Your Health is the Result of How You Live!

Healing happens we address our lives and make changes that our good for health. Often these improvements in our own health also benefit the lives of our family, friends and employers.  The Healthy and Active Metabolism Program has an unofficial motto which, is "How we feel and look is a result of our diet and lifestyle.”

A Healing Crisis Is An Opportunity For Change

This means that if we find ourselves in a healing crisis and we want to look and feel better then something needs to change.   Changing our lifestyle habits and diet and also lowering our caloric intake is the simplest, quickest and most straightforward route back to health unless your condition has become very acute.

An explanation of holism.

Unfortunately, Western medicine often leads patients and doctors to believe that ill health can be managed and that there is not need to get to the underlying root cause of our symptoms.  This results on living on medications and when that happens, we become reactive individuals who are at the mercy of chemicals and dependencies, rather than proactive ones that know how to take charge of oourslves.

We can only cure ourselves by making big lifestyle changes. These changes typically have to do with what we choose to eat, how we think, what we choose to be stressed out about, our quality of sleep, how often we exercise and move our body, and our attitudes toward our self and our life.

Change Happens When You Accept The Necessity For It

Change will not happen unless you embrace the idea. We are only complete when our body, mind, and heart are healed, conscious, connected, and whole again.

Making healthy changes is not necessarily just about you.  Being aware of holism is also about the awarenes that everything that you do, especially the positive things that you do benefits yourself and the community at large.

Being healthy is not just a personal necessity, it is also an ethical and moral responsibility. What you do with your health impacts others.  Taking care of your health is one of the most socially responsible things you can doin this day and age.

First of all there are 48 million people in the United States Census Bureau without health insurance [1] despite the introduction of Obama Care in that country. Here in Canada, there are many naturopathic services, blood tests and special medications, treatments and procedures that are not covered by provincial health plans such as OHIP. [2]

Self-Care is a Gift to Society

It is responsible to treat the fundamental causes of why we get sick and treat the whole body by addressing the lifestyle factors that cause these chronic diseases.  These approaches are both medically effective and cost effective, thereby improving your life quality while at the same reducing the burden of health care costs on society in general.

Heart disease, diabetes, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and obesity account for 75 percent of health care costs today, and yet these are largely preventable and even reversible through the changes in diet and lifestyle addressed in this book.

How effective are lifestyle changes when it comes to your health?  The medical journal The Lancet published a study led by Dr. Dean Ornish that followed 30,000 men and women in six continents and found that simple dietary lifestyle changes could prevent over 90 percent of cases heart disease.[3] Thus, the disease that accounts for more premature deaths and is more expensive than any other affliction is almost completely preventable, just by making changes to diet and lfiestyle.

Also notable is that the very same lifestyle changes that can prevent or even reverse heart disease can also help prevent or even reverse many other chronic diseases as well.

The key is food.  You are what you put in your mouth and you are only as good as what you eat. 

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] United States Census Bureau, 2012.

[2] Health Canada, Canada Health Act Frequently Asked Questions, Ottawa, Canada: Canada Health Act Division, August 19, 2011. Retrieved electronically February 14^th 2014.

[3] Can lifestyle changes reverse coronary heart disease? Ornish, D. et al.

The Lancet , Volume 336 , Issue 8708 , 129 - 133

What Good Nutrition Means For Your Metabolism

The Healthy & Active Plan HAP is a program designed to help you optimized your nutrition so you can improve your metabolism. So how does good nutrition improve your metabolism?

So how does good nutrition improve your metabolism?

When you eat a healthier diet, than your brain receives more blood and oxygen.

You also think more clearly, have more energy, need less sleep. Your brain may actually grow more brain cells because it is not expending all of its energy producing hormones to repair all of the damage you have done your body by eating a bad diet full of junk food, acidic foods, refined foods, sugar, sodium and fat.

Your circulation will improve and your face will glow. More blood to the surface of the skin will make you appear to have less wrinkles.  You won’t be as tired and have more energy to exercise, which in turn also gives you an overall more youthful stance and appearance.

