TRUE. ALL of your steroid hormones are derived from cholesterol. Cholesterol is required to form Progestagens such as Progesterone and Pregnenolone; Mineralocorticoids such as Aldosterone; Glucocorticoids such as Cortisol; Estrogens such as Estrone, Estradiol, and Estriol; and Androgens such as Androstenediol, Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), Androstenedione, Dihydrotestosterone, and Testosterone. Cholesterol is a critical molecule for all of your sex hormones. This is why vegetarians have much lower testosterone levels than carnivores -they don't eat enough cholesterol. If your steroid hormones are lacking and causing difficulties such as a reduced ability for burning fat, low sex drive, trouble hearing, slower healing of wounds and injuries, less energy and zest for life, increased depression, inability to handle stress, etc. then you may need to eat more cholesterol to boost your sex hormones. Most cholesterol synthesis occurs in the gonads and adrenals. So go out and stock up on steak and eggs. Tell your lover that you're doing it for them. Cholesterol rich foods are the original aphrodisiacs!

ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) is the energy molecule used by the body. ATP is essential to life. To improve recovery, handle stress, heal, grow, think, breathe, etc. all requires ATP. If you want to have increased capabilities then you need to produce more ATP. Just like your car needs gasoline to work, your body needs ATP. If you want to go farther and do more, then you need more ATP.

FALSE: Exercising harder does not enable you to burn more bodyfat. It will do exactly the opposite since it activates your anaerobic & lactic acid energy pathways instead of your aerobic & fatty acid energy pathways. The longer and more intense your workouts are the less you metabolize fat and the more you metabolize sugar (and "catabolize" -eat away- existing muscle tissue). Also the more prolonged your recovery time will be and the higher your levels of cortisol in order to combat the inflammation -and cortisol inhibits fat breakdown, increases blood sugar, and increases sugar metabolism. Have you ever noticed how some people keep trying harder and harder in the gym but seem to be making progress in the wrong direction? This is why...

1 Fluid ounce per 1 pound of Lean Body Mass (LBM). LBM is calculated (Total Bodyweight - Bodyfat Pounds = LBM). The ratio of 1 fl.oz to 1lb. is for a sedentary lifestyle. Moderate exertion may require 1.5fl.oz to 1lb., heavy exertion may require 2 fl.oz. to 1lb., and very hot weather/extreme exertion may require up to 3 fl.oz. to 1lb. Dehydration causes your blood to thicken, reduces oxygen, reduces circulation, causes the brain to swell, spikes blood sugar and eventually causes death by cardiac arrest -because your blood is too thick to pump throughout the body.

TRUE. Saturated fats are commonly misunderstood and demonized by the medical establishment. Humans need saturated fats because we are warm blooded. Our bodies do not function at room temperature, but at a tropical temperature. Saturated fats provide the appropriate stiffness and structure to our cell membranes and tissues. When we consume a lot of liquid unsaturated oils, our cell membranes do not have structural integrity to function properly, they become too "floppy," and when we consume a lot of trans fat, which is not as soft as saturated fats at body temperature, our cell membranes become too "stiff." The much-maligned saturated fats—which Americans are trying to avoid—are not the cause of our modern diseases. In fact, they play many important roles in the body chemistry: *Saturated fatty acids constitute at least 50% of the cell membranes. They are what gives our cells necessary stiffness and integrity. *They play a vital role in the health of our bones. For calcium to be effectively incorporated into the skeletal structure, at least 50% of the dietary fats should be saturated. *They lower Lp(a), a substance in the blood that indicates proneness to heart disease. *They protect the liver from alcohol and other toxins, such as Tylenol. *They enhance the immune system. *They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids. Elongated omega-3 fatty acids are better retained in the tissues when the diet is rich in saturated fats. *Saturated 18-carbon stearic acid and 16-carbon palmitic acid are the preferred foods for the heart, which is why the fat around the heart muscle is highly saturated. The heart draws on this reserve of fat in times of stress. *Short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids have important antimicrobial properties. They protect us against harmful microorganisms in the digestive tract. The scientific evidence, honestly evaluated, does not support the assertion that "artery-clogging" saturated fats cause heart disease. Actually, evaluation of the fat in artery clogs reveals that only about 26% is saturated. The rest is unsaturated, of which more than half is polyunsaturated.

