Saturday 26 March at 8:30pm is the day and time we all give a little back to Mother Earth. Its Earth Hour 2011 and by switching off the lights for one hour in the evening you will be joining in the worldwide symbolic gesture to pledge your commitment to combating climate change (last year the ‘hour’ became the planet’s largest voluntary action ever witnessed as it reached 1.3 billion people in at least 128 different countries).

Imagine what we can achieve indeed! This year there is a movement to go beyond the hour (60+) with each person making a commitment to a positive action for the planet, a commitment that can be celebrated by turning off your lights on March 26th. The challenge is to find one way you can be an inspiration and make a difference by taking your pledge beyond the hour! Healthmakers would love to help you make this commitment to Earth Hour 60+ by suggesting a number of simple yet effective ways that can help you help the planet.

We believe the Eco-Charger is a break through in Green Energy Technology. It recharges ordinary bog standard AA and AAA Alkaline disposable batteries and also the rechargeable batteries (Ni-MH batteries are cadmium-free and therefore less toxic than the cheaper Ni-Cd alternatives). Becides the financial upside though money saved, by recharging all your batteries you will be helping to alleviate the environmental problems regarding disposing of batteries as the number used can very quickly multiply.

Remember that ordinary batteries should not be thrown away with ordinary household waste as they contain toxic chemicals that can leach into the soil and groundwater. You can safely dispose of all depleted batteries through the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) and Uniross, a company which has joined forces with all Pick n Pay stores and selected Makro, Builders Warehouse and Stax stores to put collection boxes for all battery types in the stores. The batteries are collected and the non-recyclable ones are “concretised” and disposed of safely, the recyclable ones are put in a container to be sent to a facility in France where they can be recycled as there are no facilities in South Africa that can recycle batteries. By using the Eco-Charger you are reusing every battery upto 20 times and then by recycling you are not only ensuring the safety of our ground water and food (through healthy soil) but you are also ensuring that the finite source of metals used in making the battery is reused.

A second way to take up the 60+ pledge is to get an ECO Kettle. If you are not using this kind of kettle you are currently on average boiling twice the amount of water needed because measuring the amount of water to be boiled is nearly impossible.  This means twice as much energy used, in fact if you are using a 3kw kettle and it takes 60 seconds to boil you could power a single lightbulb for 50mins using the same amount of energy. The ECO-Kettle with two reservoirs works differently. You have a 7 cup reservoir of water that feeds through to the boiling chamber (when you hold the selection quantity button down, where you can select to boil from a single cup to 5 cups of water at a time). This means that you save energy every time you boil by boiling only the exact amount of water that you need. (The Energy Saving Trust in the UK did a consumer trial on the ECO-Kettle and found that 31% less energy was used than by normal kettles).

There are those that care about the environment and there are those that care about their back pocket. If you are either of these people then this kettle is for you. Often when we make a change to benefit the environment we often have to compromise our own convenience. With the Eco Kettle it is win win all the way. Enjoy the benefits of a fast boiling 2200 watt element, save the cost of electricity by not boiling unnecessary water and honour your pledge to Earth Hour 60+ and our planet by playing a part in taking care of the environment. It will certainly pay for itself time and again.

Did you know that empty plastic water bottles have become a major contributor to worldwide pollution and that for every 2 plastic bottles produced you have added 1kg of carbon dioxide to your personal carbon footprint?  Did you know that 40% of bottled water is actually TAP WATER? With or without added filtration – you’re paying through the nose for it. Worse, an independent test found arsenic, DPBs and 36 other harmful pollutants including industrial chemicals hiding in bottled water which could also contain the potentially hazardous chemical BPA.

Buying your water in a plastic bottle means:

• that in the time it takes you to read just this one short sentence, over 8,000 empty water bottles are being thrown away worldwide.
• means that 5500 rubbish trucks will be filled each day solely with plastic bottles.
• that the U.S. alone used 4110 barrels of oil to produce the 67 million plastic water bottles discarded EVERY day!

