Real Food Friday Feast - Caramel-Crunch Chocolate Cake

I've been a little undecided about what to post today! I have to be honest, I've never been one for recipes! I tend to get in the kitchen and just play around until something comes out right. The minute I follow a recipe, things go wrong. Could be something to do with the fact that I dislike taking orders;)

I've decided to put the question to you for the next few Real Food posts. If there is anything you really enjoy eating, but you're avoiding it because it's not organic or real food, and you're not sure what to substitute, where to make it into a healthy meal, please send your recipes on to me and I will play and find the right mix so that your recipe turns into something healthy and organic and I'll post it on a Friday. You can send your ideas to mellowhealth@melanielowe.co.za.

For today, I decided to go with something I made last year for GLM's birthday dinner, chocolate cake! We love chocolate cake and I have really struggled to get the recipe right so that it's a nice healthy, still tasty, cake. Last year we had a dinner party at a little Thai restaurant in Paulshof called Thai Cafe. We highly recommend it! It is a sweet, quiet, unassuming little place and that is why she chose it. GLM's parties have a tendency to turn a bit wild;) It's never intended, but it ALWAYS happens!

Things were nice and calm until they pulled out the karaoke... Then someone pulled out an 80s cd, The Locomotion came on, and things went pear-shaped. Strangers were joining onto the train! We opened a makeshift dance floor and ended up keeping the poor little owners busy until 2am! They LOVED us;) They were dancing WITH us by the end and were sad to see us go. I don't think they've ever had so much business in one night;)

But I digress... I surprised GLM with a chocolate cake early in the evening and it was polished off. The plate was licked clean;) The crazy thing is it was one of the cakes that I had to make in such a huge rush because I didn't want her to know about it, so I just slapped ingredients together, experimented with the icing, cried a few tears of frustration when it went wrong, then experimented some more with the mess up, and ended up with a caramel-crunch chocolate cake somehow! I'm going to see if I can get it all down in this recipe and I hope you also have some success with it!

Caramel-crunch Chocolate Cake

Preparing the flour:

11/2 cups chickpea flour
1/4 cup raw cocoa powder
3/4 cup water
2 Tbs yogurt

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
Place a dishcloth over the bowl and leave in a corner of the kitchen to soak for 24hrs
(If you're unsure why we do this, read this post and then this post. Cocoa also needs to be fermented which is why I add it to the flour mix)




Cake ingredients:

1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp bicarb
1 tsp baking powder
5 eggs
2 Tbs yogurt (Yogurt is a GREAT egg replacer so I use it instead of eggs but you can also just add 6 eggs instead of yogurt)
1/3 cup butter
1 cup organic sugar OR 1/2 cup raw honey
1 Tbs vanilla extract (optional: I NEVER have it at home so I often just skip it. Dischem sells the REAL one, not the processed one you find at grocery stores)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180°C
• Take your soaked flour mix and add eggs, yogurt, butter and sugar (or honey) and vanilla extract
• Blend until mixed in
• Add all dry ingredients
• Blend again until smooth
• Grease two round baking tins, WELL (this is the part where I  always fall down. No matter how well I grease them it's a mission getting them out intact!)
• Divide mixture up between baking tins. (I always make my bottom cake a little bigger. Not necessary at all though, it's just my thing!)
• Pop in the oven for about 40-45 mins. Poke with a toothpick to check it (time depends on your oven.  My door never closes properly so I have to start watching it from about 40mins)
• Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5mins
• Attempt to remove cakes from tins, GENTLY and leave to cool for an hour. (depending on weather! Due to time constraints I stuck mine in the freezer for 10mins and it worked like a bomb)

Caramel-crunch icing

This was a TOTAL accident!

Ingredients:

1 cup organic sugar
10 Tbs butter
2 Tbs milk
1 slab dark organic chocolate (Woolies sells a delicious one)

Method:

• Place sugar, 4 Tbs butter, milk and 1/2 slab chocolate in a small pot and bring ingredients to boil
• Simmer for about 5-10 minutes (or until the sugar starts to caramelise)
• Remove from heat and place in the freezer for 5 minutes
• In a bowl, place 6 Tbs butter
• Cream butter using a mixer
• Remove caramelised mixture from freezer and mix for a minute
• Add to creamed butter and mix together until creamy (it won't be smooth because the sugar has caramelised but don't worry, that's the point of caramel-crunch!)
• Spread all over cakes once cakes are cooled (Very NB!)
• Grate remaining chocolate and sprinkle all over the top of the cake
• Serve!

Granted, this is full of sugar so probably not as healthy as you'd like, but chickpea flour has far fewer calories than normal flour AND soaking the flour and cocoa makes it far more nutritious. There is also a good amount of protein in the cake from the flour, eggs and yogurt so it won't give you a sugar high. All in all, a really tasty, moist, nutritious chocolate cake. By the way, the candles on the cake are homemade candles made with beeswax to avoid getting anything toxic on the cake from store-bought candles! Yes, I'm THAT crazy;)

Have a super weekend!

How to boost your immune system, naturally.

It's that time of year when everyone is getting sick. You can't walk into a room without hearing someone coughing and spluttering.  That's winter for you. Yesterday I spoke about colloidal silver benefits for your immune system but I thought I'd talk more generally today about ways to boost your immune system and hopefully avoid the winter sniffles.

A lot of people ask why winter is the season for colds and flu. Our mom's told us that it was the cold weather and made us bundle up like a little eskimo before leaving the house. But, if you know anything about the body, you know that our body temperature is constant, no matter what the weather. Even if the temperature is below freezing, the body will find a way to maintain its core temperature. That means, theoretically, that's it not the cold that makes us sick. So what could it be?

Well, think about what happens in winter. It's cold, so people close doors and windows and they all stay inside. In summer, if you have a gathering at your house, the doors and windows will be wide open and people will be gathering both inside and outside which means any germs will be spread further apart making it less likely that one will latch onto you. The breeze will be clearing the stale air out of the house which also means less of a concentration of germs. In winter, the air doesn't clear at all because everyone is keeping all the warm air in and all doors and windows are closed. Everyone is in a confined space, breathing the same air over and over and touching all the same things over and over and that is why more people get sick in winter.

It's hard to avoid those germs. In fact, I'd say it's impossible. I think I'd rather deal with the germs than having all the doors open and an icy cold breeze blowing through the house, brrrrrrr! That means our best defense is actually our immune system. It doesn't mean you won't get sick at all, although  I know people who never get sick so it IS possible. You'll probably get a little cold for a few days, but it will be manageable and it won't stick around long enough to make you feel too awful, as long as your immune system is fully locked and loaded.

So, how do you do that? There are actually SO many ways and it doesn't hurt to cover as many bases as possible. You can use food, you can use herbs, you can use tissue salts and homeopathic preparations and there are any number of alternative remedies, all there to build your body up and prepare it for the indoor, winter months.

There is no ONE cure for colds and flu. I've lost count of how many times I've been told, "Take lots of Vitamin C!" Here's the thing folks, once you are sick, you are sick. Vitamin C won't cure you. Taking it as a daily supplement might help boost your immune system BUT, if you are not a healthy person, it probably won't and I'll explain why, in a bit. Did you know that your body only needs about 90mg of vitamin c a day? It can't actually absorb a lot at a time so, you may think you are helping things, but all you are doing is peeing out the excess vitamins that your body can't use, wasting money, and putting undue pressure on your kidneys. You'll end up with an upset stomach and you'll STILL be sick. Needless to say, most vitamin c supplements are synthetic and not actually doing you any good anyway because your body can't assimilate the nutrients. You'd do better to eat citrus fruits.

Did you know that your health depends directly on the health of your digestive  tract? If your body is struggling to digest food properly, you are going to get sick more often. You can eat as healthy as you want, but it may not even make a difference. This is why:

• If your digestive system is not functioning properly, your body loses its ability to transform the food you eat, into something that the body can use for fuel. IBS sufferers really struggle here.
• These days, thanks to a diet full of chemicals and processed food, people don't have as many digestive enzymes as they used to. That means our food is not being digested properly. You can tell if its not being digested properly if you are experiencing gas, bloating, belching, muscle pain, skin disorders, insomnia, constipation, diarrhea, or heartburn. 
• If your digestive system is weak, it will literally "steal" enzymes from your immune system to digest food. That leaves your immune system compromised and raises the toxic load of your body.
• People also have less good bacteria in their colons thanks to taking too many antiobiotics, and eating dead, processed food and this will also lead to poor digestion of food, which will leave your body, literally, starved of nutrients and vulnerable to sickness.

