Foods that are fine and foods that are Frankinstein | Marisa Peer

preparingfood70% of the food we eat today is food our ancestors NEVER EVER ATE. Our bodies & metabolism cannot adapt to the change. Much of this food is chemically altered and refined and is not actually food at all.

There is so much confusion about what is healthy so here are some guides;

All sugar is bad and that includes excessive amounts of fruit because fruit is a sugar too, it is only healthy in small amounts i.e. 3 pieces a day – and preferably berries and apples – which are the least sugary fruits.

A Macdonalds bun and meat patty contains so much sugar it would legally have to be classified as confectionary without the gherkin which tilts it back into being classified as a savoury item.

Smoothies, juices  and dried fruit are concentrated sugar. We have to remember that when we lived in tribes, fruit was seasonal and was shared out, no tribe-person started their day with the equivalent of 10 apples or oranges which is how much you can consume in a glass of juice.

Honey, agave nectar and molasses are still sugar and should be eaten in tiny amounts. Sweeteners are made of petro-chemicals and are linked to all kinds of illnesses and are banned in some countries and states because of their link to mental decline. The only safe sweeteners are Stevia which is made from a leaf and Xylitol which is made from the bark of a tree. When we eat sugar our blood sugar soars; the body cannot burn off the excess and we go into fat storage. This is bad news if it happens once but for many of us it happens at every meal and at every snack as we consume sugar in our drinks and snacks and even in savoury food, as it is in sauces, sliced meat, fish like smoked salmon and countless other foods. A Macdonalds bun and meat patty contains so much sugar it would legally have to be classified as confectionary without the gherkin which tilts it back into being classified as a savoury item.

Carbs are recognised and used by the body as sugar. Your body does not care if you are eating bread, baked potatoes, pasta, rice  or a bar of chocolate – it recognises all carbs as sugar and once you have eaten more than 3 teaspoons it stores the rest as fat, which you never get to burn off unless you are an athlete or don’t eat again for many, many hours.

When food is refined ( just like petrol ) it is so chemically altered its not really food at all and our body can’t break it down properly or get nutrition from it .

To help you work out how and what to eat:

Eat from the 4 RS and you will eat food that your body can digest and burn off:

  • Only eat food that grows or Roams – Nothing processed or refined
  • Only eat food that you could eat Raw – You don’t have to eat it raw but if you could it is digestible
  • Only eat food that you Recognise as a natural food, – margarine pretzels and doughnuts are not food
  • Only eat foods that Rots if it does not break down your body can’t break it down.

When you are doing your weekly shop or about to buy lunch ask yourself, ‘Does this fit into the 4Rs category?’ Meat,poultry, fish, eggs, vegetables, nuts and seeds and fruit all roam or grow, all rot , can be recognised and can be eaten raw. Grains and cereals which we have been led to believe as healthy can’t be eaten raw and we can’t recognise the ingredients and they don’t rot. Rice, cereal and crisps don’t go mouldy. Then ask yourself a second question: ‘Could I make this in my kitchen at home?’ You can make hummus, guacamole, and peanut butter but you cannot make margarine unless you have a science lab as you need to force gas through fat to make margarine (hydrogenated fats) You could never make pringles, haribos or cola or refine sugar in your kitchen.

Lastly, if the name of this supposed food is recognised all over the world  ie Haribos, pringles, coke, pepsi, mars bar, kitkat, twiglets, dorritos, big mac it is not  a food, it is a refined product. When food is refined ( just like petrol ) it is so chemically altered its not really food at all and our body can’t break it down properly or get nutrition from it. When you eat food that your body can’t break down it wraps it in fat and stores in your bottom and legs away from vital organs that’s why so many of us are pear shaped take the frankenstein food out of your diet and your shape will change.

Finally, limit variety – We need to eat a varied diet but too much variety at mealtimes causes overeating,  which causes weight gain.  Too much variety makes us fat because we gain weight when our appetite drives us to eat too much, so we don’t know when to stop, all humans have an inbuilt “sensory specific satiety” which means there is only so much of one food we can eat before we get bored and naturally stop eating. In an eating contest when the contestant is eating hot dogs or boiled eggs and can’t eat another one, they eat a peach instead as the new texture,  flavour and taste re-stimulates the appetite in the same way that being full after a big lunch, then taking a mouthful of dessert – only to find we can finish the whole dessert. Eating too much variety and keeping food in our line of vision increases our appetite by a massive 70%

