Thermogenesis for Visceral Fat Loss

By Michael Colgan, Ph.D. 

Thermogenesis is the creation of heat in the body. It occurs when you eat and when you exercise, but also through an extraordinary mechanism involving brown adipose tissue (BAT), which permits the production of heat directly from body fat by bypassing the steps of the energy cycle (1).
A hibernating bear, for example, can lose 300 pounds of fat while it sleeps through the winter. Its body converts body fat to BAT, then creates the heat required to prevent freezing to death in the winter. And the bear does not have to move a muscle!
We are not as efficient as bears at burning fat with BAT. Nevertheless, the amount of BAT in the body of a 40-year-old man or woman is still sufficient to use 10 to 15 percent of their total energy.
But you have to get your BAT moving. Turn up the inner heat. Exposure to cold is very effective. It’s a bit extreme, but it works.
I am busy at my annual task of convincing clients to sit and meditate under a freezing waterfall, or lie in the snow in swimmers by the pool (frozen). These are popular methods for fat loss. I wear a 30-below suit with hood and balaclava so they don’t notice my hysterics.
Usual weight loss programs don’t activate BAT at all. Quite the opposite! If you go on a sudden food restriction diet, the body automatically turns down its heat production and its energy production as a defense mechanism to conserve its fat. That’s why dieters generally feel cold and tired.
You Can Increase BAT Activity
If you can’t face the freeze, there are several things in natural foods that raise BAT activity nicely. The best known is caffeine from coffee. Controlled studies show that a cup of ground arabica coffee on an empty stomach in the morning increases thermogenesis and burns body fat for up to four hours afterwards (2,3).
Green tea also has a separate thermogenic effect, originally thought to be because of its caffeine content. Recent studies, however, show that a group of chemicals called catechins in green tea are mostly responsible. The main catechin in green tea, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), induces thermogenesis by itself (2-3).
In a placebo-controlled study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, two groups of 19 healthy, middle-aged men used a moderately reduced-calorie diet, plus tea for 12 weeks. Green tea extract was added to the tea of 19 subjects to yield high levels of catechins. Tea without the extract, containing only low levels of catechins, was used by the 19 controls. The group consuming tea with high catechins lost an average of 5.4 pounds of body fat, approximately twice the body fat loss of the control group. Much of the loss was visceral fat from the belly and fat from the thighs.
The researchers concluded: “Body weight, BMI, waist circumference, body fat mass, and subcutaneous fat area were significantly lower in the green tea extract group than in the control group” (4).
You don’t have to freeze off the flab. Lose that belly fat nice and easy with Isagenix. Brain Boost & Renewal contains high levels of EGCG from green tea, and e+ shot contains both green tea caffeine and catechins. Take both before your workout and green tea with every 400- to 600-calorie meal or an IsaLean Shake to support improved weight loss. It’s a great way to fine-tune abs and buns for the summer, with the bonus of a better brain.

References:
1. Stock MJ. Thermogenesis and brown fat: relevance to human obesity. Infusionstherapie, 1989;16(6):282-284.
2. Wolfram S, Wang Y, Thielecke F. Anti-obesity effects of green tea: from bedside to bench. Mol Nutr Food Res, 2006;50(2):176-187.
3. Nagao T, Komine Y, Soga S, Meguro S, Hase T, Tanaka Y, Tokimitsu I. Ingestion of a tea rich in catechins leads to a reduction in body fat and malondialdehyde-modified LDL in men. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005;81(1):122-129.
4. Nagao T, Hase T, Tokimitsu I. A green tea extract high in catechins reduces body fat and cardiovascular risks in humans. Obesity, 2007;15(6):1473-1483.

 

170 Scientific Reasons to Lose the Soy in Your Diet

by Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist on September 29, 2012

With all the loads of scientific data available that soy is not a healthy part of anyone’s diet, it shocks me how many folks are still on the “soy is good for you” bandwagon – even people who should know better like your doctor!

