Is It Healthy?

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How to use the “ANTI” grading scale to identify rich foods and poor foods.

Total Body Reboot

“I eat pretty healthy.”

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If I had a penny for every time someone told me, “I eat pretty healthy,” then I’d be a gazillionaire.

Eating healthy is pretty subjective. And almost always, it’s based on some one-size-fits-all assumption of needs. If we were feeding a world full of mannequins, that would be appropriate. If you’re not a mannequin, keep reading.

What’s healthy to you might not be healthy to me. So, we need a grading system that allows us to figure out what foods meet your individual needs and which don’t.

That’s what my ANTI model attempts to accomplish. This guide will help you sort out where foods fit in your world. This is the start of changing your relationship with food.

Once you know which foods are rich and which are poor for you, then you’re empowered to focus more on the rich and less on the poor to create a healthy environment your body and mind will thrive in.

Let’s go…

RULES SUCK

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ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL

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approaches

GOOD FOOD

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BAD FOODvs

so doesTHE MORALISTIC JUDGEMENT OF FOOD

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WE CAN DO

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B E T T E R

let ’s go…

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A: Addictive

Health and weight loss are not achievable when we suffer from food addictions and dependencies. The side effects of addiction are three-fold: you’re drawn to foods that inhibit your progress, you’re very likely to overeat, and you’re unable to trust your hunger and satiety signals.

Right away, the ANTI model disposes of almost all processed, heavily marketed food products. That’s because these food products are based on scientific formulations of fat, sugar, and salt that trigger the same chemical response in your brain that occurs during drug use.

Food companies create these “hyper-palatable” foods on purpose because the addict is the best repeat customer they can hope for.

If any food fails the “A” part of the model for you, I’d toss it. Note: just because it fails the “A” part now, doesn’t mean it will fail later. For example, your mental and emotional health might change, making a food that was once a trigger, acceptable now.

ANTI

ANTI

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N: Nutrient Poor

Nutrient density, it turns out, is one of the main satiety triggers — nutrients make you feel full. If the majority of your food consists of things that are nutrient-poor, you may quench hunger for a short period, but never long-term. Eating foods that are nutrient poor contributes to overeating and overeating makes you less healthy and prone to weight gain.

Remember, weight loss is a side-effect of creating a healthy environment for the body and mind. While you can lose weight using unhealthy tactics, it’s always temporary. The only way to create fat loss that’s sustainable is to focus on creating the healthy environment.

The single best way to create that healthy environment is to eat as much nutritionally rich food as possible. And since you can only eat so much food in a day, it’s important to understand that every time you say “yes” to nutritionally poor food, you’re saying “no” to nutritionally rich food — or, you’re going to overeat.

ANTI

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T: Toxic

Toxins occur in certain foods that don’t wish to be eaten as an evolutionary survival trait (and have no other means of defense from predators). Toxins also occur in foods as a man-made addition (such as pesticides) or as a natural occurrence via contact with other organisms (like fungus).

For the most part, animals have defense or escape mechanisms and don’t require toxins. Plants find it fairly difficult to escape predators and thus are more likely to employ toxins for defense.

To be clear, I’m not talking about active defense toxins like snake poison. Snakes employ toxins for defense, but are safe to eat if you happen to kill one. I’m talking about passive toxins that attack you when you consume the food.

Many of the foods you currently eat have toxins that you may or may not be sensitive too. So, personal testing is very important.

ANTI

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I: Inflammatory

Many foods are inflammatory because they contain the naturally occurring toxins that we just discussed. However, a food can be inflammatory even if it doesn’t contain toxins. And some foods that contain toxins don’t affect you personally and therefore aren’t inflammatory in a real-world sense.

Inflammation is an immune defense mechanism. The proper function of the immune system is to inflame (to increase blood flow and nutrients to an affected area), deal with the problem, and then “shut off” the inflammation.

However, when you continuously feed the body things that trigger an immune response, the immune system never gets to cycle down and the inflammation becomes chronic. Chronic inflammation is the number one marker of future disease.

