It has been a difficult week for us. My daughter has had a cold for over 7 days. She started going to nursery school in the mornings, but that of course entails comoing home with runny noses. Naturally, she is more clingy, more whiney, more prone to cry. She is also outright rejecting what I deem to be healthy food. It’s really frustrating for me that she will happily eat white bread and cow’s milk cheese, but refuse vegetable soups. She will repeatedly demand industrial juice, and reject without even a sip the homemade juices I try to give her.
Now, I realise that this situation is of my own making:when I met my partner -Italian, remember – I fell under the spell that I could also indulge in pasta and bread and cheese without paying the price. I mean, our diet remained high in vegetables and other grains, so it’s ok, right? Wrong. The noxious effects of eating wheat are insidious: someone like me, with strong digestion and no history of candida will not immediately feel ill. But after a year or two, everything comes to the surface. While I was in Italy, I gained an enormous amount of weight. I was terribly tired and emotionally fragile. Perhaps some of this is due to new motherhood, but I don’t think that as a species we would have survived long if every new mother became physically weak and emotionally fragile. I think that this change in me was due to my diet: the lovely, killer plates of pasta served up by la nonna.
Naturally, my daughter was exposed to this fare and her little chip has been programmed from within the womb and then during breastfeeding to having the products of wheat (in)digestion in the bloodstream. In short, I have unwittingly produced a food addict because of my lack of attention at such a crucial stage in her development.
Accepting this fact is difficult for me. I feel like I have finally found my feet again, since going high-raw. I feel light and full of energy, emotionally calm and much, much happier. Although I admit to irritation this week due to above cold and due to trying to change my daughter’s eating habits. She asks for juice and I say water. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Cry. she asks for bread and I give her quinoa. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Cry. `It’s tough. And so I decided yesterday morning that whatever my dietary beliefs, I am acheiving nothing if they produce conflict in my home. I adore my child and without spoiling her and giving in to her every whim, I have decided not to let it get to me. After all, we cannot change the situation, we can only change our reaction to it. Having taken delivery of my raw chocolate fromn Shazzie, and awating my blender (hurrah ‘express’ delivery in Spain), I will begin to whip up nutritious, delicious treats for my girl that beat any barra gallega (a kind of ciabatta-like white bread) hands down. Om shanti peace in the home.
Please take four minutes to watch this video that explains very succintly the benefits of raw food: http://tinyurl.com/d2x9rj
Just having a quick read of liverdoctor.com. I’d recommend a visit if you’re feeling toxic. it’s full of information about loving your liver, raw juicing, and general tips for keeping the largest organ in your body in tip-top shape. I’m still awaiting my Green Star Pro juicer…yum yum. Watch out wild chard 
I am reading this strange little book called “Nuestras amigas las plantas”. It contains all sorts of practical and esoteric information about plants and their culinary, perfumery and medicinal uses. Right now I am reading about the magical and etheric fragrances for each Horoscope. As I am a Gemini, born in the second week of Gemini, my magic perfume is Oregano and my etheric one is Acacia. One of the things it mentions is body types. I got to reading about “Lymph Types” and must say that the description of lymph body types found here fits me to a “T”. Maybe that’s why I got into lymphedema treatment?
What’s your body type?
Well, I held my breath and bought: raw recipe books from Amazon (Shazzie’s “Detox Your World” and “Evie’s Kitchen“, Ani Phyo’s “Raw Food Kitchen” and Kate Magic Wood’s “Raw Magic“) followed by a juicer, blender and dehydrator from UKJuicers. Gulp. I’m glad that I’m working hard this month! I nearly chickened out and didn’t call UK Juicers, but then I thought that I’d better just do it and stop worrying about it. After all, you don’t know what you don’t know until you know it. Ergo, I don’t know what I am missing by not having this equipment until I get it a try. So, here’s waiting. I am sure that my partner’s jaw will hit the floor when it all arrives, but by then I’ll have created the necessary space in the kichen ready to house dear appliances. Can’t wait! Watch this space.
There’s an interesting article in today’s Independent that talks about the rising number of deaths being attributed directly to obesity. I will copy the full text in here b/c I know that the Indo doesn’t leave articles available indefinitely.
Eating ourselves to death: Britain’s fat epidemic
Obesity was cited as cause of death in 1,200 cases in 2007, an increase of more than a third in just five years. Experts say the true number is much higher
Sunday, 8 March 2009
The number of people whose deaths are directly related to obesity has leapt by 35 per cent since 2003, according to new figures obtained by The Independent on Sunday.
