Category Archives: Nutrition

Intermittent Fasting, a great Fat Loss Tool if used properly

August 31, 2016 Jason Latas 2 Comments

I’ve been a personal trainer for 25 years and there are some things that just, plain work. Intermittent fasting is one of them.

Intermittent fasting has become quite the fitness craze and works quite well if done properly. Although many people feel that more is always better and this is often where the problem begins… Fasting has been around for thousands of years. It’s nothing new and in this article, I will explain a little more to help you with this new/old fad…

IF is the practice of not eating (fasting) for 12 or more hours at a time. Fasting is generally done for 24 or more hours whereas “intermittent fasting” pertains to shorter durations, done more often… Scientists often call this “time restricted feedings”.

Although it would seem counterproductive to not eat, your body does some amazing things to compensate for your lack of fuel. In my practice I call these days, “Cleanse Days” since we are giving the body time to cleanse and detox.

“Jump Starts” Fat Burning: The reduction of calories on Fasting/Cleanse Days stimulates the body’s fat burning furnaces by increasing human growth hormone while suppressing proteins responsible for fat synthesis and storage. Notably, the surge in human growth hormone also helps protect against muscle breakdown as long as followed with intake of quality protein.

Triggers Detoxification: The abstinence of food on Cleanse Days gives the digestion system a break, allowing the liver to kick into detox high gear. Also, with the reduction of fat deposits on Cleanse Days comes the release of stored fat-soluble toxins.

Improves Insulin Sensitivity: A review of animal and human studies involving intermittent or alternate-day fasting, or abstaining from food for one or two days in between normal calorie consumption days, found that fasting resets cellular sensitivity to glucose and insulin. This in itself can bring better health—allowing the body to better control blood sugar. The opposite of being insulin sensitive is insulin resistant, which is related to metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Recently, research has shown that periodic intermittent fasting was associated with reduced risk in type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Reduces oxidative stress and inflammation: As fat cells shrink, they release fewer pro-inflammatory cytokines (signaling molecules) that cause oxidative stress and inflammation. Less total body fat also helps improve antioxidant status in the body. The end result is improved health overall and lower risk of chronic disease. Oxidative stress, in particular, plays a heavy toll on telomeres (related to aging). The lower the oxidative stress, the better for healthy aging.

Activates Your “Longevity Genes”: Studies in animals suggest that intermittent fasting on Cleanse Days can activate genetic expression of SIRT1, dubbed the “longevity gene”. The scientific interest in sirtuins, the family of proteins that SIRT1 is a part of, has grown since the early 2000s because of findings that stimulation of them—via calorie restriction, intermittent fasting, and compounds such as resveratrol—may slow aging and increase lifespan.

Pretty amazing eh? Well, even though it seems simple there are precautions that should be taken before you just stop eating…

You should be eating on a regular basis for several days before beginning any type of fast. Your body’s first priority is survival and if you are not eating well (or enough) and try to restrict calories even further, your body will actually compensate by lowering your metabolism, because it thinks it’s starving.

The trick is to follow a healthy diet for your size and weight for at least 4 days before fasting, this way your body will feel safe (not staving) and will actually burn more fat and boost your metabolism. Then, end your fast with a clean, medium calorie meal as not to stuff yourself and negate all of your positive effects. I prefer a large salad with 4-6 oz of lean protein. Then follow a clean diet for your size and weight for 4 more days before fasting or cleansing again…

Once you are more experienced and understand your body and metabolism a little better, you can tweak this system to have some dramatic effects!

If this seems confusing, check out our 30-Day Metabolic Reset with Coaching! It’s a system designed to help you drop as much fat as possible, while holding the muscle. And you get a personal trainer to help you out!

If you have questions and would like a trainer to contact you, please fill out the form below:

To your health,

~Jason Latas~

Diet, Nutrition

Can Drinking Soda shorten my telomere?

December 17, 2014 Jason Latas 1 Comment

Bad news if you’re a soda drinker: according to a new study, downing the bubbly stuff daily can age your cells by nearly an additional 2-5 years

Researchers are the University of California San Francisco analyzed data from 5,309 adults by looking at numbers from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Specifically, researchers wanted to check the correlation between drinking soda and telomere length—which is the cap on every chromosome in the body. Shorter telomere are associated with shorter lifespan, higher stress, heart disease, diabetes and certain forms of cancer, among other issues. The researchers found drinking just eight ounces of soda a day increased cell age by 1.9 years. Drinking 20 ounces increased cell age by 4.6 years—which is the same aging effect smoking has on your telomeres.

