My maternal grandmother, we called her Nana, was a woman of modest means and regal countenance.  Her home was small, but well appointed, complete with a crystal chandelier over the mahogany dining table, real silverware that actually required polishing, fine china, elaborate mirrors, decorative vases and paintings of picturesque European villas displayed in gold leaf frames adorning the den.

Christmas Eve at Nana’s was the years most anticipated event in our family.

Sparkling lights outside set the tone for the magic waiting for you inside.  Wonderful decorations, magnificently wrapped gifts, tempting aromas, happy voices and a bountiful assortment of homemade pastries and horderves fired the spirit with anticipation of the dinner feast and the exchanging of gifts that was to follow.

Nana has been gone for over 35 years now, but her memory, her spirit and the tradition she established in our family is as alive today as ever.

Christmas Eve is still the most anticipated event of the year and, almost every year since she left us, my parents, my 3 brothers and all of our families gather at our home and have a party Nana herself would have been proud to host.

When I think of Nana I remember the time we spent together; long conversations at the kitchen table discussing everything while we pasted S&H Green Stamps, helping her tend the flower garden she was so proud of, driving her around after I got old enough to drive, and of course, helping decorate the house and prepare for Christmas Eve.

Over 22 years my grandmother gave me hundreds of gifts and, except for a set of dishes we still use today, I can’t remember a single one.   What I do remember is the wonderful time we spent together and I remember it well.  The time we shared is a priceless treasure, a gift that, 34 years later, is still rich with meaning and flowing with love; a gift I will cherish always.  How could there possibly be a better gift?  I believe there couldn’t.

Every Christmas when my thoughts turn to my grandmother, while memories are sweet, to some extent I still mourn her passing because she died so young, (age 68), from a disease, (heart disease), that could have been so easily prevented.

Her memory influences my behavior still today, not because I long for the past, but because I thirst for the future; an important goal of mine is to be around for the people I love and care about, having fun, sharing time and creating happy memories for a long, long time.

One of the things that make having fun, sharing time and creating happy memories possible is your own good health.  When your health is good, the world is your playground and everyday is a day rich with possibility, a day perfect for making memories.

If my grandmother had taken better care of her health she may have easily lived another 20 years.  If she had stopped smoking, changed her diet and started exercising, in all probability, she would have had the chance to spend time with most if not all of her 8 great grandchildren and their lives would have been richer for it.

Why people make the choices they make is sometimes a mystery; but one thing is certain; the choices you make every day regarding diet, supplementation and lifestyle have a powerful influence on you health.  And your quality of health has a powerful influence on the quality and quantity of time you get to spend with the people you love and care about.

This holiday season I invite you to think about the most precious gift you can possibly give to those closest to you, the gift of them being able to share their lives and spend time with a happy, healthy you for many, many years.

Years after our final Christmas Eve together at Nana’s I completed my Ph.D. in nutrition and authored a program called 5 Steps to Optimal Health.

Memories of my grandmother and the recognition that she could have had so much more time with us all if she had taken her health more seriously was a big part of my motivation in researching and writing the 5 Steps Program. 

My purpose with 5 Steps was to produce an authoritative program, easy to understand, easy to follow and filled with information and facts that would give any grandmother or grandfather, Mom or Dad, son or daughter, brother or sister, aunt or uncle, or any friend or relative an excellent, easy-to-follow health strategy they could easily follow to lose weight if they need to, improve every important health indicator and become stronger, healthier and more energetic.

Since publication in 1999 thousands of people have benefited from 5 Steps to Optimal Health.  Many have sent letters, email or made phone calls just to let me know how following the 5 Steps Program lead to weight loss, improved health, greater energy and a better quality of life.

No one ever gets into excellent health by accident.  It only happens by choice and on purpose.

Great health is the result of; 1) taking diet, nutrition and lifestyle steps that support good health, (not as simple as it sounds); 2) avoiding diet, nutrition and lifestyle things that may damage your health, (also not as simple as it sounds), and perhaps most importantly of all; 3) developing a knowledge base and a mindset that makes healthy choices easy to make. 

The greatest gift you can give yourself or anyone you love is YOU being in GREAT HEALTH, looking good, feeling good, and living life to the fullest.

Great health makes the world your playground and sets the stage for wonderful memories. 

Having great health is a choice only you can make. 