TRUE. Body Mass Index is only a height and weight table. It does not account for the ratios of fat or muscle. Bodybuilders are considered obese according to the BMI even though they may only have 5% bodyfat. Likewise, many of the general public are considered by the BMI to be of a normal weight or underweight but are actually "fat" because they have a high percentage of fat in relation to the amount of muscle that they have. It is not uncommon to find people of a normal weight who have a bodyfat percentage above 30%. This is very unhealthy. For many younger people this is called "sarcopenic obesity" and for older people it is simply known as "sarcopenia". Sarcopenic Obesity is the medical term used to define an increase in fat mass with a corresponding reduction in muscle mass (lean body mass). Sarcopenic obesity is becoming very prevalent in the United States amongst those in their teens through thirties. Sarcopenia is the medical term used to define age related muscle loss and applies more to those in their forties and beyond. You should do all you can to have a healthy ratio of muscle to fat no matter how young you are and be vigilant to prevent losing muscle mass as you age.

"The body becomes its function". A philosophy that was pushed regularly to its limits as a guiding principle with the Eastern Bloc athletes behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. The human body has a great, but limited, ability to adapt to any stress it receives. The adaptation is always specific to the original stress. The body never adapts to stress in a general way. The body adapts specifically to each individual stress applied. An example would be that construction workers will develop calluses on their hands. These calluses were a specific response and were only created at the specific contact points on the hand. The skin on the entire hand does not thicken -because the body always seeks to maintain balance and minimize its energy output. Again, only the specific contact points experience adaptation. This credo holds true with your efforts to reshape your health and your body. You must apply a specific stress to gain a specific result. You must know what you are doing in order to get the results that you want. Haphazardly trying different things will not give the specific results that you seek.

FALSE. This is a myth. Our modern fitness culture, gyms, aerobics, exercise equipment, and dietary thinking was all originated by the bodybuilding "Golden Era" of the mid 1900s. Eating every 2-3 hours is for bodybuilders trying to build muscle, or retain muscle when dieting down for a competition. If you want to look like a bodybuilder then you should eat like a bodybuilder every 2-3 hours -but you need to train like a bodybuilder too if you want the results. If you don't want to look like a bodybuilder or train like one, then don't follow a bodybuilding program. Simple. Modern fitness culture was created by the bodybuilders. Exercise and nutrition used to be looked down upon. Muscles were for freaks. Doctors recommended Camel cigarettes to their patients. Bodybuilders built and opened (and still operate) the health club industry, and as a result their small subculture still dominates the thinking and innovation of all things fitness. You will find many more myths that the general public follows that are specifically for bodybuilders.

Baking Soda. His work is proving that cancer is actually a fungus (a yeast) and we are the host that it feeds on. Cancer has long been known since the work of Otto Warburg in 1924 to have a metabolism that used sugar, a lower oxygen environment and a more acidic environment. Hence, a fungus. Dr. Simoncini uses oral baking soda, IV baking soda, and also washes the surgery area in baking soda. His discovery is proving how cancer, as a fungus, is sensitive to a higher ph that is enjoyed by healthy human cells that prefer fat for fuel and a high oxygen environment. Very controversial if his work is taken seriously across the globe. Baking soda is cheap and non-patentable. If his work is validated by the establishment, the global cancer healthcare industry would implode overnight and cause untold bankruptcies in the Trillions of dollars and massive unemployment for hundreds of millions of workers. For more about Dr. Tulio Simoncini, visit his website and buy his book: www.curenaturalicancro.com

