Can you be gifted an efficient one at birth? Or be cursed with a slow metabolism that, like a rusty engine block, churns out more smoke than speed? Or can you craft one to your liking with proper fuel and maintenance?
The answer is as complex as the metabolism itself.
Your metabolism is basically what’s keeping you alive. It’s breaking down food; it’s giving you energy; it’s keeping all of your systems running. Your cells are then using that as fuel and pumping out energy that your body uses. So, it’s all of the systems working together to allow you to live. The source of fuel is vital, but not everyone is born with access to the same class of vessel.
People are born with certain genetics that determine their basal metabolic rate, but there are other factors like disorders of the thyroid gland that affect individual metabolisms.
If your thyroid gland makes more hormones, your heart rate will speed up and your metabolism speeds up. Hypothyroidism is an autoimmune disease, but this time the antibodies actually destroy the thyroid gland, and you get the opposite: you get weight gain, you feel sluggish, and the metabolism is slow.
Maintaining a healthy gut begins with reaching for healthy food source. Try a daily diet of whole foods like the Mediterranean diet and DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension), which recommend lean meats; poultry and fish; and proper amounts of fruits, vegetables, and sources of healthy oils and plant proteins.
Using your energy through exercise is vital to keeping your metabolism in good working order. People who exercise raise their metabolic rate, so if you keep in shape, your basal metabolic rate will be higher.
What is most important about exercise is wanting to exercise. A recent study reported in Frontiers in Psychology drew a direct link between how much people enjoyed their exercise and how likely they were to continue exercising. So choose something you enjoy—be it walking, playing tennis, or weight lifting—and be consistent.
Finally, proper rest is absolutely vital. Our bodies do important work overnight so that we wake up the next morning ready to go again. Good sleep benefits weight management. But if you’re stressed, this can make it harder to sleep well, which in turn can make it harder to lose weight; stress elevates cortisol levels that can lead to weight gain, thus impacting our metabolic and cardiovascular health.
For people who may have trouble gearing down after their day—for instance those of us who may have a hollow leg but a hassled brain—try meditation, even if it’s just three minutes per day.
by Kenny Bodanis
Article Courtesy of Alive Magazine
Most cases of premature cardiovascular disease are preventable. A growing body of research points to an oft-overlooked factor that can help you avoid heart disease and improve your overall wellness: the heart-and-gut connection.
Researchers have found that most adults have poor gut health, with the majority of people experiencing regular symptoms, including bloating, cramping, and abdominal discomfort, that indicate an opportunity for gut-health improvement.
Research shows that a healthy gut may have the following effects:
● improved cholesterol numbers
● better blood pressure support
● better fat metabolization
● healthier heart contractions and regular heartbeat maintenance
This link between a healthy gut and a healthy heart is likely due to the chemical compounds produced by the good bacteria in your digestive system, as well as how a healthy gut is better equipped to help process and break down the foods you eat. And many of the things that affect gut health have also been linked to heart health.
Take smoking as a prime example. Smoking is one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease, and smokers also have higher numbers of “bad” bacteria in their guts compared to those who don’t smoke (on par with those who have IBD).
Your gut health has a direct correlation with heart health, and the things that are good for improving your cardiovascular wellness are also associated with enhanced gut health. Both aspects of your health are influenced by the same lifestyle factors, allowing you to tackle these two major health concerns in a significant and practical way.
Foods rich in fibre, including fruits, veggies, and whole grains, promote gut health, reducing harmful compounds linked to heart disease.
Fibre doesn’t just improve gut health, but it’s also directly linked with improved cardiovascular health. A study following participants on a high-fibre diet over six months reported a 15 percent reduction in systolic blood pressure, 28 percent lower blood sugar levels, and 23 percent reduced triglyceride levels.
• Eat less processed foods, which throw off the gut microbiome, leading to increased inflammation, and are also linked to a significant increase in heart disease.
• Eat more fermented foods like yogurt and sauerkraut, which help populate your gut with beneficial bacteria while improving cholesterol levels and other heart disease risk factors.
• Exercise regularly to significantly reduce heart disease risk and improve the diversity and abundance of beneficial bacteria in your gut.
• Increase your hydration to support healthy digestion and maintain the balance of bacterial and immunological functioning in the gut.
