Six Swaps For Your Best Health

I’ve seen and read a lot of media stories and advice columns on how to drop weight since the new year began. They all seem to have a lot of warnings about what not to eat. But I don’t think it’s a very good idea to constantly deprive yourself. Even worse, I see a lot [...]

Use This “Royal” Food For Better Performance

There I was high in the Andes Mountains in Peru in an area the locals called Puna. It was barren and covered with rocks. The plants were all stunted. I didn’t see any that were higher than about a foot tall. It was so windy it almost knocked me off my feet a few times.

Fortunately, the day was clear and beautiful… but I knew we would be going up over 10,000 feet, so I was careful before I went. I used a native root to help me get used to the thin mountain air.

I was the only one in our party who didn’t get what the locals call soroche, or altitude sickness.

I used it again when I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, and I was the only one on that expedition who didn’t get altitude sickness.

The root I used is called maca, and it turns out that not only does the plant it comes from adapt to high altitude, but when you eat it, the root passes that ability on to you.

It does more than just help you adjust to altitude, though. Peruvian maca has the remarkable property of improving oxygen transport in your body. This increases endurance, energy levels, and mental clarity.

It’s one of the only foods that can survive the frost at high altitudes. It even grows faster as the temperature gets colder. It grows low to the ground, and huddles together making mats on the ground.

Part of the reason maca is so effective at improving the way you use oxygen is its malic acid. It helps cells use sugar for fuel when oxygen levels are low.

Living high up in the Andes is tough, and oxygen is scarce. At 14,000 feet, your oxygen levels are going to be low. Maca is also rich in iron, which you need to make blood and facilitate oxygen transport.

But even if you’re not climbing up into high altitude, you can benefit from maca during other activities. Maca would be great to use before you go skiing. Or you can use it before you work out. Ancient Peruvians fed maca to their armies to improve endurance and stamina.

Or how about if you go snorkeling? If you take maca, you can go down deeper in the water because your body is going to get better oxygenation.

The Skinny On Fat

Guess what they feed a pig if they want to make it as fat as possible as fast as possible?

Low-fat milk.

Because if they give the pig milk with fat in it, the pig gets satiated. It’s satisfied and won’t eat any more. But if they give it low-fat milk, it will eat the grain they feed it forever because it’ll have a deficiency of fat.

Now think of what we’re eating for breakfast in this country…

How To Build Strong Bones That Last a Lifetime

I have some news for you that goes against almost everything you hear on CBS News, or read on WebMD… osteoporosis isn’t caused by a lack of calcium.

Mainstream medicine still has its head in the sand on this. I just read a new study from the Journal of the American Dietetic Association claiming – again – that you aren’t getting enough calcium, and that calcium is what prevents osteoporosis.

Don’t get me wrong, calcium is critical for making bone. But you’re getting enough calcium. It’s in almost everything you can think of – like bread, milk, orange juice, pasta, yogurt, toothpaste, chewing gum, snack crackers and granola bars… it’s even in your water, depending on where you live. That’s a lot of calcium.

In fact, two studies back up what I’ve known for years. Higher calcium intake doesn’t prevent fractures due to bone loss,1 and can damage your heart.

What Made the Indians Shrink

When you lived in your native environment, your body was a high-performance machine. You thrived on muscle meat, organ meat, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Your heart was sturdy. Your jaw was powerful. Your lungs were strong. Your brain was dynamic. And you were quick on your feet…

Unfortunately, we don’t live in our native environment any longer.

Corn and grains migrated into modern culture, and our health changed for the worse. As we replaced high-quality animal protein and fat with a low-fat, high-carb diet, we began the largest epidemic the world has ever known, which is still upon us, and getting worse every day…

You’re Better Off Eating a Cardboard Box

The other day G.S. came to my office for a visit.

I won’t get into his personal medical issue, but the subject of fiber came up.

He said, “Dr. Sears, I’m getting all the fiber I need. Every morning I have my whole wheat toast or a big bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats.”

I’m telling you this because it’s kind of typical. My patients believe they’re getting the right kind of fiber from whole grains.

The truth is all fiber is not created equal. You could call a cardboard box “fiber,” because it’s cellulose and your body wouldn’t digest it.