My goal with www.DrRussellsHealthAndWeightLossBlog.com is to get you excited about your own good health and to give you information and strategies you can use to get yourself into excellent health and get about the business of creating wonderful memories.

Much of the information discussed in the blog is covered in much greater detail in the 5 Steps Program.  If you love facts, reasons and actionable health strategies that make a real difference in the way you look, feel and function… more information on the 5 Steps Program can be found here: www.5StepsToOptimalHealth.com

Be sure and subscribe to the Blog and visit often and please help spread the Good Health Is A Choice Only You Can Make message. 

Share this information with your friends and family, tell them about the site and let them share in the good news about how easy it is to develop GREAT health.

Happy holidays!

Warmest regards,

Russell J. Martino, Ph.D.

Joyfully Bringing You Health… At The Speed Of Life!

This rendition of creation and the battle for your health is strictly for entertainment.

I have no idea if this exchange actually occurred between God and his archangel Lucifer… but if it did, it’s clear they both understand exactly what it takes to create or destroy health.

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth and populated the Earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.

Then using God’s great gifts, Satan created Specialty Ice Cream and Tasty Donuts. And Satan said, "You want chocolate with that?" And Man said "Yeah,” and Woman said, "and another one with sprinkles." And they gained 10 pounds. And the stockholders were very happy. And Satan smiled.

And God created the healthful yogurt that Woman might keep the figure that Man found so fair. Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat, and sugar from the cane and combined them. And Woman went from size 6 to size 14.
 
So God said, "Try my fresh green salad."

And Satan presented Creamy Dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side. And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.
 
God then said, "I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them."
 
And Satan brought forth deep fried fish and chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. Steak Houses thrived! And man gained more weight and his cholesterol went through the roof.
 
God created a light, fluffy white cake, named it "Angel Food Cake," and said "it is good."
 
Satan then created chocolate cake and named it "Devil’s Food."

God then brought running shoes so that his children might lose those extra pounds.

And Satan gave cable TV with a remote control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels. And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering blue light and gained pounds.

Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition.
 
And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried them. And Man gained pounds.
 
God then gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and still satisfy his appetite.
 
And Satan created Fast Food Burger Joints and double cheeseburgers for under a dollar. Then said  "You want fries with that?" And Man replied, "Yeah! And super size ‘em."  And Satan said, "It is good." And Man went into cardiac arrest.
 
God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.

Then Satan created HMOs.

ATTRIBUTION: I have no idea who wrote this, one-day it just showed up in my email box and that was that. So who ever you are THANK YOU for pointing out timeless nutrition and lifestyle teachings in such a timely and humorous manner.

EPILOG: Make certain you’re on the right side of the Good vs. Evil health equation… check out the 2008 Release of what one doctor calls, “A remarkably definitive health and weight loss program.” 5 Steps To Optimal Health.

 by Russell J. Martino,Ph.D.

If you constantly feel tired and fatigued you are not alone.  Chronic tiredness and fatigue is the #1 health complaint in America.

Do you push yourself just to get through the day?  Do you depend  on coffee or sweets for energy?  

If any of this applies, this article is especially for you.

Even if you’ve been tired for years there’s hope because you are about to discover simple, natural ways to increase your energy and feel better fast starting today.  

First, lets assume you get enough sleep. 

Nothing takes the place of a good night’s sleep.  Even with the health tips in this article, without enough sleep you’ll be tired and that’s that.  

With that said, lets get started.

It takes two things to become healthy, energetic and feel good as the day wears on. 

1. Do things that build energy and vitality in your body, and;
2. Avoid things that damage or destroy your health and vitality.

As simple as it sounds this advice is impossible to follow without knowing a few things.  

For example, I bet you know someone who starts the day with a quad shot of expresso or a venti carmel something-or-other and a pastry from the local coffee shop. 

The caffine and sugar wakes them right up.  It also SLAMS the adrenal glands and SPIKES blood sugar to the sky. 

Do this long enough and you wreck your adrenals, develop insulin-related metabolic problems, gain weight and will be tired pretty much all the time… not because God is picking on you… because you unknowingly wrecked your metabolism.

After you read this article, the "unknowing" part will be right out the window because you are about to discover how to beat tirdness and fatigue and have enough energy and vitality naturally to work or play all day and still feel great well into the evening. 

Here we go.

Metabolism is a set of chemical reactions that occur in a living organism in order to maintain life.

