Wellness Wednesday - Why to embrace a fever and NEVER lower it with meds

I've blogged about how to treat colds and flu naturally, a few times actually. In those blogs I've mentioned the benefits of a fever and how it should be treated but I thought it might actually warrant its own post altogether seeing as they are so crucial to our wellbeing!

Our initial reaction when we feel a fever coming on, is panic, especially if the recipient of the fever is a child. We immediately think we must bring it down and break it as quickly as possible. I've been on the receiving end of enough fevers to know that they are highly unpleasant and make you feel utterly awful and miserable while they are there. It's no wonder people think it's a terrible thing that must be fixed. What makes us even more convinced that it's a bad thing is that a doctor will straight away prescribe a strong medication to break the fever and then antibiotics to ward off the illness that usually follows a fever. We all believe what the doctor tells us, don't we? Well... not me.

What people don't realise is that a fever is crucial to a child's well-being. It is especially crucial to their longterm health and vitality because a fever teaches the child's immune system how to cope with illness. Having fevers as a child strengthens their immune system for adulthood so that they are likely to be very healthy adults.

The problem with blocking a fever, and preventing it from working, is that you tend to prolong the illness, make the symptoms far worse AND the next time you get sick, and you WILL get sick very soon, you will be even MORE sick

Here's something scary: If you repeatedly force a child's fever down, you create a possible risk of childhood cancer. Studies have linked the two. Also, if you keep breaking the fever artificially every time, you will invariably cause a secondary infection and that will lead to antibiotic use because your body will not be equipped to fight the infection on its own. In other words, if you want to avoid antibiotics, (and believe me, you do!) don’t bring down the fever. It suppresses the immune system. The body is trying to heal itself with the fever and when you bring it down you are opening it up to a secondary bacterial infection that will give the virus or bacteria more room for growth.

I'm sure you've noticed how, when you go to the doctor and get antibiotics, you often end up having to go back a week later for a new prescription because you are STILL not well. The illness can linger for WEEKS. The reason is because you didn't give your body a chance to do what is was meant to do. You didn't allow the fever to fight the virus and heal you.

Fevers slow down pathogens. When you catch a bug, the bacteria or virus causing all the problems replicates every few minutes and that's why it all happens very fast. A fever actually slows that process down. So, the fever you are working so hard to suppress, could be helping you by preventing the spread and severity of the illness and a secondary infection (Usually, once you break the fever, you'll notice that it tends to spread to your chest and sinuses. You've all been there so I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) Breaking the fever is your way of saying, "Ok virus, do your worst! I give you full permission!" That's usually around the time that you make another trip to the doctor for a course of antibiotics.

A high fever of 39° or 40° is not actually reason to panic. It's an ideal range for a fever. Think about why we cook chicken at high temperatures. It kills the bugs. The same applies to so many other things. Most organisms can't survive in high temperatures. That is why a fever is good. It creates an atmosphere that bugs can't thrive in.

If you, or your child get a fever, and you wait it out, chances are VERY good that, when the fever is gone, the illness will be over. Colds and flu generally start with a fever. After that, we all EXPECT to get the coughs, runny noses, bad chests and infected sinuses. That's usually how it goes. But it ONLY goes that way IF you allow the virus room to grow. If you don't allow it any room, your illness will consist of a fever and then it will be gone.

So how do you manage a fever with no meds? Well, it's not an easy thing to live through. I've done it the last few times that I got sick and I felt like death warmed over the WHOLE time.  The trick is to GET through the fever. If the fever is accompanied by a headache, I find a cool facecloth applied regularly can really help ease the pain. If you are lucky enough to have someone around to care for you, so much the better. When you feel sick you are emotional and needy. All you want is to be held and cared for and this especially applies to a child. I'd say, if your child has a fever, curl up with them in bed and just hold them, even if it's all through the night. Make the illness has easy for them as possible. You're not spoiling your child by doing that. You're answering a very basic need and if it makes them feel better, what do you have to lose except a little sleep? Chances are good that, because you are allowing the body to heal, the fever will break on its own sometime during the night and you will also rest better knowing the worst is over.

Sometimes a fever can go on for several days. Again, don't panic. It'd probably be strange if you only had one fever and then felt better! All it means is that the body is fighting a battle. Viruses and bacteria are strong. It can take a while to beat them. For some reason, fevers seem to die off in the morning, and you feel better, but then they peak again between 4pm and 6pm in the afternoon. It may have something to do with overdoing it during the day because you FELT better. It is also probably related to your cortisol levels. The point is, even if you think you are better, still go easy on your body and allow it to heal slowly. If the fever comes back, ride with it again. If you reach 6pm and the fever stays away, chances are good you've beaten it.

Ever heard the old wives tale, "Feed a cold, starve a fever"? It's not entirely true actually. If you eat while you have a fever it lowers your fever for a couple of hours. This is really beneficial if the fever has gone over 40° and you are really concerned. It's good to know that you can lower it without actually breaking it and halting the healing process. However, most people don't want to eat while they have a fever and it's also best not to force feed. Have a mug of bone broth on hand just in case. Just a few sips or a few bites of some scrambled egg will already help. A fever is NOT the time to  persuade a child to eat by feeding them ice cream and jelly. Sugar will only feed the virus and make the illness worse. This is a time for nutritious food that will help the body heal.

It is important to keep the body hydrated as well. High fevers speed up metabolism quite drastically and that can increase your risk of dehydration. Blood sugar can drop and that can lead to convulsions. To avoid that, squeeze some fresh fruit juice and mix it with 50% filtered water and sip on it. If you are dealing with a child and they are too lethargic to move let alone drink anything, you can actually administer the fruit juice mixture rectally using a bulb syringe (I know, it sounds odd! But think about how fast suppositories work and then it makes sense?) The body will absorb it very quickly and rehydrate them without disturbing them.

There you have it! It takes a brave person to try it, but, if you want to be healthier, and you want your child to be healthier, I'd highly recommend it. Since I allowed a fever free reign over my body, I've been sick for a much shorter amount of time and it hasn't been debilitating. I've still been able to function. My body is getting stronger and I am benefiting from it. It's a bit harder for me because I have IBS and that means a lowered immune system straight away. That's why I get sick often. But when I DO get sick now, I fight it off naturally and I recover so much faster.

Before you run to the doctor, spend a fortune, and break your body down with antibiotics, try the natural route first. Your body WILL thank you.

Monday Mix-up - How to keep it real when you're on holiday

After a week on holiday, and therefore no blogging, we are back in business today! I dropped my parents off at the airport a short while ago and the holiday is now, sadly, officially over. We had the most awesome time, first in Crystal Springs, Mpumalanga, and then in the Kruger National Park for 2 days. If you haven't been to the Kruger I highly recommend it for a holiday. It's really affordable and just an amazing experience all round. My parents had never been before so it was wonderful to be able to show it to them:)

Couldn't resist putting up a picture of some of the animals
we saw there;)

This guy was grazing about 4 metres from our car!

We heard that the weather was pretty bad all over South Africa last week and Crystal Springs was NO different. We packed all our summer clothes, suncream, flip flops and swimming costumes and ended up all wearing pretty much the same warm clothes all week due to freezing cold temperatures, mist and rain! Some of us didn't even pack jackets so you can imagine how cold we were! Trips into town involved purchases of socks and warm jackets;)

However, despite the weather, my dad and I managed to fit in two 10 kilometre mountain bike rides and GLM and I also did one together. Yup, I did 30kms for the week! I felt very proud of all my exercising on holiday;)

It was pretty cold though, I can't lie. I felt like I had no fingers for the entire ride!

Bundled up warmly in my Sharks jacket. A PROUD fan;)

Thankfully, by the third cycle with GLM, the weather had improved enough to take my jacket off!

