If you are still drinking tap water you possibly still trust the authorities that supply your water. South Africa used to be one of the few countries where you could safely drink the water out of the tap but with so much deterioration in services over the past number of years, can you be sure that the water is still safe AND healthy to drink? Well there is one thing that I can tell you. I never believed that I would ever drive on such disgustingly potholed roads in South Africa. I would be ashamed to escort foreign visitors around. It is a known fact that there are numerous municipalities that are bankrupt. These are the departments that you are trusting with the water that you drink. The 70% that makes up your body.

The inside of a municipal water pipe

You might be thinking, I have been drinking tap water all my life and I am just fine. Well I challenge you to drink filtered water for a month and then to switch back to tap water and see how your body reacts.

Just think about it. The water that you drink is made safe by the addition of chlorine.  Did you know?

1. Chlorine is a known carcinogen?  (a substance capable of causing cancer in living tissue)
2. There is chlorine residue left in the water
3. Chlorine kills bacteria (good and bad) What good bacteria could it be killing in your body?
4. When chlorine acts on bacteria it produces secondary substances called trihalomethane. This is the awful smell of chlorine you smell when you flush the toilet. It is from carcinogenic substances like bromoform, chloroform
• Chloroform is almost definitely a carcinogen. It used to be used as an anasthetic. Fatal oral dose of chloroform may be as low as 10 mL (14.8 g), with death due to respiratory or cardiac arrest.  Wiki
• Bromoform can be absorbed into the body by inhalation and through the skin. The substance is irritating to the respiratory tract, the eyes, and the skin, and may cause effects on the central nervous system and liver, resulting in impaired functions Wiki

Tap water varies from town to town with some towns seeing worms in the water and high levels of heavy metals. I personally take all this seriously since a pharmacist told me many years ago that they stock up with diarrhea medication in the spring because the demand is so high after the first rains. Polluted water is the cause.

How to choose a water filter

When you decide that a water filter is an investment in your health, there are a number of factors to consider. Firstly, how much you are willing or able to invest and secondly what level of filtration you require.

I personally have selected  to have two systems. The AlphaAqua Big Blue whole house system that will filter all the water coming into the house. This means that I shower and bath in filtered water, can safely swallow the water after cleaning my teeth and can drink water from any tap in the house. In addition I use a water ionizer for my drinking and cooking water and water for the kettle. The Biontech water ionizer produces water of different pH values from 3.5 to 10.5 which allows me to drink alkaline water and to clean my house and preserve tofu and other products with the acid water.

Do yourself a favour and buy a water filter now. Take a look at the complete range offered by Healthmakers

University finds solution to global warming. It might affect you so read on!

It has long been known that the estimated 1,3 billion cattle are breathing out CO2 and blowing off methane at such a rate as to be serious contributors to global warming. Just in case you are not aware of the impact that global warming can have on the earth, just take this as an example of climate change. Africa will experience heat waves and serious drought on a continent that already short of water. Wars are being fought over oil. When will people start fighting over water, the source of all life on this planet?

The contribution of cattle to this problem has set New York University and Oxford University to seek a solution to this ever-growing problem. It has been suggested that livestock farming is contributing to a massive 51% of the greenhouse emissions (Goodland and Anhang 2009). Global warming is not going away unless something serious is done we are going to be in dire straits. In their paper they consider a new kind of solution called human engineering. This involves biomedical modifications to humans that will reduce the number of cattle contributing to the problem or measures to enable humans to adapt to climate change”
As a vegetarian, this is the part that made me laugh out loud. Basically the suggestion is to find a way of making people hate eating meat. The academics recognised that people lack the motivation and willpower to give up eating meat So have suggested that a more realistic option would be to induce chainsa mild intolerance to meat. this can be achieved by humans that currently eat meat to wear meet patches which would be akin to nicotine patches for smokers. These would stimulate the immune system against common bovine proteins causing the person to have an unpleasant experience and not want to eat meat.

The other bizarre suggestions that the academics made to reduce the demand for livestock were:

• To make people smaller through hormone treatment and genetic engineering. Smaller people eat less than bigger people which means the consumption will be reduced
• To make people smarter with the use of drugs. Generally smarter people have less children and this again means there will be less consumption.

