Make “Real Food” Your Health Food, “Health Food” Your Junk food and Put Junk In the Garbage!

Who needs junk food when most health foods are really refined foods that are loaded with all kinds of unnatural stuff?

I would venture to say that 90% of all health foods are really junk foods and nothing more than junk foods in disguise with “all natural” marketing on the package.

If it was all natural, it likely wouldn’t be in the package.

Now I’m not an idealist and I know that distinctions in meaning need to be clearly made. 

So let me explain.

Real “nutrient rich” food, in its natural state, is healthy food. You don’t have to look at it as health food, but it naturally promotes health.

Health food, is usually never as ‘nutrient rich’ as real food and in most cases is really junk food (see below), because it is far from food in it’s natural state, even if it came from natural sources at one point.

I say “likely”, or “in most cases”, because healthy foods are usually refined, meaning many nutrients have been stripped out of the food.  Some quote “health  foods” though are “processed”, but haven’t had vital nutrients stripped out.

For example, a real food bar or meal replacement may actually have more nutrients than a real food meal, even though it is processed.  Still, meal replacements need to be eaten in conjunction with real whole nutrient rich food.

Another example is a traditional hummus. Everyone loves hummus – processed chick peas or garbanzo beans. It’s a processed food, often sold as health food, but because it’s not refined it’s still considered real whole ‘Nutrient Rich’ food.

Fragmented foods, overly cooked foods, those foods that have as many unnatural substances added etc, while they may be healthier or better than traditional junk food, are still junk! These are foodstuffs that have strayed so far from their natural state, that their effect is similar to junk food.

Many “health” cereals fit that bill.

Whenever I want a good hit of  junk food, (and I do sometimes) all I need to do is look for a health food store or the healthy section of most stores and I can find some worthy junk food.

Junk food?

Who needs that, when we are surrounded with pseudo healthy foods that are often as rich as a standard chocolate bar or shake?

This Atkins Day Break is a great example. Although, you can usually find health food that is far less junkier than this!

I for one will go find a dark chocolate covered greens bar if I’m really looking for something junkie.

The point here is, “change your definition” of junk food and make “health” food your junk food if you need it.

You don’t need junk food, when you could just as easily eat your basic health food bar. I was in whole foods the other day and noticed all the chocolate covered greens bars they have amongst an array of choices.

These food bars are as good as any chocolate bar I’ve ever tasted and are way better for you. Hasta la vista Snickers.

Now of course, I have to finish this post off by saying, eat at least 90% real nutrient rich foods and real nutrient rich food bars, nutrient rich meals, replacements etc and your need for junk will go by way of the highway.

There are so many nutrient rich foods that are so tasty in their natural state, soon enough you won’t need much health food or junk food. A medjool date for example is natures snicker bar. A ripe persimmons is natures syrup and there are countless other examples.

This is the most successful mindset when transitioning to a nutrient rich diet and deciding to eat for health,  performance and natural weight loss.

That’s a resolution that can work!

John Allen Mollenhauer

Do you find it difficult to eat healthy during the holidays? If so, you are not alone. Most people want to eat better, but they are simply swamped with great tasting foods served with love, that are unfortunately, often times poor in nutrients and in many cases junk.

They “give in” for good reasons and are forced to endure the holidays, starting with Thanksgiving and eventually start the New Year with yet another resolution to eat better, or go on a diet and deal with the uncomfortable reality of cleaning their body from all that junk.

There is Good news!

It doesn’t have to be that way.

The holidays don’t have to be synonymous with refined sugar, saturated fat and excess calories, especially now, when you can enjoy Nutrient Rich Holidays! Yes, Nutrient Rich Holidays filled with great tasting foods that are rich in the nutrients you and your family need to be both happy and healthy!

You do not have to give up your favorite foods to maintain a healthy diet during the holidays; what you want to do is eat Nutrient Rich versions of the foods you love!

There is a “nutrient rich” version of just about every food you are eating right now if you know how to shop, prepare, organize and eat out and eat  over the holidays.

Just this week, I was craving something chocolaty and I was surprised when I got an email from my friend by Rosie Battista, Healthy Living Coach, www.amatteroffit.com, which said said “go to your front door, there is a surprise”.