Soy has an interesting story. Soy was first used as a food during the late Chou dynasty (1134-246 BC), only after the Chinese learned to ferment soybeans to make foods like tempeh, natto and tamari. However, most modern soy foods are not fermented to neutralize the toxins in soybeans, and are processed in a way that denatures proteins and increases levels of carcinogens. Like all legumes, soybeans are deficient in sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cystine. Modern processing also denatures the fragile amino acid lysine. The compound that resembles vitamin B12 in soy cannot be used by the human body; in fact, soy foods cause the body to require more B12. Soy foods contain trypsin inhibitors that inhibit protein digestion, lead to stunted growth and adversely affect pancreatic function. Soy foods also increase the body’s requirement for vitamin D, which is needed for strong bones and normal growth. Phytic acid in soy foods results in reduced bioavailabilty of iron and zinc which are required for the health and development of the brain and nervous system. Soy also lacks cholesterol, likewise essential for the development of the brain and nervous system and cellular integrity. Megadoses of phytoestrogens in soy formula have now been implicated in the current trend toward increasingly premature sexual development in girls and delayed or retarded sexual development in boys. Soy consumption lowers testosterone levels in men. Tofu was heavily consumed by Buddhist monks to reduce libido. Soy isoflavones are phyto-endocrine disrupters. At dietary levels, they can prevent ovulation and stimulate the growth of cancer cells. As little as four tablespoons of soy per day can result in hypothyroidism with symptoms of lethargy, constipation, weight gain and fatigue. Also very importantly, most soybeans grown in the US are genetically modified organisms (GMOs) which allows farmers to use large amounts of herbicides, pestcides, chemical fertilizers, and creates toxic runoff all of which are absorbed into the soybean and then into your body and also into the water and soil. For a great read purchase the book "The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food" by Kaayla T. Daniel.

FALSE: The new name change and marketing campaign to switch HFCS to "corn sugar" is impressive spin-marketing. Don't be deceived. HFCS is not handled by the body like other sugars. Their statements and expert quotations are only half-truths. There are many different sugars: sucrose, glucose, lactose, fructose, etc. Fructose is the worst of the sugar family and bypasses other sugars at the liver and quickly converts to fat. The conversion is enhanced if fructose is combined with glucose. HFCS is over 55% fructose. Fructose has now been shown to raise uric acid levels significantly, as well as cause obesity, insulin resistance, fatty liver, high triglycerides, signs of inflammation, vascular disease, and high blood pressure. For more information about fructose purchase "The Sugar Fix" by Dr. Richard Johnson on Amazon.com.

TRUE. Half a century of worldwide research data was published in 1939 by Dr. Weston A. Price DDS in his seminal work titled "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" (now available again on Amazon.com). Dr. Price compiled over 15,000 photographs to validate his findings as he traveled the world. The majority of developmental deformities that Westernized children experience are unnecessary and caused mostly by their nutrition since westernized diets are unnaturally high in sugar and flour and low in essential fats and proteins. His work is additionally validated by works of Francis Pottenger and the infamous "Pottenger's Cats" research.

Sucralose (aka SPLENDA) is actually a chlorocarbon insecticide that is synthetically produced and has been FDA approved for human consumption but is closer chemically to DDT than it is to sugar, is toxic to cells and cannot be properly metabolized by the body. For a great read purchase the book "Sweet Deception" by Dr. Joseph Mercola on Amazon.com.

TRUE: The brain will preferentially choose sugar, even over cocaine in addicted people. You can read the study for yourself here: http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0000698

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is considered the energy currency of life. It is the high-energy molecule that releases the energy we need to do just about everything we do. Essentially all the physiological processes that require energy for operation obtain it directly from ATP. It is absolutely critical to sustaining life. The reason that you eat and breathe is to produce ATP.

1,340. Grilled chicken sandwich = 420 calories, large french fries = 500 calories, and large Sprite soda = 310 calories. For most people this single meal would provide them most of their daily calorie requirements. Add in breakfast, dinner, snacks, (and the daily Starbuck's habit -another 400 calories/average) and you can easily be adding 2-4 pounds of extra bodyfat each week. Do you frequent restaurants like McDonald's and Burger King, or Applebee's and Chili's? Go online to their websites and look up the calories for the foods that you eat. You will be amazed to see how many extra (and unneeded) calories you are eating. A quick way to lose weight is to stop eating at restaurants and eat at home -p.s. it's cheaper too!

