Got milk?

These days, it seems like almost everybody does. Celebrities, athletes, and even former president Clinton's head of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala, are all proud to wear the white "milk mustache." After all, everyone knows that you need milk to be healthy ...

Dairy is nature's perfect food -- but only if you're a calf.

If that sounds shocking to you, it's because very few people are willing to tell the truth about dairy. In fact, criticizing milk in America is like taking on motherhood, apple pie, or baseball. But that's just what I'm about to do.

Based on the research and my experience practicing medicine, I typically advise most of my patients to avoid dairy products completely. I like ice cream just as much as the next person, but as a scientist I have to look honestly at what we know. In today’s blog I will explore many of the documented ill-effects of dairy, and give you six reasons you should avoid dairy at all costs.

Something you’re eating may be killing you, and you probably don’t even know it!

If you eat cheeseburgers or French fries all the time or drink six sodas a day, you likely know you are shortening your life. But eating a nice dark, crunchy slice of whole wheat bread -- how could that be bad for you?

Well, bread contains gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, and oats. It is hidden in pizza, pasta, bread, wraps, rolls, and most processed foods. Clearly, gluten is a staple of the American diet.

What most people don’t know is that gluten can cause serious health complications for many. You may be at risk even if you don’t have full blown celiac disease.

In today’s blog I want to reveal the truth about gluten, explain the dangers, and provide you with a simple system that will help you determine whether or not gluten is a problem for you.

Imagine eating 12 pounds of food a day -- and still staying thin and healthy. That may sound crazy, but it’s exactly what our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate for millennia! And they didn't have any obesity or chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or dementia.

Of course, I wouldn't advise anyone today to eat 12 pounds of food, because the food in our society lacks one major secret ingredient that our ancestors ate in nearly all their food -- fiber!

Fiber has so many health benefits that I want to focus on it in this week's blog. I’ll explain some of its benefits and give you 9 tips you can begin using today to get more fiber in your diet. I’ll also tell you about my favorite “super-fiber” that can help you increase your total fiber intake overnight.

But before I tell you about what fiber can do for you, let's a look a little more at the history of fiber.

There is now a way you can boost your metabolism without changing how much you eat. It's true. You can rev up your metabolic engine, feel more satisfied when you eat, burn more calories, and lose more body fat -- all without even changing how MUCH you eat.

Recent studies show how three key changes can help you accomplish your weight loss goals without changing the amount you eat. They are:

1. Meal timing and meal frequency -- In other words, when you eat and how often.

2. Meal composition -– Specifically the role of protein in controlling appetite centers in your brain, increasing caloric burning, and reducing belly fat and weight.

3. Drinking green tea -- Which turns up your fat burning thermostat.

All three of these things have one very important concept in common: thermogenesis -- the creation of heat in your body. When you increase the thermogenesis in your body you literally turn up your metabolic fire.

Thermogenesis has nothing to do with the amount of calories you consume. It's controlled by a number of different interconnected control systems in the body designed to keep us healthy. By optimizing these systems you can turn up your metabolic fire without turning down the foods you love.

Today I will explain how the three key factors outlined above affect thermogenesis and give you a 5-step plan to increase your metabolic fire. Let's start by taking a look at the first thing that increases thermogenesis -- when and how often you eat.

Imagine having a condition with symptoms so severe that you can't leave the house, yet your doctor calls it a "functional," or "psychosomatic," disease -- meaning that it's all in your head.

Frustrating? Absolutely.

But it's a very real problem for the 60 million people -- that's 20 percent of Americans -- who have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). These people are plagued by uncomfortable and often disabling symptoms like bloating, cramps, diarrhea, constipation, and pain.

I have lots of patients with IBS, some of whom have suffered for decades without relief. Their previous doctors couldn't find the cause of the illness, so they were told to just get more fiber or take Metamucil, or were prescribed sedatives, anti-spasm drugs, or antidepressants.

That is NOT the answer. I've found a better way. And in today’s blog I am going to share 5 steps you can take right now to cure IBS without drugs.

But first I want to tell you about a patient of mine ...