I just got an email from a reader the other day who had been to multiple doctors, both holistic and conventional, and all but one of them were telling her that plenty of soy in her diet would help her menopause symptoms.
Be careful folks.  It’s dangerous out there! You really need to do your research and be on your toes at all times when it comes to nutritional advice even from someone in a white coat!
For those of you who just sat down because you are so taken aback by the notion that soy is not actually the healthfood you thought it was, here are 170 scientific reasons to back up this assertion.

Please note that fermented soy in small, condimental amounts as practiced in traditional Asian cultures is fine for those who have healthy thyroid function.  Only miso, tempeh, natto and soy sauce (IF traditionally brewed) fall under this category.  In addition, if you want to sprinkle a few edamame on your salad or have a few small cubes of tofu in your miso soup from time to time, that is fine too.   Just don’t make it a regular part of your diet!
If you have any sort of thyroid issues going on, however, it is really the best policy to avoid all soy all the time as soy is a potent goitrogen (thyroid suppressor) even if fermented.
Soy Wake Up Call #1
A 1991 study found that eating only 2 TBL/day of roasted and pickled soybeans for 3 months to healthy adults who were receiving adequate iodine in their diet caused thyroid suppression with symptoms of malaise, constipation, sleepiness, and goiters (Nippon Naibunpi Gakkai Zasshi 1991, 767: 622-629)!
Still think munching on edamame instead of popcorn is a healthy habit?
Soy Wake Up Call #2
Six premenopausal women with normal menstrual cycles were given 45 mg of soy isoflavones per day.  This is equivalent to only 1-2 cups of soy milk or 1/2 cup of soy flour!   After only one month, all of the women experienced delayed menstruation with the effects similar to tamoxifen, the anti-estrogen drug given to women with breast cancer (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1994 Sep;60(3):333-340).
 
Soy Wake Up Call #3
Dietary estrogens in the form of soy foods were found to have the potential to disrupt the endocrine system with the effects in women similar to taking the breast cancer drug tamoxifen (Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 1995 Jan;208(1):51-9).
Soy Wake Up Call #4
Estrogens consumed in the diet at low concentrations were found to stimulate breast cells much like DDT to increase enzymatic activity which leads to breast cancer (Environmental Health Perspectives 1997 Apr;105 (Suppl 3):633-636).
Soy Wake Up Call #5
The soy isoflavones genistein and daidzein appear to stimulate existing breast cancer growth indicating risk in consuming soy products if a woman has breast cancer. (Annals of Pharmacotherapy 2001 Sep;35(9):118-21).
Soy Wake Up Call #6
Direct evidence that soy isoflavones genistein and daidzein suppress the pituitary-thyroid axis in middle-aged rats fed 10 mg soy isoflavones per kilo after only 3 weeks as compared with rats eating regular rat chow (Experimental Biology and Medicine 2010 May;235(5):590-8).
Soy Wake Up Call #7
Don’t eat soy when you are pregnant ladies!  Scientific research has shown that the developing male fetus which is exposed to soy phytoestrogens may suffer from higher susceptibility to prostate cancer later in life (Prostate 1994;24(2):67-78).
Soy Wake Up Call #8
Keep that soy away from your daughters!   Dietary genistein (soy phytoestrogen) in developing female rats had the effect of significantly accelerated puberty (Toxicol Sci 1999 Oct;51(2):236-44).
Soy Wake Up Call #9
Hey guys! Soy protein powder strips your masculinity!  A study of 12 men aged 18 years and older experienced a 19% drop in serum testosterone in only 28 days when supplemented with 56 grams of soy protein powder over that same time period (Prev 2007;16:829–33).
Soy Wake Up Call #10
Do NOT feed soy formula to your babies!  Female newborns who are orally exposed to genisin, the glycosylated form of genistein (soy phytoestrogen) experienced harm to the reproductive system in the form of “delayed vaginal opening… abnormal estrous cycles, decreased fertility, and delayed parturition.” (Environmental Health Perspective 2009 Dec;117(12):1883-9).
Convinced yet?   I don’t know about you, but ten reasons is plenty for me!   Still interested to see the remaining 160 reasons?  My friend Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of the must read The Whole Soy Story, has compiled the rest of the list for you if you click here.

www.22s.com/weightloss

World Renown Heart Surgeon Speaks Out On What Really Causes Heart Disease

VERY GOOD READ for your Sunday. THIS is EXACTLY "why" we recommend the program we do!! Local Dr's have spoken on the same!

