Mad Dogs and Englishmen

In recent years, we've seen many scientists protesting against actions and policies threatening damage to the wider community, including campaigning heatedly for the removal of chemical toxins from foods, clothes, building materials and the wider environment. Concerns over global warming, species extinction, and global poverty have all been successfully addressed by such members of the academic community which has successfully resulted in huge public awareness, support and a sharp decline in the usual "middle of the road" apathy.

However, questions as to why no member of the academic dermatology community, over the past 30 years, has raised warnings about the dangers of chemical sunscreens remains. Could the answer lie in the fact that the cosmetic industry has effectively silenced leading academic dermatologists by a widespread pattern of payments in the form of consulting fees, grants, retainers, holiday leisure arrangements, and so on? In essence, industry has bought their silence on issues and products that might be embarrassing. Most academic dermatologists focus their attention on innocuous, safe, non-controversial topics that will not offend their corporate sponsors, obviously first honouring their agreements with their benefactors - the cosmetic giants.

Shooting straight from the hip let's consider the following facts about the active ingredients contained within the chemical sunscreen you might be putting on your and your children's skins:

Fact 1. The very chemicals providing "sun protection" in your sunscreen also happen to generate a serious amount of free radical activity within the body when actually exposed to sunlight. In other words, the UVA and UVB protectors actually become unstable when exposed to radiation, exposing you to a "Russian Roulette" type situation, forcing you to choose - the sun's radiation rays in one hand or the chemicals in the sunscreen in the other? You should start to get worried about now...

Most chemical sunscreens contain, as their UVA and UVB blockers, from 2 to 5% of compounds such avobenzone, benzophenone, ethylhexyl p-methoxycinnimate, 2-ethylhexyl salicylate, homosalate, octyl methoxycinnamate, oxybenzone (benzophenone-3) as the active ingredients. Benzophenone (and similar compounds) is one of the most powerful free radical generators known. It is used in industrial processes as a free radical generator to initiate chemical reactions. Benzophenone is activated by ultraviolet light energy that breaks benzophenone's double bond to produce two free radical sites. The free radicals then react with other molecules and produce damage to the fats, proteins, and DNA of the cells - the types of damage that produce skin aging and the development of cancer.

In March 1998, Dr. John Knowland of the University of Oxford reported studies showing that certain sunscreens containing PABA and its derivatives can damage DNA, at least in the test tube experiments. When a chemical sunscreen, Padimate-O, was added to DNA and the mixture exposed to the ultraviolet rays of sunlight, it was found that the sunscreen broke down in sunlight, releasing highly active agents that could damage DNA. It did not block out the UV, but instead absorbed energy. “It became excited and set off a chemical reaction that resulted in the generation of the dangerous free radicals and broken DNA strands that can lead to cancer,” he said and further commented that, whilst it's too early to make blanket recommendations, “I would not use a product containing PABA, Padimate-O or other PABA derivatives.” Dr. Martin Rieger reported that PABA may play a role in DNA-dimer formation, a type of DNA damage that can induce carcinogenic changes.

In 1997, Europe, Canada, and Australia changed sunscreens to use three specific active sunscreen ingredients - avobenzone (also known as Parsol 1789), titanium dioxide, and zinc oxide - as the basis of sunscreens. In the USA, the cosmetic companies have held off this policy as they try to sell off their stockpiles of cosmetics containing toxic sunscreens banned in other countries.

However, avobenzone is a powerful free radical generator and also should have been banned. Avobenzone is easily absorbed through the epidermis and is still a chemical that absorbs ultraviolet radiation energy. Since it cannot destroy this energy, it has to convert the light energy into chemical energy, which is normally released as free radicals. While it blocks long-wave UVA, it does not effectively UVB or short-wave UVA radiation, and is usually combined with other sunscreen chemicals to produce a "broad-spectrum" product. In sunlight, avobenzone degrades and becomes ineffective within about 1 hour.

Fact 2. Even worse for your health is the fact that many common free radical generating sunscreen chemicals also have estrogen-like "Gender Bending" effects.