What I found to my delite was a bag, with a box of fudge brownies in it!

Now, as you can imagine, I don’t want to eat just any brownie, I want to eat a Nutrient Rich brownie when I’m going to eat brownies.

This fudge (It’s actually food that’s nutrient rich) was made and shared with LOVE .

• 1 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup coconut butter
• 5 tbs raw cacao*
• 5 tbs agave nectar
• 2 tbs revitaphi*
• 2 tbs maca*
• 2 tbs cacao nibs*
• 3 tbsp hemp seeds
• 2 tbs goji berries*
• ½ tbs cordyceps*

Warm up oil and butter. Add all ingredients to a large bowl, mix until fluffy and creamy

(I use a vitamix blender and just throw everything in together and pour into a cake pan) It’s as simple as mix and pour!  (Put in freezer for 3-5 minutes and cut the fudge into bite size pieces.  Store in freezer container.

***ENJOY and try not to eat it all in one sitting!!!!

*** to buy the unusual ingredients for this recipe, go to https://www.noblelifeelements.com/rosiebattista

Now, if you’re going to eat a brownie, eat a nutrient rich brownie. Every ingredient is not perfect, but this is one great recipe.

Discover how to shop, prepare and eat out, the Nutrient Rich way; it will make a big difference in the way you look and feel throughout the holidays and start the New Year.

This week, we have Thanksgiving. Good news again! It’s one of THE most nutrient rich holidays we have; what, with all the focus on vegetables and fruits… You will overeat, no doubt. Technically we’re overeating most of the time when we eat nutrient rich foods every day, so have no illusion you’ll likely do so on Thanksgiving. – Enjoy it!

John Allen Mollenhauer

Have you heard this term, a “Plant Based Diet”?

It’s being used in ever more ways these days, fueled by the every expanding interest in eating more nutrient rich foods, and nutrient rich diets which are plant based.

In our last post T Colin Campbell, who was on Larry King Live in the segment titled “Is Meat Safe”, used the term “Plant Based Diet” as he took part in a panel to discuss the safety of eating meat.

This post is about the plant based diet, and what it really means, particularly when making the point that is it’s not safe to be eating meat based diets. Not just because of potential contamination, but because meat based diets are not health promoting.

First a little insight:

Clearly the trend is away from meat-based diets, and toward plant based, nutrient rich diets.

Why, because animal products are nutrient poor!

Of course, not if you listen to the meat industry pundits or the Nutrient Rich Food Coalition funded largely by the beef and dairy board (both Associations who are desperate  to have their products be known as nutrient rich); or, you have such a limited definition of “nutrient rich” that you think a food simply is Nutrient Rich because it is rich in a single or series of nutrients from one or two nutrient categories. (it’s not)

We ended that last post by my saying – “In my next post I’m going to share what I think the argument Dr Campbell should have been making and what I think Dr Campbell needs to delve into next time he gets this opportunity.”

So, let’s get into it.

In the segment, Dr Campbell makes one mistake that I see plant based diet advocates make all the time.

The Chef was right, “people like animal foods”. I even like animal foods; I was brought up on them, but that doesn’t necessarily make them a healthy part of peoples diets “in significant quantities” (key words here). Just because a food may taste good and offer up some nutritional value does not mean it should be eaten in significant quantities, let alone as the base of your diet.

To make the point in an extreme way, if Krispy Kreme donuts were injected with vitamin C would it make sense to eat more of them? No.

But Plant Based Diet advocates (of which I am one) think it’s all or nothing, and promote vegan and vegetarian diets (which I support for the most part) as the definition of plant based diet and they fight that fight amongst an entire population that is largely eating animal products, likes them, has a vested interest in them (just listen to the CNN panelists) and is slow to change.

I fought that fight for years, until I realized that it’s not the best way to promote a plant based, nutrient rich diet. Suggesting that the meat industry just close shop is not the way to win friends and influence people on a mass scale and help people start making the change to a nutrient rich diet.

I understand where Dr Campbell was coming from on this, but I feel his case for eating a plant based diet could have been made based on the basic evidence of The China Study, about the detriments of animal protein and the nutrient profiles of foods alone and that, that would have been even more powerful.

First, a  “Plant Based Diet” is a plant “based” diet.

