Ageless Actives includes lipid-solubilized CoQ10 to improve absorption eight times in comparison to competing products.

12. No-Compromise Quality
No-compromise quality is of the upmost importance at Isagenix. As part of our quality assurance process, every ingredient used in Ageless Essentials with Product B undergoes an extensive process of testing for identity, safety, and potency. To ensure accuracy of label claims on the product, batches are also evaluated independently by third-party laboratories.

Visiting Bordeaux’s St. Émilion wine region

If visiting a UNESCO World Heritage site and tasting beautiful wines in Bordeaux is on your list, then St. Émilion just might be the place for you.

Although we had tasted in Bordeaux previously, our recent return trip was focused on spending more time in St. Émilion and it did not disappoint!

The town of St. Émilion is approximately 45 minutes away from the Bordeaux airport. Once outside the city of Bordeaux you are transported to a beautiful, postcard like region. St. Émilion has much history dating back to the 2^nd century when the Romans planted vines and recognized the bounty and quality they yielded. It has a population of less than 2,000 inhabitants.

We found a wonderful bed and breakfast place called “Le Pavillon Villemaurine” on the outskirt of town allowing us to walk to the heart of town in 5 minutes. It was well appointed and quiet with a wonderful breakfast offering.

Additionally the owner offers private tours of vineyards and Chateaux to taste some of the best wines in the area. We took advantage of this offer one day as a treat, as we normally do all that on our own. Because of his connections with Chateaux we were able to visit places we probably would not have been able to see otherwise.

View of a St. Emilion vineyard — View of a St. Émilion vineyard

We visited many of the museums in the small town to learn more of its history and take in the sights. It becomes clear as you visit this town why it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Roman ruins in St Emilion — Roman ruins and view of town

Additionally, there are many wonderful restaurants to enjoy local cuisine with local wines. Yum!

Our visit would not have been complete without visiting one of the many local wine merchant called “E^ts Martin” to sample many local wines, which were beautiful.

We chose some favorites which we had the merchant ship home to put down giving us the opportunity to reminisce in future years.

Tasting room at St Emilion Wine Merchant — Tasting room in basement of E^ts Martin

We left St. Émilion with a new appreciation for all the things it has to offer and would certainly recommend it as a vacation destination.

Quick and Delicous Oven-Roasted Dungeness Crab

Quick and Delicous Oven-Roasted Dungeness Crab

This is one of my favorite seasonal dishes. Who doesn’t like fresh dungeness crab? I like this recipe because it is quick and satisfying. At $9.99 per pound at our local fresh seafood market, it actually saves me money because I feel like I am eating dinner out at an expensice seafood restaurant. We pair it with our choice of white wine such as a Sauvignon Blanc that we have on hand and avoid restaurant pricing too. I’m frugul but I love great things!

When I purchase the crab, I ask my them to break the whole crab into two pieces. These allows the oil, garlic and herbs to soak in while the oven is getting to temperature. When baking the crab, you will know it is done when you hear it start crackling. The remaining shell will be very briitle making it simple to get to that yummy crab.

Here is the recipe –

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil*
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 1 tablespoon minced shallot (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried crushed red pepper (optional)

2 large (about 4 1/2 pounds) Dungeness crabs, cleaned, and cracked

Salt and pepper to taste

*I am generous with the olive oil. After the crab is cooked, I plate it and then pour the extra oil into dipping dishes. This is used for both extra ti dip the crab into for more goodness and also to dip a warm baquette or fresh potato roll.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix all ingredients, pour over crab in a bowl, turn a few times to let the juices soak into the crab. Place on baking sheet and place into the oven until it starts to crackle!

Enjoy!

Generous amout of oil

Lesser oil-you decide

Easy Potato Rolls Recipe

Easy Potato Rolls Recipe

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 15 min. + rising Bake: 20 min.

MAKES: 45 servings

Ingredients

· 2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeas (if using bulk yeast use 4.5 teaspoons)

· 1-1/3 cups warm water (110° to 115°), divided

· 2/3 cup sugar

· 2/3 cup shortening

· 2 eggs (room temperature)

· 1 to 1.5 cups mashed potatoes (room temp) Use a potato ricer to ensure no lumps

· 2-1/2 teaspoons salt

6 to 6-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 50/50 all purpose to bread flour)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 2/3 cup warm water. In a large bowl, cream sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, potatoes, salt, yeast mixture, remaining water and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Should be a bit sticky not like bread dough or they will turn out heavy.