FALSE. If you stretch before you exercise you have a much greater chance of injury. This is because you are stretching the muscles when they are cold and circulation is reduced. You should stretch when you are done with your exercise when your muscles are warm and circulation is maximized. Also the muscular fatigue will help you to stretch more effectively and it will help to clear lactic acid that built up. Exercise then stretch, not the other way around.

1 pound of fat tissue contains a whopping 3,500 calories. Fat is an incredible energy-dense material and very ideal for long-term energy needs with small storage requirements.

Metabolism occurs in the mitochondria. They are organelles found inside the cell. Mitochondria are the powerplants that produce the energy molecule needed to operate the body. Insufficient mitochondrial function reduces your body's metabolism (energy production). And if your mitochondria aren't working properly then you can't burn fat. Want to increase your fat buring? Then increase your mitochondrial function.

An incredible 72.9%!!! 3 out of 4 Americans have a severe weight problem (and probably obesity-related health conditions)! The 2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), indicated that an estimated 32.7 percent of U.S. adults 20 years and older are overweight, 34.3 percent are obese and 5.9 percent are extremely obese. Almost 1 out of 3 Americans are obese. Overall obesity prevalence in the United States averaged 26.7%. Non-Hispanic blacks (36.8%), Hispanics (30.7%), those who did not graduate from high school (32.9%), and persons aged 50-59 years (31.1%) and 60-69 years (30.9%) were disproportionally affected. By state, obesity prevalence ranged from a low of 18.6% in Colorado to a high of 34.4% in Mississippi; only Colorado and the District of Columbia (19.7%) had a prevalence of <20%; nine states had a prevalence of ≥30%. In 2009, no state met the Healthy People 2010 obesity target of 15%, and the overall prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults had increased 1.1 percentage points from 2007. Please check out the slideshow of the nation's obesity growth at http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

Approximately 1,100 calories/day. Perhaps a little more if they are chasing their kids. It's not very much. If this example person eats just one meal at a restaurant then they will probably exceed what they are able to burn. If they went out to lunch with their coworkers 5 days per week, then this person could easily gain up to 2 lbs of fat per week. It adds up very quickly. Let's do the math to understand: 160lbs. - 30% bodyfat = 112lbs. Lean Body Mass (LBM). Sedentary & low activity people burn about 10-12 calories per pound of lean body mass per day. 10 x 112 = 1,120 calories/day needed.

TRUE. Genes are nothing but responsive biological programs. Epigenetics has proven that genes make no determinations. Genes have to be externally switched on and off. They do not control themselves. Epigenetics (meaning "Above Genetics") has shown us that environment determines genetic expressions. An easy example being identical twins separated at birth who were raised in differing conditions will not even appear to be related. Epigenetic factors began dictating how your genes would express themselves even during the womb. The health, nutrition, and emotional/psychological wellbeing of the mother impacts the child beginning with the first fetal cellular divisions. This new understanding calls for more conscious parenting if you want to become pregnant, currently are pregnant, or are currently raising children. Think of genes like light switches. In order to turn on, something external has to flip the switch. The light switch doesn't just turn itself on because it wants to. So remember that your genes do not determine who you are or what your body will be like. You can overcome your existing genetic programming by changing the signaling environment and thus turning on new genes and turning off others. Very, very few diseases are truly genetic in nature -but many are called "genetic conditions" even though Epigenetics has shown us that this is a false statement. Genetic determinism is a lie.

Vitamin D (aka "the Sunshine Vitamin"). Osteoporosis is caused by excessive calcium loss, not a deficient calcium intake. Vitamin D is what controls calcium absorption. There is not a single well-controlled prospective study showing that calcium supplementation actually improves or prevents osteoporosis. Even in cultures where the diets are less than optimal, there is no evidence of a link between calcium deficiency and osteoporosis. Remember, calcium absorption is controlled by Vitamin D (and calcium loss is controlled by the parathyroid hormones). The reality is that if an individual's lifestyle has a reasonable diet, along with sufficient sunlight and exercise, osteoporosis does not exist. However, office workers who go to and from work in the dark each day, spend all of their waking hours under artificial and fluorescent lighting, and elderly people who tend to stay inside much of the time are all definitely at risk. Published studies show that osteoporosis can be prevented and treated by diet, exercise, vitamin D, sunlight, and possibly hormone replacement therapy. So get outside, take off your clothes and move your body!