Once we got the Kruger, the temperatures soared up to the late 20s, and with the dryness, we were boiling hot! Talk about contrasts;)

Since we were staying in self-catering chalets, the most complicated part of the trip was the food! For me it gets even more complicated because we only eat organic and free-range and I can tell you that NONE of the shops near Crystal Springs cater for that. I find it ironic that we are close to lots of farms and yet the shops don't even stock free-range eggs! I didn't know that beforehand but I suspected it would be the case and so I planned for that eventuality.

Some of you are probably thinking it's hard enough to plan real food meals when you're at home and near enough to shops, why on earth would you try and do it when you're on holiday? Well, for me, a holiday isn't about eating badly and letting go of yourself. You're supposed to feel more relaxed and healthier by the time you get home, not feeling sick from all the bad food you ate and regretting all those desserts. Maybe that's just me!

So how DO you prepare yourself in advance for a holiday that includes meals that will feed 8 adults and be nutrient dense and real AND within your budget? Well it was actually surprisingly easy. Here's what I took with:

• Since I KNEW someone would be baking plenty of sugar-laden desserts that I didn't want to, and couldn't eat, I pre-empted that by baking two gluten-free banana breads. I also bought at least 30 bananas that I could freeze and use to make banana ice-cream for dessert for everyone. The bananas not used for the ice-cream were also frozen in a ziplock bag in the freezer to use in our morning smoothies.
• I visited the local farmer's market and also asked my mom to visit hers in Durban and together we stocked up on all the organic fruits we could find like pineapples, oranges and apples and paw paw to use in our morning smoothies.
• Between each of our shopping sessions we also stocked up on organic veggies like baby marrows, carrots, patty pans, spinach and salad stuff like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, sugar snap peas and avos. My mom has found a guy in Durban who sells those HUGE avos for R5 each and they are DELICIOUS so she came up with 2 packets of them. You may be thinking that salad stuff doesn't travel well. It actually can, provided you keep it cool in the car and put it straight into the fridge on arrival. It's also better to only wash it as you need it. Once it comes into contact with water it will start to spoil. I made sure I took along some white vinegar and some fresh lemons to wash all the fruits and veggies with as we used them.
• Meat-wise, we had to plan exactly what we were going to make for every meal. Since my mom and I were handling 5 of the meals we first decided on the actual dish and then planned the meat around that. We decided on a chicken curry, a lamb casserole, a bobotie, a fish braai and roast chickens. I placed an order for all the free-range meat and eggs we would need from Terra Madre and arranged for her to deliver it on the morning we were leaving so it would be as fresh as possible.
• We also discussed, and planned, all the accompaniments to the meals. We decided on things like brown rice, mashed potato, sweet potatoes, butternut soup and roasted vegetables. My mom decided she wanted to add some beans to the lamb casserole as well.
• Rice and beans are not something you can simply eat straight out of the bag. In case you are wondering what I mean by that, read this blog. That meant that I had to take along some apple cider vinegar to soak them with and I needed to know in advance when we were going to be cooking what so that I could soak the rice and beans at least 24 hours before cooking them.
• Bone broth was also going to be necessary for the curry, casserole and soup so I made sure to prepare some of that beforehand and freeze it.
• I made a tub of goat's milk yogurt for me and a tub of cow's milk yogurt for everyone else and kept them frozen.
• I ordered and picked up a few litres of raw cow and goat's milk from my local supplier.
• I visited the Byranston Organic Market and bought a few odds and ends like farm butter, goat's and cow's milk cheese and a loaf of gluten-free, sprouted bread for the days when making a salad wasn't an option (like driving around in the kruger)
• All the other extras like organic tomato sauce, mineral salt, herbs and spices, teas and honey were already in my cupboard at home so that was easy enough to organise.
• The day before we were going to leave, I started decanting all of the above things into smaller containers or ziplock bags.
• The food we left right up until an hour before we were scheduled to leave and then we bought 2 bags of ice and loaded up all the perishable things into cooler boxes and poured ice in between everything. We ended up with 4 cooler boxes filled with all the stuff and, believe it or not, we fitted that, PLUS our suitcases and many bags of fruits and veggies into my little Getz;) We even managed to fit in my guitar!

My poor parents were surrounded by bags and cooler
boxes in the back of Tally (my car)
but they still remained cheerful regardless;)  Who wouldn't
be in the Kruger!

• Upon arrival in Crystal Springs we immediately unpacked everything and refrigerated what needed to be refrigerated and froze what needed to be frozen and EVERYTHING kept for the whole week. On the Friday morning we packed it ALL back into my car and headed to the Kruger National Park where we drove around in boiling hot temperatures for two full days and managed to continue to feed ourselves on the food we had brought up a week before. We ended up coming home with some of it and we're STILL eating it so nothing was wasted.

We probably spent about R1 200 on food at the most. It sounds like a lot but bear in mind, that that fed 8 adults for 8 days and nights and it was ALL organic, real food so it actually wasn't a lot at all. And, since we didn't finish it all, we're still benefiting from spending that money.

Had we eaten OUT for lunch and supper instead, we would have spent more than R100 per person, per day for sure. We would have eaten food that wasn't nutritious or good for us in any way and would probably have been tempted to eat a lot more desserts simply because they were on the menu. The LEAST it would have cost us would have been R6 400 and that's optimistic. By going this route we not only saved money, but stayed healthy and came home feeling GOOD health-wise AND without breaking the bank;)

It IS doable. Most people just don't allow themselves the option because it seems like hard work. I guess it is a bit more work but, to me, it's so worth it. And if you can manage this on holiday, just imagine how much easier it will be at home!

Real Food Friday Feast - Free range, organic good old South African Bobotie!

Things are crazy in the Lowe-Martin household! Today we are going on holiday for a week with my folks and GLM's family so there has been MAJOR shopping, cooking, soaking, fermenting and baking going on. The freezer and fridge are literally OVERFLOWING with food. This is what happens when you are a real foodist and only eat organic and free range. You have to plan ahead, and plan WELL. You can't shop on the way or there if you want to keep it clean!

So my mom and I are handling 5 dinners for the gang. That's 8 adults and a toddler. It's a lot of food if you think about it AND you need to try and keep it interesting and add variety. I'm doing my chicken curry of course, then we've got 2 whole chickens to slow cook, some free range lamb for a lamb casserole, a wild caught snoek, courtesy of Woolies, and finally, my mom's Bobotie.

It's not something I've ever thought of making, mostly because it uses lamb mince and I never used to eat lamb. But since I discovered that I can eat lamb as long as it's free range, I've really been enjoying it. HOWEVER... because we're already doing lamb one of the nights, we decided to change the recipe to another kind of meat.

Some of my international followers may be wondering just what Bobotie is. Well, it's a traditional South African dish made with spicy mince and an egg-based topping. Actually, the first recipe for bobotie appeared in a Dutch cookbook in 1609 and, shortly after that, it ended up in South Africa and was adopted by the Cape Malay community. 

You'd be amazed how easy it is to make Bobotie organic and free range. My mom's recipe wasn't originally, but we modified it a bit and now it's a deliciously, nutritious organic meal. The fact that it's spicy is also a huge bonus because spices are incredibly good for you! Needless to say, all ingredients need to be organic and the meat, free range.

Bobotie - Serves 4

1 med slice sourdough bread (gluten free if you're gluten intolerant like me!)

full cream milk to soak bread in (use goat's milk of you're lactose intolerant)

2 med leeks

2 garlic cloves

2cm piece fresh ginger

25g butter

2 tsp masala (1 tsp if it's a hot masala like mine and you are feeding heat intolerant people!)

