Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Empire State Juice :-)

Thanksgiving’s just around the corner, and this year I’m hosting the biggest gathering ever.  Eighteen are confirmed, maybe a few more, and it would be but a dream to say that every one of them would be down for a non-traditional, raw vegan Thanksgiving.

Yet the guests are well aware they won’t expect to find a turkey on the table, and I’m thankful for that open-mindedness.  I respect that they are still willing to compromise a carnivorous tradition to spend the holiday here in our home, in the spirit of togetherness.  Thanksgiving will be as it always has been, as is our everyday kitchen, vegetarian.

The menu’s almost finalized, and the spread will be magnificent and plenty! So in anticipation of that, I’ve decided to “rev down” my appetite, rather than the other way around. While we can all use a daily tall green juice, I’m revving it UP to keep my eyes no bigger than my stomach next week. Indulgence is synonymous with the holidays, but I don’t think it has to be.  I’ve made a conscious decision to preserve my energy to serve my guests, and the very busy schedule before me that will continue on through the New Year.

Typically I’m not big into juice cleanses or “feasts”.  Just the mental anticipation alone of setting up for all-juice-or-nothing, for any period of time, doesn’t resonate with my comfort zone.  This isn’t to be confused with me not being all for supplemental juicing, I am absolutely.  If juicing is to go on for any length, I prefer the graduation method (such as 1 to 2 large servings of green juice per day making up 2/3 of the day’s food intake). It gives my body a chance to adjust with greater success of 100% juice thereafter (again, only for a short time for me!).

I started the week by filling these lovely Smeraldina glass water bottles I’ve recycled with some high-octane green juice. Each bottle holds a perfect 32 ounces.  Yesterday I had one, today I’ve had two. If I’m feeling up to it, I might have three of them tomorrow. I think I’m just as excited about putting this case of water bottles to use.

I haven’t changed up the juice recipe much.  This particular blend, which I’ve called “Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink (cause it’s pretty loaded) Empire State Juice” (cause it’s in this nice tall pretty bottle) is a great balance of lightly sweet, tart, and aromatic.  As long as it’s yummy and doesn’t make me nauseous as green juice sometimes tends to do, I won’t change a thing.

3 Granny Smith Apples
1 big bunch green curly kale
1 English cucumber
1 fennel bulb
4 large celery stalks
1/2 head romaine lettuce
1 lemon
1 inch ginger knob
handful of mint
2 tbs primrose-flax oil (or oil of choice)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt

<3, JMK

Imagine standing on one side of a very large room full of furniture, and you must walk through it to get to the opposite side.  There’s no straight path, and you have to do it blindfolded. You’ll eventually get there, but not as efficiently since you’ll probably be bumping into things along the way.

Or, think about driving a car down the freeway and blowing out a tire or two. You’ve got to make it to the service station off the next exit, so you slow down and drive with the rims grinding on the pavement. The vehicle is operable, but at a significant handicap.

These are the types of disadvantages our bodies experience if we aren’t incorporating exercise into our daily lives.  It’s like operating at more or less, 50% capacity, depending on your age, diet, lifestyle, and physiological disposition.

The overall increase in raising health consciousness has been an incredibly positive and exciting movement of recent years.  But, the total picture of wellness and longevity is by no means one dimensional.  Even within the raw and natural foods sectors, there seems to be such an intense focus on diet alone that other crucial factors fall to the wayside. Even as my own self-descriptive tag line reads on the header of this blog, “well-being enthusiast”; I’ve spoken much less on that aspect and more on the “digest of a natural foods gourmet”.

Modifying your diet is certainly an ideal place to start, not matter what your goals might be.  You can jump right in by following a juice cleanse, getting into raw foods, or get on-board with one of the many, MANY detox programs out there.  But to neglect moving your body is like leaving the house with just one shoe.

And while we adults have lit the fire to heal our ailing bodies with major changes, our children are now at greater risk for health issues at a younger age than ever before.  The industrialized, sugary foods marketed at kids are even more visible and toxic.  This technological age of computers, video games, and cell phones combined with the deterioration of school physical education programs keeps kids off of playgrounds and bicycles.  When children aren’t introduced to consistent physical activity, implementing an exercise program as an adult can be considerably more challenging.

As Nike said it best, “just do it”. You should do it for more than what may appear to be obvious reasons. It’s not about spending two hours, seven days a week in the gym.  Nor is it about looking like a fitness model or achieving a rock hard body (unless that’s your goal of course :-) .

Do It For Mental & Emotional Well-Being

Stress overload does some serious damage.  The collective stress alone that our world has experienced as of late has caused a lot of people to just lose it. Gone unchecked, mental and emotional instability can have serious health implications. High blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, adrenal overload, emotional eating, and depression are among these consequences, made even more complicated with a sharp rise in prescription drug “band-aids”.

Stress at some level is a part of life. You cannot control every event and circumstance that occurs, but you can control how you deal with it.  In addition to a positive attitude, regular exercise has a natural medicinal effect on the brain, with which the rest of the body will in turn benefit.  During exercise, those “feel-good” endorphins are released from the pituitary gland, creating a feeling of euphoria. Getting your body into a groove also raises seratonin, a brain chemical responsible for regulating mood and preventing depression. (Psychological trauma is another matter that should be treated under the care of a mental health professional.)

Getting yourself on a regular exercise regimen also involves setting goals.  When you set and accomplish goals, the mental and emotional gratification is extremely rewarding.  This helps us stay positive!

Do It For Weight Control

So you’ve got a little bit of weight to lose, or a lot.  Anxious to start shedding pounds, you might start an all-juice diet. Within the first few days, some weight loss is imminent.  But if you’re not including exercise to your plan, the chances of falling into that dreaded yo-yo scenario are much greater. Why?  Our bodies are pretty darned smart. We’ve got a built-in metabolic calculator that keeps track of movement = daily calories burned.  There are variables depending on female to male, and age.  Same is true for dietary requirements, but I’m attempting the general idea here.

Over time, the body’s metabolic calculator averages intake calories to calories expended through physical activity.  The more physically active, the more the metabolism kicks up and uses the intake calories more efficiently.  If you’re sedentary, a surplus of calories results in weight gain and body fat.  If you’re sedentary, and decide to go a “cleanse” type diet for a temporary period of time, the metabolic calculator thinks you’ve gone into starvation mode. The calories that were once coming in daily have suddenly ceased, and the calculator doesn’t recognize that you’re just sweeping house.  So at the end of the cleanse and back to regularly scheduled programming…boom!  The body frantically starts storing up all it can to protect itself from future perceived starvations = gaining weight back + a little more.

Getting your body moving is the vital helping hand for weight loss, no matter what diet you choose.  While some pounds shed is a direct effect of a change in caloric intake, daily exercise trains the metabolic calculator to burn calories and fat more efficiently, increasing metabolism for the long term.  Health.com has an article about this in more details, along with additional cautions on cleanse dieting.

There is a reverse scenario. Ever see someone who’s always working out, but their diet consists of empty calorie junk and fast food?  Likewise, their fitness goals and overall health would improve ten-fold by eating nutritious whole foods.

Do It With Yoga

When it comes to yoga, I’ll admit I’m quite biased because I’ve been practicing for more than 10 years. Fortunately there are many different styles to choose from, from the more physically dynamic (Bikram, vinyasa flow, ashtanga) to more gentle hatha styles.

Yoga is associated with that phrase, “mind, body, and spirit”.  And it’s not just a cliché, true yoga is the embodiment of the three principals. Taking a yoga class at a local gym rather than a studio, usually emphasizes more of the “body” portion.  Taking classes at a professional studio with an experienced instructor will ensure all three dimensions are incorporated, as this is what yoga is all about.

One of the most common misconceptions I hear from people who are apprehensive to take a yoga class is, “But I’m not flexible, I can’t even touch my toes”.  The reality is that the less “flexible” you are, the more you need it!  Yoga is about healing, balancing, and aligning the entire body through controlling the mind (meditation), physical practice using asanas (poses), and via pranayama (the breath).  Flexibility is not in vain, it’s not about being competitive with your neighbor next to you who’s putting her leg behind her head. Yoga is strictly an individual growth practice and each person has a unique benchmark.  Something that may seem simple to you may not be for the next, and vice versa.

Every asana is designed to strengthen and cleanse a deeper part of the body – the organs, glandular system, the muscles and vascular system.  A “yoga-high” is one of the best things you can ever experience as all those happy endorphins flow abundantly after a good class (especially of the more physical styles).  You body is literally wrung from the inside out, and nothing could be better to assist a cleanse or detox.  Yoga Journal is a great source to learn about all things yoga.

Do It For Inside-Out Cleansing

As I’ve just mentioned, yoga is a star for achieving this. But it really doesn’t matter how you work up a sweat, exercise keeps the body operating efficiently in every way.  The skin is the body’s largest organ, and through perspiration, you’re also kicking out toxins. You will also achieve a healthy, glowing complexion!

Do It For Your Heart, Muscular Strength, & Bone Health

Aerobic exercise is the king of keeping the heart muscle in shape. Cardiovascular work-outs are absolutely essential for weight loss and burning unwanted fat. Your present fitness level and goals determine the amount of cardio is needed in a week.  If the thought of running on a treadmill is dreadful to you, no worries! There’s so many ways to get your heart pumping like brisk walking around the neighborhood, playing some sports, or jumping on a rebounder.  Life123.com has some excellent info on getting started on a cardiovascular regimen.

Resistance training is obviously going to benefit strengthening and building muscle, but it also strengthens bones. Women especially should take care of their bones to guard against osteoporosis, and one of the easiest ways to do this is through a strength training regimen. It’s as simple as using your own body weight, or purchasing a simple set of weights to use at home (no gym membership necessary)! WebMD explains what a woman should do to get started with resistance training, and how this can curb osteoporosis in her future.

Just DO It:  Tips For Getting Started & Sticking With It

1.  Find something you like to do. Yoga and running are for me, but bicycling and Pilates may be for you. Try out different activities to see what works best.

2.  Variety matters. Make it interesting. Even for the most disciplined die-hard go getter in the gym, incorporating a variety of activities in different settings is a must.  Who wouldn’t get bored staring at the same walls every day around an elliptical machine, or the same exact weight training routine week after week? Change it up, your body will appreciate it too.

3.  As with diet, what works for one may not for another. You might see more results doing a circuit training program, versus a few weekly spinning classes. Find the magical combo that tells you your efforts are working.

4.  Don’t overdo it! And be careful of burn-out. Slow and steady wins the race! Always listen to your body, and don’t push to hard or too fast no matter how excited you are that results are rapidly appearing.  This is also where tip #2 comes in handy. You don’t want to get bored or burned out.

5.  Don’t give up. Even the most successful of regimens, those that have dropped you 15 pounds and you’re seeing your abs and biceps define before your eyes, can halt to a plateau. Suddenly you’re wondering why those few pounds left over won’t come off, you wonder if your efforts have been futile.  Whatever you do, never give up. Hitting a plateau is normal. Remember that your uber-intelligent metabolic calculator is just temporarily making adjustments to all the good deeds that have been happening. Exercise should be for life, and maybe think about changing things up just a little. That could be all that’s needed.

6. Keep an exercise diary. I have kept an exercise diary for 15 years. Nothing could be more helpful, especially when beginning any new program. Logging your activities and your progress shows you in black and white your accomplishments, your growth, and keeps you on track.