“The extremely high dose of sugar that we can put into our body within seconds by drinking sugared beverages is uniquely toxic to metabolism,” says study author Elissa Epel, PhD, professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco. Interestingly, there’s no link between cell aging and sugary fruit juices either. For now, soda seems to be the main culprit affecting our telomeres in the beverage department.

Luckily, soda drinking has been on the decline since the researchers pulled these numbers. And while telomeres normally and naturally shorten with age, past studies have shown you can actual help grow your damaged telomeres up to 10 percent or more by eating a healthy diet (without sugary soda), cutting stress from your life, proper supplementation and including adaptogens in your diet. So if you’re still popping the top on Pop, it’s time to settle on a new drink of choice.

I make a concerted effort to include all of these suggestions in my daily life and it had has had a huge impact on my energy and performance! Please share this and let me know if I can answer any questions…

Exercise, Nutrition

To Whey or not… Not all Whey is the Same.

November 28, 2014 Jason Latas 4 Comments

Most Whey Today: Not so great

I’ve been in the fitness industry for over 25 years and I see a lot of what goes on behind the scenes in the supplement industry. Don’t think for a second that they are looking out for your best interest. Most of these companies are a “for profit organization” and must please the share holders before you.. If you do a little research, you can make sure that you’re hard earned money is working for you and is well spent on quality. Remember to, “buy for quality, not the picture or phrase on the bottle”!

Whey has been used in traditional cuisine for centuries, and was known by Greek doctors as “healing water” for it’s strength-building properties.

Today however, whey is considered a waste product of the cheese and yogurt industries. The wildly popular greek yogurt industry has been under scrutiny from environmental agencies recently for the gallons upon gallons of “whey waste” that they must get rid of after processing their strained yogurt products. For every four pounds of milk, only one pound of yogurt is made, and the rest is a mixture of whey, chemicals and other acidic byproducts. Industries drowning in whey have been scrambling to figure out just what to do with all of this tangy liquid and many have found an outlet in the sports nutrition industry where leftover whey is being powdered, flavored and marketed as a muscle-building, energy-boosting supplement. Sounds like a very solid plan, except for the fact that the whey from big industry is truly waste- high heat pasteurized and subject to several acid baths. Any potentially beneficial nutrients are obliterated and mingled with nasty toxins during production. Supplement companies have tried desperately to “purify” their products by isolating different parts of the protein portion of the whey, which is why you get so many different formulations on the market such as isolates, hydrosylates, concentrates, etc. This fractioning subjects the already destroyed whey to even more sketchy chemical processes and eliminates co-factors, rendering any possible remaining nutrients completely un-bioavailable. So despite the luring claims on those big black tubs of peanut-butter chocolate whey protein, most of these commercial powders are certainly not superior and spend more on marketing and magazine ads than they do on what’s inside the bottle! In fact, most of the “added” amino acids that they tout as a bonus, on the label, are only added to bring the amino profile back to “complete”, since many essential amino acids were killed in the high heat or acid based denaturing process! Many whey protein supplements on the shelves are the same quality of whey that is found in your puppy chow. Mmmm, makes me want seconds. Seriously though, if you’re using cheap, low grade whey, much of it is wasted and not even assimilated in your system…

When made properly in small batches from cultured dairy, whey has incredibly unique healing properties. Rich with biologically active proteins and protein fractions, it has a high concentration of essential amino acids that are readily used to support vital biological functions in the body. Among these beneficial factors is:

Lactoferrin, a multifunctional protein with iron-binding properties that acts as a powerful antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory

Bovine serum albumin (BSA), a substance high in amino acids that has been shown to support infection-fighting white blood cells, increase antioxidant activity and maintain healthy cholesterol levels in the body

Immunoglobulins to support disease control by bolstering immunity

Probiotic organisms to promote optimal digestion and full nutrient absorption by balancing the gut flora

Essential amino acids in a highly bioavailable form to act as building blocks for proteins

Glutathione precursors, to boost production of the body’s most powerful antioxidant

Minerals such as potassium, iron and zinc in balanced amounts
Vitamins notably vitamin B2 or riboflavin which helps the body to convert carbohydrates into fuel

If you are looking for a whey protein that is whole, complete, that will boost your immune system and either pack on the muscle or hold it while dieting down, you need organic, New Zealand, un-denatured whey. The whey of the God’s!

It’s all I use and I’ll never go back!

Want to get your hands on some? Contact me here: