HAP (Healthy and Active Program) For Beginners

If you have stumbled upon this blog while surfing the Internet, you might be wondering exactly what is the HAP (Healthy & Active) Program? In essence it is a proven metabolism based nutrition program that is aimed at boosting your metabolism. There are no powders, drugs and you don’t have to count calories. This is a simple analysis of your blood components that tells your naturopath what foods you should be eating to maintain a healthy metabolism combined with advice tailored specifically to your needs as to what sorts of foods you should be eating.

The HAP Consultation

The metabolism program begins with an initial consultation in which you are given a full examination so that the doctors can gain an understanding of your overall state of health, lifestyle practices and dietary habits.  A procedure called a Body/Biolelectrical Analysis (BIA) is also conducted to determine your body fat percentage.

During a BIA test a low safe electrical current is passed through the body.  The fluid passes easily through fluids but encounters a phenomenon known as “bioelectrical impedance” when it encounters fat tissue.  This resistance detected by the current is then measured by a computer to figure out your fat percentage. The BIA is usually performed there times during the program to establish a baseline for your body fat index and measure your progress as you journey through the lifestyle changes.

Blood is also drawn and sent to a laboratory for analysis. There are 42 different values that will help provide substantial metabolic analysis of your blood.   Your naturopathic doctor then creates a nutritional plan specific to your specific needs after evaluating the results of the blood analysis.

Your Personal Nutrition Plan

Parsnip and White Bean Soup
A Delicious HAP Recipe

When your blood results arrive back, your naturopathic doctor will then review it to help you understand how it works and discuss the three phases of HAP.

Phase #1 – The Preparation Phase. This phase takes two days and prepared your body for the coming adjustments.

Phase #2 – Metabolic Adjustment. This phase takes four weeks during which time the body adjusts to the new way of eating.  Foods that may have been disabling your metabolism from working properly are replaced with foods that boost it.

Phase #3 – This phase takes four weeks during which your adjusted metabolism is strengthened as you adjust to your new eating and lifestyle habits.

The Follow Up

Once you have cycled through the program your ND will conduct a second BIA to make sure you are maintaining it well.  You will also be offered exercise guidance and emotional support throughout the entire program.  Exercises that fit your specific needs will be recommended, as well as a routine that fits in with your lifestyle.

Remember that this is a program tailored specifically to your needs and the program that works for you may not work for a friend or relative asking you to “pass it on.”  The fact is that the HAP program works just simply because it is so individualized.

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41) 440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Michael Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.

The Top 5 Benefits of Drinking Peppermint Tea

Many people that are on a Healthy and Active Lifestyle plan might be looking for beverage to drink that is healing yet tastes great without the caffeine kick of coffee or the sugar kick in fresh fruit juices.  For many, the answer is peppermint tea, which can be drunk hot or cold, with a healthy sweetener like honey or stevia if that is recommended for your lifestyle plan. 

Here is a look at the top five benefits drinking peppermint tea has for your overall health

1. Relaxant. Peppermint tea relieves stress and anxiety because the menthol contained in tea is a very mild muscle relaxant. This means that if you are a hyper or anxious person that this tea can relax you enough so that you feel content and focused, without wanting to fall asleep.  However, every individual is a little different when it comes to a reaction to peppermint tea, which has a bit of caffeine in it  (about as much as a third of what is in a cup of coffee.) You might find it helpful to brew a bag of peppermint tea with strong black tea. Some people find it strong enough to use as a sedative, in the sense of being a remedy for insomnia but for the most part it is used as a carminative, which is as a digestive aid, which brings us to our next point…

2. Digestive. Peppermint tea is a fantastic natural remedy for bloating, gas and indigestion, helping to soothe upset stomach and facilitating the passage of gas.

3. Weight Loss.  If you are trying to maintain weight loss, peppermint tea is of assistance on two levels.  First of all, it is a mild diuretic which allows you to eliminate excess fluid from your tissues, which in itself reduces any water weight.  Secondly, it is also an appetite suppressant that might help you last longer between meals and reduce cravings.  An effective weight-loss “potion” is a mix of peppermint tea with green tea, which also helps to clarify the skin!

4. Skin Healer.  If you suffer from adolescent or menopausal acne then try drinking more peppermint tea.  Peppermint tea offers a boost in estrogen levels that can help curb hormonal problems and help clear up acne.  Peppermint tea also works topically to reduce inflammation and that is why it is in so many natural skin lotions. However, a simple remedy for rashes, pimples and other skin problems is to apply peppermint tea topically or even take a bath in it because it has a cooling effect on the skin.

5. Sinus Congestion.  A strong cup of peppermint tea has enough antioxidants in it to help your immune system fight off viruses and bacterial infections.  Peppermint tea contains peppermint oil, which is a natural decongestant.

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41) 440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Michael Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.

The Top 3 Field Greens For Losing Weight

Dieting is an economy that depends on a deficit of calorie intake along with a maximum intake of nutrition or you will not lose weight. This means that you must eat the densest foods possible in order to shed the points.

To eat well and lose weight it is best to choose vegetables, fruits, and grains offer important vitamins and minerals to keep your body healthy. Foods must have very little fat. They also have no cholesterol, have a low glycemic index and be a known anti-inflammatory.

Here is a look at the top three greens that have the most pay off when you are trying to make those calories count nutritionally.

