Newsletter June 2007

“This year our winter was on a Tuesday.”

That was the message on our notice board over the weekend. Really fantastic weather we’ve been having down here while the rest of the country was caught in numerous bitterly cold spells
Having said that, and knowing my luck at predicting anything in life, it might just change in the week ahead. I did have a sneak preview of the weather patterns for this coming week as we are doing a quick round trip to good old Gauteng from Wednesday to Saturday. Why was I not surprised when the bureau said: “Gauteng residents should brace themselves for a strong cold front and isolated showers accompanied by wind in the coming week, said the National Forecast Centre in Pretoria on Sunday”. It went on to predict as follows: “The cold front is likely to pass through Gauteng some time on Tuesday night. Wednesday is expected to be much colder, with the wind contributing to the chilly conditions. Early-morning temperatures are likely to fall sharply on Thursday as a result of the wind dropping on Wednesday night”.
Now call that bad luck but that is exactly when we have to be there. My son Christiaan is turning twenty one years old on Wednesday and I will not miss that for anything in the world; least of which, a little cold front!

Coming back to the point about our own weather at the coast, what a blessing to be here in the winter. Beautiful clean sea, crisp fresh air, seabirds all around, dolphins, whales and many more. Let us hope that the rest of the winter spectacle will this year arrive in all it’s glory: The annual Sardine migration. Last year they managed to slip past or maybe they never even ventured this far North before turning East, one will never really know. I just hope that they will arrive in their millions. Always a true moment of awe to see the whole ocean becoming alive with movement, colour and life!

We would like to express our happiness with the return of Doctor Manda Brits to her surgery after a recent spell of bad health. We are delighted that she is getting stronger every day and that her patients can again benefit from her personal attention. It is our wish that she recovers completely.
It has been very quiet on the coast for the last couple of weeks and the businesses are really feeling the brunt of whatever caused this complete drop in trade. The recent and ongoing public sector strike is not helping either. As a local businessman, all I can ask for is that the public support the local businesses as much as possible. Negotiate an acceptable fee, insist on excellent service levels, and once that is achieved, support that business.Support the small private businesses in your area. They are the main entities offering much needed employment; they are in fact the back-bone of the economy, both local as well as national. The corporate world is not always the answer. Think about it for a little while.

Keep barbecue cancer-free

Now that we have officially reached the midway point of winter, and with the more than excellent weather experienced recently, a lot of us are heading outdoors for that great South African way of life called the weekend braai. Where else can one truthfully discuss the reasons for the Springbok’s failure to beat the All Blacks than around a crackling fire waiting for the coals to settle. The nice piece of meat picked with great care and prepared with even more attention to detail is lying ready to be sacrificed for your culinary delight.
But; it is not all good news I’m afraid, and I’m not referring to the Rugby Test. According to a lot of publications over the years the process of cooking meat over very high temperatures can cause long term health problems. Fortunately we now have some ideas to limit the effect. Researchers have found ways to limit cancer-causing substances in your weekend braai meat. Among the cancer-causing compounds in cooked meat are heterocyclic amines (HCAs), which are created when heat acts on amino acids (building blocks of protein), and creatinine in animal muscle. The longer the cooking time and the higher the heat, the more HCAs. That means that barbecuing produces the most HCAs, followed by pan-frying and broiling. Baking, poaching, stir-frying and stewing produce the least HCAs.

The experts offer the following advice for limiting HCAs:
·Before you barbecue meat, partially cook it in the microwave and then throw out the juices that collect in the cooking dish. Finish cooking the meat on the grill. Precooking a rack of ribs for a few minutes in the microwave reduces HCAs by up to 95 percent.
· Flip meat often. Doing so every minute reduces HCAs by up to 100 percent. This is likely because constant flipping keeps internal meat temperatures lower.
· Marinate meat before grilling. This can greatly reduce HCAs. For example, one study found that chicken marinated for 40 minutes in a mixture of brown sugar, olive oil, cider vinegar, garlic, mustard, lemon juice and salt cut HCAs by 92 percent to 99 percent.
· Don't cook meat to "well done." Use a meat thermometer and cook poultry to an internal temperature of 74-82 degrees C, ground beef, pork and lamb to 71-77 degrees C, and beef steaks and roasts to 63-71degrees C.
· One or two days before you barbecue, eat cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale and brussels sprouts. These vegetables contain compounds that activate enzymes in the body that detoxify HCAs.

