Conquer Your Kitchen

Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck reveals his 5 secrets for mastering any meal

 
Wolfgang Puck knows what it takes to succeed in Hollywood: 1,800 pounds of Dover sole, 1,200 Kumamoto oysters, 1,000 spiny lobsters, 500 pounds of smoked salmon, 40 pounds of caviar, 10 pounds of black truffles, and six Spanish hams. That’s what he served to more than 1,500 celebrity guests and film industry insiders at last February’s Governor’s Ball, the annual celebration immediately following the Oscars. It was his 17^th consecutive year catering the event, and the most recent critically acclaimed performance in a career that spans more than four decades, three continents, 16 books, and 100 restaurants and cafes. Which is why it comes as a bit of a surprise when the Austrian-born French chef lets slip one of his central culinary mantras: “Simple beats complicated every time.” We can eat to that.
We sat down with Puck as he was putting the final touches on his newest book (“It’s about food and fitness” is about all he’ll reveal before its Fall release) to learn what any man can do to sharpen his cooking skills. Heed his five kitchen commandments, and the results will speak for themselves: A healthier, tastier meal in half the time—and a fitter body for life.
1) Start SlowEven if you think you’ve got the chops to tackle a tough recipe, temper your ambition, says Puck. “It’s just like working out—you won’t become Arnold Schwarzenegger after a month in the gym.” And, to be honest, who really wants to cook like Conan? Much better to flex just enough culinary muscle to wow your guests with a medley of simple, pure flavors. “If you buy a fresh filet of fish, you don’t have to do much with it,” says Puck. “Just put it on the grill with some vegetables, add a little olive oil and some fresh basil, and you’ve got a wonderful meal.” Ditto for pasta. “Don’t bother making your own out of raw dough—just buy some good, dried pasta and follow a tried-and-true recipe, like penne a la vodka,” advises Puck. “Worry about adding your own flourishes—like roasted asparagus or salmon—once you nail the basics.”
2) Spice Things UpThe most versatile ingredients in any kitchen are a handful of fresh herbs. Puck recommends five to grow yourself: Rosemary, basil, thyme, mint, and kaffir lime. “Growing herbs like rosemary and basil are important for cooking chicken and roasted potatoes,” he says, adding that thyme and mint will not only flavor a dish, but also make great tea. “In addition, I have some kaffir lime trees in my backyard because the leaves work well in Thai-style dishes.”

3) Arm Yourself with the EssentialsUnless you’re hell bent on blowing 10 grand on, say, a sous vide cooker, a micro evaporator, and other ultra-modern appliances—the likes of which Puck doesn’t even have in his own kitchen—you can easily whip up an amazing meal with a few basic tools. “It’s important to have a set of pots and pans with thick, heavy bottoms so that when you sauté, heat is distributed evenly, and food doesn’t burn,” says Puck, adding that a grill griddle is a similarly helpful tool for amateur chefs because it allows for the easy regulation of temperature (and the avoidance of that most grave of culinary sins: overcooking). “A good corkscrew is also a smart thing to have handy,” adds Puck, only half-joking about its critical role in any meal: Lubricating the cook. (Click here for 13 more essential kitchen tools)

4) Know Where to ShopPerhaps the greatest mistake men make when shopping for food is loading up on too much at once—a habit that leads to spoiled food and large bellies, says Puck. “Instead, [and If your schedule allows] shop at a high-end market three times a week and buy less,” he says. “That way, no food goes to waste, and you’re not tempted to indulge in the overload of choices in your pantry.” Puck’s favorite market: Whole Foods, where “you know you’re getting really good ingredients.” But he also advocates shopping at farmer’s markets when they’re in season. “If it’s within your means, why not eat the best, locally grown ingredients you can afford?” says Puck. Check out localharvest.org to find a farmer’s market in your area.
5) Know What to Look ForWhen shopping at a farmer’s market, “inspect everything and buy organic whenever possible,” says Puck, who overhauled his menus in 2007 to include only natural, humanely raised food products. “Pesticides are to be avoided.” Why? As Puck sees it, pesticides undermine the most important goal of any meal: Strengthening the body.
If pesticides are to be avoided at all costs, freshness is to be desired above all else. Here’s what to look for in the produce aisle (or the farmer’s stall): The darkest cherries and strawberries, which are generally the sweetest. If they’re pinkish red, they’re too sour. Carrots and beets with their leaves intact. It’s a sign of freshness (leaves on rooted veggies are always the first part to rot away). Broccoli and corn with the greenest stems. Avoid any with brown highlights (a sign of spoilage). “Get to know the farmers who produce your food as well,” he says, adding that they can help you select the best fruits and vegetables. “At the end of the day, your health is the most important thing in your life.”

