There’s a reason for that, says Total Health Breakthroughs’ Managing Editor Jon Herring. “The fat has been replaced with sugar and refined carbohydrates. And those are more dangerous to your health.”

The mania for low-fat foods has led to a host of health problems, some inconvenient and some downright deadly. These problems are becoming more common as more people jump on the low-fat bandwagon, Jon says. “And to make matters worse, the federal government and much of the medical establishment are advocating a low-fat diet!”

Among the problems caused:

• An explosion of obesity
• An increase in adult-onset diabetes
• Increased hypertension
• More heart disease

“Fats are a healthy and integral part of the healthful diet,” Jon says. “But you need to know what kinds of fats to eat and in what quantities.”

Check out Jon’s latest THB Undercover for all the details.

Yes, these oils are derived from natural sources. But by the time they make it to your grocery store, they are anything but good for you. Corn oil, for example, contains none of the vitamins, minerals, and fiber found in the plant itself.

A number of studies have shown a link between processed oils and heart disease. Processed oils have also been associated with asthma, blindness, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, stroke, and liver problems. Meanwhile, the average American is consuming more than 50 times as much vegetable oil as he once did.

Vegetable oils are not easy to avoid. They are in all salad dressings and processed foods. But some are healthier than others.

Choose coconut oil for cooking. Choose olive oil (which is easily damaged by cooking heat) for salads.

You can buy organic sugar, white flour, potato chips, corn chips, donuts, waffles, sugar-added cereals, pizza, and frozen dinners at your local health food store. All of these products are highly processed. They contain little to no nutritional value, and they have a high glycemic index.

My advice is to skip the same aisles in the health food store as you would in the regular grocery store. Avoid the baked goods, snack foods, cereals, and ice creams. Stick to whole foods and fresh produce.

I tried it recently and found that I ate considerably less. You wouldn’t think the water could have that much of an effect. But it does!

Stay away from foods with these additives, says James LaValle, ND, author of Managing Stress for Better Sleep. You’ll get a better night’s sleep. And you’ll lower the risk of damaging your brain’s sensitive nerves.

And that’s not the only reason to avoid these poisons. They can cause many health problems, including obesity, migraines, memory loss, and hearing loss.

French researchers found that a group of people who normally ate four meals a day actually gained fat when they switched to three meals per day. A second group that did the opposite lost fat. In both groups, the amount of calories consumed remained constant.

When I am busy — which is most of the time — I can easily skip a meal.  Today, for instance, I had a slice of bread and organic peanut butter for breakfast and nothing else but a protein shake until dinner. But now, I’m pretty damn hungry. So there’s a good chance I’ll eat like a horse at dinner. When you eat like that you can easily consume a day’s worth of calories in a single meal.

I think that is one reason why four meals works better than three. You tend to eat smaller portions and you tend to eat better foods. You are not starving so you don’t binge. And you don’t have a sweet tooth for junk.

If you are eating only two or three large meals each day, consider splitting your food intake into at least four meals. Five mini-meals might be even better. That’s what I’ve been doing lately.

The objective is to eat the same amount of food (or less) but spaced out throughout the day.

Here’s my eating routine:

Meal One: 7:00 a.m., while editing poetry. Two fried eggs (organic). One piece of toasted hemp bread. Two ounces of fresh juice. Coffee. Water.

Meal Two: 11:00 a.m., while writing in my studio. A protein bar and water.

Meal Three: 1:00 p.m. or 1:30 p.m., after my workout. Protein shake. Iced tea.

Meal Four: 5:00. Chicken or tuna, greens and water.

Meal Five: 8:00. A well-balanced dinner.

When I eat this way, I feel energized all day. I never have a slump after lunch and I have plenty of pep at night to enjoy my evening at home.

If you’ve had success with this or another regimen, let me know. I’m always interested in hearing about healthy eating programs that work.

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Latest News

• Suspense is building as the kick-off of our Info-Marketing Bootcamp approaches. Who is Mr. X, our mystery speaker? The clues so far: His “Ultimate Traffic Driver” generated $5 million in sales for one product — in just one month. It’s a secret Google doesn’t want you to know. (It cuts way down on their bottom line.) And most Internet marketers don’t even know it exists. Find out more about Mr. X — and the other speakers we have lined up — here.

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“Keep giving.”

“I don’t usually give feedback on articles, but I absolutely LOVED reading ‘Use Your Time to Make Real Money, Not Count Small Change.’ It made me laugh because the message is delivered with such a frank, take-no-prisoners attitude.

“I’m with you, Michael… work hard, work smart, and keep giving.

“Thanks, Michael, for all of the great tips and information over the years.”

B.P.

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Making Money Online Is Not Complicated If You Are Not Greedy – Most Internet marketing programs promise you millions. But they deliver only huge instruction manuals filled with arcane language and sophisticated strategies. Most people could not possibly follow them.

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Sorry, says Total Health Breakthroughs’ Melanie Segala. They’re bad for you. That’s because when the fat is removed manufacturers add starchy processed carbs to keep the food tasty.

So stay away from low-fat. The added carbs could cause heart disease and diabetes.

Dr. Al Sears, my personal physician, has helped me lose more than 25 pounds of fat, reduce my blood pressure, and strengthen my heart with an amazingly easy “eating program” he has developed over several years. It’s based on relatively large quantities of high-quality protein (wild salmon, grass-fed beef, and organic eggs, cheese, milk, beans, and nuts).

How does it work? By exceeding your body’s daily protein requirement, you boost your metabolism. As a result, you stop storing fat and start burning it.

For an active person like me, Dr. Sears recommends 1 gram of protein per day per pound of lean body mass (LBM).

Lean body mass is the weight of your body minus the fat. (There are several simple ways you can measure your own LBM. I’ll explain how to do it in a future issue.). So a 180-pound man with 15 percent body fat would have an LBM of 153 pounds. And he should be eating 153 grams of protein a day. To give you an idea of what that means, an egg has 7 grams of protein, 6 ounces of fish has 42 grams, and a cup of cashew nuts has 21 grams.

I crave protein, so this is easy for me. I eat eggs every morning for breakfast and all sorts of high-quality protein throughout the day. My snacks are high-protein. And my dinners are a combination of proteins and organic vegetables.

One big benefit you will notice right away: By eating more protein and less starchy carbs, your appetite will decrease dramatically. Try it. Let me know how it works for you.

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Latest News

Have you signed up for our sister publication, Total Health Breakthroughs, yet? As an ETR reader, you’ll get it free for six months.

Check out Melanie Segala’s latest piece to see what THB is all about. She writes about the one supplement you should be taking right now to boost energy and immunity, protect your heart, and more.

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In fact, if you’re using the wrong oils in your cooking, you could be aging faster than you should, developing serious hormonal problems, “gumming” up your pipes, and even encouraging cancer.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to one of the healthiest oils you can eat – avocado oil.

Here are four good reasons to stock up on this age-defying ingredient:

• Trim your tummy. Avocado oil is one of the richest sources of monounsaturated fats on the planet. These healthy fats help lower insulin (aka, the fat storage hormone) and help reduce belly fat.

• Saute safely. Thanks to having a flashpoint of 500 degrees F, this full-flavored oil is excellent for cooking at high temperatures.

• Up your antioxidants. Avocado oil enables your body to absorb 17 times more carotenoids – the powerful antioxidants that give your salad its vibrant green, yellow, and red colors and guard your cells from free radical damage.

• Guard your vision. Avocado oil has twice as much lutein as olive oil. Lutein is a nutrient that provides strong protection against macular degeneration – the leading cause of blindness.

With so many delicious uses – and so many reasons to use it – you need to make this “miracle” oil a mainstay in your healing kitchen. Look for the Olivado brand at Target.

[Ed Note: Most so-called "healthy" oils are loaded with free radicals, just waiting to be drizzled on your salad so they can attack your DNA. But if you're a savvy shopper, you can spot them from a Texas mile. Kelley Herring's new book, Your Plate, Your Fate, will show you how.]

It’s true that our bodies are exposed to more toxins now than ever. And we do need to be aware of this fact. But drastic, costly methods for detoxing aren’t necessary (or even proven).

Effective detoxification may be as close as your backyard.

Research published in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism showed that vitamin D can help increase intracellular levels of the master antioxidant and detoxifier glutathione. In fact, vitamin D is such a powerful detoxifier that the researchers found it even helped escort mercury out of the body. This is especially impressive because mercury is a dangerous heavy metal that’s notorious for being hard to remove.

Unfortunately, more than 50 percent of us are deficient in this essential “D”-toxifying nutrient. To kick up your natural cleansing system, aim for 15-30 minutes of sunlight, 3-5 days a week, or take 2,000-5,000 IU of vitamin D daily.

[Ed Note: Did you know that there's a hidden ingredient in some carb-rich foods that reduces your body's production of glutathione? Learn where it's found and how to avoid it in Kelley Herring's new book series Your Plate, Your Fate.]