Raw Foods Diet & Raw Food Weight Loss Blog

Hi there, Pure Jeevan family!  Jim here… A few weeks ago, I’d been reading about Bibi McGill, the guitarist and musical director for Beyonce. It was a fascinating piece (linked to below, actually) and, to my complete surprise at the time, touched on her fairly serious interest in raw foods — and, wouldn’t you know, she also lives right here in sunny Portlandia!

Soon, I realized that I’d seen her name around town before — and Wendi did, too! There are these absolutely addictive kale chips, you see… (We like to get them at our local food co-op from time to time because they’re truly something special.)  But, until recently, we didn’t piece it all together — that one person manages to produce this distinctive brand of raw snacks, teach yoga classes here in Stumptown, AND somehow also tour the entire globe as lead guitarist  for world-class acts like Beyonce and Pink!

So, we met up for tea at this zen little spot up on SE Belmont — indoor waterfalls & a 10-page tea menu. I was glad we had a chance to chat before doing the video because we got to talk about yoga, rock and roll, guitars, culture, and other non-dietary fun stuff. Whenever diet came up, I’d just say, “Wait, let’s not talk about that yet!” (because I knew it’d be better to cover that on camera).

We decided to walk to a park for the vid shoot, but it was jam packed with kids. So, we ducked into the doorway of a closed art gallery. I think you’ll enjoy the interview, even though trucks passed by a few times on the street. After a while, a man came out of the gallery to see what we were doing. He was pretty nice (which is how most people are here in Portland!), so I asked if we could finish the interview inside the gallery. As you may have guessed from the picture, above, he let us in.  Fun times!

Here’s the video… (In case you haven’t seen Bibi in action, I tossed a 10-second clip of her on stage toward the beginning of the video — but you can search YouTube for many more.)

Special thanks to Gallery Zero in Portland (near 34th & Belmont) for allowing us to film inside. The striking painting behind Bibi (above on this page and behind Bibi in the video) was painted by Portland-based artist Liz Gill Neilson.

Bibi Links

• Bibi’s Kale Chips
• Bibi’s OM Page
• Bibi’s Fan Page on Facebook

More Interviews w/ Bibi from ’round the ‘net:

• Edge Magazine
• OM Times
• About Face Magazine

Today we thought we’d introduce you to a common wild edible known as Purple Deadnettle (or, more dramatically, the Purple Archangel).  Watch the video and let us know if it grows in your area, and if you’ve tasted it!

Jim here… Okay, the title and graphic, above, may be a bit silly, as are a few of the remarks I made in the video, below. But, within this rather odd piece a few hopefully noble and economical ideas exist – especially the ridiculously simple and obvious notion about reusing glass beverage bottles. I’m embarrassed to have lived on this planet for so long and not to have adopted this fun and environmentally friendly practice much sooner.

We really do take things like glass containers for granted, when we probably shouldn’t. Their ubiquity aside, it still takes a fair amount of energy and resources to make a single glass bottle. On the mass scale that they’re made, they’re obviously super cheap. But, if you had to start from scratch, it would take ages to make a single one, so we should at least appreciate them more and do all we can to make their continued existence as sustainable as possible.

By the way, it’s heartening to see recycling efforts growing on a national scale these days. Our new hometown of Portland seems to apply such practices considerably more seriously than our former hometown — yet another an affirming fact for us. Portland has a great mindset about this in general. (Perhaps tomorrow we”ll feature another story along the same general theme of making the most of the resources we have — this time related to local fruit trees in Portland.)

In any case, aside from the environmental pleasantries of reusing bottles, it’s even more exciting to be able to brew whatever you want (caffeine-loaded or caffeine-free), and to wind up with your beverage of choice for next to nothing! In my book, this is a real win-win scenario! There’s something very right-feeling about it all. As “consumers,” we’re always going to be using the planet’s precious resources. But, I like the idea of working to reduce our impact and minimize our waste of resources. Why should I pay for a pre-made bottle of tea to be shipped across the country to me when I already have the bottle, the water, and the energy here locally? All that needs to be shipped to me is the tea, which is very light and requires little packaging.

Well, here’s the video du jour. Enjoy the strange quote from Keith Richards…

ps Who has tea suggestions for me? I really like:  Black teas, spiced herbal teas, and kava (although I’ve yet to try a high quality kava blend — still searching for that).

Jim here… A week or two ago, there were some videos floating around in raw food circles that seemed to indicate that one’s blood health (and, by extension, one’s overall health) can be quickly and dramatically improved through a practice known as grounding. I realize that, metaphorically, people commonly use the term “grounded” to indicate a kind of level-headedness — e.g., a “down to earth” attitude. But, in the literal sense, it’s an electrical term used to describe a physical connection to the earth. I’m no engineer, but my understanding is that these connections basically discharge things or people from any static electricity build-up (as in those bracelets that computer repair techs wear), or serve as a conduit through which other electricity may pass (as in lightning rods).