When your metabolism works properly you feel good and have abundant energy throughout the day. 

Your energy level depends on a few basic factors that in combination have a massive influence on how you feel.

Factors that control your energy level include; 

1. Oxygen transfer on a cellular level.
2. The effect of chemicals and toxins on energy.
3. The effect of diet on energy.
4. The effect of stress on energy.
5. Other factors only a medical doctor can help you with.

Oxygen Transfer On A Cellular Level

If for any reason your cells do not receive 100% the oxygen they need to function at peak efficiency, tiredness and fatigue is guaranteed.

When you inhale oxygen fills your lungs and is transferred from your lungs into the blood, which circulates throughout your body supplying fresh oxygen to each and every cell.

Essential fatty acids, (EFAs) are essential nutrients that play a crucial role in transferring the oxygen out of the blood and into the cell.

Without sufficient EFAs, cell oxygenation becomes less efficient, which means the cell is forced to operate with reduced oxygen, which means you’ll feel tired and fatigued practically all the time.

EFAs are no longer abundant in the food supply.  In fact, unless your diet is rich in cold water fish and raw seeds and nuts you’re probably not getting all the healthy EFAs you need.

How well would a car engine run if each cylinder was just a little short on power?  Imagine the cumulative effect of a trillion cells, each one just a little short on oxygen – no wonder people are tired!

Exercise and deep breathing help oxygenate your blood by increasing the amount of oxygen taken in by the lungs, but exercise and deep breathing can never overcome the effect of a nutritional deficiency.

If the essential fatty acids your body needs to facilitate oxygen transfer on a cellular level are not available, it doesn’t matter how much oxygen you breathe in, it will be under-utilized.

In today’s world of pre-packaged food a deficiency in essential fatty acids is common because these nutrients are extracted from food during food processing.

EFAs not intentionally removed are chemically distorted through a process called hydrogenation.  Hydrogenation completely destroys the beneficial metabolic value of an essential fatty acid and turns them into a liability inside the body.

It’s no coincidence that as the level of naturally occurring EFAs in food has declined and as hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils have become a staple in most people’s diet, more and more people complain about chronic fatigue.

If you’re constantly tired and fatigued, consider supplementing your diet with high quality plant of fish source EFAs on a daily basis to help ensure efficient oxygen transfer to your cells.  This alone may give you a noticeable jump in energy.

How Chemicals And Toxins Drag You Down

When your great-grandparents were children there were only about 2000 man-made chemicals in existence, today there are over a hundred thousand man-made chemicals and these chemicals are everywhere and found in just about everything.

Hundreds of different chemicals are used in food processing alone. Every day we encounter automobile exhaust, cleaning fluids, detergents, solvents, adhesives, and countless other chemicals.

Just by breathing, drinking, and eating you ingest a  wide variety of chemicals and toxins and processing these chemicals puts a load on your liver and uses up a lot of essential nutrients.

Toxins not completely eliminated from the body build up over time and are stored, primarily in fatty tissue as far away from your organs as possible.

One reason people often feel bad when they start losing weight is because as body fat is broken down stored toxins are released in the blood.

Chemicals and toxins you encounter in the process of daily living drag your system down and drain your energy.

There is no single solution for dealing with chemicals and toxins, however there are some things you can do. 

1. Avoid physical contact with chemicals as much as possible.
2. Read food labels and avoid foods loaded with chemicals, additives, preservatives that do you no specific good; may be harmful; and put a detoxification load on your liver and increase your need for essential nutrients.
3. Engage in no acts of voluntary self-poisoning such as smoking, excessive drinking, and eating candy and junk food.
4. Start your day by squeezing a half a lemon into a glass of water and drink it down.  Lemon water is a great natural detoxifier.  Try this and you’ll be surprised and delighted at how good you’ll feel.
5. Everyday get fresh fruit and /or fresh green vegetables in your diet.  These foods are loaded with nutrients and are rich in fiber to help keep you regular.

A tip for the constipated… an apple a day, (eat the peal), and a little exercise is FAR more effective than any laxative.

How Food Effects Your Energy Level

Your personal energy level and your long-term and shot-term health is powerfully affected by your food choices.

A diet high in candy, junk food, snack foods or high in processed carbohydrates such as rice, bread, pasta, potatoes, crackers, chips and so on is guaranteed to make you tired and fatigued.

