Studies from years past have proven that egg consumption speeds the loss of body fat – probably because it’s a much better option than the carb-heavy items folks typically reach for during breakfast. Now, if you want to avoid antibiotics etc, eat organic eggs. But controversial studies with questionable and biased agendas will certainly be more newsworthy. Hear about the story that proved donuts or Frosted Flakes increase risk of heart disease? Of course not – it doesn’t go against established science enough to make the viral news circuit. We had a big vitamin e scare a few years ago, if you recall. Before that, it was calcium that was evil. Before that, it was vitamin C. In a year or so, I wouldn’t be surprised to see apples being correlated to diabetes. Just wait :)

Reducing one’s intake of worthless starches can be extremely difficult. The effects of these addictive carbohydrates go beyond our blood sugar, and can even impact our brain chemistry. It’s indeed a tough task to moderate this food category, but definitely doable. Here are 6 practical starch-cutting strategies I hope you find helpful on your quest for a better diet, a better body, and a better life.

1) Change the order of your meal. Most people start with starches when they sit down for a meal. Ever wonder why restaurants bring you things like rolls, chips, or pita the moment you find a table? It’s never fruits, veggies, or steak bites. That’s because they know you can consume a large quantity of starches and still be hungry enough for the main meal. In fact, the blood sugar roller coaster and food-party mentality they’ve just created may have you ordering dessert to boot! More consumption = more profit for the restaurant. Unfortunately, it also means a larger waistline and lower quality of life for you. Try this next time. Eat your fruits and veggies first, then your protein and fats. Save the starches for last. You’ll be amazed how much less you eat.

2) Consume more potassium. This is not well known, but potassium acts like a sort of “glue” that holds your stored carbohydrate, glycogen, together in your liver and muscles. It’s the major mineral inside your cells and aids in hydrating your tissues. A lack of potassium can trigger starch and sugar cravings. So be sure to eat plenty of potassium-rich foods – which are often natural carbohydrate sources like beat greens, yams, garden cress, lima beans, spinach, swiss chard, bamboo shoots, kale, brown mushrooms, jerusalem artichokes, white beans, bananas, and baked potatoes. Don’t try to cheat the game with massive amounts of potassium from supplements, as too much isolated potassium can throw off your body’s balancing act with sodium. Lots of potassium-rich natural foods are perfectly safe though.

3) Eat more fat. This may sound strange to anyone trying to reduce body fat, but the science is solid. Not only is fat the most filling of the macronutrients, it can help dilute your blood sugar, controlling insulin and preventing glucose swings that can result in sweet cravings. Of course, it’s the good fats that have a myriad of additional benefits, without the typical downside of saturated or trans fats. Eat more fish like salmon, tuna, halibut, snapper, grouper, and cod. Snack on nuts like almonds, walnuts, and Brazil nuts. Consume more seeds like pumpkin, sunflower, and flax. Use oils like extra-virgin olive oil. Last but certainly not least, make avocados part of your regular diet, which also happen to be a good source of potassium.

4) Drink more water. Science has shown that our brain often misinterprets thirst for hunger. Furthermore, carbohydrates help pull water into muscle cells. Combine these 2 facts, and it’s easy to see why we can find ourselves reaching for sugar and starches when our bodies actually want water. Stay well hydrated from sun-up to sun-down to help you cut out excess carbs.

5) Increase fiber intake. Fiber will help you reduce starch consumption for a couple different reasons. First, that additional water that you are now drinking will combine with the additional fiber in your diet to form a gel-like solution on your stomach that acts like a filter to slow the absorption of sugar into your blood. That means more stable blood glucose and fewer sweet cravings. Secondly, fiber will keep your digestive system clean and efficient, allowing you to properly absorb the nutrients in the foods you eat. If your body can’t absorb the nutrients, your brain will say “try again” and keep the cravings turned on.