Such effects can increase cancers, cause birth defects in children, lower sperm counts and penis size in men, plus a plethora of other medical problems. These effects are similar to many banned chemicals such as DDT, Dioxin, PCBs, by having the ability to enter the blood stream and disrupt the endocrine system. Hormones are released by your endocrine glands, and hormones are lipid (fat) based molecules. Many of these sunscreen ingredients are also fat based, and have the ability to "confuse" your body's reception to it's own hormones. Sunscreen chemicals that mimic hormones often mimic estrogen, and are called xenoestrogen.

Estrogenic chemicals can mimic hormonal (or real) estrogen, the key female sex hormone. When the body's hormone receptors recognise the estrogenic chemical as estrogen, the result is feminization of the tissue.

Some of these effects may be more subtle than physical abnormalities and may manifest themselves as behavioral changes (Fox et al. 1978), such as aberrant behavior of birds during nesting, which can have significant effects on their nesting success.

Also, the greatest increases in human cancers over the last 30 years have been those of the breast, ovaries, testes, and prostate, all tissues that are sensitive to sex hormones.

Margaret Schlumpf and her colleagues (Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich, Switzerland) found that many widely-used sunscreen chemicals mimic the effects of estrogen and trigger developmental abnormalities in rats. (Schlumpf , Margaret; Beata Cotton, Marianne Conscience, Vreni Haller, Beate Steinmann, Walter Lichtensteiger. In vitro and in vivo estrogenicity of UV screens. Environmental Health Perspectives Vol. 109 (March 2001) pp 239-244)

Her group tested six common chemicals that are used in sunscreens, lipsticks and facial cosmetics. Five of the six tested chemicals (benzophenone-3, homosalate, 4-methyl-benzylidene camphor (4-MBC), octyl-methoxycinnamate and octyl-dimethyl-PABA) behaved like strong estrogen in lab tests and caused cancer cells to grow more rapidly.

Uterine growth and endometriosis

One very common sunscreen chemical, 4-MBC, was mixed with olive oil and applied to rat skin. This caused a doubling of the rate of uterine growth well before puberty. "That was scary, because we used concentrations that are in the range allowed in sunscreens," said Schlumpf. Three of the six caused developmental abnormalities in animals. The major cause of sterility in women in the USA is endometriosis, a condition afflicting 5.5% of American women. Exposure to excessive estrogen, that may have come from such sunscreens, is felt to be the primary cause of endometriosis.

US Government regulations require that new chemicals pass screening tests to determine that they do not cause cancer, but no rules yet require similar testing of chemicals for effects on reproductive hormones.

Fact 3. Large amounts of applied sunscreens can enter the bloodstream though your skin.

In the 1970s, Prof. Howard Maibach warned that up to 35 percent of sunscreen applied topically to the skin can pass through the skin and enter the bloodstream, but this had little effect on sunscreen promotion or safety testing. (Maibach, H. "NDELA-Percutaneous Penetration." FDA Contract 223-75-2340, May 19, 1978). The longer that sunscreen chemicals are left on the skin, the greater the absorption into the body. (Bronaugh, R.L., et al. "The effect of cosmetic vehicles on the penetration of N-nitrosodiethanolamine through excised human skin, J Invest Dermatol; 1981; 76(2): 94-96.)
Consider this - "this may be a factor in the large increases in cancer (breast, uterine, colon, prostate) observed in regions, such as Northern Australia, where the use of sunscreen chemicals has been heavily promoted by medical groups and the local governments.

Many sunscreens also contain triethanolamine, a compound that can cause the formation of cancer causing nitrosamines in products by combining with nitrite used as preservative and often not disclosed on sunscreen labels.

Fact 4. These chemicals are linked to damaging the coral reefs.

Ker Than for National Geographic News, January 29, 2008 reports:

The sunscreen that you dutifully slather on before a swim on the beach may be protecting your body (questionable, emphasis mine) but a new study finds that the chemicals are also killing coral reefs worldwide.

Four commonly found sunscreen ingredients can awaken dormant viruses in the symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae that live inside reef-building coral species.

The chemicals cause the viruses to replicate until their algae hosts explode, spilling viruses into the surrounding seawater, where they can infect neighboring coral communities.

Zooxanthellae provide coral with food energy through photosynthesis and contribute to the organisms' vibrant color. Without them, the coral "bleaches"—turns white—and dies.

"The algae that live in the coral tissue and feed these animals explode or are just released by the tissue, thus leaving naked the skeleton of the coral," said study leader Roberto Danovaro of the Polytechnic University of Marche in Italy.

The researchers estimate that 4,000 to 6,000 metric tons of sunscreen wash off swimmers annually in oceans worldwide, and that up to 10 percent of coral reefs are threatened by sunscreen-induced bleaching.

The study appeared online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Activated Viruses

Danovaro and his team studied the effects of sunscreen exposure on coral samples from reefs in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.

Even low levels of sunscreen, at or below the typical amount used by swimmers, could activate the algae viruses and completely bleach coral in just four days, the results showed.

Seawater surrounding coral exposed to sunscreen contained up to 15 times more viruses than unexposed samples.

Several brands of popular sunscreens were tested and all had four ingredients in common: paraben, cinnamate, benzophenone, and a camphor derivative.

Oh, My! Stop for a moment and read your current sunscreen's ingredients label and weep! I just did! Or, you can change...to EU, Japanese and SA-compliant MelanSol® which gives you the sun protection you need, as well as providing powerful anti-oxidant moisturising, ensuring that your skin is not only protected but simultaneously nourished and repaired as well.

If you are serious about protecting our planet's sensitive Eco-systems, using a chemical-free sunscreen is an easy transition. One environmentally friendly sunscreen that can make it easy for you is MelanSol® as it contributes to a healthy body and a healthy planet.

MelanSol® is a biodegradable sunscreen invented by Peter Zahner, a basal cell skin cancer survivor. Zahner designed his chemical-free sunscreen to be safe for all ages, while being in complete harmony with our environment. "MelanSol® is a great fit for parents who want to make healthy choices for their family and practice environmental conservation at the same time." says Michael Russ, US distributor for MelanSol®.

What sets MelanSol® apart from other sunscreens is that it gives your skin the all important topical anti-oxidant protection traditional sunscreens rarely provide. "Topical anti-oxidants are important because they help prevent the oxidative stress that occurs when free radicals outnumber your body's natural anti-oxidants on the skin," says Zahner. Free radicals (oxidants), caused by UV rays, are the culprits responsible for long-term skin damage that can lead to leathery skin, wrinkles, sagging skin, sun spots and possibly even skin cancer later in life. MelanSol® has been a favorite all natural sunscreen among Swiss Dermatologists for several years.

MelanSol® is the first all natural biodegradable sunscreen to meet the rigorous environmental criterion of the fast growing Green Hotels Association (http://www.greenhotels.com). "Hotels can now proudly offer their guests an all natural sunscreen that fits their image and environmental commitment." said Russ. "Companies can benefit when they provide or recommend a green sunscreen to their employees as part of their green policy."

Cosmetics industry bodies in Europe, the USA, Japan and South Africa have signed an agreement to unify sunscreen product testing - a move that takes the industry one step closer to having internationally recognised sunscreen labeling codes.

Why Sunscreens?

"The time has come..", the Walrus said, "to speak of many things; of sunscreens and chemicals and all that summer brings.." Okay, a bit of poetic licence here, but the point is we do need to address the issue of sunscreens. Not just any sunscreens, but 100% Natural with no chemicals in the mix!

Why? You may ask.

Well, that question is two-fold:
1. Why Sunscreens? (thought that was a given. Really? Read on McDuff...)
2. Why only 100% Natural and not Chemical Sunscreens?

Just a bit of history to bring you up to speed as to why I have chosen to push the subject of Sunscreens into the Natural vs Chemical debate. For years I have been pestered by customers who buy my other natural products to make a sunscreen, and for years I have declined simply because my attempts to comply have been rather clumsy rather than classy renditions and, more importantly, I would never have been able to give such a product the all important SPF rating.

I also happened to agree with EWG's (Environmental Working Group) stand:
"The best sunscreen is a hat and a shirt. No chemicals to absorb through the skin, no questions about whether they work."

