The primary energy source of the cells in your body! Every meal should contain some carbohydrate.

The more easily digestible, or simple carbohydrates are preferred. These are ripe fruit, honey, maple syrup, and even white sugar.

Well cooked squashes and potatoes are also good in moderation.

The best source of dietary calcium. 

High quality, additive free dairy is a superfood containing real Vitamin A (retinol), Vitamin E, Vitamin D, Vitamin K, calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, selenium, and CoQ10. Dairy also contains Vitamins B(1), B(2), B(3), B(5), B(6), B(8), B(9), B(12) in various amounts. It's a complete food containing protein, sugar (lactose), and fat.

Grass fed milk, cheese, yogurt, cream, butter, and sour cream are all great. 

Excellent source of digestible carbohydrate, Vitamin C, minerals, antioxidants, and other micronutrients

There are many great fruit options, the idea is to choose the best option that is available to you. 

If the fruit is not ripe, it can be stewed or cooked to increase its digestibility.

Red meat is a high quality, low- PUFA protein source.  

Grass fed or wild red meat like elk, venison, beef, bison, or buffalo typically contain B vitamins (B12, B6, B3, B2), Zinc, Choline, Selenium, Betaine, Potassium, and peptides carnosine and carnitine,

Eating nose-to-tail is an important way to get the variety of nutrients and proteins from different parts of the animal to experience it's true superfood benefit. 

A true whole food multivitamin, and the best source of Vitamin A by far. Also a concentrated source of Copper. 

Vitamin A and Copper work together in the regulation of excess iron. Excess iron can cause extreme oxidative stress, inflammation, and disease.

It's also a good source of B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, choline, zinc, selenium, manganese, and potassium.

The #1 superfood.

Eggs contain Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Cholesterol, B vitamins: B12, B9, B5, Biotin, and B2,

Choline is vital for both the liver and the brain, and a process called methylation..

Cholesterol is the building block for all the major hormones in the body, and it is also a master antioxidant.

Collagen containing foods are very important to balance out a person's protein intake. A diet solely of muscle meat can be unbalanced and inflammatory. 

Collagen protein is anti inflammatory, anti stress, and anti fibrotic. Find it in:

• bone broth
• shanks
• short rib
• chuck roasts
• flank steak
• high quality gelatin or collagen powders

Shellfish like oysters, shrimp, scallops, and so forth are both a good protein source a great source of the very important trace minerals:

• copper
• selenium
• zinc
• iodine

Shave up a raw carrot and make a salad with it, adding a little olive oil, vinegar, and sea salt. This simple snack helps to sweep the colon, reducing intestinal bacterial overgrowth, estrogen recirculation, and helps with bowel movement.

These should be public enemy #1. Yet, unfortunately they are absolutely ubiquitous in our food supply.

Think corn, vegetable, soybean, canola, flax oil, etc.. 

These oils destroy our metabolism, inhibit thyroid function, increase estrogen, inhibit protein digestion, and complex with Iron to create an oxidized substance called lipofuscin (or age pigment, liver spots).

Lipofuscin is like a black hole for energy and oxygen, and it causes great distress in the body, and can be found at the root of many diseases. 

Excess, unregulated Iron is a massive contributor to oxidative stress and disease conditions. Oxidized iron is akin to biological rust.

It synergizes with the polyunsaturated fats (PUFA), and oxidizes to create Lipofuscin, age pigment, or liver spots. 

All of the white flour in North America is fortified with iron. This means all of the breads, baked goods, desserts, cereals, and anything else containing all-purpose flour. 

Too much fat of any kind in the diet blocks the proper metabolism of carbohydrates, and proper thyroid function.

Aiming for around 30% of total calories in fat is a good target, give or take. 

From a metabolic perspective, alcohol has a few main setbacks.

It causes damage to the liver, and raises estrogen.
It also depletes minerals, and B vitamins.

