Radical Metabolism

INTRODUCTION

Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.

—Unknown

Please do me a favor.

I want you to throw out everything you thought you knew about health and weight loss. What you’re about to read in this book will undoubtedly fly in the face of both conventional and even alternative dietary wisdom. But regardless of what you’ve tried before, get ready for a radical shift in your health. Because what we are doing is clearly not working—we need a different plan, and we need it now.

America just continues to grow fatter, sicker, and more toxic, but it isn’t for lack of effort. About 60 percent of Americans are desperately trying to lose weight, yet only 5 to 10 percent actually keep it off. In 2013, we spent $60.5 billion on weight-loss products and services alone. You would think that with this many people investing that much money in their health, we would be the leanest and healthiest country on Earth, but nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, we are world leaders in obesity and chronic disease.

More than a third of us are obese, and the incidence of type 2 diabetes is going through the roof with Alzheimer’s disease not far behind. For the first time in decades, in 2015 US life expectancy dropped due to increased deaths from heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and kidney disease. In the United States, one in two women and one in three men will develop cancer in their lifetime. Not to mention the many common symptoms that so many of us live with every day, such as fatigue, indigestion, and depression.

Many clients come to me having dieted for decades. In fact, even though nutri- tional advice has come a long way since the 1980s, these days many of you are strug- gling in spite of doing everything “right.” Your weight-loss efforts have failed miserably despite eating clean, going gluten-free, and loading up on bone broth. This book re- veals why and provides the necessary course correction.

Maybe you’ve even tried some of the latest diets, such as Keto, where the focus is on eating the way our ancestors presumably did. There is much to be said in praise of the direction these diets have taken us—specifically, moving refined sugar, gluten, and excess carbs aside in favor of more protein and fat. But there are pitfalls. Today our bodies have a hard time digesting fats, which causes digestive symptoms. People experience difficulty sustaining energy levels and losing excess weight. Radical Metabolism connects the dots for you in a powerful new way. You can think of Radical Metabolism as the next wave—going beyond Keto, Paleo, and primal style diets.

The current health statistics are staggering, but there is hope! You don’t have to be a statistic. My intention is to bring you newly discovered secrets for reigniting a stalled metabolism, harmonizing your hormones, and healing your gut. It’s no secret that obesity and chronic illness go hand in hand. Not only will I lay out a plan to reener- gize your sluggish metabolism, but I will also provide some long overdue insights into all those mystery illnesses that are lumped together under “autoimmune conditions,” which afflict millions of people today. I want this book to rock your world and reset your personal healing trajectory so that it’s the last weight-loss book you’ll ever need.

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For the last three decades I have found myself rewriting the rules of nutrition— and now, with Radical Metabolism, I’m at it again. Why? Because the latest science paints a new picture, and it’s not a pretty one. I am well past fifty, and in moving through that transition I was personally challenged by a metabolic slowdown. The plan in this book has evolved from my discovery of what worked for myself and others. I happily report that your metabolism can be reignited regardless of your age and exposure to environmental pollutants.

We are living a new toxic nightmare and the old remedies don’t work. Every day we face an invisible war deep within our body as hormone-disrupting en- vironmental pollutants contaminate, and progressively erode, our cellular defenses.

Petrochemicals, plastics, heavy metals, fake hormones, radiation, microbes, and other toxic agents all wreak hormone havoc on our biology. Most of these toxins are hidden, lurking in our food, air, and water, as well as body care, household, and cleaning prod- ucts, and even technology, which makes them even more insidious. This is not your parents’ or grandparents’ world anymore. Our planet—and our bodies—are crying out for help.

We have more than 70 trillion cells in the body, and every one of them is at risk. Once enough of your cells become compromised, then your tissue and organ function will soon follow. Healthy cells begin with healthy cell membranes. Without them, your body essentially stands naked and defenseless against those toxic assaults, which results in hormone disruption and inflammation. Inflammation is the number one factor driving nearly every chronic disease today.

Back in 1858, physician Rudolf Virchow, the “father of modern pathology,” said, “All diseases are disturbances at the cellular level.” He argued that to treat a disease, we must first understand the cause—and the cause is always found at the level of the cell. There are many examples. Alzheimer’s disease involves defective processing of amyloid precursor proteins by cells in the brain. A genetic predisposition to high cholesterol is caused by defective cellular uptake of lipoproteins. Cancer occurs when cells develop aberrant growth patterns, and autoimmune diseases arise when cellular communica- tion runs amok.

And so it is with metabolism.

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As you read, Radical Metabolism will probably shake up your long-held beliefs and assumptions about what is healthy, especially when it comes to diet. I sure hope so! I’m not just talking about weight loss—I’m talking about staying energized for life. Let’s put the brakes on aging—I’m talking about gaining the tools necessary for dodging age-related illnesses so you won’t spend years stuck in the hospital revolving door. If you find the word radical a bit intimidating, rest assured that the strategies herein are actually really quite simple and straightforward, designed for easy integration into to- day’s busy lifestyle. However, these simple strategies produce radical results!

In the first part of this book, you’ll learn the scientific basis for the program before moving on to the protocol itself, so you can understand the rationale. I start by laying out my five Radical Rules to rescue a stalled metabolism, which are foundational to the program. Each of the five must be addressed if you want to reignite your internal cellular energy and fat-burning tissues to fix your broken metabolism. More than 80 percent of readers will feel better after just four days of implementing the basic Radical Rules.

In the second half of the book is the eating program itself. It kicks off with a 4-Day Radical Intensive Cleanse, followed by a 21-Day Radical Reboot—a two-part “cellular makeover” diet designed to jumpstart your detox pathways and your met- abolic healing. The final section expands the menu with fifty amazing recipes, and provides additional guidance for staying on track for the rest of your life.

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Because this program deals with all the toxic environmental challenges of our modern world, think of it more as a lifestyle program than a “diet plan.” For you to regain your health and maintain it over the long run, these changes will need to be permanent. After all, although there are steps you can take to mitigate the toxins in your home, it’s unlikely our overall environmental toxicity problem is going to vanish anytime soon.

Lastly, radical times call for radical changes, but these techniques don’t all have to be implemented overnight. If you begin to feel overwhelmed, simply slow it down a bit…you know, baby steps. Stress is as detrimental to your health as bad fats—so get- ting stressed out over these changes is counterproductive. Please know that we are here to support you every step of the way, online and otherwise. Be kind to yourself. It’s important to recognize and applaud even your smallest accomplishments. If it took ten years for your metabolism to turn against you, you can’t expect to completely heal the relationship in less than thirty days. But with a little willingness and determination, you can succeed. You can radically improve your metabolism and be on your way to an ageless, radiant you.

Let’s get started!