Wellness Wednesday - Is your body a ticking time bomb?

It's always a shock when someone we know gets cancer, or finds out they have a chronic disease. It's difficult to process. Our first reaction is, invariably, "Why?" Our second will probably be, "How?" There is a fair amount of questioning and commenting and, almost always, one of the comments to come out of our mouths will be, "But she is so fit and healthy. I just don't understand how this could happen!"

That IS the question. How does someone who appears to be so fit and healthy, who gyms regularly, follows a healthy diet and basically follows all the steps recommended to maintain a healthy lifestyle, acquire a dread disease like cancer. It makes you realise your OWN vulnerability and it makes you wonder just how healthy you actually are... for a few weeks maybe. But then you gradually move away from that harsh dose of reality and go back to your daily life where disease isn't actually a REAL possibility for you. It's something that happens to other people. It doesn't occur to us to think that our bodies may also be a ticking time bomb.

That sounds really dramatic but it's, unfortunately, very true. From the day we are born, our bodies are exposed to things that bodies just shouldn't be exposed to. In fact, it actually starts before that, while we are growing in our mother's wombs. Whatever mom eats, or uses on her skin, breathes in, or is exposed to, gets transferred directly to her baby. It's frightening to think that, at such a crucial time of our lives, we are already ingesting chemicals and they are contributing to the cells of our tiny bodies.

After we are born, we continue to be exposed. Breast milk IS the best thing you can give your baby BUT, again, whatever you eat or drink, or use on your skin, will be transferred to your baby. If you feed them formula (and I know some mom's have no choice because they can't breastfeed) you are exposing them to even MORE chemicals because most baby formulas are processed under extremely high temperatures and that leads to the formation of AGES (Advanced Glycation End products) These nasty things build up in your body over time, leading to oxidation (think of rust on anything exposed to the elements for too long) and inflammation, which is linked to a number of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease and, of course, cancer.

Babies products, which are supposed to be safe, are NOT at all safe. Johnson and Johnson is such a well known, commonly used manufacturer of baby products like shampoos and body washes and yet they contain two, potentially cancer-causing chemicals. One is quaternium-15, a toxin which releases formaldehyde; a skin, eye, and respiratory irritant, and a known carcinogen. Frighteningly, formaldehyde exposure has also been associated with leukaemia. The other is 1,4-dioxane, a carcinogen which is toxic to your brain, central nervous system, kidneys and liver. Talcum powder is another, commonly used baby product which has been connected to cancer AND asthma.

All this happens before you can even walk. Over the span of your life you move from baby products, to toxic beauty products from soap right through to body cream. You will get sick and visit doctors who will prescribe medications, like antibiotics, that further break your body down. In between those doctors visits, you will self-medicate with various other over the counter chemicals to cure pain, inflammation, hay fever and insomnia, among other things.

The average person eats roughly 800kgs of food a year. The bulk of that food will consist of processed "foods", takeaway and, if they eat fruit and vegetables, they will be conventionally grown and pesticide-ridden. Whatever meat they eat will likely be hormone and antibiotic-ridden AND from grain-fed animals. Their diet will be heavy in processed and refined grains and low in good, healthy fats. In reality, most people DON'T eat fresh fruits and vegetables anyway. They prefer to stick to packaged and processed foods developed in science labs because it's convenient and they are taken in by labels like "low-fat" and "low-sugar" thereby exposing themselves to even MORE toxins.

In case you don't really know where all this is leading, let's think about how our bodies work. You really ARE what you eat. Everything that you eat gets used to build the body you have. Your body is constantly regenerating itself and it uses WHATEVER you give it, to regenerate itself. It won't be able to differentiate between an organic apple and a packet of crisps. Your digestive system will break it all down and send it out to be used to build more cells. You can imagine that the apple will provide some stellar fuel for your system, but the crisps? Not so much.

Did you know that you can lose anywhere from 200 000 to 3 000 000 cells per SECOND. It's difficult to get an exact answer as to how many body cells we lose on a daily basis but the atoms in your body go through a complete turnover about once every 7 years. That doesn't mean you get a whole new body as you hit the 7 year mark;) It means that, by the end of those 7 years, all the cells you started with at the beginning of that 7 year cycle, will have been replaced with new ones. When we are younger, we are making far more cells than we are losing. As we get older, or we get sick, we are making fewer cells than we are losing and that's how you notice the ageing process beginning to happen. We see the result in the wrinkling of our skin, the greying of our hair, the loss of muscle and strength etc.

Consider all that I said before about how you start your life exposed to chemicals and continue to expose it, on a daily basis, for your entire life. If your body is constantly regenerating itself, what is it using for fuel? Well, it's using all of the chemicals and toxins that you feed it day after day. That means that the cells in your body not only CONTAIN toxins, but they are MADE UP of toxins. Your body wasn't meant to be part plastic and chemical. What is going to happen with all that foreign matter in your body? It is going to transform what you thought was a healthy body, into a very sick, diseased body.