Wolfgang Puck's Best List
BEST INGREDIENTGinger. I use it all the time in cookies and candies to enhance their flavor, and even in tea as a soothing tonic to facilitate sleep.
BEST VEGETABLEAsparagus—either the large green variety or the white ones, which I import from Austria. Both are versatile ingredients in soups and salads, and are delicious warm or cold.

BEST FRUITRight now, it’s cherries or strawberries. But ask me in the fall, and it might be pears. To me, fruits and berries are very seasonal. I’d never think to eat a cherry pie in November or a pear tart in June. I like to experience them at their peaks.
BEST FISHLine-caught Atlantic turbot, which has a very rich flavor. I love to grill it on the bone on my charcoal grill, and serve it with the best olive oil I can find, as well as some lemon, basil, chopped parsley, and shallots, or an emulsified lemon fennel butter. It’s also a fish that’s very easy to filet when it’s cooked.

BEST MEATAmerican Waygu Kobe Beef from Snake River Farms in Idaho. It has the richness of Japanese beef with lots of marbling, but the flavor is more akin to what we’re used to in America. It’s best served medium rare to rare, and when it’s grilled over charcoal with a little sea salt and black pepper, there’s nothing better. You can give me a pound of the best Wagyu from Japan, or a pound of this, and I’ll choose this every time.

BEST CHEESEOne of my favorites is Saint-Marcellin—a rich, creamy cheese that I have when I go to Lyon, France. I love to enjoy it with a really good baguette.

BEST WINEI like Sauvignon Blanc with fish and salads—especially the one from Rochioli Vineyards. But my true favorite is Krug Champagne. I drink it with hors d’oeuvres, main courses, and even at end of dinner. It goes especially well with Chinese food.
BEST DESSERTKaiserschmarrn, a cross between a soufflé and a pancake. My mother used to make it once a week for dinner, and serve it with plum compote and a glass of milk. I thought that was the best meal ever. Eating it today still reminds me of my childhood in our little village in Austria. I actually don’t know where to get a real good Kaiser anymore, except at my restaurant Spago, in Beverly Hills. But I’m sure there must be other restaurants that serve this delicious dessert.

BEST FOOD CITYParis, by far. It has the variety. It has the biggest markets. It has everything, including style and elegance.


BEST COOKBOOKThe Big Fat Duck Cookbook by Heston Blumenthal. I love cookbooks that are done beautifully, just like a great dish. I think The Fat Duck makes you want to go into the kitchen and cook some of Blumenthal’s recipes right away.

BEST CHEFMy all-time favorite is Raymond Thuilier, whom I trained under in France. He was the complete package—a great chef, a great host, and great with customers. We’re in the hospitality business, and people often forget that. But they shouldn’t—food tastes better when it’s accompanied by great hospitality. As for living chefs, I have many that I admire, but my favorite from the last year is Blumenthal, because he has the perfect mélange of invention and taste, and his restaurant in England, also called The Fat Duck, is really fun.

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This Cooking Oil is a Powerful Virus-Destroyer and Antibiotic…

You've no doubt noticed that for about the last 60 years the majority of health care officials and the media have been telling you saturated fats are bad for your health and lead to a host of negative consequences, like elevated cholesterol, obesity, heart disease and Alzheimer's disease.
Meanwhile during this same 60 years the American levels of heart disease, obesity, elevated serum cholesterol and Alzheimer's have skyrocketed compared to our ancestors, and even compared to modern-day primitive societies using saturated fat as a dietary staple.
Did you know that multiple studies on Pacific Island populations who get 30-60% of their total caloric intact from fully saturated coconut oil have all shown nearly non-existent rates of cardiovascular disease?^[1]
Clearly, a lot of confusion and contradictory evidence exists on the subject of saturated fats, even among health care professionals.
But I'm going to tell you something that public health officials and the media aren't telling you.
The fact is, all saturated fats are not created equal.
The operative word here is "created", because some saturated fats occur naturally, while other fats are artificially manipulated into a saturated state through the man-made process called hydrogenation.
Hydrogenation manipulates vegetable and seed oils by adding hydrogen atoms while heating the oil, producing a rancid, thickened oil that really only benefits processed food shelf life and corporate profits.
The medical and scientific communities are now fairly united in the opinion that hydrogenated vegetable and seed oils should be avoided.
These unsaturated fats, artificially manipulated into saturated fats, are also called trans fats, and no doubt you've heard about them lately. Some cities and states have now outlawed their use. There is no controversy anymore regarding the health dangers of these artificially saturated fats.
And guess what?
These are the same damaged trans fats that have been touted as "healthy" and "heart-friendly" for the last 60 years by the vegetable and seed oil interests!
But the truth finally came out. Trans fat was rebuked, debunked, and revealed as the true enemy to good health that it has always been, regardless of what the seed- and vegetable oil shills told the American public for the last half century.
Unfortunately, this rightful vilification of hydrogenated saturated fats has created a lot of confusion regarding naturally occurring saturated fats, including coconut oil.
If one form of saturated fat is bad for you, the argument goes, then all saturated fat must be bad.
Right?
Nothing could be further from the truth!