World Renown Heart Surgeon Speaks Out On What Really Causes Heart Disease
Dr. Dwight Lundell
Prevent Disease
Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:58 CST

We physicians with all our training, knowledge and authority often acquire a rather large ego that tends to make it difficult to admit we are wrong. So, here it is. I freely admit to being wrong. As a heart surgeon with 25 years’ experience, having performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries, today is my day to right the wrong with medical and scientific fact.

I trained for many years with other prominent physicians labeled "opinion makers." Bombarded with scientific literature, continually attending education seminars, we opinion makers insisted heart disease resulted from the simple fact of elevated blood cholesterol.

The only accepted therapy was prescribing medications to lower cholesterol and a diet that severely restricted fat intake. The latter of course we insisted would lower cholesterol and heart disease. Deviations from these recommendations were considered heresy and could quite possibly result in malpractice.

It Is Not Working!

These recommendations are no longer scientifically or morally defensible. The discovery a few years ago that inflammation in the artery wall is the real cause of heart disease is slowly leading to a paradigm shift in how heart disease and other chronic ailments will be treated.

The long-established dietary recommendations have created epidemics of obesity and diabetes, the consequences of which dwarf any historical plague in terms of mortality, human suffering and dire economic consequences.

Despite the fact that 25% of the population takes expensive statin medications and despite the fact we have reduced the fat content of our diets, more Americans will die this year of heart disease than ever before.

Statistics from the American Heart Association show that 75 million Americans currently suffer from heart disease, 20 million have diabetes and 57 million have pre-diabetes. These disorders are affecting younger and younger people in greater numbers every year.

Simply stated, without inflammation being present in the body, there is no way that cholesterol would accumulate in the wall of the blood vessel and cause heart disease and strokes. Without inflammation, cholesterol would move freely throughout the body as nature intended. It is inflammation that causes cholesterol to become trapped.

Inflammation is not complicated -- it is quite simply your body's natural defense to a foreign invader such as a bacteria, toxin or virus. The cycle of inflammation is perfect in how it protects your body from these bacterial and viral invaders. However, if we chronically expose the body to injury by toxins or foods the human body was never designed to process, a condition occurs called chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation is just as harmful as acute inflammation is beneficial.

What thoughtful person would willfully expose himself repeatedly to foods or other substances that are known to cause injury to the body? Well, smokers perhaps, but at least they made that choice willfully.

The rest of us have simply followed the recommended mainstream diet that is low in fat and high in polyunsaturated fats and carbohydrates, not knowing we were causing repeated injury to our blood vessels. This repeated injury creates chronic inflammation leading to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity.

Let me repeat that: The injury and inflammation in our blood vessels is caused by the low fat diet recommended for years by mainstream medicine.

What are the biggest culprits of chronic inflammation? Quite simply, they are the overload of simple, highly processed carbohydrates (sugar, flour and all the products made from them) and the excess consumption of omega-6 vegetable oils like soybean, corn and sunflower that are found in many processed foods.

Take a moment to visualize rubbing a stiff brush repeatedly over soft skin until it becomes quite red and nearly bleeding. You kept this up several times a day, every day for five years. If you could tolerate this painful brushing, you would have a bleeding, swollen infected area that became worse with each repeated injury. This is a good way to visualize the inflammatory process that could be going on in your body right now.

Regardless of where the inflammatory process occurs, externally or internally, it is the same. I have peered inside thousands upon thousands of arteries. A diseased artery looks as if someone took a brush and scrubbed repeatedly against its wall. Several times a day, every day, the foods we eat create small injuries compounding into more injuries, causing the body to respond continuously and appropriately with inflammation.