A bit overly-ambitious and impractical for our hot African sunshine I know, especially as we are a sport-mad nation, whether players,watchers or wannabees! We walk, garden, swim, surf, cycle and play outdoors in the sun, so of course we can’t get away from exposing our skin to the sun, but the next best thing would be to use a top-rated sunscreen which provides broad-spectrum (UVA and UVB-sunburn) protection without the hazardous chemicals that penetrate the skin.

I duly dropped the subject, it didn't concern me, but, it wouldn't stay down. Persistent people, (and you know who you are) kept on at me until such time as I started to research the subject more thoroughly and what I found was a minefield of information, misinformation and shocking scientific facts. But I also found arguably the best (in my estimation) 100% Natural Sunscreen and Antioxidant combination on the market today - MelanSol.

For decades, irresponsible cosmetic companies and a small group of very vocal, publicity-seeking dermatologists have strongly advocated that chemical sunscreens should be heavily applied before any exposure to sunlight, even on young children. They insisted that such sunscreen use would prevent skin cancer and protect your health. This was despite a lack of any adequate safety testing of these chemicals. (It is emphasized that most dermatologists today are much more cautious and careful.)

Over the past decade, many scientists studying cancer have come to virtually the opposite conclusion, that is, the use of sunscreen chemicals may be increasing the incidence of cancer and that sunlight exposure may actually decrease human cancer rates and improve your health. It now transpires that many heavily-used chemical sunscreens may actually increase cancers by virtue of their free radical generating properties, and, more insidiously, many commonly used sunscreen chemicals have strong estrogenic actions that may cause serious problems in sexual development and adult sexual function, and may further increase cancer risks. Of course, the fine balance between allowing some natural sunlight on your body as opposed to screening off the harmful rays effectively (without this screening process increasing the cancer risks) is the main issue here and should lead to making the right choice of sunscreen product armed with the whole basket of facts.

Sunscreens are important skin-care products used to further prevent photoaging (damage to the skin from prolonged exposure, over a person's lifetime, to the sun's radiation, which are divided into three categories based on the wavelength -

• UVC - 100 to 290 nm
• UVB - 290 to 320 nm
• UVA - 320 to 400 nm

UVC radiation is almost completely absorbed by the ozone layer and does not affect the skin. UVC radiation can be found in artificial sources such as mercury arc lamps and germicidal lamps.

UVB affects the top layer of skin, causing sunburns. About 90% of UVB radiation is absorbed by the ozone layer but as the ozone layer gets depleted, we are exposed to more UVB radiation. UVB is the most intense between the hours of 10:00 am and 2:00 pm when the sunlight is brightest and is also more intense in the summer months. (not for nothing that saying "only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun!).70% of a person's yearly UVB dose occurs in the summer and incidentally,UVB does not penetrate glass.

UVA affects the dermal (deeper) layer of the skin and causes changes that lead to photoaging and skin cancer. The ozone layer has no effect on UVA rays and penetrates deeper into the skin thus working more efficiently. The intensity of UVA radiation remains more constant than UVB without the variations during the day and throughout the year and does go through glass.

Because of other atmospheric filters besides ozone, most of the UV radiation that reaches us is UVB, about 20 times more than UVA. Even though we think of UVB as the sunburn producer and UVA the wrinkle and skin cancer producer, they both work together to cause skin damage which include wrinkles, lowered immunity against infection, aging skin disorders and cancer.

Working together, these UV rays cause damage to DNA - UVB in the epidermis and UVA deeper in the dermis.This damage causes mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene, a gene responsible for either repairing damaged DNA if possible or discarding cells that are damaged beyond repair. If p53 doesn't function properly these highly damaged cells are allowed to continue dividing, creating even more highly damaged cells.Around 50% of skin tumors have this mutated p53 gene in them. UVA penetrates deeper into the skin reaching the dermis where collagen, the structural scaffolding of the skin, is located. This causes the skin to sag in places leading to wrinkles.
Both UVA and UVB cause the number of Langerhans cells, an important part of the immune system, to decrease, thus lowering immunity.
UVA increases the number of inflammatory cells in the dermis.

The scary part of all of this that you can't feel or see any of these mutations happening until the damage has already been done. Most of this damage occurs in childhood which means that it's extremely important to use sunscreen and sun-protective clothing at all times. Even young children need to be protected any time they go outside, not just when they're swimming.