The Truth about Coconut Oil

The truth about coconut oil is obvious to anyone who has studied the health of those who live in traditional tropical cultures, where coconut has been a nutritious diet staple for thousands of years.
Back in the 1930's, a dentist named Dr. Weston Price traveled throughout the South Pacific, examining traditional diets and their effect on dental and overall health. He found that those eating diets high in coconut products were healthy and trim, despite the high fat concentration in their diet, and that heart disease was virtually non-existent.
Similarly, in 1981, researchers studied populations of two Polynesian atolls. Coconut was the chief source of caloric energy in both groups. The results, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,^[2] demonstrated that both populations exhibited positive vascular health.
In fact, no evidence exists that the naturally occurring high saturated fat intake had any kind of harmful effect in these populations!
That's not what you expected, is it? Based on 60 years of negative public policy towards naturally occurring saturated fats, you would expect these cultures to be rife with clogged arteries, obesity and heart disease.
It may be surprising for you to realize that the naturally occurring saturated fat in coconut oil actually has some amazing health benefits, such as:

• Promoting your heart health^[3]
• Promoting weight loss, when needed^[4]
• Supporting your immune system health^[5]
• Supporting a healthy metabolism^[6]
• Providing you with an immediate energy source^[7]
• Keeping your skin healthy and youthful looking
• Supporting the proper functioning of your thyroid gland^[8]

But how is this possible?
Does coconut oil have some secret ingredients not found in other saturated fats?
The answer is a resounding "yes".

Coconut Oil's Secret Ingredient

50 percent of the fat content in coconut oil is a fat rarely found in nature called lauric acid. If you're a frequent reader of my newsletter you already know that I consider lauric acid a "miracle" ingredient because of its unique health promoting properties.
Your body converts lauric acid into monolaurin, which has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-protozoa properties.^[9]
Monolaurin is a monoglyceride which can actually destroy lipid coated viruses such as:

• HIV, herpes
• Measles
• Influenza virus
• Various pathogenic bacteria
• Protozoa such as giardia lamblia.

Lauric acid is a powerful virus and gram-negative bacteria destroyer, and coconut oil contains the most lauric acid of any substance on earth!
Capric acid, another coconut fatty acid present in smaller amounts, has also been added to the list of coconut's antimicrobial components.
This is one of the key reasons you should consider consuming coconut oil, because there aren't many sources of monolaurin in our diet. But the health benefits of coconut oil don't stop there.

The Benefits of Medium-Chain Fatty Acids

Coconut oil is about 2/3 medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), also called medium-chain triglycerides or MCTs. These types of fatty acids produce a whole host of health benefits.
Coconut oil is nature's richest source of these healthy MCFAs.
By contrast, most common vegetable or seed oils are comprised of long chain fatty acids (LCFAs), also known as long-chain triglycerides or LCTs.
Let me tell you why these long-chain fatty acids are not as healthy for you as the MCFAs found in coconut oil^[10] :

• LCFAs are difficult for your body to break down -- they require special enzymes for digestion.
• LCFAs put more strain on your pancreas, liver and your entire digestive system.
• LCFAs are predominantly stored in your body as fat.
• LCFAs can be deposited within your arteries in lipid forms such as cholesterol.
• In contrast to LFCAs, the MCFAs found in coconut oil have many health benefits, including the following beneficial qualities:
• MCFAs are smaller. They permeate cell membranes easily, and do not require special enzymes to be utilized effectively by your body.
• MCFAs are easily digested, thus putting less strain on your digestive system.
• MCFAs are sent directly to your liver, where they are immediately converted into energy rather than being stored as fat.
• MCFAs actually help stimulate your body's metabolism, leading to weight loss.

