"Dark Chocolate Dreams" Peanut Butter *Review*

I for one love my peanut butter.  I don't eat much of it, usually around tablespoon before bedtime for all the healthy fats, which slow my digestion and prevent catabolism overnight.  I swear, that's why I do it, not because it tastes ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS (which it does.)  In the last year I've switched entirely to natural peanut butter, and I must say that the transition hasn't been hard at all.  Sure, natural peanut butter may not have the sweetness of the normal stuff, but after a few days of eating it you definitely DON'T miss the sugar.  And I'm serious about that. I had a little bit of normal skippy the other day and it almost made me stick my tongue out it was so artificial tasting.  Once you go natural, you never go back.

Today I'm here to pay my respects to a peanut butter a step above the rest.  Its name?

"Dark Chocolate Dreams" by Peanut Butter & Co.

Oh god, is this stuff amazing.  It is the ultimate combination of two fantastic tastes:  Dark chocolate, and natural peanut butter.  Once this stuff hits your tongue you'll literally be taken back in awe, and I'm really not joking.  And to top it all off, this stuff is natural!  AWESOME!!!

Dark Chocolate Dreams is a no-stir natural peanut butter, which while some may argue makes it a "false" natural peanut butter, I'd like to voice my rebuttal by saying the package lies about it being completely no-stir, for the oil WILL separate if you let it sit for a while.  Yes, there are a few more ingredients than just peanuts (like cocoa for starters...mmmmm...), so I will concede and say this peanut butter is "semi-natural."  But you know what this peanut butter doesn't have??

IT HAS NO HYDROGENATED OILS OR HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP!


That is truly amazing.  That means that this stuff really has zero trans fat (peanut butter is famous for trans fat, which is the ultimate killer when it comes to unhealthy things), and also has no high fructose corn syrup (which your body almost ALWAYS stores as fat because of its chemical composition.)  So is this peanut butter healthy?  Hey, it fits into my diet no problem, and that's saying something.  And believe me, it's a LOT better than plain ol' Jif.

Here is the nutritional information for Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter:

Peanut Butter and Co. definitely has my future business.  They also have a few other fantastic flavors I'd like to try, like Crunch Time, White Chocolate Wonderful, Mighty Maple, The Heat is On, and Cinnamon Raisin Swirl.  Want a change from your boring ol' peanut butter?  Head to the store and pick up some of PB&Co.'s product right now, I would definitely recommend Dark Chocolate Dreams.  Overall rating?  9.5/10 (cause nothing's perfect, but this is darn close.)

See?  Dieting can be fun! Tasty too...=]

GOOD LUCK!!!

High Fructose Corn Syrup: Killer Sweetness

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Processed food ISN'T GOOD FOR YOU.  Even some who eat it realize this.  Lean Cuisine, Ramen, TV dinners, powdered donuts, whatever name it goes by, it's packed with chemicals, sugar, salt, and other nasty things that'll get you heavy quite quickly.  The devil is in the ingredients, and there are a few that can cause some real damage to your body.  The one I am particularly wary of these days is High Fructose Corn Syrup, or HFCS for short.  It's a sweetening agent used in more foods than you or I could think of off the tops of our heads.  It's EVERYWHERE!  And the more processed a food is, the more likely that it contains this devilish little chemical.  But what exactly is this stuff, and why is it so bad?

HFCS, as stated above, is a sweetening agent.  More specifically, it's a replacement for sucrose, or natural sugar.  It achieves the same sort of taste as sucrose, making foods sweet and yummy without needing overly huge amounts of the stuff.  But why do companies use it, when they could just use sucrose instead?  Well, what do most large scale corporations want to cut down on drastically at every little twist and turn in their manufacturing, shipping, and marketing processes?  Hmmmm...COST perhaps?  Guess what!  Sucrose gets really expensive here in the US because of all the import costs associated with it.  HFCS is by far the cheaper option, and therefore is used in thousands of places instead of sucrose.  And in all honesty, although I'm not big on sugar, pure sucrose is far healthier than this stuff is.

It's interesting too, because in general sucrose and HFCS aren't that far off from each other chemically.  They are both composed of two different sugars, glucose and fructose.  Sucrose is 50-50 glucose and fructose, where as HFCS is 58% fructose and 42% glucose.  Surprisingly though this seemingly insignificant percentage of difference adds up big time.  Here's a quote from Livestrong.com about an animal test confirming what we've all been considering:  

"For a long time, researchers debated whether high fructose corn syrup was different from other sweeteners in its effects on human health. To test this assertion, a group of researchers from Princeton University fed rats a diet high in HFCS. They published their results in a 2010 issue of the journal "Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior." In the study, the HFCS caused abnormal increases of body fat, especially in the abdomen, and circulating levels of triglycerides in the blood. 

