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Your body requires six essential nutrient classes for growth,
maintenance, and repair of its tissues. Essential nutrients are those that
the body cannot make and must obtain from an outside source. To provide a
well-balanced diet, the foods you eat must contain all of the essential
nutrients in the amounts appropriate for good health. The challenge is to
eat a balanced diet that provides these nutrients without overeating. A
closer look at the nutrients helps you understand their importance as part
of a balanced diet. The six classes of essential nutrients are
carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water.

The Six Classes of Essential Nutrients

1.Carbohydrates

2.Protein

3.Fats

4.Vitamins

5.Minerals

6.Water

Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are classified as macronutrients and
must be consumed in large amounts throughout the day. These
energy-producing nutrients break down to supply calories (the measure of
energy in food). One gram of carbohydrate equals four calories, one gram
of protein also equals four calories, and one gram of fat equals nine
calories.

Vitamins and minerals are classified as micronutrients. These essential
organic and inorganic nutrients are found in the foods you eat and are
vital to life. They act as cofactors and are critical for proper body
function. Many foods today lack vitamins and minerals, having been grown
in depleted soils or overprocessed. For this reason, we recommend
supplementing your diet with a well-balanced vitamin and mineral capsule.
Think of it as nutritional insurance.

Water, of course, is indispensable for life. This essential nutrient flows
through every cell in your body, bringing in nourishment and taking wastes
away. However, most people don’t drink enough water. If you don’t get
enough water daily, you may experience heartburn, stomach cramps, low back
pain, headache, and fatigue. But if you drink adequate amounts of water,
your body runs more smoothly, your circulation is improved, your digestion
enhanced, and your complexion brightened.

How much water you drink depends on your size and activity level. Rather
than the standard eight 8-ounce glasses per day, try this method: Divide
your weight by two and drink that many ounces of water per day. Thus for a
woman weighing 130 pounds (130 4 2 5 65) the eight 8-ounce glasses of
water per day is right on target. However, a 200-pound man needs
approximately 100 ounces per day, or about eight 12-ounce glasses per day.

Burning fat is also a very dehydrating process. Toxins are stored in fat
cells, and as excess body fat is being burned for energy, these stored
toxins enter the bloodstream. Water becomes the vehicle for transporting
toxins from your body. Because of this process, water becomes even more
important when you are burning fat and losing weight.

Determine your water requirements and challenge yourself to drink that
amount of water daily. You will be amazed at how good you feel when you
simply drink adequate amounts of pure water.

Years of experience working with thousands of people taught us that most
people don’t know which foods are classified as carbohydrates, proteins,
or fats. That makes it difficult when you attempt to eat 40% of calories
from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, and 30% from fat. The following is a
simple review of the three groups of macronutrients. It can help you
understand the unique characteristics of each of these essential nutrients
and why it is important to include all of them in every meal you eat.

Although most foods contain a mixture of carbohydrates, proteins, and
fats, we classify foods according to their predominant nutrient.

CARBOHYDRATES

Carbohydrates are found in virtually all plant foods. Fruits, vegetables,
grains, legumes (beans), and starchy foods such as potatoes, rice, pasta,
and bread consist primarily of carbohydrates. Add to that list sugary
foods such as ice cream, cookies, cakes, candies, and pies, plus chips,
pretzels, popcorn, soda pop, and juice, and

Body Weight/ Water Requirement Calculator

1.Total body weight____

2.Divide by 2____

3.Daily ounces per day____

you can see that you are bombarded with carbohydrate foods. In fact, there
are very few people suffering from carbohydrate deficiency, unless, of
course, they are in ketosis—but we’ll discuss that later.

The primary role of carbohydrates is to supply energy to the body, or more
important, to provide energy to the brain. No matter what form of
carbohydrate, simple or complex, all carbohydrates convert into the same
thing—blood sugar, more properly termed glucose. So, whether you eat a
candy bar or pure sugar, an apple or whole wheat pasta, they all break
down into the same thing: glucose.