It’s a profound mistake to think that carbohydrates give you energy or make you healthy. The opposite is true.  A diet high in carbohydrates robs you of energy and will eventually make you ill.

Carbohydrates stimulate an immediate rise in blood sugar, which gives you a momentary burst of energy, but when insulin is dispatched from the pancreas to lower rising blood sugar, your energy drops right along with the blood sugar.

Insulin not only lowers rising blood sugar, it pulls blood sugar down lower than it was before you ate the candy, soda, bread, pasta, or other processed carbohydrate food resulting in a serious "energy low."

When that energy-low hits the usual response is to reach for another brownie, soda, snack cake, or hand full of chips or jellybeans. The result, more glucose, more rising blood sugar, another insulin response, a new energy low, and so goes the cycle.

Carbohydrates drain energy several different ways.

Insulin causes rapidly rising blood sugar to drop sharply, leaving you feeling exhausted and unable to concentrate. If you try to solve the problem by eating something else that quickly raises blood sugar, the cycle just repeats. Over time, this process results in obesity, food addictions (usually to sweets and /or carbohydrates), chronic fatigue, high blood pressure and can eventually lead to even more serious health problems.

Carbohydrate metabolism increases serotonin levels. Serotonin is the "sleep hormone." No doubt you’ve heard that a warm glass of milk before bedtime helps you sleep. This is true in part because milk is almost pure carbohydrate. A few minutes after consuming anything high in carbohydrates your serotonin levels begin to climb, your eyelids get heavy, you begin to yawn and find it difficult to concentrate on anything except how tired you are.

Sweets, junk food and all highly processed foods are typically high in carbohydrates.  Consuming these foods on a regular basis sets the stage for developing serious nutrient deficiencies becase it takes more nutrients to process these foods than your body gets back from the food.  In other words, eating junk food is like writing a nutritional hot check.

The entire purpose of food is to provide nutrients. Any food requiring more nutrients to process than it gives back in nutritional value is obviously a liability.

A diet is rich in foods that require more nutrients to process than they provide will rob you of energy and increase tiredness and fatigue.

From this simple analysis it’s clear that your food choices have a GIANT effect on your energy level.

Much more can be said about the effect of food on your overall energy level and I say it all in the 5 Steps to Optimal Health Program.

How Stress And Negative Emotions Drain Your Energy

Stress drains your energy, leaves you feeling exhausted and will eventually destroy your health.

• A few hours of emotional upset burns up more energy than a full day of hard physical labor. Nothing will exhaust you faster than losing your temper.
• All negative emotions are devastating from an energy expenditure standpoint and, if maintained over time, negative emotions can destroy your health.
• Anger, guilt, fear, frustration, anxiety, and all negative emotions send your body straight into hormonal chaos.  And the eventual result is always complete exhaustion and a weakened immune system.
• Stress stimulates the flow of adrenaline and adrenaline is an extremely powerful hormone that must be used in some intense physical way or must be quickly eliminated from your body by other means.

Adrenaline gives a 120 pound woman the strength to instantly lift a 2500 pound automobile off an injured child.

If there is no automobile to lift because the adrenaline flood was caused by an argument or getting stuck in a traffic jam, the adrenaline still must be eliminated and this requires nutrients and energy.

Since most people are short on nutrients to start with, anything that demands even more of what’s in short supply is a problem.

Adrenaline produced in response to stress and negative emotions affects your system in a number of specific ways, and unless you are fighting or running for your life, every single one of adrenaline’s effects are extremely negative.

Adrenaline instantly shuts down digestion, increases blood platelets, speeds up your heart, initiates an insulin response, and this is just for starters.

Excess adrenaline turns you into a high tension, coiled steel trap – ready to spring in an instant. From an energy consumption standpoint, this is devastating; no wonder people with a lot of stress are exhausted!

Many people suffering with chronic exhaustion are the victims of their own negative emotions. Any strong negative emotional response results in a flood of adrenaline and a burst of energy followed by a quick energy drain leaving you bone tired and longing for sleep.

If stress or negative emotions control your state of mind, unless you stop it, you’ll eventually wreck your adrenal glands and that leads to an entirely new problem that makes tiredness and fatigue even worse and may eventually land you in a hospital.

In 5 Steps to Optimal Health you get a complete explanation of the stress response and learn effective way to eliminate negative emotions in your life and bring stress under control.

