Aromatherapy That Inspires Exercise

Working out is literally a pain for some people. However having an exercise regimen is an essential part of any weight loss plan.  You can use essential oil therapy to help you stay motivated and feel positive about working out every day.

Here is a short list of oils that can help stimulate you, wake you up and motivate you to get off the couch and on the bicycle, to the swimming pool or to the gym so you can adhere to your exercise regimen.

Orange 
Orange oil has a campherous quality that keeps you alert, energetic and sharp. The smell is Traditionally this oil is known as the oil of joy! Orange essential oil  is calming and energizing at the same time. Orange oil, whether it be bitter orange, blood orange, sweet oil, mandarin or tangerine makes you feel refreshed, alive and a bit more perky. It instills a positive attitude and uplifts the spirit. It is a natural agent of elation.

Lemon
Lemon is bracing and enhances focus, stamina and performance. It helps you exercise for  longer than you thought was possible.  Lemon oil also has the psychological effect of making it feel like "it's a brand new day."  For a brisker scent of lemons, try oil made from Meyer lemons.

Grapefruit
Like most of the citrus oils grapefruit improves mood and sharpens the senses. It makes you feel refreshed, awake and can prevent fatigue while working out. At the same time grapefruit also has a directly relaxing effect on you that relieves hypertension, irritability and the reluctance that sometimes comes when it is time to work out.

Lemongrass
Lemongrass essential oil improves focus and concentration so you are not prone to doing a sloppy or shorter work out.  It has a similar scent to lemon but a bit more herbaceous, grassy or floral. Lemongrass also uplifts the mood while at the same time instilling a sense of serenity and determination to get through your workout no matter what it takes.

Rosemary
Rosemary essential uplifiting, yet medicinal. It is a lovely oil for those who have lung problems to use.

Peppermint
Peppermint essential oil keeps you positive, alert and energetic. It has a nip to it that psychologically makes the brain “wake up” and usually the body follows. If you are nauseous or run out of breath while working out then peppermint can be of some use.
You can take a bath with diluted oils, apply the diluted oils to your skin or diffuse them through the air with a vaporizer.  Do this before you work out.  

One word of advice:  not every gym allows scent in their work-out spaces as some people are allergic or irrigated by strong aromas or perfume smells. If that is the case you just might have to be satisfied with smelling the aroma at home.

For more information or to book a consultation about  life style issues, anti-aging, diet and weight loss programs or any health issue you may be experiencing, visit the Pinewood Natural Health Clinic website that has a list of full services and products at www.pinewood.ca or call our Toronto Office at  (416)-656- 8100.  We also have an office in Pickering, Ontario at (905)-427-0057. You can also email us at info@pinewoodhealth.ca and we would be happy to answer any question that you have about our holistic health services

HAP And Taking Charge of Your Health

Ultimately, participating in the Healthy and Active Lifestyle Program is all about taking charge of your health. Everybody has a digestive system, hormones, and nervous system but how these systems behave is influenced by many factors, some that we can control and others that we can’t.

When it comes to our health we are not able to control genetics that give us predispositions to certain health problems however we can control our diet, how much we can exercise and what we eat.

HAP Teaches You How to Live

Nutrition is comprised of the food we put into our body, but also what we don’t consume. When you take part in the Healthy and Active Program, your trained health care provider will be able to assess, through blood analysis, what foods you need to eat to optimize your overall health, lose weight and rev up your metabolism so that it works perfectly. You will be prescribed specific foods to eat that support your health, based on the results of your own  blood chemistry analysis as well as be coached about your lifestyle in general. This coaching includes advice about how to stay away from foods that do not support your health as well as advice about exercise, sleeping, work habits and controlling chronic healthy conditions.

HAP Eliminates Guesswork About Your Health

There is no guess work in this process. You are told exactly what to do so you can thrive in the future.

The Healthy and Active Program was developed by naturopathic doctor Dr. Michael Rahman and a team of experienced nutritionists. It combines the best of both worlds; advanced medicinal practices such as blood diagnostics and knowledge about our body system, with the naturopathic model of health care, which interprets the advances of modern blood diagnostics, knowledge about our body systems, and effectiveness of sound nutritional principles.

The Healthy and Active Program offers a unique opportunity for you to take a peek inside your body and discover your nutritional needs. It then provides a personalized blueprint, teaching you exactly how to make changes to your diet and lifestyle.  All you need to do as a recipient of the plan is follow “the map” that is provided to you so that you can embark on your own journey towards wellness.