If you eat a meal that is primarily carbohydrate, such as a bowl of
cereal, juice, and toast, the level of glucose in your body will rise.
When large amounts of glucose enter the bloodstream at one time, your
blood sugar level rises and insulin is released to lower it. Elevated
insulin levels force your body to burn glucose for energy instead of
stored body fat. Even worse, elevated insulin levels convert excess
carbohydrates into fat.

Problems also occur when carbohydrates are avoided (for example, eggs and
bacon without toast or juice for breakfast). High protein, high fat, low
carbohydrate diets can promote a sluggish feeling because the brain
requires large amounts of glucose to maintain proper mental function. If
you don’t eat enough carbohydrates, blood sugar levels drop too low and
the brain suffers.

The best sources of carbohydrates are foods that are high in fiber, low in
starch, and low in sugar (low glycemic). We use low to medium glycemic
carbohydrates in the 21-Day Fat Flush Formula meals. These high fiber
carbohydrates are nutrient dense, which means they are naturally low in
calories and high in vitamins and minerals. They should be your primary
source of carbohydrates and will produce the best and fastest results.

Best High Quality Carbohydrate Sources

Fruits: Apples, oranges, grapefruit, strawberries, pears, peaches, and
plums

Vegetables: Broccoli, asparagus, green beans, cauliflower, zucchini, and
spinach

Grains: Barley, oatmeal, rye, brown and wild rice, and whole wheat pasta

Legumes: Black beans, white beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, and
lentils

what are your carbohydrate requirements?

In the Formula, we use the revolutionary 40-30-30 nutrition ratio. Forty
percent of your calories should come from carbohydrates. To determine your
carbohydrate requirements, you must know that you will need one-third more
carbohydrates than protein. We know most people don’t like to work on math
problems when they are hungry, so we have done this for you in the
Macronutrient Chart (page 65).

PROTEIN

Protein foods are primarily foods that come from an animal source. The
quality of a protein food is determined by two factors: the amino acid
balance it contains and its digestibility. A complete protein contains all
of the essential amino acids in relatively the same amount as humans
require. High quality protein sources should also be easy to digest and
low in fat, making some of the best protein sources eggs (less some
yolks), lowfat dairy products, skinless chicken and turkey, fish, and lean
cuts of red meat. Lowfat soy products may also be included.

As protein is digested, long peptide chains begin to break down into amino
acids, enter the bloodstream, and are rearranged into more than 50,000 new
body proteins. Just as the letters of the alphabet can be arranged to
create thousands of different words, the 22 commonly known amino acids are
precisely arranged in the bloodstream to build thousands of necessary body
proteins that make up, build, and repair the human body on a continuous
basis. These body proteins include hair, skin, nails, blood, hormones,
digestive and regulatory enzymes, muscle tissue, brain neurotransmitters,
your immune system, and much more. Remember that only amino acids rebuild
these vital body proteins.

If you consume adequate amounts of quality protein at every meal, a
continuous supply of amino acids is available to build and repair your
body. Protein in a meal also stimulates the release of glucagon, a fat
burning hormone that maintains stable blood glucose levels and releases
stored fat so it can be burned for energy.

Many people have heard that beans and rice are a good source of protein
for vegetarians. When two plant foods, each containing the amino acids
that the other lacks, are eaten at the same meal, they can
Best High Quality Protein Sources

*Cottage cheese (lowfat and nonfat)

*Chicken and turkey (skinless)

*Eggs and egg whites

*Fish

*Lean meats

*Lowfat tofu and tempeh (soy products)

*Whey protein powder (90% pure)

make a complete protein. However, a high quality protein must be not only
complete but also digestible. The fibers found in plant foods wrap around
the protein chains, making it difficult to digest and utilize the amino
acids they contain. Besides, beans are 75% carbohydrates, and rice is 90%.
So we consider beans and rice carbohydrate foods and recommend adding
additional easy-to-digest high quality protein with these foods.