The frightening reality is that most of us are already sick. We just don't realise it. It's basically impossible to be 100% healthy given what we do to our bodies year in and year out. Most of us operate at about 50% on a really good day. We pick ourselves up with doses of caffeine in the form of coffee or coca cola. We have a daily red bull without which we likely wouldn't get through the morning. By the afternoon we are shoving refined carbohydrates down our throats to try and get through the remainder of the day. We JUST crawl over the finish line and make it home to our couch where we blob in front of a TV, too exhausted to think or move. By the time we get to bed we are shattered but can't sleep because we've overloaded our systems with caffeine and sugar all day so we pop a sleeping pill, or have a few glasses of wine, just to get some shut eye.

This isn't a NORMAL way to live. If you are battling to wake up every morning, and feel tired until about 10am, something is wrong. If you are taking painkillers every 4 hours for a constant headache, something is wrong. If you are having to rely on caffeine to pick you up and your body is craving carbohydrates and you are lagging by the afternoon, something is wrong. If you are struggling to sleep EVERY night and it's normal for you to take a sleep aid, SOMETHING IS WRONG. If you don't listen to the signs that your body is giving you, then you will likely wake up one morning and find a lump where there shouldn't be one, or blood where there shouldn't be blood and by then it will, very likely, be something that is only fixable with very toxic medication that will strip your body from the inside out and leave you with a permanently compromised immune system. The only difference between you and a person that is already living with cancer is that they have ACTUAL proof in the form of a lump. Do you actually need to see that lump to believe that you are sick? Hate to be a prophet of doom but by then it may be too late.

There is a way to try and prevent that happening:

• LISTEN to your body
• RESPECT your body. You only get the one.
• Give your body the fuel that it really needs. ie. organic produce and meat from pasture fed animals
• Get rid of ALL processed and refined foods and eat only food that will spoil. ie. REAL food
• Consider a homeopath instead of a conventional doctor. Better yet, consider allowing your body to heal naturally instead of pumping it full of medication. Stop taking pills.
• Get rid of ALL your conventional beauty products
• Get rid of ALL your conventional household cleaning products
• Drink filtered, or boiled water
• Exercise
• Do I need to say STOP SMOKING? It's a no-brainer really.
• Get rid of ALL artificial air-"fresheners" YESTERDAY!

All this may sound like hard work to you but, honestly, what's harder? To do this, or to go through 6 months of chemo and radiation and being in remission with a constant threat hanging over your head? There is no compromising when it comes to your health and that of your family. If you are stuck with how to start, follow the links I've given you. They give you loads of tips. Or just start at the beginning and work your way through. I'm not saying I am all-knowledgeable. Far from it. But I've done a lot of the research FOR you so that you don't have to search high and low. Take advantage of the fact that I am addicted to research and educate yourself;) Use what you want and leave the rest.

Cancer didn't exist just over a century ago. It's a disease of civilisation. That means you have a better chance of avoiding it if you don't succumb to the marketing and hype surrounding all the products that you are exposed to every day. You actually have the power. Don't stick your head in the sand and pretend it's not happening, because it is.

You'll be amazed what happens when you become aware. Suddenly you realise the potentially negative environmental impact you are having on the world around you and, before you know it, you are doing as much as you can to lessen that impact. Becoming aware means you KNOW the consequences. It makes you feel responsible and it makes you WANT to change. That, in turn, makes you more in touch with the world, with people, with the environment and with animals. That kind of reaction has a way of rippling all around you and touching those near you and, before you know it, your friends and family will ALSO be aware. You have the potential in you to save, not only your life, but the lives of the people around you through your awareness.

Don't give in to that ticking time bomb. It's not a given if you are prepared to make the changes. You have nothing to lose so the question is, why on earth wouldn't you?

I can live without my Loreal. Could you?

Have you ever thought about what happens to the body lotion you rub on your hands, or your face? I mean, REALLY wondered? I'm sure you know it gets absorbed by your skin, but then what? Well, it doesn't just disappear. Once it's been absorbed by your skin, it becomes part of the system. It goes into your blood stream and, eventually, finds its way to your organs and body tissues, the way everything else we ingest does, and your body either uses it, or loses it. You may be thinking, "Did she say ingest? We don't EAT the stuff, we just lather it on our skin." Well, that brings me back to my first question. Have you ever REALLY thought about what happens to it all?

Let's stop for a minute and take a look at a women's typical beauty routine and all the various products she uses in one session. I'm a woman myself. I KNOW it's a LOT;) The routine probably starts with a shower or bath so that will mean soap, shampoo, a possible hair mask or treatment followed by conditioner. If it's a bath, then it might very well be accompanied by bubble bath or bath salts or some kind of oil or milk soak to "soothe and soften" skin. Once she's out of the bath or shower, she will likely lather herself in body lotion from top to toe and then apply some underarm deodorant. She may also then lather herself with a sun protection cream of some sort. She will wash her face with a special face wash product, apply a toner (probably of the same brand because they always recommend it right?) and then, finally, a day or night cream depending on the time of day (more than likely ALSO the same brand) She'll probably brush her teeth and maybe use a mouthwash as well and then she will apply makeup to her face, possibly spray a hair straightening, heat protection spray, in her hair and then flat iron it, after which she will put a smoothing serum over her hair and THAT is just ONE beauty session. It'll start all over again in 8 hours or so and continue ad nauseum until she wakes up one day and decides she's over it and is giving in gracefully to the aging process. For some women, that day will NEVER come;)

Now let's discuss what happens to all that stuff she's used once she's walked away from the mirror. The outer layer of our skin, the epidermis, is the part of our skin we're most familar with. It prevents our bodies from permanently absorbing everything it comes into contact with. The layer just below it, the dermis, is where most of our blood vessels are found and it just LOVES water and water-based substances. You'd think, given the fact that your skin was designed to repel water, that it wouldn't absorb anything but actually, the longer your epidermis is exposed to water and water-based substances, the more absorbent it becomes. 