How can you improve your digestive system? By eating the right kind of foods:

• Eat ONLY organic and free range food: If you follow the link you'll have a better understanding of what processed, chemical-laden food is actually doing to your body. I promise it's not doing anything good. Everything you eat supplies the building blocks for your cells. If you supply your body with junk, it will respond by building you from junk. Cells built out of junk are going to be so busy just trying to survive that fighting off a virus won't even enter the equation and you WILL get sick, badly, and often.  Give your cells the juice needed to be strong and to function correctly, and they will respond by keeping you fit and healthy. That's a guarantee. Read this post to see which veggies are cleaner than others if you can't afford to stick to organic but TRY eat organic, they contain far more nutrients. DON'T compromise with meat, ever. Pick n Pay free range chicken is not expensive and your health is worth the extra few rands. You'll spend more on a doctor, I assure you!
• Bone broth: If you read the post I have linked to there, you'll know what bone broth is, and how to make it AND why it's so good for you. Just to recap though, bone broth is extremely nutritious. It improves digestion, allergies, immune health and brain health to name a few. 
• Fermented foods: Follow the link to learn more about fermented foods and why they are so good for you. The most important thing about fermented foods is that they put all the good bacteria into your colon, and THAT guarantees you good digestive health. Yogurt is a really good fermented food, and so easy to make. Don't buy the processed rubbish you find at a grocery store. Read the link and make your own. It's so easy, and SO good for you.
• Eat raw wherever possible:  I'm not a raw foodist. I'm a real foodist. That means I believe the body needs a combination of raw AND cooked foods. But I DO believe in eating something raw with every meal. I'm not just talking raw fruit and vegetables, although a morning smoothie full of them will supply most of your daily requirements vitamin and mineral-wise. I also mean raw, full cream dairy. Pasteurised, fat-free dairy is essentially DEAD food and really not good for you at all. Raw milk is full of all the good enzymes your digestive system needs. Don't deprive it of them.
• Liver: I'm putting this separately because THIS is a superfood of note. Follow the link to find out all the details. Liver is just so full of goodness it is hard to beat when it comes to vitamins and minerals. Of course, it needs to be free range and Woolies sells it!
• Curries: I posted a curry recipe on one of my real food friday feasts and listed all the benefits of the spices in curries so follow the link and prepare to be amazed.
• Garlic: I can't stress how good garlic is for the immune system. It's so easy to get in your body every day by cooking with it so there is no excuse to NOT eat it;) (unless you have IBS and it aggravates you!)

Foods you should avoid to boost your immune system:

• Sugar: If there is one food that switches off your immune system completely, it's sugar. It's like you've literally flicked the switch to off and given the bugs free reign over your body. If you're sick, especially avoid it, but even if you're not, just avoid it or you WILL get sick.
• Wheat and gluten: Do yourself a favour, just DON'T eat them. Seriously, they are so bad for everyone, not just those with a wheat intolerance. They are bad for everyone. I'd avoid grains altogether while you are sick. You will heal faster. Stick to protein, healthy saturated fats and veggies and some fruit.
• Soy: Touted as a health food, you'd be hard pressed to find something MORE poisonous to your system. It is highly processed, GMO and it will completely compromise your immune system. Stay faaaaaar far away.
• Processed foods: This includes pretty much anything in a packet bought in the middle aisles of a grocery store, unless it says organic. If it's made in a lab, it's going to be bad for your immune system, period.
• Any food that isn't organic or free range.

Once you are nutritionally sound, you can boost your immune system with some of these herbs and spices:

• Echinacea: Well known for boosting the immune system and preventing colds and flu or, at least, shortening them
• Elderflower: As with echinacea, it boost the immune system and has anti-viral properties
• Ginger: This is a wonder root that is FULL of goodness. It has proven to be superior to antiobiotics in fighting bacterial infections, it's great for the digestive system and it's an anti-inflammatory, to name few benefits. Follow the link to find out more about the powerful healing properties of ginger. Drink it as a tea or put a chunk of ginger root in your smoothies.
• Turmeric: If you can find turmeric root, add it to your smoothies to build up your immune system and fight off colds and flu. Otherwise add half a teaspoon to a mug of raw milk to fight infections. Turmeric is a powerful antioxidant and will help your digestive system as well.
• Cat's claw: This herb is an immune regulator which means it will boost the immune system when necessary, and dampen it when necessary. At times, an over-enthusiastic immune system can be a problem. For example, during an allergic reaction. Make sure the cat's claw you use is from uncaria tomentosa and not uncaria guianensis. It will say on the box.

Tissue salts are something we rely on a lot in our house. They are fantastic for so many things. They restore health from the inside out by helping your body to make better use of the nutrients available from the food you eat. One of the major benefits of tissue salts is that they are very safe and can be used by anyone, including pregnant women, babies and the elderly. 

To build up the immune system and fight off infections, here are some you can use:

• Calc Phos (Blood and bone tonic): It assists with the digestion and absorption of food and it has excellent restorative powers which speed up recovery and build up those who are prone to illness.
• Ferrum Phos (Anti-inflammatory): If you are already sick, this is a great one to use to fight the infection. It works for any illness ending in "itis". Like tonsilitis and bronchitis. It reduces swelling, inflammation and pain.
• Kali Mur (Mucous decongestant): It's used to relieve coughs and colds, tonsilitis and sinusitis. It's good for ear infections as well.
• Nat Phos (Acidity and rheumatism): This reduces acid in your body and also helps your digestive system. (Check out Natura's website if you need tissue salts for anything else.)

There are a few alternative remedies you can use as well:

• Colloidal Silver: Read yesterday's post for all the info on that one.
• Septogard: This is a natural antibiotic and it's pretty amazing when fighting all manner of infections. You can also take it to build up your immune system when winter starts.
• Olive leaf extract: This is a powerful antioxidant which is also capable of stopping viruses and bacteria in their tracks and can be taken while you are sick, or during winter to build up your immune system.

This is far from everything. I have really listed the stuff that has worked for us but there is a lot more I'm sure I'll discover over time. Other advice that I can give you is to AVOID antibiotics! These things are shocking for your body. Read this post to find out why and also for some tips on how to fight flu naturally. Antibiotics kill off ALL the bacteria in your colon, whether it's good or bad. You know now, that you need that good bacteria to make your immune system strong. If you are taking antibiotics every time you are sick, you will ALWAYS get sick. That's how it goes. You need to allow your body to heal itself, to make your immune system stronger. The first time you try it, it will probably be hell. I know, I did it. The second time its better. The third time you probably won't even GET sick because your body will be strong enough to fight it off.

Human beings have become so accustomed to taking the fast route for everything. Life is busy and we don't have time to focus on what's actually important so we just take a pill, or we eat a microwave meal, or we just SKIP meals. Then we get REALLY upset when our bodies let us down. Is everything else SO important that our health should be compromised? At the end of your life you won't be thinking that it's ok to be dying because you managed to attend all those business meetings and sign all those contracts, you'll just be thinking, "Why was my life so short?" The answer is simple. You took all the shortcuts to give you more time, and they ended up giving you less time.

Learn to love and respect your body now, while there is still time. Focus on what's important, teach your kids to focus on what's important and do things the natural way.

Colloidal Silver benefits

My cleaner broke my slow cooker pot today... I'm devastated. It was my favourite, FAVOURITE kitchen appliance. Even more so than my dishwasher and THAT'S saying a lot. I'm too upset to actually talk to her right now so she's getting the silent treatment! I know, accidents happen. But accidents happen at least once a week with Cindy and it's getting very expensive now. That was my christmas gift from GLM after wanting one for years, and it wasn't a cheapie. It was such a nice big one, and a really fancy one and I literally used it every second day for the 6 months it lasted. I'm in mourning. Sigh...

Anyway, onto today's post if my godchild, Kori, will allow. She's sleeping but the monitor is giving little signs of life already so I may not be in luck with posting today!

I wanted to talk about Colloidal Silver. Some of you may be wondering what that even is. Well, it's an alternative remedy to conventional medicine and it is, literally, silver that is suspended in a colloidal solution.

Historically, silver was actually used to heal many ailments. In ancient times, silver was used for wound dressings at war time. It was known to be used by the early Egyptians, the Romans, and the Greeks, and it was particularly popular with sailors who spent months at a time, at sea. Sailors used it for various illnesses and also to keep their foods and liquids from spoiling. Prior to 1938, before antibiotics were invented, colloidal silver was used by doctors as a highly effective natural antibiotic.

