Matts Blog

So I had a hamburger the other day...

And it was lovely. Bet you won’t find that in most health and wellness books or diets. So am I a hypocrite? Not a shining example of living Sevenpointfive? Nope. Wanna know why?

1. The patty was made at the restaurant. Why is that important? Fresh ingredients. They not only taste better, but won’t have all the preservatives or treatments or binders mass produced stuff does. 
2. Organic meat. Organic means that no chemical or pesticides were used in the rearing of the food. It doesn’t guarantee that none were added after it was harvested, but its a good start. If you can get free range as well, you're doing even better.
3. Ciabatta roll. Freshly made, naturally risen bread made with stone ground flour. No additives. No bleached white flour.
4. Butter. It had butter on it. Not margarine. Not 'spread.' etc. Natural is better. The less tampering with your food, the healthier it is.

I bet my burger was healthier than that pre-made store bought salad you had... So what's the point? Good ingredients can make a seemingly unhealthy meal, perfectly healthy. And bad ingredients can make a seemingly healthy option, not. 

I’m sorry to hear about your fructose, lactose, gluten, nut allergy. This is a pet peeve of mine. So I’m sorry if I’m not too supportive. I know food allergies seem to be on the rise, but how many gluten intolerant people were mentioned in the bible?

“The Isrealites wandered through the wilderness for 40 years, and the whole time Zebediah complained of bloatedness.” Hezekiah 16:6 (Disclaimer: This is not an actual bible text. The ANC has not approved this quote.)

I find it ludicrous. I know science is making new discoveries all the time, and many of them are diseases. And I know many people are suffering ill health, and as soon as they stopped eating milk/bread/fruit/Scandinavian beetroot, they felt better. Why?

I’d like to figure out the cause. Lets look at Gluten intolerance:

1. Is it really gluten you have a problem with? Could be the mass produced, genetically engineered wheat and yeast bread you’re eating? Its unlikely that it is brimming with nutrition.
2. Is it only gluten? I find many people seem to ‘discover’ a food allergy, and then suddenly discover a whole lot more. Does that mean that there are hundreds of mom’s out there making defective babies?
3. Gluten is a simple carbohydrate which has a high GI which can cause sugar spikes and drops. Leading to many ‘allergy’ symptoms.
4. Cutting out gluten relieves the body of needing to digest something that takes a lot of energy. So often one feels all energetic suddenly. It must be the gluten. I don’t think so.
5. Heat kills enzymes. Enzymes help our body break down food. If they are not supplied in the food we eat, our body needs to convert metabolic enzymes to digestive enzymes for our body to digest that food. Which means slower digestion and less energy. Supplementing enzymes relieves this problem.

So before you go cutting out that major food group, try get your body balanced first and see if it goes away as suddenly as it arrived.

Eating out is fun, educational and relaxing. But if you’re on a strict diet, for health, weight loss, whatever, the fun can be sucked out. Eating healthily can be difficult. There are a couple ways to keep the fun but still have a healthy meal.

1. Prepare: If you’re trying to eat healthily, teach yourself what you are actually trying to avoid and why. If you are trying to maintain an alkaline body, is all acid bad? Does that mean you should not have that salad because there might be lemon juice? Well, is lemon juice acid causing? (No.) Don’t wonder: can I eat bread? What about corn? Tacos? Oats? Beans? The question is really not to know every ingredient and whether you can or can’t eat it, but what the point is. Perhaps its just that you are avoiding complex carbohydrates because it is difficult to digest. And don't be shy to take your Coral Calcium water or Assimil-8 with you.

So December came and went, New Years was kind of ok, again, and 2nd most popular new year's resolution with 37% of the vote is to cleanse oneself of all the holiday braais, beers, champagne and desserts.

This normally involves eating lots of salad, abstaining from alcohol and drinking green tea. For the hardier detoxer, it may go as far as the grape diet (which excludes wine by the way), soup diet, or perhaps even having a hosepipe inserted… Well let's just say an alien probe won't be all that new for the acomplished colon cleanser.

The question is, is this all necessary?