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

2 cloves (this is optional)

2 tsp ground allspice (make your own allspice with equal parts ground nutmeg, cinnamon and clove)

1 tsp mixed herbs

500g ostrich mince (this is up to you! We decided to go with ostrich, you can use any mince you want)

1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

50g dried apricots (sulphur free)

50g sultanas or raisins (sulphur free)

25g soaked, flaked almonds (or just grind up some whole almonds into chunks with a pestle and mortar)

3 tbsp chutney (we found some homemade, organic tomato chutney at a local shop)

4 tbsp chopped parsley

2 bay leaves

Topping

250ml full cream milk (use goat's milk of you're lactose intolerant)

3 large free range eggs

salt and black pepper (use a good quality mineral salt)

4 thin lemon slices

2 bay leaves

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180º
• Soak bread in just enough milk to cover it, then mash with a fork and put to one side
• Wash and peel the leeks and garlic
• Peel and grate the ginger
• Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a low to medium heat and cook the garlic and leeks for about 5-7 minutes, until softened.
• Stir in the ginger, masala, turmeric, cumin, coriander, cloves, allspice and herbs and cook for about 2 minutes.
• In a separate pan, fry the mince on a medium heat until it's coloured. Make sure you break up all the lumps. 
• Add it to the leek and garlic mixture
• Add the mashed bread and the vinegar and heat up altogether, mixing it well.
• Chop the apricots and stir them in with the sultanas, almonds, chutney, parsley and bay leaves
• Tip the whole mixture into an oven-proof casserole dish and press it down firmly then set aside.

Topping

• Beat milk and eggs together
• Season with salt and pepper
• Pour over the top of the mince mixture
• Put the lemon slices and bay leaves over the top
• Place in the oven and cook for 30-35 minutes (keep an eye on it. The topping must set and the colour should be golden)

I am so excited to make this next week! It is such a lovely recipe and so easy actually. If you are stuck for any ingredients and you live in Jhb, head to Fruit and Roots to find pretty much everything you need. Pick n pay sells free range ostrich mince. You will also find a lot of these ingredients at the Bryanston Organic Market which is where I got mine.

The bad news is, as I am away on holiday, blogging time will be limited. I will TRY and post when I can but I think it's best to assume that you won't hear from me until Monday 28th! We will be spending some time in the Kruger and signal is generally not too great around there. I also want to take advantage of having some quality time with my folks and my GLM:)

So, have a wonderful weekend and week and happy cooking!

Wellness Wednesday - The dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

I've spoken about high fructose corn syrup in various posts and I thought it was worth going into more detail about the dangers of this stuff and just WHY you should avoid it. Some of you are thinking, but I don't eat that stuff so I'm good! Well, you'd be surprised what you find it in. Unfortunately, it's in pretty much EVERYTHING that isn't real food.

If you eat any of the following then you DO eat HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), you just didn't realise it:

• Soft Drinks - And just before you say, "But I only drink the "light" ones, it's in a lot of those too.
• Sauces and Salad Dressings - People generally don't realise how much rubbish goes into a salad dressing. (and you thought eating a salad was a healthy option! It IS, without the dressing.) If you use tomato sauces, barbecue sauces etc, you are eating HFCS.
• Breads and pastries - Even the so-called "health" breads contain HFCS. As long as it's on a grocery shelf, the chances are extremely good that HFCS has been used to make it. 
• Fruits and Vegetables of the canned variety. If they say it contains sugar, it's more than likely HFCS. Baked beans and pickles pretty much always use it as well.
• Breakfast Cereals and Bars - A lot of these are sold as "healthy" options. Muesli is a common one. I can tell you that if the muesli is coated with something sweet, it'll be HFCS. Even the cereals that aren't that sweet will probably still have it in the ingredients. Manufacturers just can't seem to resist using it in everything. Those popular Jungle Oats bars? Nothing healthy about them I'm afraid. The sugar they use is HFCS.
• Processed Snacks - This should go without saying.

So what IS this stuff, actually? Well, HFCS is a thick syrupy combination of weird chemicals like alpha-amylase, glucoamylase, and xylose isomerase and corn kernels spun at a high velocity. HFCS is not natural at all. It has to be chemically made but, because it's so cheap and easy to make, it's the most common sweetener use in all things "food". There is not one human being on the planet whose body won't have a bad reaction to it, and yet the FDA casually allows it to be continually used as a sweetener in our foods. I can't speak for South Africa but a scary statistic is that the average american eats about 28kgs of the stuff in a year! I'm sure we're not far behind them with our levels of obesity reaching epic proportions.

Why this stuff should be avoided at all costs:

• It will make you gain body fat - Ok, so we pretty much know that anything that is sweet IS going to make you gain body fat. However, HFCS is actually even more sneaky in that it plays tricks on your brain. It messes with the functionality of leptin, an important protein that tells your brain when it’s time to stop eating. Basically, the more HFCS you consume, the longer your body will think you’re hungry, making you eat more food than necessary. As a result, you’ll steadily gain body fat.
• It can damage your liver - Fructose is much more readily metabolised to fat in the liver than glucose which means that excessive intake of fructose can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This is a disease where fat builds up in the liver, causing inflammation, scarring, excess triglycerides, and bad cholesterol. In severe cases, the disease can progress to liver cancer or liver failure. This study and this study show that subjects who consumed more HFCS (in this case they used soft drinks) had more serious liver inflammation and scarring than those who consumed none. A good reason to stay away from soft drinks.
• It can lower your IQ - Yup, this stuff will affect your intelligence and long-term memory. A study on rats concluded that, what you eat, greatly affects how you think. The rats fed high levels of fructose navigated the designated maze much slower than the rats that were fed high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. One of the researchers, said in a statement, “Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain’s ability to learn and remember information.” 
• It often contains mercury - In 2005, an FDA researcher named Renee Dufault posed as a fictional soft drink company and asked corn producers to ship a barrel of HFCS to her. After testing 20 vats, she found that at least 50% of them were contaminated with mercury. Another 2009 study had researchers pulling random food products off of supermarket shelves. All these products contained HFCS, and the researchers found traces of mercury in a third of them. What’s scary is that the FDA doesn’t regulate or even pay attention to the amount of mercury slipped into processed food, so there’s no telling how much mercury you might ingest by eating a donut or anything else that’s full of HFCS. Why do you want to avoid mercury? Read this post for that info. Isn't it scary to think how easily you could ingest mercury just by eating some french fries topped with a generous helping of tomato sauce containing HFCS?
• It can cause diabetes - Given that the average person consumes 28kgs of HFCS per year, it’s no surprise that one out of four people today have diabetes. Consuming high levels of fructose hinders, or can even permanently impair, the body’s ability to use or store glucose. That can, and does, lead to type 2 diabetes.
• It can fuel tumour growth - Did you know that cancer cells and tumours feed on sugar? That applies even more so to HFCS. A 2010 study showed that the pancreas, the organ that creates insulin, has a higher risk of developing cancer if it processes too much fructose. Tumour cells thrive on sugar, but fructose is like a superdrug to them. They increase even more rapidly on the stuff. This sheds some light on why cancer rates have been on the rise in the past few decades...
• It's bad for the environment - Environmentalists hate HFCS as much as food companies love it because it's terrible for the environment. It uses more pesticides and fertilisers than any other crop, and the more pesticides we spray on our crops, the more we pollute our soil and ground water. Corn is grown as a monoculture, meaning that the land is used solely for corn. That leads to soil erosion. The high demand for HFCS means we’re faced with more dead soil and contaminated water than ever.

Do you need any MORE motivation to avoid this stuff? It's tricky to avoid if you eat processed foods, baked goods, sauces etc but, if you can bring yourself to get rid of all of those things and go back to the basics, and eat REAL food, you will find you can quite easily avoid it. Most of us have eaten all those things ALL our lives and that is why we find ourselves getting ill so young, and so chronically. 