Here are the foods I love and the foods I loathe;
  1. Eggs-full of vitamins A B D and E and Lutien which protects against age related eye degeneration. Eggs are a super food and contain everything to create life. Studies show that having 2/3 eggs for breakfast cuts hunger for hours while boosting concentration. They are full of serotonin, high serotonin levels can stop junk food and sugar cravings.
  2. Avocado- one of the best foods of all packed with vitamins, avocadoes lower blood pressure whilst increasing serotonin levels which make us feel happier
  3. Berries  -full of antioxidants that fight ageing and keep us young and healthy.
  4. Cinnamon – half a teaspoon daily reduces sugar levels in the blood which in turn encourages fat burning, add cinnamon to curries, stews, oats, yogurt or tea. Half a teaspoon  a day has been shown to lessen sugar cravings.
  5. Almonds – full of B vitamins and zinc which helps stop sugar cravings (low levels of zinc are linked to depression) If bears and squirrels can survive solely on nuts they must be good, not all the oils in nuts is absorbed by the body and they are not fattening in regular portions (a palm sized amount ) and the oleic oil in nuts cuts hunger very quickly. Only eat unsalted nuts. Walnuts and hazelnuts are also excellent snacks.
  6. Seeds -pumpkin, sesame , hemp sunflower and linseeds are full of omega oils which the body needs for almost all its functions, lack of essential oils are linked to depression
  7. Brazil nuts are full of selenium which blocks the body’s absorption of mercury, essential if you eat lots of fish, selenium also blocks the growth of tumours (only buy Brazil nuts in the shell, chocolate coated ones don’t count, sorry)
  8. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli cabbage cauliflower and sprouts
  9. Linseeds/flaxseeds -super nutrition for the skin, linseeds take the residue of old undigested matter from the gut (take 3 spoons a day)
  10. Apples -the skins contain pectin which is an anti cholesterol agent
  11. Xylitol and Stevia are natural calorie free sweeteners that lower blood sugar while giving you a lovely sweet taste in drinks or sprinkled onto berries to added to plain yogurt.
  12. Air popped popcorn with light soya sauce is great if you want something crunchy and salty to eat when you’re in that TV watching mood, use them instead of crisps. Popcorn is full of Lutein which again protects against eye degeneration.
  13. Endemame (soya beans/peas) -steam or fry in wok for 5 minutes add a little sea salt or light soya sauce. A delicious snack, they are also fab in stir fries, great in salads a fantastic portable food and full of protein so a great food for vegetarians.
  14. Fish is full of essential oils as are olives. Oily fish like mackerel, sardines and wild salmon are best
  15. Green tea – The American journal of clinical nutrition showed that green tea is rich in catechins (a natural plant chemical) it can reduce waist circumference and abdominal fat and speeds up the metabolism because it contains chemicals called methylxanthines which seem to boost metabolism and burn fat more rapidly.
  16. The herbs cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, cardamom and ginseng can help to stimulate thermogenisis(heat generated by the body) and promote weight loss. Hot spices can boost the rate at which calories are burnt by up to 15 per cent for a few hours after eating. Chillies speed up the metabolism and reduce hunger. South Americans have known for years that chillies reduce appetite.
The foods I loathe (I don’t even like calling the below foods they are what I call Frankenstein food full of chemicals and rubbish).
  1. Margarine- It’s one molecule away from plastic and is a Frankenstein food, rat’s bugs and flies won’t eat it that should tell you everything. No mould will ever grow on it and the body just can’t get rid of it as it never breaks down. Look at my facebook page for  picture of 15 year old margarine
  2. Artificial sweeteners – Another Frankenstein food that is a poison in our bodies, sweeteners have been linked to cancer, Alzheimer’s and dementia. Sweeteners are made from wood alcohol and petro chemicals and the body cannot break them down they can still raise insulin levels even though they have no calories.. Zsweet and Stevia are not artificial sweeteners they are natural calorie less sweeteners.
  3. Sugar -It’s not a food it’s a chemical and when you eat it your body makes more fat to keep sugar away from your internal organs, low fat high sugar food will never make you thinner. Sugar is made in a refinery and has no nutritional value at all so the body lets you eat a lot of it looking for nutrition which it never gets. Read my post on gastric banding and obesity to understand why sugar makes us fat.
  4. Cows cheese -diary produce is full of cow’s mucus and insulin growth factor designed to make you grow. Dairy produce gives calves a 300% growth spurt and does the same to fully grown adults who don’t actually want to grow anymore. It takes 12 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of cheese it is a concentrated growth hormone and linked to prostate and breast cancer.
  5. Wheat is so chemically altered it is indigestible, modern bread has as much sugar as cake. It evolved on the planet as cattle feed and humans have nothing in common with cattle
  6. Processed food  – the chemicals in processed food disrupt your metabolism and the additives are so highly addictive leaving you craving more – read my post on junk food to understand why processed foods make us fat and stop us becoming thinner..Processed food are full of trans fats (see margarine)
  7. Colas are osteoarthritis in a can, the acid in colas ruins your teeth and leaches calcium from your bones and the chemicals in it contain formaldehyde (embalming fluid) – nice!
  8. Crisps are solidified fat, chemicals, salt and additives designed to make you crave more. They don’t claim ‘bet you can’t eat just one’ for fun they chemically alter them to ensure you eat the whole packet and want more. Many crisps don’t even contain potatoes.
  9. Salt – linked to high blood pressure and strokes. A little sea salt is fine but it’s better to cut salt from your diet, it allows you to regain your waistline super fast. Season foods with herbs or marigold salt free bouillon – it’s gorgeous
  10. Breakfast cereals -most are no better than confectionary. Eating modern breakfast cereals is like eating a packet of biscuits broken up and drenched in milk. Some Dorset cereals are literally 60% sugar. Why would you eat anything that is 60% sugar?  Breakfast cereal bars are even worse; you might as well eat a mars bar for breakfast. When you start the day with a high sugar food your insulin levels rise and you begin your day by storing fat and then continue it and because you started your day with something sweet you often crave more sugar all day.
  11. Muffins are simply cakes and we should not be eating cakes for breakfast, a latte and muffin has more calories than a full English breakfast.
  12. Modern yogurts like Muller are no different to eating a crème brulee or chocolate mousse for breakfast they are so full of sugar that it’s usually the second ingredient in them.
Author Bio

Marisa Peer is a world renowned speaker, therapist, and best-selling author with nearly three decades of experience. Named named Best British Therapist by Men’s Health magazine and featured in Tatler’s Guide to Britain’s 250 Best Doctors, she uses her experiences treating patients including rock stars, CEOs, Olympic athletes, and Oscar winning actors to inform her life-changing speeches and lectures. She has been voted best speaker at numerous conferences including The Yes Group London and the Women in Business Superconference.

View Marisa’s Speaking Reel

Books:

Ultimate Confidence

You Can Be Thin

Trying to Get Pregnant (and Succeeding)

You Can Be Younger

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