Knowing the mechanisms that alcohol has on us gives us a better idea of how to mitigate it if we do end up consuming drinks at a social event.

B vitamins, Magnesium, Sodium, and Potassium are at the top of the list for things to replenish after a night out

Grains, raw greens, and legumes are not particularly supportive of the metabolism. 

They contain certain amounts of anti-nutrients called phytates, lectins, and goitrogens.

These will inhibit protein digestion, slow thyroid function, and irritate the digestive tract. 

That doesn't mean to avoid them entirely, but simply not to use them as your main source of food.

Nuts and seeds contain high amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and for that reason they should be consumed only in moderation or minimized. 

They also contain fibre that is irritating to the digestive tract.

Nut butters are not to be consumed daily. 

Starch is a form of complex carbohydrate.
Unlike simple carbohydrates like fruit/honey/maple syrup/lactose, complex carbohydrates are harder to digest, and require more enzymes to break the bonds within these complex sugar molecules. 

In practical terms, starchy foods can crowd up the digestive tract, and ferment while they are still in the intestine, producing bacterial overgrowth. 

Removing starchy foods is step #1 to remediating any digestive/gut issues. 

This means wheat, grains, corn, potatoes, legumes, and rice. 

Multivitamins and multimineral supplements are overcrowded and unnecessary.

They often contain the wrong forms of vitamins and minerals that will throw the body out of balance, and cause harm. 

Omega 3's are the most unsaturated form of the PUFAs. This means that they are highly reactive to oxygen, light and heat, and very unstable. 

They are absolutely NOT essential and should not be supplemented, and do contribute to oxidative stress, aging, and lipofuscin. 

Stress in itself is a metabolically degrading process. 

Always easier said than done, but minimizing stress is an important factor for strengthening the energy metabolism.

Stress causes an increased demand on the building blocks of energy, such as carbohydrate, minerals, and B vitamins.  

Eating smaller and more frequent meals is a great way to stimulate and support the metabolism, especially for someone who is just starting out, as they will not store energy well. 

Consuming both carbohydrate and protein in the same meal or snack is important, and this can be done every 2-3 hours. 

It is very important to eat within 30 minutes to 1 hour of waking. 

Over the course of the night, the liver uses up its stored energy (glycogen). When our liver runs out of energy, our stress hormones get activated, and they scavenge fat and protein from our tissues that is sent to the liver to be converted back to sugar for energy. 

Consuming carbohydrate right from the morning helps us avoid this harmful, and metabolism degrading stress response. 

Caffeine is a metabolic stimulant. This means it can have a great effect when we use it properly, and a negative effect when we don't. 

When you stimulate the metabolism in the absence of dietary carbohydrate, you will inevitably propel the body into the stress-metabolism described under 'Skipping Breakfast'.

Caffeine ramps up the body's use of fuel, and if there is none in the tank, that's when the stress response occurs. 

Fasting has the same effect on the metabolism as does the previous two items. 

The fasted metabolism is catalyzed by stress hormones, and relies on using stored fat and protein tissue for energy.

This causes the oxidation of fat in the blood, which creates a domino effect of harmful byproducts, it slows the overall metabolism, decreases thyroid function, and increases lactic acid.

(and it does not help you lose weight long term.)

Soaps, shampoo, body wash, surface cleaners, cosmetics, detergants, and so forth all typically contain a long list of synthetic chemicals. 

Many of these have been proven to disrupt hormones, increase estrogen, inhibit thyroid function, and cause other types of toxicity.

It is best to switch to natural soaps, cleaners, and detergents wherever possible.

Intense, long duration cardio exercise can cause stress on the body and burden the metabolism. 

When an exercise is causing hyperventilation, and breathlessness, it is usually over-extending in terms of energy demand, and causing a stress response that suppresses the metabolism. 

These two things cause acute stress which can suppress metabolism, especially in an unfed state. 

Breathing through the nose primarily instead of through the mouth is helpful in bringing the body out of the stress state, and calming the nervous system.