2. Shape into a ball; do not knead. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

3. Punch dough down; divide into thirds. Shape each portion into 15 balls and arrange in three greased 9-in. round baking pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

4. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from pans to cool on wire racks. Yield: 45 servings.

Potato Ricer 1st rise 2nd rise

Ready for Oven Perfection! Yummy!

Nutrition Facts

1 roll: 106 calories, 3g fat (1g saturated fat), 8mg cholesterol, 136mg sodium, 17g carbohydrate (3g sugars, 1g fiber), 2g protein.

Why do we choose Isagenix coffee? Because it tastes so good! It’s Artisanal and Pure too!

I can not say enough about how much I love the flavor of this coffee. I love the extra benefits of quality testing to ensure that it has the lowest possible levels of mold and pesticides. Along with the extra boost to reinforce its antioxidant strength. We keep the organic on hand and now that is the only coffee we consume. Prices are very resonable for the overall flavor and value!

And check out the coffee features below——so good!

For more information or to order Click Here

Coffee may be a common beverage, but at Isagenix we’ve sought to make coffee that stands out from its competitors with our no-compromise quality.

Isagenix Coffee is a distinctively delicious and wholesome gourmet blend of medium-roast coffee. This exceptional product is artisanal batch-produced and medium roasted under sophisticated environmental controls. It’s never over-roasted or burnt, so it retains its natural properties and distinguished flavor.

What’s the Isagenix difference between Organic and Premium?

Available in Premium and USDA-Certified Organic Blends, Isagenix Coffee is roasted using 100 percent arabica coffee beans. The USDA-Certified Organic Blend has undergone an additional certification process to ensure that the coffee beans were produced using the highest standards of organic agriculture.

What’s different about the quality of Isagenix Coffee?

The coffee beans used in Isagenix Coffee are fairly traded from around the world and are rigorously tested to ensure they have the lowest possible levels of mold and pesticides. Isagenix Coffee is infused with green tea extract to reinforce its antioxidant strength and rounded out with coconut-derived medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) and trace minerals to offset coffee’s natural acidity for a refined, smooth, satisfying flavor.

When tested for flavor by certified Q graders, they described Isagenix Coffee this way: “The sample had a nut component in the taste with a creamy lingering finish. We were pleasantly surprised that the coffee flavor was in no way diminished with the adjuncts.”

An experienced consumer research group also found that Isagenix Coffee was preferred over other top leading brands of coffee.

Why did we choose to focus on coffee?

Coffee is a beverage consumed worldwide with more than 1.4 billion cups brewed daily, with the United States accounting for approximately 45 percent of intake (1-3).

More than half of all Americans 18 and older consume coffee on a daily basis with the average drinker consuming 3.1 cups per day (4). In the United States, coffee sales have reached nearly US$10 billion in 2013 and the demand for coffee continues to grow with US$13 billion in sales expected by 2018 (5). Coffee is also regarded as wholesome and is generally the No. 1 source of antioxidants in the Western diet (2).

To improve the flavor of typical coffee, consumers often use calorie-laden creamers and sugar (1). There is a clear need in the marketplace for a higher-quality coffee option. The rigorous process used to create Isagenix Coffee helps ensure it is one of the purest, best-tasting brews you’ll ever enjoy. Because of its rich flavor and pleasant, smooth finish, Isagenix Coffee is delicious without any added sugar or cream.

Isagenix Coffee Features:

Artisanal batch medium-roasted coffee.
Never over-roasted to preserve chlorogenic acid and coffee’s natural properties.
Rigorously tested for pesticides, heavy metals, and mycotoxins.
Infused with green tea, coconut-derived MCTs, and trace minerals to offset acidity and round out flavor with a nutty component and satisfying finish.
Forget creamers — try adding Vanilla IsaPro.

Isagenix Coffee Ingredients:

Coffee sourced from plants grown at high altitudes in tropical climates near the equator. The coffee beans naturally contain a variety of compounds including caffeine, chlorogenic acid, and polyphenols.
Green tea (Camellia sinensis) is regarded as a popular health-promoting beverage worldwide.
Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are fatty acids found in coconut oil. The MCTs in Isagenix Coffee enhance the coffee’s smoothness and provide an improved taste and consistency compared to regular coffee, resulting in a more pleasant experience.
Trace minerals help offset the acidity of regular coffee while improving the nutritional profile of the beverage.

