Do NOT eat these "healthy" cookies

If you try to find a "healthy" cookie, even at a health food store, it's nearly impossible!

For example, most "gluten free" cookies that I see at health food stores are still LOADED with sugar, rice syrup or agave syrup, have almost ZERO fiber, and just simply replace wheat flour with rice flour or another high glycemic flour that instantly digests into sugar in your body, spiking your insulin and triggering extra body fat to be deposited.

Another example is "low-fat" cookies that I often see, which simply replace some of the fats with extra sugars and other carbohydrates, giving you an even WORSE mess for your blood sugar and hormones than if you just simply ate a full-fat cookie.

The other horrendous example is that I've seen a few brands that tried to create high-protein cookies but use estrogenic and genetically-modified soy protein as the main protein source... NO THANKS!

But there's not one single cookie I've found on the market that is truly high-fiber, high-protein, gluten-free, soy-free, low-carb, and also rich in healthy fats for steady controlled energy without spiking your blood sugar levels. 

Until TODAY!

That's right... my good friends at Biotrust Nutrition have invented the first truly healthy cookie that's also seriously delicious!

I was even personally involved in working with Biotrust on the ideas for developing a healthy cookie that tastes great, and I know you're going to love this...

Introducing the brand-new soft and chewy Biotrust Frosted Oatmeal Raisin Protein Cookies!

12 Grams of Time-Released Protein... and 6 grams of craving-crushing fiber per cookie!  This means more controlled blood-sugar levels and balanced hormones compared to eating a regular cookie.

Yes, each cookie contains 12 grams of the highest quality fast and slow acting protein, including Micellar Casein, the Rolls Royce of protein supplements.  That means you'll get as much protein in 1 Biotrust cookie as you get in 2 hard boiled eggs... Very cool!

Furthermore, the protein in BioTrust Protein Cookies is sourced from cows not treated with the dangerous growth hormone rBGH, and rBST. Like you, we want to avoid putting synthetic, unnatural hormones into our bodies whenever possible.  Biotrust protein cookies are certified hormone and antibiotic free! 

But we didn’t stop there…

BioTrust Protein Cookies are 100% All-Natural and contain 6 grams of blood-sugar stabilizing fiber per cookie!

That means you won't find any trans fats, artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners in these scrumptious cookies… NONE.  Instead, these cookies are sweetened naturally with a new stevia extract and a naturally sweet form of fiber call inulin—providing 6 whopping grams of fiber per cookie.

What’s more: all of our cookies are non-GMO sourced and contain ZERO wheat, soy, trans fats or gluten.  That's right, a delicious and healthy gluten-free cookie, that's NOT loaded with sugar like most cookies, even so-called "healthy gluten-free" varieties that are typically a blood sugar disaster waiting to happen.

But what’s truly awesome is that even though BioTrust Protein Cookies™ are extremely nutritious…

They Taste So Delicious You’ll Look Forward To Them Just Like Mom's Oven-Fresh Cookies!

That's right, the premium nutrition found in BioTrust Protein Cookies™ doesn't sacrifice taste one bit!  You see, BioTrust Protein Cookies™ taste exactly like a cookie should.  In fact, you might mistake these moist and chewy cookies for the same warm, fresh-baked favorites your mother used to pull out of the kitchen oven. (Remember how good the house smelled when mom baked cookies?)

But don’t take my word for it …

Stock up today during this pre-release sale, and prove it to yourself… You Either LOVE These Healthy Cookies or They’re FREE!

Simply put, Biotrust stands behind these great-tasting protein cookies with an industry-leading One-Year 100% Money-Back Guarantee.  If you don’t agree that these are the best-tasting, healthiest cookies on the planet… you get your money back…all of it!

So what's the price for a box of such high quality, premium cookies that actually taste as great as their nutrition profile?

Great question!

Each 12-count box of these delicious GIANT Frosted Oatmeal Raisin protein cookies retails at $29.95, but to celebrate the release of these amazingly healthy, all-natural and outrageously tasty cookies Biotrust has agreed to make them available via a private Buy 3, Get 1 Free sale!

NOTE: You can NOT get these cookies via the regular website yet and won't be able to for some time. They are also NOT available in stores. The ONLY way you can get your hands on them now is via this exclusive email and this private, special Buy 3, Get 1 FREE sale.

To secure your taste-test of the exclusive Buy 3, Get 1 FREE sale and be the first to try and LOVE these brand new, insanely deliciously high-protein, high-fiber cookies, just go to the page below right now to be taken to Biotrust's ultra-secure 256-bit shopping cart and your entire family will be enjoying these soft, chewy, moist and delicious all-natural flab-fighting cookies in no time!

