Healthy living is a free choice, the rewards are priceless

It's that time of the year again - office parties, end-of-year functions and the ultimate Christmas dinner recipes are on everyone's mind. In a time when eating has become more about entertainment and less about nutrition, do we still know how to feed our bodies the right nutrients without worrying about the costs of health food?
Nutritional therapist Heidi du Preez says although there is no perfect diet applicable to everyone, there is a simple, pleasant and cost-effective way to eat better. Du Preez, who has just co-authored a cookbook called Naturally Nutritious, says that a natural wholefood diet should comprise fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, whole grains, legumes and filtered water. Lean organic meat, eggs and limited dairy should also be included. "Although animal products should form part of the diet, plants must comprise the foundation of your meals. Vegetables should therefore be our main source of carbohydrates. However, pasta, bread, cereal and sweets are most likely the primary sources. They are all processed and lacking the natural nutrition of wholefoods," she says.

People tend to say it's expensive to eat healthily, but it's not true. Fruit and vegetables should be bought at more regular intervals and that might give buyers the impression they are spending more. If you're looking for healthy food on a small budget, then fruits and vegetables and other whole foods are the way to go. They're actually much cheaper than processed foods. If you want to pinpoint the cost of major items on your bill, look at cheese, dairy, lunch meats/expensive cuts of meat, sweets, cereals, snacks and alcohol. The Friday night fast food dinner tradition can also be done away with, saving a family of four an average of R 200 - R 300 rand a time if they all have burgers, chips, a soft drink and desert.

In addition, eating a natural diet might mean less trips to the doctor (between R200 and R300 for those without medical aid and that's excluding medicine). "Cancer, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome and even allergies are often the result of a simple nutritional deficiency which can be corrected or controlled with healthy eating. Our diet has the distinction of being the only major determinant of health that's completely under our control," says Du Preez.

"If we are already ill we need to address the real causes of the unhealthy lifestyles that keep us slaves to the destructive emotional crutches of smoking, alcohol, unhealthy eating and other substance abuse. We need to relearn how to cope positively with stress and deal more assertively with our mental and emotional needs." Quitting these bad habits will also save money - at R30 for a cheap bottle of wine and more than R20 for a pack of cigarettes, it boils down to a lot of very expensive damage.

Du Preez says most of us are not sick enough to lie down (the horizontally ill), but suffer from one of the so called civilization diseases - we are vertically ill. "All of us might not suffer from cancer, heart disease, diabetes or arthritis but we all have at least one of the following debilitating conditions: chronic fatigue syndrome, allergies and multiple chemical sensitivities, migraines or headaches, constipation, acne, memory loss, poor concentration, hyperactivity, loss of sex drive, PMS, menopause, etc. "The vertically ill often become trapped in a cycle of dependency on their doctors to monitor and constantly adjust their medications. They derive only limited benefit from the array of antidepressants, tranquillizers, anti-inflammatory drugs and/or antibiotics all of which carry high costs. I was trapped in this cycle until I discovered the benefits of simple healthy eating," says Du Preez.

"Spirit and mind contribute more to your health than you realise, if we abuse our bodies with unhealthy and expensive eating and bad habits, we aren't happy and it shows in our health," she says. In terms of supplements Heidi says wholefood supplements, not isolated vitamins, hold the key to health. Thousands of phyto-chemicals, fibre, vitamins, minerals and enzymes found in wholefood have the greatest impact if they work together in synergy.

Heidi who consults out of her sea front office in Jeffreys Bay, charges R220 per consultation (for 1 1/2 hours) and her recipe books costs R160 and is available online at www.naturalnutrition.co.za.

Freelance writer and mother Beth Cooper has long believed in the principles of healthy eating, "What's worked for me and which can have a huge, albeit slower, impact on family health is to do a "swap" on each food item, gradually building up a majority of healthy choices in the cupboards, as opposed to making a sweeping change all at once, which is more expensive," she says.

Diabetic nurse specialist Sister Sheradin Williamson says that we should all revert back to the way we used to eat thirty or forty years ago. "The kids didn't eat junk food on such a regular basis thirty or forty years ago, for most of us it was a rare treat. We also walked to school or the beach which is now considered dangerous. Changes in society have meant many of us have more money to buy junk food and fizzy drinks and this, combined with less exercise, is having a negative impact on our health."

Sherryl Victor of the Shuga Free Shop in Port Elizabeth says that the most important factor in controlling diabetes is diet. Her shop includes a range of diabetic friendly products, but she says all health conscious people would benefit from eating this way. Her and her husband Lenn will open the Shuga Free Restaurant in mid-November and the health conscious community is delighted. A cycling group has already booked the restaurant for a function, because they now will be served healthily prepared meals, rich in all the right nutrients. People with diabetes (all meals are diabetic friendly) and other chronic illnesses will be able to eat a nutritious meal here for about R125 per head for a three-course meal.

Johnny Johnson, Chief Executive of absenteeism specialists CAM Solutions says that 7.6% of the employees in their study, which comprised a sample of more than 100 000 employees in 60 South African companies, took time off because of chronic illnesses that are most often associated with diet. These included heart disease, diabetes, cancer and hypertension. These chronic illnesses cost the economy R1.4 billion in the last year. "It makes financial sense for employers to aid their employees in following a healthy diet, to either help prevent or control these chronic illnesses," he said.

(For information on the software developed by CAM Solutions or on our Absenteeism Management program, log onto www.camsolutions.co.za or www.absolv.co.za for more information).