Project: Improve Health 1 Baby Step at a Time

A while back I blogged about a similar topic - "changing bad habits into good ones", but I was unable to make any significant changes at the time, maybe because I was focusing on too many things in too shorter time. I have been wanting to make some lifestyle changes for a while now, because I have gained so much academic knowledge about the science of health over my career, but to be completely honest, I do not always practise what I preach. So now I will use all this academic knowledge as inspiration to attempt to make changes in my own life. Not only will this bring me closer to my optimal state of health, but it will give me insight into the challenges my clients face when they attempt the changes I recommend.

Project - To create healthier habits which reduce damage done to my body, mind, and spirit, and which support my optimal health.

What does this mean? Broadly speaking, what comes to mind is balance in work and play, having regular me-time, healthier habits that promote sound sleep and balanced moods, like exercising regularly, reducing caffeine and sugar intake, etc.etc.etc. Basically - I hope to learn a lot more about being healthy along the way, and about what it takes to get there amidst other day to day responsibilities and distractions. 

I will consult a number of texts and find inspiration from other health and wellness specialists, and I will share this with you.

I figure it will be an interesting journey as I weigh convenience and indulgence up against my own experience of health. It is certainly not my nature to constrain myself from a good time, and I am certainly no idealist do-gooder. I do of course hope to find convenient alternatives to unfriendly habits, and discover new healthy indulgences to share with you.

Time frame - I am giving myself 1 whole year to make the transition. I will make one new inspired change every month, and blog about my motives, as well as my experience. I think 1 month will give me enough time to feel some effects and analyse the challenges I may face.

Please, by all means, do this with me if you have a habit you want to change!

What next?  
Pick a focus (something I want to change about my health and ultimately my lifestyle), research it, adopt ways of changing the habit, reflect on what worked and what didn't and what can be done differently. 

My focus for the first few weeks ... I think I will start by working on supporting healthier sleep patterns.

Why?

There is plenty of research about the benefits of getting adequate sleep, some of which I hope to take you through during the next few weeks. For example, I know that adequate sleep (7-8 hrs per night on average), can help support healthy blood sugar balance, reduce appetite, support the body's healing mechanisms and immune function, and improve overall mood and mental function. More on this to come ...

It all starts here!

Making your own probiotic supplements


Apparently, a single strain probiotic supplement (store bought brands of reliable quality should work), can be used as a really good starter culture for home made probiotic drinks.

Why I like this more than buying probiotic pills:

1) Affordability: This is a cheaper option, because once the starter has been made, it can be re-used time and time again.

2) A chance to give back: This starter can be passed onto friends and family so that they can make their own probiotic drinks as well.


3) The cultures are alive and these probiotics are in a medium that feeds them i.e. cows or goats dairy, or coconut milk. This supports they growth and potential colonisation of the gut. Most of the store bought probiotic capsules and pills contain only dry powdered probiotics without a nourishing environment in which they can multiply.


Where do I start?


Find a brand of probiotic that is reputable and contains CFU (colony forming units). Compare products to find the ones with the highest amounts i.e. 10 million -10 billion CFU per cap. Single strains are a good way of knowing what you are culturing, because products containing 2 or more strains will inevitably result in the competitive monopolization by the 'strongest' strain anyway. Find a product that contains any one of the following: B. breve, B. longum, L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. casei, L. plantarum, L. rhamnosus, S. boulardii, S. thermophilus.


I have found the following products to try (found in SA):
Solgar Advanced Acidophilus - L Acidophilus, LA-5
Nutrilida LP2 99V - L plantarum
Inteflora - S. Boullardi
Reuteri drops
Bifidoflora - B. Longum & B. Bifidum (I know this is 2 strains, but I'll try in anyway)
Acidoflora - L. acidophillus


Method:

Heat your milk (or cream) to boiling point, and pour it into a glass or ceramic container.

Let the milk cool to tepid temperature.

The culture needs a 44 degree C environment to grow in. Cold winter nights make this more challenging. If you don't have a yoghurt making machine, then try the following.

Warm your oven to 80 degrees Celsius, then turn it off. Just need it to be warm and cosy in there - not cooking hot!

Add a few probiotic capsules or crushed tablets into the tepid milk. Gently stir in.

Place into the oven over night ( a thermos flask is an alternative, however the metals may react with the bacteria).

If very runny the next day, leave it in the oven for another 12 -24 hrs.

Note: If it smells odd or alcoholic, it has gone bad and should be discarded.

It will separate into curds and whey. You can simply stir this in. Or you can sieve this to retrieve a thicker yoghurt. But before you do, keep a bit of the original culture as a starter for your next culture!

References: 

http://owndoc.com/candida-albicans/homemade-probiotic-yogurt/

Technology and food - how do our bodies respond?

A very interesting article - food for thought - http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Questions-raised-over-nano-particles-20120212?utm_source=news24-am-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletters
It really is amazing what finds its way into our food on a daily basis. The question always is, can our physiology adapt as fast as technology advances? According to Food and Western Disease, Health and nutrition from an evolutionary perspective, by Staffan Lindeberg, and http://www.ajcn.org/content/81/2/341.full, we are still feeling the ill-effects of eating a diet considerably high in milled grains (as one example) which were introduced 10 000 years ago with the advent of agriculture. And there will surely always be chemicals and their by-products that humans will simply never tolerate, because its' simply not within our design.

So the article above makes interesting mention of nano particles and what affect they may have on the body. Nano particles are definitely not my area of expertise, but I guess there are many different types of nano particles, and much room for debate on the topic. Read and see what you think (:

Top Five Regrets

I just received this email, and, against my 'time is money' nature, I actually read it. I am really glad I did.