While we savor the tantalizing taste of a sweet roll, our bodies respond alarmingly as if a foreign invader arrived declaring war. Foods loaded with sugars and simple carbohydrates, or processed with omega-6 oils for long shelf life have been the mainstay of the American diet for six decades. These foods have been slowly poisoning everyone.

How does eating a simple sweet roll create a cascade of inflammation to make you sick?

Imagine spilling syrup on your keyboard and you have a visual of what occurs inside the cell. When we consume simple carbohydrates such as sugar, blood sugar rises rapidly. In response, your pancreas secretes insulin whose primary purpose is to drive sugar into each cell where it is stored for energy. If the cell is full and does not need glucose, it is rejected to avoid extra sugar gumming up the works.

When your full cells reject the extra glucose, blood sugar rises producing more insulin and the glucose converts to stored fat.

What does all this have to do with inflammation? Blood sugar is controlled in a very narrow range. Extra sugar molecules attach to a variety of proteins that in turn injure the blood vessel wall. This repeated injury to the blood vessel wall sets off inflammation. When you spike your blood sugar level several times a day, every day, it is exactly like taking sandpaper to the inside of your delicate blood vessels.

While you may not be able to see it, rest assured it is there. I saw it in over 5,000 surgical patients spanning 25 years who all shared one common denominator -- inflammation in their arteries.

Let's get back to the sweet roll. That innocent looking goody not only contains sugars, it is baked in one of many omega-6 oils such as soybean. Chips and fries are soaked in soybean oil; processed foods are manufactured with omega-6 oils for longer shelf life. While omega-6's are essential -they are part of every cell membrane controlling what goes in and out of the cell -- they must be in the correct balance with omega-3's.

If the balance shifts by consuming excessive omega-6, the cell membrane produces chemicals called cytokines that directly cause inflammation.

Today's mainstream American diet has produced an extreme imbalance of these two fats. The ratio of imbalance ranges from 15:1 to as high as 30:1 in favor of omega-6. That's a tremendous amount of cytokines causing inflammation. In today's food environment, a 3:1 ratio would be optimal and healthy.

To make matters worse, the excess weight you are carrying from eating these foods creates overloaded fat cells that pour out large quantities of pro-inflammatory chemicals that add to the injury caused by having high blood sugar. The process that began with a sweet roll turns into a vicious cycle over time that creates heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and finally, Alzheimer's disease, as the inflammatory process continues unabated.

There is no escaping the fact that the more we consume prepared and processed foods, the more we trip the inflammation switch little by little each day. The human body cannot process, nor was it designed to consume, foods packed with sugars and soaked in omega-6 oils.

There is but one answer to quieting inflammation, and that is returning to foods closer to their natural state. To build muscle, eat more protein. Choose carbohydrates that are very complex such as colorful fruits and vegetables. Cut down on or eliminate inflammation- causing omega-6 fats like corn and soybean oil and the processed foods that are made from them.

One tablespoon of corn oil contains 7,280 mg of omega-6; soybean contains 6,940 mg. Instead, use olive oil or butter from grass-fed beef.

Animal fats contain less than 20% omega-6 and are much less likely to cause inflammation than the supposedly healthy oils labeled polyunsaturated. Forget the "science" that has been drummed into your head for decades. The science that saturated fat alone causes heart disease is non-existent. The science that saturated fat raises blood cholesterol is also very weak. Since we now know that cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease, the concern about saturated fat is even more absurd today.

The cholesterol theory led to the no-fat, low-fat recommendations that in turn created the very foods now causing an epidemic of inflammation. Mainstream medicine made a terrible mistake when it advised people to avoid saturated fat in favor of foods high in omega-6 fats. We now have an epidemic of arterial inflammation leading to heart disease and other silent killers.

What you can do is choose whole foods your grandmother served and not those your mom turned to as grocery store aisles filled with manufactured foods. By eliminating inflammatory foods and adding essential nutrients from fresh unprocessed food, you will reverse years of damage in your arteries and throughout your body from consuming the typical American diet.