Obesity was cited on death certificates as a contributing factor in 1,203 deaths in England and Wales in 2007, highlighting how the incidence of related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and blood clots continues to rise alarmingly. The outlook is believed to be as serious in Scotland.
Experts warn that these figures are the tip of the iceberg, as the majority of obesity-related deaths are not being recorded on death certificates.
Opposition politicians last night seized on the figures as the first statistical sign of obesity’s increasing causal role in death. They accused the Government of “dithering” and failing to tackle the country’s weight epidemic effectively.
Meanwhile, senior doctors called for guidance to help junior colleagues record obesity more consistently and provide better evidence for assessing the effectiveness of efforts to curb the problem.
Professor Alan Maryon-Davies, president of the UK’s Faculty of Public Health, said: “These figures add to the growing evidence that obesity is increasing at an alarming rate and is associated with a whole range of fatal conditions. While the numbers may partly reflect a growing awareness among doctors about obesity and its effects, I’m in no doubt that they also represent a real increase in obesity-related deaths. Obesity is not something to joke about; it is a huge public health problem, a burden on the NHS, and it shortens people’s lives.”
Anne Milton, the shadow health minister who obtained the figures from the Office of National Statistics, said: “Labour has neglected the UK’s obesity time bomb, and these figures demonstrate the awful consequences of their complacency. We urgently need action now, but unfortunately this Government’s record has been one of obesity targets missed and scrapped, budgets for information campaigns being raided, and dithering over food labelling. It is about time the Government woke up and started to take obesity seriously.”
A major report last year suggested that most adults in the UK are overweight, and obesity has roughly doubled since the 1980s. If the trend continues, obese and overweight people are predicted to cost taxpayers in England £50bn a year by 2050 in increased use of the NHS and other services.
Obesity increases the risk of many life-threatening diseases. A recent study found a 74 per cent rise in new cases of diabetes between 1997 and 2003; 80 per cent of people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes are overweight, according to Diabetes UK. Heart disease is the biggest killer. According to the National Heart Forum around 6 per cent of deaths from coronary heart disease are due to obesity. Yet only 6 per cent of people understood the gravity of being overweight, most seeing fat as a vanity issue, said the Government’s Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson.
Norman Lamb, the Lib Dem health spokesman, said: “This is the first indication that the worst possible consequence of the obesity epidemic is with us now. We already knew that obesity has led to an increase in very serious conditions, but these figures now show us that obesity is having an impact on death rates right now. The big worry is that if the epidemic is not brought under control, we could see life expectancy drop for the first time in decades. I don’t believe these figures can be written off by claims of better recording. I fear this is a sign of things to come.”
There have been longstanding concerns about the accuracy of death certificates, something the Government has promised to address in the Coroners and Justice Bill. A study in 2005 found that pathologists failed to mention obesity in two-thirds of cases, even when the individual was grossly obese with a BMI of over 40.
The pathologist: ‘Doctors are being asked to lie’
Dr Emyr Benbow, histopathologist at Manchester Royal Infirmary and post-mortem expert at the Royal College of Pathologists, is concerned about a growing problem
“The number of severely obese people we see on the autopsy table has shot up in the past 10 years. Although we weigh and measure all those patients who have post-mortem examinations, so that BMIs can be calculated, we don’t calculate trends. But we know there is change because we have to handle the bodies, something which has become a real hazard for our technical staff. A lot of hospitals have had to install wider fridges.
“Over the same period we have seen more cases of people in their thirties, forties and fifties with very high BMIs who have unexpectedly died in the community from conditions such as pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis, in which obesity is very likely to play a part. These are significant changes and are reflected in the fact that my colleagues are increasingly willing to record obesity on the reports they make to the coroner.
“Many pathologists still do not record obesity on death certificates because they are worried about offending relatives. I know of a number of instances where doctors, including pathologists, and coroners have been asked to remove obesity from the death certificate because the family find the term stigmatising. But while the numbers may be an underestimate, the upward trend in these new figures is hugely important as we now know more people are dying of obesity and its effects.
“It is vital that doctors become confident about recording obesity. Unless we have accurate information it is very difficult to influence government policies.”