Collards are one of the most nutritionally dense foods available. They have saturated fat or cholesterol. It is 92% a whole food and has a low glycemic load of only 4, which means that it provides you with steady energy. It has an inflammation factor rating of 279 which over five times the target of eating a food with an inflammatory rating of 50. This makes this a very healing food that is ideal for weight loss.

A bundle of organic collard greens.

Collards also a good plant source of vegan-sourced Vitamin E, A,C, all of the B vitamins, folate, iron, magnesium and phosphorus. It is also has very high levels of vitamin C and A.  It is also a good dietary source of fiber.

Collard Greens are also nearly a complete protein. All it is missing is tryptophan. Eat it with a bit of lean turkey or trimmed sirloin and your meal is a complete protein. 

Eat it steamed very lightly, without butter and with a dash of walnut oil and cider vinegar for best weight loss results.

Kale also has no saturated fat or cholesterol. It is 85% a whole food and has a low glycemic load of only 3, which means it does not cause blood sugar spikes. It has an inflammation factor rating of 257, which makes it about six times more healing to the body then many foods.

Kale is also a good source of dietary fibre, that help you eliminate toxins and fats and it contains all of the B vitamins, folate, iron, magnesium and phosphorus. It also contains very high levels of vitamin C and A.

Kale is aloes almost a complete protein, so all you have to do to make it a complete protein is add a bit of raw oat bran, Chinese chestnuts or sesame seeds to your kale salad to make it a complete protein.

The darker green the kale is, the better it will be for you. Cook it with garlic and apple cider vinegar to enhance its weight loss properties.

Bok Choy also known as Chinese Cabbage is also devoid saturated fat or cholesterol. It is 85% a whole food and has a low glycemic load of only 1. It is ideal for those who are diabetic and dieting. It has an inflammation factor rating of 127 that makes it profoundly healing.

Bok Choy is also a good source of dietary fibre, the B vitamins, magnesium and phosphorus. It is also has very high levels of vitamin C and A. folate, calcium, iron, potassium and manganese.

It has an amino acid score of 67, which means that you need to combine with other foods to eat it as a complete protein in a meal. It is missing Methionine and Cystine so to compensate eat Bok Choy with ingredients that are rich in these nutrients: Brazil nuts, sesame seed kernels, chinese chestnuts, a sprinkling of raw oatmeal or braised pumpkin chunks.

Bok choy is best eaten steamed or braised lightly in a healthy oil like coconut oil.

Maintaining weight loss is an essential part of the Healthy and Active Program. For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41) 440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Michael Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.

How Junk Food Rewires The Brain

If you feel that you are addicted to food, it may not be your fault as it becomes more and more apparent that the food industry has figured out ways to train your brain to want the same foods again and again. This may seem like an outrageous accusation but the bottom line is that those in the food industry only have one priority and that is to keep you coming back to buy the same foods again and again.  Junk food does weaken your resolve, change your behavior and have you eating the fat, salt and sugar that makes you obese.

The Addictive Salt, Sugar and Fat Combo

The three magic ingredients that are basic to addictive food science are sugar, fat and salt. The food industry has become very crafty when it comes creating foods that train your brain to want those foods that are engineered to contain exactly the perfect amounts of these ingredients.  Many junk foods are created by teams of chemists, physicists who develop them to have a certain type of effect on the brain. You feel high after you eat them and then you want more. The food industry knows this and creates foods that meet a certain nutritional profile so that you will become mentally and physically dependent on eating them to feel well and like you are in a good mood.

Furthermore, foods are being developed that appeal to our very human need to have food with a crunchy or crispy texture or a texture with “mouth feel”, meaning that it melts in the mouth like chocolate or fat.  The problem with this is that many of the foods engineered to taste like this, that don’t actually contain fat or chocolate, contain harmful additives and ingredients.

The Australian Junk Food Study

This supposition is not radical conjecture. There was a very important study done by the School of Medical Sciences, UNSW Australia that proved how junk food changes behavior and leads to obesity and overeating.  The study was published in the journal Frontiers of Psychology.[1]

Basically this study concluded that feeding rats junk food made them obese and made them want the same foods over and over again. The researchers, led by Professor Margaret Morris taught young rats to associate two different flavours of sugar water, cherry and grape, with two different sound cues.  The male rats were part of two groups. One group was fed a healthy diet and the other was fed a junk food diet for two weeks.  The rats were then left to enjoy their sugary treat and studied by the researchers.

The rats that were fed junk food always ate again when they heard their sound cue. The rats on a healthy diet ignored the cues to eat more if they were full. This indicated to the scientists that animals are naturally hardwired to eat a balanced diet.

The rats that ate a diet of junk food that included cookies, cakes pies and dumplings increased their weight by ten percent in just two weeks.  They also preferred to eat the foods that were bad for them and lost all interest in eating novel foods.

Even more revealing was the revelation that when the rats that were fed junk food and put on a normal diet for two more weeks that the rats still continued to indulge their old behaviors leading the researchers to conclude that the junk food actually had the ability to alter the orbitofrontal cortex area of the brain. This part of the brain is the one that rules gratification.

When you embark on a Healthy & Active Program you effectively changes your metabolism so that your brain and body can dump its addiction and be trained to eat in a healthy manner again.

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41) 440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Michael Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.

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[1] To read more about this fascinating study see the article Junk food makes rats lose appetite for balance diet at http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-08/f-jfm082514.php.