In order to generate your unique plan, Healthy and Active uses the results of a combination of diagnostics; blood test, medical history, and your current health needs and goals. Combined, the results will reveal patterns that indicate what your nutritional needs are. These patterns unlock the mysteries of your body – they can indicate the functioning of your organs, internal systems, thyroid and hormone functioning, and more.

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.

Take Control of Your Life By Eating Alkaline Food

You have probably heard the saying that if you don’t have your health, then you don’t have anything in life.  Embarking on a Health & Active program is all about regaining your health in total so that you are back in the “driver seat” when it comes to how well you feel on a daily basis.   

How well we feel on a daily basis depends on what kind of fuel we put in our body.  In many ways, we become what we eat.

Another metaphor that applies here is exercise.  Running your body without exercise is like running a car without a tune-up. Sooner or later your health just breaks down.

Feeling Unwell is a Call to “Go Alkaline”

Whenever your body sends you a symptom, such as weight gain, fatigue and high blood pressure, it is a sign that all is not well and that is time to make some lifestyle changes. It is a biochemical “flag” that is waving wildly to warn you that it is time to change your diet and eat alkaline to prevent your body’s pH from becoming so acidic that your cells begin to suffer from free radical damage. 

An acidic blood pH level causes most disease. This is corrected by eating foods that are considered to be alkaline.  Do not take this idea literally. Just because something is sour, does not mean it is acidic.  This way of looking at food is about biochemistry.  Some foods are simply more alkaline than others and when you embark on a Healthy & Active Program you will begin to learn which foods are acidic and which are alkaline.

For instance, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and colas, and eating refined sugars and starches and lots of fatty red meat creates an acidic amino acid profile in your blood. Eating raw, vegan and fresh as much as is possible for you helps to create an alkaline condition in your body that is repellent to free radical damage to your cells. Disease cannot find a foothold in a body that is mostly alkaline.

Healthy & Active Living Prevents Acidosis

Healthy and active living means getting enough exercise and eating alkaline foods so that you can prevent your body from going into a state of acidosis.  Once the body enters acidosis, you begin to experience issues such as phlegm, inflammation, lowered immunity and joint pain. If a state of acidosis is left to fester than you are at risk of cellular degeneration, premature aging and disease.

Acidosis is a problem that is easily solved because preventing it is all about diligence and making the right choices when it comes to your diet. Many people experience relief from symptoms almost immediately when they switch their diet to alkaline foods. Some people go through what is called a “healing crisis” caused by the body throwing off the poisons and toxins it was storing in the liver, blood and the fat as the result of being in a state of acidosis.

For many individuals all that this entails is cutting sugar, junk food and refined foods and trading them in for fresh raw foods, juices, smoothies, salads and homemade meals.

The good news is that you do not have to embark on this type of program without guidance.  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.

All Work and No Play Makes For A Boring Summer!

Learn Why It is Important to Live a Balanced Lifestyle!!

Are you a stress-aholic, over-achiever or overworked people pleaser who spends endless hours at work and not quite enough time socializing, exercising and eating right?  If so you might already be experiencing some type of physical, mental or relationship issue in your life that is actually a manifestation of this imbalance. 

Signs that it is time to take time out “to smell the flowers” include 

Extreme changes in weight due to lack of eating or eating unhealthy foods on the     run

•      Looking older and acting older than you are and appearing fatigued
•      Dependence on stimulants like coffee or cigarettes to meet work goals
•      Dependence on pills or alcohol to calm oneself down
•         Anxiety attacks about what will happen next
•      Feeling foggy and confused
•     Irritability and mood swings that affect all of your relationships
•     Changes in weight due to eating unhealthy foods on the run

Most dis-ease in our life is a mirror of some kind of injustice, over-compensation or uneasiness that we allow as part of our intent to make money. For instance, the man who spends twelve hours a day at the office is less likely to have a happier relationship with his wife and kids than the man who spends only seven hours and then goes home and eats a healthy home-cooked meal with his family. The assistant who spends all day rescuing people from bad situations may suffer from a lack of time for her own self-care and miss crucial dental check ups and mammograms.  The person who is always behind on deadlines might be sick from eating fast food all day and never getting any fresh air or exercise. Furthermore, the result of persistent mental and physical exhaustion is falling further and further behind until job loss is the result.