Coconut Oil Helps Fight Diabetes

Your body sends medium-chain fatty acids directly to your liver to use as energy. This makes coconut oil a powerful source of instant energy to your body, a function usually served in the diet by simple carbohydrates.
But although coconut oil and simple carbohydrates share the ability to deliver quick energy to your body, they differ in one crucial respect.
Coconut oil does not produce an insulin spike in your bloodstream. You read that correctly, Coconut oil acts on your body like a carbohydrate, without any of the debilitating insulin-related effects associated with long-term high carbohydrate consumption!
Diabetics and those with pre-diabetes conditions (an exploding health epidemic in America), should immediately realize the benefit of a fast acting energy source that doesn't produce an insulin spike in your body. In fact, coconut oil added to the diets of diabetics and pre-diabetics has actually been shown to help stabilize weight gain, which can dramatically decrease your likelihood of getting adult onset type-2 Diabetes.^[11]

Cococut Oil, the Friend to Athletes and Dieters

If you live in the United States, you have an almost 70 percent chance of being overweight.
And, by now, I'm sure you're well aware that obesity affects your quality of life and is linked to many health concerns.
One of the best benefits of coconut oil lies in its ability to help stimulate your metabolism.
Back in the 1940s, farmers found out about this effect by accident when they tried using inexpensive coconut oil to fatten their livestock.
It didn't work!
Instead, coconut oil made the animals lean, active and hungry.
However, many animal and human research studies have demonstrated that replacing LCFAs with MCFAs results in both decreased body weight and reduced fat deposition.
In fact, the ability of MCFAs to be easily digested, to help stimulate the metabolism and be turned into energy has entered the sports arena. Several studies have now shown that MCFAs can enhance physical or athletic performance.^[12]
Additionally, research has demonstrated that, due to its metabolconut Oil in Your Kitchen

I only use two oils in my food preparation.
The first, extra-virgin olive oil, is a better monounsaturated fat that works great as a salad dressing.
However, it should not be used for cooking. Due to its chemical structure, heat makes it susceptible to oxidative damage.
And polyunsaturated fats, which include common vegetable oils such as corn, soy, safflower, sunflower and canola, are absolutely the worst oils to use in cooking. These omega-6 oils are highly susceptible to heat damage because of their double bonds.
I strongly urge you to throw out those omega-6 vegetable oils in your cabinets.
Why?

Reason # 1: Most people believe that frying creates trans-fat. That is not the major problem, in my opinion. Although some are created, they are relatively minor. There are FAR more toxic chemicals produced by frying omega-6 oils than trans-fat.
Frying destroys the antioxidants in oil and as a result oxidizes the oil. This causes cross-linking, cyclization, double-bond shifts, fragmentation and polymerization of oils that cause far more damage than trans-fat.
Reason # 2: Like Dr. Peat, many experts believe coconut oil may help restore more youthful-looking skin. When coconut oil is absorbed into your skin and connective tissues, it helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by helping to keep your connective tissues strong and supple, and aids in exfoliating the outer layer of dead skin cells, making your skin smoother.

Coconut Oil and Your Heart

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S. And heart disease is often a silent killer. The first sign of cardiovascular disease is commonly a heart attack, and sadly, over one third of heart attacks are fatal.
And despite the propaganda, the truth is this: it is UNSATURATED fats that are primarily involved in heart disease, not the naturally occurring saturated fats, as you have been led to believe.[14]
Plus, the polyunsaturated fats in vegetable and seed oils encourage the formation of blood clots by increasing platelet stickiness. Coconut oil helps to promote normal platelet function.

Coconut Oil in Your Kitchen

I only use two oils in my food preparation.
The first, extra-virgin olive oil, is a better monounsaturated fat that works great as a salad dressing.
However, it should not be used for cooking. Due to its chemical structure, heat makes it susceptible to oxidative damage.
And polyunsaturated fats, which include common vegetable oils such as corn, soy, safflower, sunflower and canola, are absolutely the worst oils to use in cooking. These omega-6 oils are highly susceptible to heat damage because of their double bonds.
I strongly urge you to throw out those omega-6 vegetable oils in your cabinets.
Why?