Of course, once antibiotics were invented, colloidal silver fell out of favour with doctors unfortunately. However, with the majority of people moving away from conventional medicines and back to natural, alternative options, colloidal silver is becoming increasingly popular again.

Here's what's so amazing about it:

• It is effective against every virus and illness
• It can be taken in conjunction with other medication and doesn't interfere with them
• Studies have shown that silver kills bacteria extremely quickly. It even kills the super-bacteria that evolve after conventional disinfecting agents kill the weaker strains of bacteria. 
• Silver acts as a catalyst. It disables an enzyme that is required by bacteria, viruses, yeast and molds to help them thrive. The silver disables that enzyme and it doesn't get used up during that process either, so it's available to keep working again and again, creating an environment that makes it impossible for pathogens to survive and multiply.
• Colloidal silver isn't pathogen-specific, which means it can be used for any kind of illness and that is why it's so effective against super-bugs as well. There is no known disease-causing organism that can live in the presence of even tiny traces of colloidal silver. Laboratory tests show that bacteria, virus, and fungus organisms are all killed within minutes of contact. Parasites are also killed whilst still in their egg stage. That means it can be used for infections of all kinds, colds, flu and parasitic infestations.
• Colloidal silver is renowned as a treatment for HIV and AIDS. Of course, the medical community doesn't recognise these claims (there is no money in it for them), but you can't escape the fact that AIDS patients, who swear by colloidal silver, have extremely high survival rates.
• Silver also seems to prevent the body from developing cancer thanks to the same mechanism it uses to to disable pathogens.
• It's extremely effective for severe burns, even sunburn and other skin ailments. If you cut yourself, colloidal silver will fight off an infection and heal the cut faster. It is also great for eczema and other skin irritations.
• It's been effective in healing bacterial acne.
• It heals conjunctivitis if applied directly to the eye
• It's very good for the digestive system, promoting better absorption of nutrients.

I started adding colloidal silver to my body cream and I can't tell you the difference it's made to me. I am an EXCEPTIONALLY clumsy person and it mostly seems to focus on my hands and feet. They are permanently beaten and battered! If it's not the cats playfully scratching me, I'm scraping them on walls or, as I did yesterday, ripping off a whole chunk of skin on the shelf while grabbing some teabags out of the cupboard! Painful, to say the least. Applying a body cream with added colloidal silver heals all these cuts and scratches super-fast.

Colloidal silver has an impact on you whether you swallow it, or just place it on your skin. As you know, if you read this post, your skin is just a big sponge. It absorbs what you place on it, if its on there for a few minutes and sends it travelling through your body. That means, if you place colloidal silver on your skin, it will be absorbed and be just as beneficial to you. The added bonus of placing it on your skin means, if you have any skin ailments, it will clear those up on its way through to your bloodstream. It's ideal in a cream because it get absorbed with the cream.

The only downside to colloidal silver is that it can turn your skin blue over time! 

"Thousands of years ago, Ancient Greeks realised that the rich families who ate, drank and stored food in silverware were much less likely to be ill than the commoners who ate from ceramics and used iron utensils. The rich people developed a slight blue tinge to their skin from years of silver ingestion, hence the term Blue Bloods was born."

But there is no need to panic! You would have to swallow enormous amounts of silver to see that effect. A normal sized adult can safely consume 6 teaspoons of the weakest colloidal silver EVERY DAY for a 72 year life span and still not turn blue;) You only really need to take it when it's needed, like if you're sick, or if you have a skin ailment, and, even if you took a teaspoon every day for the rest of your life, you would still not turn blue;) The benefits far outweigh that one, very unlikely, risk.

You all know my thoughts on conventional medicine. So give this a try. I think you'll find it a GREAT alternative!

Should we be using supplements when we exercise?

This is a topic that I have thought about, and explored, at length because exercise has always been such a central part of my life. Being a qualified personal trainer made me take an even closer look at supplements, and then there is the whole organic, real food vibe that I subscribe to, which kind of denotes avoiding supplements altogether.

I'm sure you've all been told, at some point, that taking a protein shake, or this fat burner or that fat burner is the way to lose weight. When you walk into a dischem you are literally bombarded with all manner of supplements, all of them promising all sorts of miracles.

A few years back, CLA was the "it" supplement. It is supposed to be a fat burner and I religiously took it for about a year. I can say honestly, that, during that year I gained about 6kgs and didn't see any new muscles growing! I will explain the "why" of it in a bit but, at the time, I didn't understand it at all.

The thing with supplements is that it's a BIG industry, kind of like over-the-counter medication. Advertisers are very sneaky. They will find a way to convince you that you simply cannot function without them. If you get a cold, you HAVE TO go out and buy Benylin for flu, throat spray and strepsils and possibly a nose spray as well. All that will set you back easily about R250 and, at the end of it all, you will probably end up feeling worse because, all that stuff does is stop your body from healing itself naturally. You'll end up spending more money on a doctor's appointment and the subsequent prescription of antiobiotics (which don't even kill the flu virus!)

Supplements are no different. You need to lose weight and you spy an advert telling you about the USN 12 week body makeover challenge. You see pictures convincing you that it works. You "suddenly" realise you will NEVER be able to do it alone. You need to spend several thousands on all the products and take the challenge. The before and after pictures say it all! It DOES work. (can anyone say sucker?)

Here's the thing with a package like that: it involves spending thousands on supplements but those supplements WILL NOT work alone. You also need to change your diet and train regularly as part of the challenge. The truth is, THAT is what will bring on the changes. Your body shape and size is ALL about diet and exercise, not the supplements you take. The challenge is no different to hiring a personal trainer, except a trainer will be cheaper and more beneficial because they don't require you to buy thousands of rands worth of supplements but they will still help you change your diet and train you correctly and regularly. There is also nothing to motivate you like a personal trainer. Do the USN challenge alone and you will eventually fail and you will have wasted thousands on supplements that will sit on your shelf gathering dust.

You will start gaining weight again when you stop the challenge and they are very clever, those advertisers. You will be convinced that it's the supplements that are necessary to maintain your body shape. Surely you don't have to continue to diet and exercise so religiously if you just buy more supplements? A few thousand later, you are out of pocket and you've gained 5% body fat... I'm not making this up. I've seen it happen to a few friends. Earlier I mentioned that I was taking CLA and I didn't understand why it made me gain weight. I can say now that I DO know why. I was relying too much on the pills and not enough on my diet and exercise. You can't take CLA and keep eating rubbish. Of course you'll get fat. Body shape is 80% diet and 20% exercise. I was exercising like a mad thing, but I was eating more than my body needed. The result? The excess calories went to my thighs and hips and no pill could change that.

You need to stop putting your faith in a supplement made in a laboratory. You know the deal. Anything that is made in a lab is NOT real food. Your body will not thank you for it. USN products contain aspartame as do a lot of supplements out there. Aspartame is poison to your body. Here's what you can expect from ingesting too much of it:

• Headaches
• Ear buzzing
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Gastrointestinal disturbances
• Weakness
• Vertigo
• Chills
• Memory lapses
• Numbness and shooting pains in the extremities
• Behavioral disturbances
• Neuritis

Needless to say, aspartame is not just used in supplements, you'll find it in most processed "sugar-free" foods, but supplements are our focus for today. The truth about the USN challenge, and any supplements that you buy, is that NONE of them will work without the right diet and the right amount of exercise. You already know, if you read this post, that each person only needs a certain amount of protein per day. The amount depends on your weight, and the amount of exercise you do.

If you read the instructions on a whey protein container, they tell you take 2 scoops of protein shake before or after exercise. In most cases, 2 scoops of protein shakes contain at least 44grams of protein. Women who don't exercise need roughly that amount of protein THROUGHOUT AN ENTIRE DAY, not just in ONE meal. That means, if you are having your shake in the morning after exercise, technically, you shouldn't have any more protein during the day. How many of you are vegetarian? Not many, I'm sure. That means you are eating too much protein in one day. Any extra protein is going to need to be stored somewhere on your body...

It's true that protein can help your muscles recover after a workout but who decided it HAD to be protein shake? The big corporations making money off of them, that's who. Andy Murray eats raw fish straight after a big match. He makes sure there is a good quality sushi restaurant nearby to deliver his fish straight after the match. That is how he replenishes his protein resources. I couldn't think of anything better! Raw fish is full of powerful, healing enzymes AND protein. It's real food doing what a supplement promises to do only it's doing it so much better because it's the real deal and it will rebuild your cells with good quality, real nutrients instead of plastic, poisonous chemicals.