TRUE. The placebo effect is still misunderstood by medicine and science. We don't really know how it works. Sugar pills can outperform billion-dollar medications designed by the latest scientific research. The power of your mind; the power of your beliefs & perceptions is truly awesome. Your "faith" really can heal you, if you can believe it strongly enough. There have been many documented spontaneous remissions of incurable diseases in which the patient "believed" themselves to be cured. Two interesting studies to read: 1. Irritable Bowel alleviated by placebo pills @ http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20026483-10391704.html & 2. Knee surgery no better than fake placebo surgery @ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020712075415.htm

An anabolic hormone. Unbeknownst to many, insulin is used by competitive athletes along with Human Growth Hormone and Anabolic Steroids. It has been a banned substance by the International Olympic Committee since 1998. For the rest of us, insulin plays many key roles in the utilization of sugar, storage of fat, prevention of protein breakdown, and many other processes within the body. It is very critical to your metabolism and health. You would be wise to learn about it, especially if you are a diabetic. Don't remain an uninformed patient -understand why you take it, why you take the doses you take, and all of the different effects that insulin causes within your body.

Cholesterol. You've been told it's evil, but every cell in your body needs it in order to survive. Molecule for molecule, cholesterol can make up nearly half of the cell membrane. Cholesterol is very misunderstood by most health professionals who have nothing but fear and disdain for it. The reality is that it helps maintain the integrity of these membranes, and plays a role in facilitating cell signaling -meaning the ability of your cells to communicate with each other so you function as a complete human, rather than a pile of cells. It adds firmness and integrity to the membrane and prevents it from becoming overly fluid or overly firm. By stabilizing certain proteins cholesterol helps to maintain their function so that your cells can keep you alive and do such processes as forming blood clots or thinning blood, to allowing sugar into your cells, to burning fat, to regulating calcium in your blood, and literally includes, in some way, most of the functions in your body. Do not be afraid of the critical, abundant, and life-sustaining compound we call Cholesterol.

After ingestion Aspartame has potent neurotoxic effects, some attributable to the conversion first to methanol (wood alcohol) and then formic acid and formaldehyde. Other neurotoxic effects are attributable to Aspartame's high phenylalanine content -which is chemically isolated from additional amino acids and necessary enzymes. Headaches and migraines are the most common complaints. May cause seizure or death for those with phenylketonuria who cannot properly process phenylalanine due to a genetically-induced enzyme deficiency. To learn more about aspartame and other artificial sweeteners purchase "Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills" by Dr. Russell Blaylock.

A BMI of 30 or higher is defined as Obesity. In fact there are now additional categories of obesity which includes extremely obese (35-39.9) and morbidly obese (BMI over 40). When you have to classify exactly how fat people are, you know there is a serious problem. To calculate your BMI multiply (bodyweight lbs. x 703) and divide that by (height inches squared). Are you obese or extremely obese or morbidly obese? Do the math and find out.

FALSE. The massive failings of Pasteur's "Germ Theory" and "Pasteurization" has been well evidenced by the inability of the modern medical establishment to win the war against bacteria, viruses, and lifestyle-induced diseases. Nature continues to think for itself and mutate and outsmart science and money. You would be wise to learn about the "Cellular Theory" by Antoine Bechamp who was Pasteur's arch-nemesis. Over a century has passed since their rivalry but Bechamp's "Cellular Theory" HAS been proven to be a much more successful model in the treatment and prevention of diseases. Also, history has proven Louis Pasteur to be a plagiarist who stole the work of a Viennese physician named M.A. Plenciz. (Plenciz published his germ theory in 1762 -over a century before Pasteur) and Pasteur also falsified data and experiments in order to make them support his "Germ Theory" which is still just a theory -even though the institutions currently stand behind it. Keep in mind that these are the same institutions who used to torture, kill, and excommunicate you if you claimed that the earth was round, not flat; or that the earth revolved around the sun, and not the sun around the earth. Science still has much to learn. Always remember that...