Your heart also receives more blood flow when you eat right.  This staves off fatigue and your brain also receives more blood flow and therefore produces more energy. Your ability to think clearly is enhance and you simply feel more focused and calm.

Increased blood flow also means that you have more stamina in bed. Your sexual organs receive more blood flow, so you may become more potent— you won’t need Cialis or Viagra to function anymore!

For many people, these are choices worth making—not just to live longer, but also to live a better quality life. Most people who do so are amazed at how much healthier they feel and are sorry that they did not do it sooner.

Here are the benefits of eating more alkaline foods summed up in a nutshell –

•       Giving your digestive organs a break
•       Purification
•       Rejuvenation
•       Better Sleep
•       Clearer skin
•       Less flatulence
•       Looking youthful
•       Improved senses: vision, hearing, taste
•       Reduction of allergies
•       Weight loss
•       Drug and alcohol detoxification
•       Better resistance to disease

As you can see from the above list, eating well can contribute to your well being in general.

By contrast, meals high in fat, sugar, and calories cause your arteries to constrict, so blood flow is reduced. The same is true of chronic stress. Nicotine, caffeine, cocaine and amphetamines also hurt your body. So does a lack of exercise. So do many prescription and over the counter medications that are acidic in nature and can harm your health.

Your brain receives less oxygen if you eat badly. You and your skin will look older. You will lose fertility and oxygen and seem a lot older than you actually are … this is a slippery slope that can lead to fatigue, premature aging and eventually chronic disease.

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.

Vegan Cocktail Croquette Recipes

Croquettes are a blend of ingredients  that are shaped into a ball or lozenge shape and then. covered with bread crumbs. These vegan versions make a delicious hot snack. Traditionally they are made from a mix of mashed potatoes, ground meat, fish and cheese but these versions use chickpea flowers, sweet potato, quinoa, peanut butter and other healthy ingredients in order to make a delicious treat.  As they are fried in oil it is probably best to only have these croquettes rarely or on special occasions if you are on a very low-fat diet.  You should also make sure that the ingredients in these recipes are compatible with your Healthy & Active Metabolism program diet in general.

Chickpea Croquettes

Makes 8 croquettes

1 cup organic chickpea flour

¾ cup hot water

1 organic lemon, juiced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1 15 ounce can organic chickpeas

4 organic scallions, chopped

1 organic carrot, grated

1 habanero, minced

4 organic garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons of cilantro leaves, chopped

2 tablespoons coconut or olive oil for frying

In a large bowl combine flour, lemon juice, water, salt, pepper and cumin.  Stir until well combined.  Add the chickpeas, carrots scallions, jalapeno, garlic and cilantro.

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Scoop patty-sized of the chickpea mixture into the skillet. Cook three or four minutes and flip over to cook completely.

Serve with your favourite sauce.

Red Quinoa and Sweet Potato Croquettes

Makes 12-14 croquettes

1 cup organic, gluten-free vegetable broth

½ cup red quinoa, rinsed

1 cup organic sweet potato, mashed

1 organic scallion, chopped

½ teaspoon natural organic peanut butter

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ cup gluten-free bead crumbs

3 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil for frying

In a saucepan, boil sweet potato cubes until soft. Reduce the heat to low, add in the quinoa, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes and then turn off the heat and let sit for another seven minutes.

Mash sweet potatoes with a masher and then, in a large bowl combine the potato and quinoa.

Roll into spheres and then flatten into patties   Lightly grease a flat-bottomed sauté pan over medium heat and then fry until golden brown.

Serve with your favourite dipping sauce.

Saffron MIllet Croquettes

Makes 6 large croquettes

1 small red oniom

1 clove garlic

1 carrot

1 parsnip

1 zucchini

1 cup cooked millet

pinch of salt

Several saffron threads, crushed

2 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil for frying

Crush the saffron between your fingers and add to the millet.  Stir.

Dice vegetables and mince the garlic. saute the vegetables until they are soft and then mix the cooked vegetables into the millet.   

Run the millet mixture through the food processor until finely processed.  Form six equal-sized  croquettes.  Cook in heated oil until nicely browned.

As croquettes can be oily it is advisable to pat them dry with a paper towel before serving.

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.