If you MUST use a protein shake, there is a right and a wrong way to do it. Try and stick to a brand that uses ingredients that won't mess with your body too much. I only recommend SOLAL's whey protein if you are going to use one. It doesn't have chemical additives and it's not heat-treated so all the nutrients stay intact and it's not carcinogenic. It's the one we use if we use one at all. Avoid any that contain aspartame and any ingredients that you can't pronounce! As with any food you buy, try and stick to the most natural, least processed foods and you more than likely won't go wrong. Always read the nutrient breakdown on the container and determine how much protein is in a scoop and only have as much as you need. As far as other training supplements go, I'd avoid them and let your real food diet do the work instead. It is entirely possible to build muscle, and lose body fat, without a single supplement. All they will do is empty your bank account, pollute your body and give you false hope.

If it was just me, I could make do without a protein shake at all.We often do. If we run out, I can go weeks without buying a new one. I find it makes my smoothies too sweet. But GLM misses the taste of it in her morning smoothie;) My compromise is that I add only one scoop between our two smoothies, just to add the flavour she enjoys and then I add all my usual breakfast smoothie goodies plus a raw egg and some raw yogurt and all my raw fruits and veggies to make up for the shake;) We don't drink protein shake after exercise at all. It only goes in our morning breakfast smoothie. I don't see the point of drinking it after exercise because a real food meal works even better. A protein shake, on it's own, will be an unbalanced meal anyway and I wouldn't recommend doing it too often. Eat a balanced meal of protein, fat and carbs, with a combination of both raw and cooked food, after a gym workout and you will see far more benefits than you would from downing a little protein shake mixed with water. Plus it's far tastier!

Nothing in excess will ever be beneficial. Life is all about balance. Find the right balance and your body will reward you:)

Take everything with a pinch of salt!

If you asked 99% of the entire world population if they think too much salt is bad for them, they'd answer yes. The rest of us would smile and say, it all depends on the salt. I have mentioned in this blog that I don't believe salt is bad for you, provided we're not talking your garden variety, loaded with iodine, table salt.

Salt has received a pretty bad rap over the decades. It's hard to believe it was once highly valued.

“Mankind can live without gold … but not without Salt.” - Cassiodorus, Roman statesman, circa 500 AD. 

How things have changed! Now we are told to avoid salt because it causes high blood pressure and increases your risk of heart disease and stroke. But that couldn't be more wrong. In a recent european study, 3,681 healthy European men and women aged 60 or younger were closely monitored for about 8 years. Those that consumed higher than average amounts of sodium did not experience increased risk for hypertension, stroke, or heart attack.

Interestingly enough, it seems that diets with insufficient amounts of sodium are actually to blame for high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Another study performed at Harvard University showed that the participants developed insulin resistance in just 7 days when they were put on a salt restricted diet. There is a strong likelihood of developing Type 2 Diabetes if you suffer from insulin resistance. Furthermore, if Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics continue to follow a low-salt diet, they shorten their lifespan considerably.

Why salt is actually necessary for our bodies 

The human body, at any give time, contains the equivalent of at least 40 teaspoons of salt! It is VITAL to our bodies' functions. I'm sure you've all heard of electrolytes? We're told to drink them when we do high intensity exercise, like running a marathon for example, or in extremely high temperatures like Durban in February. We're prescribed Rehidrate by doctors when we've had a stomach bug and our body has lost a lot of electrolytes and we feel weak and dehydrated. Water is all well and good but, in that state, it just won't cut it. Our bodies need electrolytes. Why all the talk about electrolytes? Because electrolytes ARE predominantly salt. At least, if we're talking the GOOD kind of salt that is full of minerals. Isn't that ironic? When our bodies are dehydrated, we actually need to drink salt to rehydrate it!

Even, when we're NOT dehydrated, our bodies rely on those electrolytes to help with electrical impulses that control many of our bodies’ functions. Without the proper amount of electrolytes, our bodies wouldn't function normally. Electrolytes trigger the thirst mechanism, which forces us to drink adequate amounts of water. That water helps our kidneys keep the right amount of electrolytes in our bloodstream. The amount of water our bodies retain also has an impact on our blood pressure. Wait... Water retention is good?! We need to retain some. Remember, it's not ALL about whether those skinny jeans fit you;)

Salt stimulates muscle contraction which helps prevent muscles from cramping. I'm sure you've woken up once or twice in the middle of the night with your toes or calf in a painful cramp. It's not nice. Increase your salt intake and that will likely improve. Salt also keeps calcium and other minerals in the bloodstream and it stimulates the adrenal glands. Salt is also very important for the prevention of heatstroke and sunstroke, which is important to remember during hot summer months.

Salt plays a very important role in digestion and absorption of nutrients. Salt actually activates an enzyme in the mouth called salivary amylase. You know it as spit! At this point, the salt allows your taste buds to taste the food. Salt also aids digestion by helping to break down food. It creates hydrochloric acid which is found in your stomach and hydrochloric acid is a very important digestive secretion because it lines the stomach walls and protects it. So salt actually helps your body digest food and literally prevents your body from trying to eat itself!

You starting to get an idea of why we need salt?

Which salt should we be eating?

The problem with normal table salt is that it has been so highly processed as to actually be carcinogenic to humans. Table salt is chemically cleaned. That means it is literally STRIPPED of all minerals and, what is left after the cleaning, is sodium choride, an unnatural chemical form of salt that your body sees as completely foreign. Unfortunately, this is the type of salt used in every preserved product that you eat, and all junk food and most restaurant food as well, and it's on almost every dinner table in the world. Aside from it being poisonous to your body, what makes it even worse for you is that your body literally has to sacrifice huge amounts of energy just to break down and metabolise it. That means it's overburdening your digestive system while, at the same time, upsetting your body's fluid balance. It upsets the fluid balance because your digestive system has to pull all the extra water it needs from your other cells, to try and break the sodium chloride down and that leaves the rest of your body feeling completely dehydrated.

For every gram of sodium chloride that your body can't break down, your body uses twenty-three times the amount of cell water to try and neutralise the salt and THAT is when you retain water in a bad way.  Your body is simply trying to correct the balance. You DON'T want this kind of retained water because it contributes to cellulite (which we all hate!) rheumatism, arthritis, gout and kidney and gall bladder stones.

Not only is sodium chloride bad for you, but table salt also contains preservatives and other additives. Aluminum hydroxide is often added to improve table salt's ability to pour. Aluminum is a light alloy that deposits into your brain and is a potential cause of Alzheimer's disease.

You need to choose a salt that is full of all the natural minerals that salt has always been highly valued for. There are a few options open to you like Oryx Desert Salt which can be found at health shops and a lot of farmer's markets.

I use Himalayan Crystal Salt because it's very reasonably priced and can be found in ALL grocery stores and it's also exceptionally good for you. The pink colour shows all the minerals it contains. Make sure it says "non GMO".

Sea salt is also really good for you but preferably buy it from a health store or a dischem and not a pick n pay. The more natural the salt is, the more loaded with minerals it will be and these minerals are the electrolytes your body needs to function properly. 

So, now you know the benefits of good quality salt, please get rid of that table salt (unless you want to use it to scrub your floors with...) and buy yourself some lovely tasting mineral salt. Add FREELY to your food, with a clear conscience!

Real Food Friday Feast - Grains Part 2

So, you read the previous post and, even knowing all of that, you simply cannot do without grains in your life. I understand. Grains are kind of like the security blanket of food. When you serve a bowl of curry, what would you serve it WITH if not a roti or naan bread? Stew goes best with rice, soup is just finished off so nicely by dipping bread into it and what would life be without an alfredo pasta?! This is how we've been trained to eat and it's extremely hard to cut out our comfort foods.

I'm not an absolute extremist. I don't believe in adhering so strictly to something that it sucks all of the joy and excitement out of your life. That is why I don't believe in diets. As I've said before, the way you eat should always just be a constant way of life for you. It shouldn't be about counting calories at certain meals and cutting this on a Tuesday and only eating that on a Friday, for 2 months of your life. You would very quickly become bored and disillusioned when it didn't work out.

So I say, if you want to eat grains, eat them, but do it properly. There ARE some people who just can't eat grains and never will be able to and you might need to prepare yourself for that if you suffer from IBS, like me. I personally would recommend cutting gluten out of your life for good. It is just so bad for you, there is very little that can be done to make it more friendly to your body. Most grains contain gluten but some are worse than others. The main offenders are wheat, barley and rye. I'd also recommend cutting out refined, white flour, which is used in everything that you can buy off of a shelf, unless otherwise specified.