7. Build a home gym - in your bedroom. You don’t need a gym membership, complicated equipment, or even a lot of space. A balance ball, a chair, and a rebounder are really all you need to be on your way to fitness.  Plus there’s such an abundance of home work-out programs than ever before, there’s really no excuses! There’s even cable network programs just for exercise.  Kelli Calabrese gives some great suggestions on building a home gym on a budget.

<3, JMK

{ God moving over the face of the water...}

It’s been a week since the big GREAT news!  As I start the day this morning I can still hardly believe this new reality, feeling as if I’ve dropped a 500 pound burden off of my back.  I have so much to say I can hardly keep it structured in paragraphs, much less a single blog post!

Over seven years after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, the greatest thing that could ever come from the recent tests I’ve undergone this past week is that it is officially in remission!  In fact, no Crohn’s was detected whatsoever, it has diminished, vanished, essentially POOFED!

I do have two wee little stomach ulcers, though…but what are mere ulcers? Now that I’ve slayed the dragon, no problem!  Piece of cake!

Recent history:

Rewind to about three weeks ago. I was sitting in my family physician’s office reviewing the latest blood work results.  I’d just undergone my annual physical, which includes a (more extensive than usual) blood comprehensive, the regular “physical” routine, and some scripts for gastro-related tests.  Something worth mentioning here are the other little pieces to the triumph: a vast improvement of my iron, hemoglobin, B-12, and vitamin D levels.   They were at an all-time low three to four years ago, and took almost equally as long to normalize.  Last year I underwent two iron infusions and was just shy of requiring a blood transfusion.  These types of deficiencies are unfortunately pretty common in people with Crohn’s disease.  Still, I’m in the low-normal ranges of each so I will not be taking it all in stride!

Lately I’ve been experiencing some different types of pain and discomforts, particularly on my left side beginning beneath my rib cage and descending.  It’s a different sort of pain than the typical Crohn’s flare, usually permeating from the right side.  In fact, I haven’t had any right-side flare-ups for many, many months.  Any complaints are in this new location and range in intensity, occurring several times per week and sometimes I don’t feel it for many weeks.   At its worst, it feels like burning, prickling, stabbing pain, or like many stabs at once as if something was inside of me trying to fight its way out.  Sometimes it’s like hunger so intense it’s gnawing, and wakes me up in the night.  And then there’s the spontaneous swelling and inflammation that literally makes me look 6 months pregnant!

So back to my family doctor, who is absolutely amazing (like a younger Dr. Oz – woot woot) and I drop in to see him every two to three months.  Prior to last month’s physical I had reluctantly agreed to try a new medication, Pentasa. It’s a little less aggressive than the norm and addresses the inflammation in inflammatory bowel disorders.  And it seemed to be working well.  One of the concerns of Crohn’s disease is that if it goes unchecked and not kept under control, it not only can worsen in its current location, it can spread to other sites, even to other organs in the body.

After sharing the latest abdominal discomforts with my doctor, our first concern was Crohn’s progression.  He immediately ordered a CT scan, and shortly thereafter I was back in the gastroenterologist’s office for the next step in diagnosis: the wireless capsule endoscopy.  If you’re not familiar with this procedure, it’s actually extremely cool.  First thing on a Wednesday morning, I swallowed a capsule containing a tiny camera that went on a 10-hour journey of capturing 360∘photography of my insides, from the esophogus, on through the stomach, the small intestine, and finally concluding somewhere at or around the large bowel.  The particularly neat and helpful thing about this procedure is that it can view areas of the small intestine that were otherwise too deep and evasive for doctors to see through other means.

{ Left: the camera capsule, right: image data recorder strapped around my waist }

I returned to the gastroenterologist late that afternoon to have the data recorder removed, and was informed by the physician’s assistant, “The doctor typically reviews the results on Fridays.  We’ll schedule you a follow-up for next week to go over them.”  Okay, sounds great!

So to my surprise, the very next (Thursday) evening, I received a phone message from the doctor at about 8:00 pm, “Please return my call immediately.”

Well, “holy shit” is all that went through my head.  Why is he calling me the very next evening?  This cannot be a good thing! I’m always the optimist, but since when does a doctor call you at 8:00 at night to tell you everything is brilliant!

“You have two new ulcers and some inflammation,” he proceeded to say after finally frantically reaching him, “We need to schedule you immediately for an upper endoscopy, biopsy, and a colonoscopy.”

Lovely!  The news sent shudders of worry and fear right to down to my bones.  I’ve been working hard for years to do the right things, to be conscientious of diet, my emotional and spiritual well-being, and to always keep a positive and progressive mindset that my body can – and will – heal itself!  As much as I like and respect my doctors, as confident as I am in their competency, they always heir to a side of caution which doesn’t so much sound like the rosey things we’d like to hear.  And that is okay and predictable.

That subsequent weekend brought on some blue worry and anxiety, to say the least for my husband and I.  He had once lost a spouse to cervical cancer, and couldn’t bear the thought of anything like that happening all over again.  I felt terrible for him, and tried to be as optimistic as I could.  But the reality was I had bought into the doctor’s news as an interpretation of bad news.  Never mind having to undergo a drug induced stomach flu in preparation for the colonoscopy – 12+ hours of sheer misery!

But cutting to the chase, after Monday’s examinations, the doctor gave word to my husband as I was still under sedation, “There is no Crohn’s present, the large intestine and colon look great, we just now need to diagnose the cause of the stomach ulcers…”

WOW.  I mean, WOW!!!

And to no surprise, he cannot really give an explanation except to say that “it happens”.