Don't you think it's time you put a stop to the abuse on a body that is basically only on loan to you for, if you are lucky, about 70 to 80 years? Guaranteed, before you reach the end of those 70 years, if you are filling your body with poison like this, it is pretty much a given that you will end up with a few chronic conditions along the way like arthritis, diabetes, benign tumours, cancer, heart disease, to name a few. Sadly, many people won't even reach those 70 years and their loved ones will have to sit by and watch them suffer through some or other dread disease. 

There are SO MANY things in this world that are dangerous and toxic to you and your loved ones, but this is ONE thing you can definitely avoid and, in doing so, take huge steps towards having a long, healthy, fulfilling life. 

I'd say that's a pretty good reason to make a few changes!

Monday Mix-up - Terre Madre: Supplier of all things organic and free range to Gauteng

It's difficult to go free range and organic if you have no idea where to get the food from! Although some grocery stores are stocking a few products now, it's intermittent and that has little to do with it being in season and a lot more to do with them just not bothering to get more stock because there's not enough demand. I'm also wary of their free range meat options because not all meat is as free range as you'd think.

That's why, today, I wanted to do a feature on my own free range and organic meat and veggie supplier, Terre Madre. No longer do we have to go hunting for food down aisles in grocery stores we'd rather avoid! Gillian simply sends out a list every week telling us what's available, we fill in the quantities we want of each, and she delivers it right to our door on a Thursday or Friday. The quality is guaranteed and her prices are really competitive.

I did a little interview with Gillian so that you all could get to know her, and her business, and hopefully support her! It's so hard to get a business up and running under any circumstances, but when you are up against the likes of Woolworths and Pick n Pay, it can be even harder. That's why I believe it's so important to support entrepreneurs like Gillian. The advantages are that you don't even have to leave your house to go shopping, you are getting good quality food LOADED with nutrients AND you have the added bonus of knowing that you are doing your bit for the environment by supporting sustainable agriculture and happy, healthy animals. What is there to lose really?

Introducing Terre Madre

Terre Madre is owned, and run, by 
Gillian O’Shea

From the corporate world to life on a farm! It must have been a bit scary taking that leap of faith, to give up a secure job and step into the unknown! Did you always know it was going to happen and what was the journey that led you to that final decision to take the step? 

Well I grew up on a smallholding so it’s not foreign to me; in fact it’s probably more like going back to where I started. Yes it’s scary to say goodbye to the security of a fixed salary every month but it becomes easier when you realise that the fixed salary is more like a prison sentence. So many people work in jobs they don’t like, for ‘secure’ salaries and they are miserable. I was one of those people. We stay in jobs we don’t like out of fear. Life is too short. We need to face our fears head on – spend our time doing what we enjoy, not waste our lives away. Besides, are those jobs really so ‘secure’. The journey that led me to the final decision to leave the corporate world was a long one but when I made my mind up I moved quite fast. The short version of the story is…working for people I can’t respect because of what they do and stand for. The long version may get me into trouble  but seriously, I’ve been fortunate to work in some great companies. I just don’t think I am cut out for that world and South Africa needs more entrepreneurs. 

Why the name Terre Madre? How did you come to it? 

The name came to me. It was more like . . . waiting for me. Terra Madre is Italian for mother earth. Since a little girl I would have sleepless nights thinking about how we humans decimate our planet, its animals and resources…more often than not for the sake of money. My first magazine subscription was to WWF when I was 9 years old! A few years ago I went to see someone for something called cord cutting. Another long story . . .  anyway, during that session she says to me my purpose is to nurture. I’m like the next Mother Theresa say says. I say to her hold your horses! As much as she has always been an icon and role model for me, I don’t want that - it sounds to draining and the poor woman never did anything for herself! I just want to live and be happy, buy pretty things and go on holidays!

I’ve also been told my purpose is to empower. I even once worked as a manager for a division called M Power, go figure. Look, the whole finding your purpose thing is also another story for another day. I believe our purpose is to be happy, love and live. Do what makes you happy and the means (money) will come from that. My starsign is Taurus and I am a typical one, in all ways! I am earthy and need to be in nature often otherwise I get grumpy and out of sorts. I was born catholic and my second name is Theresa…so you see how the name sort of was always there for me. It feels right. But the synergy of the name and the business is that we need to get back to living with nature and mother earth and not against or without regard for. The world is all messed up. We eat foods containing pesticides, genetically modified material and hormones. We use so many toxic chemicals, on ourselves and in our homes. We are killing ourselves and our planet. And do we really care? We all talk about it but how many of us are actually doing something about it? People are also realising this way of living isn’t working but they are not sure what to do differently. Start small, start somewhere, start with yourself. 

You do kinesiology too. What made you choose it and what exactly does it entail? 

About 10 years ago I was retrenched from a company and looking back it was a blessing because although it was devastating for me it also pushed me to think about what is it that I want to do with the rest of my life. During that period I took a bit of a break from work and life (let’s call it a mild depression:) I came across a book by Louise Hays called ‘You can heal your life’. It literally changed my life and I can recommend that everyone should read it. During this period I realised I wanted to know more about health, psychology, how the mind and body works but also about karma, consciousness and other concepts. This led me to study Specialised Kinesiology. It’s a wonderful modality that touches on nearly everything. Took me 6 years because I studied part- time while working but it was worth it.

You also studied permaculture. What exactly is that? 

Permaculture is a practical design concept applicable from the balcony to the farm, from the city to the wilderness. It enables people to establish productive environments providing for food, energy, shelter, material and non-material needs, as well as the social and economic infrastructure that support them. The concept was first developed by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in Tasmania in 1974, leading to a world-wide movement. Permaculture means thinking carefully about our environments, our use of resources and how we service our needs. It aims to create systems that will sustain not only for the present, but for future generations.

From a philosophy of co-operation with nature and each other, of caring for the earth and people, it presents an approach:

• to designing environments which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems,
• to regenerate damaged land and
•to preserve environments which are still intact.

Permaculture encourages the individual to be resourceful and self-reliant, to become a conscious part of the solution to the many problems which face us both locally and globally. This covers the whole range from the production of our food to the design of our residential areas and management of natural environments and to the daily activities in which we invest our time, skills and money. Permaculture practice leads to conscious imaginative design and involvement in a productive agricultural system in relation to the needs, activities and contributions of the people who culture that land. This has a positive influence on the long term health and well-being of both man and the natural processes on the land. 

I gather from your website that you literally go and BUILD an organic garden for people! Have I got that right and how difficult is that to do? What is actually involved there? 

Yes that’s part of what I do. Through Terra Madre people can order fresh produce on a weekly basis and have it delivered to their homes or offices. I work with about 7 other organic and permaculture suppliers in order to offer this service. Then I also consult so I can design and implement a food garden for people and either do it myself or show them how to do it.

A lot of people have no clue where to get free range and organic produce. That's the main reason I wanted to feature Terre Madre actually. You source, and supply Gauteng with organic and free range produce on a weekly basis. We have been clients for several months as well! I know you grow a lot of the produce yourself but how did you go about sourcing everything else? It's so difficult to know if animal products are REALLY free range. There seems to be little regulation in terms of that whereas organic is far more regulated. Was it difficult to find ethical suppliers and what kind of checklist did you use to ensure they were up to your standards? 

Thanks for your support Melanie. Yes I grow some myself but as my business is only 12 months old it takes a while to establish market gardens so I do source from other suppliers too, also for diversity. It’s tough finding enough produce that’s ‘slow’ and organic and it takes a while for customers to get away from the instant gratification mentality of being able to buy anything at any time and expecting it to look perfect and last a long time. With regards to my suppliers they all feel the same way I do. Believe me you don’t get rich quick by being passionate about growing food organically and raising free range animals. You do it because you can’t help yourself and can’t deal with the alternative. Yes maybe it’s not regulated but it’s costly to become certified. It’s really not easy to be an entrepreneur and it’s not a supportive environment. The government needs to do more to assist people who want to grow the economy and change negative ways of doing things. How ethical is it that the stuff sold in supermarkets is even available for human consumption and at what cost to the planet and animals? Not all my suppliers are certified but they are a lot better than mainstream suppliers and at least they are trying to farm more consciously.