Here is what we know about white, refined flour: When researchers really took a good look at it, they realised that it was completely lacking in the nutrients that could be found in whole grains. One of these researchers was Dr. Weston Price who "noted in his studies of isolated, so-called "primitive" peoples that when white flour and other devitalised foods were introduced into these communities, rampant tooth decay and disease of every sort soon followed.... Even orthodox nutritionists now recognize that white flour is an empty food, supplying calories for energy but none of the bodybuilding materials that abound in the germ and the bran of whole grains." - Western Price Foundation.

The thing is, there are whole societies who survive predominantly on grains, and yet they are whole and healthy. So, what is the difference there? The difference is that western civilization is entirely cruel to their grains, where other societies treat them with the respect they deserve! Sounds crazy, right? Not so if you remember what I said yesterday about grains having a built in self-preservation shield, just like animals have camouflage, sharp teeth or speed, to thwart predators. If you walk straight up to a lion and try to stab it, it WILL punish you pretty severely. In fact, you probably won't come out of that one alive. The same applies to grains. You can't just do what you want with them and expect to come out of it whole and healthy. They are only trying to protect themselves. You would do no different if you were under attack.

The antinutrients (like lectin and phytates) in grains are part of the seed's system of preservation - they prevent the seed sprouting until the conditions are just right. Plants need moisture, warmth, time and slight acidity in order to sprout. So, when I say, be kind to your grains, I mean, prepare them properly by PROVIDING them with all of those ideal conditions to encourage them to sprout and make all the nutrients they contain, available for you. By being kind to them, you are being kind to yourself too. Grains consumed day in, and day out, without being properly prepared, will ultimately lead to a deficiency in minerals and nutrients and IBS, or worse.

Just consider this; the animals that live primarily off grains and other plants have at least 4 stomaches, plus extremely long intestinal tracts that provide the right conditions to break down the antinutrients. Humans have one stomach and a short intestinal tract in comparison. We can digest meat quite easily, but plants are not so kind to us, unless we prepare them properly. Orthodox nutritionists, as well meaning as they are, don't realise the harm they are doing when they tell us all to eat our whole grains. Even worse, they tell us to eat them without fat. Grains should never be eaten alone. Vitamins A and D, which are found in animal fats like butter and cream, help us absorb calcium, phosphorus, iron, B vitamins and the many other vitamins that can be found in properly prepared grains. Eat your porridge with full cream milk and it will do you a thousand times more good than cold breakfast cereal consumed with skim milk will ever do. It also tastes so much nicer!

There are a few ways that you can prepare your seeds and grains, to make them be kinder to you. Please remember that none of these methods will work with refined grains. Once they have been refined, it means they have been heat-treated (among other things) and any grain that is heat-treated will keep its antinutrients intact. There is NO life in these refined grains and there is pretty much nothing you can do to save them.

Sprouting:

This is really easy actually. I'll use brown rice as an example.

• Place your rice in a glass jar and poke a few holes in the lid of the jar if you don't have a proper sprouting jar
• Fill the jar with enough water to cover the rice
• Place the lid on the jar and put it in a warm place and leave for 12-24hours
• Drain the water, turn the jar upside down and let it rest at an angle to allow any excess water to drain out
• Use straight away OR rinse and drain every 8 hours until you want to cook it.

You will see little white spots developing at the tips of the rice after soaking it. That means it is sprouting and, if you leave it for a couple of days, little sprouts will come out the rice. Soaking rice means it will also cook faster than just cooking it straight out of the packet. Sprouting rice actually looks pretty cool;)

Soaking and sprouting alone are not going to break down all the antinutrients, however. They will be sufficient with some grains, but grains like wheat, barley and rye may need more preparation because of all the gluten. Gluten is exceptionally hard to break down, but fermentation goes a long way to helping with that.

Fermentation: 

This is when the seeds, or even the whole grain flour, are soaked in an acidic medium like buttermilk, whey, yogurt, lemon juice, or vinegar before being cooked.

With seeds, it's a very simple process. You follow all the same steps as above with the rice but this time, you add a tablespoon or two of buttermilk, whey, yogurt, lemon juice or vinegar, to the water and leave it to soak for 12-24hours before rinsing and turning upside down to drain.

With flour it's not that much more complicated. The difference between baking with properly prepared flour instead of unprepared flour, is that you can't spontaneously decide to make something. You need to allow 24hours for the flour to soak. As long as you plan ahead, that shouldn't be a huge problem. This can be applied to whatever you are baking:

• Put the amount of flour required for your recipe, in a bowl
• Add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup water depending on how much flour there is. More flour = more water
• Add 2-3 Tbs of your acidic medium (buttermilk, whey, yogurt, lemon juice or vinegar) Again, if the recipe requires a lot of flour then add more of your acidic medium.
• Mix all ingredients
• Cover bowl with a cloth and leave on your counter top overnight (12-24hours)
• Follow recipe as normal

I HAVE spoken about fermentation and the benefits of it in this post and it applies to pretty much anything that you ferment. In this post, it only refers to grains but you can make so many things healthier simply by fermenting them. The advantage of using sourdough, which is what you will end up with if you ferment your whole grain flour, is that it makes whatever you bake, far more moist and gives it a lovely flavour.

One thing you need to be sure of is that the flour you buy hasn't been processed in any way. A way to be safe is to simply grind your own flour. If you have a grain mill, it makes things really easy but you can also use a coffee grinder. Making your own flour at home means you can be sure that the whole process has been done right from start to finish. If you have to buy flour, just make sure you don't buy it from Pick n Pay or any other grocery store. Go to a health store, or a dischem and buy whole grain. 

If you have IBS or celiac disease, you will benefit hugely by cutting grains out of your life altogether. I bake only with coconut flour and chickpea flour and it has made the world of difference to my life! If I must eat rice, I soak it overnight but I seldom do. I usually eat my stew with vegetables instead. There are always options for food if you cut grains out. You just need to make the adjustment and then it becomes like second nature to you. There is no rule that says we need to eat stew with rice or pasta. We only THINK we need to eat pasta, bread and rice, because that is what we've grown up with and it's comfortable. But the whole point of progress is that we now KNOW better. Having the knowledge means we have to do something with it, right? 

Armed with these tools, you will probably find your digestion starts to improve after a short amount of time. Try as hard as you can to cut store-bought food made with grains, out of your life, especially bread, which is utter poison to your body. 

I promise, your body will thank you!

Grains: the nitty gritty part one

What is the ONE food item that can be found in 99% of people's kitchens and children's lunchboxes, everywhere? You guessed it, bread.

Looks yummy hey? There is nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread. I grew up eating bread and I've always loved it. I had 2 slices of toast for breakfast, then I made myself 4 slices of bread for school lunch. When I got home, I would have 2 more slices of toast and sometimes, a couple of hours after dinner, I'd be hungry again and I'd make 2 MORE slices of toast before bedtime. It's insane how much bread we ate. White bread was more expensive and so was considered a weekend treat, which meant that, thankfully, we ate mostly brown bread, but still, it was a LOT of bread!

Growing up in a family with 4 kids and not huge amounts of money meant that bread was simply the easiest, cheapest meal for all of us. Let's face it, if not bread, what else would you put in a child's school lunchbox to sustain them for the day, and what would you give them for breakfast and a mid-afternoon snack, that was quick and convenient, especially if you weren't around to make their food for them? Most kids can make a sandwich. They're pretty easy to make and totally uncomplicated. They have also been touted as a health food so, surely, we're doing the right thing?

That's where I have to disagree. A childhood filled with endless slices of bread left me, eventually, with a grain intolerance that continues to this day. Most people think that food intolerances just happen. That is not usually the case though. They build up over time, after repeated exposure to the offending food and then, suddenly, your body says ENOUGH and it let's you know in the form of skin infections and a permanently unsettled stomach and sometimes worse. These days, more and more kids are developing allergies and intolerances to grains. It seems strange, doesn't it? It's not really though, if you understand a bit about grains.

Bread is predominantly made with wheat and wheat is a grain (just in case you weren't sure!) Other grains used frequently in pretty much EVERYTHING are rye, corn, barley, rice and oats. Most people will choose to rather eat those grains, thinking they are the healthier option, but I'll tell you why I think they are all not great choices. To do that I need to go off on a bit of a tangent.