Please message me for more information on reducing your risk today.
www.22s.com/weightloss

Frustrated because you're not losing fat? Work out like a man!

Frustrated because you're not losing fat? Work out like a man! A man can learn a lot from observing women in a book club for five minutes. I would know because my wife is part of a one, and every time I spend a little time with those ladies I come away much wiser and more convinced that men and women could not be much more different-unless you're talking about exercise.

You see, the exercise techniques that work best are universal to men and women. And yet most women wouldn't dare approach the gym like a guy. How do I know? Because the 10 women at my wife's book club told me so last night, and it's the same thing I've heard for the last 10 years in the fitness industry. The reality is that training "like a man" will actually make you leaner, sexier, and have your friends dying to know your secret.


So forget gender differences for a moment. Here are three tips that are part of the foundation of my New York Times best-selling book, Man 2.0: Engineering the Alpha. They work well for men, but like most things in life, by following these simple rules, the end result will look even better on a woman.

Rule 1: Stick to the Basics
Everyone loves to create exercises that make working out more fun. And that's fine; your workout should be enjoyable. But thinking that Bosu ball balancing acts or one-legged plié jumps while holding a kettlebell will get you fitter faster just isn't accurate. If you want results, you have to stick with what we know works. And that's classic, multi-muscle exercises like squats and deadlifts. These exercises work because they force you to use multiple muscle groups at once. And the more muscles you activate, the more fat you'll slash.

These may seem like exercises for guys, but not all squats are done with a barbell loaded with lots of weight. (Although women shouldn't fear heavier weights; they don't make you bulky.) Variations of these exercises are timeless and extremely effective. Grab a pair of dumbbells and try Bulgarian split squats (Click here to see a how-to video). Your legs and butt will thank you.

Rule 2: Less Cardio
More women perform cardio as a means to lose weight than men. This is not a stereotype-it's reality. That's not to say men aren't equally guilty. (We spent part of an entire chapter in Engineering the Alpha busting the cardio-fat loss myth.) It's true cardio helps you burn calories… but so does eating. So that's not the issue; you want to find the most efficient ways to burn calories and more importantly fat. And you want to build a body that makes it easier for you to enjoy the foods you love, right?

That's why cardio isn't the answer. Or, at least, it's not the primary solution. Cardio will burn calories, and weight training is more likely to burn fat. If you're going to do cardio, make it secondary to weight training. That means either doing cardio on separate days (if you have the time) or after a weight training workout. The best thing about lifting weights is that your body adapts to the new muscle mass you'll build, which means your metabolism will be higher, you'll burn more calories, and you'll change your hormones (like insulin) to be able to handle the foods you love.

Rule 3: More Intensity
I've spent enough time in the gym to know that making fitness social is a great idea. Few things are better than going to gym with friends or being part of group fitness, whether it's bootcamp, Crossfit, or Zumba. What's not okay is focusing on the social aspect more than the workout itself. Most guys go in with a "go big or go home" mentality. While this can lead to injuries, it's closer to the right mindset in terms of getting results.

When you go to the gym, you want to get in and get out. Longer workouts are not better workouts. Intense workouts are what works. Your heart rate should be elevated and you should be sweating and feeling your muscles work. Completely transforming your body does not take a lot of time-but it does take a lot of effort. If you want an idea of what all out effort feels like, try this simple two-exercise sequence. It's called a countdown. It might only take 10 minutes, but it might feel like the hardest workout you've ever performed. Use this as a baseline for how hard you should be pushing to get the body you want.

Countdown Workout
Perform 10 reps of a kettlebell (or dumbbell) swing
Without rest, do 10 reps of burpees
Still without resting, do 9 reps of the swings
Now do 9 reps of burpees

Continue this pattern until you do just 1 rep of each exercise, trying to rest as little as possible (or not at all) between moves. 
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What Happens to Body Fat When You Cleanse?

May 17, 2013

Fat loss involves complex metabolic processes that begin at the cellular level.

