Zuko - The Veggie Wizard

© 2021 Dr. Rath Health Foundation Published by the Dr. Rath Health Foundation Author: Mirja Holtrop Illustration and layout: Gisa Borchers All rights reserved. No part of this book may be transmitted in any form or by any means online, offline, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

Distribution: Dr. Rath Education Services B.V. Postbus 656 | 6400 AR Heerlen | The Netherlands Tel: +31 457 111 222 | Fax: +31 457 111 119 ISBN 978-94-92173-28-7

Mirja Holtrop

Eight-year-old twins Afiya and Sanyu are sitting at the kitchen table while their mom prepares a family meal: lots of fresh veggies, lentils and steamed wholegrain rice. There is lovely, colorful fruit, too, for a fruit salad.

Beyond the window the kids see that the neighbors are having a massive barbecue with giant bags of potato chips and liters of Coke.

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Wow, look at what Mukisa and his folks are having!

You see the great big pudding bowl on the table? That’s a dessert, I bet.

That’s not nice, this food is far better for you than the rubbish they’re having.

And yet we have to eat stupid rabbit food.

‘But it doesn’t taste that nice,’ Sanyu grumbles, picking up his fork as she sets his plate before him, and starting to dig in. ‘Well,’ says his mom patiently, ‘often what seems nice turns out to be the very opposite. You remember Mukisa’s dad was in hospital last year after having a stroke? Well, no wonder, seeing what they’re eating.’

‘But they say that things like strokes run in the family, and it’s down to the genes,’ argues Afiya, taking a bite of broccoli.

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At that moment it is as if a cloud bursts overhead, and, as the rain comes pelting down, the neighbors grab everything they can – the sausages, burgers, by-now soggy chips – and head indoors, leaving the barbecue pouring forth smoke.

Rain.

Thank the Lord!

The plants have been crying out for it!

What are genes, Mom?

For someone who doesn’t like ‘rabbit food’, he is

making short work of the food on his plate.

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‘Well now…’ Mom wonders how best to explain. ‘It’s as if our genetic information was all stored in teeny-tiny computer programs inside our body cells, and it helps to decide what we look like, how tall we grow, the things we’re good at. Even twins can “run in families”, as Afiya put it.

Because my mom, your grandma, had twins, I was told that it was twice as likely that I, too, would be so blessed.’

So then, if everything is down to genes, what’s the point of eating all these veggies?

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Rain slaps against the window. If the kids’ eyes don’t deceive them, a big cloud overhead has turned quite green, and something dazzlingly bright drops from the sky like a falling star.

Did you see that?

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Maybe a superman was just born. Remember that movie?

‘Yes, and now finish your food,’ says Mom, who has her back turned and was too busy slicing pawpaw into the fruit salad to witness the amazing event.

The rain is already blowing over, and I need you to help me in the garden.

Carrying bowls of fresh fruit salad to the window, Afiya and Sanyu see that the neighbors have come out again – they’re standing around the smoldering barbecue, still clutching their Cokes and hamburger buns.

They seem so much healthier than us, Mom, they have far more meat on the hips than we have.

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That’s where you’re wrong, Afiya.

It’s really dangerous to carry too much body fat.

It disrupts the body’s vital metabolic functions – you know, the way it breaks down food and uses it to repair itself, and gets rid of the poisons and pollution we all have to deal with when we cross the road, breathe in air or drink tap water.

Mom, how do you know all of this?

Hmm. I have a secret friend, a small green wizard from a different world, traveling through the universe to help those in need. His name is Zuko. Sometimes Grandpa could get in contact with him and that’s when we met.

Mom looks at her daughter with a twinkle in her eye, she taps the side of her nose and smiles.

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Wow, I’d love to see him, Mom!

Ah, but I can’t make that happen.

I haven’t seen the veggie wizard perform his magic for a while. Still, maybe, if you’re really lucky, one day he’ll come to see you.

And now please hurry, you have to help me with the beans. Look, see, the sun is out again.

Behind the family house, the garden has been planted with all manner of good things. There are rows of carrots with their feathery leaves, apple trees, plum trees, orange trees, celery, beans, peanuts, cucumber, a large mango tree, figs and lettuces. In one carefully tended bed, a dozen splendid cauliflowers sit alongside onions and leeks. A big tree affords some shade to protect the plants from the fiercest of the sun’s rays.