The lead author of the paper, S. Matthew Liao indicated that these were just ideas to deal with climate change and he was not in favour of these ideas being enforced on anybody but rather for people to volunteer in the interests of climate change.

Well it seems that the impact on global warming by livestock is serious enough that ‘Meatless Monday’ is actually being taken on by top restaurants around the world. Public figures, film produces, actors, actresses and schools all standing behind this moral drive to save the planet. When I was a child it was a common practice for Catholics to abstain from meat on Friday and instead to eat fish. Projecting forward I can see that Mondays will be a day when people will find difficulty in eating meat publicly on Monday. That will be a day I for one look forward to!

These multi nationals never fail to amaze me. The Mafia were like a nursery school party next to the likes of Monsanto and the sad part is that the general public actually live in ignorance and allow themselves to be manipulated.  GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) is really more frightening that you can imagine. This  playing God in the worst possible way. I mean mixing a grapefruit and a tangerine (kinda like a seedless naartjie) to get a Mineola is one thing, but when you start putting fish DNA into a tomato that is something else.

Where do you think GMO will take us?  Let your imagination run free!

What we are talking about is transgenic plants that have had genes inserted into them that are derived from another species. Most of the trans genetics is between plants and micro-organisms. Can you imagine creating this cross plant/animal freak that produces not one or two children but thousands. Just to equate with a lettuce with a count of  up to 1200 seeds in a single gram. So how do you reverse this in nature when you find they messed up? Surely if God thought it a good idea to mix species to ensure that there was enough money to feed the world it would have been done and Monsanto would not have to get involved. Is their motivation really an interest in feeding the world. Mmm, I think not. Perhaps pure financial greed is the motivation since there is evidence that there are no fewer starving people since the introduction of GMO.

Most people that I have spoken to think that hybridisation is Genetic Modification. Hybridised seed is where they cross plant seed and that is unnatural enough but not as horrific as genetic modification. To understand more about GMO watch this video.

So if the money hungry manipulators want to mess up the earth and create all these freak tomatoes, soya beans, maize, Cotton,
Did you know that GMO tomatoes were actually taken off the market due to commercial failure which means there was not enough money to be made. Alfalfa was banned but has been deregulated in the USA since 2011. While we happily move on with our busy lives focusing on paying the rent, educating our children, negotiating the traffic, deciding what to eat for dinner and all that modern life demands of us, we are not aware that the Monsantos of the world are changing our world an before we know it we are ignorantly eating their genetically modified creations. So what is being genetically modified and how is it affecting our lives. Well the most popular GMO products are soya and maize that are used in the manufacture of so many other products. About 9% of beetroot worldwide is GMO and rice is set for release in the USA in 2013. The moral of the story is that GMO is alive, well and growing. The best we can do is to DEMAND is to know whether what we are buying contains GMO products. This is currently being denied.

With so many concerns about the safety of GMO food the questions are:
1. Do you think that it is fair to sell Iwiza mielie meal Africans without them even knowing that the Maize Meal is Genetically Modified because the information is not on the label and the risks involved in consuming GMO food?
2. Do you think that it is fair for parents to innocently feed their children GMO foods because they are not labelled and because they do not understand the possible risks?

The African Centre for Biosafety sent samples to a Commercial Laboratory and this is the information that was reported;
FOOD PRODUCT Cerelac Infant Cereal contains 77.65% of GM maize (AND IS NOT LABELLED)
FOOD PRODUCT Bokomo Wheatfree Pronutro contains 90.36% GM maize and 71.42% GM Soya (AND IS NOT LABELLED)
FOOD PRODUCT Iwisa Maize Meal contains 66.18% GM Maize (AND IS NOT LABELLED)

For more information on ‘GM labelling in SA: the law demystified’ which you can download from the African Centre for Biosafety website www.acbio.org.za
I you feel strongly about this then act immediately by sending an official complaint to the National Consumer Commissioner (NCC). You are within your rights to and are encouraged to send in official complaints of the three companies that are not complying with labelling. The Commissioner needs to get the message loud and clear from consumers that we know our rights and we will not be backing down.

Download the complains form that has mostly been completed on your behalf.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FORM

Complete and email the complaint form to m.mohlala@thencc.org.za.

REMEMBER THAT IF YOU DONT STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS

YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU.

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/