==> BioTrust Giant Frosted Oatmeal Raisin High-Protein Cookies (Buy 3, Get 1 FREE)


And remember, you are 100% protected with the BioTrust industry-leading 1 Year Satisfaction Guarantee, so there's nothing to lose apart from the unwanted body fat that unhealthy snacks are continuing to add to your waistline.

Try these delicous high-fiber, high-protein giant cookies... and enjoy one of the best flat-belly snacks you can choose!

PS -- more flavors of these healthy giant cookies are coming in a few months.  But definitely try these giant frosted oatmeal raisin cookies right now while they're available!


Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

Is "paleo" the healthiest human diet? (controversial)

The hottest thing in nutrition over the last few years is the "Paleo" style of eating (aka, Paleolithic nutrition).  In some ways, it's a simple concept, and it's common sense... eat a similar hunter-gatherer diet like our ancestors did for over 1.9 Million years, and since this is the diet that the human digestive system is most adapted to during 99% of our existence, good health will follow, and getting a lean body becomes easier.

Some paleo authors though forbid even tiny amounts of grains and dairy in their recommendations, while other mainstream health authors and experts just aren't convinced yet (or haven't been explained the science yet) that whole grains can possibly be bad for you in any way. 

My thought on this is that not all grains are necessarily bad for you, but some are a LOT worse than others... this is where I see "paleo" nutrition in a slightly different light than some very strict Paleo authors that advise to 100% eliminate ALL grains.  I don't quite see it that way.

A couple things that I keep in mind in terms of deciding on the healthiest paleolithic nutrition plan:

1.  For people that are extremely active such as long distance bikers, runners, and athletes that do intense activity for several hours per day, the extra calories from starch that grains give can be useful. The extra calories and carbs from grains can also be useful to those looking to build muscle mass. 

However, there's no reason at all that these types of people can't fuel their carb needs with potatoes, sweet potatoes, fruit, squash, quinoa, and other non-grain carb sources, and still get the calories and carbs they need without getting all of the gluten and other problematic anti-nutrients that are in many popular grains.

2.  Some grains are worse than others.  For example, rice and oats still have anti-nutrients, but have a lot less anti-nutrients than wheat does.  Rice and oats also don't contain gluten (unless they contain traces from processing machines that also processed wheat or barley), and as you know, chronic gluten intake can irritate the gut and cause internal inflammation in a large majority of us, even if we're not Celiac.

This means that rice and oats are more "neutral" than wheat is, and if you're extremely active and burn boatloads of calories with hours of exercise each day, then rice and oats can be a reasonable source of calories, although still not necessarily the "best" carb source per se.

However, if you're an average person that exercises a couple days a week, and not daily for hours each day, there's really no need for the extra calories and carbs that even "neutral" grains provide. 

3.  It's important to know that grains are NOT "essential" to the human diet in any way.  After all, before agriculture started approx 10,000 years ago, grains were just a very tiny % of the human diet, dating back almost 2 Million years. 

Currently, it's estimated that the average modern day person obtains 67% of their total calories come from only 3 foods -- wheat, corn, and soy and their derivatives. 

However, ancient paleolithic humans most likely only consumed about 1 or 2% of their total calories from wild grains that they could have gathered.  Mass produced grains to make bread, baked goods, and pasta that are modern day staples simply didn't exist back then.

This means that for 99% of human existence, humans only ate grains in a very tiny fraction of their total calories, and for the last 1% of human existence, we now eat 67% of our total calories from wheat, corn, and soy alone (although technically, soy is not a grain...it's a legume, but soy has it's own health issues as well).

Ancient paleolithic humans were very active hunting and gathering each day (and probably fighting off predators too in most locations!), yet somehow us humans managed to "fuel our bodies" for almost 2 Million years without the need for large amounts of grains like modern day athletes resort to as the go-to carb source.

Although I'm not personally a competing athlete in anything, I'm a very active skier, mountain biker, hiker, and weight lifter.  But I don't fuel my body on grains, and I don't necessarily fuel my body on primarily carbohydrates either.  And I feel amazing every single day!

I tend to prefer to fuel my body primarily from healthy fats like avocados, nuts, egg yolks, seeds, olive oil, coconut oil, and grass-fed butter and cream.  But I still also fuel my body with small to moderate amounts of carbs each day from eating loads of veggies, raw honey in my morning or afternoon tea, maybe a few potatoes or sweet potatoes each week, squash, and one or two pieces of fruit a day.  This type of plan replicates the ancient paleolithic hunter-gatherer diet much more closely than these modern plans loaded with grains at every meal.