Until recently it was believed that blocking UVB radiation and sunburn were the only measures needed to prevent sun damage. The SPF rating was developed to measure the ability of a sunscreen to block UVB radiation. An easy way to remember what information SPF gives you (but not a suggestion to take sun exposure lightly) is that a sunscreen with an SPF of X allows you to stay out in the sun X times longer without burning but now we know that is only part of the picture!

With the SPF of a sunscreen only measuring the UVB component it is additionally important to consider the component of a sunscreen's ability to filter UVA radiation. A good broad-spectrum sunscreen will filter both UVA and UVB.

Enter MelanSol 100% Natural Sunscreen with both UVA and UVB protection, naturally and entirely without the risks of any sinister chemical components.
The UV- protection (absorption or reflection of UVB radiation) progress is not linear in case of a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) increase. An SPF-30 reduces the effect of sunlight (UVB radiation) by 97%, an SPF-25 by 96% and an SPF-10 by 90%. An SPF-50 blocks only 98% or 2% more than an SPF-25 and can only be achieved with 100% more UV-filter substances in the sunscreen product, which is why a higher SPF’s than an SPF-30 are not in the best interest of the consumer nor the environment. MelanSol® sunscreen lotions were successfully tested to evaluate the UVA protection factor (PFA) using the PPD test method (Persistent Pigment Darkening / Japanese Standard) with indications on labels:
PA+/PA++/PA+++

In the next post I will give you some really scary information about the chemicals present in your everyday sunscreens and exactly what they do when exposed to the sun's radiation rays, so that you know why you should avoid them totally and without exception.

Master Cleanse - Day 10

Day 10! I never thought I would get to this day! I feel quieted and a bit serene, not bursting with energy, just peaceful. Hubby thinks it has damaged my brain. Perhaps it has because I plan on doing this Cleanse every 3 months, making that 4 times a year.

I have lost 4 kgs in weight, 2" off each of my chest, tummy and each thigh.

On waking this morning, I blearily stared down the bottle of Salt Water Flush, chugged it down in 3 phases then bade it a fond farewell! I have found that by taking a big deep breath, drinking deeply to the count of 10 big gulps, stopping for a breather, then repeating this twice more broke it down into manageable portions and helped me to empty the litre bottle. Making the stuff stay down was a mission for me but the strange nauseous feeling passes quite quickly as it works its way down through the colon.

Within a half hour I am desperately thirsty and the freshly made Lemonade is very welcoming indeed. Today I will drink the Lemonade to the last drop and then bid that goodbye too because I can. Tonight will be my first bit of sustenance other than the Lemonade and I will juice some orange and grapefruit diluted with a bit of mineral water. Tomorrow morning, the first day off the Cleanse will start out with the diluted orange and grapefruit juice, a simple vegetable (maybe just cucumber, tomato, celery and carrot) juice for lunch and by suppertime I will be able, I am sure to tolerate a bigger selection of veggies in my juice and then a salad. (I am desperate for something to chew on! Not hungry at all, I just want/need to chew!)

The Salt Water Flush is not a step to be missed out because it is such an important part of the whole Cleanse. Remember I said that the Herbal Senna Tea was like the agitator of your washing machine, with the Salt Water being the Rinse Cycle. This morning, with the Salt Water Flush behind me (pun), I was reminded of a funny little incident involving my 4 year old grandson Joshua:
One day, just before his 4Th birthday, I asked him (the way Nanas do) who he would be inviting to his upcoming birthday party. His reply was an emphatic "NO girls!"
Prompting him a bit, and reminding him that his favourite cousin Hannah was a girl, and his good friend Mackenzie was a girl, and even pointed out that Nana was a girl. Did that mean we all couldn't come to his party as well?
He capitulated and his little face softened - of course we could come, but just not Lucy (named changed because they have since made friends).
Pushing him further, I tried to find out why not Lucy?
He was absolutely adamant and his chest enfolded itself inside his arms as they folded nearly halfway round his little body, thus clutched, his eyes closed for dramatic effect and he articulated slowly as if I was a little slow to catch on:
"Because I just don't like her! She is not pleasant to me (pleasant? where does a 4 years old get words like that?), so she is NOT coming to my party." And for emphasis added: "NO, she's NOT!"
I felt like saying that to the bottle of salt water this morning but I knew that even though it wasn't pleasant to me, the effects were that I was 4kg shy of my normal weight and I couldn't fault that. Nor could I fault the 2 inch loss around various strategic parts of my body!

