Why Filter Tap Water?

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

Turning Points to Health

The turning point in my life was when I purchased a Vitamix Total Nutrition Centre in 1994.  I had wanted a high powered blender for some time, as I inherently knew that I needed to include more raw food into my diet.  I could see the advantage of blending a whole pile of fruit, leaves, etc and just chugging it down.  At that stage I was 40 years old and suffering from various maladies.  These ranged from horrible PMS that lasted at least 2 weeks of every month, drinking too much alcohol and popping sleeping pills every night.  I was a mess.

I purchased my Vitamix from my daughter’s friend’s mother, Colleen Thornhill.  Meeting Colleen and her husband Mike, and purchasing the Vitamix changed my life almost immediately.

I became a vegetarian within two weeks of purchasing the machine and increased my raw intake by at least 70%. I blended smoothies every morning for myself and the rest of the family.  I took a flask of the stuff to work and basically just had fruit all day.  Supper was a big salad.  I lost weight, strangely enough, even though I was already very slim.  I dropped from 50kgs to around 44kgs, and kept this low weight for about 3 years – slowly stabilising and creeping back up to around 47kgs, which is my current weight.

For the next three years I still drank alcohol, but less so and still took sleeping pills, sadly, but I felt much better all round and I no longer experienced PMS, which was a huge relief.

In 1997 we left South Africa, and this was another turning point in my life.  My husband and I both gave up alcohol.  Two years later we moved to Saudi Arabia, and it was there that I decided to give up sleeping pills.  This was exceedingly difficult, but since I was not working, it seemed like the right time. Within 6 months I was able to sleep without any chemical aid.

A year later we moved to Dubai.  Here I increased my raw intake to around 95-100%, exercised every day on my rebounder (a gift from Colleen and Mike) and felt like I had evolved into the me I was meant to be.

At this point I purchased a distiller and a dehydrator. I wanted to be sure the water I was drinking was as clean and pure as possible. The dehydrator was to add other textures and flavours into the raw diet.  Dried fruit is my passion! I eat far too much of it.

I am now 56, and incredibly happy and well.  I have amazing energy and never get depressed, even if things do go wrong!

I highly recommend to anyone embarking on a ‘health crusade’ to seriously consider going ‘raw’.  Somehow raw food vitalises the body.  Every cell seems nourished, content and happy. If all the parts of the whole are well, it stands to reason that the whole being will be well too.    The easy way to do it is with a blender, particularly initially.  It is so easy to blend and chug.  Purchasing a juicer is also a good idea, but I have not yet done so.  I tend to only juice oranges and have a cheap little juicer for this purpose.

I also highly recommend exercising on a rebounder (or mini trampoline).  I bounce/aeorobicise on my trampoline every morning for 30 minutes to very upbeat, trendy music.  It is a great way to start the day and excellent for encouraging elimination, and of course keeping fit and trim.  The other benefit I have noticed is that I now have really good balance.

 

 

 

Recipes for a Raw Coconut Smoothie and a Raw Yoghurt

Do you do Raw and miss yoghurt or perhaps you just do not do dairy. Young coconuts make an amazing smoothie, and then if you like you can go one step further, and make some raw, non dairy yoghurt.

South Africans from western descent are not that familiar with young coconuts as these are truly tropical fruits. This was the situation until recently where you can now even find young coconuts in Cape Town to satisfy the needs of raw fooders and others that have fallen in love with this delicious fruit.

So exactly what do you do with the young coconut to make a smoothie or yoghurt.
First you need to open the coconut. Now this does involve you investing in an inexpensive machette Be sure that you know what you are doing cause this is a really lethal weapon. I have seen Mozambican guys that make opening them look like childs play. It takes a certain knack.

Then, scrape the coconut ‘meat’ out (see video) and place the meat into a super blender such as a Vitamix or Hi-Blend Multi Speed, together

 

 

The recipe reads
2 cups young coconut meat (2-4 coconuts)

1/4 – 1/2 cup coconut water, (you might need more coconut water to thin the mixture down)

Directions

• Place the coconut meat and coconut water in a super blender and blend until smooth. Add extra coconut water if necessary.
• Add the pro-biotic powder and blend lightly ( just enough to mix the powder in)

You now have a stunning coconut smoothie. If the coconut milk and meat was not refrigerated then cool the smoothie off in the fridge before serving.

To make the Raw Coconut Yogurt 

Take the

Place the coconut cream in a glass jar with a lid and allow to sit at room temperature for 8-12 hours. Stored in the refrigerator will keep up to 1 week.

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