People are so used to ALL foods being available to them all year round. They are simply unaware that everything has a season and that it's actually chemicals, hormones, bad agriculture and mistreatment of animals that MAKE everything available to them all year round. I know that I also took a while to adjust to having to do without things for a few months as I transitioned to organic! What are your thoughts on all of that and how do you get around that issue with customers who expect more?

I send them back to mainstream supermarkets lol

The more word spreads, the bigger the business is going to grow. Are you interested in going more large scale and employing people to do all the hard work you're doing yourself or do you actually enjoy the personal touch? I'd imagine it would be a challenge to keep things up to the standards you prefer, if things are on a larger scale?

Yes I want to grow the business and employ more people. It must be sustainable in all ways.

Following on from the previous question, what are your future plans for Terre Madre? (I personally hope you plan to be doing this for a very long time because I'm not sure what we would do without you!)

Well if people keep ordering and requesting food gardens I will be around a long time :) Future plans are big and involve permaculture schools in all our provinces but we need funding and government support for this.

If you would like to get onto Gillian's mailing list, you can send her an email at: terramadresa@gmail.com or visit her her website and browse around to learn more about Terre Madre.

Please feel free to spread the word and support not only Terre Madre, but also our local farmers who are working really hard to sustain our planet and provide us with wholesome, organic food!

Real Food Friday Feast - Fruity yogurt popsicles

Today's blog idea is courtesy of my brother-in-law;) He posted a recipe on my sister's facebook timeline for their boys and I loved the idea! My recipe is a bit different because I felt like experimenting but really, when it comes to popsicles, the sky is the limit! Especially with these gorgeous summer days we are having. Seriously, it feels like Johannesburg bypassed spring and went straight to summer!

So, why would you want to make your own anyway? Surely it's less time and effort to just pop to Makro and buy one of the big bags of bulk popsicles that the kids can just grab when they want? Well, if you've read ANY of my blogs you'll know exactly how I feel about convenience foods, especially when it comes to kids. I don't think kids should have access to just any old "food". They don't know enough about their bodies yet. It's up to us to teach them.

Have you seen what goes into conventional, store bought popsicles? Here is a list of ingredients from a well known brand that claim to be "fat-free" and full of vitamin c and fruit juice:

• Pear juice (from concentrate) - Fruit juice from concentrate usually means it's been heat treated and filled with chemicals to preserve it because fruit, as we all know, doesn't have a very long shelf life and if they are going to keep up with demand, they need to make sure it's going to last. So I wouldn't place a lot of confidence in that juice to be full of nutrition.
• Liquid sugar (sugar and water) - Do your kids really need MORE sugar when there is already fruit juice concentrate which is, as the word suggests, sweeter, because it's concentrated.
• High fructore corn syrup - Yet MORE sugar, but in a very evil form. Words cannot describe how bad this stuff is for you. Sugar, as you should know, leads to obesity and disease. Sugar is the perfect playground for everything from the common cold right through to cancer. High fructose corn syrup is also an industrial product. It's nowhere near natural. Fructose goes right to the liver, triggering lipogenesis (the production of fats like triglycerides and cholesterol). It's the main cause of liver damage and leads to a condition called "fatty liver," which affects 70 million people. Eat a lot of this stuff and it will literally punch holes in your intestinal lining, allowing nasty byproducts of toxic intestine bacteria and partially digested food proteins to enter your blood stream and trigger the inflammation that we know is at the root of obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, dementia and accelerated aging. It is known to contain chemicals and contaminants like mercury. Read my blog on mercury fillings in your teeth to see how bad that stuff is for you. There is so much more but it would take a whole blog. Perhaps I'll save that for next week!
• Corn syrup (in case we didn't get enough corn syrup yet!)
• Citric acid - When its naturally occurring, it's fine. Trust me when I say this one isn't. When it's synthetic, citric acid, used as a preservative it's definitely not fine, especially for kids with asthma. It is the preservative used in most sweet and fizzy drinks and, if held in your mouth for long enough, will melt your teeth! Not something you want near your kids teeth...
• Guar gum - this is a thickening agent. In fact, it can swell up to 20 times the size of the original dose. If too much is consumed it can swell and block your intestinal tract and also prevent your body from absorbing necessary vitamins and minerals. Guar gum also gives you an increased risk of colon cancer.
• Malic acid - this is used in about 50 different COSMETIC formulations... in rats, it leads to weight gain and skin irritations. (any of your kids suffering with eczema?!) They are putting it in "edible" popsicles because...?!
• Modified cellulose - this doesn't seem to have too many downsides except that our bodies can't digest it so it can cause a laxative effect. I'd be wary of anything that says "modified" though.
• Artificial flavours - These are toxic. They are all synthetic, even when they say natural flavours and that can be very misleading. They are all made in a science lab and their safety has not been proven. Most artificial flavourants are petroleum based. Do you really need to know more than that?!
• Locust Bean Gum (?!) - As weird as it sounds, locust bean gum seems to be okay and it's not made from actual locusts;)
• Ascorbic acid - this is a synthetic form of vitamin c and unfortunately is not actually bio-available to our bodies. If you are taking ascorbic acid supplements and think you are actually taking vitamin c, think again. Adding it to the popsicle actually adds no benefit so telling you it contains vitamin c is purely a marketing ploy on their part. GASP?! They would actually bend the truth like that?! I'm shocked...
• Red 40 and Blue 1 - Artificial colourants, like artificial flavourants, are also toxic and should be avoided at all costs. They are all linked to one or other type of cancer, they cause allergic reactions (again I'll say, is your kid suffering from eczema?) Read this to check out the different codes and what they can do to you.

Just FYI, fruit is naturally fat-free, so in case you thought they'd actually taken your waistline into account, and that they give a damn, they didn't, and they don't. Sugar, on the other hand, is VERY fattening so, while it may not contain fat, it WILL make you very fat as well as cause a myriad of other problems for you.

If you are still allowing your kids to eat these things knowing about all of this stuff, hang your head in shame! Seriously though, I know how life gets busy and it's easy to go for convenience. However, is it really convenient when your child is sick EVERY week? Wouldn't it be better knowing you are paving the way to a long, healthy life for your kids by giving them all the good ammunition that you can? Read this to find out just how much we affect our lives when we are bombarded with chemicals on a daily basis, starting in the womb.

SO!

It is so freaking EASY to make your own popsicles! You have no excuse for not doing it once you have read this blog. As I said in the beginning, I have modified a few recipes to make my own. Firstly, while I think fruit is better than any other sweet you are going to find, it is still laden with sugar and should be eaten in moderation and not eaten alone. If you are going to give your kids a popsicle loaded with fruit alone, they will still get a sugar rush and a crash a bit later. A way to avoid that is to make sure that there is protein and fat in that popsicle to balance out the popsicle and actually turn it into a proper snack that will sustain your kids for an hour at least, without the crash. The protein and fat make sure the fruit is absorbed nice and slowly into their bodies they won't have a sugar spike or a crash. I can hear the collective, "EH?!!?" No I don't mean adding a pork sausage and some butter;) Yogurt will take care of those requirements easily!

Make sure that you use organic fruits and yogurt for these to make them REALLY nutritional and chemical free. Woolies sells organic yogurt and you'll find some organic fruits there as well. The rest you'll find at local farmer's markets.