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/546302-high-fructose-corn-syrup-hardening-of-the-arteries/#ixzz1dmS7BHRR"

This extra body fat is caused by the larger percentage of fructose in the chemical, which can only be processed by the liver.  In fact, the fructose in HFCS can bypass the digestive process that normally breaks down other, similar sugars, and goes straight to the liver.  This is because unlike in sucrose, where fructose and glucose are bonded together, in HFCS they are free from each other and therefore can be readily absorbed into the bloodstream with no digestion needed.  The fructose gets processed into triglycerides, which in layman's terms means they accumulate as fat.  The more fructose, in this case, the more fat.  If you weren't convinced by an animal study (which I rarely am, considering rats and humans are very different creatures), here's another study that was done on humans, from alternet.org:  

"In a study conducted by University of California researchers, 16 volunteers were given a strictly controlled diet including very high levels of fructose. Another group was given the same diet but with high levels of glucose (regular sugar) replacing the fructose. Over 10 weeks, the volunteers that were given fructose produced new fat cells around their heart, liver and other digestive organs. They also showed signs of food-processing abnormalities linked to diabetes and heart disease. The control group of volunteers on the same diet, but with glucose sugar replacing fructose, did not have these problems."

Such fast changes in ten weeks?  WOW!

  Here are a few more reasons why you should try to avoid HFCS whenever possible:

Hardening of the arteries:  Because of the excess triglycerides HFCS helps to produce, your artery walls can begin to harden from excess fat.  This can lead to heart disease, something you DO NOT WANT in older (or younger) age.  

Obesity:  As is evidenced by what has already been said so far, HFCS is one of the largest links to obesity out there in modern society.  The evidence keeps pouring in that those who consume more food and drink containing HFCS have much larger risks of becoming obese.  In fact as HFCS was introduced into mainstream processed foods back in the 70's, its increased usage has almost exactly mirrored the increase in obese individuals.  Because the unbonded fructose in HFCS is almost immediately absorbed into the bloodstream (with no other digestive processes), it's easy to see why it can cause so much fat gain so quickly.  

Keeps You Hungry:  HFCS plays another role in weight gain, this one much more devious, as you might not even know it's happening.  Our body has a few well designed "full" triggers in it that help us to realize when we've eaten enough for our metabolic needs.  One such trigger is called ghrelin, an enzyme secreted by the stomach to cause hunger.  In normal food consumption, ghrelin is eventually neutralized or "shut off" in order to let us know that we're full.  However HFCS does not deactivate ghrelin, and therefore can prevent us from knowing when we've eaten enough.  That's not good, especially on a diet.  

Other health effects related to HFCS include: Pancreatic cancer, kidney stones, and hair loss.  It's not something you want to consume much of, that's for sure.

Here's a final word of warning.  HFCS can hide in foods you might not expect, and may be doing more damage than you think.  Here's a few foods that contain HFCS that may have slipped under your radar:

Bread:  Many breads, even the 100% whole wheat variations, contain HFCS.  These slices can sabotage your otherwise healthy sandwhich.  The solution?  Spend a little extra time in the grocery store and read the ingredients on a few different brands.  Some are made with NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS, and these are the brands you should buy.  Trust me, that little extra time will help bigtime.

Canned/Bottled Drinks:  Yup, you guessed it.  Soda, and other main stream energy drinks usually have HFCS in their ingredients.  They'll pull you in with flashy colors and claims of electrolyte replenishment, but believe me they won't do you much good.  Again, read the ingredients, and choose wisely.  Usually nothing beats good ol' water.  

Cereal:  Even your breakfast may be sabotaged!  Many Kelloggs products contain HFCS, including Raisin Bran and Rice Krispies, two very famous breakfast cereals.  However many bran-flake variations include HFCS as well, so don't think you're off the hook just because you're getting high fiber.  READ THE INGREDIENTS!!!

Crackers:  Nabisco Wheat Thins contain a good amount of HFCS, which is unforunate because I love the things.  Watch your consumption of little appetizer type foods, as they can usually add up quickly, and if they contain the bad stuff then you're in for some trouble with your diet.  I'll just keep saying it I guess, to hammer it through your head.  Read....the...ingredients......PLEASE.  

Sauces/Salad Dresssings:  Last but not least, many popular sauces contain HFCS, including A1 steak sauce.    Also, salad dressings are quite famous for large amounts of HFCS, another reason to keep your salad dry (read my healthy salad article here:  ).  And you know what I'm going to say next.  In fact, I'm not even going to say it.  Just do it.  Please.  

