I think it’s quite prevalent that we as South Africans (in particular) eat far more meat than what we should #coverseyes, but then comes the question….can you blame us? We’ll be the first to admit that us girls at BornThree do love our meat and there’s nothing better than a good ‘ol braai any day of the week really, but with that said….do we really know what it’s doing to our bodies?? And without sounding too holier than thou, do we know what our meat eating tendencies are actually doing to the planet?? But I think the latter is a whole other issue for a whole other story…haha. So we’ve now decided that we’re going to commit every Monday of the week to being a “Meat Free Monday” and we’re really excited about that because there’s SO many amazing restaurants and incredible home cooked recipes for meat free meals that will absolutely blow your mind 🙂
We had the pleasure of sitting down with James, the owner and brainchild of Sexy Food in Bree Street , Cape Town and he shared his knowledge with us regarding how he’s been living for the last 10 years and how it’s completely changed his body and mind. James’ world changed many years back when he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer 🙁 and went through many various medicinal treatments before turning to the food he chose to put into his body which then in turn changed everything again. James clarified to us that he’s not 100% vegan nor does he confine himself to any limiting eating categories, but more along the lines of and I quote “adding ancient methods into modern times” and by that he means in layman’s terms ~ adding the natural fermentation process of foods to all meals, therefore using real live probiotics as tasty condiments, which in turn makes it easier for our bodies to pull minerals and nutrients from the food, which essentially makes it easier for our bodies to digest. Fermented food creates interesting flavours, textures, ad scents without the use of chemicals, preservatives or harmful ingredients.
It’s so simple and really makes so much sense when you actually listen to the facts ~ our gut needs a very diverse amount of probiotics (real live beneficial bacteria) to thrive and be healthy, and the more natural the better a.k.a from whole food and organic ingredients, and not in the form of pills or powders….As we get older we produce fewer digestive juices and enzymes so probiotic foods can compensate for this. When hydrochloric acid in the stomach is low, fermented food helps increase gastric juice acidity. When there’s too much acid, it helps protect the stomach and intestinal lining. Organic compounds are metabolised into more elemental forms, minerals become more bio-available and difficult compounds are broken down. Carbohydrates in fermented food are broken down and pre-digested. This is particularly good for people with diabetes.
Research has shown that by changing your diet and introducing these micro and macrobiotics into your gut that it in turn can help with depression and cancer. All disease, mental and physical, start in the gut. Cultivating beneficial gut bacteria is your first line of defence against cancer and many other serious diseases. It does this by boosting your immune system at the places you’re almost always hit first with – toxins, heavy metals, parasites, fungi, and harmful bacteria.
Sexy Food has everything and anything your heart desires from Kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, organic vegetables, fresh alfalfa sprouts, Kombucha in an array of flavours, Buchu water & so much more and they have even gone so far as to create an in-house probiotic range for retail where you can run in a grab what you need so you can enjoy it at home. There’s really no excuse not to eat this way because there are “no options” available. They partnered up with an incredible organic farm, Rose Estate, which delivers locally grown, locally cultured, FRESH produce on the daily basis which is incredible!
They have a rather extensive menu with yummy breakfasts, sourdough sandwiches, soups, sexy salads and bun-less burgers. Our favourites from the menu were definitely the “Gut Shot” which is a naturally cultured vegetable “kimchi juice” shot so very much like a pickled gherkin juice but without all the added sugar and vinegar….winning!
Their “Kefir Smoothies’ which comprise of powerful probiotic yoghurt with banana, raw honey and combinations of flavours like rooibos & coconut, turmeric & chia, cocao & coffee or spirulina & mint were incredible.
The “Bun-less Burger” which comprises of different signature vegetable patties and in this case we chose the Savoury Lentil patty, which comes nestled on a bed of living heaven! It was out of this world and what we also really loved is that most things are served with their in-house kimchi and kraut of the day, the sexiest probiotic dressing in the world, Casanova lettuce, spiralled cucumber, avocado, raw activated sunflower sprinkles and more…
We also tried their “kimchi pate’of the day” which was made with red pepper on our visit and was absolutely scrumptious!! The plates look like colourful masterpieces when they put them down in front of you and you just can’t help yourself but (take a picture first haha) and then dive right in!
They’re situated at 190 Bree Street, Cape Town so if you’re in the area and feel like treating yourself to something different and AMAZING then we say DO IT!! Go follow them on Facebook to keep track of all things new and go check out their website for any more info you may need ~ www.sexyfood.co.za
I hope we’ve managed to get you excited about giving Meat Free Monday a bash and we promise to do our best at bringing you some AWESOME recipes and ideas to keep it fresh 😉
Much love
US
XXX