Think of what happens to your skin when you lie in the bath for a while, or swim in a pool, or the ocean. You begin to resemble a prune. That's because your skin has become more absorbent from over-exposure to water. And water makes it easier for oils and other substances, to travel through the epidermis, to the dermis below. In effect, your skin is actually like a big sponge. If anything sits on it for long enough and there is water to help the process along, it's going to be absorbed. Pretty much EVERYTHING you put on your skin, contains some water so we can presume that ALL the products listed in the beauty routine above, have disappeared into the epidermis and been absorbed into the water-loving dermis, beneath it. 

As I said before, your dermis contains most of your blood vessels. It stands to reason, then, that all the stuff that is absorbed through your skin, will enter your blood stream and be transported around the body to various organs and  tissues in much the same way as food or drink that we ingest. The only difference is that it doesn't pass through your stomach first, because you it didn't enter through your mouth. But the end result is the same as if you did. 

It's also important to remember that your skin works both ways. It is highly absorbent but it is also your body's largest organ for eliminating waste. If you use products that prevent it from working the way it should, and clog up your pores, your body will not thank you for it.

So why am I blogging about it? Well, do you have any idea what the standard ingedients are for body lotions, soaps, toothpastes, mouthwashes, toners etc, are? I bet you look at that list of ingredients and start zoning out before you've even read 3 of them. I know because I used to do that too! They're extremely difficult to even pronounce, not to mention that most of us don't have a clue what the names mean! We just assume that they're good for us because the adverts say so. You all know my view on that and, in case you've forgotten, you can read it in this blog post. I was talking about food there but it's all the same concept really.

"Pure and natural" are the latest buzz words of the beauty industry but don't be too taken in by them. The beauty industry is largely unregulated which means companies can slap the word "organic" on something that is loaded with chemicals, and bad for the environment and for YOU, without you even knowing it. They only SAY "pure and natural" because they know you'll be taken in by it. It's ok, I know you are, because I was too and I see so many of my friends falling victim to it too.

It's time to educate yourself so you can better protect you and your family, not to mention the environment. Here is what you need to look for, AND start avoiding:

• Benzoyl Peroxide: Possible tumour promoter, it produces DNA damage in human and other mammalian cells and it's also toxic by inhalation. It's an eye, skin and respiratory irritant. 

• DEA (Diethanolamine), MEA (Monoethanolamine) and TEA (Triethanolamine): Skin and eye irritant which causes contact dermatitis. They are hormone disrupting chemicals that have been restricted in Europe because continued absorption results in liver and kidney cancer. It's easily absorbed through skin to accumulate in body organs and the brain.

• DMDM Hydantion and Urea: Two out of many  different preservatives that often release formaldehyde (yes, the stuff used to preserve body parts in a lab!) which may cause joint pains, skin reactions, allergies, depression, headaches, chest pains, ear infections, chronic fatigue, dizziness and insomnia. It can also irritate the respiratory system, trigger heart palpitations or asthma and aggravate coughs and colds. Other possible side effects include weakening of the immune system and cancer.

• Dibutyl Phthalate: Used mainly in nail products as a solvent for dyes and as a plasticizer that prevents nail polishes from becoming brittle. Phthalates are also unlisted fragrance ingredients in many other cosmetics. Dibutyl phthalate is absorbed through the skin. It can enhance the capacity of other chemicals to cause genetic mutations, although it is not a mutagen itself. In laboratory experiments, it has been shown to interfere with hormone function (endocrine disruption) causing reproductive and developmental problems. Dibutyl phthalate is banned in cosmetics in the Europe.

• FD&C colour pigments: Look for p-phenylenediamine or colours identified as “C.I.” followed by a 5-digit number. They are synthetic colours made from coal tar, containing heavy metal salts that deposit toxins into the skin causing skin sensitivity and irritation. Absorption of certain colours can cause depletion of oxygen in the body and death. Animal studies have shown almost all of them to be carcinogenic. 

• Fragrances: This can indicate the presence of up to four thousand separate ingredients, many of them toxic or carcinogenic. Clinical observation proves that they can affect the central nervous system causing depression, hyperactivity, inability to cope and other behavourial changes. They also cause headaches, dizziness, violent coughing and vomiting, skin discoloration and irritation and allergic rashes.

• Mineral Oil or Petrolatum: A petroleum by-product that coats the skin like plastic, clogging the pores which interferes with the skin's ability to eliminate toxins causing acne and other skin disorders. Slows down cell development and skin function and results in premature aging. Used in many products such as baby oil which is 100% mineral oil!

• PEG (Polyethylene Glycol): Potentially carcinogenic petroleum ingredient that can alter and reduce the skin's natural moisture factor. This could increase the appearance of aging and leave you more vulnerable to bacteria. It's used in household cleaners to dissolve oil and grease and is found in everything from personal care to babycare products and sunscreen.