I must say that I have been thinking about those Vietnamese Raw Spring Rolls with dipping sauce, a lot. Maybe that's what I'll make for supper tomorrow night. But I will keep the posts going, especially since this is to be a predominently Raw Food experience.

Master Cleanse - Day 8

With the end in sight, okay through a telescope, but in sight just the same, I type triumphantly knowing that I am not going to fall through the cracks! I am not going to be on the side of the "couldn't do its". Rather, as I approach the final days, I can hear that flag song playing in my ears, waving me on...

Talking about the Master Cleanse Lemonade Diet/Fast. I won't tell lies, it wasn't easy, but then, it wasn't that difficult either. You actually don't need skills, you can do it. The next one I do will be with Maple Syrup I have managed to import by the gallon! Going through those little bottles at the rate of 1 bottle every 2 days makes it an expensive local purchase but I will share a little secret with you..Pick n Pay sells the exact same thing as the Health Shop for half the price! Only bought one bottle right at the end, because Wednesday will be the last day - DAY 10!

The weekend breezed by with Hubby and me taking a trip to Uvongo where we visited a very nicely stocked Bonsai Nursery. He settled on a Baobab (so cute, but immature and needing a bit of work and obviously a lot of time), a Karoo Boer Boon tree and a sweeping Juniper. He bagged some clever ideas on how to bonsai a bougainvillea (but purchasing that was Sunday's excursion). On the way home he decided he was feeling hungry and wouldn't make it home to fire up the braai in time to fortify himself, so we forced an emergency pitstop, making an unhealthy detour and stocked up on some Steers 'burgers and chips. I, on the other hand, tried hard to keep the self-righteous expression from my face as I downed the last of my packed "lemonade" and chased it down with a mineral water, stoutly refusing kind offers my way. I sauntered casually away from the outside table while Hubby scoffed his 'burger and chips to explore the usual basket ware, bead work and tablecloths on offer, alongside butter avos and bananas.

Did you know you can freeze bananas and then blend them into smoothies once you have run them under water just to get the white frost off to facilitate easy peeling. A blender or smoothie maker is a wonderful gadget, especially if you haven't the time to "juice" fruits in the morning. I like to plonk paw paw or papaya into the jug, add a couple of frozen bananas, a handful of strawberries and a pear, then whizz that up to creamy consistency. A little added cold filtered water makes it very drinkable! Fruit, fruit juice or fruit smoothies are imperative first thing in the morning up to lunchtime (not recommended after lunch because the fruit on a tummy filled with proteins or even salads will just sit there and putrefy). Why? Well in the early hours of the morning, and up to midday, your body is in elimination mode. Fruit aids elimination. Thereafter, you need to fortify and supplement with FOOD or veggie juices. But then, I'm sure you know this.

It's been so wonderful to cut up little morsels of organic veg which my garden offers up every now and then. Not in vast quantities, mind, but enough for salads, cut up and attractively arranged, a snippet of some chard, some frilly red lettuce, tiny slivers of spring onions, my own little tomatoes (yellow rosa and red ones), garnished with fresh herbs such as oregano, basil and artistically finished with thin spikes of garlic chive. Add some olives, some pickled mushrooms (I sliced up a punnet of ordinary mushrooms last week and crammed them into a jar, mixed up some vinegar, a dash of olive oil, mustard seeds, salt and honey to taste and poured this dressing over before tightly closing the lid and replacing in the 'fridge). Pickled mushrooms are quick to make and make a lovely salad enhancement. Leftover braaied chicken from the weekend will be sliced over the top of this salad and Voila! Tonight's repast for Hubby and Mom.

Me? I'm just drinking Lemonade and when that's finished, then herbal laxative tea - through my teeth, because it isn't pleasant. Not by a long shot. Tomorrow..tomorrow is Tuesday - Day 9 but I am still waiting for that 'Walkin' on Sunshine' feeling. Hasn't happened yet, but I am poised in anticipation.

