“Happiness lies, first of all, in health.” George William Curtis, Lotus-Eating
Hello! Been a while, hope you are good. Life has served me its fair share of malarkey but we move on regardless; life is for the living! My green monochromatic look and a certain comment I left on a YouTube video had me thinking about our health and really how much aware we are about what’s most important. Green is a colour that symbolizes mother nature, health and wellness, thus today’s post.
In my honest opinion, our natural body immunity is the most important thing when it comes to maintaining homeostasis in the body. Our first defense is our skin, followed by our gut, yes gut. Up to 80% of our body’s immune system is in your gut. There are plenty of amazing bacteria’s hard at work keeping you free of diseases both on our skin and gut. We are actually made up more of bacteria than we are human cells! I found this amazingly profound and kinda gross at the same time. What this means is that in order to maintain a healthy body we have to have happy healthy bacteria’s. Many diseases come from bad bacteria, fungus and viruses that overpopulate and dominate more than the good bacteria in the gut. It leads to inflammation and in turn things not working optimally; this is why we were told “eat food as thy medicine, or medicine as thy food”. Literally there is no two ways about it. Our diets determine our quality of life and health and we must be self-aware of what we eat and drink and how it affects our internal bacterial environment. Just think about it, why do we call many non-communicable diseases lifestyle diseases?
So! Today I want to give you a few tips and tricks you can use that I also personally prescribe to that are simple, affordable and healthy with minimal effort from your part. Our gut bacteria’ need two things to be happy pro-biotics and pre-biotics. A pro-biotic are foods rich in the good bacteria’s you need and a pre-biotic creates a conducive environment to allow the bacteria’s to flourish. Pro-biotics are like yoghurt, kefir (fermented milk with over 30 bacteria’s), Kombucha (fermented tea) and a pre-biotic is like raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar and baobab powder. I’ve only mentioned a few but if you do your research you will find plenty more. The ones mentioned are easily and readily available in our supermarkets, but some can also be made at home if you are patient to wait for the fermenting process.
The kefir and kombucha require minimal effort in preparation. The kefir all you need is to purchase the grains (Healthy U shop) and the animal milk of your choice (kefir water is an option for non dairy people) and leave it to ferment in the container. Same goes for kombucha, you get a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria&Yeast) from a person who has one or starter kombucha tea (supermarket), brew your black tea with sugar, let the tea cool and put in the SCOBY. The scoby is like a mushroom so place it in a warm, dark spot and wait for fermentation. Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is also a fermented drink made from apples and water. It kills bad fungus like candida which is known to cause yeast infections in women (yes ladies it starts in the gut). If after taking anti-biotics you find yourself with yeast infections it’s because the medicine kills both good and bad bacteria and throws of the balance of the guts flora (environment). ACV is known to keep this candida at bay, so any time you feel an infection coming or after a round with antibiotics mix a tablespoon or two of ACV, water and honey to sweeten. Caution, it can be corrosive to teeth, so drink with a straw and prolonged constant use of this drink strips the body of certain nutrients so take it every now and then or when needed. It also helps with bloated stomachs, flatulence and more. I think by now if observant you have noticed that fermented food products are the baseline. In order to be alive, you must eat food that is alive, so most fermented foods are excellent. Sauerkraut, kimchi, fermented porridge and the likes are all great options.
I’m not a doctor or a nutritionist; I just consulted several of them to confirm this information and did my own diligent research. I encourage you to also do your due diligence and research, there is a lot of studies and anecdotal evidence. I felt obligated from a point of experience of consuming these foods, to help you figure how to incorporate very healthy foods to your diet that will boost your immunity and overall health, especially with what’s happening in the world today. Let me know if you have tried or willing to try these new foods and your experiences with them.
Keep smiling
Simply Siro
Photography – eric_shimzy (Instagram)
Top – MRP
Skirt – Thrift
Bangle – Sasa designs
Bag – my closet