A number of excellent books have been written on stress. One of the very best and my personal favorite is The Stress of Life, by stress research pioneer Dr. Hans Selye, available online or at any bookstore.

One thing you can do to help combat the negative effects of stress is to take a good multivitamin.

Even though it goes unrecognized, most people suffer with nutrient deficiencies of one type or another and stress places enormous demands on your nutrient stores.

If you have a high stress lifestyle, there is every reason to believe you will benefit greatly from a good multivitamin.

Other Factors Only A Doctor Can Deal With

Your energy level is one of the most accurate predictors of your quality of health.  Besides factors discussed in this article many other things can affect your energy.

A simple infection can make you feel like you’ve been run over by a large truck, even with a good night’s sleep.

An exhausted adrenal gland can elevate tiredness to an art form.

If you are tired and fatigued and there’s no obvious reason, like the obvious reasons discussed in this article, don’t wait around and hope for the best.  Go see you medical doctor.

Here are some tips to increase your energy and feel better than ever.

1. Supplement with essential fatty acids
2. Avoid exposure to chemicals and toxins whenever possible and never engage in a willful act of self- poisoning, like smoking, excessive drinking or overuse of over-the- counter or prescription drugs.
3. Avoid candy, junk food, all sugared drinks, processed foods and all food loaded with chemicals and additives you can’t pronounce.
4. Enjoy a healthy diet that includes seasonal fruit and lots of fresh, green vegetables.
5. Reduce stress when you can
6. Eliminate negative emotions, get help if you need to, and learn how to control your emotional response so it doesn’t harm your health.
7. Exercise!  Nothing gives you more energy than falling in love with exercise and doing it regularly.  Just do it!

And perhaps most important of all,  learn everything you possibly can about health and put what you learn to work in your life.

With this information your energy level will soar and tiredness and fatigue will be gone from you life forever!  Congratulations.

Remember,  you can have excellent health, but you won’t get it by accident.  Great health is a choice you can make.  It’s easy when you know how!

Until Next Post… All The Best To You And Yours!

Russell J. Martino, Ph.D Bringing You Health… At The Speed Of Life!

This is a small sample of the practical, usable information in 5 Steps To Optimal Health, a program I wrote in 1999 and have updated continuously every year since.  Learn more here: www.5StepsToOptimalHealth.com

How To Lower Cholesterol Naturally And Still Eat Steak & Why Cholesterol Lowering Drugs Are Almost Never Justified by Russell J. Martino, Ph.D.  The Voice Of Health

A rigidly enforced, low fat, low cholesterol diet can result in lower total cholesterol, but that kind of diet is causes a disproportionate drop in the “good” HDL cholesterol in relationship to the extra sticky “bad” LDL cholesterol and this incresaes disease risk.

It has been repeatedly demonstrated in research that higher total cholesterol with a good HDL to LDL ratio is much healthier than lower total cholesterol with a poor HDL to LDL ratio.

This means that while low fat, low cholesterol diets may result in lower total cholesterol, following such a diet frequently INCREASES the risk of heart disease.

Even though total cholesterol drops, disease risk increases because the level of the "good" HDL that transports sticky LDL cholesterol OUT of the blood drops too low compared to the reduction in the sticky LDL cholesterol and when HDL is too low in relationship to LDL, the blood flows thick with extra sticky LDL cholesterol that can build up in the tissues and arteries.

From Understanding Cholesterol Part One, you discovered that a diet high in carbohydrates stimulates excess insulin to flood into the blood stream and cause the cells to make cholesterol internally.

Given this reality of human biochemistry it’s clear that a diet high in sugar or carbohydrate is the primary cause of cholesterol building up in the blood. This happens regardless of how much or how little cholesterol containing foods you eat along the way.

To put it another way, if you went on a 100% cholesterol free diet for one year, at the end of that year the maximum possible drop in your cholesterol would be 20%. 

Likewise, if you went on a 100% cholesterol only diet for one year, at the end of the year the maximum possible increase in your cholesterol would be 20%.

While 20% is no small amount, wouldn’t you agree that 80% is a lot more?

The problem with cutting cholesterol containing foods from your diet is that you miss out on many healthy, delicious, nutritious foods that ultimately have very little affect on your total cholesterol.

If you never take another bite food containing cholesterol in your life and instead eat only bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, sweets and so on; there’s a 100% certainty your cholesterol and triglycerides would be sky high.

