Results of The Cantabrian Reversal

Well, today is Tuesday, and as such marks the end of my two-week moratorium of meaty products. No doubt you are wondering how exactly I got on, much less wondering how I actually survived the two weeks without meat.

In truth, there was no real drastic change in my body and health. Of course, two weeks is too short a time span in terms of effecting any real, noticeable changes. However, I did notice a few subtle things happening here and there, of which I will share with you. These were, to be honest, quite unexpected...but very welcome.

Lack of Halitosis - This was one of the changes I did actually expect, and my expectations were met in spades. For those of you who have never encountered the word, 'Halitosis' is a medical reference to bad breath, particularly if it is chronic. In my case, though I do not have medical halitosis, I have to be blunt: For two weeks, it was brilliant not having breath that smelled like a rotting carcass! Or a bitter, carcass aftertaste for that matter. Over these past two weeks, my breath has been notably improved.

Lack of Gluginess of the Bloodstream - This one needs explanation. Prior to my not having meat for two weeks, one of my main meals that would be consumed between grocery shops would be good ol' hearty nachos (with mince as the main meat). However, in cooking up the mince, it would not be uncommon for me to drain a sizable quantity of fat from the mince (and not the good kind of fat either). I would, of course, have no guarantee that all fat would be drained from the meat. As good as the nachos were, it would - after ingestion - leave me with a feeling of "gluginess"; of feeling that my energy levels were falling, and lethargy were increasing. Since I have not had any of this stuff in my body, I have as a consequence had a lot less glugier bloodstream, which means less clog in the arteries, which means better blood flow, which means better health. Oh, and no lethargic feelings either!
As a final result here, nachos are off the menu for me.

More Energy Overall - I have found that in any given day, I have had an increase in energy to get me through the day. As such, I can do more in a day than I would otherwise have been able to.

As a side issue, when I shared my decision to cut meat out for two weeks, I was retorted with the question of where I would get my Protein intake from. The answer is simple: Eggs. Eggs provide your body with protein volumes that are unrivalled when compared to supermarket-bought and/or factory farmed meats. And the darker the egg yolk, the greater health punch your body receives (and protein is not the only thing you get from eggs; eggs contain a whole smattering of vitamins and minerals that are too many to list here. But needless to say, eggs are prime to add to your diet, barring allergies of course).

As tonight is grocery night, I ask the question to myself: What will I buy in the way of meat products, if any? And of course, what impact will all this have on our average menu in the home? I guess, after tonight, I will find out. But for now, time to log off and write a shopping list.

Juicing For Health

If you own a juicer, then give yourself a major pat on the back. If you do not own a juicer (and I rank among those, so I'll be saving up some cash), then invest in one. A decent juicer will cost around the $150-$200 mark, with some more high-end juicers costing a bit more.

A proper juicer takes your fruit and vegetables, and simply extracts from them the juice, separating that from the rest of the produce (which will be referring to as the "pulp"). For this functional reason, I do not count home blenders as juicers, as most blenders typically do not separate the juice from the pulp.

Drinking fresh fruit and vegetable juice - from your own produce - is one of the easiest, most effective ways to get a solid nutritional intake. While you can just simply eat apples, carrots, bananas and the like, there are advantages to juicing rather than simply eating them:

• Juice takes less time to be worked through your body
• You can gain multiple minerals and vitamins from a single juice comprised of combinations of fruit and vegetables, and is more effective than trying to eat a similar plateload of them.
• Because your body is having to work less in extracting what it needs from juice, the body absorbs more of the minerals than if it were not juice

And here's one of the real perks of juicing: After you've downed your juice combo, the leftover pulp can be used either for baking or for composting. Why? Because - hopefully - fruit and vegetables are being juiced, the pulp still has some nutrients within, which can be reaped by making pulp muffins and cakes. Or you can take the pulp and slap it in your garden as a form of compost, thereby not only giving your garden nutrients from the pulp, but your garden will absorb these nutrients into the soil, making for quite an effective - and easy - fertiliser.

If you do not own or have access to a juicer, I would recommend saving up for one. Preferably, buy a juicer with a motor that runs at least 1000 Watts. In any juicer, the motor is the most important component, and the motor will be performing a lot of work juicing all kinds of fruit and vegetables, and some are definitely harder than others (for example, lettuce versus carrots). A juicer with a low motor output (less than about 800 Watts) will break down quicker over time.

However, if you do have a juicer on hand, feel free to sample this simple recipe. If you feel the need for a healthy energy spike, with a bodily detox on the side, try this on for size...

SUPER ENERGY DETOX BLITZ
1 lemon
2 radish
1 beet
1 slice Spanish onion
2 sweet potato
1 celery
2 Tbs. cider vinegar

Happy juicing, and I will let you know the day I get my hands on one myself :)

Rethinking the Heart Foundation Tick

Before you actually read this post, I want to first make one thing clear. If you've been a regular reader and visitor to my blog, then you will probably be aware that I choose my post titles on purpose. This post is by no means different.

I also want to make clear (and realising that I am hence making two things clear) that I want you to never take your food at face value! This is perhaps the core essence of this post because, all too often, if we were brutally honest, we tend to fill our trolleys without a second thought. We make our grocery list of things we need for the week or two, and then we simply fill up at the supermarket, apathetically.

What I want you to do...before you continue reading...is to open up to the possibility that we need to properly discern that which we buy, that which we put into our trolleys and - consequently - into our homes. And so I invite - no, challenge you - to take a second look, to make a second thought, about what you put in your trolley.

Right...lengthy intro over. Now onto what I was actually going to write (I hope I haven't lost you at this post. Please, keep reading on).

With winter coming up, soup is usually a good way to fortify our bodies with warmth, taste, and goodness. Tonight was definitely a fresh one...and I had no soup. Now, while I prefer to mix together a homemade vegetable soup, I decided to nip out to the supermarket and get some packet soup. In the end, I came home with two Home Brand five-sachet packs, and one Continental two-sachet pack. The Continental packet had the National Heart Foundation approved tick on the box.

But did that tick really mean that I had made a healthy, nutritional choice?

Unfortunately, not really. And I have to spotlight the why. In the list of ingredients is one particular additive - only one - and surprisingly it's not MSG (E-621). It is in fact E-635, with the following list of 'interesting' effects:

"Mixture of sodium salts of guanylic (E626) and inosinic acid (E630). Check imported foods. May be associated with itchy skin rashes up to 30 hours after ingestion; rashes may vary from mild to dramatic; the reaction is dose-related and cumulative, some individuals are more sensitive than others; typical foods include flavoured chips, instant noodles and party pies. Avoid it, especially gout sufferers, asthmatics and aspirin sensitive people. Banned in Australia." [a]

The last part is very interesting. This additive is banned in Australia. Although the reasons why are not listed (although there may be other sites that will highlight this), it does beg two obvious questions:

(1) Why is it not banned here in New Zealand (or other places for that matter)?

(2) Perhaps more importantly, If it is indeed a banned additive - and banned for good reason - then why does it have a National Heart Foundation approved tick on it?

Sadly, I don't have an answer to any of the two questions. But it does bear out one possible course of action for us: The need to be a tad more diligent with our food choices and purchases. Just because a product carries an endorsement of some kind (such as this example), the central point I am trying to make is that such an endorsement does not automatically guarantee any form of health benefit! In other words, always check your labelling.

Final point to take out of all this: Take ownership of your health and wellbeing, because it is, after all your responsibility, not the Heart Foundation's.

References
[a] MBM Food Additives Guide. http://mbm.net.au/health/guide.htm (accessed April 6 2010, 9:24pm)