• Regularly wash your hands, which minimizes the risk of introducing bad bacteria into your gut.
by Joshua Duvauchelle
Article Courtesy of Alive Magazine
This take on a creamy, crustless cheesecake satisfies your chocolate cravings without derailing your health goals. Cottage cheese has been having a moment lately, and for great reason. Its mild flavour lends itself to so many culinary preparations, and the protein found in cottage cheese has been shown to help build muscle.
by Lawren Moneta
Recipe Courtesy of Alive Magazine
This little indulgence is the perfect high-protein treat to share with someone special. Packed with protein and fibre, gluten free, and naturally coloured, this sweet treat may become your favourite all year long. This fudge also freezes wonderfully for times when the urge for a little something sweet hits.
by Lawren Moneta
Recipe Courtesy of Alive Magazine
Indulge your loved ones this Valentine’s Day with a delightful plant-based twist on a beloved classic. This innovative recipe swaps the traditional dairy cream filling for a tofu-based one and uses rye crispbread instead of the traditional cookies. Rye crackers have been shown to help benefit heart and digestive health and are a great low-sugar alternative in this tiramisu preparation.
by Lawren Moneta
Recipe Courtesy of Alive Magazine
Habit stacking is the process of slowly pairing an established habit with a new one to create transformation over time. For example, if you’re already going for daily walks, why not try adding a five minute guided mediation while doing so?
A big part of what habit stacking refers to is having discipline. That can manifest in a lot of ways, but whatever a person is doing, having discipline is what ensures it gets done.
Habit stacking requires a lot of work to build, hone, and adhere to routines, but it’s important to recognize that we’re also human. There are days we don’t feel like doing it. In these times, try slogans that motivate you. If you’re looking for an excuse to skip the gym, you might use, “I’m a person who goes to the gym when I don’t feel like going to the gym.” But it’s also important to listen to your body’s needs.
For anyone who wants to make changes this year but feels overwhelmed or fears failing, try embracing the process. Transforming your life in 2026, whether that means adopting a plant-based diet to improve your heart health or focusing your workouts on improving your metabolic fitness, happens one step at a time.
Ready to get stacking? Whether you’re a newbie or a habit-changing pro, this guide will help you make positive changes more easily.
| Level | Formula | Example |
| beginner | After/before [current habit], I will [new habit]. | After I make tea in the morning, I will journal for 5 minutes. |
| intermediate | After/before [current habit], I will [new habit 1]. After [new habit 1], I will [new habit 2]. | Before I close my laptop for lunch, I will spend five minutes listening to a guided meditation. After I finish my lunch, I will take a 15-minute walk before I return to work. |
| advanced | After/before [current habit], I will [new habit 1]. After [new habit 1], I will [new habit 2]. After [new habit 2], I will [new habit 3].Repeat another chain of habits in a different part of the day. | After I take my vitamins in the morning, I will put on my workout clothes. After I get dressed, I’ll go for a 20-minute run. After my run, I’ll drink a glass of water.After I eat dinner, I will wash my dirty dishes. After the dishes are clean, I will wipe down the kitchen. After the kitchen is clean, I will do 15 minutes of yin yoga. |
by Karli Petrovic
Article Courtesy of Alive Magazine
With the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals including a 50 percent per capita reduction in global food waste by 2030, the pressure is on to find ways to extend shelf life and make better use of our food.
Enter packaging. Shrink wrap on an English cucumber protects these thin-skinned staples from bruising, drying out, or being exposed to too much moisture and rotting. Polylactic acid (PLA), used to make compostable plastic clamshells, improves blueberry shelf life.
But are we trading one problem for another when we opt for produce packaged in plastic to keep it fresher longer?
Many of the existing biodegradable or compostable plastics used for packaging end up in landfills because they only break down in specific conditions and often not fast enough for most commercial compost facilities, where turnaround time is one to three months.
Packaging with a label on them are automatically diverted to landfill because the labels are made of different material that would contaminate recycled plastic.
The backyard compost heap is where yard waste, food scraps, and some compostable packaging breaks down into humus, a dark, granular substance that can be added to soil to condition it—and grow more food right outside your door.
One of backyard composting’s greatest benefits is that it’s done at the source, making it more cost-effective than municipal options. Unlike municipal green bins, however, backyard composters are no place for meat, bones, or animal fats. Putting those items in the backyard composter can attract pests. It can also harbour pathogens, such as E. coli, if the pile is not hot enough to kill them off.
It’s enough to make one’s brow furrow. Should you choose food produced locally or go organic? Does it have to be one or the other? And what the heck does “natural” mean?
Community-supported agriculture (CSA) models consist of consumers who buy a share of a growing season upfront and are paid in dividends of fresh produce as it’s harvested.
Local conventional produce also has its benefits, aside from travelling a shorter distance to get to your table. It often comes with less plastic packaging. Think berries sold in paperboard pints that can be torn up and thrown in the backyard composter or tossed in municipal green bins.
As for natural food, the US Food and Drug Administration defines it as free of added colour, artificial flavours, or synthetic ingredients. Unlike organic, however, it’s not an entirely regulated term, which can naturally lead to consumer confusion.
by Tiffany Mayer
Article Courtesy of Alive Magazine
