Know Any Literary Animal Lovers?
Hi there PureJeevan readers! We wanted to let you know that Jim's new novel CHROO is available on Amazon. It's a crazy adventure involving a billionaire heiress, her Chihuahua BFF ("Chroo") and a host of human and animal characters. Find out more on Amazon! Here are some links:
Wow, what an amazingly informative week here at Pure Jeevan. We've been featuring some great "My Raw Story" installments focusing on diabetes reversal via raw foods (and have more to come!). We've also been actively trying to encourage you to step forward and join the movement to reverse diabetes naturally.
Why are we dedicating an entire week to diabetes?
- 8% of the US population has diabetes. That s 23.6 million adults and children. 17.9 million are diagnosed. 5.7 are undiagnosed.
- There are 57 million people with pre-diabetes in America. That s 19.3% of the population!
- Heart Disease & Diabetes: Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about 2 to 4 times higher than adults without diabetes.
- ... and MANY more alarming statistics. See our diabetes page for more!
Many individuals have no idea that diabetes can not only be reversed via a raw food diet, but a person's life can be filled with health and vitality again. This Saturday, April 25 (Wendi's birthday!), is Reversing Diabetes Naturally Awareness Day. Together, we can spread this important and life-changing news.
I thought I'd put another fun week together here at Pure Jeevan while Wendi is away (although, actually, ALL of our weeks are fun-filled here!). This week, I thought I'd discuss herbs, spices, and essential oils. Of course, I can't cover those enormously important (and huge) subjects in-depth over the course of just one week, so I created that little banner (above) so that we can re-use it from time to time.
Herbs are fascinating, aren't they? Sometimes, you don't even consciously know why you use the ones you do but, invariably, there's a reason. Sure, sometimes recipes call for a specific flavor. But, often, there are other reasons as well -- such as to support digestion, or to provide a warming or cooling sensaiton. This type of thing is critical in ayurvedic principles, as we touched on recently on this blog, where the spices could be present for digestive or medicinal purposes, or of course as a preservative.
Jim here... When you consider the agricultural and marketplace practices that affect the food we eat (e.g., pesticide use in the fields, widespread irradiation afterward, and the contamination of produce from various sources -- not to mention some of the disturbing potentialities we face in terms of further governmental intervention into the food chain), it leads one to the conclusion that, if we really want to eat the best food ever, growing it yourself is a great solution. It's also cheaper to grow your own and, in my opinion, more fulfilling than purchasing it (if you have the time and space to manage it, that is).
With all of these concerns (and more) in mind, we've launched a new series of interviews called "Know the Growers" in which I'll be interviewing organic farmers around the world on best practices in the field. Initially, we'll be publishing them every few weeks, most likely. Once we sell our home and are "full-time Pure Jeevan karma yogis," we'll be publishing them weekly (along with resuming our daily video series Know Your Food). I'll be publishing these organic farming interview transcripts on NaturalNews.com under their Citizen Journalist program.
Read more: Pure Jeevan Launches Natural News Interview Series Focusing on Organic Farming
Every week I introduce you to some companies or individuals I think may be interesting to you. This time, I want to intoduce you to some handy calculators that will help you monitor your daily intake of nutrients.
Take the time to meet...
Beginning today and running all through next week (and even spilling into the following week!), we'll be running videos from the Raw Spirit Festival (RSF East 2009) held in Upper Marlboro, MD, last weekend. If you've never attended a RSF event, you absolutely must. They're the best ever!
Well, here's my latest update on my nine days of mono meal eating. I have a headache this evening and I'm headed to bed early. I'm hoping the headache is a detox symptom and that it will be gone when I wake up.
April 9, 2008
Over the weekend, we visited the spectacular Oregon Country Fair in Eugene and, once again, experienced a joyful and overwhelming sense of recognition that we're living in a place where people are much more accustomed to just being themselves.
Personal expression and nonconformity are so valued here that one becomes quickly enamored of the whole ambiance, which could well explain why more people come to Oregon than leave. The region seems to represent, to many, a chance to finally discover and explore an identity perhaps not completely free from outside influence, but at least free from the undesirable influences that society elsewhere seems to insist upon. Or maybe I'm misreading it all and providing just one of many interpretations.
I suppose that, when you buy more produce than the average consumer, you come to observe a thing or two about that produce. We can't say for sure that our assertion is 100% true, but it sure does seem true to us. You see, we've noticed that produce we purchase at farmers' markets tends to keep longer than store-bought. Give it a try yourself, and see if your produce stays fresher longer!
Of course, there are many other benefits to shopping at farmers' markets. Aside from the produce being able to stay fresh longer, you're getting it in a much fresher state than store-bought. So, the things you eat first will be "extra" fresh tasting.
Read more: Produce Buying Tip: Farmers' Market Produce Lasts Longer!
Above is a quick camera-phone pic I posted to our Facebook group lately. I did talk about making raw parfaits on that page, but want to talk a little more about them today, as it's just the perfect time to be talking about delicious raw parfaits (at least here in America, in any case, where many of the fresh berries you'll probably want are cheap and in season). I'll share a brief story about them, and then share my own basic recipe, and then we'll make some plans for MORE parfait talk really soon, okay?
I'm almost hesitant to talk about raw food parfaits here because, well, if the government found out how unbelievably healthy and ENJOYABLE parfaits are, I'm sure they'd make them illegal. But, I'll take a chance...
Well, I hope we're finally approaching the true end-game of our whole move. We now have our home listed with a new realtor (no longer going it alone as a "for sale by owner" scenario), so we're hoping that a renewed effort (and a lower price) will attract a buyer. The market seems to be perking back up a little as well, which certainly can't hurt anything.
Thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions for places we should consider moving to. I assure you that we researched each and every one to an almost ridiculous degree. There are more amazing places to live than we ever knew, and we were delighted to learn about some areas with which we weren't very familiar -- funky little enclaves in Texas, Tennessee, New Mexico, etc. I think we've hinted as to our inclinations before, but I can tell you that, after so many months of intense deliberation, we believe the best domestic home for Pure Jeevan is probably in Oregon.
A Pure Jeevan family members asks:
How do I eat dandelions? I heard they are good for me, but I tasted one and they are so bitter. I don't know how I could ever eat them, even if they are supposed to be so good for me. Can you help
First, congratulations on being so open-minded when it comes to trying new things! Too many people never move far away from their comfort zones, especially when it comes to diet, and they miss out on a lot. So, good for you to at least consider and then try dandelion greens!