Inflammatory foods include: processed trans fats, sugar, alcohol, vegetable oils / polyunsaturated fat, pasteurized milk, and MSG. Those are just a few examples. And of course, toxic foods will likely create an inflammatory response.

ISN’T ALL OR NOTHING

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healthy

And it’s different for EVERYONE…

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…because EVERYONE is different.

How to use the scale…

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Whole Grain Cheerios | Total Failure !A: The 6 grams of sugar and 35 grams of net carbs in one cup spike insulin and put you on a hormonal roller coaster while lighting up the reward center of your brain, which also hinders satiety signals and leads to over-eating. The sugar spike exacerbates sugar addiction/dependency and the absence of fat provides no long-term satiety. !N: The synthetic vitamins added to this processed food are not legitimate sources of nutrition. Also, the lack of fat makes the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins improbable. Compared to real food, this product is severely deficient in usable nutrition. !T: The lectins, phytates, gluten, and other grain-based toxins present in this product attack the gut, bind to minerals and prevent absorption, and trigger an immune response. !I: This product contains canola oil, a highly processed and inflammation-producing vegetable oil. Due to the toxicity of this product, it’s likely to drive up chronic, systemic inflammation.

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ANTI Food Case Study #1

ANTI Food Case Study #1Whole Grain Cheerios | Total Failure !This product fails the ANTI model on all counts. It’s addictive, nutrient-poor, toxic, and inflammatory. !Almost all highly processed foods will fail the model in this manner because all processed foods share the same foundational ingredients for the most part. !As a general rule, if what you’re eating wasn’t previously alive there’s a good chance it will fail the ANTI model and present a legitimate obstacle to reaching your goals.

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White Potato | Grey Area !A: A large white potato contains 58 grams of carbohydrates and 4 grams of sugar. The carbohydrates turn to sugar rapidly in the blood and spike insulin. This can exacerbate sugar dependency and disorder hormones, especially if there is no physiological use* for glucose. !N: Potatoes as a very good source of vitamin B6 and a good source of potassium, copper, vitamin C, manganese, phosphorus, niacin, dietary fiber, and pantothenic acid. They are no nutritionally poor. !T: For most people, white potatoes are not toxic. However, potatoes are in the nightshade family and contain toxins called alkaloids that some people are sensitive to. !I: If you’re sensitive to nightshades, you will see inflammation occur, manifesting as skin issues or joint pain. If you’re not sensitive, potatoes should be just fine.

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ANTI Food Case Study #2

* Intense exercise depletes glycogen in the muscles. Starch/glucose in meals will be used to replenish glycogen stores. In this way, intense exercise creates a physiological need for glucose. In a sedentary lifestyle, excess starch/glucose is converted to fat and stored in fat cells.

White Potato | Grey Area !For most people, white potatoes are just fine. They’re a real food, they won’t be problematic for people who are active, they contain real nutrition, and they’re not toxic or inflammatory. !For people with busted metabolisms and sugar addiction/dependency or who are sedentary, potatoes can get in the way of progress and healing. This is why they’re excluded in the earlier stages of Total Body Reboot. !For people who are sensitive to nightshades, potatoes are an ANTI food — they’re too problematic to justify including in the diet. You’ll learn about nightshades in stage two. !Where do white potatoes rank for YOU? This is how the ANTI food system is superior to one-size-fits-all approaches. It respects nuance.

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ANTI Food Case Study #2

Wild-Caught Salmon | Total Pass !A: There’s nothing addictive about salmon. It’s mostly fat and protein. It stabilizes hormone levels and easily triggers satiety. !N: Salmon is rich in nutrition and essential fatty acids. !T: Salmon contains no toxins, assuming it’s well-sourced. !I: Salmon reduces inflammation in the body as it’s a great source of Omega 3s.

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ANTI Food Case Study #3

Wild-Caught Salmon | Total Pass !Salmon passes every part of the ANTI food model for 99.9% of people.

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ANTI Food Case Study #3

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“But, I don’t know the details about ALL foods!”