The Master Cleanse - Day 5 The Halfway Mark

Oh bliss! Today is Friday and that means it's the 5th Day of the Lemonade Cleanse.
Drinking the tea last night was a pleasant experience, simply because we had a friend over for dinner. His late wife was a very dear friend of mine and although I wasn't eating, it was a pleasure to cook for the two men. Mom's dinner was an organic butternut and sweet potato soup with small selection of dinner rolls, which she was more than happy with as she really doesn't enjoy pasta, and, being 85 I don't make a big issue if there are things she honestly isn't happy with.

I tossed fresh pasta with basil pesto, added the tiniest and cutest little Roma tomatoes I have ever seen, roughly sliced 3 buttery avos, lightly steamed and chilled prawns and served this with a gratings of fresh Parmesan and black pepper. They had a warm roll selection and ate with gusto, their conversation so animated and intense that they did not even notice when I removed the large serving bowl from between them (after they had helped themselves to thirds!) and quietly replaced it with a cheese platter accompanand by little garlic and rosemary crostini and a confit of figs in light syrup.

Illy plunger coffee and little puddings with cherry preserve on top and hidden inside, dusted with a light shower of chocolate, brought the evening to a warm and convivial close as we bowed heads and thanked the Lord for all the new things He has planned for our friend. I sipped peppermint tea and then the herbal laxative tea and really and truly, apart from feeling a little tempted, felt quite comfortable chatting and sipping my herbal brew. It's easy to forget for instance when your fingers are sticky with chocolate, or you are slicing avos, that you can't taste and lick. Not even to see if there is enough salt in the pasta dish.

This morning the salt water went down the way it always does - with claws, dragging and kicking till the last drop. Well, not really, I never get to the last drop, I sort of leave about 1/2 cupful of salt water in the bottle, because it stubbornly refuses to get past the back of my tongue. Ack!

I feel good, not great, just good. I have energy and plan to shampoo carpets this afternoon instead of having a nap (that's a good sign isn't it?). Halfway to 10 Days and with the weekend in sight, that's enough reason to be upbeat. Sadly I won't be able to share my Hubby's Birthday Dinner with him tonight, but I sure will cook that Peri-Peri Calamari with Chourico Lemon and Parsley from the recipe he proudly sent a couple of days ago. I can do this, I can sip my herb brew and flash-fry marinated baby calimari tubes into hot Verlaque Bird's Eye Chili oil and butter and watch as the butter foams and curls it brown at the edges. I can do this because I have watched the Tooth Fairy!

The Master Cleanse - Day 3

Day 3 elimination stage over, i.e. the Salt Water Flush. I managed the dreaded stuff only leaving a tiny bit at the bottom of the litre bottle, but it sure feels wonderful to wake up to no nausea and no headache. I even had a fitful night's sleep last night. The MSM powder just under the tongue trick is too wonderful and I resorted to doing that at least 3 times yesterday (Day 2) for the pain. Just the tip of a tsp, mind, because it is not only a pain-reliever but it is also a powerful detoxifier in its own right. Did I mention that if you place it directly under the tongue, it is absorbed straight into the bloodstream bypassing the gut, and hits the spot far more quickly than just swallowing it with some water.

I can even face the Lemonade drink today and have polished off 3 glasses already and its only mid-morning. On Day 2 I could hardly get the stuff down and had to dispose of at least 2 glasses down the sink.

This morning, I commented that it was a beautiful, sunny day and Hubby cautioned: "No walking!" He must have read my mind because that was exactly what I was planning, but he is right. Tomorrow I will probably be feeling more up to it and will tackle a bit of my old route and see how I go.

Last night's supper options were "freezer specials" for the family and Hubby chose Chili Con Carne with buttered rye bread and for Mom it was Veggie Soup with buttered rye bread. Both were more than happy and I disappeared for a long hot soak in the bath with a cup of organic peppermint tea. I must say that my food thoughts are leaning more and more toward the raw spring rolls with dipping sauce I made some nights ago (you'll find the recipes on a previous blog if you page back). Hubby emailed me a recipe for Peri-Peri Calamari With Chouriço, Parsley and Preserved Lemon with a small hopeful note: Mmmmh...sounds like supper? I replied, not likely, sounds like hard work and specially since I have to sniff up all those smells - maybe tomorrow.