The production of plastic bottles doesn’t just deplete the planet of oil reserves but we ask that you please consider the harm that the processing of plastic water bottles does as it releases toxic compounds such as nickel, ethylbenzene, ethylene oxide, and benzene into the environment.

Healthmakers therefore recommends that you give up your plastic water bottle habit and save the planet by offering a wide range of BPA Free water bottles which are reusable and refillable making them extremely Eco-Friendly. They can be filled with water (or other liquids) you can trust to keep you healthy (see our Water Purification range on our website for healthy water options)

BPA Free Water Bottles:

Cheeki Water Bottles are manufactured from Premium 304 Food Grade Stainless Steel and are healthy for you and the environment, and are available in a wide range of stylish and fun designs that keep your water fresh and cold. Cheeki bottles are perfect for kids’ lunchboxes; sports; exercise and everyday use.

The FLOW Water Bottles we offer are made from 100% food-grade Stainless Steel making them toxin and BPA Free, because all these bottles are stainless steel they do not need a liner like an aluminum bottle would, this means that the these bottles will not hold flavors or make the water taste strange. The caps of the FLOW Water Bottles are made from recyclable BPA-free polypropylene.

We believe that by adding your positive actions towards making our world a better place by using even one of these environment ideas, you can become a part of Earth Hours 60+ global symbol of hope and movement for change. “Together our actions add up. So take action, and save the date for this year’s Earth Hour.

We always hear about the exotic superfoods from distant shores but tend to forget that we also live in an exotic place called Africa with amazing superfoods. Baobab fruit powder can certainly join the list of Superfoods, being exceptionally rich in antioxidants and essential minerals.

What Is Baobab Fruit Powder?

The powder is found in the pod of the African baobab tree: Adansonia Digitata L. The powder is pale sand colour with a unique and slightly tangy flavour.

When you see the tree that this magnificent fruit comes from you can only be convinced that the benefits must be extraordinary.

The key dietary benefits of this amazing supplement

• Higher levels of calcium than milk
• Is in an amazingly easy form for optimum digestion
• Very high anti-oxidant levels
• Extremely high levels of the antioxidant Vitamin C
• Impressive levels of alkalanizing minerals such as Magnesium and Potassium
• Substantially more Iron than spinach
• High levels of Dietary Fibre

The slightly sour flavour is derived from the content of rartaric, malic and citric acids.

Uses for Baobab Fruit Powder

Baobab powder can be added to any food or drink as a supplement. This is especially great in smoothies, juices, cereals, yoghurt. It can also be used as a thickener. Being raw it is an excellent additive to any raw diet.

Dietary and Other Information

Baobab fruit is available:

• Organic
• Kosher
• Halaal
• It is RAW
• Vegan
• 100% pure
• Containing no toxic substances

More reasons why adding this product to your diet is beneficial:

Baobab Fruit Powder is unlike many other products, derived with environmentally sustainable practices and even more importantly uses human effort in an ethical way. This means that many rural Africans and their familites are able to benefit from this trade. As well as paying communities a fair price for their baobab fruit, the producers return part of their sales income to the villages to fund community projects. For more information see:www.baobabsuperfruit.com

It’s what we call BUGS and GERMS. Actually, these hundreds of microbes, also known as micro-organisms that can only be viewed under a microscope are divided into: viruses, bacteria, fungi and single-cell parasites.

Viruses

Microbes that can only multiply and grow in a living cell. They can be potentially viable, but inactive, for widely varying lengths of time.

Bacteria

bacteria are single celled microbes that live independently. We have many hundreds of thousands of bacteria inside our bodies

Fungi

These moulds or yeast-like plants can become parasites on your skin. Poor hygiene increases the possibility of mould fungi that live on nails, skin and hair.  These are the cause of  jock itch, scalp ringworm  and athlete’s foot, and yeast-like fungi can cause yeast infections and ora thrush.

Parasites

Parasites are organisms that, live in or on another organism, and are supported by organism to the detriment of the host. It is important to clear yourself of parasites by taking a 30 day course of herbal capsules at least once a year, especially as we live in Africa where we are subject to loads of parasites. Parasites do not make their choice by social standing, race, colour or financial status – we are all subject to these organisms. For advise about safe parasite course of capsules email parasites@healthmakers.co.za.