The survivor: ‘This killed both my parents – I’ve got to break the cycle for my daughters’
Mandie Preston, 32, has lost both parents and her older sister to obesity-related diseases in the past seven years. But it was seeing her mother’s death certificate that gave her the impetus to change
“My dad Sid died first, in 2002. He was big, diabetic, and died from heart failure. Six months later I lost my mum, Carole, aged 64. She was a terribly, terribly big lady – 26 stone at her heaviest – and had struggled with her weight her whole life. We always knew it could end up killing her – the doctors had repeatedly told us so. But to read the phrase ‘morbidly obese’ on her death certificate still felt like a slap in the face. I knew she was fat, but here it was written down.
“Mum had Type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and a load of other problems related to her weight. It affected her health at every stage, so it was right for the doctor to record it on her death certificate. Then I lost my sister Fran, 34, from complications arising from her diabetes.
“Looking back, the words on my mum’s death certificate sealed it for me. I knew then that if I didn’t make changes I would end up going down the same route. I’ve been talking with my counsellor and I now understand why we had such an unhealthy relationship with food. I’ve lost two stone and am making sure my daughters have a very different relationship with food. Mum used it to comfort us and distract us if we were bored; I’m trying to break this cycle because it cost me my whole family.”
It’s really exciting for me, this new raw path I’m on. Every day I feel a little better. Every day I feel a little brighter. Every day I definitely feel a lot lighter! But, like any new venture, there is always an uncomfortable edge. In my case, it comes down to money. I want to equip my kitchen to make raw food preparation possible. I lack a juicer capable of juicing leaves, a high-powered blender and a dehydrator. I know that I can get by without any of them, but in order to prepare the wonderful, tempting, delicious recipes found on sites such as Any Phyo’s kitchen, DetoxYourWorld or The Raw Chef, I really need to invest. And it is an investment: I am about to spend over £1000 on these things…it’s like buying a fridge, stove and washing machine all over again. However, I am trying to see it in the most positive light possible: I don’t pay any private medical insurance premiums because I believe that good diet and holistic health will see me through to old age and beyond (my plan is to live to 120 years). I don’t lose earnings due to sick leave because I am hardly ever ill. I live in a place where wild herbs abound and unless I develop a second stomach, I can’t make best use of them. I live in a place where fruit trees offer forth their bountiful harvest to be joyfully received by sweet-toothed humans, but it all comes at once and the only way to preserve that sunshine ripeness is to dehydrate. And so, my investment in Raw Food requires a monetary investment too. Like a membership fee of sorts, I guess. Well, in the midst of this recession and credit crunch, I’m sure that my suppliers will be darn pleased! Let’s hope that positive spending brings positive change to my world and the wider world too.
I always try to prepare food with love, even when I am tired or not at all in the mood to cook. As a mother, I am quite frequently tired and not in the mood to cook! One of the great, superable challenges of parenting is putting the needs to your child before your own and cooking more than three meals per day falls into this bracket. And so, at lunchtime, I find myself making “pastasciutta”, more commonly known just as pasta to those non-Italians out there. My partner, being Italian, would find life near-inconceivable without at least 5 weekly rations of pasta. Since I am only just starting out on this raw path, I feed my daughter mostly the diet that she ate before. And that, people, includes pasta at lunchtime. The challenge now, of course, is finding a way to prepare it with love. Knowing what I now know about cooked food vs raw food, I find it increasingly difficult to muster enthusiasm for plates that I know may temporarily fill yet ultimately harm my lovely child. Now, I am not an extremist. I realise that a plate of home-cooked pasta is far better than a McDonalds meal or any fast-food from the supermarket. But, from the other perspective, it’s also a far cry from a raw smoothie or a green juice. And so, with a foot still firmly in both worlds, I try to straddle overcome my negative feelings towards cooked food in order to make meals with love. I think that I need to buy Evie’s Kitchen and get going on making raw food for my little one.
Well, tomorrow is International Women’s Day. I am going up to the WIBC show in Teulada to connect with all the other entrepreneurial ladies here on the Costa Blanca. What with the weather finally improving this weekend, it promises to be a fun and well-attended event. Kudos to Karla for starting it all and putting her money where her mouth is. A proud Canadian.
All the blogs and stories I’ve read about converting to the raw diet told me this: after a few weeks raw, try eating cooked food for one day and see how you feel. Well, yesterday was my daughter’s birthday party, so I had pasta, spanish omelette, cake, cookies. I didn’t overindulge by any means. But this morning I awoke with a puffy face, irritated and with an absolutely HORRID taste in my mouth. With a chancre on my tongue. If that’s not my body talking to me, I don’t know what is. Is this how I used to feel all the time?