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These beans are ready for picking.

Come on, you two, we’ll harvest them together.

Check this out!

A ginormous, wiggly earthworm!’

Put him down at once.

Mr Worm is our friend, he’s so good for our land, he breaks up the soil and enriches it, and without moisture he’ll die.

Now, when we’re done with the beans, we can pull some carrots.

We might as well offer the neighbors some; we already have more than we can eat.

Ooh, yuck!

All slimy!

But will they even eat them?

They don’t seem to like vegetables very much, unless you count potato chips.

Afiya wrinkles her nose doubtfully.

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After an hour of hard work, Mom and Afiya and Sanyu have filled two large baskets of beans and carrots, they’ve picked a bowlful of figs and harvested some lettuces.

They have also picked slugs off the plants, because they’re a menace, and they take them to the river and feed them to the ducks.

The day’s work is done.

While Mom and Afiya take the afternoon’s haul inside, Sanyu carefully washes some muddy carrots with rainwater from the barrel.

He puts them in a basket, pops some beans and figs on top, adds a magnificent lettuce, carries his offering next door and rings the bell.

Sanyu!

What can I do for you?

Nothing.

I brought you a gift from my mom, all freshly picked today.

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Here, this is from my mom for you!

‘You’d better come in,’ says Mukisa uncertainly, and leads him into the lounge, where the grown-ups are sprawled out in armchairs looking overfed and dull around the eyes, and weary.

Sanyu sets the basket down on a low table littered with empty chip bags and glasses with the dregs of Coke.

And we don’t have any donkeys to eat the carrots, we don’t have any cattle to eat the beans, ho-ho-ho.

Ha-ha.

Thanks so much, but we’ve already eaten.

We’re stuffed.

For some reason, they seem to find it all very funny.

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Now, if you were to bring us a nice, juicy steak…

Okay, no worries.

Sanyu is fighting back the tears, because he knows his mom meant only kindness in sharing their bounty.

And as he lugs the basket back with him, dropping figs and carrots along the way, he can still hear the laughter echoing in his ears.

He’s only glad his mother doesn’t see him as he creeps down to the cellar where the fresh produce is stored, and unloads the basket.

They thought it was one big joke.

Sanyu and Afiya eat a supper of sandwiches with delicious ripe tomatoes.

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Then, ‘What was it that we saw today?’ asks Afiya later, through a froth of toothpaste, as they brush their teeth ready for bed. ‘You did see it too?’

‘The green cloud?

‘The falling star?’

‘Yes, I saw it.’ As he rinses his toothbrush, Sanyu mumbles about the blazing trail during daylight.

‘It was a superhero flying down to earth.’

‘A superhero, yes,’ says Afiya with a giggle before rinsing her mouth.

Side by side they lie in their beds, marveling at the stars in the dark velvet sky, and, as their eyes close and they drift off to Dreamland, they imagine they are floating in the universe, visiting distant galaxies,

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WHAT WAS THAT?

All at once Afiya and Sanyu are sitting bolt upright, as something thumps on the roof above their heads. ‘The wind, maybe,’ says Sanyu, trying to sound fearless and cool. ‘ Yes, that will be it, just the wind tossing something up into the air and dumping it down on our roof.

And it’s true, the wind is blowing very hard – so hard that the window flies open, and into the room steps a shiny

green creature, not quite human, smaller than a man. He is wearing a cloak of some billowing material, and a tall, pointy hat.

Hey guys, it is me, Zuko. Don’t look so scared. I had a feeling you needed me, so here I am, the wizardest wizard that ever there was, at your service.

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You’re Zuko?

The Zuko Mom told us about?

Afiya’s eyebrows almost disappear into her hair, she’s so astonished.

That’s me.

The amazing, incredible, wonder-working wizard of all that is green on this good earth, a weaver of spells and a master of charms, if I do say so myself.

The veggie wizard!

You’re the veggie wizard?

Mom told us all about you, but she said we couldn’t call you up, we’d just have to hope that you‘d appear.

So here I am, I have come to tell you about the things that good food and bad food can do to the body, because I think I heard a certain someone complaining about “rabbit food” – am I right, or am I right, young Sanyu? Veggies are a main part of my wizard show, so that´s how I got this nickname.

Zuko is doffing his tall hat and bowing to her with great gallantry.