Last time I checked, ‘based’ meant something that provides the foundation for… in this case your diet. And plants need to be a  very hearty base of your diet. As The China Study – the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted- reveals (amongst thousands more, easily accessible studies, let alone common sense) without a shadow of a doubt… we need to be eating a predominantly plant- based, nutrient rich diet, upwards of 90% or more if we are going to be healthy.

The reason is, plants are where all the nutrients come from, including protein. Yes, protein!

A plant based nutrient rich diet means you are getting all the nutrients (healthy promoting protein, real food carbohydrate, essential fat, water, fiber, vitamins and minerals, phytochemicals, enzymes etc) that you need to function and perform well, from ALL the nutrient categories and you don’t get what you don’t need (saturated fat, cholesterol etc). This is is what defines a Nutrient Rich whole food!

Chicken for example, doesn’t meet (meat) that quality standard, even if raised organically.

• Almost No water,
• No fiber
• Almost no carbs
• No phytochemicals
• No Enzymes
• Yes, some vitamins and minerals
• Fat is mainly saturated
• Protein is not health promoting (causes rapid growth, rapid aging, more hormonal response, greater stimulation (coffee effect), gives off lots of toxic metabolites (even if it’s organic)…
• …

Now why would you want to “base” your diet on meat, including chicken and fish? A meat based diet is a nutrient poor diet, rich in some nutrients, but as a whole food… nutrient poor.

Wouldn’t you want to “base” your diet on nutrient rich foods first, and then if you want to eat nutrient poor foods, you eat them in smaller quantities?

Of course!

That’s the simple argument and one to get excited about!

A plant-based, Nutrient Rich diet promotes your health, takes into consideration taste and far more than protein, weight loss or dietary convenience alone to create an ideal diet which can include small amounts of animal products and still be health promoting.

You can eat small amounts of nutrient poor foods and still be eating a nutrient rich diet on a total dietary intakes basis. What constitutes “small amounts” is up for debate, but The China Study does the best job at giving us the data. I for one, eat less than 5% of my diet from animal foods and at times, will go months without eating any!

Telling people not to eat meat though is not the way to reduce the consumption of animal products which IS the objective here.

John Robbins, Author of Diet for a New America (1990) stated that a reduction in animal product consumption of a mere 10% world wide would ensure that no one in the world went hungry, simply because land resources would be better used to produce plant foods. That alone should prompt everyone on the face of the earth to consume at least 10% less animal foods and add to their base of plant foods.

Small amounts of animal products, less than 10%, are usually fine (check with your health care practitioner) when your diet is 90% Nutrient Rich whole foods based in greens, beans, fruits, raw nuts and seeds and whole grains.

Even DrFuhrman is on board with this formula and he’s the leading advocate for nutritional excellence in the world!

So why aren’t we fighting a battle we can win? Why don’t we send a message that people can digest, and take to new levels of success!

Suggesting that we eliminate the meat industry is not the way!

Remember, as Dr Campbell also said, (and I paraphrase) “the transition to a plant based diet does not and is not going to happen overnight”, but suggesting that we damn the meat industry isn’t making the right argument. Those people are putting kids through school too, and they are friends, so the mere suggestion is going to cause ridicule.

Its the economy stupid! ~Al Gore.

Clearly most of the CNN panel, were making their living from vested interests in nutrient poor nutrition (the nutritionist), production of animal foods (the pundit), the preparation of “great tasting” animal foods (the chef), or was not yet educated enough to make a stronger argument (the newbie vegetarian).

If there had been a hospital industry rep on the panel, they would have been promoting the American Heart Associations recommendations – consume  only 30% of calories from fat (animal fat), because their philosophy is also based on nutrient poor nutrition which inevitably and predictably fills hospital beds because it basically promotes a meat based diet.

If there had been a representative from the Dole company they would have been promoting fruits and vegetables, and staid out of the argument. After all they source most of the nutrient rich foods we eat.

Only those people who are truly advocates for health and are progressive in learning nutrient rich nutrition are going to be fully on board with a plant based diet; but for the sake of success, we need to get our definition straight on what it means to being eating “Plant Based” and make the process consumable.

We need to be eating a plant based diet with a goal of at least 80-90% or more nutrient rich foods. You can take it as far as you want, but this objective would truly change the health of the world and everyone in it!