Animals have been given the means to protect themselves by camouflage, or by being proficient at climbing or running. Plants are really no different. They need to protect themselves from predators, like us. All grains have little self-preservation shields in the form of lectins and phytates. Lectins are toxins and they are pretty much the reason that people develop intolerances to grains. They damage the colon lining and, once your colon lining is damaged, you will have huge difficulty absorbing nutrients and that will lead to all sorts of future trouble. That is the immediate danger, but, in the longterm, lectins can lead to colon cancer. Lectins also causes lectin resistance, which means that your hunger signal is suppressed and THAT means, shortly after eating grains, your body will start to feel hungry again. It never really feels satisfied. I'm sure a lot of you know what that feels like? Add that to the sugar crash and you have a recipe for disaster.

The other defense mechanism that grains contain are phytates. Incidentally, they are also found in nuts and seeds, in smaller amounts. Phytates bind to nutrients and literally steal those nutrients from your body. To explain that a bit, if you look on a bread packet, it lists all sorts of nutrients that the bread contains, like fibre and calcium and vitamins etc. But, when you eat that slice of bread, the phytates IN the bread spring into action and bind to all the nutrients that are also in that slice of bread and suddenly, those nutrients are no longer bio-available to your body meaning your body simply can't absorb them. As a result, you get no nutrients out of that meal. You can imagine that, if you eat lots of bread, day in and day out, those grains will actually end up starving your body of nutrients. Sounds dramatic, but it's the simple truth.

Some grains also contain gluten (Most of us have heard that word by now. It's become very trendy to label things as gluten-free these days) Here's what's scary about gluten: Giadin is one of gluten's constituents and our bodies literally see giadin as an intruder, so it secretes an antibody called antigiaden to try and fight off this "intruder". About 30% of the population have noticeable amounts of antigiadin in their stools and it's NOT a good thing. It means that your body is actively, and constantly, doing battle and that you already have a low level of chronic inflammation, which is pretty much the source of most, if not all, modern diseases. Gluten also has a strange ability to mimic certain proteins and to infiltrate the cells in your body. Once it's done that, it then wreaks havoc causing you to develop autoimmune diseases where the body literally attacks itself. An example of that is Chron’s disease.

What is so scary is that, THIS is what we have all been told to eat for YEARS:

This is the food pyramid recommended by governments everywhere, for years

Do you see what's at the bottom of this pyramid? 6-11 SERVINGS OF GRAINS!! No wonder people the world over are getting sick, and fat! You can see from what I've said so far, that grains do NOT like our bodies and our bodies do not like grains. They are toxic to us. Grains were only introduced into our diet in the last 10 000 years when agriculture really took root (scuse the pun;) Before that, we didn't eat grains. Our genes are simply not programmed to digest grains. 

So why have we been encouraged to eat as much grain as possible? Well, grains are the cheapest, easiest crops to grow in huge amounts and, let's face it, they fill people up for, at least, a while and they can be used to make just about anything from oils to sugars to every kind of dessert and bread and so many other things. Every processed food on the planet contains some kind of grain unless it specifically says "grain-free" and, while, gluten-free may be catching on, grain-free is still a long way off because, let's face it, can you imagine a world trying NOT to eat any grains. People would feel like they were starving to death simply because they would have NO IDEA what to eat! If you go to a takeaway, your options are a burger, a wrap, maybe something with rice or chips and then there will be a salad option. How many of you go for the salad option when you get a takeaway, seriously? (Ironically, it's usually not a healthy option anyway because those salads are laden with chemicals and salad dressing) The chips will be loaded with transfats and everything else is a grain! The answer: stay away from takeaways;)

It's unbelievable how someone, somewhere has managed to con a whole planet into thinking something is good for them when it actually isn't. Isn't that the way though? We see an advert on tv marketing a new health food and we all run out to buy it by the truckload. We buy into propaganda so easily. Why? Because it's easier than having to think for ourselves. Life is busy and we all have too much to do. Besides, surely the powers that be have our best interests at heart? You know the answer to this: they have their OWN interests at heart, namely the money in their pockets. That health food will be loaded with transfats, corn syrup and various other chemicals, all in the name of making it tasty enough for you to eat while keeping it "low-fat" and essentially, making it poison to your body. Its ingredients have been sourced by means that give NO relief whatsoever to the environment or any animals that might have been involved in it. It's all about the bottom line: money.

I've talked about grains in bread, but what about all the other rubbish that goes into a loaf of bread? Yes, bread is a processed food. It's not natural at all, despite how many seeds you can see on the loaf that are supposed to make it look healthier. It's not baked in a grandmother's oven using only 3 nutritious ingredients. Anything that needs to have a long shelf-life is NOT good for you. It's made with a horror-filled list of ingredients that goes something like this:

• Flour - Less than half of breads sold contain whole wheat flour, most are refined flours. Refined foods lead to insulin resistance issues and diabetes.
• Salt - This is not the healthy kind of mineral salt, it's common, poisonous table salt.
• Yeast - a common contributor to candida
• Soybean oil - used to make the texture smoother and richer in flavor (and calories!) They extend shelf life, preventing bread from going stale. Soybean is used the most as it's the cheapest. You thought Soy was healthy? Read this and think again. 
• Wheat gluten - Gluten gives the bread more structure and makes it chewier but is it worth it if you know the dangers of gluten now?
• Calcium sulfate- better known as plaster of paris?! It shortens dough rising times which speeds up production, it increases shelf life and makes the dough easier for their machinery to process.
• Mono and di-glycerides, ethoxylated mono and di-glycerides - These are proven to increase your risk of cancer and to cause birth defects.
• High-fructose corn syrup- used as a sweetener and to help the dough rise and also just shockingly bad for you.
• Calcium propionate - a preservative that inhibits mold and bacterial growth. In the early 1990′s it was linked to attention deficit disorder in children.
• Soy lecithin – Used to improve shelf life and, again, I urge you to reconsider soy.
• Sodium stearoyl lactylate - This is an ingredient also used in beauty products. It is a carcinogen and can harm the nervous system.
• Monocalcium phosphate - This is also used as a paint preparation for steel enamel but hey, it makes a good preservative...
• Ammonium sulfate - this is used to make the bread rise faster but it's actually primarily used in fertilizers?!
• Ascorbic acid – this is vitamin C which should be good for you but, ironically, it’s not added for your health. It's to create a slightly acidic environment for the yeast to ferment better to speed up the rising time. That means it's a low grade kind of vitamin C anyway.
• Azodicarbonamide – a chemical used in the production of foamed plastics. It also bleaches the flour (makes it whiter). It’s banned in Europe because studies show it could cause asthma or allergic reactions.
• Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Monoglycerides -  a study in 2002 showed it caused “heart muscle fibrosis and adrenal overgrowth”.

Ouch... and you thought that sandwich was actually a healthy meal... There ARE ways to make grains healthier for you and I'll give you a few examples in the next blog. I'll tell you how best to prepare grains, if you MUST eat them, so that your body can actually use the nutrients and so that they won't end up having such a negative effect on you. 

However, I can't help you when it comes to store bought bread. My advice? Avoid it like the plague!

Organic: a marketing ploy or the real deal?

A few years back, when I first started seeing the word "organic" on food products, I brushed it aside as something that belonged to lifestyles of the rich and famous, or else hippie type folk who live out in the bundus, in a cloud... of something;)

I was completely wrong.

The word “organic” actually refers to the way agricultural products are grown and produced. It legally details the permitted use (or not) of certain ingredients in these foods and it is NO easy certification to get, I can tell you that. You are looking at a minimum of 3 years to get certified and there is a lot of work and a lot of money involved in the process during that time. That means that, if something says organic, you can be pretty sure that it is and, thanks to our Consumer Protection Act, we are further protected from getting the wool pulled over our eyes.

These are some of the standards organic producers must adhere to. To read them in full, go here:

1. Synthetic chemicals (including pesticides and fertilizers) are not permitted.
2. All materials and the products produced from genetically modified organisms, are not compatible with the principles of organic production and are not accepted.
3. The use of irradiation is not allowed.
4. A quality and safety management system will be an integral part of the organic production system and inspection and certification will be carried out before a product can be labelled organic.
5. A product can't be certified as organic unless the farmer has been subjected to a conversion period. During this period, the product is subject to all the relevant standards. Inspections will be carried out during the conversion period and, should the farmer not adhere to any of the standards, they will be forced to start the conversion period again. The conversion period is a minimum of 3 years.
6. If the whole farm is not organically certified, then it must be converted to organic management practices over a time not exceeding 5 years, and it must apply with all the standards. If it's not possible to do this, a good explanation must be provided. During the transition to full organic certification, there must be NO cross contamination of conventional farming with organic farming. Farmers can't use the same tractors or tools and animals must be housed separately.
7. Genetic engineering is excluded from organic production and processing. The deliberate use of GMOs in organic farming systems or products is prohibited. This includes animals, seed, propagation material, and farm inputs such as fertilisers, soil conditioners, vaccines or crop protection materials. Organic processed products also can't use ingredients, additives or processing aids derived from GMO’s.