In other words, eat the steak or don’t, but either way if you load up on bread, rice, potatoes and desserts, you’re destined to win the high cholesterol lottery and be awarded a lifetime prescription for dangerous cholesterol lowering drugs. Look honey! I’m a winner!

When food crosses your lips there are only two possible metabolic outcomes.

Depending on your food choices either insulin OR glucagon becomes the dominant hormone in your system for the next several hours.

If insulin climbs in the metabolic drivers seat, you make and store fat at a rapid rate and your cells make cholesterol internally. If glucagon takes control you burn stored fat and your cells harvest cholesterol directly from your blood.

Ultimately this is simple stuff! Since glucagon gives you desirable metabolic results and insulin gives you undesirable ones, the question becomes; what kind diet puts glucagon in the metabolic driver’s seat?

For years we’ve been told eat low fat diets and pile on the carbs because they are low in fat and provide lots of energy.  It turns out that following this advice literally guarantees higher cholesterol. 

The ever-worsening tragedy of obesity, diabetes, and increasing heart disease has proven the advice to radically eliminate all fat from you diet to be astonishingly bad advice and it’s bad regardless of who gives it simply because the facts of human biochemistry are what they are and that’s that.

Here are the facts on carbhydrates and cholesterol so you can decide for yourself.

• Numerous published research studies have shown that a diet low in refined carbohydrates and higher in naturally occurring fats, like the fat in milk, cheese, butter, and meat, not only lower total cholesterol, but result in much healthier HDL to LDL ratios than are attained with diets low in fat and cholesterol.
• Reducing carbohydrates is vitally important because carbohydrates cause excess insulin and excess insulin causes most of the problems.
• If you reduce carbs, you reduce insulin; if you reduce insulin you INCREASE the glucagon; and if you increase glucagon you burn fat, lower triglycerides, lower your total cholesterol, and improve your HDL to LDL ratio.

In other words, pull this off and you will literally improve your health in practically every way measurable.

This is quite a turn of events.

For years we’ve been told to cut the fat, beware cholesterol containing fooda and pile on the carbs because they are low in fat and provide lots of energy.

Metabolically speaking, eating this way produces the exact opposite result.  Cut naturally occuring fat out of your diet, load up on high carb foods and besides gaining weight, your cholesterol and triglycerides will, in all probability, increase dramatically.

Clearly the ever-worsening tragedy of obesity, diabetes, and increasing heart disease has proven this advice to be astonishingly wrong and it is astonishingly wrong regardless of who gives it because the proven facts of human biochemistry do not depend on anyon’s opinion.

The new advice avoids "popular wisdom," "common knowledge," “standard practice” or anyone’s "opinion".  The new advice is based instead on a more complete understanding of medical physiology, cellular biology, and the human endocrine system.

Now for the final question concerning metabolism.

How do you put glucagon securely in the metabolic driver’s seat and begin to enjoy the wonderful health benefits gained from establishing the proper insulin/glucagon balance in your body.

The answer in a word is PROTEIN.

Protein provides significant nutrition without causing a rise in blood sugar, but the key is not just getting protein, the key is getting protein WITHOUT excess carbohydrates.

With or without protein, excess carbohydrates cause a sharp rise in blood sugar and that produces an insulin response, which leads to fat production and storage, high triglycerides, and increased cholesterol.

When you enjoy a delicious protein meal with minimal carbohydrates coming primarily from fresh green vegetables or fresh seasonal fruit, you set up the IDEAL conditions to establish a perfect metabolic relationship between insulin and glucagon.

To help clarify the effect food has on the insulin-glucagon relationship, consider the following facts.

• A normal healthy person has slightly less than one single teaspoon of glucose circulating in their entire blood stream at any single time.
• Molecularly, carbohydrates are nothing more than several different kinds of sugar linked together.
• Once eaten, these sugars are quickly broken down into glucose which instantly enters your blood and causes blood sugar to rise rapidly, just like eating candy does.

Since insulin production is the natural, healthy response to lower rapidly rising blood sugar, it’s easy to understand that consuming sugar, or carbohydrates that break down into sugar, causes a quick rise in insulin.

How many carbohydrates does it take to produce an insulin response?

To answer this keep in mind that 5 grams of carbohydrate equals approximately 1 teaspoon of sugar, which is close to the normal amount of sugar found in the blood.

Now, a single can of one of the better-known brands of soft drinks lists 39 grams of carbohydrates in the nutrition information panel printed on the can.