• Propylene Glycol and Butylene Glycol: They easily penetrate the skin and weaken protein and cellular structure. PG is strong enough to remove barnacles from boats! Anyone working with PG is required to wear protective gloves, goggles and clothing and must dispose of any PG solutions by burying them in the ground, because it penetrates the skin so easily. It can cause brain, liver and kidney abnormalities and yet there is NO warning label on stick deodorants where it can be found in VERY high concentration.

• Sodium Lauryl Sulphate and Sodium Laureth sulphate: This ingredient is used in car washes, engine degreasers and garage floor cleaners and yet its also found in 90% of personal care products that foam. Animals exposed to SLS experience eye damage, depression, laboured breathing, diarrhea, skin irritation and even death. Young eyes may not develop properly if exposed to SLS because proteins are dissolved. SLS may also damage the skin's immune system by causing layers to separate and inflame. When combined with other chemicals, SLS can be transformed into nitrosamines, a potent class of carcinogens. Your body may retain the SLS for up to five days, during which time it may enter and maintain residual levels in the heart, liver, the lungs, and the brain.

• Siloxanes: Look for cyclomethicone and ingredients ending in “siloxane” (e.g.cyclotetrasiloxane)
Cyclomethicone and siloxanes are used in cosmetics to soften, smooth, and moisten. These compounds can, however, irritate the skin, eyes, and lungs. They are also suspected of interfering with hormone function (endocrine disruption) and of liver toxicity. These chemicals are persistent. In other words, they don’t easily degrade and can remain in the environment long after they are rinsed down the shower drain. 

• Triclosan: a synthetic “antibacterial” ingredient – with a chemical structure similar to Agent Orange! Commonly found in antiperspirants, deodorants, cleansers and hand sanitisers, it is registered it as a pesticide, giving it high scores as a risk to both human health and the environment. It is classified as a chlorophenol, a class of chemicals suspected of causing cancer in humans. Its manufacturing process may produce dioxin, a powerful hormone-disrupting chemical with toxic effects measured in the parts per trillion; that is only one drop in 300 Olympic-size swimming pools! Hormone disruptors pose enormous long-term chronic health risks by interfering with the way hormones perform, such as changing genetic material, decreasing fertility and sexual function, and fostering birth defects. It can temporarily deactivate sensory nerve endings, so contact with it often causes little or no pain. Internally, it can lead to cold sweats, circulatory collapse, and convulsions. Stored in body fat, it can accumulate to toxic levels, damaging the liver, kidneys and lungs and can cause paralysis, suppression of immune function, brain hemorrhages, and heart problems. Its widespread use in popular antibacterial cleaners, toothpastes and household products may have nightmare implications for our future.

Scary isn't it? And yet we have all bought into the propaganda and think we absolutely cannot live without our Redken/Clarins/Loreal etc. If we are forced to live without them, we will all turn into aging hags, have dry, straw-like hair, saggy boobs, hairy skin, dirty teeth and smelly breath, not to mention BO!

Well, I for one KNOW I can do without all that stuff, because I do it on a daily basis! It wasn't something that happened overnight. Let's face it, those products cost a bomb. Who, in their right mind would throw out a half finished bottle of Kerastase?! So I finished everything I had and tried very hard to keep my mouth closed so I didn't swallow anything. I couldn't do much about the absorption issue but I just kept telling myself that it wouldn't be for much longer.

I am pretty chuffed with myself these days because there is not ONE product that I use that contains chemicals:) What's also REALLY nice about that is that I know I am not harming the environment in any way AND, even more importantly, nothing I buy, is tested on animals. And I'll tell you why I'm even more smug;) I pay far less for my beauty products than I used to! In the past, I could easily spend R1000 on my cleanser, toner and moisturiser in one shot, sometimes more if I was cornered by one of those persistent sales ladies (I know they are doing their job and I always felt bad walking away after they'd spent ages giving me their best sales pitch and that's why I used to always get taken in!) These days I spend under R150 and it's all working really well for me. I love how healthy my hair feels, I love how my skin feels and I can rest easy knowing that my body is not getting fed cancer-forming toxins on a daily basis.

Over the last year I have experimented with a lot of products in order to find the ones that work for me and, when I have struggled too much to find the right ones, I have made my own. I now make my own soap, lip-ice (yes, lip-ice also has all of those horrible ingredients in it!) and body creams. The only thing that is slightly costly, is the body moisturiser, but it is a price I am willing to pay because it covers my entire body and I am simply not willing to take a chance. Besides, I save so much more money on my other beauty products that I don't even notice the slight extra cost. I also have found that, since I have cut out all processed foods and started only eating real, organic foods, that my skin seems to shine from the inside out, without much need for a mountain of beauty products. It's always better to work from the inside out;)

Some of you are saying, "Really? How ridiculous are we going to get?! First we have to watch what we eat, now we can't use any beauty products?" Yes, of course you can. You can do anything you want. It's your body and your life. Just remember that every choice you make has a ripple effect. It's going on YOUR body, and going down YOUR drain, but once it's joined the system, it becomes part of something bigger and then it's no longer just YOUR problem. It eventually affects our rivers and oceans. You will say that your parents, and their parents used it all, but don't tell me that they're fine, and don't tell me that our environment is fine, because you would be just plain wrong. Again, you can read about it in this blog post.