Ah, the visual joy of weight loss—your face is more defined, your belly no longer protrudes over the waist of your pants, and parts that used to jiggle are now toned. On the outside, fat loss seems like a fairly simple process. However, what happens in your body during weight loss involves an intricate web of metabolic changes that include structural transformation of fat cells, the breakdown and use of fat for energy, as well as changes in hormone production.
Performing Isagenix Cleanse Days—a combination of intermittent fasting with herbs and vitamins that support detoxification—is an effective approach for weight loss, especially for targeting fat loss. In fact, the UIC study using Isagenix products found that those who follow the Isagenix system had more fat loss and twice as much visceral fat loss than those who followed a “heart healthy” diet.
How does fat loss occur when you incorporate Cleanse Days into your routine? To understand, we’ll have to start with the basics, or Fat 101:
Getting to know fat
Adipose tissue—or body fat—is comprised of millions of fat cells, also called adipocytes, with the average adult having around 40 billion. The weight of adipose tissue is about 20 percent of body weight, making it one of the biggest organs in the body.
Fat can be defined by where it’s found in the body: subcutaneous fat is located just below the surface of the skin while visceral fat is found in the abdominal cavity, surrounding the internal organs. Furthermore, there are two types of adipose tissue: white and brown. White adipose tissue is primarily used as an energy reserve and brown adipose tissue functions to generate heat.
Adipose tissue is a metabolically active organ rather than just an inert mass as many may have guessed. In fact, each depot of the organ even receives its own vascular and nerve supply.
Adipose tissue has been identified as an endocrine organ because of its production of hormones known as adipokines. These signaling proteins influence several important functions including glucose and lipid metabolism, blood coagulation, insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, and steroid hormone modulation (1). Excessive adipose tissue has been shown to disrupt the normal endocrine functions of fat cells and can negatively affect health through insulin resistance, abnormal blood lipids, and even increased cardiovascular disease risk.
Leptin is an adipokine that regulates hunger and appetite by telling the brain, “I’m full!” Although intuition may assume that leptin levels would be low in obese individuals due to chronically excessive food intake, the opposite is true. Leptin has been shown to be tightly related to fat cell size: the bigger the adipocyte, the greater the expression of leptin (2).
This would mean that obese persons are constantly feeling full, right? Wrong. Obesity is associated with resistance to the effects of leptin on the brain appetite centers, so they actually end up having an impaired response that doesn’t indicate fullness. This exemplifies how complex the relationship is between adipose tissue and the endocrine system.
Fat cells increase in size, then in number
When energy balance becomes positive (meaning there are more calories consumed than burned), the adipose organ increases, particularly in the amount of white adipose tissue. White adipocytes undergo hypertrophy (increase in volume) followed by hyperplasia (increase in number).
It’s been proposed that adipocytes have a maximum volume, referred to as “critical cell size” that may be genetically determined (3). This means that fat cells can only get so big. Once they reach their critical cell size, they trigger production of new adipocytes. In other words, your existing fat cells are filled until they reach their capacity (much like a balloon) and then signal the body to make more fat cells.
You are more likely to make additional fat cells at certain times in your life. Research has shown that the natural production of fat cells steadily increases during childhood and levels off in early adulthood (4). Although more research is needed, this could indicate that children who are obese are more likely to be obese as adults and experience greater difficulties in trying to achieve weight loss.
How the body burns fat
When energy balance is negative in the body (meaning there are more calories being burned than consumed), the hormones that access stored fuel are increased, namely glucagon. In short, the body flips from an energy-storing state to an energy-burning state.
First, the body will burn stored carbohydrate, also known as glycogen, which is found mostly in the liver and muscles. Once the glycogen energy reserve has been exhausted, the body breaks down fat in a process called lipolysis.
What happens to fat cells during weight loss?
During negative energy balance such as on Cleanse Days, the body will use the fat for fuel causing the fat cells to shrink in size. As fat cells decrease in size, so too does the amount of signaling molecules produced. Over time, this reestablishment of normal endocrine function can be immensely beneficial for health including decreasing the molecules that induce inflammation.
Additionally, fat loss accompanied by adequate intake of optimal nutrition—such as  vitamins (B vitamins, vitamins C and E), minerals (selenium, zinc, copper), and other bioactive nutrients including coenzyme Q10 and polyphenols—support the detoxification systems of the body in the removal of toxins. (Read more in The Basics of Detoxification.)
It is interesting to note that fat cells have the ability to shrink but rarely decrease in number. However, during fat loss, cells can decrease as much as 400 percent in size! For many, this morphological transformation supported by dietary interventions such as Cleanse Days means more than just a slimmer appearance; it can improve health and even add years of quality life.