One of the deadliest things you can do for your cardiovascular health is sit in a office chair all day. A recent study has shown that just four hours of sitting in front of a screen all day provokes a fifty percent increased risk of death from any cause and a 125 percent increased risk of suffering from a heart attack.[1]

There are practical steps that you can take to reduce the amount of work-related stress in your life so that the general quality of your life is improved.

# 1. Make a pie chart with a 24- hour clock on it. Figure out how many hours you spend with family, with friends, sleeping, at work, taking care of yourself and just experiencing the joy of living. If you are working all day with 45 minutes for meals every day then it is definitely time to reconsider whether or not lowering your life quality to make more money is worth it.

#2. Make a list of priorities and then redo that pie chart so that the pieces of “the life pie” you are living are equal.  For example, what changes would you have to make in your schedule order to make more time for self-care or just relaxing with family or friends?

#3  Reorganize your priorities and organize them in as tasks in a schedule. Ultimately you are the person who decides what is most important in life. Managing your time will also help you be more relaxed and productive when you are actually at work.

Changes in lifestyle do not come easy for anyone but they are much easier to initiate in the summer months when the weather is nicer, most workloads are lighter and our loved ones have more available time to spend with us. Do not ignore the opportunity that the summer months offer to pace yourself and focus on health and your overall general happiness.

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. Micheal Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.

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[1] tamatakis E, et al. Screen-based entertainment time, all-cause mortality, and cardiovascular events: Population-based study with ongoing mortality and hospital events follow-up. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2011;57:292.s

Protect Yourself and Your Family From Eating Pesticides

Food needs to look attractive or it just does not sell. That is why farmers spray it down with pesticides, dye it and coat it with waxes. The same treatment is not given to food that is grown for mass commercial canning.  This is why, sometimes, canned food can contain less pesticides than fresh or frozen foods.  Also when foods are processed, they are often super-heated and peeled, which helps remove many pesticide residues.

This does not mean you should eat exclusively canned food, but if fresh, organic produce is not available, it may actually be a better choice.

Every year more than two billion pounds of pesticides enter our environment. Yet only 10% of the pesticides approved for use on food have been adequately tested for use in humans.  They are known carcinogens that cause impairment of the liver, kidneys and brain.  They also block the absorption of nutrients that are vital to healthy growth and development.

Pesticides also disables our ability to fight off infectious organisms, may impair fertility, and contributes to miscarriages and birth defects.

Pesticides are particularly lethal for children who tend to eat a small variety of foods rather than a great selection. This increases their vulnerability to consuming a pesticide, unless the limited food is one that is well known for not being sprayed down with chemicals.

To protect you and your family from eating pesticides do the following –

·      Be sure to remove the outer leaves of lettuces and cabbages and peel your fruits and vegetables if they are not organic

·      Thoroughly scrub unpeeled vegetables and rinse well with water

·      Soak foods that are hard to wash without damaging them in water. Examples would be grapes, strawberries, broccoli, lettuce and spinach. For foods that are more difficult to wash — like strawberries, grapes, broccoli, lettuce, and spinach.

·      Buy prewashed produce whenever possible

·      Stay away from mouldy, bruised or overripe produce

·      Trim all fat from meat as it  the fat that contains the most chemicals

·      Eat skinless chicken as the skin of animals also retains pesticide

·      Eat local to avoid waxes and preservatives that help produce grown far way survive the long trip to the grocery store. 

·      Purchase produce in season. Food grown out of season usually comes from another country and is covered with wax more pesticides.

The foods that contain the highest levels of pesticides according to the Environmental Working Group definition of the Dirty Dozen in the United States are: celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, bell peppers, spinach, cherries, kale/collard greens, potatoes, and imported grapes.

The foods that have the lowest pesticide residues are: onions, avocado, sweet corn, pineapple, mangos, sweet peas, asparagus, kiwi, cabbage, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon, grapefruit, sweet potato, and honeydew melon.[1]

To lead a healthy and active lifestyle, make shopping for pesticide-free items a priority.

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] Baby Center Medical Staff “Pesticides in Your Baby’s Food’, Babycenter 1997. < http://www.babycenter.com/0_pesticides-in-your-babys-food-what-you-need-to-know_1408813.bc?page>