At the end of the day, all of these products never existed for our grandparents, grandparents and they managed just fine. These days, we have learnt what we need to do to take care of ourselves and that is something positive we can take from the boom of civilisation. So we don't need to grow old and haggard looking before our time, but we can do it responsibly, thinking that, maybe, industry has gotten just a little out of hand in their quest to make money. Maybe we don't need as much as we thought we did. Maybe what we do affects more than just us. But if you've understood this blog post, then you KNOW it does affect YOU personally, and your family.

It's time to take your health into YOUR hands. Start reading ingredients on things before you buy them. You do it with food, because you don't want to gain weight, so why wouldn't you do it with your beauty products? Is weightloss more important than life? I don't think so and I know you don't. Take the power out of the hands of the big corporations, and put it back into yours.

Because you're worth it;)

Real Food Friday Feast - Banana Bread

This is the first of many Friday posts, all related to my real food recipe for the week. Why banana bread, you ask? Well, simply because it's my FAVOURITE cake:) I went without it for many years thinking it could only be made with wheat flour and, as an IBS sufferer, I couldn't eat wheat, so that meant no banana bread. It was hard, I can't lie!

At first I played around with a few different flours like spelt flour and rice flour, but I find I battle with most grains, and they tend not to rise very well either, so they weren't really working for me. I always found that the recipes included stuff I'd rather not be eating as well and, as I'm not much of a baker, I really needed a recipe to follow that was tried and tested.

One day, while I was googling (something as common to me as breathing in case you hadn't guessed) I happened upon a link that mentioned grain-free cake. It immediately hooked my interest for obvious reasons! Intrigued, I clicked on the link and discovered a recipe using...

I didn't know it existed either!

Here are some of the benefits of using coconut flour:

• It is rich in protein, fibre and fat which makes it really filling. 
• It is also a good source of lauric acid, a saturated fat thought to support the immune system and the thyroid. Like most healthy fats, lauric acid also promotes good skin health. 
• It is an very good source of manganese which helps you to better utilize many nutrients such as choline and biotin (found in eggs), vitamin C and thiamin. Manganese also supports bone health, nervous system function, thyroid health and helps to maintain optimal blood sugar levels.
• It isn't grain-based, and so, doesn't present many of the issues that accompany grains for people with grain allergies or intolerances, such as myself. 
• It is gluten-free and, while it does contain food phytate, the mineral-binding effects of phytates in coconut are virtually non-existent which means that coconut flour doesn't need to be soaked (but that is something I will cover in another post!)

So, the recipe I found was NOT for banana bread unfortunately but I was undeterred! I now knew what I needed to do. The hunt for coconut flour was ON!

It actually wasn't too hard to find! I am a frequenter of Fruit and Roots in Bryanston and it was the first place I thought of when I headed off on my search. They specialise in all things organic and natural and they also, conveniently, have a 20% off sale every last Thursday of the month. Coconut flour is pricey to be honest. But an upside to it is that you use far less than you would normal flour. For example, if the recipe said you needed 2 cups of normal flour, you'd only need about 1/2 a cup of coconut flour. It's highly absorbent and too much flour will dry out a recipe. The general rule, when baking with coconut flour, is to add extra moisture in the form of eggs or milk or even fruit juice.

I did some more googling and found a few recipes for banana bread and then the experimenting started! Not only was I a coconut flour newbie, but I also needed to figure out a recipe that suited my organic, healthy needs. That meant no refined sugar or vegetable oils or margarine. I also couldn't do cow's milk and I didn't want just normal baking powder because that's full of aluminium. (FYI) I found an aluminium free baking powder at Fruit and Roots again:)

There were a couple of different types but this one was the most affordable.

I tried quite a few different recipes. Most of them ended up coming out very dry and hard and FLAT. They didn't rise at ALL. My wife (we'll call her GLM), angel that she is, dutifully told me every time that it was DELICIOUS, bless her heart;) But I was NOT satisfied. I knew I could do better and wanted it to taste like my mom's banana bread used to taste. There HAD to be a way.

One day, I decided to add a teaspoon of bicarb to the mix and VOILA! The perfect banana bread:) I was overjoyed and, this time, GLM could honestly say that it was delicious;) 

Before I give you the recipe, I need to stipulate that ALL the ingredients used in this are either organic or free range. Oh, and there is only ONE raw honey that I use. It is THE BEST honey in all the world and I buy it by the crate direct from the farmer. I refuse to eat any other. If you would like to order some, please email me: mellowhealth@melanielowe.co.za

Without further ado, here is the recipe: 

Grain-Free Banana Bread with Coconut Flour

4 eggs
2 Tbs honey
1/3 cup salted butter or coconut oil (if not salted butter add ¼ tsp salt to recipe)
2 or 3 (depending on the size) very ripe bananas, mashed
3 full Tbs plain yogurt
3/4 cup coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method

• Whisk up the eggs, honey, butter, yoghurt and mashed bananas 
• Sift flour, baking powder and bicarb into the batter and stir until completely mixed 
• Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake in a pre-heated oven (175°C/350°F) for 40-50 minutes 

NOTE: Please keep an eye on your loaf because my oven has a door that doesn't close properly and I have had to play around with temperature and time to avoid over or under cooking it! Stick a toothpick in and it should come out clean.