Interested in the Best Cleanse available: www.22s.com/weightloss



References
1.    Rossmeislova L, Malisova L, Kracmerova J, Stich V. Adaptation of human adipose tissue to hypocaloric diet. Int J Obes (Lond) 2013;37:640-50. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2012.80
2.    Skurk T, Alberti-Huber C, Herder C, Hauner H. Relationship between adipocyte size and adipokine expression and secretion. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2007;92:1023-33.
3.    Cinti S. The adipose organ at a glance. Dis Model Mech 2012;5:588-94.
4.    Spalding KL, Arner E, Westermark PO et al. Dynamics of fat cell turnover in humans. Nature 2008;453:783-7. doi: 10.1038/nature06902

Don't give up on your success

Don't give up on your success

Fitness is filled with frustrations. Mainly because results do not come as fast as we want. This is mainly because we fall for the weight loss gimmick crap posted everywhere. The sad part is we give up right before our breakthrough. Throughout our history we have heard of stories of people giving up because a task appears too hard or too complicated. Oftentimes, we quit right before success shows up at our doorstep.

It is human nature for most people to quit or "take a break" right when they do not see the light at the end of the tunnel. The problem is at that moment we are about to achieve the biggest breakthroughs of our lives.

One story stands out in my mind. There is a great story in the best book of success ever written. If you are familiar with the iconic success book "Think And Grow Rich", you might remember the story in that book about a man who gave up his quest for gold too soon, during the California Gold Rush of long ago.

The story goes like this. For months upon months this man went about prospecting for gold in the hills. Somehow he just knew that he would strike gold.

Every day he got up early in the morning and walked to the hills in search of his "fortune". He dug and dug with his simple tools. He found some gold here and there. But never anything to write home about.

The story goes that he finally gave up digging because he was convinced that he could not find the "mother lode" he was searching for.

Hearing this, another prospector came to him and offered to buy all his tools. The man agreed and sold all his tools for whatever money he could get for them.

This prospector then went on to hire a land surveyor, an engineer and geologist, all whom combined their knowledge and went to work on the mine where the first man had been digging without results.

It is told that upon studying the area and the mine, the men discovered that the first man had been literally three feet from where the real gold deposit was. Literally 3 FEET! The poor prospector who had given up was so close to the gold, he could reach out and touch it. But there was no way he could know this because he gave up too soon, and he did not have the proper tools for the job.

When he heard about the discovery, the man could do nothing but wonder what might have been.

What about you? Are you "three feet from gold" and just don't know it? Are you one burpee away from melting 10 inches from your waist? Do you give up at rep number 8 when rep number 10 is waiting to transform you? Giving up too soon could be costing you your dreams of becoming the person you envision. You cannot fail as long you do not give up and have the proper tools and training. On this page we try to equip you as best we can but this page is no substitute for good training. Seek out professionals to help you get the results you desire. If you can't locate one consider one of our 6 week online clean eating and fitness programs or challenges. Inbox us for details. Someone once said success is when preparation meets determination. (I think that’s how it goes LOL) Go for the gold or die trying!

 www.22s.com/weightloss

Soy, The Ugly Truth

People assume that soy is a very healthy food because it is what the mainstream media tells us. Soy flour and soy products are in almost every packaged food today. But is soy really a healthy food? This is an important question to ask because soy is everywhere in processed foods today, even pet foods. You do not have to be a vegan or health food "nut" who eats soy substitutes for dairy and meat to acquire a lot of soy in your diet. Soy is a hidden ingredient found in many processed foods. It is used to extend fast food hamburgers, added to most supermarket breads and found in many dry kibble pet foods, even the premium brands. You will find even higher levels of soy in the foods at health food stores, where it is promoted as a heart-healthy, cancer-preventing, menopause-alleviating ingredient.