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There are a few different groups of foods that show up over

and over again in life that fail MOST people’s ANTI Food

grading scale. We’ll cover those and then you’ll learn what

REAL foods might be problematic as you work your way

through Total Body Reboot.

!Sound good?

Stay Calm! You’ve got this.

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Grains

Sugar

This includes wheat, rye, barley, oats, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, and even pseudo-grains like quinoa. This includes any meal or recipe where grains or grain based products may be an ingredient (such as flour or other wheat products). !Grains fail almost every part of the ANTI food model. They’re addictive (especially in their highly processed form), they’re nutrient poor (yes, even whole grains, and especially when compared to other things you could be eating instead), they’re toxic (they contain opioid peptides, lectins, phytates, and aflatoxins), and they’re inflammatory (they cause gut disruption — which can be severe — and contribute to other inflammatory ailments).

Exceptions !Corn, sprouted grains, and rice must be parsed on an individual basis. There’s no harm in excluding them, though.

Sugar also fails the ANTI model. It’s absolutely addictive, it contains no nutrition, it’s toxic at certain doses (that’s why the body MUST be able to regulate blood sugar levels), and it leads to inflammation and feeds disease and poor gut health. !You should also be careful not to consume foods that quickly convert to sugar, though these foods are probably already excluded for other reasons. We’ve already excluded wheat bread because it fails the ANTI model, but it’s helpful to understand that wheat bread (something typically deemed safe by typical diets) is pretty close to eating table sugar as far as your body is concerned. Not good for health and certainly not good for weight loss.

Exceptions !Sugar from natural sources is mostly fine, depending on how active your lifestyle is. Veggies and berries should be prioritized over fruits. Sweeteners like honey and maple syrup should be sparingly.

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Legumes

Veg/Seed Oils

Legumes seem to float in that vast grey area that we talked about. There are two legumes that I absolutely recommend you avoid at all costs: soy/soybeans and peanuts/peanut products. Soy should be avoided because it manipulates estrogen levels. Peanuts should be avoided because the lectins and phytates are a much bigger problem with the way peanuts tend to be prepared. !As for the rest of legumes, I’m leaving that up to the individual. How does your individual body respond to them? Do you feel better when you eat them, worse, or no change?

Note !If you DO include legumes, you must make sure they’re properly soaked/sprouted prior to consumption.

Vegetable oils are typically high in Omega 6 fatty acids. When you consume a large amount of Omega 6 fats and a low amount of Omega 3 fats, the imbalance creates an increase in inflammation. Fail. Oh, they’re all in processed foods, by the way. !Vegetable and seed oils are also highly processed and most don’t come from natural sources. Have you ever seen a Canola? Didn’t think so. To be clear, I’m not talking about natural oils that like Avocado oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, etc. Use my Complete Guide to Real Food to make good oil/fat choices. But never cook with oils that are liquid at room temperature as it oxidizes the fat and makes them inflammatory.

Special Consideration !Thanks to the U.S. government, these oils are subsidized. Almost all restaurants use them because they’re so cheap. They won’t hurt you in limited quantities, but just be aware.

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“But I still have so many questions!”

“What about dairy? What about quinoa? What about fermented soy? And what about leniency? My goal is not to be a food-obsessed, lunatic!

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No worries. Remember, this isn’t about obsession. It’s not about perfection. It’s not about any of that stuff! If you have questions about any specific foods, send a support email or ask in the support group. No problem! In the meantime, just breathe. !And by the way, I’m not saying you’ll never be able to eat ice cream again. Heck, I eat ice cream from time to time. But I’ve done the work of healing my metabolism, changing my relationship with food, and understanding exactly what my body can handle, when it can best handle it, and how much it can handle. In short, I completely trust myself around food. !I want the same for you and that’s what this process teaches. So be patient, give yourself room to make mistakes, and continue to think positive and focus on your big, long term goals. !Use the stage one outline and the Complete Guide to Real Food to formulate your eating plans. You’ll quickly get into a groove.

you’re on the path to an amazing place. keep moving.

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