I know its early days still, but the whites of my eyes seem whiter and brighter and the white coating (something to expect) on my tongue is only in the middle, surrounded by pink again. From what I have read, an indication that your body is returning to a normal (non-toxic state) is that the colour of the tongue should be a nice healthy pink colour, all over.

Smiling again, I lift my glass of Lemonade and drink it down. I must say, I do quite like it!

Roll on this evening because tomorrow will be Day 4 and then I am "over the hump" so to speak. I believe that it just gets better from here on, physically I mean. Boredom and food cravings are the next hurdles to overcome. Oh well, I can always chew on the pages of the Rawlicious Cookbook if I promise not to swallow any paper.
By pre-tearing it into tiny even shreds, or making torn paper patterns, that should alleviate some of the boredom at the same time.

Master Cleanse Day 2

Second day today and it is really scary how I feel. If it wasn't for the fact that I KNOW that keeping up to the end will yield the results I want, I would have stopped it last night! My head is pumping and joints are aching, and I feel sluggish and very tired. Slept lightly throughout the night and battled with nausea, so drinking the Salt Water Flush this morning was a real struggle. In fact, I didn't finish the whole litre, probably left a small glassful in the bottle, but I understand that it does get easier, so probably by tomorrow (the 3rd day) it will fine.

Here are some excerpts from Peter Glickman's book "Taking Charge of your Health with the Master Cleanse":

"Detox symptoms are what you feel when toxins are mobilized, but
not yet eliminated. They are a double-edged sword. Detox symptoms
are a milestone in the detoxifying process. They indicate you are
mobilizing and eliminating toxins. Unfortunately, they do not make
you feel good."

"It is important for someone on the Master Cleanse to know what
detox symptoms are and that they typically go away after the next
morning’s eliminations. It is next to impossible to go through ten
consecutive days of cravings or tiredness with no relief in sight, but
when you know those feelings will be gone with tomorrow’s
eliminations, anyone can make it through the Master Cleanse."

On the headaches, he writes:

"Headaches and other aches. Very few people on the Master
Cleanse get headaches or other aches: in my experience perhaps
5% or less. Those who get headaches have heavy caffeine habits (that's me thank you! Cappuccino addict!)
before going cold turkey on the Master Cleanse. These headaches
lasted three to five days. Other people may have aches and pains
from previous illnesses for a few days before these aches and
pains disappear a few days later. A friend had very severe
hemorrhoids previous to the Master Cleanse. They appeared a
few days after he started and went away a few days later. It was
his impression that they would not be back.

Funnily enough, my one rib began to ache last night from an old injury when I fell off my bike a while ago. It hasn't bugged me since it healed, but apparently there must still be some unfinished toxic business around the soft tissue. Well, hopefully this will dissipate as Peter G says it should in a couple of days!

One important point to note here - my headache was so bad all night that this morning I placed a small amount (tip of a teaspoon) of MSM powder under my tongue and in virtually no time at all, the stinging behind my right eye had gone. MSM is an organic sulfur which is produced in the body naturally and is responsible for just about every cell in the body. It is also a known natural pain reliever.

Other than that, apart from extreme tiredness (I must be very toxic - all the more reason to continue to the end), I am moving on slowly. Family dinner last night was shamefully a bought vegetable curry and rice from the local Supermarket for Mom, but Hubby decided to have a salad with springbok carpaccio (which we had in the snack drawer of the 'fridge - so that was handy), sprinkled with Bragg's liquid aminos, a little organic olive oil and finished with a grinding of pepper. I had bought a fresh loaf of rye and onion bread from the local baker and this was appreciated by both of them.

I will have to think about tonight's repast, but thankfully Hubby is fully supportive of this Cleanse, so will understand and step in if I ask nicely. Mom on the other hand can't for the life of her see why someone would deliberately make themselves feel ill. "Just stop it for goodness sake and eat a nice sandwich or something!"