To put it in plainer english, all of this basically means that organic products cannot contain any of the following yucky stuff:

• antibiotics
• artificial growth hormones
• high fructose corn syrup
• artificial dyes (made from coal tar and petrochemicals)
• artificial sweeteners derived from chemicals
• synthetically created chemical pesticide and fertilizers
• genetically engineered proteins and ingredients
• sewage sludge
• irradiation

Did you even know that non-organic products contain those things? Most of us aren't even aware of them because, when you buy a bag of apples, they don't list "sewage sludge" in the ingredients.

Eeeeewww, gross!

As far as you knew, all you were getting was apples! 

What about animal cloning or genetically engineering salmon to grow to unnatural sizes? If you buy organic or free-range, those would definitely be considered inconsistent with organic practices, too, for pretty obvious reasons. Anything that requires time in a laboratory, goes against organic practice. We were concerned about horse meat in our beef a few months back. That is the LEAST of your worries if you don't buy organic or free-range! We don't really question the quality of our food. We take for granted that the manufacturers and distributors of conventional food have our best interests at heart. 

They don't. 

Nor do they care about the animals that they farm. They follow the BARE minimum requirements when it comes to the treatment of animals and those leave a lot to be desired as it is.

Back to the issue of whether or not organic is all it's cracked up to be, the truth is, what we call “organic food,”  these days, our grandparents and our great grandparents would have simply called “food.”  All of these new ingredients didn’t exist when we were younger. They were created in laboratories, patented and then introduced into our foods just a few decades ago and they are slowly killing us.

I think the problem for most people, is the high price of organic food. But the reality is that the scrutiny that these foods undergo is huge and expensive and that's what drives the prices up, not just for the consumer, but for the farmer too.  You saw those standards. Here is the great irony: farms using genetically engineered seeds and saturating crops in insecticides get SUBSIDIES from the government to carry on growing those tainted crops while the organic farmers get  put through stringent testing and CHARGED FEES to prove that their crops are safe?! That's a bit like getting fined to wear your seat belt...

In an ideal world, the organic farms would be getting financed and the non-organic farmers would be paying fines, but unfortunately, the playing field is far from level. In fact, it's over-balanced in the completely wrong direction. I'm sure if we all had the choice, we'd want our taxes going towards healthier foods for our families. But the reality is that the big corporations, who don't give two hoots about our health, or our environment, are smiling all the way to the bank while those who are actively trying to help YOU and the environment, are being penalised for it. Isn't that always the way?

So, what should you do? Do you opt out of the healthier option, and continue to buy the genetically engineered, insecticide drenched crops and save yourself a bit of money? Or do you join the growing number of people who are choosing health and life over that extra cash. Granted, you DO pay a little more. But, now that you know what you're actually paying for, doesn't it make you feel a little better knowing that, not only are you helping to build a better future for your kids, but you are also part of a uprising that is growing steadily. You are helping to level the playing fields and tip the balance in the favour of life. It really IS that big. Those big  corporations are responsible, not only for playing with our lives, but also for destroying our beautiful planet, with every spray of insecticide and every forest they destroy, to make space for more of their poisonous crops. Have you heard what insecticides are doing to our bees and other insects? Never mind the rhino, insects are JUST as important and we are willfully killing them off.

If that doesn't do it for you, think of your health. Are cheaper, chemical-ridden products worth the amount of doctors appointments, hospital stays, surgeries, chemotherapy and chronic medication you will be paying for, for the rest of your life? Not to mention the trauma you go through when you or a loved one is ill. That applies to you AND your family. I guarantee you WILL save money on your health. I know because I already have. I used to get sick at least 4 times a year. I don't anymore. I heal so fast if I am injured in any way that I don't need medication. I can't remember the last time I took any medication or went to a doctor. You won't even find a panado in my house. I promise you, organic makes a HUGE difference to your health and your pocket.

A while ago, you may have rolled your eyes at the mention of the word organic. I did the same. But allow yourself the chance to change, and admit you were wrong. I managed it. It has already been proven that chemicals in food and other products are contributing to the rise in cancer. You can't really ignore it anymore. I bet almost everyone who reads this, knows someone who is fighting cancer. It's becoming as common as a cold! There's a reason for that and, if you're wise, you know what it is.

The next time you are in a grocery store, try choosing the organically certified option instead. (Look here to become familiar with the logos.) Instead of paying a doctor, consider that the best medication for you and your family might just be on your dinner plate.

The one oil that should always be in your kitchen

For many years, people in kitchens everywhere have always had a bottle of sunflower oil on hand to cook with. I'm not sure how or why that became THE oil to use. I'm sure someone, somewhere realised it was cheap to make and easy to sell as a "health food" and make a profit on. For a long time it was the only oil people used. These days you can find many different types of oil when you walk down the oil aisle. It's difficult to know which ones you should be using.

We've all been told, for years, that we should rather use oils that are liquid at room temperature, such as vegetable oils, and avoid oils that are solid at room temperature, such as butter and lard. We've also been told to avoid full cream ANYTHING and to cut as much fat as we can out of our diets... If you know anything at all about my blog,  you know just what I think about THAT theory...

There are actually a few liquid oils that are pretty good for you, and I'll go into those in another post, but right now, let's get to that all-important oil that should always be in your kitchen. (Drum roll please!)

Coconut oil is one of those oils that is solid at room temperature. It consists of about 92% saturated fats. For that reason, it has been vilified and ostracised for years as a primary contributor to heart disease, along with all other saturated fats. In fact, up until the last decade, westerners wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. Fortunately, though, people started questioning that and today, it is one of the most sought after oils and has been completely redeemed. What amazes me is that, the theory of it being bad for you, is not based on any real facts. One only has to look at the non-existence of heart disease on tropical islands like the Seychelles to work out that coconuts are NOT a cause of heart disease. We actually went to the Seychelles for our honeymoon. Believe me, coconut is EVERYWHERE there. They give it to you with all your meals, they cook only with coconut oil and copious amounts of coconut milk, coconut is given as a bar snack instead of the usual peanuts, you can buy coconut oil on just about every street corner. They eat A LOT of it and yet heart disease is not a problem there. Why? Because coconut oil actually prevents heart disease!

Here are some of the many benefits of coconut oil:

• It helps normalise blood lipids and protects against damage to the liver by alcohol and other toxins
• It helps prevents kidney and gall bladder diseases
• It's associated with improved blood sugar and insulin control and the prevention and management of diabetes. 
• It has antiviral, antibacterial and anti-fungal properties and helps to boost the immune system.
• It is thought to help strengthen mineral absorption such as calcium and magnesium, which is important for healthy teeth and bones
• It can help improve the condition and appearance of the scalp, hair and skin when ingested or applied topically
• It has been very beneficial for HIV and cancer patients as it reduces their viral susceptibility
• It is used by athletes, bodybuilders and those just trying to lose extra body fat. The reason for that is that coconut oil contains less calories than other oils, its fat content is easily converted into energy, and it doesn't lead to accumulation of fat in the heart and arteries. It helps boost energy and endurance, and actually enhances the performance of athletes
• Studies have shown that it can help treat and even prevent Alzheimer's disease (since Alzheimer's is in GLM's family, I have her on at least 2 tablespoons of coconut oil a day!)

One of the ingredients in coconut oil that makes it so beneficial in the fight against heart disease is lauric acid which helps in actively preventing various heart problems like high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. The saturated fats found in coconut oil are not harmful at all. They actually help to reduce damage to the arteries which lowers the risk of a heart attack. Lauric acid is extremely helpful in dealing with viruses and bacteria that cause diseases such as herpes, influenza and even HIV. It helps in fighting harmful bacteria as well and has been used extensively in Ayurveda, the traditional Indian medicinal system. In fact, I wrote a whole post on the benefits of oil-pulling using coconut oil, which is an Ayurvedic treatment.

So, which is the best coconut oil to buy? Do I really need to say it;) Organic is ALWAYS the way to go. Why? Oil is one of the few processed food products that I will encourage you to buy. There is NO OTHER WAY to make oil. Oil doesn't exist naturally. You can't hold a bucket under a coconut and wait for oil to drip out of it. The coconut has to be treated in a certain way for the oil to be produced. The idea is to choose the oil that has been the LEAST processed. There are many different grades of coconut oil and the trick is to choose the right grade. According to the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community Standards for virgin coconut oil, coconut oil can only be sold as virgin coconut oil when it is “obtained from the fresh and mature kernel of coconut by mechanical or natural means with or without the application of heat, which does not lead to alteration of the oil.”