Only Fats and Proteins. Carbohydrates can be manufactured on-demand by the body from protein as needed in a process called "gluconeogenesis". There are Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) and Essential Amino Acids (EAAs) but there are NO essential carbohydrates. "Essential" means that you must eat them because you cannot manufacture them. Without them you will have physical deficits that eventually lead to death. Keep this in mind when you consider what you are eating. Carbohydrates taste great, are fun to eat, and can enhance the body's performance but they shouldn't be the bulk of what you eat because they are not essential to your survival. You will see much written these days about Omega-3s and these are EFAs, but they are only part of the picture. Research for yourself the various EFAs and EAAs and the best food sources from which you can obtain them. Make these types of foods the foundation of your nutritional habits to ensure that your body has the building blocks it needs to maintain, grow, and repair.

Whole Milk actually has 300 calories per 16 oz. glass. But at least you are getting fat, protein, and vitamins with those calories. The other drinks are just giving you sugar. They are empty calories because they provide NO nutritional benefits to your body. Take a good look at the list. Do you have a glass of orange juice in the morning? Then pick up a Starbuck's Mocha on the way to work? Have a coca-cola with your lunch. Then 2 glasses of wine each evening? Does this sound like a typical day for you? If you add that up (and many people live like this) the total extra calories for the day amounts to 1,656 calories! And 208 grams of sugar! Say "Hello" to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, lethargy, high blood pressure and accelerated aging. (And then to make it worse, throw in a few Rockstar Energy Drinks each week because you are feeling tired.) For many people, 1,656 calories is more than their entire daily caloric requirement. And it was obtained from liquid sources that provided ZERO nutritional benefits. Add in solid food for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and a few candy treats and you can easily break 5,000 calories each day. That's how you put on several pounds of fat each week. After a few months you have caused a major problem. Be aware of what goes into your mouth. Solid or liquid. The safe bets are to stay with water and unsweetened teas.

Yes, 1,750 miles! Each pound of fat will provide an average-sized person with enough energy requirement to walk approximately 35 miles without food. Think back to the Stone Age. You have to wander the wilderness looking for your next meal. Storing 50 lbs. of bodyfat during the eating season would enable you to walk from Reno, NV to Chicago, IL and remain alive (but probably a bit irritable...) Do you have enough stored bodyfat to walk across the country???

FALSE. Very false. You need to learn everything you can about GMO crops, how pervasive they are, the damage they cause to your body, the food supply, animals, and the environment. GMOs have not been proven safe for humans, and all animal studies show nothing but disease and death. Instead of making this answer box excessively long, visit these websites and read them thoroughly and consider buying the books and DVDs - http://www.responsibletechnology.org & http://www.seedsofdeception.com & http://www.aaemonline.org/gmopost.html & http://www.organicconsumers.org Do yourself a favor, and stay away from GMO foods. But keep in mind that there is no requirement for labeling of GMO foods, so it can be difficult to know if you are eating a GMO food.

Overweight (but not Obese) is defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 to 29.9. To calculate your BMI multiply (bodyweight lbs. x 703) and divide that by (height inches squared). Are you overweight or obese? Do the math and find out.

FAT. Fat is what your body prefers to use for energy. It prefers fat so much, that is decided to build a massive and efficient storage system for it. Does this make you realize that you only store a small amount of sugar? Could it be that sugar is not the preferred primary fuel for the body but only "emergency fuel"? Storing sugar is very inefficient and you would require storing hundreds of pounds of "water weight" in order to match the energy potential of a few pounds of bodyfat. Fat also doesn't cause damage inside the cells when it is burned for fuel -unlike sugar...So go out and burn that fat!