6) Substitute common starches with smarter choices. Try spirulized zucchini or spaghetti squash instead of pasta. Try cooked cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. Try wrapping your meat and veggies in lettuce instead of creating a sandwich with bread. Try dipping veggies in your hummus instead of dipping chips or crackers. And try carbonated water (even naturally flavored if necessary) in place of sugary sodas. You can get creative with things like olive oil, garlic, sea salt, lemon juice, and parmesan to bake tasty green bean fries as a healthy alternative to typical starch-laden french fries! Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Hopefully, these strategies and ideas will help. Keep fighting the good fight! It’s worth it.

If you’re like most folks, you are probably feeling a little “dirty” after the holidays. And no doubt you’ve seen cleanses all over the place: Total Body Cleanse, Colon Cleanse, Liver Cleanse, Extreme Cleanse, Parasite Cleanse, Alpha Cleanse, etc.

And then there are the detox’s: Complete Detox, Liver Detox, Daily Detox, Multi Detox, Detox Multi, Detox Plus, etc.

Is there a difference between a cleanse and a detox? I don’t know, lol. Of course who can forget Saturday Night Live’s “Colon Blow.”

Indeed, just like the ubiquitous car washes of the 21st century, there is no shortage of promises to make you clean … for a small fee of course. We have become much like Jeep drivers (the real ones anyway) – no fear of going of out mudding for a weekend. After all, we can just soap her up and spray her down Monday morning before work, and be good to go. But … is your body really as easy to clean as sheet metal and aluminum rims? Can a “body wash in a box” restore health and human function?

Now let’s explore the idea by revisiting how the amazingly designed human body operates:

We’ll start by asking, “what is the dirt?” You know, what exactly is the body trying to clean off or clean out?

There are 2 categories of “dirt:”

1) Internally originated

This includes stuff as common as carbon dioxide, lactic acid, and urea. These are created from normal processes, but must be removed from the body to maintain optimal function. Just try not breathing out for a bit, trying to push through the burn in a high-rep resistance training set, or eating a super-high protein diet for an extended period of time. You’ll notice that elevated levels of any of these 3 naturally-produced “leftover products” are not good. Sometimes the body’s natural response to abuse can become toxic itself: think LDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, chronic inflammation, and elevated fasting glucose.

2) Externally originated

This includes things like carbon monoxide from vehicle exhausts, 2nd-hand smoke from cigarettes, mercury from tooth fillings, alcohol from all those fun drinks, over the counter drugs from your corner store, prescription drugs from your doctor, chlorine from your shower, fluoride from your faucet or fridge, or any of the chemicals inserted into our food that our bodies don’t recognize as food. Just like prolonged elevation of internally originated toxins, prolonged elevation of these externally toxins can kill you. Of course, some will kill you faster than others.

All that can sound pretty scary, and it is.

Here’s the good news: your body has ways of dealing with these things.

Your circulatory system has a buffering system that combines with your lungs and kidneys to keep your blood pH in an acceptable range, for example. Your lymphatic system functions like tiny trashcans all over your body to hold harmful substances away from other systems. Your colon works hard to eliminate the remnants of food digestion, and even takes out old blood cells with it. And your liver acts like a fuel filter and converter to process a wide variety of substances. Even your skin excretes waste and residue in attempt to keep you insides working cleanly.

So what’s the problem? If our bodies have us covered, what are we worried about? It can handle anything we throw at it, right? Ha! If that was the case, no one would be dying of lung cancer, lymphoma, heart attack, diabetes, stroke, bacterial and viral infections, sepsis, cirrhosis, kidney failure, etc.

The reality is that the cleansing organs and systems of our body can easily become overloaded and overworked – at which point, just like us busy professionals, it simply can’t things clean, organized, and running smoothly any longer. You may have an acute reaction like a fever, rash, congestion, a cough, diarrhea, or vomiting. Or you may get lucky (?) and endure the more pleasant (?) chronic effects of weight gain, indigestion, joint pain, headaches, inflammation, and fatigue.

So how do we deal this? The same way you would deal with yourself, your children, or your employees when they become overloaded and break down. You have 3 options:

1) Reduce what you are asking them to do so they don’t self destruct
2) Strengthen and support them so they can work more efficiently
3) All of the above

There is a best answer among those choices, and you picked number 3, you aced the test.

