Two years ago I had the great fortune to attend a seminar in San Francisco presented by Dr Daniel G Amen who is the Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour and a clinical Specialist in Human Nutritional Medicine at the University of California. I was so thrilled to hear a highly skilled Professor lecture in Nutrition in a way that totally ‘melded’ with everything I advocate to my clients. This definitely cemented to me that all my study and constant research in nutrition is science backed and also that an American actually thinks totally ‘natural’ and ‘unprocessed’ when it comes to the best in Human Nutrition.

Dr Amen went to great lengths to explain the intricacies of Nutrition and Human Performance and how the brain has such an amazing influence on how we choose, act, eat and behave and how food influences this behaviour along with how so many foods we (the vast majority) eat influence so many diseases such as type two diabetes, elevated cholesterol levels, inflammation and imbalances in hormones, depression and disease in general.

So many of Dr Amen’s lecture was focused on choosing the best foods packed with the best vitamins, minerals, enzymes, anti-oxidants and all that the human body NEEDS to survive and flourish and to lose and keep off excess body fat. It is as I constantly say – EASY when you know how. We make it so hard for ourselves in so many ways. I work with people every day who want the ‘magic carpet ride’ who want to lose weight, who want the ‘quick fat loss’…It doesn’t work like this. In order to change what is not currently working for you – change it! Being emotionally ready is definitely where it begins however. This is also the brain / body connection.

The message Dr Amen brings across is simple: decrease inflammation with Omega 3 essential fatty acids, control your blood sugars, drink water and choose your foods from totally natural sources. This means absolutely no processed refined foods at all! (or at least minimise as much as possible). This is exactly what I advocate and believe to be so true and so successful not only for controlling body fat levels but also for better performance, better cholesterol levels, better skin, better clarity and energy levels to mention a few of the benefits. Dr Amen also says of lousy diets containing flour, processed and refined carbohydrates which all correlate to sugar…”flour and bread leads you to dead”! Sugar is the enemy for everyone’s body.

The same morning as the lecture I attended we were in the gym and while we were training a TV commercial flashed that this weekend you can buy 15 cans of soda (soft drink) for $3.00!! American’s love affair with sugar is insane and cheap! Everything I have researched on the supermarket shelves in the U.S.A is double coated and drenched with sugar such as high fructose corn syrup, fructose, sucralose, sugar, sugar, sugar! This might just be a pretty strong reason for the 23 million Americans who have Type 2 Diabetes and the many obese people I am seeing every day. The unfortunate thing is that Australians are hot on their heels.