Here are a few really nice ideas to make it more interesting and delicious!

• You can make it a chocolate banana bread by adding 3-4 Tbs organic cocoa powder 
• Make it a cinnamon banana bread by adding 1 tsp organic ground cinnamon 
• Make it a ginger banana bread by adding 1 tsp organic ground ginger
• Give it an extra omega 3, crunchy boost by adding 2 Tbs of flaxseeds
• I also occasionally add a handful of dried cranberries and the same can be done with raisins or nuts

Honestly, once you have mastered your banana bread, the sky is the limit. I tried an apple and cinnamon loaf this morning and it is YUMMY!

A slice of this banana bread has only 6 grams of protein, 9 grams of fat and 18 grams of carbs! That will alter slightly depending on what fruit you use, but it will still be low in calories at only 170 calories a slice. You  can triple all those amounts if you use a grain flour like wheat and even more if you use normal, refined sugar. The amazing thing is that every single calorie of this banana bread is GOOD FOR YOU. Kinda blows your mind a bit huh?

If you find coconut flour is out of your price range, fear not! I have since discovered chickpea flour! 

It is also a grain-free flour and it is a lot more economically viable. It DOES give your baked goods a slightly nuttier flavour but I enjoy it and hopefully you will too! You will just need to alter the recipe slightly with the chickpea flour and these are the changes below:

Grain Free Banana Bread with Chickpea flour

3 eggs
2 Tbs honey
1/3 cup salted butter or coconut oil (if not salted butter add ¼ tsp salt to recipe)
2 or 3 (depending on the size) very ripe bananas, mashed
2 full Tbs plain yogurt
11/2 cups chickpea flour

1 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

You will use the same method to make this one.

The nice thing about chickpea flour is that you can buy it at dischem. In fact, dischem is going to become your favourite shopping place for all your organic needs;) What's really handy about Dischem is that they have a loyalty card system. Not only do they use the money you spend to help various charities, but you also get rewarded with money back. There is an added advantage for FNB bankers in that you can shop there with your ebucks. I love shopping at places that reward you:) And I really like that dischem has good ethics when it comes to protecting their customers, animals and the planet.

I have plenty of other suppliers that I get all of my organic goodies from. It has been a journey of discovery over the last year and I have slowly but surely built up a good, solid list of organic suppliers and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to bring them all business! I think they deserve it given all that they are doing for a healthier world. That will be a blog post for next week!

Please let me know how your banana bread turns out! Happy baking:)

Go on, eat that fat!

Winter seems like the worst time ever to try and overhaul your entire lifestyle, right? I disagree! And over the course of this post, I'll tell you why;)

If you were going to be following a "diet" where a meal consisted of 3 lettuce leaves, half a can of tuna and 5 almonds  then, yes, I'd say winter is a bad time to do that. In my opinion, ANYTIME is a bad time to do that! Winter is a time when all we want to do is hibernate, and EAT! You want soups and curries and stews and lots of hot, baked goods and snacky things and hot, sweet drinks. Sounds like a lot of things you can't eat if you are organic and healthy, doesn't it? Well, it's time we blew THAT mindset right out of the water!

Looks pretty fattening, right? WRONG!

I don't believe in diets. I don't believe in weighing your food and counting calories and depriving yourself of all the good things in life, just to lose a bit of body fat that will more than likely return the minute you start to eat "normally" again. Going organic and eating real food is not a diet, or a fad, or a quick fix to your fat loss issues. It's an entire mindset and lifestyle change. It's FOR LIFE. The fact that it has a sideline benefit of losing body fat is an added bonus, but it shouldn't be the only motivation or you probably will fall off the fruit box eventually.

I made a decision to start eating real, organic food about a year ago and it was just as winter started so I can vouch for winter being a good time to start the process;) I'd always considered myself to be very healthy up until then. As I mentioned in my first post, nutrition and health has always fascinated me. But, no matter how healthy I thought I was, my weight fluctuated and my stomach gave me grief a lot of the time. I was constantly on a learning curve and I loved learning but it was frustrating at times, knowing I wasn't quite getting it right!

WTF?!

Just over a year ago, a friend started mentioning organic and paleo eating to me. I knew nothing about all of that and so I decided to start researching it, as I do! I was astounded at how much information I found. It took me a few months to work my way through it and figure it all out for myself, but I began to realise just how wrong I had been for so long. There I was, dutifully cutting all the fat out of my diet, eating low fat this and fat free that, eating only egg whites, skinless chicken breasts, eating next to nothing, counting all my calories and I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting it right.

Despite doing everything the "experts" told me to do, I still had to watch what I ate to avoid my body weight fluctuating too much and my stomach was still giving me grief despite me avoiding all the known aggravants.  I was also still catching every bug that came my way as well. I felt tired and unhealthy and permanently grumpy!

Blegh...

So basically, we have ascertained that I was NOT achieving my aim. It was time for a complete overhaul; a change in mindset and a change in lifestyle.

I'm not saying it was a fast process. I had spent the last 35 years of my life learning what to do and what not to do. Suddenly I felt like a child again because I had to start learning almost from scratch. 

Perhaps the hardest thing to get my head around was that I could eat fat! Now, most of us know that we need to eat some fat, like nuts and avocados and olive oil. But did you know your body also needs animal fat?