Here's a list of many, many, MANY foods that contain HFCS.  The list is by no means complete, but gives a good idea of how this artificial sweetener has infiltrated our diets:  http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php/2005/06/09/foods_and_products_containing_high_fruct

Bottom Line:  HFCS might be hard to remove from your diet completely.  That's ok, because accepting it's there and making an effort to avoid it will make a HUGE difference.  Just try to get a good majority of it out of your mouth, and I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised by the difference.  You'll have done your body a world of good.  

READ THE INGREDIENTS....and good luck!!!!

A few references:  

http://www.alternet.org/story/144816/high_fructose_corn_syrup_proven_to_cause_human_obesity

http://www.livestrong.com/high-fructose-corn-syrup/

http://www.ajcn.org/content/79/4/537.full

http://www.healthybrainforlife.com/articles/healthy-food/high-fructose-corn-syrup-a-sweetner-to-avoid

Don't Destroy your Salad

I love salads.  All my friends will vouch for me on that one.  There's nothing like finishing up a delicious entree then finishing off the meal with some greens.  I bet many of you will agree that salads are delicious.  And they're healthy too, right?  I mean all those vegetables in one place, it's like the holy grail of bodily nutrients.  But hold on.  I'm here to tell you that your salad might not be as healthy as you think.  You may be accidentally creating a meal that's got a lot of unseen unhealthy elements to it.  Here's a few tips to make sure that your salad is liberated and can do your body the good it deserves.

No Dressing:  Ah!  Madness!  No dressing on a salad?  That doesn't sound too good, does it?  Hold on a minute.  I eat my salads plain every single day, and I can promise you not one of them is ever dry, bland, or distasteful in any way, shape or form.  What's my secret?  I use very juicy vegetables!  Every one of my salads is piled high with juicy yellow peppers, red beans and chickpeas, cucumbers, and my favorite, tomatoes.  Mix those around a little bit and your salad will take on a natural dressing that is actually quite tasty.  And once you pop a bite into your mouth and crunch into a fresh and juicy grape tomato, you'd never know there was no dressing.  I suggest you guys give it a try!

But why do I prefer not to dress my salad?  Well I'll tell you a little something.  That pile of ranch on top of your salad probably has at least twice the calories as the actual salad itself, along with a lot of artificial ingredients, sugars, saturated fats, and things of the like.  In my opinion it's a LOT of calories you don't need.  In fact only two tablespoons of traditional ranch has about 150 calories, and I see lots of people put on two to three times that amount.  That's just ridiculous.  The natural flavors of the vegetables are masked, and any sort of nutrient benefit from the salad is being overshadowed by the shear caloric weight of the ranch.  This goes with all sorts of dressings, just read the nutrition labels.  Thousand Island, italian, you name it, a lot of it will most likely be more than you bargained for.

But don't despair you dressing addicts.  Salad dressing is not inherently bad, and there are a lot of very healthy alternatives.  Let's discuss a few, and how they can make your salad absolutely delicious without adding many calories or other undesirables.

Salsa:  Yes, that spicy, chunky, juicy, delicious tomato paste with peppers and beans.  Salsa is VERY low in calories (10-20 calories for two tablespoons) and VERY flavorful.  It can add a lot of character to any salad, and there are hundreds of varieties to choose from.  In fact you can usually have your salad as spicy or sweet as you like with salsa.  It's a great alternative that I highly suggest.  Just watch out for the sodium, it tends to be pretty high in salsa, but 1-2 servings won't kill you.

Mustard:  Same deal here, high amounts of flavor for low caloric density.  Dijon and yellow mustard both can really give those greens a big kick, and will only add a few extra calories to the dish.  It's all about amount of flavor for very little cost.  Try it out!

Healthy oils:  There's been studies that have proven that many nutrients in salad are FAT SOLUABLE.  So you can kiss those low fat, high fructose corn syrup dressings goodbye.  In fact low fat dressings can actually be worse for you than their traditional counterparts.  But if you want great flavor and a lot of healthy, unsaturated fats to fully absorb nutrients from your bowl of veggies, I suggest either olive oil, or balsamic vinaigrette.  Both are delcious and high in healthy fats which will do nothing but good for your body.  Don't go overboard on the olive oil though, it's still high in caloric density, so measure out your portions.