Whatever you do, enjoying the food is always the main thing. Fixing Jake White’s errors are not that easy though but, following the above tips on how to braai and the expert advice offered by your fellow rugby advisors around the fire, the day might just turn out to be a great success!

‘n Bietjie oor Vitamienes en aanvullings:

Spring jy verkoue vry as jy aanvullings gebruik? Moet jy meer vitamiene sluk wanneer jy gestres is? Sonder vitamiene en minerale sou ons doodgaan, want dié mikrovoedingstowwe is noodsaaklik om die gestel gesond en lewend te hou.
Vitamiene en minerale hou jou gesond deur die liggaam se biochemiese prosesse te bevorder. Van dié elemente speel ’n deurslaggewende rol in gesondheid. Magnesium bevorder byvoorbeeld minstens 300 verskillende biochemiese reaksies in die liggaam. Die liggaam kan onmoontlik behoorlik funksioneer as daar ’n tekort aan vitamiene en minerale is.
Uitermatige moegheid, slapeloosheid, buierigheid en depressie is tipiese simptome van ’n dieet wat te kort skiet aan noodsaaklike mikrovoedingstowwe. Die vitamiene en minerale wat ons inkry, behoort hoofsaaklik van vrugte en groente afkomstig te wees. Maar moderne voedselverwerkingsmetodes, arm grond en ’n ongebalanseerde dieet beteken ongelukkig dat ons verreweg nie genoeg vitamiene en minerale inkry nie.
Dis veral noodsaaklik dat mense wat weens siekte, ouderdom of spesiale diëte nie gebalanseerd eet nie ’n omvattende reeks aanvullings gebruik. Goeie voeding help die liggaam ook om weerstand teen siektes en infeksies te bied. Vitamiene en minerale gee jou boonop energie en lewenslus en bevorder langlewendheid.
Werk aanvullings net as jy dit elke dag gebruik?Luister na jou liggaam. Jy kan aanvullings sporadies gebruik, bv. wanneer jy siek is, of so besig is dat jy maaltye oorslaan. Dis ’n wanopvatting dat jy elke soort vitamien en mineraal in die aanbevole daaglikse dosis nodig het.Die liggaam kom trouens maklik reg met die wisselende vlakke van voedingstowwe wat dit deur die loop van die dag inkry. Boonop hou die liggaam ’n voorraad van amper alle soorte voedingstowwe in reserwe – insluitend vitamien C. Aanvullings werk vinnig. As jy dus danksy ’n tekort aan vitamiene of minerale (veral yster) nie lekker voel nie, sal jy waarskynlik binne ’n paar dae beter voel as jy dit vir ’n rukkie gebruik.
Is dit beter om aanvullings soggens of saans te drink? En behoort dit saam met of sonder kos geneem te word? Die meeste aanvullings word nie behoorlik op ’n nugter maag geabsorbeer nie en moet dus saam met kos geneem word. Dis nie belangrik hoe laat jy aanvullings drink nie, solank dit naby etenstyd is. Die nadeel van aanvullings net voor slaaptyd is dat dit dikwels ure ná jou laaste maaltyd is. Soggens is gewoonlik ’n goeie tyd, mits jy ’n gesonde ontbyt geniet. Yster-aanvullings werk baie meer doeltreffend as jy dit met ’n glas lemoensap afsluk. Moenie tegelyk groot dosisse kalsium-aanvullings gebruik en kos eet wat ryk is aan yster nie, aangesien kalsium die liggaam se absorpsievlak vir minerale versadig en nie plek laat vir yster nie. Dit kan gebeur dat mense wat kalsium-aanvullings gebruik ’n ystertekort ontwikkel.
Kalsium word die beste geabsorbeer wanneer dit in kombinasie met magnesium gebruik word. En aangesien kalsium ’n natuurlike kalmeermiddel is, is dit raadsaam om dit voor slapenstyd te drink om ’n goeie nagrus te verseker.

That's it for June 2007!