Altogether now... WHAAAAT?!

For decades, saturated fat has been utterly vilified. It's supposed to be the cause of obesity, heart disease, high cholesterol, it's been linked to cancer, it's a death sentence for diabetics and it's even been blamed for diabetes. It's pretty much to blame for EVERYTHING that humans have ever been afflicted with in the last 100 years. What's really interesting is that, in the last few decades, since scientists decided to blame all of these diseases on our saturated fat consumption, and told all of us to cut it out of our lives, all of those diseases have escalated to epic proportions. Even more interesting is that, while they were telling us to cut saturated fat out of our lives, they were telling us to start eating more grains, starches and vegetable oils. People started drinking skim milk and buying margarine by the truckload, instead of butter and yet they were still getting sick and gaining weight. It's no coincidence that heart disease has now become the number one killer, with cancer and diabetes running close seconds.

I'm going to blow your mind a bit now...

Saturated fat is NOT bad for you. In fact, it's ESSENTIAL for you. If you don't believe me, there is a lot of science behind it and if you are interested in the science, here is a great video that will give you all the stats. It's long and very thorough.

There is a BUT...

Unless you eat free range or organic saturated fat, you are not going to benefit from eating it. In fact, if you choose not to eat free range, it CAN be harmful. The reason why is because, animals that AREN'T allowed to range free and eat their natural food, are, quite literally, sick. These days, cattle are being fed huge piles of genetically modified grains because it's cheaper and it makes them grow big and fat so that they make the companies more money. They are also being injected with hormones to make them grow faster, and, because they are getting sick due to a shockingly bad diet, they are being pumped full of antibiotics. All of that bad stuff doesn't miraculously leave the cattle when they are slaughtered. So you end up with really poor quality meat full of hormones, antibiotics and disease from eating grain. Which means, if you have a grain intolerance, meat will not agree with you. Do I even need to spell out what the hormones and antibiotics are doing to you?

If the quality of your meat doesn't really bother you, how about what the poor cows go through? It's bad enough that their lives are going to be cut short so that we can have food on our table. Shouldn't we show our gratitude for such an amazing gift, by allowing them a happy, dignified short life? The same thing applies to every other animal who is kind enough to feed us.

Which life would YOU prefer? This?

Or this?

It's tough to get your head around isn't it? Eating fat... Boy did I struggle!

For christmas last year, I decided to roast a free range duck from Woolies and, because it was my first time ever, I had to turn to google to find out how to go about it! I had NO IDEA that a duck was so full of fat! Every method involved roasting it for many, many hours, poking it with a knife every few hours, to get rid of all the fat. By the time I was done, I had at least 1 cup full of duck fat, and a VERY small, skinny, crunchy duck. It didn't go very far on christmas day, needless to say!

2 months later, the cup of duck fat was still in my fridge... I knew I COULD eat it, but my mind just refused to allow it. I was SO brainwashed into believing it was bad for me. One day I finally broke through and I made myself a pot of popcorn using duck fat instead of oil. OH... MY... GREATNESS... It was the most delicious popcorn I have ever eaten! After that it wasn't hard to start cooking with it;)

These days I make my popcorn with raw farm butter or duck fat or even coconut oil, I cook things using all three as well. I (gasp) have butter on my banana bread! I drink a glass of full cream goat's milk every night (because I am lactose intolerant and can't digest cow's milk) I eat full cream goat's milk cheese, and full cream goat's milk yoghurt, DAILY. I eat egg yolks now too;) I never thought I'd see the day! I went about 15 years without eating butter and drinking milk! I honestly feel like I've died and gone to heaven;) And the interesting thing is, I have actually LOST body fat. I wasn't trying. That was just a side benefit of  going organic and free range AND eating fat again. I feel so energetic and healthy too; another side benefit.

So, back to why winter is a great time for a lifestyle change...

What could be better than a warm chicken curry full of delicious, healthy chicken fat, on a bed of brown rice, followed by a hot mug of organic hot chocolate sweetened with raw honey. (I'm not talking about the kind you get in a tin. I'm talking about a mug of organic hot milk with a chunk of dark chocolate melted into it. Have I got your attention now? How about a slice of warm banana bread smothered in a thick layer of butter? Still think you can't do this now?

That, my friends, is what eating real food is all about. It's about using all the real things that we were meant to eat, instead of going for the man-made, processed, canned and bottled rubbish that you find lining the shelves of all major grocery stores. The beauty of a lot of organic stuff is that it's actually not that hard to make yourself. So when they tell you how expensive it is, and how it's just "not do-able", don't believe it. I make my own yoghurt. It's so easy a child could do it. I make my own stock which I use to add flavour and goodness to all my stews, curries and soups. I grow my own vegetables. I save a fortune because I don't buy pre-packaged goods loaded with rubbish and, aside from saving money, our health has benefited.

This blog is going to be full of info to help you on your organic way, and it's going to include a lot of recipes and suggestions to save you money and make you healthier in the process. I get so excited just thinking about how much this will change your life for the better.

But that's enough for now. I'm off to make myself a mug of hot chocolate and eat a slice of my delicious homemade banana bread;)

Food for thought

If you've read my profile you may be wondering why a singer/songwriter is blogging about health and nutrition. Well firstly, travelling a lot, and having to be energetic on a stage, as well as NOT getting laryngitis, means keeping myself fit and healthy! But honestly, the story starts much earlier than that.