I'm sure we'll talk more about this topic in upcoming newsletters, but let's look at the big picture here...

The way I see it is that you can probably find a lot of examples of people you know that eat a lot of grains and yet remain lean, and seemingly healthy.  This doesn't mean that gluten and other anti-nutrients they are consuming daily aren't causing at least some form of moderate internal inflammation, blood sugar problems, or minor digestive problems though in many of these grain-eaters.

I personally don't avoid grains altogether, but I would say that I only eat grains about 1 day per week, and I try to get variety when I do instead of only one type of grain, so that I'm not always consuming the same types of anti-nutrients which might affect specific minerals from being absorbed in the body.  This can lead to some mineral deficiency with over-consumption of certain grains too often.

With all of this said, I think the nutrition community is starting to become more acutely aware of some of the health problems of eating too much grains, specifically modern-day hybridized wheat and GM corn (which is 90% of the corn products in the store).  The articles below will help you explore some of the problems that scientists are finding with too much wheat and corn intake:

11 Ways that "whole wheat" can harm your body (including joint problems, skin problems, visceral fat, diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune diseases and more)

These 4 common foods accelerate aging (avoid these to fight aging)

How my dad reduced his wheat intake and his chronic joint pain immediately stopped (and his "love handles" he's had his entire adult life disappeared too)

Shocking blood sugar test results from eating "whole wheat"  (can wheat be worse than pure sugar?)

Do bread and cereal CAUSE heart disease?  (effects on LDL particle size)

PS -- if you liked today's articles, please share this page with any of your friends, family, or co-workers that would enjoy it.

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

The 5 WORST foods that cause pain

When you think of what to eat for dinner, you probably don’t take your aching joints or throbbing back into account. But you should.

The food you eat can play a major role in how you feel – and that includes your physical aches and pains.

We're not talking about foods like beans that might make you uncomfortably gassy... What we're talking about here is pain from chronic inflammation – the kind linked to arthritis, other joint problems, muscle pain and more.

Certain foods are highly inflammatory, which makes sense because inflammation is part of your body’s immune response – and 70 percent of your immune system cells are in your gut.

While inflammation is beneficial in the short term (it helps your wounds and infections heal), when inflammation becomes chronic – as it can when you eat pro-inflammatory foods – it contributes to disease and exacerbates pain.

That being said, following are some of the worst foods for pain, which should be strategically avoided if you want to minimize your level of pain.

The 5 Worst Pain-Causing Foods (avoid and protect your joints)

#1. Vegetable Oils (Polyunsaturated)

Soybean oil, corn oil, canola, safflower and sunflower oils are examples of vegetable oils that are rich in omega-6 fats, which most Americans consume far too much of (pick up any processed food from the grocery store and you’ll probably see soybean oil or corn oil on the label). Excess refined omega-6 fats are highly inflammatory, which is why it’s important to limit the amount of vegetable oils you consume.  Olive oil, coconut oil, macadamia oil, avocado oil, and grass-fed butter are all healthier choices.  My article here describes the healthiest vs the WORST cooking oils.

#2. Blackened, Charred or Barbecued Foods

Any time a food is cooked at high temperature without water and browned (this includes foods that are broiled, fried, grilled, blackened, barbecued, etc.), toxic advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are formed. These are different than endogenous AGEs formed from eating too much grains and sugar that keeps your blood sugar elevated.  Instead, AGEs from browned or charred foods are called exogenous AGEs, and are readily absorbed by your body, where they wreak havoc, causing internal inflammation.

While grilling, frying and broiling your food is known to increases AGEs, other cooking methods that use water such as stewing, boiling, braising, crock pot or steaming will instead help minimize the amount of exogenous AGEs (and HCAs) formed in your food.  I know it's not realistic for most people to eliminate grilled foods fully, so we'll show you below some herbs that help to counteract the toxic effects of grilled or charred foods.

#3. French Fries

These make the list because they’re a common source of synthetic trans fats, which come from foods that contain partially hydrogenated oil. Trans fats are strongly linked to systemic, chronic inflammation … and are so bad for you that the Institute of Medicine recommends you simply keep trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible or avoid fully.

French fries are by no means the only culprit; trans fats are also commonly found in savory snacks (like microwave popcorn), frozen pizzas, cake, cookies, pie, margarines and spreads, ready-to-use frosting, and coffee creamers.