Divide 39 total carbohydrate grams by 5 grams per teaspoon and you quickly discover that this single can of soda water contains nearly 8 teaspoons of sugar that will actually enter your blood stream.

Since 1 teaspoon of sugar is the normal healthy amount contained in the blood, 8 times that amount is clearly too much, which means if you drink that soft drink a quick rise in blood sugar and a quick insulin response to lower the rising blood sugar is absolutely guaranteed.

How high do insulin levels climb in order to reduce rising blood sugar?

According to the Textbook of Medical Physiology, insulin secreted to bring down rising blood sugar rises dramatically within 15 minutes and peaks 2-3 hours later in ranges that are from 10 to 25 times above normal, and insulin levels remain elevated for hours.

Now that you understand that once stimulated, insulin levels stay elevated for several hours, it’s easy to understand how eating sugary foods or high carbohydrate meals and snacks throughout the day essentially insures that insulin stays abnormally high all day long and that glucagon is left entirely out of the metabolic picture.

The key to activating glucagon and putting it in the metabolic driver’s seat is to eat meals with plenty of protein and, ideally, carbohydrates that come almost entirely from fresh vegetables.

Like cholesterol, as long as you avoid the chemically altered fats that produce dangerous transfatty acids, dietary fat consumption is essentially a non-issue because, much like protein, natural fat is turned into structural raw material needed for cell growth and maintenance.

Keep in mind that your body contains something on the order of a hundred trillion cells and each and every one of them is made from and contains both protein and fat.

Not one single cell in your body is made from carbohydrates. Protein and fat consumption is essential to life. Without a regular supply of protein and fat your health would fail and you’d eventually die.

Carbohydrate consumption is not essential to life. Of course some carbohydrates are healthy and very good for you, but if you never ate another carbohydrate in your life it would not make you sick and you could easily be as healthy as anyone who ever walked the planet.

There is not a single disease associated with a lack of carbohydrates. 

No diseases are associated with lack of carbohydrates because your body can instantly make all the glucose it needs directly from protein and fat. The important point is that to keep excess insulin to a minimum and insure you have enough glucagon in your system, you need meals that contain protein and that are pointedly low in processed and starchy carbohydrates like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, corn, sweet drinks, added sugar and so on.

This next paragraph contains a FABULOUS weight loss tip!

Eating in a way that avoids the production of excess insulin is the single most important thing you can do to lose weight easily, keep it off permanently and improve your health literally in every way measurable.

Excess insulin is a serious threat to your health. Excess insulin is your enemy and excess insulin is produced in your body primarily as a direct result of your food choices. Excess insulin leads to higher triglycerides, higher cholesterol, poor HDL to LDL ratios, higher blood pressure, excess fat production and storage, obesity, insulin resistance, and dramatically increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

Glucagon is your friend and enjoying protein meals with a minimum of processed carbohydrates activates glucagon in your system.

Glucagon is the hormone that causes you to burn stored body fat for energy. When glucagon is in the metabolic driver’s seat it is amazingly easy to establish and maintain your ideal healthy body weight ESPECIALLY when you are getting the essential nutrients. There is an increasing awareness in the medical community that total cholesterol levels are not as significant a predictor of heart disease as they once believed to be as long as HDL and LDL are in proper relationship.

Of course you’d never believe that watching drug commercials on television but the facts remain… excluding the possibility of a malfunctioning liver or some rare genetic malady… NO ONE needs drugs to lower cholesterol.

There is a significant and growing amount of research that clearly shows cholesterol does not cause heart disease and that all the attention on cholesterol has been nothing but a big mistake.

Research now confirms that INFLAMMATION, (c-reactive protein: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-reactive_protein ), is the primary culprit in heart disease and besides that… we’ve known for decades that the dietary consumption of cholesterol containing foods has only a minor effect in determining total cholesterol levels.

There is more coming on Cholesterol so if the subject interests you be sure and subscribe to the Blog so you’ll get the information hot off the press.

Having great health is a choice you can make I’ll help you make you make it every single day!

Until Next Post… All The Best To You And Yours! Russell J. Martino, Ph.D Bringing You Health… At The Speed Of Life!

This is a small sample of the practical, usable information in 5 Steps To Optimal Health, a program thousands have benefited from since 1999 and I have updated every year since. Learn more here: http://www.5StepsToOptimalHealth.com