Reason # 1: Most people believe that frying creates trans-fat. That is not the major problem, in my opinion. Although some are created, they are relatively minor. There are FAR more toxic chemicals produced by frying omega-6 oils than trans-fat.
Frying destroys the antioxidants in oil and as a result oxidizes the oil. This causes cross-linking, cyclization, double-bond shifts, fragmentation and polymerization of oils that cause far more damage than trans-fat.
Reason # 2: Most of the vegetable oils are GMO. This would include over 90 percent of the soy, corn and canola oils.
Reason # 3: Vegetable oils contribute to the overabundance of damaged omega-6 fats in your diet, which creates an imbalance in the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. As you know from my extensive writing on this subject, I believe that excessive consumption of damaged omega-6 fats contributes to many health concerns.
They are all highly processed and consumed in amounts that are about 100 times more than our ancestors did a century ago. This causes them to distort the sensitive omega-6/omega-3 ratio which controls many delicate biochemical pathways which results in accelerating many chronic degenerative diseases.

There is only one oil that is stable enough to resist mild heat-induced damage, while it also helps you promote heart health and even supports weight loss and thyroid function -- coconut oil.
So, whenever you need an oil to cook with, use coconut oil instead of butter, olive oil, vegetable oil, margarine, or any other type of oil called for in recipes. Even though I don't fully recommend frying foods, if you must fry, by all means use coconut oil -- it's your smartest choice.

Coconut Oil Safety

The medium-chain fats in coconut oil are considered so nutritious that they are used in baby formulas, in hospitals to feed the critically ill, those on tube feeding, and those with digestive problems. Coconut oil has even been used successfully by doctors in treating aluminum poisoning.^[15]
Coconut oil is exceptionally helpful for pregnant women, nursing moms, the elderly, those concerned about digestive health, athletes (even weekend warriors), and those of you who just want to enhance your overall health.

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The Chicken Which Should be Banned

ou put dimethylpolysiloxane, an anti-foaming agent made of silicone, in your chicken dishes?
How about tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a chemical preservative so deadly that just five grams can kill you?
These are just two of the ingredients in a McDonalds Chicken McNugget. Only 50 percent of a McNugget is actually chicken. The other 50 percent includes corn derivatives, sugars, leavening agents and completely synthetic ingredients.
Organic Authority helpfully transcribed the full ingredients list provided by McDonalds:

"White boneless chicken, water, food starch-modified, salt, seasoning (autolyzed yeast extract, salt, wheat starch, natural flavoring (botanical source), safflower oil, dextrose, citric acid, rosemary), sodium phosphates, seasoning (canola oil, mono- and diglycerides, extractives of rosemary).
Battered and breaded with: water, enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, food starch-modified, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, whey, corn starch.
Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent."

There's no doubt about it. Processed food like that from McDonald's is just not part of a healthful diet – in fact, much of it cannot even pass for real food.
After reviewing the above article I am very grateful I can say I have never had a Chicken McNugget from McDonald's. If you can't say the same at least you can commit to never having another one again.
This sentiment was echoed by Federal Judge Robert Sweet in a lawsuit against the restaurant chain back in 2003 when he said:

"Chicken McNuggets, rather than being merely chicken fried in a pan, are a McFrankenstein creation of various elements not utilized by the home cook."

At the time, Time Magazine reported that Judge Sweet "questioned whether customers understood the risks of eating McDonald's chicken over regular chicken."
That was seven years ago, and I still wonder whether or not McDonald's customers truly understand the risks they take when consuming fast food on a regular basis.
If you missed Morgan Spurlock's documentary Super-Size Me, I highly recommend you watch it with your entire family. It's a real-life illustration of just how dangerous – life threatening, in fact – an excessive fast food diet can really be. And "excessive" consumption is likely far less than you imagine: Eating fast food just twice a week DOUBLES your risk of developing insulin resistance, compared to eating it just once a week, for example. Insulin resistance, as I've discussed on many occasions, is one of THE primary driving factors behind most of the diseases we currently struggle with, from diabetes to cancer and heart disease...
The truth is, McDonald's fare contain non-food ingredients that can seriously harm your health.
This shouldn't come as any great surprise. After all, how healthful can something be that shows no signs of decomposing after being left on a counter for more than a decade?
Clearly there's more chemicals in there than actual, real foodstuff.

Chicken McNuggets: "Made With White Meat"... and What Else?