#4. Sweets

This one is probably obvious by now as you know how bad sugar is for you.  Cookies, candy, ice cream, brownies, doughnuts … all of these are loaded with sugar, which drives up your blood sugar and insulin, along with levels of inflammatory messengers called cytokines.

#5. Bagels, Muffins, Breads, and Pasta

Any member of the refined carbohydrate family – white bread, muffins, pasta, bagels, etc. – drives up inflammation due to the same reasons as sugar. In fact, there’s not much difference between refined carbs like a bagel or muffin, and a heaping serving of sugar, as far as your body is concerned. 

In addition, almost all of these foods are wheat-based, which has another reason it can cause inflammation -- due to gluten and other anti-nutrients found in wheat that cause internal inflammation in your body.  You can read here about 11 ways that "whole wheat" damages your body.


Herbs and nutrients that FIGHT inflammation and HALT pain:

Certain foods, herbs and teas are naturally anti-inflammatory and help to eliminate pain in your body.  But there are some natural substances that you might not ordinarily eat, but which are among the most powerful on the planet for stopping inflammation – and related pain – in its tracks.

For instance... Turmeric, Devil’s Claw, Boswellia Extract, Bromelain … each of these is powerful in its own right, but when they’re combined together, and added to even more anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving ingredients like proteolytic enzymes (these work throughout your entire body to help it fight inflammation, dissolve scar tissue and more), the result is VERY powerful.

You can see 12 natural ingredients that STOP pain and fight inflammation here. 

These 12 anti-inflammatory ingredients are some of the most powerful, safest, and most effective pain relievers in the world – and they’re a must if you’re currently suffering with pain (and especially if you eat any of the highly inflammatory foods mentioned above!).

I'd highly suggest trying this powerful combination of enzymes, spices, and herbs to control inflammation:

Eliminate pain with these 12 herbs, spices, and enzymes


PS -- if you liked today's article, please fwd this email on to any of your friends, family, or co-workers that would enjoy it.

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

How to lose 0.71 lbs per day -- break homeostasis

I've got an amazing article for you today -- it's all about learning how to work 'with your body' when it comes to weight loss and healthy living.  When you approach your health this way, it's much easier to get sustainable results.  Make sure you read every word that Dr. Kareem wrote below -- this guy knows how to help you change your body really quickly. 

enjoy!

- Mike

How To Shed 0.71 Pounds Per Day
by Dr. Kareem F. Samhouri - CSCS, HFS

Fat loss isn't complicated -- the methods behind fat loss can be -- instead of focusing on 'which' method is the most important or most reliable, think about your health logically.  Weight loss (or gain) is all about peaks and valleys, and there's a physiological reason for this:  homeostasis. 

Homeostasis is a fancy term for describing when your body is efficient, or in a state of equilibrium. 

When your body reaches a new weight and stays there for a little while, it becomes incredibly good at protecting this 'zone' of weight.  The reason being that every fluctuation in your body results in a multi-system approach to adapt to new demands -- your heart requires a different strength per beat to get blood to your toes and fingers, your lung capacity changes depending upon the size of your belly, and your digestive tract gets re-positioned slightly depending upon the distribution of fat on your body. 

When your body finally adapts to its new position and its new demands, it gets very efficient -- the goal of your body is to use the least amount of energy for any given process -- this way, you never run out of energy and end up passing out.  This state of 'body balance' is referred to as 'homeostasis' and is well understood in all scientific research to be how our bodies work.

Naturally, we need to disrupt 'homeostasis' for fat loss to take place; otherwise, your body will actually seek to put the weight back on, as every time it has to adjust, it becomes inefficient all over again.  The time period for 'body adaptation' to take place is 6 weeks, during which time 'plasticity' takes place.  Plasticity refers to a permanent neurological change in your body that allows your body to recognize something new as its own.  Here's a common example of plasticity that you probably already know, but without the fancy terminology:

Muscle memory -- "It's like riding a bike." -- Despite many years without riding a bike, we seem to be able to re-learn this skill within a couple of minutes.  This is a result of our brains recognizing that we're attempting to ride a bike and choosing nerve tracts to carry out the movement that are highly efficient and were used in the past.

Riding a bike is easy for life once you learn it properly. 

Now, what happens when we apply 'plasticity' and 'homeostasis' to weight loss?

1. First, your bodies adapt to a new demand (diet and exercise program), which causes you to lose weight.
   
2. Second, we sustain your new weight for 6 weeks, helping your body recognize this new bodyweight as 'normal.'  Your body responds by creating 'homeostasis,' or a balanced state where it becomes efficient at this weight. 
   