That the idea of “grounding oneself” should take root so strongly in natural health circles is unsurprising. In theory, it seems to make a lot of sense. I’m just as intrigued by it as the next person, I suppose. If we spend most of our lives wearing rubber-souled shoes, walking on shag-carpeting, sitting suspended off the ground on static-filled things like couches and office chairs, often running various electrical equipment, basking in EMFs from radio waves and Dish-network signals and cell phone radiation… sure, it makes sense that we’re probably all experiencing some heretofore unprecedented (evolutionarily speaking) human body exposure to significant electrical phenomena. My car reminds me of this daily with a (friggin’ annoying!) shock each time I get out and close the door. But, as the “double-rainbow guy” so succinctly put it:  What does it mean?

Personally, I don’t think we yet know. However, I do have some perhaps interesting perspectives on all of this, also drawn from the field of live blood microscopy. You see, Wendi and I have studied the electrical nature of our bodies, and of various things that can be observed in human blood. So, we’re not going to argue that there aren’t electrical influences on the human body and, in turn, human health. If fact, we believe that there are. But, while I share the rather intuitive notion that being grounded (or, connected with the Earth) is probably very healthy and natural for humans, I’m not ready to say for certain that (1) not being grounded is “bad” or (2) re-grounding yourself offers any kind of miracle cure. (I’m open to discussion on all of this, though — just thought I’d offer some healthy dissent to the dialogue.)

My main beef was this:  In those videos, there was a subtle implication that, if someone is not grounded, then their blood is probably agglutinated (think red blood cells stacked together like stacks of coins, instead of looser and more free-flowing) — when that is definitely not the case. I’m not claiming expertise with respect to biology, but I do know that I have a live blood scope and have looked at a lot of people’s blood with it … and the video in question was, in my humble opinion, misleading at best (unless, by chance, almost every person’s blood I’ve ever seen was especially grounded — in which case that video becomes irrelevant because that would mean that pretty much everyone is sufficiently grounded). Also misleading was the description of a white blood cell chasing down a “parasite” (an interpretation I don’t share).

So, again, here’s my two cents on this issue: Don’t panic if you believe that you’re ungrounded. It doesn’t mean your blood is unhealthy! Likewise, if you DO go to great lengths to ground yourself frequently — that’s great! By all means, walk barefoot and enjoy contact with the Earth as much as possible; I’m sure this is healthy on many levels.  But, also realize that this alone does not grant anyone license to disregard other health best practices, nor is it likely to cure you of, or prevent, diseases (although, again, I’m trying to keep an open mind about that). Then again, as my fellow Pittsburgher, Dennis Miller, likes to close off with:  ”…of course, that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.” Here’s the video version of pretty much all I’ve said above:

“Only somebody who really takes the time to understand [Pure Jeevan's Salsa's*] potential can then coax it into its fullest expression. Then, I mean, oh its flavors, they’re just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and … ancient on the planet.” ~ Miles Raymond in “Sideways” (2004) (*slightly modified).

Jim here… Over the weekend, I’d made a string of videos for Pure Jeevan using my handy-dandy new phone. To my great surprise, when I went to post them to YouTube, they all came out sideways! So, I’m sorry, friends… you’ll have to endure (if you so choose) a somewhat disorienting video, below. But, hey, at least it reminded me of that wondrous quote from the movie Sideways! I imagine Paul Giamatti describing one of my own recent creations this way — a sort-of half-raw, yet still very healthy delight that I like to make sometimes.

My reason for featuring a less than 100% raw recipe is two-fold. First, I’d been discussing transitioning to raw (see yesterday’s post). And, adding more raw into your non-raw diet is a great way to transition. I believe that raw sauces are an excellent way to achieve this, as I’ll explain in the video.  Second, if you do prefer a 100% raw dish, then you can simply replace the beans with something else — perhaps sprouted beans, or maybe your own invention from the dehydrator.

No matter what your culinary influences and/or preferences, chances are good that many of the dishes you love feature a food item and a sauce item. You put the sauce on the food and bob’s your uncle… there’s your dish. Given that there are about a million different dishes and a million different sauces, that means that, mathematically speaking, the number of combinations exceeds the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. (I read a lot of Carl Sagan growing up so, trust me, that’s a lot of food.)

The major leap here is the very realizable (that’s a word, right?) goal of replacing just one of the two items (sauce or food) with a raw approximation of whatever the second cooked item would have been. In the video below, you’ll see what I was shooting for — some kind of vegetarian chili or Mexican bean dish.  I know what you’re thinking… Hey, that seems like it’s only 50% raw!!!  Now, now… calm down.  Two responses to that. Wait, I actually have three:  (1) I personally eat only one meal like this per day (and not even every day). So, it’s really 50% +100% +100%, then divided by 3. So, that nets out to an 83.3% raw day (not too shabby). (2) The 17% non-raw portion is made up of plain, heated, black beans that are organic, a pretty good source of protein, antioxidants, and minerals, fat-free, and eaten in the context of a delicious raw sauce (which, in theory, should aid digestion)! Oh, and (3) You’re not seriously monitoring me, are you?  (That’s kinda creepy.)

Seriously, though… Replacing a sauce or food item is an excellent way to transition to a raw diet! Give it a try.

Okay, so here’s the Sideways vid. (You may note that, in the video, I reference another video I’d made using the same phone. However, I’ve decided that I should really post no more than ONE sideways video, and chose this one.)  Enjoy…