James O'Keefe, MD and
Joan O'Keefe, RD

By: Dr. James O’Keefe

A recent New York Times article profiled a group of New Yorkers who consider themselves “modern cavemen.” The hunter-gatherer lifestyle really can be ideal. Here is a link to a Mayo Clinic Proceedings article I co-authored with Dr. Loren Cordain, one of the leaders of the hunter-gatherer movement. The article, Cardiovascular Disease Resulting From a Diet and Lifestyle at Odds With Our Paleolithic Genome: How to Become a 21st-Century Hunter-Gatherer, can be found here: http://thepaleodiet.com/articles/Hunter-Gatherer%20Mayo.pdf .When you eat the Forever Young way, you are essentially eating a hunter-gatherer style diet. Straight from our book, The Forever Young Diet and Lifestyle, here are the basics you need to know to live a hunter-gatherer’s lifestyle and eat the hunter-gatherer diet.

Nine Steps Toward a Hunter-Gatherer’s Diet

If you want to be in sync with your genetic heritage, here are the steps you should follow to become a hunter-gatherer.
1. Thrive on the earth’s natural bounty. Eat whole, natural, fresh foods; avoid highly processed foods.

2. Consume a diet high in fruits, vegetables, nuts and berries, and low in refined grains and sugars.

3. Increase consumption of omega-3 fatty acids from fish, fish oil, and plant sources like walnuts, canola oil, greens, soybeans, and flaxseed.

4. Avoid trans fats entirely. Eliminate fried foods, hard margarine commercial baked goods, and most packaged and processed snack foods. Also eliminate consumption of fatty meats and high-fat dairy.

5. Increase consumption of lean protein such as skinless poultry, fish, game meats, and whey protein. Eat only lean, fresh cuts of red meat and limit consumption of saturated fats, including fatty, salty processed meats like bacon, sausage and deli meats.

6. Incorporate olive oil or canola oil into your diet, Avoid corn, safflower, sunflower, and vegetable oils.

7. Choose purified water, tea, nonfat unsweetened dairy or soy milk, and red wine. Avoid soft drinks, fruit juices, high-fat dairy, and sports drinks. Even 100 percent fruit juices are still loaded with too much sugar and should be considered off-limits. However, low sodium vegetable juices are very nutritious.

8. Use your body as it was designed and programmed over the millennia and engage in daily exercise from a variety of activities that incorporate aerobic and strength training as well as stretching exercises. Outdoor activities are ideal.

9. Develop and maintain relationships that provide social support (e.g., spouse, family, friends, neighbors, community, etc.) Try to also include some activities that involve altruism and nurturing.

By: Dr. James O’Keefe

We’ve fielded a lot of questions lately about mercury and other toxins in fish oils. Mercury and other contaminants are commonly found in the fish richest in omega-3 fats, like salmon and tuna. That’s why the Environmental Protection Agency recommends limiting your fresh fish intake. At the same time, the American Heart Association and other national and international health organizations recommend we get more omega-3 fats from fish in our diets.

Both CardioTabs Omega-3 Fish Oil and CardioTabs Ocean Safe Omega-3 undergo extensive purification processes, including molecular distillation, which is the only method that removes PCBs, heavy metals (such as mercury, lead, and cadmium), DDT and other contaminants to below detectable levels for human consumption. Our omega-3 products are manufactured to the Global Organization for EPA and DHA (GOED) standards. CardioTabs is also an active member of the Council for Responsible Nutrition and participates in the Natural Products Association’s True Label Program. Our products are independently tested for purity by 3rd party laboratories. CardioTabs Ocean Safe Omega-3 is Gold Certified for purity by an independent, nationally recognized third-party laboratory.

By: Joan O’Keefe

Some people ask why CardioTabs sells a whey protein product. Isn’t that just for athletes, people ask. The answer is simple. Whey protein isolate is one of the absolute best things you can use to fuel your body. Not only is whey protein isolate the cleanest, purest, most complete (and nonfat!) protein source available, but it tastes really great too. Whey protein isolate will keep you feeling full for a long time. It can also help you build lean body mass.
We have formulated CardioWhey to contain only the highest quality whey protein isolate with none of the concentrates and fillers many whey products contain. We’ve also added magnesium and chromium and to CardioWhey Natural some cinnamon.
I know that CardioWhey Natural is one of the healthiest things I can recommend to my clients. We’re all busy and whey protein is truly easy to make, especially for breakfast. It takes less than 30 seconds to make and it’s portable. There IS time for breakfast. Here are a few taste-tested recipes we’ve developed that provide the color and protein you need to start the day right.

Memory-Boost Smoothies
(Blueberries are a terrific memory-boosting food and this is a great way to get them into your diet.)