References

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Part D. Chapter 5. Food Sustainability and Safety– Continued. Scientific Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.
Svilaas A, Sakhi AK, Andersen, LF, et al. Intakes of antioxidants in coffee, wine, and vegetables are correlated with plasma carotenoids in humans. J Nutr. 2004;134(3):562-567.
International Coffee Organization.
National Coffee Drinking Trends 2010, National Coffee Association.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, BevNet.com, Information Resources Inc., Economist Intelligence Unit, Mintel.

A healthy lifestyle is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise

This is not a new topic, but it is worth highlighting it again. It has become increasingly known that it is important to consider and use our nutrition as a tool for a healthy lifestyle which usually means managing our weight. Where does this 80/20 rule even come from?

Because it is hard to burn off fat strictly through exercise, recent fitness guides have shifted to reducing calorie intake as the main channel for weight lost while still including regular exercise. Science tells us that it takes burning off 3,500 calories to lose a single pound. That’s a lot of running when you consider it would take running 7 to 10 miles to burn those calories and not eat more than a calorie normal day. Gees, when I do that much exercise, I know I’m going to want to eat more than usual!

Typical fitness guides are now advocating burning around 250 calories through exercise three times per week and reducing food intake by 560 calories five time a weeks which is 3,550 calories, or just over a pound loss in a week. This exercise regimen allows someone to exercise without feeling the need to eat more than usual to compensate for the effort exerted. If you do the math, roughly 80% of the calories lost are from nutrition and 20% are from exercise.

The critical piece that is often missed is that the nutrition should be of excellent value to ensure the body is fueled and not starved. Without balanced macro-nutrients we shoot ourselves in the foot. If we don’t have great proteins, carbs, and fat we can trigger the body to lose lean muscle instead of fat which is a bad thing. We want to lose fat while building lean muscles. This is why the ISAGENIX product line is recommended to ensure weight loss in the healthiest manner. Once in maintenance mode, the caloric intake can return to a more normal level allowing a continued healthy and balanced lifestyle.

Why skipping meals is not the way to lose weight

I frequently hear people skipping breakfast or only eating a snack for lunch, dinner, etc… Their reason seems noble: “losing weight”. However, that is really not the right thing to do.

Yes it is true, in general terms, that if you don’t burn the calories you take in, you’ll likely gain weight, conversely, if you eat less than you burn on a typical day, that should help lose weight. The problem is that approach is too simplistic; your meals need to be balanced at the macro-nutrient level (Protein, Carb, and Fat). As well, a multitude of factors can affect how many calories you burn from day to day even if your daily routine was identical each day.

One of the major issue with eating less, or skipping meals, is that we tend to not fuel our body properly and often end up losing lean muscles. In turn, a loss of lean body mass is not desirable as it weakens the organs and muscles, and also slows down metabolism. Guess what: “a slower metabolism burns less calories!”.

The best way to lose weight is to eat truly balanced meals that fuel your body while ensuring you are not overeating for the level of activities your day brings.

The ISAGENIX products and system are designed to do just that. It is a system of products designed for healthy weight loss, nutritional cleansing, and fitness. The IsaLean® shakes are nutrient rich and contain superior un-denatured whey and milk proteins. (A dairy-free version exists) They are more than a shake, it’s a meal replacement (240 cal.) with its proteins (24 g), energy-fueling carbohydrates (8 g fiber), good fats, and 23 vitamins and minerals per serving. It is used to replace conventional meals with 2 Shakes per day plus one healthy low-glycemic, 400-600 calorie meal as well as 2 snacks (More calories can be consumed once in weight maintenance).

Scripture References for Troubling Times

During the holidays it’s easy to remember past times with a little sadness and a heavy heart. Most of us have someone that we loved (maybe our parents, a spouse, a dear friend, a child), that for some reason is no longer with us. Maybe you have your own struggle with a relationship(s), finances, illness, substance abuse. Everyone, yes everyone even Jesus, has encountered suffering. Be assured in these times that you are not alone. Remember God is Omnipresent (everywhere), Omniscient (all-knowing), and Omnipotent (all-powerful). God is faithful and keeps his promises – always. God is always Accessible. Whenever you pray, God hears you. I pray, that if you are reading this now and have a heavy heart or are struggling in someway, that you will ask the Lord to help you find comfort in His words and healing in your heart. He will hear you and comfort you! God loves you. God created you for a relationship with him. Talk to him today as you read what he has for you here…God bless you!