That's the trick. You don't want the oil to lose any of its nutrients during the extraction process or it really won't be doing you any good at all and then, what's the point? Some coconut oils are deodorized, some are refined, some have sodium hydroxide added to remove impurities and prolong shelf life, some are even put through hydrogenation and some are bleached. It's the same as choosing white, refined rice, or organic brown rice. The less something is processed, the better it is for you.

In the case of coconut oil, it's always best to go with organic, and even better if it's organic virgin coconut oil as this type is not  heat treated, is in no way refined, and contains all the natural goodness that gives coconut oil all it's beneficial properties PLUS the coconuts are organic which makes them even more potent. Don't waste your money buying any other type of coconut oil, seriously. Incidentally, there is NO such thing as extra virgin coconut oil so don't let manufacturers fool you. Virgin coconut oil is more than sufficient.

Coconut oil also happens to be the best oil to cook with. It is not heat sensitive and doesn't oxidise easily so it's perfect for frying anything. You can use it in place of butter when baking, or even on a slice of bread. 

That's it, in a coconut shell;) Dischem sells organic virgin coconut oil and it has a lovely taste, in my opinion! 

Give it a try!

Mom was right, you DO need to eat your greens!

I kind of take for granted that most people out there are, at least slightly, concerned about their health, so I am always taken aback when I meet people who have absolutely zero regard for it. Most people are more concerned with their waist size than their health but I don't mind that because it makes my life a little easier when I'm encouraging people to be healthy. People are usually willing to make compromises when it comes to health and food, if it means they can buy those skinny jeans they've been eyeing out;) So, by default, they end up being healthy even though that wasn't their aim. But what about those people who, not only couldn't care less about their health, but also couldn't care less about their waist size?

They do exist! As a real foodist and an exercise scientist, it shocks me, I admit. It doesn't happen often but, now and then I come upon a person who has absolutely no concern for their health or their waist size when it comes to food and I am stumped. I honestly don't know how to help them. I understand having one or two foods that you absolutely do not like and no compromise will be possible. For me, if I was going to pick one vegetable, it would be brusselsprouts! It's not that they're disgusting. For me it's more the association. When we were kids my mom would make us eat our veggies. What mom doesn't;) For some reason though, the one vegetable I associate with LOOOONG hours spent at the dining room table trying to choke it down, is brusselsprouts. The memory comes back when I see a brusselsprout and so I choose to just avoid them! 

So I GET that. But, when I meet people who, very proudly, tell me that they don't eat, nor have they EVER eaten, a single fruit or vegetable, I just stare at them in abject horror. I am speechless in that kind of situation. Either these are people who just really don't care how they die, or when they die, or how they feel while they live, or they are honestly completely clueless about food and nutrition. I think it may be the latter in most cases. Going back to the brusselsprout story, I GET how much you hated vegetables as a kid. I hated green beans and peas, along with brusselsprouts, but I eat them now and I enjoy them too. I COULD eat brusselsprouts if I had to, without gagging;) But I just choose not to because I eat so many other veggies that I don't actually NEED to eat brusselsprouts. But to carry that hatred over from childhood to adulthood, for ALL fruit and vegetables is just plain silly, and a bit reckless.

I'm reminded, in this kind of scenario, that people really do just see food, as something to be eaten. And, once it's been eaten, it magically disappears, doesn't do anything to your body, and doesn't affect your health. I've studied food for so long that it IS easy to forget that most people don't know anything about food. They honestly think that, eating ONLY meat, potatoes, bread, pasta and desserts, for your whole life, is fine. That's what they like, so that's what they eat. They even go as far as to remove the lettuce off their burgers because it's a vegetable!! I call them Tastebud Pleasers because that's ALL they're thinking about. They don't think about the food AFTER it leaves their tastebuds but, honestly, how can you not?

It's the same as people who randomly pop pills into their mouths for every ailment, and sometimes to prevent a POSSIBLE ailment! It is exactly the same. Why? Because food IS medication. Everything you eat is going to affect your health, be it negatively or positively. Your body struggles to digest cooked food on its own. That is why I always recommend eating some salad with your meal or, at least, having a fruit as dessert. You need to eat something that is raw, when you eat cooked food or your body is going to start taking strain. Once that food leaves your mouth, it has a long journey through your digestive system and there is a lot going on, all involving that food. 

From the time it enters your mouth until the time it leaves your body, more or less 50 hours will have passed. During that time, it can either do a lot of healing, or a lot of damage, because everything that CAN be used in that food, will be used for fuel for your body, and to rebuild and replace lost cells. That means, if you don't give it something decent to use, your body will make do with what's available. Think about that same thing happening for 30 or 40 years. The same meat, potatoes and dessert, day in, and day out. By the time you are 40, you will feel, and look, like you are 60. But honestly, you'll be lucky to MAKE it to 40 without some kind of dread disease if you continue to eat that way. Your cells are made up of everything you've consumed, be it food, or drink, or medication. If you've given it precious little to build with, and lots of dead, chemical-ridden, non-nutritional food, you are very likely walking a tightrope over a big hole filled with all sorts of chronic diseases and no safety net to catch you.

Sounds dramatic huh? How dramatic is this? Heart disease is the number one killer disease in the world today, with cancer running a close second. These diseases didn't exist a century ago. They are diseases of civilisation, created by the amount of chemicals in our diets, and the amount of non-nutritional food that people are eating. People live on junk. Read this post for my thoughts on junk food. YOU have the power to control what happens to your body. Stick with your meat and potatoes and burgers without the lettuce and you are pretty much giving the power over to heart disease and cancer. Begin to see food as a powerful medication, that will heal and fortify your body, and you are taking the power back.

This is something that starts with educating kids. Look at my brusselsprout issue;) When your kids say, "Why do I have to eat the vegetables, I don't like them!" Don't just say, "Because I said so!" or "Because they're good for you!" Tell them WHY they are good for them. Kids have such enquiring minds. They want to know and understand, and most of them will rebel against whatever you TELL them to do, simply because it's in their nature. Arm them with knowledge and let them work out for themselves why fruit and vegetables are good for them and they will probably be more inclined to eat them. Don't let them reach adulthood still being utterly clueless about their bodies and how they work. If you teach them about food, you probably won't have to worry too much about what they eat when they aren't around you, because they will think for themselves and, hopefully, make the right decision. 

Make vegetables seem like something fun for them. If they help you plant and grow your vegetables, and then they help you in the kitchen, to prepare them, they will be more intrigued about them. It's so rewarding watching them grow in the garden! They will feel so proud of themselves when they pick their first tomato;) When my 6 year old nephew came to stay for a night, I showed him my veggie garden and he was so excited to see a tomato growing in the garden, instead of just on a shelf in a store, that he picked it and ate it straight away! Then he wanted to know how it got to my garden if they're supposed to be from the shop! It was a golden opportunity to teach him that he could one day also grow his own food.

I encourage you to teach your kids about growing their own food. They will find it very exciting and fulfilling. As you work and prepare meals with them from your garden, talk to them about the vegetables and why they are good and how growing them at  home makes them better for you because they aren't sprayed with pesticides and your compost is organic.

Lead by example. If you eat junk food, your kids will eat junk food. If you don't like a certain vegetable, don't pull a face or push it away and then expect your kids to eat it. If there is something you don't like, don't tell your kids it's because you're an adult and you get to choose but they don't! That is going to seriously upset them. Wouldn't it upset you if someone told YOU that? Kids are really just smaller versions of ourselves who need to understand why rather than just taking orders. Always explain and tell them what, where, why and how. Kids are sharp. They will take these things away with them and think about them and they are more inclined to make an informed decision at a later stage. Sure, they'll push boundaries, but on the whole, I think they are like little sponges that just want to take everything in and learn wherever possible. So make sure you are teaching them all the good things.

I honestly believe that, if you educate your kids about what's good and what's bad for them, they will remember it into adulthood. Create good habits, set a good example and give them the tools they need to build a strong, healthy body. Read this post to see my thoughts on real food as opposed to processed food. No-one should be anti-fruits and vegetables. No-one should be clueless about nutrition and the power of food. You are setting yourself up for a lot of heartache and very high medical bills. 

I believe the best way to show you love someone, is by giving them the knowledge and the tools to help themselves. Only good things can come from that!