Birthdays come and birthdays go but this one was different. Seems banking the gifts up like time share seems to pay off. Michael and I received one of these banked up gifts form our daughters and wow has it been awesome! Three days at Cathedral Peak Hotel in the Drakensberg Mountains.

When going away, the question of food always comes up. Will they cater? Can they cater for vegetarians? It is always so high up on our list due to so many times when food has seriously been a take your own and hope they have some veggie food to supplement what we brought with. In the case of Cathedral Peak that is not an issue. Not only do they  have food for us but they are prepared to go out of their way to accommodate requests.

Eating rules are I guess part of everyones lifestyle whether a vegetarian or not. We always hear I don’t eat this or that and then there are the, I just could not live without meat or margarine. So besides being vegetarian we also have some rules. To avoid the stress on both sides of the fence, we have rules for home and rules for out. This means that for example, biscuits and bread and cheese are usually not on our shopping list but if we are away we break the rules to add some variety to the usually limited fare on offer. The area that we don’t usually like to mess with when away is our green smoothie breakfast and so our Vitamix comes with us. As you can see from the picture, the faceplate of this Vitamix is quite old. The be precise, it is the original Vitamix that we ordered from Vita-Mix Corp in the USA in 1995 when there was no International dealer in  South Africa. This stunning piece of equipment has been pumping out smoothies, soups, nut butters, frozen desserts and so much more for all these years.

The pink bag in the picture was a give away at Clicks some years ago when puchasing some cosmetics and wow has it turned out to be a gem. With plates and knives and forks and serviettes and ample area to carry our selection of nuts, seeds and green powders for our smoothies plus some herb teas, mugs and the emergency marmite (rules for out).

So, the hotel staff had no problem in sending a tray to our room with our chosen selection of fruit and a pail of ice AND a small fridge! Then, in addition to enjoying our delightful green smoothie we have enjoyed the breathtaking scenery of Cathedral Peak and surrounds that changes every minute of the day. As the sun moves so the mountains change and when the cloud covers the blue blue autumn sky it all takes on a completely different hue.

It has been a time to reflect the changes we want to our lives, plans for our health businesses, and an opportunity to enjoy some hiking, the great putting course and some awesome tennis, stunning music and just quiet time to listen to some of Byron Katie’s CD’s that we brought back from The School for The Work in Los Angeles, California last month.

I used to get sideways looks when I started looking for bags to pack the Oscar Juicer, the Vitamix and other useful equipment for self catering accommodation but these days, Michael joyfully packs up the Vitamix as we share the knowledge that the equipment enhances our lifestyle both at home and away.

Someone suggested to me that the only reason that cigarettes are still legally manufactured and sold is because governments world wide make billions in taxes. I wonder if these same governments that effectively turn a blind eye ever calculate the health care costs that they have to foot the bill for.

Frankly, having been a smoker and knowing the viciously addictive nature of nicotine, I think that smokers should be offered Free nicotine detox. This is a legalised drug that not only affects the smoker but especially their children for which so many have so little regard because the addiction is so overwhelming. I remember when in ignorance, following the example of my parents and older brother I smoked – 20 to 30 a day. Having children didn’t rid me of the addiction so I continued to smoke in their presence and only years later when I had quit did I have to suffer guilt when an irridologist told my daughters that they both showed lung damage from 2nd hand smoke. I recall the messages from my Mother’s sister after my Mother had confirmed that Yes I was still smoking.  appealing, no actually begging me to quit as she struggled to breath with the aid of oxygen, suffering from emphysema. Even that was not enough to get me to face the truth. Finally one day, I received a visit from a man who I had met some number of years before who, as I recall actually reeked of tobacco on his breath and clothes and had yellow fingers and teeth from nicotine stains. He told me that he found out that he had emphysema 13 years After he stopped smoking. I was shocked into reality! Suddenly realising that it could already be too late for me. The fear was suddenly greater than the pleasure and I set up my plan to quit, knowing that it would be a tough call.