But it’s not the type of fiber nature intended for you to have in your body…

Turn Off Your Obesity Gene

Have you resigned yourself to gaining weight because it “runs in the family”?

Bad genetics doesn’t have to catch up with you. You can change your genes simply by making a few adjustments to your diet.1

When you eat certain foods, nutrients release hormones that switch your genes on and off. And the nutrients in low-glycemic foods turn off genes that lead to weight gain and diseases that may follow.

We found this out when we studied the response to the glycemic index (GI) in people who have metabolic syndrome…

Converted Die-Hard Vegetarian

More and more die-hard vegetarians are becoming meat eaters. Why the change of heart? It’s simple: They’re plumb tired of being sick and tired.

“For 14 years I felt sick, nauseated, and bloated,” says Lierre Keith. She’s the author of The Vegetarian Myth, one of the most important books on this subject. “Anything I ate became a bowling ball lodged in my stomach.”

Her stomach was distended because her digestion was damaged from her vegetarian diet. To fix it, she had to return to eating meat…

A Teaspoon for a Lifetime

Remember the red stuff your mom put on cuts and scrapes?

It contained iodine, a mineral that kills germs. But iodine is more than just an antiseptic you put on your skin. It’s a trace element essential for life. A teaspoon is all you need in a lifetime, but most people in the U.S. are deficient.

The tragedy is that many doctors don’t recognize iodine’s role in disease. You may suffer from chronic fatigue and hear “there’s no cure.” Your cholesterol or blood pressure is too high, and nothing short of drugs brings it down. Or the doctor tells you the cysts in your breasts or ovaries lead to cancer.

You may have one of these things as a result of a simple iodine deficiency.

Miracle Fatty Acid Adds Years to Your Life

Omega-3s may determine how long you’ll live – and it’s not just because they’re good for your heart.

Omega-3s may now have a profound effect on anti-aging by slowing down the shortening of telomeres.

What are telomeres? They’re protective tips that cap the ends of your DNA. Each time your cells divide, your telomeres get shorter. When your telomeres run down, cell division stops, and your life ends.

While this may sound like a clip from a science fiction movie, it’s real. And it’s about to change the world of medicine. Everything you’ve been told about aging is about to be transformed by this new science.

You may not have heard about this new breakthrough yet. That doesn’t surprise me.

Can Someone Talk You Out of Being Fat?

My patients ask me for diet advice every day. And every day I give them detailed programs that help them lose pound after pound of unwanted fat. But there’s one trick to losing fat and staying lean: You have to follow the program.

It doesn’t matter how well my techniques work. If you don’t follow them, you won’t lose fat. For my patients who have trouble sticking with it, I give them a technique that has nothing to do with diet, fitness or exercise. It’s something called medical hypnosis.

Yesterday’s Turkey Get the Best of You?

Did you overeat on Thanksgiving? Hey, it’s a holiday, right? Who would blame you?

If those extra helpings are still sitting with you the next day, you should read this.

The problem is usually not in your stomach. It’s usually with another part of your gastrointestinal tract called the colon.

It’s does a lot of important work for you. It separates and breaks down water and waste matter. It helps you absorb nutrients and remove harmful substances from the foods you’ve eaten and keeps you “regular.”

Focus to Fight Fat

My patients ask me for diet advice every day. And every day I give them detailed programs that help them lose pound after pound of unwanted fat. But there’s one trick to losing fat and staying lean: You have to follow the program.

Carbs Can Cause Cancer

The other night, my son Dylan and I were in line at the grocery checkout, and I couldn’t help but notice the woman in front of me.

As she unloaded potato chips, pastries, waffles, and pasta onto the conveyor belt, I wondered if she understood the risks she was taking. If she knew empty carbs were linked to breast cancer would she still buy them?

Strong Bones Without the Calcium Pills

Do you think that popping a calcium supplement will make your bones stronger?

Despite what you hear on TV, calcium supplements have little to do with the strength of your bones.

That’s what I tell my patients … and it always surprises them…

Feast and Rest for a Healthy 2009

Dear Member, Losing weight is probably at the forefront of your mind this time of year. So here’s a “doctor-recommended” resolution for you to take into the New Year: work out less and eat more. I’m not kidding. One of the discoveries I’ve made in my years of working with people on fitness and weight [...]