Being a Savvy Consumer
When you eat the food that your body was designed to recognize, you support
your hormones. In turn, you lose weight. But it’s so easy to mindlessly consume
chemicals. Processed food leaves your body confused about what to do with
overloaded chemicals. Too much processed food leaves your body impaired, and
this will ultimately damage your metabolism. These toxins have not only made
us fat; they’ve made us sick. Our hormones have turned against us.
I often get food as gifts from colleagues, friends, and patients, even though
they all know I’m on this diet 24/7. It’s very generous of them and I know they
mean well, but I simply do not eat any processed food. Most of the time, it goes
in the garbage. Let me give you an example.
One day a colleague sent me a “healthy” bag full of treats in gratitude for
taking care of his wife in the hospital. I picked up the first item: dark chocolate.
Don’t I love that? I looked at the ingredients. Sugar, high-fructose corn syrup,
artificial colors, and partially hydrogenated oil. Garbage. The next item was
turkey bacon. Ingredients artificial colors and flavors, preservatives, nitrites, and
salt. Garbage. What a waste of money! Then, I always get a call asking if I
enjoyed it. I always say it was delicious just to be courteous, but I would not
touch this toxic food with a 10-foot pole.
But it is impossible for me to ask you to eat organic food all the time. Even if
you can afford it, there will be times when you will run to your local
supermarket or deli to get something to eat fast. Or maybe you’ll get a “healthy”
gift like the one I just described. Either one of these scenarios can sabotage your
diet in no time flat. Hopefully, I’ve convinced you not to eat any processed food.
Trust no one. If it’s in a box, carefully read the label for all ingredients.
Being a savvy consumer is about reading the ingredients listed on processed
food. I won’t ask you to do anything else. Isn’t this a simple and less
complicated way to live? You don’t need to carry a calculator or do any
complicated math on the Perfect 10 Diet. I just want you to exercise and eat real
food and natural fat—that’s it.
The reason behind this approach is that all the food we eat can be used for
energy or to repair cells. It’s the artificial ingredients that can be harmful to our
health and make us gain weight. In an attempt to make cheap, addictive foods