I still continue to be shocked by the list of carcinogenic chemicals found in cigarettes and so continue to appeal to smokers to make all attempts to rid themselves of this disgusting practice which is far from a habit – it is a life threatening addiction. (Carcinogens are chemicals that cause cancer in humans – yes that is you and me.)

Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals of which 43 are known to cause cancer in humans.

How is this for a list!

• Starting with rat poison – Arsenic also known as Hydrogen Cyanide which was used in the gas chambers in Nazi Germany.
• Most smokers know about Tar and often get quite irritated with you if you mention this, I mean why mention the obvious. About 70% of the smoke converts into tar and stays in the lungs. Just a pity that most smokers don’t get the opportunity to see their tar-laden lungs.
• Imagine that intelligent humans suck on the poisonous Carbon Monoxide gas! This is the same gas that comes out of the exhaust pipe of your motor car that is fatal in large amounts.
• Acetone, yes nail polish remover is used as a solvent and found in cigarettes. Talk about sniffing glue! Suck on acetone.
• Now we are getting closer to the bone with embalming fluid. Formaldehyde, also found in cigarette smoke is the same highly poisonous chemical used to preserve dead bodies.
• The same hydrocarbon obtained from coal, that I use as fuel for my camping stove, Benzene, is also found in cigarette smoke and associated with leukaemia.
• In order to enjoy the nicotine you need Ammonia, found in dry cleaning fluid to release it from the tobacco

How is it possible that Nicotine a highly addictive drug that is also used as an insecticide and well known to be one of the most addictive and harmful drugs known to man can be purchased in any quantity over the counter of every corner store?  Suddenly, the dominating protection agencies such as the FDA and the SA Department of Health are nowhere to be found.

Smoking is just slow suicide! Death by smoking is not an enjoyable experience. To get a glimpse of it ask someone to put a plastic bag over your head to restrict your breathing – imagine that on a daily basis for months and in some cases years?

One of the contributing factors to my quitting was the constant insults by my children about how I stank. My message – Don’t just tolerate smokers – insult them, understand their addiction, encourage them to quit and above all ensure that they understand the addictive power of nicotine. Once a smoker, always a smoker – this is why I consider myself to be a non-smoking smoker, one away from 30 a day!

Rawlicious By Peter and Beryn Daniels 223 pages

This book is the result of an idea whose time has come, an idea that most intuitively know and recognise – that to be healthy, happy, naturally nourished and completely connected to our surroundings is our birthright. After years of eating raw foods and superfoods and running raw food courses, both Peter and Beryn, have both met, inspired and been inspired by a growing number of people who are becoming aware of the amazing transformative and healing potential of living foods.

Rawlicious is a beautiful, full colour book with magnificent photos of the authors, the prepared foods and fresh produce. It is an environmental masterpiece being printed on triple green™, a 60% sugar cane fibre , chlorine free, from sustainable afforestation. Being much more than a recipe book covering topics such as nutrition, what raw food is and why we should eat raw food and the benefits of eating raw food. The book is clear that Health is not all about food. Moving to a raw food diet is a major event that needs some hand holding. Peter and Beryn take you by the hand and take you through what is needed to succeed with it, including:

• The equipment required to make eating raw easy and delicious
• Stocking a raw kitchen
• Growing your own food
• A stunning variety of recipes to keep any family on track, and the helpful pictures and easy to read and follow step-by-step instructions

There are tantalising recipes for:

Juices, Smoothies, Nut Milk, Butter and cheese, Soups, Salads, Sauces & Dressings, Snacks, Simple Meals, Bread and Crackers, Gourmet Meals, Beverages and Healthy Desserts.

This book is a natural expression of Peter and Beryn’s experience. They have lived and practiced the concepts and recipes in this book, and continue to do so joyfully. It will inspire you and give you a lot of information on a healthy lifestyle and healthy living.

A local first for raw food – Well done Peter and Beryn! You have set a great standard for others to follow in the quest for health and healing through raw food.

Rawlicious is available from http://healthmakers.co.za/store/Raw-Food-Cuisine/