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A show?

We love a show, don’t we Afiya?

Hmm, well, more of a journey, if I’m honest, Come, come, I’ll take you with me. Here’s some fairy dust.

From nowhere he conjures a handful of dust as green as gooseberries, and sprinkles it over the astonished children.

Now see what happens!

The minute the dust touches them, they start to lift into the air, floating free, as they did in their dreams.

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Beautiful Zuko!

Like in Peter Pan!

Zuko takes their hands and they zip out through the window and swoop like swallows into the clouds, so high that their home looks like a doll’s house beneath them, and all around them is silence. Afiya is a little afraid but very excited. ‘Checkthis out, how small we are!’

‘We are just tiny specks of life in the limitless universe,’ says Zuko.

‘There is our river,’ Afiya points to the river that runs past their house.

‘Looks like a blood vessel, doesn’t it?’ says Zuko.

‘A blood vessel? Is that what our blood runs through?’ Sanyu asks.

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‘Yes, dear boy, and it’s our cue to perform some more magical magic. We could just float around here all night enjoying the quiet, but we have lessons to learn. You know what you look like from the outside. Now let’s check out how you look on the inside!’

Down, down they fly, back to earth, to land ever so gently on their neighbor’s doorstep.

Once again as if from nowhere, Zuko conjures a handful of dust, this time as pink as pomegranates, and sprinkles it over them.

The effect is incredible. They have a weird, shrinking feeling, and the next thing they know they’re so tiny that the powder specks seem the size of great boulders and they have to dodge them.

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Once again Zuko takes their hands, and they fly to a bedroom where Mukisa’s dad lies snoring and grunting like a pig.

Okay you two, there’s nothing to fear, so just join me for that joyride!

We will enter his body, but don’t worry, we are tiny enough not to hurt him. And we shall come out in one piece, I promise.

Even as he speaks, Mukisa‘s dad utters the most almighty snore, and the three of them are sucked right down into one of his lungs.

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Oh, tut, tut, it‘s even worse than I feared. This man has been smoking cigarettes.

Now, observe, from the lung cells we step into the blood vessels…

…and ride on a boat of red blood cells into the arteries.

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The red cells, you know, carry oxygen, and those white ones that you see, they gobble up intruders like us, so take care not to go near them, they’re just doing their job.

I don’t want to get eaten by my neighbor’s white blood cells.

You won’t.

Here is a spray that will make us invisible to them. Often, viruses use the same kind of camouflage to conceal themselves from the white cells.

Afiya is shivering and avoids contact with the huge cells, but one of them is already watching her with interest. Zuko is conjuring a squirter and giving them all a liberal dowsing of the camouflage spray.

Sure enough, the white blood cell that was hungrily eying Afiya blinks in confusion and sets off in search of other prey.

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They rise on their red-blood-cell boat and take the junction to the brain.

Disgusting!

We’ve got sticky yellow gunk all over us. It’s so yucky and smelly, and I can’t get it off me.

Me too.

Oh, it’s horrid!

They have not got far, however, when the boat comes to a halt, gummed up in a big yellow jelly on the wall of the artery. ‘Wash it off with blood serum,’ the wizard advises, but even that does not work very well.

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What was that?

Superglue?

And you know what?

This kind of unhealthy fat comes from the burgers you guys were so longing for this afternoon.

Yes. Animal fat.

One of the worst kinds of fats.

There are healthy ones, but this one certainly isn’t. The same goes for the fats from ice cream and chocolate.

That is called artery plaque, my dear, it consists of sticky bad fat that tries to fix the tears in the brittle artery walls.

What?

That smelly substance?

That is why this man got sick last year and suffered a stroke. Because his arteries were blocked.

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If the same thing had happened in the heart arteries, it would have ended in a heart attack.

If he doesn’t change his eating habits, there is further sickness on its way, as you can see here.

Wait.

So, you mean the yellow fat here in his blood vessel comes from the food he ate?

Yes. What else?

This substance is an intruder, and the poor body has to deal with it, all because the owner of the body makes the wrong food choices.

Look here at the damage it does.

Here lies the real reason for his disease.

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Nobody should blame it on the genes.

We are each of us responsible for what we put in our own mouth.

So, every burger and every chocolate bar has this yellow smelly jelly in it, right?

In essence, yes.