I grew up with a condition called IBS. I just didn't know it was IBS until my early 20's. Before that my life consisted of constant, agonising stomach aches, feeling tired all the time, many sick days and visits to doctors and a very intimate relationship with toilets! I don't think I need to go into more detail there;)

When it was eventually diagnosed, by a homeopath, as IBS, I immediately set about figuring out how to make it go away. It turned out that one of the main aggravants was food, or rather, CERTAIN foods. This was pretty devastating for me to discover because I LOVE my food. The other main aggravant was stress. The fact that I always developed a terrible stomach ache right before a show, and invariably parted with my dinner right before said show, was not just a coincidence!

How could I manage the problem? Well, stress is harder to cut out of your life than food is, so I decided to start with food and work from there. By process of elimination I discovered that red meats, wheat, gluten and dairy seemed to be the main culprits. There were also odd things like potatoes, onion, peppers and garlic which I couldn't eat. I started cutting all these things out of my life as much as possible. But it's easier said than done! Wheat is in pretty much everything that is processed and packaged. That meant things like bread, pasta, all baked goods, a lot of sauces and anything in batter, were out. No dairy meant no more milk with my cereal, tea or coffee and it also cut out all baked goods and desserts, a lot of soups, stews and curries and most sauces as well. No onions cut out a lot of stews and curries. It's also added to pretty much all salads and garnish, as are peppers, so I had to get pretty specific when ordering a salad. Garlic is in pretty much everything that is cooked in a restaurant, and most people cook with it at home too. Annoyingly, garlic seems to hit me harder than just about everything else on this list! As if I wasn't a complicated enough guest already!

I should also just add that this was about 15 years ago. Food allergies and intolerances were very uncommon and it was frowned upon to be fussy about your food. I often ended up having to just eat what was in front of me and that ALWAYS meant all my symptoms came back with a vengeance. I soon realised that there wasn't a cure, as such, for IBS. I also couldn't do things in half measures. The only way to manage it, was to make permanent lifestyle changes.

Being on the road made it very difficult to control my food. I had to pack as much non-perishable foods as possible for every trip or make sure that the hotel I was staying at, stocked food I could eat. The small towns I was performing in had very limited products in the shops. There was no such thing as wheat-free anything! It also took me many years to really figure out what I could, and couldn't have. I made many mistakes on my journey of discovery and I have paid for them in stomach aches and many hours spent in public toilets.

Fortunately, things have progressed in leaps and bounds since those early days and now it's pretty easy to find wheat and gluten-free food. Restaurants are accustomed to modifying recipes to suit customers with allergies and intolerances. In fact, most restaurants will have a few options which mean not much modifying is required. It's becoming standard for people to ask if there's anything their guests don't eat, when planning a dinner party and it's common to see a few different options being made to allow for everyone's dietary needs. Life has certainly gotten easier for me and others like me.

But have you ever stopped to wonder why, 15 years ago, food intolerances were fairly uncommon and yet, today, it seems every second person can't eat SOMETHING. Some might say it's a fad and people have just jumped on the health bandwagon and are full of nonsense. Maybe that IS the case with SOME people but I don't think its coincidental that food intolerances and allergies have escalated in the last several years. I think the only reason I noticed it earlier than most is that I have IBS and it was pretty chronic growing up. I was forced to notice it.

I think there a lot of people who have food intolerances and aren't even aware that that's what is causing  their discomfort and I think it's becoming more common because the quality of our food has changed so drastically over the years. In fact, I'd go even further and say that, what we are eating these days, is so far removed from actual food, that our bodies simply don't know how to assimilate any of it. I think a lot of people are sick and they don't even know it until it manifests in the form of cancer, diabetes, heart disease or some other dread disease.

This blog is the start of what is going to be a lot of "food for thought" if you can excuse the pun;) I believe in prevention rather than cure. I believe in the power of food. I have seen, and experienced that power in my own life and I don't see why I should keep it to myself any longer. I get asked for advice from those close to me, A LOT. And I LOVE to help people start a journey towards a healthy life. In the past I have just sent an email with advice, helped make dietary suggestions or even gone shopping for some people to show them where to find stuff. I think it's time I consolidate all of that into one place that everyone can reference. And if I can reach a few more people in the process, and help spread the truth about food, and healthy living, it will be an added bonus.

I am not a doctor or a dietician. I am a person who is obsessed with health and nutrition and I love to research things that interest me. I have done a lot of research into this over the years and I have learnt a lot along the way. I have also spent the last year or so studying to be an exercise specialist which has given me the added advantage of knowledge of the body and how it works. I like to lead by example. If you want to sell something, you need to walk the talk. So, if you step into my world, you'll see a 37 year old woman, with a biological age of 32 ( according to my medical aid!) who is completely natural, organic and chemical free. A lot of people hear the words "natural" and "organic" and assume that means no more makeup or beauty products and hairy underarms and legs! I am a stage performer. You do the math there;) The days where being natural meant you had to let yourself go, are long gone. The main thing is to look after yourself, inside and out, and also look after your environment at the same time. It's actually really easy to do and this blog is going to show you how!

Watch this space...