"Food for thought……..

Top Five Regrets By Bronnie Ware

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.
People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learned never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.
When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me
This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.
It is very important to try and honor at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard
This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.
By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings
Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.
We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends
Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.
It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier
This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.
When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying. Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness."

Green Smoothie - Simple Saviour

I know I have blogged about green smoothies before, but I feel like I have just stumbled onto one of the simplest, tastiest ones ever.

I always reach for my blender when I am feeling under the weather because green smoothies are packed full of revitalising feel-good nutrients. This morning, after a series of sleepless nights, and too many refined and processed take-out overindulgences, I reached for it once again.

Smoothie making usually requires a bit of creative flair, with just the right mix of seemingly random ingredients - anything ranging from an array of nuts, seeds, whole grains, sprouts, vegetables, and fruit, to power packed extras such as cocoa, spirulina, maca powders, or herbal extracts like ashwaganda, ginseng, and ginkgo biloba.

But, when I looked in my larder this morning, I was met with empty shelves and 0 inspiration. (I really should have done some shopping last week!). This resulted in the use of 4 seemingly 'boring' ingredients - all the healthy stuff I could find really. However, the end product certainly is worth blogging about.

4 Simple Ingredients
a handful of spinach from my garden (store bought is great too!)
1 over ripe pear
1 over ripe banana
2 generous tsps peanut butter
(and approx. 100ml tap water)

I call this one Simple Saviour.

In under 10 minutes you can make your own Simple Saviour. The perfect shade of green, not too rich, but with a really refreshing just-sweet-enough taste to cure that 'morning after' feeling. All you need to do, is keep your kitchen stocked with these 4 healthy ingredients, and get yourself a blender!

A note on peanut butter:
I always have peanut butter in my cupboard.
- I only buy peanut butter made from pure lightly roasted peanuts. Lightly roasting peanuts is actually a good idea, because they are legumes, not nuts, and this makes them more digestible.
- Most commercially mass produced peanut butters have added sugar, vegetable fats ('yummy-trans fats!'), and other stabilizers etc. Natural peanut butter can be purchased from whole/health food manufacturers, or health shops.

A note on spinach:
Spinach has long been a staple part of my diet.
- It is much greener than other leafys like lettuce and cabbage, which is indicates that it contains antioxidant flavanoids and magnesium rich chlorophyl. It is also a good source of Vitamin A, C, B6 and folic acid, potassium, calcium, and iron - A cocktail of nutrients that are linked to healthier skin, eyesight, and energy levels, with anti-cancer properties!
- It tastes great in everything: raw in salads, as well as cooked. I like to add it raw into smoothies because the blender breaks down some of the fibre, thereby liberating nutrients for better absorption by the body.

Corn Silk for Bladder Infections

When ever I hear the Mealie Lady call out “Mealiemieleeeeeee” on the streets of suburban Johannesburg, I run outside to purchase some mealies from her. I have noticed her swollen ankles as she pushes her trolley packed full of fresh mealies around our middle class neighbourhood, trying to make an honest living.



So while this article is a shout out to all our locals to support this women by lightening her load, it is also to educate you about the therapeutic wonders of this fine 'local' crop.

Our Mealie Heritage:

The mealie, also known as corn and maize, depending on where you are from, originates from Mexico where the Mayans and Aztecs began cultivating it. From there it spread throughout the globe, and a long line of cross breeding resulted in many different versions of the original crop. Here, South Africans found it to be an economical crop to farm and it fast became a national staple food.

Preparation:

The mealies I buy from our local Mealie Lady are a large white starchy variety, unlike the bright yellow sweetcorn that is available in most supermarkets.

When I first tried it I wasn't quite sure how to prepare it, as it is not sweet like sweetcorn which is ideal straight off the cob. After a few bights off the cob, a familiar taste sensation reminded me of the samp and beans (http://www.ivu.org/recipes/african/gnush.html) that my mom used to make when I was younger. I also discovered that it works very well in potjies (stews), or dusted with herb salt if eaten straight off the cob.

Traditional Medicinal Uses:

This local variety has the most beautiful soft golden threads surrounding its cobs. This typically comes from female flowers (the stigmas) and is known as corn silk. Corn silk is not only a fun, tactile delight, but it may be of interest to those who have ever suffered the discomfort of a bladder infection.

Corn silk naturally contains anti-inflammatory, healing and soothing compounds that are found to relax the muscular lining of the urinary-genitalal system and relieve the discomfort and irritation associated with UTIs (urinary tract infections), cystitis, urethritis, and prostatitis. Corn silk is also an antiseptic, which may help treat infection in these areas.

It is found to be diuretic (increases urination) that helps flush irritants, deposits and toxins from the kidneys and bladder, and contains high levels of potassium, which may help counter the loss of potassium that is usually associated with many other diuretics. Generous levels of potassium along side this diuretic affect, is why corn silk is often brewed for fluid retention, PMS (premenstrual syndrome), gout and arthritis.

Corn silk has been used to help relieve carpel tunnel syndrome, lower blood pressure, and support digestion by increasing bile production. It has also been used topically to aid the healing of wounds and ulcers on the skin. It contains high levels of vitamin K, which may support clotting factors in the blood.

Corn silk is sold in health shops in dried form, but can also be used fresh.

How it is used: One cup of corn silk tea is taken three times a day during times of need. For topical use, a poultice can be made.

Warning: Check with your health care provider before using herbal remedies on yourself. There may be contraindications depending on your individual needs.

Bibliography:

http://www.appliedhealth.com/nutri/page8287.php

www.phytochemicals.info/plants/cornsilk.php

Prescription for Herbal Healing, By Phyllis A. Balch - Avery(2002)