The ABED Method®-managing stress

enough exercise is the simple fact they do not have the time.[5] The research suggests that
physical fitness training leads to improved mood, self-concept, and work behaviour.
This is not a problem with ABED Method Exercise. The exercises in this programme are based
upon the same principles covered by a UK programme by the documentary
programme Horizon shown on BBC television earlier this year.
Clients are encouraged to invest in a simple heart rate monitor for their home use, and they are
encouraged to exercise 3 times per week. The beauty of the ABED Method exercise programme
is that all of the exercises can be done in the client’s home, they can be done in a gym but this is
not a requirement. This has to be a significant advantage to many exercises that require gyms,
because again if we go back to the first point as to why people do not exercise is because they do
not have the time.
The exercises in his programme use a special scientifically proven technique called ‘High Intensity
Variable Training’ which can be as much as 6 times as effective as normal basic cardio exercise
such as jogging. This is also much healthier because there is much less impact on the joints.[8]
Finally we cover ‘D’ for diet; the vast majority of people in the UK have no real idea of how much
stress they are loading onto their bodies by including such a high percentage of poor quality
refined processed foods in their diet. This is another form of ‘stress’ but physical stress on the
body. An example would be the damaging effect on the west by the vast amounts of white bread,
pasta and rice that is consumed as opposed to brown. In fact, just by changing to brown you can
cut diabetes by up to 70% by reducing the stress on the pancreas because brown rice, bread and
pasta takes longer to turn to sugar in the body and so do not create the same spike or sugar load
as the white far less nutritious choices.[9]
Michael has recently come across cases where 100% of foods in some people’s diets are actually
processed! (Cooking is also included as process this means that only raw food such as fruit and
salads basically what he describes as ‘live’ food.) Eating live food is of particular benefit for stress
reduction due to the prevalence of enzymes, which are in all foods in their natural uncooked state
and are required for us to utilize the nutrients from food. Enzymes are completely destroyed
during cooking, and this means that in order for us to obtain the nutrients the body has to make
its own nutrients from its own resources. The only way to do this is by actually breaking down
parts of our own organs!
We are born with a natural reserve of enzymes; the older we get the lower enzyme count we have
in the blood and urine. So the greater the percentage of cooked food in our diets the quicker we
age![6]
The ABED Method also adheres strongly to benefits of correct food combining. There are sound
physiological reasons for eating foods in compatible combinations. In other words, some foods, if
mixed in the digestive system, will cause distress! The following explanation is taken from the
expert Natural Hygienist Dr Herbert M Shelton.
The principles of food combining are dictated by digestive chemistry. Different foods are digested
differently...
• Starchy foods like potatoes, pasta and bread require an alkaline digestive medium which is
supplied initially in the mouth by the enzyme ptyalin;
• Protein foods require an acid medium for digestion- hydrochloric acid.
As any student of chemistry will assure you, acids and bases (alkalis) neutralize each other. If you
eat a starch with a protein, digestion is impaired or completely arrested![10] The undigested food
mass can cause various kinds of digestive disorders. Undigested food becomes soil for bacteria
which ferment and decompose this food. Its by-products are poisonous, one of which, alcohol, is a
narcotic that destroys or inhibits nerve function.
It plays havoc with nerves of the digestive tract, suspending their vital action such that
constipation may well be a result! There are 9 simple rules to help with digestion, weight
management and health. These are all explained and covered in the ABED Method healthy eating
programme.
The ABED Method Diet is not a diet as in the normal losing weight short term kind of diet, but
instead a healthy eating plan for life. Michael calls is the 80-20 plan: people may eat 80%
healthily, including whole foods, quality meat and fish (not processed meats) and 20% they can let
themselves go. Interestingly, many clients report after only a few weeks on the programme that
the old cravings for sweet stuff are not as intense.