A low protein diet can cause amino acid imbalance, muscle loss, and
decreased metabolism, and prevents the release of glucagon necessary for
burning body fat.

But too much protein can also cause problems. A high protein diet can set
you up for the abnormal metabolic state known as ketosis. Sure, the first
week may bring your weight down, but be aware that at best a pound or two
of what you lose is fat and the rest can be lean muscle, water weight, and
mineral loss. Once the dieter goes off the diet, the weight can zoom back
up, quite often to a point higher than before.

what are your protein requirements?

The Formula uses the revolutionary 40-30-30 nutrition ratio. Thirty
percent of your calories come from protein. Your gender, size, and
activity level determine how much protein you require. You need between .5
and 1 gram of protein per pound of lean muscle weight per day. We know
most people don’t like to work on math problems when they are hungry, so
we have done this for you in the Macronutrient Chart (page 65).

FAT

The last of the three macronutrients is fat, certainly the most confusing
of all. In the past you were told that fat is bad and to avoid it. Now you
hear that there are good fats and bad fats. The most important point to
remember is that fat is an essential nutrient and that we need it every
day from an outside source. I often hear people say they don’t need to eat
any fat, since they already have plenty of it. The truth is, you need fat
to burn fat.

To maintain good health and to burn fat, your diet must contain adequate
amounts of fat sources that supply essential fatty acids. Essential fatty
acids play a critical role in energy production, balancing hormones,
controlling hunger, and stabilizing blood sugar. It is important to
remember that fat in a meal slows the digestion of the meal so that it
trickles into the bloodstream, keeping blood glucose levels normal.

The right kind of fat provides omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. These “good”
fats are unprocessed and occur naturally in foods. Good sources are raw
nuts and seeds, olives and avocados, and vegetable oils such as safflower,
canola, and olive. Although fish is primarily thought of as a protein
source, it also provides valuable EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) fatty acids.
Coldwater fish such as salmon, tuna, sardines, and mackerel are some of
your best sources of fat.

A healthy diet should contains 30% of Best High Quality Fat Sources

•Olives and olive oil

•Avocados

•Almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, and pecans

•All types of raw nuts and seeds

•Fish and fish oils

•Vegetable oils

its total calories from fat, with 10% of the total calories from saturated
fat, 10% from unsaturated fat, and 10% from monounsaturated fat. Animal
proteins contain saturated fats, vegetables and vegetable oils contain
unsaturated fats, and avocados, olives, olive oil, nuts, and seeds contain
monounsaturated fats.

The fats to avoid are called trans fats and are found in hydrogenated
vegetable oils.

what are your fat requirements?

The Formula uses the revolutionary 40-30-30 nutrition ratio. Thirty
percent of your calories come from fat. We know most people don’t like to
work on math problems when they are hungry, so we have done this for you
in the Macronutrient Chart (page 65).

SUMMARY

The key thing to remember about nutrition is balance. Balanced nutrition
is the magic bullet to good nutrition. It always has been and it always
will be, and the Formula is simply balanced nutrition made easy. The
Formula is a balanced nutrition program personalized for your specific
requirements. Each meal and snack contains the 40-30-30 ratio of
carbohydrates, protein, and fat to fuel your body correctly. Every time
you eat, the carbohydrates in the meal provide glucose for your brain and
prevent ketosis. The protein provides amino acids needed to build and
repair body proteins and releases glucagon, your fat burning hormone. And
fat supplies the fatty acids critical for blood sugar control, appetite
suppression, and hormone production.

The Formula

40% Carbohydrates

* To provide fuel for your brain

* To prevent ketosis

30% Protein

* To provide amino acids to build and repair your body

* To release your fat burning hormones

30% Fat

* To stabilize blood sugar and control hunger

* To provide essential fatty acids for hormone production