Cleaning up diet and healing with raw food:

Ironically, during this past week I’ve been contacted by a few Crohn’s sufferers or who have an afflicted loved one, that are so very anxious for help and anything they can do within their own empowerment to help them overcome it.  The common question asked by these most recent contacts, as well as with most others in the past is “does diet really make a difference?”  And my answer is absolutely, positively, without a doubt, and most certainly in light of this most recent news…YES!!

What I cannot confirm at this point in time is exactly how or what, very specifically and singularly in terms of my diet (if anything), may have sent the old Crohn’s packing.  I suspect it was combination of choices, exclusions, and a cumulative effect of dietary changes over time.

I also don’t believe that healing is limited to a physiological level, you need to also involve your mental, emotional, and spiritual states of well-being – essentially your whole Self must be involved.  For purposes of keeping this posted contained and focused, I will speak mostly of the dietary aspects as they pertain to Crohn’s.  I could so easily parlay into other very relevant pieces of an overall picture of health.  And these are important too, which I’ll save for later postings!

We’re all at a different benchmark when attempting to heal from chronic disease or any overall health matter.  No two people walk the same path or fight the same exact battles.  We all heal at our own pace.  It is no different for Crohn’s disease.  The cases range from minor, as mine was considered, concentrated in a small area, or it could be much more severe, extensive and widespread.

I’ve been on such an amazing journey these past 10-12 years, with diet being just one single aspect.  I thought that describing pertinent events and breaking them into a timeline – excerpts from my “health diary” if you will – would be helpful.

My overall health before Crohn’s was historically very good. I’ve always been very physically active and slim, and at times was unknowingly and inadvertently at risk of being underweight because of Crohn’s.  I am 5′-4″ and currently stay at about 11o pounds, and was 100-105 in my 20′s.  Before the time line below, I took for granted that I could eat most anything at any time. After all, if you’re not overweight, no worries right?  Wrong.

1999-2002:  Some of the worst and most painful symptoms I’ve ever had came after eating red meat.  I didn’t eat it often, but began to notice this common denominator.  One night after having an all-American supper of filet mignon and potatoes, followed by being bedridden in horrible pain for over 3 days, I said, “no more”.   It was around this time that I’d also taken notice of certain dairy items.  I remember having similar painful reactions after eating ice cream or drinking milk products, however, no discomforts with cheese or yogurt even to this day.  Pain to a lesser degree came with eating popcorn or any corn products.  In 2000, I began my yoga practice, and found the course only natural to explore vegetarianism, which I began to do gradually.  Still, I would occasionally eat poultry, seafood, cheese and yogurt.  At this time, I had not even been officially diagnosed with Crohn’s.

2003:  This was a bittersweet year.  I had just received my Raja-hatha yoga certification and felt healthier, more energetic, centered, and knowledgeable about nutrition and well-being than I ever had in my life.  I was even teaching healthy cooking classes privately and for groups, tying it in with the nutritional aspect of my certification, expressing my love for beautiful, vibrant, healthy cuisine!

But in April, the typical debilitating abdominal pain I had grown so used to over the years came back one night and not alone. This time, more severe symptoms surfaced.  I woke up at 4:00 am with a fever accompanied by vomiting and bloody diarrhea, and the pain was more excruciating than ever.  I checked into the hospital knowing something was very wrong, where I remained for 4 days.  There, I went through an extensive barrage of testing and was ultimately diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.

I’ll never forget my initial meeting with the hospital’s gastroenterologist.  He handed me a huge stack of information about Crohn’s and IBD and “the LIST”.  The LIST was seemingly endless columns of “possibly” offensive foods.  And then of course there was the medication, some of which was intended to be on a permanent basis.  I was prescribed Remicade, a brand med for treatment of autoimmune disorders ; Cipro, an antibiotic, Prednisone, a steroid medication; and oxycodone for the pain.

After reviewing the LIST I wondered what on this Earth was left for me to eat besides mashed peas or baby food?  It included virtually every fruit and vegetable I loved, and that I relied on for nourishment.  At this point I’d been 100% vegetarian for over a year, and while I understood the concept of a process of elimination to alleviate food-aggravating symptoms, I felt I’d already accomplished much by my present diet and becoming a vegetarian.  The thought of taking meds for the rest of my life just sounded impossible and miserable and  I thought there must be a better way, a natural way!

I began the quest for what diet and lifestyle methods delivered the true meaning behind “let thy food by thy medicine”.   The first truly inspiring person that I immediately fell in love with was Christina Pirello, who had healed herself of leukemia through a macrobiotic and vegan diet, and Chinese medicine.  When I came across one of her books, “Glow”, it became my bible.  She introduced me to macrobiotics and so many other simple ways to alternative health, and the book served as a major platform as I dove into the under-workings of food industry, planetary health, veganism, alternative healing, essentially an entire new world!

2006:  Until now, my flares were occasional and fortunately none as severe was what landed me in the ER three years ago.  During 2006, there were many changes in my life, mostly quite positive, exciting, and many in a short period of time.  I moved from South Florida to Orlando, got a new job, got married, moved again, and gained an instant household of five – and that’s all a very brief list.  During our hot honeymoon phase of marriage, we were also living up our love for food, traveling, and celebrating a bit too much with the bubbly and wine!  Although my husband is a vegetarian, he’s a very liberal JUNK food vegetarian, so I was starting to eat things that weren’t typical for me (if it sounds like it is all his fault, well of course it is :-) .  I was eating a lot of pasta, fried food, processed mock meats, butter, and cheese – not at all my norms.  Slowly but surely it began to catch up.

Now regardless of the splurging and careless eating, I couldn’t help but notice several books with “raw” on their spines high up on my husband’s library shelf.  Of the most notable, Juliano’s “RAW”.  I had heard of the raw diet over the years, but never did I do any research because like many people do, I’d dismissed it as a diet of boring and more boring – sprouts, plain salads, and little else.  I thought that I was WAY too much of a foodie, and a raw food diet wouldn’t be any better than the LIST of doom!

2007:  On the heels of increased flares, and additional new concerns such as acute anemia, menstrual issues, aches, pains, and depression, I began to slightly panic again when my doctor suggested medications.  I jumped right into the raw food lifestyle to learn everything I possibly could.  An internet search brought me to well-known Angela Stokes-Monarch and her incredible weight loss story.  From there, the search results became viral it seemed, with case after case of people who had healed their chronic conditions with raw food.  I also quickly found out that the food is anything BUT boring, especially when July brought me my first visit to Pure Food & Wine in New York City.  I was immediately on board!  I became so excited about the new adventure and world of raw food that I started this blog.

2008-2010:   Things did get worse before they got better.  I was on and off of medications, struggling with iron, vitamin D, and B vitamin deficiencies.  I was trying to continue exercising regularly but it was more sporadic because of deficiency fatigue.  My menstrual cycles were crazy, my tummy was always upset.  There was a great deal of stress going on in our family life.  I had to have two iron infusions, which is basically liquid iron administered over several hours via IV port.  However, despite all this I kept good consistency with my diet by keeping at least 80% of my intake raw and eliminating anything processed.

Eventually, my energy, nutrient levels and overall health began taking a gradual incline.  And since January of 2010, my iron levels have been sustained in low-normal range.  This alone has given me so much more energy, so I’ve been exercising regularly five to six days a week by running, resistance and weight training, and doing yoga. And of course, my diet has continued high raw, which brings me to the present day.

Just a few of the key foods?  GREENS….I eat a lot of greens and I can’t emphasize enough how important they are!  Human blood is so similar to chlorophyll, and the nutrients found in dark leafy greens nourish and heal, literally giving us life!   I also eat a rainbow of antioxidant rich foods, like blueberries, strawberries and colorful bell peppers.  Coconut water is also magnificent for healing and hydration.  I am now healthy and Crohn’s free!

Tips for your own journey to healing:

1 – Acknowledge that the dis-ease exists, but do not fuel it by believing in its power over you.  Healing occurs in leaps and bounds when you awaken to the psychological effect, and how much of the dis-ease resides in the mind.  I never realized just how true this was until I was told I was in remission.

2 - Acknowledge the dis-ease exists, but do not fuel it by taking your health for granted!  If you make progress but revert to not-so-good habits, it’ll bubble up and remind you.

3 - Don’t identify yourself and who you too much with the dis-ease.  We do this so often (“Hi I’m Julie and I have Crohn’s disease”) and don’t even realize how the dis-ease begins to define who you are, which empowers it to become permanent.  You are not your dis-ease!

4 - Everyone has a unique relationship with their dis-ease, and therefore you have to find your unique inner strength, mental, emotional, and dietary combination to overcome it.  Dis-ease exists not at just a physical level, but it is only at the physical level that medicine or diagnosis can assist.  Heal your entire being.

5 - Keep an open mind and an open heart to healing.  But don’t blindly follow advice because someone swears by a single “miracle” method, especially if that method is being sold in a box or has a lofty price tag.  Take in as much information as you can learn and use your inner guidance, wisdom, and discretion.  We all have this internal compass.  Find what works for YOU.

6 - Take care of the physiological aspect of wellness with diet and exercise, but be flexible because not all habits need to be etched in stone.  When we put all of our efforts and faith in a single routine or habit, it leads to being stuck in a rut and may create road blocks to recovery.  Be aware that what works for our bodies one day may change in the future.

7 - It is okay to take medications, and it is a personal decision whether you decide to or not.  Choose wisely and if you must take them, do not rely on them as a permanent lifeline, but just as a temporary bandage while your body heals.

8 - DIET DOES MATTER.  EAT YOUR GREENS, LOTS OF THEM.  Eat something green with every meal, the more green, the better.  GREENS HEAL.

<3, JMK

{ One of the many juice bars at the historic Marcat de la Boqueria in Barcelona, Spain }

Here on day two, I’m not feeling any different.  I’ve had no big “releases”, and my body has already adjusted well to the all-liquid intake.  It’s good to give the digestive system a break, and I find that once you get over the initial discomfort of not having a solid meal to chew on, your body welcomes the break.

So today I began with a 14 ounce delicious, creamy, easy green piña colada.  Just take about 3/4 cup fresh pineapple, a big handful of spinach, 2 heaping spoonfuls of coconut butter (I LOVE Artisana brand),  8 to 10 ounces of cashew or vanilla milk, 1 vanilla bean, a squirt of agave, and a pinch of sea salt and throw it all into your Vita-Mix or blender and blend well. Soooo good!

Next up for lunch, 14 ounces of apple, baby beet, spinach, ginger, and flax seed oil, plus a few ounces extra for snacking on later.  Later in the afternoon, I had a 2 ounce shot of E3Live followed by a 10 ounce coconut water chaser.

By the time 7:00 pm rolled around, I was a tad hungry, but not too ravenous.  All I had consumed during the day seemed to stick around a good while.  That’s a very good thing when your family members have been in the kitchen cooking, and all those smells dance under your nose!

I came up with a green Tom Kha soup concoction, which was pretty darn good – very rich and filling!  I blended until warm coconut meat, a fennel bulb, one small leek, coconut oil, olive oil, kaffir lime leaves, lime juice, garlic, ginger, water, and a pinch of cayenne and sea salt.

I had a little craving for something sweet around 10:00, so I made a warm “hot chocolate” from cashew milk and cocoa powder.

Not to forget plenty of water between all the liquid meals!  And then I fell asleep easily and content….

<3, JMK

{ How did my apple, baby beet, spinach, and flax seed oil juice turn out looking like green beer? The head was so thick it was like beaten egg whites. Maybe I've just got a mean wrist when using a whisk...}

Ok, so day one had some minor challenges.  I’m not complaining or beating myself up, though.  My decision to cleanse was rather spontaneous and I didn’t lay out a hard-core outline or juicing menu.  In fact I praise myself for getting better and better at just being present.  Whatever strikes me in the moment…have at it!

I’m quite used to having juice for breakfast, even for lunch.  But once the late afternoon into evening rolls around, I begin to get ravenous.  I decided it would be wise to lay off heavy cardio for these few days so I don’t go into carb-craving madness.  A very wise decision, indeed.

My first liquid meal of the day was a 12 ounce apple, carrot, spinach, lemon, ginger, and flax seed oil juice.  For lunch, 10 ounces of fennel, cucumber, parsley, lemon, and cayenne. And then things weren’t sticking to my ribs so well.  By 3:00 pm I was starving, so I chugged 8 ounces of coconut water. Contrary to what it seems, coconut “water” is actually substantial and will hold over a growling stomach.

I waited until 4:30 to prepare 12 ounces of a very rich strawberry shake made with almond butter and coconut to fill me up before the family headed out to pick up my daughter from the airport.  I’d anticipated we’d be dining out in celebration of her return home from a month of summer vacation.  And sure enough, Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza – there we went!

The smell of pizza was enough to make me start gnawing on my wrist, but thankfully I was still somewhat full from the strawberry shake.  Since it’s not fun watching and listening to everyone else praise their amazing pizza, I indulged in a modest portion of salad and one giant plate of broccoli rabe (sans the sausage).

Oh, and water.  Water, water, water…all in between juices and beyond.  I probably had about 32 to 48 ounces cumulatively.

All in all, even though it wasn’t a 100% juice day, it was definitely a 110% immensely nourishing day!  I think having a bit of fiber there at the end could be more of an assist than an obstacle.

And tomorrow’s another day….

<3, JMK

{ Purely Delicious, Summer 2009 }

Have you subscribed yet to Purely Delicious magazine?  It’s probably THE most beautiful and modern raw food periodical out there today.  And this summer’s issue includes the very informative article, “Who’s Afraid of Sea Vegetables” by yours truly, complete with two drool-worthy recipes.  A big THANK YOU to the publisher, managing editor, and my friend, Rebecca Carlson for her amazing talent, limited Zzz’s, and juggling big fat computer FAILS to bring us this lovely quarterly.  Big HUGS and lots of LOVE to Rebecca!

Now for another quick update:  Today I have begun my first ever three day juice cleanse.  It sounds strange to say it, “My first ever three day juice cleanse”, after being raw for over two years.  It seems that when you’re in the infancy of a raw food lifestyle (and I consider two years infancy in proportion to the rest of my physical life), you hear and read an awful lot about everyone’s juice cleanses, juice feasts, “The Master Cleanse”, etc.  I thought everyone was just juice crazy, and why in the world was I not catching the fever until now?

Simply put – my body and my mind were just not ready.  I now realize I’m not weird or dissing the raw food world by not jumping on the juice cleanse bandwagon.  It’s not something you should ever feel obligated to do, and oddly enough that’s just what happened to me at times when I’d read about global juice feasts or about Angela Stokes’ 92-day run…and that SHE is one committed raw food Wonder Woman with an incredible story.

You don’t need to cleanse to get the benefits of living food! However, my time has come.  I’ve been a bit overindulgent in cooked foods and wine over this past month, and I’ve realized this had a direct relationship to my daughter having been away from home (thankfully she’ll be returning this evening).  I’ve also experienced a “calling” if you will, to have out with old – in with the new!  My body and mind are now ready to voluntarily clean house.

I’ll be posting my experience – the good and the potty poopy talk, and surely there will be some.  So consider this fair warning to those that are squeemish.

<3, JMK

{ Yiayia, me, Shannon }

Sometimes I reminisce the good ol’ days of my kitchen being under my sole control.  As a single mom, I was always so grateful my daughter was an agreeable little tot when it came to meals.  Before I even embarked on all of this dietary experimentation years back, I was always pretty conscious of food and kept a relatively healthy pantry.

Fast-forward to August 2006.  I got married and gained an instant household of five – my husband, George; stepdaughter, Shannon (now 19); stepson, Shane (now 22); and my daughter, Ciarra (now 14).  And as of a year ago, the addition of my 83 year-old mother-in-law who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease (Evangeline a/k/a Yiayia – Greek for “grandma”).  Now enter all the different tastes, appetites, requirements, and habits and the kitchen I once kept is now more like the wild wild west.

Do you feel like the lone ranger in your household when it comes to your dietary interests?  This doesn’t have to pertain strictly to a raw food diet, it could be a matter of just cutting back on red meat and increasing whole foods, fruits, and vegetables.  To whatever the degree, your desire is that you and your family eat better, more consciously, more healthfully.  And for this, you deserve a big pat on the back!  Because this isn’t always easy, especially if you’re struggling with familial support.

Although I’m fortunate that my family is very supportive to my raw and natural food ways, it doesn’t mean they want to always eat like me.  So herein comes the challenge.  I feel it’s ultimately my duty as a wife and mother to be an example, to educate, and achieve the fine balance of uniting us all, along with our individual relationships with food.

Here are some suggestions, in no particular order, from my personal experience over these past few years of newlywed-dom, on preparing meals for a family of six while keeping with my own journey.

1.  Be consistent. If you have children, then you know that consistency in everything you do as a parent is key.  The same applies with expressing your dietary self.  In other words, as resistant as your husband may be to trying that green juice you just made, or as weird as your mother might think you are for cracking open coconuts and drinking the water, the more you do it will greatly increase acceptance.  Yes, you may have to shake off some weird faces or churlish remarks.  But with consistency, your choices will ultimately arouse curiosity.  And from curiosity, questions can be asked and answered, and eventually a level of comfort can be established.  Ciarra cringed over the sight of me making green juice for two years until a couple of months ago when she began requesting that I make her one too.

2.  But be an example, not preachy or forceful. Food is a very personal element to each of us, and everyone has a unique relationship with food (as my friend Earthmother wrote about brilliantly in a recent blog post).  Therefore, in addition to being consistent, it’s important to not to impose too strongly onto others, or make dramatic changes overnight with the meals your family is used to.  With your enthusiasm about your new found diet and knowledge, it’s easy to want to stand up on a soapbox to your loved ones and do an extreme kitchen makeover with all good intentions. You’re lucky if you’re met with open arms, but more commonly it’s the squint eye.  Teach by just doing your thing.  Let them open the door and ask the questions.

3.  Come together for home meals as much as possible. Now with work and school and our modern hectic schedules, this can be challenging in itself!  And if you’re the one preparing meals and have a full time job, the last thing you may want to do is come home and cook.  But there’s another component to rather than just eating.  Food brings us together, and for many families this is the only time of day where everyone can unite, bond, and share what is going on in our lives.  Take advantage of it, no matter if you are struggling with time, or better options to bring to the table.  The idea is the practice, the routine, the regularity.  It does take some planning.  But with practice, you’ll get better with planning.  Maybe initially you can only manage once or twice a week.  I keep a notebook, and usually take time each weekend to plan meals and a grocery list for the following week.  My family absolutely loves it when I make dinner, not for just the food itself, but for the experience of a home-cooked meal at our own dinner table.  This is invaluable.

4.  Always prepare food with love. This is a fundamental rule in preparing any kind of meal for yourself or anyone!  It’s a vital ingredient that makes all the difference.  Putting your loving consciousness, time, and energy into food has a magical effect on those who will enjoy it.  It may not even be their favorite thing.  But love tastes better than any herb or spice you can buy.

5.  Appeal to all the senses. I always say that the culinary arts is really the perfect alchemy.  It is an art form and sensory experience that involves all five physical senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound – yes, sound (think crunchy).  When you use love, creativity, and consciousness to execute each of these sensory experiences in the food you make, it will straight away be many times more appealing.  For example, something as simple as a chopped green parsley garnish sprinkled all over makes the sight of a dish more alive.

6.  Combine raw and natural foods with cooked food. Not only does this balance make for a more healthy, wholesome meal, it enhances digestibility, and even looks more visually appealing.  A typical dinner at the Kalivretenos house may go something like this:  spinach linguine puttanesca with a fennel, arugula, and orange salad; grilled rosemary and garlic seiten skewers, vegetable orzo, and a greek salad; semi-raw tacos with all the fixins (semi-raw, because everyone loves my walnut-cremini filling, but prefer store-bought taco shells instead of raw corn tortillas).

7.  Focus on what works. During the rest of the day before dinner, I can eat anything I want.  I can focus on all my “weird” raw food concoctions.  But everyone is not down for raw zucchini pasta for dinner.  However, when it comes to raw desserts, they quickly become scarce soon after I make them.  And with all the sweet-teeth living in this house, it’s a blessing!  When you’re taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s disease, you may not have the same person from one day to the next.  Yiayia can be very fickle with food, and would much prefer to eat junk above all else, but her very favorite thing lately is when I make her raw chocolate pudding.  Of course, she doesn’t realize it’s actually good for her.  And to points 3, 4, and 5 – she does a lot better with meals and actually eats more when I make dinner.

I would love to hear your suggestions or tips.  How do you manage eating raw, or otherwise, with your family’s different diet personalities?

<3, JMK

{ After being putridly ill for the last 2 days, I now feel squeaky clean! }

Usually my blog is all about the beauty of raw foods and the more pleasant side well-being.  The recipes, the restaurants, the community, I like to keep all my content on the positive.  Periodically though, I bring up the little buggar that is Crohn’s disease.  It lives in side of me and I sometimes talk about having it.  But I also don’t want to empower it too much by thinking IT has ME.

Funny thing is that this post may not even have much to do with Crohn’s.  All I know is that around 5:00 am Monday morning, I sprung up in horrible abdominal pain.  And shortly thereafter, I was sprinting for the toilet.  Make that about four hours of relaying between bed and toilet every 20 or so minutes, while simultaneously gaining chills that turned into a fever running between 102 to 103.  My back, especially my lower back, and on down throughout my legs and knee joints hurt so much I didn’t want to get up to go to the toilet.  And once I got there it hurt so much I could hardly sit on it.

Now besides the obvious frustration of being sick, I was actually pretty pissed off.  I have been 100% raw for two weeks straight and was feeling pretty damn good about it.  I’ve felt great, my energy has been great…now this?  What gives?  Is it food poisoning?  Is it a major Crohn’s flare?  (When I was first diagnosed with Crohn’s in 2003, my symptoms were very similar which ultimately landed me in the ER.)

Reluctantly, I sipped on coconut water once I was able to keep the latch down.  The more I drank, the more accepting my body became.  But eating anything at any time Monday, day or night, was out of the question.

Finally into the early hours of Tuesday morning, I shook off my fever.  But I had some other nice surprises: weird blister-like spots on the back of my throat, tiny red dots all over my face, and bright yellow diarrhea.  I didn’t really want to have to go to the doctor, but I guess residual fear and paranoia of being repeatedly reminded about being afflicted with a degenerative condition brought me back once again…JUST to make sure.

Thankfully, all Doc thought I had was some sort of foodbourne virus that might stay around for a couple more days.  This was a relief indeed!  I have spent the better part of the last 5 months being poked and prodded and treated and being sick and exhausted.  So much so that my poor little blog was neglected in the process.

By Tuesday night, I got a celery craving.  I munched down several stalks, dipping them in Liquid Gold dressing.  And my stomach happily accepted.

So now here’s the more pleasant conclusion of what may have been TMI (too much information) for some of you.  As of this morning when I woke at 8:00 am, I felt an immediate shift.  Yes, I feel better.  But actually better than better.  Better than I did before I got sick.  I feel like someone pushed the flusher on me.  The spots on my face and throat are going away.  After I took a shower, I looked at myself in the mirror with wet slicked back hair and bare skin and thought I’d been to the spa, or did something special to myself.  I’m actually kind of glowing!  So I took a picture and posted it above to remind myself of what an inside-out, viral (or otherwise) purging renewal feels and looks like.

Plus I’m grateful.  Whatever this thing was and for whatever reason it happened was GOOD.  I went from what was feeling balanced and right (like eating ALL raw), to feeling confused, defeated, and frustrated, to now having a peeled-back sort of greater emergence of energy AND intensified, appreciative sense of why I eat the way I do.

It’s a small victory in my book, and a step further in progress!

<3, JMK

{ raw vegan, gluten-free }

It’s only mid-May, but I’m already tasting summer.  Surely it’s evident in Central Florida’s recent days of sweltering heat.  However, I’m talking about the seasonal treats making their debuts in the marketplaces around here.  Like crisp, cool watermelon; juicy heirloom tomatoes in all their glorious shapes and vibrant color spectrum (whomever coined them “ugly” was a fool); and last but certainly not least – sweet, succulent CHERRIES.

They have a pretty short growing season, so they need to be celebrated while they’re with us.  And cherries have MUCH to be celebrated! Gobble ‘em down while you can, from now until about late August (in North America).

Cherries are chocked full of a very important pigment called anthocyanin.  Anthocyanin gives them their rich, red color, indicating that they’re oozing with antioxidants.  Interestingly enough, it’s this antioxidant benefit produced by the anthocyanin that not only counters those icky free-radicals, it’s like eating your sunscreen and protects against ultraviolet radiation.  Just like it gaurds the flesh of these little gems, eating them will help protect yours, too.

If the whole antioxidant thing weren’t neat enough, anthocyanins also contain melatonin, a horomone typically produced from our brain’s pineal gland that helps regulate our sleep cycle.  They are also natural pain relievers, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, and load a big gun for aiding with weight loss.  Because of anthocyanins’  anti-inflammatory properties, loading up on some cherries can help shrink fat cells and lower cholesterol levels (provided you aren’t washing them down with a quarter-pounder with cheese).

As an added bonus, cherries are high in vitamin C, fiber, beta-carotene (nearly 20 times more than blueberries or strawberries, in fact), potassium, magnesium, iron, and folate.  Bottom line…cherries ROCK.

And by the way, in no remote stretch does anything I just said pertain to those syrupy, overly-processed maraschino cherries in the jar that you use to make your Shirley Temple.  Those should be totally avoided like the plague, unless you want to replace all the aforementioned nutritional fabulosities with sulphur dioxide brine (a bleaching agent), calcium or lime by-products, artificial dyes, flavorings, and high-fructose corn syrup.  Eeu.

Simple Cherry Chocolate Shake

1 1/2 cups fresh-frozen pitted cherries
1 1/4 cups almond milk
1 vanilla bean
1 tbs agave
pinch of sea salt

Blend all ingredients into Vita-Mix or blender until smooth.  Add less almond milk for a thicker shake.  Spoon over desired amount of chocolate sauce.

Chocolate sauce:

1/2 cup cacao nibs
1/2 cup agave
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp coconut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until very smooth.

<3, JMK

{ vegan, raw-vegan modifiable }

Really, it’s not that old.  But I’ve been making it since 2002 once I found it in the book, Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis, R.D. and Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D..  Have you ever craved something a little more interesting and substantial for your salad than just the same ol’ lemon juice and olive oil?  Then this tasty greens topper is calling your name.

Just two tablespoons of this tangy, tart, slightly sweet, with a hint of cheesiness, is a nutritional powerhouse.  It packs nearly 4 grams of omega-3 fatty acids (more than a day’s requirement), along with all your B-vitamins, especially B-12.  Depending on the nutritional yeast measure used, you can get up to 80% of your daily B-12.  And there’s even a good dose of iron, about 8%.  In just two tablespoons. And these are all happy things my body really likes right now since they’re vital in assisting my recovery from Crohn’s disease-related issues.

The dressing is versatile and has a unique flavor on its own but I like to add fresh ginger and a garlic clove for extra punch.  Cilantro is excellent, too!  The original recipe calls for some non-raw ingredients such as balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, and Bragg’s aminos (which questions have been raised over the years concerning processing practices that suggest this product isn’t truly raw or even safe to use).  However, modifications are easy and without compromise to the nutritional basis.

You may find that the freshly blended dressing is a bit watery.  I reduce the water and add more nutritional yeast.  Letting it stand over time, especially in the refrigerator overnight will also help to thicken it.

{ Watercress, zucchini noodle, daikon sprout, dulse salad with Liquid Gold }

The Original Liquid Gold Dressing

1/2 cup flax seed oil
1/2 cup water (begin with 1/4 then check for consistency)
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tbs balsamic or raspberry vinegar (omit for 100% raw prep)
1/4 to 1/2 cup nutritional yeast (such as Red Star)
1/4 cup Bragg’s liquid aminos (substitute with nama shoyu)
2 tsp dijon mustard (or omit)
1 tsp ground cumin

Julie adds: 1 large garlic clove + 2″ long piece of peeled ginger root = YUM

Blend all ingredients in a food processor.  Keeps for up to 2 weeks in refrigerator.

<3, JMK