Manufacturers that promote soy assert that Asians have eaten "tons of soy" for millennia. If you search the Internet for "soybeans", you can find statements such as "soybeans have been a major source of protein for people in Asia for more than 5,000 years". However, the Chinese first started eating soybeans about 2,500 years ago, after they figured out how to ferment it. Somehow, the ancient Chinese knew that soybeans still contain many toxins after cooking and thus avoiding eating it until they learned to neutralize those toxins through fermentation. And in traditional Asian diets, soy is only used in small amounts as a condiment, with pork, seafood and other animals providing the bulk of the protein. Only very recently has soy been eaten the way we typically eat it, consuming large amounts in an unfermented and often highly processed form. Soy was originally considered an inedible plant, used to fix nitrogen in the soil. Even today you can find people from farming families who remember that as the primary use of soy.

Americans eat soy mostly in unfermented forms of soy, made into various processed imitation foods such as burgers, sausages, TVP chili, soymilk, soy cheese, and soy ice cream, as well as consuming large amounts of "hidden" soy flour, protein and oil in most processed foods. Many doctors, including holistic doctor Andrew Weil, promote it. Dr. Weil even partnered with a pet food brand containing soy that is marketed as a high-end super premium food, sold in health food stores and natural pet stores. Unfortunately, consumption of soy can create many health issues, both in humans and animals. Following are some of the major problems caused by soy:

High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.

Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.

Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.

Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B12.

Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D.

Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.

Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.

Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.

Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.

Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.

There are numerous problems caused by soy formulas fed to infants, including difficulty digesting it, lack of sufficient nutrients and toxins.However, one of the biggest problems is the hormonal disruption caused by the isoflavones in soy. Soy isoflavones are phytoestrogens, which are plant-based estrogens that act like hormones. There are enough of them in soy to cause severe disruption to the hormonal systems of infants during a critical period in their hormonal development. The effects are often not seen until later, when they enter puberty (sometimes the phytoestrogens even cause early puberty).

How could something so bad for us be promoted as a health food, you may ask? Like many other things, it's all about big business, marketing and profits. Even the holistic doctors promoting soy usually benefit from it financially, in their associations with companies that make foods containing soy. Growing and processing soy is a big business. All the various components of soybeans are highly processed to create the wide array of soy foods now on the market, as well as adding soy components to many existing foods, like meats at fast food restaurants. No part of the soybean is thrown away--every part of it is processed into some type of food product for humans or animals. There is a huge profit to be made in selling all these soy products.

The soybean industry therefore puts a spin on the supposed health benefits of soy and downplays the levels of toxins in them. For instance, soy is promoted as helping alleviate the symptoms of menopause but there are numerous studies showing that soy is no better than a placebo for this. Soybeans have replaced indigenous crops in many countries around the world. Soybean farming has caused more loss of Amazon rain-forest than cattle ranching. So if you are eating your soy burgers to spare the rain forest, you are actually causing more destruction of it.

Soy products as we know them is not a health food, quite the contrary. Most soybeans grown in America is genetically altered. Every aspect of soy, from soy milk to soy burgers to soy bacon and soy cheese, is very harmful to your health and provides no nutritional value, in fact all it provides is a major cause of health problems for you. So many new vegans complain of being sick, no energy, headaches and so many other health issues. They blame it on their vegan diet. I ask them what they are eating and they tell me all good stuff like what is promoted at Whole Foods in their frozen and deli section; "Soy Meat,." and practically every vegan and vegetarian restaurant in America and Europe features soy. After convincing them to stop eating anything soy and substitute for organic beans, whole grains and lots of fresh local organic fruits and vegetables, these people come back to me in droves and thank me for pointing them in the right direction.......