Restoring Foods

Ok, my faithful Team Jillian!  Has everyone cleaned out their cabinets of all processed foods with additives?  Hmmm..I didn't think so you slackers!  Tsk, tsk....on to the next part anyways:  restoring foods that trigger your fat-loss hormones. 

1.  Legumes:  Best choice are red beans

-dried beans are better than canned

2.  The allium family (garlic, onions, leeks, chives, shallots, and scallions)  Best choice is garlic.

-crushing, chopping, or chewing garlic helps release allinase enzymes, which trigger many of its beneficial actions.
-try to eat these raw - allinase can be deactivated by heat
- pair garlic with olive oil to release even more helpful organosulfur compounds.
-leeks take the best aspects of garlic and onion and combine them with fiber.  Great food choice.

3.  Berries - Best choice - all of them!

-organic is a must.  Berries are among the most pesticide-laden fruits.

4.  Meat and eggs - Best choice:  Alaskan wild salmon

5.  Colorful fruits and vegetables - Best choice are tomatoes.

Eat the rainbow people!

-cooking tomatoes concentrates their power
- in contrast, many other veggies lose their potency with cooking

6.  Cruciferous vegetables.  Best choice - broccoli.

I found this interesting:  Don't cook broccoli on the stove - microwave it instead.  You'll preserve 90 percent of the vitamin C, versus 66 percent with boiling or steaming.

7.  Dark green leafy vegetables - Best choice is spinach

-use baby spinach for salads and mature spinach for cooking

8.  Nuts and seeds.  Best choices:  Almonds and walnuts.

-crush flaxseeds before you eat them; otherwise they'll pass through your digestive system without being absorbed.
-eat nuts raw whenever possible -roasting nuts can damage their fats.

9.  Organic Dairy.  Yes organic....I'll do a separate organic blog.  Best choice:  Organic low-fat plain yogurt.

10.  Whole grains.  Best choices:  oats and barley









*all information taken from Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels, chapter 6*  To learn which foods trigger specific hormones - pick up your own copy!