Fruity yogurt popsicles - Makes about 6

You will need:

A blender

Popsicle sticks

Popsicle moulds

A mix of fruits. This is up to you. I'm going with:

1/2 cup strawberries

2 bananas

1/4 pineapple

1 nectarine

1/2 orange

3 Tbs Plain full fat yogurt 

1 Tbs raw honey (this is optional as it will already be quite sweet. Try it once, if it's not needed, then leave it out in future)

Method

• Peel, core and de-seed any fruits that need it so you're just left with the soft bits
• Throw everything into a blender
• Blend on high speed until liquid
• Pour mixture into popsicle moulds
• After about 30-40mins, go back and push popsicle sticks in (you'll know if they're frozen enough)
• Allow to freeze for 3-4 hours
• To get them out of them moulds run them under luke warm water briefly and simply pull out

Don't let the fact that you can't find popsicle moulds put you off! (Although Westpack at the Lifestyle centre will undoubtedly have them!) Ice trays will work perfectly fine as well. They'll be small, but satisfying. Instead of buying popsicle sticks you can use straws, chopsticks (how many do YOU have lying around from sushi takeaways, because we have a lot!), toothpicks with the pointy end cut off to avoid injury or even teaspoons will also work. There's no need to go out and buy stuff if you don't want to. If you do buy all the moulds and sticks, be sure to wash and re-use them! It definitely won't harm you, it'll save you money and hey, the less we add to the environment, the better!

That's it! It looks like we're heading for a weekend where popsicles will be the order of the day!

Enjoy:)

Wellness Wednesday - How I put my cats onto a raw meat diet - Part 2

A small disclaimer: This is not for everyone and there are some who will still think that it's too much protein and nothing I have said will change that and that's fine. They're YOUR animals and you need to do what you think is best for them. This is just how I do things and I feel it's best for my babies. This is giving you a different viewpoint and you can do what you want with it. So please don't send comments or emails telling me I'm killing my cats, or talking about stuff I don't know enough about and, in return, I won't judge how you raise your pets;) I've had the guilt trips from the conventional vet already but I've got the advice of a holistic vet as well as my own research. For me, the proof is in the health of my cats so this is how WE do things. Thanks:)

On Monday I spoke about why pet food is so bad for your pets. As you now know, I don't have dogs so I can't speak too much for them except to say that they love real food JUST as much as cats do. I have friends who have their dogs on a raw food diet so perhaps I will ask them to do a guest blog about that as I know a LOT of you are dog owners. But, whether you are a dog or a cat owner, you want the best for your kids pets, I'm sure. I can tell you that real, healthy food is THE BEST thing you can do for  them. The tricky part is transitioning them from pet food to real food.

So, how did I go about it? It wasn't easy, I can promise that! Cats are nothing if not creatures of habit. They love their routine and they hate change. That's why, when you move house, you have to gradually introduce them to their new habitat. Well, try and change their food after 13 years...

For starters, I had to get rid of the 24/7 buffet. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. You leave a bowl of kibbles down all the time so that they can graze whenever they want to. If you have a chubby cat, that is never going to be a good thing. Most cats only need to eat twice a day and some only need to eat once a day. Their digestive systems are designed to slowly move the meat through which keeps them full for a lot longer than humans. Also, if you are going to feed them raw meat, it can't stay out for hours on end or it will go off and make them sick. That means, getting them used to eating at certain times is going to be the first step.

I started by lifting their bowls during the day and only putting them down in the morning and the evening. Because of the addictive nature of their kibbles I had to not only LIFT the bowls, but HIDE the bowls. They can smell that stuff from a mile off I tell you! They weren't happy with being on rations but eventually they started to adjust to that. That was the easy part because they generally only ate when they were awake anyway! The problem is, they had to get used to eating ENOUGH to keep them going for 12 hours and that was hard for them. Then I decided it was time to try them with some canned food...

Because they had been on dry food for so long, they didn't want to KNOW wet food of any kind. Ironically, I was always quite proud of the fact that my cats had zero interest in human food or even canned cat food and so NEVER begged at all. They always knew when it was MY dinner time and they would keep their distance during that time, they never begged, never jumped on counters, never misbehaved and all got on so well. I've come to realise that they kept their distance during MY dinner time because they were, quite literally, addicted to their kibbles and nothing else appealed to them! Did you know that they actually coat the kibble with animal digest sprays which are IRRESISTIBLE to a cat. You'll really see it when you take it away from them. Suddenly I had a houseful of cats going through withdrawal! It's like a drug for them, kind of like fast food for cats. Imagine a houseful of permanently PMSing women and you'll have an idea of what our house was like...

You dare to keep my food and me apart?!

Because of the addictive nature of their kibbles, the first thing I had to do was actually to remove them from the house altogether. I put the bag in the garage and sealed it up. Then I went shopping for some canned food and tried it out with them. They sniffed it, looked at me in confusion, and walked away, coming back every few minutes to check if I'd put down some REAL food;) It didn't even register as food on their radars! I persevered and kept carrying them back to the bowls but they weren't even remotely interested. The next few days were spent watching my cats starve themselves as they rebelled against such a terrible injustice.

You have to be REALLY careful with cats. They can't go longer than about 24 hours without food. If they lose weight too fast they can develop a condition called Hepatic Lipidosis or Fatty Liver Disease. Basically, if a cat loses body fat too fast, the liver can't process it fast enough and the cat is left with a poorly functioning liver which can be fatal. This can happen really fast which is why you HAVE to make them eat. It's even worse if the cat is fat and loses weight too fast. So it's really important to watch them. If they are not eating at all, it's better to just give them some of their kibbles to make sure they get some food within the 24hour window period.

When they simply refused to eat the canned food, I used the pestle and mortar to grind up their kibbles and then I sprinkled them over the canned food. It actually worked and eventually they started to nibble on it because it tasted familiar. They don't need to eat huge amounts to prevent Hepatic Lipidosis so as long as they eat SOMETHING, you're ok. They are STILL going to lose weight though and that is pretty normal since they aren't eating as much AND canned foods are generally a bit higher in protein and water content which means their bodies will be functioning more normally than they would if they were on the kibbles.

Sebastian, who I've always called Fat Boy, with good reason, was the toughest nut to crack and, before long, the name Fat Boy became obsolete. He went on a hunger strike!

I'm not leaving this cupboard until you feed me what I want!!

He's the biggest of our cats and he's the boss. We ALL have to bow before his mighy-ness, both humans and cats alike. As long as nothing in his life changes, he will be happy. Unfortunately life is never that simple and so he's seldom happy;) Sadly, for the other cats, that means a grumpy boss and a whack or two around the head, or worse, for simply deigning to be in his space. For us it means him jumping on counters and stealing any available food, walking around the house in the wee hours meowing repeatedly and just basically acting out. He was, in short, a monster and everyone tip-toed around him in fear of what would come next.

This was a nasty shock to me because I've always taken great pride in the good behaviour of my cats. GLM would casually mention that perhaps the diet wasn't working in hopes that I would give in and life would go back to normal;) I refused. Partly because I'm a virgo and I CAN'T fail (I admit) and partly because I KNEW it was the best thing for them. Cat's don't always know what's best for them anymore than kids do. That's why you have to be the grownup and make the decisions for them.

What you have to remember is that your cat IS a carnivore. They've just forgotten that they actually LIKE meat. Especially if it's been so many years of only kibble. You have to spend every day reminding them until the penny drops and they find their inner carnivore.

This whole process is so much easier for younger cats. We got 2 kittens in January this year and that was round about the time that I decided it was time to get them all eating what cats are supposed to eat. I'd read that kittens were the easiest to transition and it was absolutely true. They took to it like ducks to water and they LOVE their raw meat and bones.

A diet of chicken hearts, necks and stomachs with a
bit of liver is JUST what we love!

It's as if they instinctively knew what to do with it and they were ripping and tearing into it from the get go. You may think, "Ewwww!" But honestly, it's the cutest thing watching kittens behaving like carnivores;) I was so proud!

Cool carnivores;)

Our next oldest cat, Baileigh, was 3 at the time and, while she also fought against the canned food, she took to it fast. One day, when I threw a chicken heart on the floor, she pounced on it and ripped it to pieces and then cried for more. After that she simply refused to TOUCH canned food and she only eats completely raw meat and bones. She hates anything cooked or processed.