3. Third, we disrupt the balance of your body all over again and start on a new fat loss or body image goal. 

By using peaks and valleys in your fat loss approach, we are nearly eliminating any chance of rebound weight gain.  Plus, you'll be able to lose a lot of fat quickly, which feels good -- losing weight quickly, balancing out, and then doing it again allows you to see a result in the mirror, stay motivated, and continue to progress. 

Fat loss also becomes easy for life once you learn how to communicate with your body and sustain any results you get. 

From now on, let's 'Interval Train Fat Loss' -- use peaks and valleys to communicate with your body that it's time for change, how to cope with the change, and then how to produce some more.  Let your body learn over time that when you want to lose fat, you mean it, and you're going to get results you can handle.  Your body will stop fighting with you when you allow it enough time to balance out your hormones, movement planning, digestive issues, respiration, and circulation.  This all starts with something I've termed 'Body Self-Communication' -- learning how to tell your body when you're ready for change, and how to listen when it responds.

Losing 0.71 pounds per day and keeping it off is as simple as developing a short-term plan, holding onto your results for 6 weeks, and then repeating the plan.  During your peak periods, losing up to a pound per day should be very doable with the right plan -- and, most importantly, you'll be able to hold onto your results by cycling in valleys along the way. 

Want To Look 10 POUNDS Lighter in just 14 Days?  -- read the exact formula. 
             (Dr. Kareem's exact method)


Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

The 1 food he reduced to eliminate his love handles

My dad has always been in pretty good shape most of his life right into his 60's.  He's always been a hard worker (he built our house that I grew up in with his own 2 hands) and very active with outdoor activities most of his life.

And he's also always eaten a pretty healthy diet with a lot of wild game meats, wild caught fish (he's a super fisherman), and lots of home grown produce that he grew himself in his huge garden.  But in addition to those super healthy foods, he's also had a lifelong addiction to cereals, breads, pasta, and ice cream (we'll talk more in an upcoming newsletter about what we found out about what all these grains have been doing to his health over the years)

About a year ago, my pops and I were talking about one of my clients that had great results and had lost a good amount of fat.  So he asked me,

"Mike, I've always been in good shape, but I've had these love handles my entire adult life for at least 40-50 years now" (he's 66 currently)

My response to him was something like this,

"Dad, you eat healthier than 90% of the population because of all of your wild game, fish, and garden produce, but I honestly think that you eat far too many grain-based foods with your daily bowl of cereal for breakfast, the bread you have during lunch, and the pasta or noodles you have several times a week at dinner... oh, and all that sugar from the ice cream every night for dessert. I think if you reduce the grains and sugars, you'll have no problem getting rid of those love handles that you've had your entire life"

My pops nodded and stored the advice away, but didn't change his daily eating habits yet at this point.  Fast forward another 6 months or so, and I gave him a copy of the book Wheat Belly, which talks not only about the effects of wheat in your body on blood sugar and body fat, but also the numerous health effects of eating too much wheat.  It was some of those health effects of eating too much wheat, such as the increased risk of heart disease, that finally got my pops to drastically reduce his wheat intake.

He went from eating cereal 7 mornings a week, bread 7 days a week, and pasta 2-3 days a week, to basically only having 1 day a week now that he eats these types of wheat based foods.

Fast forward another 6 months, and we just went back to visit my parents for the holidays last week.  After 6 months of dramatically reducing his wheat intake (and replacing those calories with healthy fats from more nuts, avocados, grass-fed dairy, etc), he looked noticeably slimmer...

In his own words, "Mike, I took your advice and cut down my cereals and breads to only 1 day a week, and those love handles I've had for 50 years... GONE... completely GONE!"

Not only that, but he also told me this surprising side benefit, "Surprisingly, once I stopped eating so much wheat, all the joint pain I've had for years is almost 100% GONE!"

Pretty cool huh!  This doesn't surprise me, and I've heard similar results with other clients of mine that have dramatically reduced their grain foods.

I'm not saying reducing grains is the miraculous cure for everything under the sun, but as you'll see in this article, there are at least 11 reasons why too much wheat in your diet can be harming your body.

I think my dads results with reducing wheat in his diet prove some pretty powerful benefits to his body!  He didn't even fully eliminate wheat... he just drastically reduced his intake from 7 days a week to 1 day a week.  And his love handles and joint pain he's had for as long as he can remember are completely GONE!

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer