Intuitive Eating / Healing Story - Pure Jeevan Raw Foods

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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:

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Jim here... Yesterday, Wendi toughed it out and typed up a lengthy health update (a painful process for her -- trust me!). So, for the rest of this week, I'm going to fill in here (letting her get back to her resting and healing) and share a few interesting stories related to this Lyme adventure. But first, I wanted to add that today brought some great improvements in Wendi's condition. She was able to do a physical movement (wrapping a towel around her head) without pain for the first time in months. So, we really think those antibiotics are starting to kick in.

Today's topic is intuitive eating. I'm certain we've covered this many times on the blog here. So, rather than explain what it is again, I'll just share an intresting example. Basically, while dealing with these Lyme symptoms, Wendi experienced a serious craving for olives.

Going back a few years, I can remember when it was only myself and KDcat who would ever even touch olives in our household. I've carried on a life-long love affair with the little delicacies, in fact, dating back to my childhood when my Irish grandfather always gave me the olives from his martinis.

Much, much later (once we began studying raw foods three or four years back), we learned that most olives are not in fact raw;? most have been effectively cooked during the canning / jarring process. Whether the ones in the fancy olive bars (which seem to be ubiquitous in upscale grocers these days) are raw or not, I'm uncertain. (And, where we're uncertain, we usually assume things are not raw.)

Once you're a "raw food person," you naturally start to seek out raw versions of things not commonly found in their natural, raw state. Fortunately, most of these items (e.g., non-roasted nuts and seeds) are relatively easy to procure. Olives are a bit trickier. For us, we normally need to order from an online retailer. (I'll share some super olive links at the bottom of this post.)

We first discovered the availability of raw olives a few years back, and it was super-fun for me to witness Wendi transition from someone for whom the thought of olives did nothing to someone from whom you'd better hide your stash, lest she get into them and eat them all up!

Okay, just kidding. But, she really does love them now. Who knows why... Is it because raw changed her taste buds? Is it because the cooking process had always destroyed some essential nutrient Is it because many of the available raw varieties are of a higher caliber than what's widely available commercially ? Or is it because raw olives simply taste better to her than any of the canned ones she'd tried before? Who knows...

The interesting thing is not only that she began to like them (and she's now enjoyed them for at least a year now), but that she began to crave them. Wendi's always been uncommonly in tune with her body and has always had the experience of craving foods that her body needed to heal or address various issues (especially when we ate cooked foods and those physical ailments were significantly more common). Other times, a craving is simply a craving.

So, when she first began to crave olives, she thought that it related to a return to wanting tasty, richer foods after doing that five-day water fast. Her desire for olives reached a point, however, that matched her craving for coconut in the beginning of her raw journey. She knew her body was needing the olives, so she ordered six packs of them and couldn't think of anything but olives until they arrived.Here's what's interesting: when she looked into it more deeply, guess what olives are especially good for

A major symptom of Lyme is the joint inflammation and resultant arthritis-like feeling. Olives contain monounsaturated fats and phytonutrients (polyphenols and flavonoids) that help address this common problem. As such, inclusion of olives and olive oil in the diet is recommended for anyone suffering from inflammatory illnesses (such as rheumatoid arthritis).

So, this is just a small, but noteworthy example of how tuning into your body (or, at least learning to do so), and then taking action on that feeling, can actually result in getting the nutrition you need. Learning to listen to your body may not be an overnight process, of course. Quite often, it's helpful to observe how you feel after you've eaten something.

If you feel weighted down or sour, what is your body potentially telling you about that food? (I say "potentially" because there may be a variety of reasons why you feel the way you do.) Over time, though, this communication between yourself and your body can indeed be established -- and you can benefit directly from it!

Wendi has finished off the olives (maybe KDcat and I helped her out a bit), and we'll be ordering more very soon, since she's still desiring them a great deal. She's feeling so much better the past two days, so the olives may be helping as much as the antibiotic!

Okay, I know some of you want those olive links, as promised. These Botija olives are hands-down our favorites! They're 100% raw, 200% delicious, and 300% addicting. (I also wanted to note that, while commerce was not the point of this article, these links do go through our affiliate link with Natural Zing. Wendi has shared the links many times with our Pure Jeevan family because she loves these particular olives so much.)

http://tinyurl.com/SpicyBotijaOlives (spicy, but not overly so... these ones have pits, which makes you slow down a bit while eating them. They are also a bit less salty than the ones without pits, probably because no curing seasalt is entering the center where the pit is.)
http://tinyurl.com/HerbedBotijaOlives (just like the above ones, but with nice herbs instead of hot spices).
http://tinyurl.com/PeruvianOlives (no pits, and seasalt-cured, these can be eaten faster -- but try to pace yourself or you'll over-eat and that could mean a stomach ache! Great for flavoring up a raw pasta dish, too!)

If you try the olives (all on sale as of this writing), let us know what you think! We're sure you'll LOVE them. Here's a link to a vidoe of a recipe that Wendi created for my mother. It includes the olives (since my mother is an olive-lover, as well). Wendi? has received countless emails about how delicious this pasta sauce is...it's very much like a cooked pasta sauce from an upscale Italian restaurant! Here's the link: Paradisio Pasta Pomodoro!

Original Comments

Below, we have included the original comments from this blog post. Additional comments may be made via Facebook, below.

On September 16, 2009, Joanna_Steven wrote:

Thanks for the updates Jim! And thank you for links... I absolutely love olives but try not to eat too much as they are pricey.

How is 80-10-10 going? A friend of mine eats a low fat raw diet, and she might start drinking green juices while she trains to become a Bikram yoga instructor. Dr Graham is not in favor of juicing, but since she'll be so busy, eating enough greens will be easier that way.

On September 16, 2009, debbiedoesraw wrote:

Hey guys, this may sound out of left field.. and not vegan, but have you considered adding raw organic kefir to Wendi's diet? The good enzymes are off the charts.. I have added it to my diet the last six months and I found that I am stronger and feel better in the gut dept than even my 100% raw vegan with colonics and enemas and digestive enzymes regimen. Actually, I feel 1000% times better than I did six months ago.
If she is not game for raw milk of any sort, you can use water kefir grains and kefir things like coconut water and juices of all sorts.. Anthony is doing tons of it.. he is loving the results too. I think he also uses raw goats milk.

Just an idea, I don't want to offend, just offer anything that may help Wendi feel better and cut down the "bacteria killing" that the anitbiotics will do in her gut.
Love you lots
deb

On September 16, 2009, Bethany wrote:

I'm so so so so so so so happy to hear that things are looking up.
Love you, Wendi!

On September 16, 2009, Jim Dee wrote:

Hey Joanna-

Yeah, they're ***SO*** delicious. Like, dangerously! :-)

As for my 80-10-10 experiment, well I've kind of slipped back into a relatively normal raw existence lately -- striking a fair enough balance in terms of fat consumption, largely. Lately, though (after ordering those olives and a ton of raw pistachios!), I ve really been feeling weighted down. Over the past two days especially, I've been doing a little reflection as to how I feel on various regimens -- and, I have to admit that my extended low fat raw vegan trial produced some of the best energy I've ever felt. There was a terriffic, electric, lightness to my existence back then, and I want it back in the worst way. So, I finally decided just tonight in fact that I'm going back to it. So, we all went to our co-op tonight and I bought about 6 lbs of grapes, a couple cantaloupes, major apples and oranges, pears, and so much lettuce it barely fit in the fridge. So, the bottom line is that I veered from it, but I'm going back :-) But, I don't know if I'm technically 811, as I do love juicing and probably break a few additional 811 "rules" from time to time. For my body, a generic low-fat RV lifestyle is probably an optimal existence.

On September 16, 2009, Jim Dee wrote:

Wow, you & Wendi are on the same page here, Deb! Just the other day, she asked me to see if our co-op had any vegan kefir and, if they didn't, to pick up some more vegan acidophilous (since she's going to be on the antibiotics long-term). Our co-op has 5 or 6 different kefirs, but nothing vegan, so I grabbed her the acidophilous.

On September 16, 2009, rubyvroom wrote:

I remember Wendi mentioning on Twitter how much she loved the olives from Natural Zing. I am out right now, but jonesing for some really bad after reading this post! I am heading straight over to Chef Bliss' site to order some right now!!

xoxo.....Penni

On September 16, 2009, Chris wrote:

Yay! Great to hear that things are looking up. I hope this weekend will bring a lot of benefit too, it should be wonderful weather! :)

On September 16, 2009, debbiedoesraw wrote:

great minds.... Anthony has water kefir grains for sale, you can kefir just about anything with them!
xoxoxoxoox
deb

On September 16, 2009, debbiedoesraw wrote:

Hi Penni!
kisses!
deb xoxoxo

On September 17, 2009, Robyn wrote:

I'm with Debbie about the kefir! I've been making and drinking raw milk kefir for a few months now to help me get my candida under control. It's the thing that my body craves at the moment. I've also made coconut water kefir that is very bubbly and delicious. Fermented raw vegetables are another way to help balance the gut flora as well. "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon has some really great recipes as does "Wild Fermentation" by Sandor Katz. Good luck Wendi! Now, to check out those olive links.......;-)

On September 18, 2009, Joanna_Steven wrote:

Thanks for the update! I too feel that too much fat isn't good for me, even though I do fine above 10%. There's still a limit though, for me. Heavy raw cakes with tons of coconut cream definitely make me ill.