I think we need to stop making the wrong argument, and start sending the message to eat more nutrient rich foods every day and then explain why. The China Study supports what basic nutrient profiles show us and that is -  it’s not how much we eat, but the qualities of the foods we eat that makes the difference.

We also need need to get aware that there are health promoting forms of protein (plant based) and those that you can survive on and also enjoy, that also happen to promote disease – protein from a meat based diet.

A 90% nutrient rich plant-based diet with smaller amounts of nutrient poor animal products (if you eat them) and even smaller amounts of nutrient barren refined foods (if you eat them at all),  is the ideal way to look at the argument.

But we don’t have to say, don’t eat animal products or refined books. At the end of the day, that’s up to people themselves. After all, people are going to do what they choose to.

Let me know your thoughts.

John Allen Mollenhauer

You may know that at NutrientRich.com, we exclusively deliver The Top 12 Findings of The China Study,  as written with the authors of this, the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted.

Findings such as:

• Don’t worry too much about single nutrients, single foods, or single supplements.

• 2.Breast cancer is not just a function of fat intake.
• 3.Blood cholesterol is a predictor not only of heart disease risk, but also
  of cancer.
• 4.By adopting a nutrient rich diet and an active lifestyle, the risks for
  several diseases are reduced at the same time, without even thinking
  about it.
• 5.When a virus strikes, what you eat plays a vital role in your overall
  health.
• 6.It’s not just about how much you eat, it’s what you eat.
• 7. You can virtually eliminate your risk of heart disease,
• …
• 13. Even though many of us worry about getting enough protein, evidence
  suggests that the real danger is consuming too much protein,
  especially if it is protein from the wrong foods.

This document reveals the relationship between diet and disease and is a precursor to the book The China Study.

Since it’s publication, in 2004, T Colin Campbell has started the T. Colin Campbell Foundation and has made major strides in promoting a plant based diet all over the world.

Recently, he was on Larry King Live and that’s where this post really starts.

Note: At about min: 10:38 you’ll see Dr Campbell.

This media clip starts off talking about the e coli contamination of our meats, which were unfortunately causes of death for a number children in this case, and their parents and associates who have taken up activism as a result.

What’s so transparent about the 4-5 people on this CNN panel is the predictable perspectives of each person – that of a practical scientist who is  clearly the most properly educated person on the subject of nutrition among the panelists (T. Colin Campbell), a traditional 4-food groups nutritionist, a “chef” and a newbie vegetarian who is on and off. As well, a meat industry representative.

Each is uniquely motivated by their work and industry and the story that’s consistent with it. Each is tuned into the story reinforced by their interests. Not to imply that anyone had bad interests, but when it comes to the nutrition game, many interests may be no good for you.

Now each professional made sense, and all make interesting points at one point of another, but clearly each is not working from the same body of knowledge and experience. Here’s where you as a consumer have to do your own research, get educated and make wise decisions.

Whatever you do, do not” follow Larry Kings method for coming to conclusions about meat.

From statements about “bacon”, to outdated nutritional arguments, to industry interests, to justifying the consumption of meat based on taste, this interview is a great example why people get so confused.

I don’t think this video came even close to the real argument, which is not about complete protein, it’s not about calories, or taste, or how much money has been spent on food safety… significant amounts of animal protein promote cancer!

Significant consumption of meat (animal protein and products) also causes heart disease!… I could go on.

Have a watch of this clip – Is Meat Safe?

Let me know what you think.

And read The China Study.

Before you respond conclusively about whether meat is safe, from any perspective beyond first hand research that’s at least 20-40 years old on the subject, just share your observations like I am and let’s have a discussion.

John Allen Mollenhauer

PS: The Chef’s observation that because “we have eyes in the front of our head, long legs ’sharp teeth’ (see the tiger above and then tell me how sharp our teeth are) and can track down stupider animals to eat…” is not a very conclusive argument for whether we should be be eating a meat-based diet.

In my next post I’m going to share what I think the argument should have been and what I think Dr Campbell needs to delve into next time he gets this opportunity.

Of course, I know it’s Larry King, not the Healthy Lifestyle Expo.

Nice Job Dr Campbell!