The Magic of Bee Pollen

Bee Pollen is one of natures complete nourishing superfoods. Let's take a look at what's so good about it:

1. It is packed with protein in amino acid form, so it is easily digestible and won’t putrefy in your intestines
2. It contains all essential amino acids, about 20-25% complete protein 
3. Bee pollen has a varied and high mineral content, Including calcium, potassium, chlorine, magnesium, copper, manganese, iron, zinc, as well as trace minerals such as iodine, silicon, boron, and sulfur
4. It contains about 5,000 enzymes, co-enzymes, carbohydrates and essential fatty acids 
5. High in Vitamins A, E C, K, and almost all B’s including vitamin B12 (one of the few vegan sources of B12) and folic acid. 
6. Contains flavonoids that have significant antioxidant properties such as Luteolin, an agent in the prevention of inflammation, a promoter of carbohydrate metabolism, and an immune system modulator.

So what this means for our bodies:

The Minerals in bee pollen are needed for the intra and extracellular communication that emanates from DNA and for its repair. Health and disease can both be traced back to either an adequate amount or a lack of minerals. Enzymes are necessary in the body for digestive and immune functions and the ones present in pollen are especially important for a balanced chemical metabolism – which makes it a great food for weight management. Consuming bee pollen has been known rejuvenate, stimulate organs and glands, rebuild the body after illnesses and improve physical performance.

One of the best things about bee pollen is that is detoxifies the body by flushing out artery-clogging biochemical deposits, not only does it correctly detoxify the body but it also protects the skin against dehydration and stimulates its growth, great for the Australian climate! Bee pollen encourages metabolism and curbs the appetite due to its Phenylalanine content, one of the essential amino acids and also a powerful antioxidant.

Bee pollen should be introduced to your diet slowly. If you are unsure, speak to your doctor about adding it to your diet. For an easy way to introduce this the Love SuperBlend is a tasty way of adding it to smoothies, cereals and fruit.

Bee Pollen fans include Victoria Beckham, Nicole Kidman and Kimberly Snyder

NiceCream - Banana and Grape topped with love SuperBlend

For those of you who may not know what 'NiceCream' or 'NanaIceCream' is, don't worry, for I did not know either. 

This dairy free alternative to ice cream has become somewhat of an Instagram phenomenon. I made some yesterday and just so you know - this does require a little bit of preparation. If you want to make this I suggest you put some of your favorite fruits in the freezer. I'm talking about strawberries, bananas with the skin off and wrapped in clingfilm, grapes, blueberries, chopped up mango and wrapped in clingfilm.... you get the point.

This one I did yesterday involved 1 frozen banana and a handful of frozen grapes.

I put all of the ingredient into a blender, chopped up, and whizzed until it became an ice cream consistency. This can take a while so be patient.

I then topped it off with some delicious local Fremantle figs and some Love SuperBlend! 

This is an awesome dairy free frozen treat alternative!

Tomorrow I will try it with Strawberry's and Banana :) 

Will You Marry Me? Yes or No?

The wedding celebrations and ceremonies are starting to flow. I'm 26 years old and my partner is 30, so this is to be expected. It all started last year when my childhood friend got married, then basically everyone on Facebook started to get engaged. This year I have been to 2 weddings and next year I have 3 to go to..... so far.

Having been in a relationship now for around 7 years I often think about marriage. Do I want to get married.... why would I want to get married.... lots of questions about the entity of marriage really. The whole concept doesn't seem to be getting old, in fact I think marriage is as popular as ever, I for one actually love a good wedding, but as for myself? I'm honestly not sure.

Below is a list of  reasons I would get married for (some of them might seem a little trivial)

1. To spend a day with friends and family in a positive environment
2. To have a massive party
3. Security for my children
4. To make memories that will last.
5. Cool Photos (Solange Knowles - esk)

 

I didn't put 'Love' in there because why would I get married for Love? I already have the Love part. My list is actually pretty small isn't it? Let have a look at why I wouldn't get married:

1. Insane cost for one weekend (although I don't think my wedding would be too lavish)
2. Big Massive Huge Commitment
3. Fear of marriage failure

I am inherently a very cynical person, so you might be thinking that I am taking a very practical approach on this subject, every big decision needs some degree of thought. I think there is a lot of pressure and expectation with this subject and a lot of people do it because they think they have to, they are maybe turning thirty and think its 'about time' they got married or all of their friends may be married and they may feel excluded because of this. I don't know... but I wont take the decision lightly unless I'm in one of the 'Fuck It' moods  (plus divorces only cost about $500 and are totally acceptable in our society)...

Thoughts on marriage????

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Trekking Colombias Lost City (Ciudad Perdida)

After a short flight from Medellin to Santa Marta I arrived at a dream of a hostel, and a great spot for relaxing before a 4 day hike into the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

The Lost City treks starts at a small town nicknamed 'Machete' (it's actually called El Malmey) due to the towns reputation of locals drunkenly holding machete fights in the streets, my guide, Carlos, told us there were many deaths amongst the young men and severed digits of the people who tried to get involved.

We set off from Machete around 2 pm, full of anticipation to get going and make it to the 1st camp for the night. I didn’t look up details or read about other people’s experiences of this trek so I really didn’t know what to expect, so when we stopped after about 40 minutes to swim in the fresh water river I was pretty happy, little did I know that we have an hour ascent, the hardest part of the trek, yet to come. 

Yes. It was hard. I think I got my first blister on that part of the trek. After the initial pain and suffering of having to walk uphill for over an hour the scenery is worth it and the path gets easier, allowing us to pick up the pace abit. We did 6 km that afternoon and arrived at our camp, Alfredo, at around 6 pm.

Day 2 involved a 14 km hike to the base camp near the Lost City and after an awful night’s sleep in a smelly hammock, this, to me, sounded horrible.

This day ended up being my favorite, after walking over fields and mountains we eventually hit the jungle, making the heat more bearable and the sounds around us more interesting. At lunch Carlos took us on a cliff jumping tour of the river which was hilarious, he is like a big kid (with a machete).

We got the chance to meet the (spiritual) Shaman who actually looks like Naboo, the Shaman off the Mighty Boosh, but with abit less bling. I bought a handmade bracelet off him and he said this would bring me luck, so I'm not taking it off.... apparently he predicted that a village would be flooded and told one of the kids to go and tell them, when the kid went to the village they told him to stop being silly and to go home, they didn't move and a year later they were wiped out by a flashflood, Carlos also told us that he has predicted that 3 Cities on the coast will be wiped out by a Tsunami, including Santa Marta.

Anyhoo.... Day 3 involved getting up at 5.30 am to start trekking to the Lost City for 6 am. We climbed 1200 steps before 7 am! I have NEVER done that before and will probably never do it again (I mean exercise before 7am not climbing steps).

 The Lost City is massive, the area that everyone takes pictures of is where the richest people of the City used to live and this is the most maintained area, it is also used as a heli pad for when politicians want to visit.

There is so much interesting history here, but I’m not going to tell you, you should just go! Our guide, Carlos has been running tours since 1982 and is also a local farmer, he has hundreds of stories from the area and the history of the Ciudad Perdida, plus he is a funny man (I think. He spoke Spanish and I did not). Enjoy the pictures!