The trickiest have been our three oldest cats. It makes sense. As cats get older, they get more set in their ways. (Like some humans I know;)) So I was left with my little chubby one, Blue...

Lying in mom's guitar case;)
Look at that tummy!

... and my two 13 year olds, Sebastian and Gypsy. Sebastian had lost so much weight I could feel every bump of his spine along his back and he was so light when I picked him up he felt no heavier than the kittens. I began to really despair when suddenly, one day, he finished ALL the food in his bowl. It was like something just clicked in his mind. From that day on he became addicted to canned food! One battle won, another just starting;)

Before you start wondering, I'd tried giving him raw meat but he just wasn't biting (Scuse the pun!) At first he'd just walk away from the food if there was raw meat in it, but then he started lifting it out with his teeth and dropping it next to his bowl so that he could eat his canned food;) Often, though, he'd just dodge it and I'd find the bowl licked clean with a lone little piece of raw meat sitting in the middle of it.

As for Blue, she was another stubborn one. I find it quite ironic because she lived on the street for a good few years before we adopted her and she would've had to live on whatever was available so I didn't expect her to be so fussy. She gained so much weight when she came to live with us and I think it was mostly because she was so scared of starving again that she would eat whenever she found food. Because of that, she got really used to her kibbles and she didn't want to know canned food. I spent a lot of feeding time standing over her stroking her and talking to her to make her eat. It makes it more complicated that she has a paw missing and the other cats bully her so she feels vulnerable when she's eating and exposed. Me being there seemed to settle her mind a bit and she would eat.

This all continued for about 3 months. Me coaxing, the cats fighting, keeping us up all night crying for food and causing general mayhem and we were both ready to tear our hair out. I thought many times of giving up, I won't lie! But gradually things started to change until, all of a sudden, they were eating the canned food as if it had always been their food.

Feeding time at the crazy cat lady's house

Baileigh was totally on a raw diet as were the kittens and, out of the blue, and completely unexpectedly, my Gypsy started to eat raw! She's my oldest cat with a few extra weeks on Sebastian so I REALLY didn't expect it but she loves her chicken hearts and necks! Blue has started eating chicken necks but isn't interested in anything else. That's fine though. I'm just so proud of her for trying!

It was probably about 5 months after all of this started that I realised they were actually completely into their canned food and that there was no reason that I couldn't transition them to real food. I'd been putting it off because the last few months had been so hard for all of us and I just didn't know if I could handle putting us all through that again! But I bought a punnet of beef mince and cooked it up for them and nervously held my breath while I watched them walk to their bowls. They sniffed it... AND ATE IT! I guess the canned food prepared them. They loved it;)

Since that day the three older cats have been on a diet of different types of mince, Gypsy always gets her hearts and necks as well as a little mince and Blue gets her necks as well. Sebastian still refuses pieces of raw meat. He thinks he's won but he doesn't realise that I only par-cook the mince now so it's mostly raw and then I chop up TEENY TINY pieces of raw hearts and liver and mix them in with his mince and he eats it all without knowing;)

I initially was feeding them 3 times a day, firstly because the kittens needed 3 meals a day, and secondly, because they weren't entirely used to the fact that the food was only down for a limited time and they HAD to eat enough to keep them going for 12 hours. They were eating too little in each sitting and then they'd be starving.  Eventually they actually started going off their 3rd meal by choice and now they are all on two meals a day. Sometimes Baileigh doesn't eat one of her meals because she is still full and that's absolutely fine. The point is, the food is there if they need it at dinner time but it is only available for about 20 minutes and then I pick it up and put it in the fridge so it stays fresh. Blue and Sebastian are the only ones who take longer to eat and I've resigned myself to the fact that that's how it is. Their food is down for about 45mins while their highnesses go back and forth taking their time eating;)

At food time, I feed the kittens first. Their food goes on a glass chopping board to prevent germs and they come skipping and running alongside me when I call them to the bathroom where they are locked in while they eat. The reason for this is because they eat the fastest and they WILL go and scavenge;) Blue eats in the other bathroom because everyone terrorises her, and the other three eat in the kitchen and leave each other alone. I find separating the trouble causers makes food time a lot smoother so it's something for you to consider as well.

It's not always possible to get them free range meat and I DO feel guilty about it but gizzards are VERY hard to find free range and they make up an important part of their diet. The most important thing is that the meat is human grade food and NOT pet grade. They need real meat. I always make sure they get good quality free range meat at least once or twice a week to be sure they get much needed antioxidants and I clean ALL the meat before they eat it. I also give them raw egg yolks a few times a week as it's really good for their fur and they LOVE it mixed in with their mince.

Their diet needs to consist of all different types of meat including, and especially, the fatty bits. It must include a small amount of bone. For example, about a centimetre or so of a chicken neck will do for a meal. The bones contain calcium which is very important. If they refuse to eat bone, collect a few egg shells, use a pestle and mortar to grind them to dust, and sprinkle a bit over each meal. They also need liver now and then but not a lot and be careful with that. Liver contains fat soluble vitamins which your body stores, unlike water soluble vitamins which you get rid of daily. Too much fat soluble vitamins can make you sick. Give it to them once or twice a week and then only a bit size piece.

Don't grind your cat's food if you can avoid it. The act of tearing up chunks of meat and bone is very good for them. It keeps their teeth clean and works their jaws. Use a sharp pair of scissors to cut up the meat and bone into chunks (you'd be amazed how easy it is to cut bone with scissors) and then let the cats do the rest of the work. Some cats love big pieces of meat and will work at it for ages. Others are lazy and prefer you to help them along. That's fine. Just don't grind the meat or they won't get any dental benefit. If you have an older cat who's teeth have already been ruined by pet food then you won't have a choice unfortunately. However, Gypsy's teeth aren't great and yet she still chews on her necks!

I dish up Baileigh's meat in a bowl but she uses her paw to scoop the pieces out one by one eats them that way. It's so cute to watch;) The kittens sometimes will pull a big piece of meat off the chopping board and carry it off to chew on it. Don't stress to much about it. They will eat where they are comfortable and that's ok, as long as it's not on your carpet or bed! Let the cats figure out how it works. I got a fright a couple of times when the kittens regurgitated a piece of meat and I thought she was choking but she just swallowed to fast and needed to start again so she brought it up and continued to chew on it. Gross to us, but to them it's normal!

As you can see, it wasn't easy transitioning them and you need to have a LOT of love and patience for your furry kids if you are going to be able to persevere with it and see it through. I promise you it is SO worth it. Your cat was born a carnivore. All you need to do is encourage them to look for their inner carnivore. Once they find it, you will find it VERY hard to feed them anything processed again!

P.S. If anyone has any questions about what, when, how and why, please feel free to post a comment and I will be happy to give my input!

Monday Mix Up - Why I put my cats onto a raw meat diet - Part 1

I must be losing my mind a little because I swear I posted my Friday blog and yet, when I got to my computer today, there it was, still open and unpublished! Somehow I missed that the WHOLE weekend too... I'm not entirely sure what happened there but I apologise profusely! I guess it's better late than never;)

On to today's blog post!

I know VERY few people who DON'T own pets. The reality is that pets are such a vital part of most of our lives. For some of us, they're more than pets, they're our children and our worlds pretty much revolve around them;) They get the best seats in the house, the most expensive food and when one of them is sick it is completely devastating. No amount of money is too much to fix them. I bet, reading this, many of you can relate.

We have 6 cats. You can read all about them here if you're so inclined, as well as the story of how we ended up with all of them! I am a little cat obsessed;) My poor wife ended up with 3 by default when she met me and then, together, we adopted another 3, and I am completely to blame. I can't bear to see a helpless, homeless cat! She's drawn the line now. I can't get anymore sadly. I understand why. They aren't cheap and, because they are our children, it is going to start getting more complicated than it already is, if we adopt more.