Blueberry/Apple Sauce
1 cup nonfat skim milk
½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
½ cup frozen blueberries
1 scoop CardioWhey Natural
Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Berry Blend
1 cup nonfat skim milk
½ cup frozen strawberries
½ cup frozen blueberries
1 scoop CardioWhey Natural
Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

More Color & Protein

Mandarin Orange
1 cup nonfat skim milk
½ cup canned mandarin oranges (drained)
1 scoop CardioWhey Natural
(Try adding ½ cup frozen blueberries – tastes great together and packs even more of a nutritional punch.)
Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
1 cup nonfat skim milk – we used unsweetened almond milk, yum!
¼ cup canned pumpkin (plain, not pumpkin pie mix)
½ tsp pumpkin pie spice (nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon combined)
½ banana
1 scoop CardioWhey Natural
Try adding a few ice cubes to this to make really cold.
Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Note – while all recipes listed here call for skim milk, you can substitute with nonfat, unsweetened non-dairy milk. We tried skim milk and unsweetened almond milk in the recipes and loved both results.

By: Joan O’Keefe

The health of your arteries is critically important to virtually every aspect of your health. Too much salt (sodium) ages your cardiovascular system by raising your blood pressure and hardening, stiffening and thickening your arteries and the walls of your heart. You want to keep your blood vessels soft, smooth and supple like they were when you were a child and a teenager and avoid developing the rigid, inflamed and crusty pipes that can lead to a heart attack, stroke and congestive heart failure.

As an American adult, your chances of developing high blood pressure during your lifetime are 90 percent. If you continue to follow your current lifestyle, sooner or later you will probably get hypertension-the medical term for high blood pressure. Why? For starters, the average American consumes about 4000 mg of sodium daily, which is about six to ten times more salt than we were designed to eat. Add the fact that blood pressure rises in response to too much body fat, stress, and sugar and too little sleep and exercise, and you have the recipe for high blood pressure. In February 2005, the Center for Science in the Public Interest estimates that too much sodium kills 150,000 Americans each year. Excess sodium does much more that just raise your blood pressure. A study by David Calhoun, MD, reported in February 2005 Cardiology News showed that high-sodium intake reduced blood vessel wall function. In addition, salt leaches the calcium from your bones, making you prone to osteoporosis and fractures, and also appears to increase cancer risk- especially in the GI tract. A recent study found that extra salt in the diet increased the likelihood of heartburn (also known as esophageal reflux) by as much as 70 percent.

A good place to start lowering the sodium in your diet is by removing the salt shaker from the table and hiding it in an inconvenient spot. But only about 5 percent of the salt in our diet comes from the salt shakers; 75 percent comes from processed and restaurant foods. Most people do not choose to eat high-sodium products- they just eat foods that are readily available in our culture. Salt is everywhere in our modern diet, even in foods such as bread that don’t taste salty. Processed foods are loaded with salt to help preserve freshness, and the more sodium you eat, the more you will crave salt. When you eliminate highly processed, high- sodium foods from your diet, you will take a huge step toward a healthier more vigorous life.

Fresh fruits and vegetable contain virtually no sodium and thus are great for lowering your blood pressure along with your weight. We recommend at least nine servings of fresh produce daily. Unprocessed meat, poultry and fish contain only small amounts of sodium, but the more highly processed versions like deli meats, smoked, or barbecued meats, beef jerky and other commercially modified meats are usually very high in salt. The processed snack foods are generally also high in sodium. Try to get used to eating nuts that are unsalted or only lightly salted. Look for the sodium content on food labels and avoid items that have more than 400 mg per serving. Limit your daily intake to not more than 2300 mg (about one teaspoon) – the average American eats almost two times this much. One glass of regular V8 vegetable juice has over 1000 mg by itself. (low-sodium V8 or tomato juice is great) and a single dill pickle has 440 mg. A high potassium-to-sodium ratio is one of the most important parameters of a healthy diet. We are designed to take in much more potassium than sodium, but the ratio is reversed and sodium dwarfs the potassium consumption. So how do you get more potassium? You guessed it-lots of fruits, vegetables, lean protein and other Forever Young natural whole foods.

A Rainbow of Salt Varieties to Avoid
White salt: table salt
Red salt: ketchup
Yellow salt: mustard
Black salt: soy sauce
Green salt: pickles and olives

By: Joan O’Keefe

Your life can change today. I am so excited that you are reading this blog. I’m excited for you and for the joy that losing weight is going to bring to your life. How many times have you heard someone say dreadfully, “my diet starts tomorrow,” or “Ugh, my doctor says I have to lose weight?” Stop looking at weight loss as a chore. Get pumped up and excited because your life will soon be defined by feeling good and healthy, extra energy and zest for life. I have several clients that let excess weight define and limit them. One client spends her days miserable because she can’t do the things she’d like to do because of her weight. On a recent vacation, her family and friends golfed and walked on the beach while she sat watching. Excess weight was killing her spirit. She’s now 18 pounds down and gets a little of her life back every day. Imagine the joyous days she has ahead of her as she continues to shed 180 more pounds of extra weight.

In addition to my usual advice (pick two colors and a protein morning, noon and night – see Nutrition 101), here are some unconventional tips for weight loss. Losing weight is more than just “diet.” Follow these tips and you’ll be feeling great in no time!

Posted By: Joan O’Keefe

I wanted to thank Kimberly from SheScribes for writing an excellent review on her site about the Nutrition 101 video series. This is a blog site that I thoroughly enjoy!

Click here to read review