Meats:  I love me some salmon.  And chicken.  And shrimp.  And anything of the like.  And what an amazing way to make your salad more enjoyable!  Stick some lean protein in there, make sure it's fresh and moist, and I guarantee you will NOT miss dressing for one second.  That is if you decide to have it plain.  I would also suggest trying any of the above dressing styles with meat, especially if you're looking to get some more protein in your diet.  Again though, don't go overboard, and make sure that the meat is lean, fresh, and juicy.  My all time favorite is a salmon salad, though shrimp and chicken are close seconds.

Portioned Traditional Dressing:  Like I said before, the salad dressings you're used to aren't inherently bad!  The shear amount of them is sometimes what kills you.  If you want that ranch, go for it!  Absolutely!  But take the time to measure out the serving size.  Heck, try half the serving size, and see if you can get by on it.  Sometimes if you just take a little more time to appreciate the flavors of the food, you'll realize you didn't need so much dressing to begin with.

It's up to you, but I'd suggest experimenting.  Try it plain, like me, and load it up with some juicy veggies.  Then try some salsa, see if you like the kick.  Then try the mustard, then some healthy oil.  The same old thing gets boring anyway, right?

Dress lightly, love those greens, and good luck!

Eating Clean: Where to start?

Ok, so now you know a little bit about what comprises a clean diet.  And maybe you're thinking that a few of the foods I mentioned don't actually sound so bad.  In fact maybe, just maybe you might be able to incorporate a few of those foods into your daily diet, perhaps substituting some of the processed junk that you always feel guilty about eating.

What you've just stumbled upon is the start to a clean diet.  And it's exactly the first step I suggest you take, if you're looking to get into a more healthy mindset.  Take it slowly at first.  Replace a few foods, incorporate some vegetables here, a fruit there (maybe instead of those oreos), and a bowl of oatmeal instead of that breakfast burrito.  I'll say it again.  TAKE....IT...SLOW.  

Why is this so important?

First of all, if you've been running on microwave dinners and chips-ahoy for a while, it's unlikely that you'll find vegetables too appealing, nor will you be too keen on the idea of replacing your brownie dessert with a banana.  Your body has become somewhat addicted to high sugar, high fat, processed food.  It's not an uncommon thing, so don't feel bad.  Breaking an addiction TAKES TIME.  I used to be that guy, who ate half a pan of brownies for breakfast, a jar of cookies for lunch, and nearly a 1 pound burger for dinner.  Being a growing adolescent boy, miraculously I got away with it.  After realizing my absolutely horrendous diet, I began to make changes over the years, as I became more involved with weightlifting and fitness in general.  It took a lot of trial and error, and a ton of research.  Seriously, I spent hours on the computer learning every little nuance about nutrition.  I'm proud of my diet now, and guess what, I don't crave bad food anymore!  Am I perfect?  Absolutely not.  But I'm fine with skipping dessert, and I actually prefer the taste of most vegetables over any sort of cheese doodles or fig newtons.  

Weaning your body off processed food takes time, unfortunately.  You need to actively teach your body to enjoy the healthy stuff.  There are many tricks to doing this more effectively, and I'll go over those in coming posts.  Healthy food does not ever need to taste bad.  And if you prepare it right, I promise you it never will.  I'm not going to lie though, it won't be quite the same as that greasy burger.  But you learn to appreciate healthy food, and I promise that eventually you will crave the healthy stuff, not the chocolate cake.

Whatever you do, do NOT try to go cold turkey off of processed food.  This is the reason that an enormous amount of diet plans fail outright.  You are not able to kick the cravings for the processed stuff, and after a few weeks and barely any results, you throw that broccoli out the window and go back to your precious Tostitos.  I'll say it again, incorporate your new diet slowly.  This isn't a diet plan, it's a lifestyle change.  Learn to eat healthy now, and enjoy doing it for the rest of your life.

How clean you want your diet to ultimately be is up to you.  Many are content and see great results with a moderate level of clean eating, having a good few servings of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, good fats, good carbs, and other nutrients every day, complimented by a small dessert or a few potato chips.  These people usually try to incorporate a good amount of exercise into their lives as well, which I wholeheartedly suggest with every fiber of my being.  Some people go all out and try to make their diet as organic, natural, and lean as possible.  This is your choice.  See what works for you.  What are your goals?  Why are you deciding to do this?  What do you want to achieve?

And remember, you can always make adjustments.  This isn't a one shot deal.

It's not a hard thing to do.  My advice?  Start with breakfast.  That's easy right?  And I think you'll find a nice healthy morning snack should follow pretty effortlessly, then a chicken breast and some veggies for lunch don't sound too bad, and so on and so forth.  

Get out there and make the change.  Good luck!