Now how do we take your academic prowess and apply it to the real world – your real body.

A) Reduce the potential for internally originated toxic overload by systemically challenging and improving your buffering systems. This is largely accomplished through exercise. Aerobic exercise will improve the oxygen carrying capacity of your lungs and the oxygen delivering capacity of your blood. Resistance (weight) training will improve your muscles’ ability to buffer lactic acid and deal with stress. Regular protein consumption (not excessive – i.e. more than your goal lean body mass) will improve your body’s ability to handle urea. The combination of all three will help balance blood glucose and bodyweight, reducing hdl cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure. The benefits are endless.

B) Reduce the potential for externally originated toxic overload by by eliminating, decreasing, or avoiding known toxins. Don’t smoke, don’t drink (or barely drink), purify your water, eat natural foods, avoid lab-produced chemicals like aspartame, sucralose, dyes, artificial flavors and colors. Don’t eat foods that contain aluminum. Don’t get fillings that contain mercury. Don’t warm, eat, or drink from soft plastics. Avoid lab-produced genetically modified “frankenfoods.” Educate yourself on the science – not just from the manufacturers that make or dispose of such poisons and the FDA that gets paid to approve it or the CDC that gets lobbied to excuse it … but from independent research and analysis.

C) Ensure the health and operation of vital cleaning organs by providing the nutrients and balance they need. This means providing water, fiber, and probiotics to your intestines, as well as vitamins so they can make enzymes and properly absorb foods. It means providing a lot of oxygen to your lungs and limiting foods like dairy that can cause congestion and restrict airflow. It means providing your skin with moisture with good fats and oils, while protecting its acid mantle from pH disrupting soaps or abrasive chemicals and materials. It means providing plenty of greens like kale to assist and nourish the liver, while limiting saturated fats and refined sugars that can slow its more important work. And of course, a large supply of antioxidants from fruits and vegetables reduces free radical damage and makes pretty much everything easier for the body, with less mess.

As you can see, keeping your body “clean” requires ongoing effort and attention – each and every day. A weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual “cleanse” will be severely limited in its effectiveness versus constant care. In some cases, these supplements can cause more harm than good. Think about it. How do you think the average consumer rates the effectiveness of a colon cleanse? Yep. If they spend all day or all week in the bathroom, they consider it a good purchase. So what do you think the supplement manufacturer wants to ensure? Yep. So as you might imagine, laxatives, natural or not, become the staple ingredient – more important than fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and good fats. It’s the old “proprietary blend” trick. Put minuscule, non-therapeutic doses of a bunch of healthy sounding stuff to make your ingredient list look long and awesome, while including your basic secret weapon – a laxative. Watch the money roll in with profits north of 80% and word of mouth, or stall to stall marketing.

Now what am I saying? Are all cleansing supplements worthless? Not at all. Some may be helpful to at least stimulate your cleansing organs, even if they can’t provide all they need. They will provide SOME of the necessary nutrients to start or support cleansing processes. But … it would be much better to limit the stress you put them through by limiting your personal exposure to toxins. It would better to ensure that each and every day, you are getting the adequate fiber, water, sleep, exercise, vitamins, minerals, oils, and antioxidants that your organs need to properly do their job than to try to abrasively scrape, brush, or power hose them once a year. Finally, if you ARE going to use supplements to cleanse yourself, it would be better to use actual therapeutic doses of separate healthy supplements like a natural multi, an omega-3, a psyllium fiber, a standardized milk thistle, an organic greens powder, and a grape seed extract vs a “proprietary laxative in feel-clean box.”

So if you have the desire to “cleanse” yourself, I don’t mean to make you feel bad. In fact, you should pat yourself on the back. You are already ahead of most the population, in that you actually care about your body and its function! But … clean your system the right way. And most importantly, STAY clean (and thereby healthy and strong) by adopting the ongoing habits mentioned above.