It is well concealed, but yes, it is there. And the more you eat of the wrong stuff, the more yellow problems your arteries have.

And if the arteries have problems, we have problems?

Big time!

Yes, your life depends on your artery health.

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But Zuko, these gaps here, where the fat sticks – where do those come from?

They come from too little of the right foods, and too much of the wrong ones. Sugary drinks like sodas are poison for the entire body. They deplete the body. See, see, almost every artery wall here is thin, grey and brittle, and it is just a question of time before they burst or get blocked.

Quick now, I sense Mukisa’s father is about to wake up.

Zuko takes the children back into the main artery,

… and then into the tiny lung arteries

… then into a smaller one

… and from there into the lung.

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There is a sensation like an earthquake, a bone-shaking vibration, and, with one almighty sneeze Mukisa’s father blows the three of them through his nostrils and clean out of his body.

Everyone okay?

Well, we must get you back to your beds or you’ll be fit for nothing in the morning.

They leave the house through the window, and once they’re standing on the ground he produces a handful of powder as blue

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as blueberries, shakes it over them, and – whoosh! – they grow back to their full size.

Fantastic, what a night!

The kids clap their hands with glee, so happy to have made it out alive, though they have much to think about after their adventure.

Get ready!

And it’s not over yet. Zuko is producing more of the gooseberry-green powder, tossing it over

them, and up they go, up, up, up, careful to be quiet, …

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…into their mom’s bedroom.

Another handful of the pink powder and they’re smaller than pinheads, smaller than specks of dust.

Then, as Mom draws a gentle breath, they float up inside her.

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‘Izzy wizzy,’ murmurs Zuko, as he gives them a good blast of his white-blood-cell repellant and they get aboard another red-blood-cell boat and sail down an artery.

Amazing!

I get it now.

It’s all the healthy food that Mom gives us, working right down at the cellular level.

How different it is in here! The artery walls are all firm and pink, not one brittle spot, no sticky yellow goo.

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It feels so healthy in here, and it’s not the least bit smelly.

This all has to do with the food on your plate.

When your Mom asks you to eat lots of fruit and veggies, she does it because she wants you to be healthy.

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There are tiny units in our food called “micronutrients”. Here, you see them? The colorful parcels?

Each one is different, and they make sure that everything inside here looks the way it should.

Check here, a cell in the wall just absorbed some ingredients of a parcel.

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Yes, I see it.

Looks like they munch certain contents and others they give back?

Wow! So where do the parcels come from?

Correct!

The cells in these walls basically eat the parcels and live from them.

We shall see that next, and it’s somewhere you both know very well. But first, let’s get out of here. Our spray doesn’t last long, I don’t have any spare, and these white guys look hungry!

They leave the boat, enter the lung and, as their mom, having sweet dreams, breathes a long, contented sigh, they are wafted back into her bedroom.

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Now children, follow me and I’ll show you the most sacred place.

As he runs out of the house the kids follow barefoot. In the garden, Afiya accidently steps on an overripe mango that has fallen from the tree.

h!

Squelc

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Everything that grows in here makes these parcels that we’ve just seen in the bloodstream.

So, this is a sacred space. It keeps you alive. For a long time.

The wizard throws his arms wide as if to embrace the whole scene.

Why did Mukisa’s father not take my carrots then?

Because he and his family have not yet learnt anything of this.

It’s all new to them, and people often laugh at what they don’t understand. Don’t take it personally. Their taste buds aren’t used to veggies yet, it takes a while to get them to crave healthy food. They may appear rude, but they just don’t know any better.

What ought we to do?

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I’m very busy and can’t help everyone.

I’m needed in Australia in about five minutes’ time. And from there I have to go to America, where they have big problems.

But you can help!

Spread the word, children. Tell Mukisa about what you saw tonight, and thank your mom for all those tasty veggie dishes. Learn from her about gardening and share the knowledge. It won’t just help you, Muksia and his dad, it will help the entire community.

What I can do is to leave a little of my special magic within you. Now, I really must fly!

There is a blinding flash as Zuko shoots skywards like a rocket, and a trail of twinkling stars, all the colours of the rainbow, drift down to earth, spingle, spangle.

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The morning sun kisses

Aifya’s eyelids, her eyes flutter open and she finds herself in bed.

Are you awake, Sanyu?

Yes. Woa, I had a funny dream!