According to McDonald's, their chicken nuggets are "made with white meat, wrapped up in a crisp tempura batter." But as the article above shows, these chicken nuggets are a far cry from what you might expect, based on that description.
About half of it is actual chicken. The rest is a mix of corn-derived fillers and additives (most likely genetically modified), along with a slew of synthetic chemicals, including:

• Dimethyl polysiloxane, a type of silicone with anti-foaming properties used in cosmetics and a variety of other goods like Silly Putty
• Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a petroleum-based product with antioxidant properties

The latter, TBHQ, is typically listed as an "antioxidant," but it's important to realize it is a SYNTHETIC chemical with antioxidant properties – NOT a natural antioxidant.
The chemical prevents oxidation of fats and oils, thereby extending shelf life of processed foods. It's a commonly used ingredient in processed foods of all kinds, but you can also find it in varnishes, lacquers, pesticide products, as well as cosmetics and perfumes to reduce the evaporation rate and improve stability.
At its 19^th and 21^st meetings, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives determined that TBHQ was safe for human consumption at levels of 0-0.5 mg/kg of body weight. However, more recently, the Codex commission set the maximum allowable limits up to between 100 to as much as 400 mg/kg, depending on the food it's added to. (Chewing gum is permitted to contain the highest levels of TBHQ.)
That's quite a discrepancy in supposedly "safe" limits!
So, is the safe level zero, or 400 mg/kg? Who knows?!
According to A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives, one gram of TBHQ can cause:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
• Delirium
• Sense of suffocation
• Collapse

Based on animal studies, health hazards associated with TBHQ include:

• liver effects at very low doses
• positive mutation results from in vitro tests on mammalian cells
• biochemical changes at very low doses
• reproductive effects at high doses

The good news is that it is not suspected to be a persistent toxin, meaning your body is probably able to eliminate it so that it does not bioaccumulate.

REAL Food "Lives" and "Dies"

I recently commented on the curious ability of McDonald's food to remain impervious to degradation. It's as if the food has been embalmed to stay "fresh" forever! After sitting on a shelf for 14 years, the hamburger bun has yet to develop a single trace of mold. It's barely even begun to shrivel...
Folks, these buns bear absolutely no resemblance to real bread, and when you read the list of ingredients, this mysterious mummification feature becomes less of a mystery.
Here are just a few of the ingredients in a McDonald's hamburger bun:

• calcium sulfate (aka Plaster of Paris)
• calcium carbonate (Antacid medication)
• ammonium sulfate (According to MSDS,“harmful if swallowed”)
• ammonium chloride (Causes irritation to the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea)
• calcium propionate (Preservative)
• sodium propionate (Mold inhibitor)

Always remember that wholesome, health-promoting food is "live" food, and the hallmark of live food is the fact that it will decompose.
The fact that these burgers, buns, and fries do not decompose, even after a decade or two, is a clear sign that it's just not real food, and should not be part of your diet.

You Are What You Eat...

The bottom line is that if you want to stay healthy, and keep your children healthy, you have to avoid fast food and other processed foods, and invest some time in your kitchen, cooking from scratch. Reclaiming your kitchen is part and parcel of healthful living, so you know exactly what you're putting in your body.
Ideally, you'll want to consume as much whole, raw, organic and/or locally grown foods as possible. That's one of the major reasons why vegetable juicing works so well – you're consuming living raw food!
Most vegetables also have very low carbohydrate levels that minimally disturb insulin metabolism – another important trait of a healthful diet -- but there is something very special about vegetable juicing and eating live raw foods in general.
In addition, I believe optimal health is also largely dependent on eating the right foods for your nutritional type. I think this is such an important part of an optimal diet that I am now offering the entire Nutritional Typing program to you for free.
If you're "hooked" on fast food and other processed foods, please review my recent article How to Wean Yourself Off Processed Foods in 7 Steps. If you're currently sustaining yourself on fast food and processed foods, this is probably the most positive life change you could ever make.
And if you have children, remember that feeding your children home cooked meals can have far reaching benefits, extending even to your future grandchildren. Yes, that's right! It is now well known that dietary changes can prompt epigenetic DNA changes that can be passed on to future generations. For instance, pregnant rats fed a fatty diet had daughters and granddaughters with a greater risk of breast cancer.
Making wise food decisions can literally "override" genetic predispositions for disease.
If you need help determining what foods are actually healthful and which are not, please review the shopping guidelines listed at the end of this recent article.

Related Links:

  Eating This Just Twice a Week Can Make You Gain Ten Pounds…

  Fast Food Twice a Week Linked to Obesity & Diabetes

  Most of What You Eat is Not Real Food

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