They DO take up a huge part of our lives and I wouldn't want it any other way! I  love seeing all their little furry bodies lying all around the house and garden when I am home and with 6 of them, you're never short of a cuddle;) I miss them horribly when we go away. Every cat very much has their own personality and that makes for an interesting life. They have a little hierarchy going as well and that means a couple of them get terrorised constantly. They're all needy and yet all independent in their own little ways and it certainly keeps us busy. Getting any more would be even more of a challenge.

Our room becomes a cat obstacle course when the sun shines
through our french doors;)

So we had them on Hill's Science Diet food for MANY years. It was costing us a bomb. I'm sure most of you know that, with pet food, there is food for kittens, there is food for indoor overweight cats, there is food for cats over 7 years and food for cats with long hair to avoid hairballs. Each 5kg bag costs around R400 and we would buy about 3 bags a month, at least. For 13 years, Sebastian and Gypsy Girl were fed dry kibbles. When I think about it I just feel so terrible for them but I didn't know any better. Thank goodness I do now!

I'd started to notice that my older cats just seemed totally devoid of energy. They were losing more and more weight and all they did was sleep. Now, some might say it was because they were old but I had a cat when I was growing up, who lived for 20 years! So I KNOW 13 isn't old. Our little "differently-abled" cat, Blue, who is missing her back paw, was steadily gaining body fat despite being on "light" food and I was really getting worried about her health. I've always bought the best food for my babies because I wanted them to be around for many, many years too. But, as we transitioned to an organic, chemical-free, processed-free lifestyle, it began to dawn on me that my cats were, essentially, also on a processed food diet and that it couldn't be doing their bodies any good.

I have friends with 2 Boxers who had been to a talk on raw food diets for animals. Since then they'd put their dogs onto a raw food diet and they were THRIVING. I asked their advice and then I did some of my own research and I chatted to GLM and then I decided to give it a try. Let me just say that the next few months were some of the most frustrating, hair-tearing, tear-inducing months of my life! But there IS a happy ending;)

Let me explain something about cats and why a raw meat diet is so imperative to their health.  Cats are, what's known as obligate carnivores. That pretty much means STRICT carnivores and that means they don't SOMETIMES need protein. They ONLY need protein, at every meal. The bad news about processed pet food is, firstly, that they all contain carbohydrates. Secondly, the protein that they DO contain is usually plant-based. The reason they use those is because they are "fillers" and they are cheaper. The food will be filling, but in the wrong way for a cat.

The problem is that cat's bodies don't know what to do with carbohydrates. Humans and dogs can survive on a vegetarian diet. It's not at all recommended for a dog but it CAN be done for a time. Cats simply can't. And before you argue and say that your cat is just fine eating Whiskers and Friskies, I am going to jump in and tell you that they aren't. Not really. It's the same as saying that you eat processed foods and you're just fine. If you've read any of my blog posts you know the effects that processed foods are EVENTUALLY going to have on your system. The build up of toxins in a body may take a few years but, in the end, the effects can be truly devastating.

The fact that processed pet foods are heat-treated is also a huge concern. Firstly, cooked food is actually carcinogenic for a cat. Secondly, cats get most of their water intake from their food. If you are feeding them dry kibbles then the water content is zero. Raw meat has a high water content. Drinking normal water isn't quite the same for a cat. They actually need the water found in meat. Their bodies know how to use it. If you cook it, you get rid of it. Even canned food contains double the amount of water that kibbles do so it's a better choice for them although not first choice. Sadly, my little Gypsy is now struggling hugely with her kidneys because she has been pretty much dehydrated for the last 13 years! The raw food diet is helping her but it's a constant struggle to make sure she gets enough water in her body.

Another concern with pets eating processed foods is that it rots their teeth. Cats were meant to tear at raw meat and bones. The tearing, chewing motions actually clean their teeth and gums. It acts almost like dental floss. I don't know a single older cat or dog who hasn't had to have their teeth professionally cleaned OR, even worse, removed because they are rotting. It shouldn't happen but, because of their diets, it does. Something very important to know about bones is that they MUST be raw. Giving cooked bones to an animal is asking for disaster. They splinter and can cause untold damage to an animal's mouth and digestive system. Raw bones, however, are actually quite soft. Especially chicken bones. It's really good for them to chew on a piece of chicken wing or neck. They love it and it is not only full of calcium but it also cleans their teeth. My cats chew, and swallow, the entire piece of raw bone. They love it! What's important with bones is the quantity of bones and I will go into that in my next post.

The sad truth is that a lot of our pets are not dying of old age anymore. They are dying of diabetes complications, cancer and heart disease. (The same is happening to our dogs but I am focusing on cats because I only have cats) All of those diseases are diseases of civilisation. They haven't always been around. They became more common they more rubbish entered our bodies and our environment. They've only been around for the last century. Our pets are just as susceptible to that rubbish. In fact, even more so if you think of how close they are to the floor. If you are using dangerous chemicals to clean your floors, they are ingesting them. Read this post on how the chemicals that we use harm our animals even more than us. Then there is also the "food" that we are feeding them.

Since when did food need to be scientifically engineered? Our ancestors have been eating real food for years and they weren't just "fine", they thrived! Suddenly, someone decided that food had to be made up of various elements in order for it to be consumed, and then packaged in a carton that added more refuse to an overflowing environment. It became so normal that, these days, people consider a packet of crisps actual food! They'll choose it over a fruit, almost every time and yet there is actually no real food in those crisps. The same applies to our animal's food. At some point someone realised that the pet food business was an untapped market and they started making, and packaging their own recipe. Then they put a HUGE amount of marketing into the product and, before you knew it, everyone just assumed that this was how you were supposed to do things. None of this was done for the good for human or animal, it was a way to make money and that's all.

It's frightening how like sheep we are. That is why big business does so well. They know how to tap into that sheep mentality. People are so unsure of what is "right" and "wrong" that they need to be told what to do and the larger part of the population succumbs to it. I agree that there are experts in certain fields and sometimes you need advice in a certain area, but food has been around for millennia and, would you believe it, humans being are STILL around. We survived WITHOUT processed foods and pet foods for a very long time. In fact, we did BETTER before anyone got involved and made it a business. Now cancer and heart disease are the number one killers. Why would anyone think that anything that isn't natural, is better for you or for your pet? Well, because big corporations are making a MINT off of all us suckers and we are being duped over and over again.

The truth is, processed food is NEVER going to be the better choice. Looking at my cats now, the best thing I could EVER have done for them was to feed them what their bodies actually needed, just like I do for myself and my wife. They have lost weight, they have more energy, their fur is so soft and shiny and they are HEALTHY.

Vets will tell you that domestic cat's systems have changed over the years and that too much protein puts too much pressure on their kidneys and that is why they die after 7 years in the wild and I will tell you that that is utter bull. You don't ask a doctor for nutritional advice, do you? That's because they study how the body works, not how food works with the body. Vets are no different. And sadly, a lot of vets are in the pockets of big corporations like Hills and Iams. It's in their best interests to promote their food. Cats bodies haven't changed any more than ours have. Our bodies still need the same food they needed thousands of years ago and, thanks to "progress" which, as far as I'm concerned, as taken up backwards, our bodies are sicker than they have EVER been. If our bodies, and our cat's bodies, got the nutrition they needed, all the time, we'd be living a long and healthy life.

Wednesday's blog is going to be all about how I transitioned my cats to a raw food diet and how you can go about it if you have been convinced that this is the route you need to take for your animals. I urge you to do some research into it and consider it. Here is a good website to start with.

I guarantee you will be doing your pets a HUGE favour and they will thank you by being in your life for many, MANY years to come.