Sanyu rubs his eyes.

Me too.

It was all so real.

But look, the sun is up, it must be late.

What…?

She throws off her blanket, sits upright and freezes, staring down at her feet, which are caked with soil.

After Zuko the wizard took us flying in the sky.

Mine are the same.

Last thing I remember, we were out in the garden, after…

After…

Sanyu is perched on the edge of his bed, gazing down at his muddy toes.

And then we shrank down to almost nothing and went to see Mukisa’s dad…

… from the inside.

Yes, but it’s not possible, it’s too crazy.

Either we were sleep walking, or we’re both going mad.

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Or we just both had the same weird dream, but is that even possible?

Oh, my goodness!

Oh, Sanyu, Sanyu, see that!’

Sanyu looks to where she is pointing, and just below the window he sees the faintest sprinkling of shiny green dust.

Well, at least Mom will believe us.

She was the one who told us about Zuko. Come on, let’s get washed and dressed and go and tell her our news.

We tell her that she was right.

That we’ve seen Zuko.

That he came because he knew he was needed.

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Good morning sleepy heads!

Mom is smiling at the twins, looking up from the stove where she is making millet porridge with blueberries and bananas for their breakfast.

Mom! Mom! You’ll never guess!

Zuko the Wizard came last night.

He was here.

Zuko?

Who’s Zuko?

Mom blinks. A frown creases her brow.

The veggie wizard… … The one you told us about.

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Oh, that Zuko.

Oh, my darlings, I’m sorry. There’s really no such person.

I just made him up to convince you to eat proper food.

Sanyu looks at Afiya and shakes his head. Afiya shrugs. They want to say, ‘But, Mom, he does exist.

We met him. We flew with him. We went next door and…’ But no grown-up is ever going to believe such a magical tale.

The following day Sanyu and Afiya are busy at the table, with their coloring books and crayons, drawing pictures of all that they saw on their night flight with Zuko. When they have added the words, they mean to ask Mom to read it, then maybe she will be convinced.

You know what?

What?

Well, what was it Zuko said before he whizzed off to America?

Afiya is too busy going dot, dot, dot, dot with a blue crayon, drawing the dust that made them grow back to size.

That we should thank Mom for all the lovely fresh food, and we should help her more in the garden.

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No, no, Afiya, after that. He said we should share what we’d learnt.

And if we just start with Mukisa and his folks, they share the secret and it will help the whole community.

So I’ve got an idea. First we say thank you to Mom, like we were told.

And we ask her to teach us more about growing good things. And then we ask if we can invite Mukisa and his family round to eat with us.

They’ll want burgers and Coke.

And potato chips.

Not if we make something magical.

We must use the special magic powers Zuko gave us to help Mom to create a banquet. What do you say?

Saturday morning was a busy time for Mom and Sanyu and Afiya, chopping, slicing, baking, steaming, as the kitchen filled up with the most inviting aromas.

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Mukisa’s mom smiles as she and Mukisa’s dad, and his sister and little brother, and his nanna and auntie and uncle troop through the door.

Mmm, something smells good!

Afiya is bringing a tray with glasses, all brimming with a fruit smoothie she just concocted.

Try one of these!

I can show you, I call it a curcumin and mango sunrise.

Nectar!

Clever girl! How did you make something so luscious?

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When the visitors set eyes on the table laid out with a buffet (well, really, a banquet) they cry with delight. There is a vegetable nut loaf with a mixed salad, eggplant lasagne, lentil stew, quinoa with spicy vegetables, chicken and olive rice, and a sumptuous fruit salad. They can’t wait to start.

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After their visitors have eaten every morsel, Sanyu puts on some music and they all start to dance.

That food was so yummy, and it’s even good for us. Whoever thought healthy food could be so scrumptious?

Mom, Pop, you must ask them to show us how to make such scrummy stuff.

We’ll do better than that.

We’ll help you to plant your own land with fruit and vegetables.

You’ll have enough to feed you all with lots to share with the village.

How does that sound?

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Next morning, Sunday, the twins are as good as their word, helping to weed and dig over the garden next door, pointing out Mr Worm, who will help with the hard work, and Mr Slug, who is only a nuisance.

And as Afiya tugs up a particularly big weed, she spots on one leaf the speck of green fairy dust. And she smiles but says nothing.

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