🥗 Living Foods

 

 Please keep in mind that this J.E.W.E.L. Living section of our website is primarily aimed at those that are experiencing difficulties with their health caused by an indulgent and perhaps sedentary lifestyle, and/or with fasting. Please take your time, enjoy, and lay hold as you feel inspired and able. 

 

Developing a Healthy Eating Lifestyle With a Focus on Living Foods

This last step involves settling into a long-term healthy eating lifestyle that focuses on an abundance of enzyme-rich and nutrient-rich living foods (uncooked or very lightly cooked “whole” foods that are easily digested). For those in need of extra suggestions for transitioning from the juice cleanse to a healthy diet, we have provided a Two-Week Meal Plan with recipes to help you on your way. The meal plan is very simple and flexible, and it even incorporates “free meal” occasions!

 

Majority Living Foods

Essentially, the term “living foods” incorporates all uncooked plant-based foods that are easily digested. However, we have added lightly cooked vegetables to the list. J.E.W.E.L. Living encourages you to transition (at a pace comfortable to you) to eating a daily diet that incorporates a majority (at least 65% – at least two thirds – of diet) of living foods.

In no way do we claim this to be God’s ordained eating plan, however it is one which makes sense based on the scripture, “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat” (Genesis 1:29). Many people do not realize they are sick, tired, emotionally vexed, and/or overweight because their bodies are battling against very imbalanced diets that consist of minimal living foods. God, in His perfect wisdom, created a beautiful array of living foods for us to thrive on given their abundance of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, essential fats, bowel-cleansing fiber, healthy carbohydrates for energy, and probably other components that mankind is yet to fully understand.

J.E.W.E.L. Living also encourages you to be gradually mindful of how you complete the other part of your diet. As much as you can, try to avoid (or at least only consume occasionally) highly processed, canned, and chemical-laden foods; anything made with white flour; products sweetened with sugar and man-made sugar substitutes like aspartame; highly salty foods; and fried foods. Read the label before purchasing anything that is packaged, and if possible, find a selection of local farmers (or farmer’s markets) that can supply most of your needs.

J.E.W.E.L. Living encourages you to take one step at a time, increasingly “leaving out” and “adding in” over time, until you reach your personal health goal. The initial J.E.W.E.L. Living Juice Cleanse makes the transition process much easier. You will quickly find your body sincerely craving healthier options over the foods you used to eat.

Overall, the goal of J.E.W.E.L Living is to facilitate positive changes in your life so you can maximize your relationship with (and fruitfulness for) God. The intention is not to cause cleansing, fasting, healthy eating, or exercise to become so time and mind consuming such that they distract you from your spiritual priorities. Rather, the goal is to use these practices as tools to enhance your individual walk with the Lord.

 

Living foods list (at least 65% – at least two thirds – of diet)

Choose from a wide variety of:

  • Fresh raw vegetables, especially a large variety of “leafy greens”

  • Fermented vegetables (purchase in health food sections/stores, or research online how to ferment your own - a great source of probiotics!)

  • Raw vegetable fruits (e.g. tomato, cucumber, bell peppers)

  • Fresh herbs, fresh garlic and ginger, etc. 

  • Lightly cooked vegetables, especially non-starchy vegetables (e.g. lightly steamed, grilled, or stir-fried in avocado oil or extra virgin coconut oil)

  • Fresh sprouts (e.g. alfalfa sprouts, broccoli sprouts, mung bean sprouts, etc.) Notes: Sprouts are one of the most complete and nutrient-dense foods that exist, and they offer the most bioavailable nutrition of any food in the plant or animal kingdom. Sprouts are enzymatically active and harness high-quality, complete proteins and nutrients that are utilized throughout the entire body. Abundant in vitamins, minerals, and chlorophyll, sprouts ease the digestive system’s workload and stimulate the body to function at superior levels. Sprouts also contain phytonutrients: essential powerful antioxidants that contribute to the body’s energy, stamina, growth, and overall health. Sprouts are easy to grow at home (there’s lots of free information online), free of pesticides and herbicides, and even after you harvest your sprouts and refrigerate them, they will continue to grow slowly and their nutrient content will actually increase.

  • Whole “good” fats (such as avocado, raw coconut, raw olives, raw nuts, raw seeds, and raw nut/seed butters.) Notes: Soaking raw nuts and seeds in water overnight activates the enzymes. This makes them more easily digested and causes the nutrients to be more “accessible” (bioavailable). Store raw nuts and especially raw seeds in dark glass containers in the fridge, to prevent them from going rancid.

  • Fresh fruits - especially low-sugar, high-antioxidant fruits like berries

  • Frozen fruits - especially low-sugar, high-antioxidant fruits like berries

  • Sea vegetables (such as raw – untoasted – nori sheets, raw kelp noodles, and dulse flakes)

  • The multitude of meals, snacks, and beverages (especially green smoothies!) that can be made from the above natural foods.

  • Plus, stay well hydrated. Drink lots of filtered water (use a “ZeroWater” water filter for the purest water!), lemon water (filtered water with fresh lemon juice), pure coconut water (no additives), and herbal teas. Kombucha can also be very beneficial due to its strong source of probiotics.

 

Suggested non-living foods list (no more than 35% – max. one third – of diet) 

Try to choose from a wide variety of “whole” (unprocessed) foods and other natural foods where possible, such as:  

  • “Healthy” animal-based foods: “Cleaner” fish such as wild Alaskan salmon and sardines, organic pasture-raised eggs, organic chicken and turkey, goats milk yogurt/kefir, goats milk cheese, and organic/grass fed beef. Note: Rather than consuming a whole portion of cooked meat, consider slicing or cubing a smaller portion and adding it to your dish (e.g. salad or stir fry) so the meat does not become the major part of your meal.

  • Cooked whole (unprocessed) plant-based foods (e.g. all vegetables; sprouted legumes; and healthier whole grains such as brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, and oats - avoid wheat and wheat-based foods). Note: Sprouting legumes (such as lentils and garbanzo beans) before you cook them helps to release their nutrients and also make them more digestible.

  • Plant-based “good” oils. Note: Avocado oil, flax seed oil, hemp seed oil, extra virgin coconut oil, and extra virgin olive oil are all excellent “good oils” as long as they are unrefined/cold-pressed.

  • Homemade and natural condiments and flavorings (such as dried herbs, spices, and raw apple cider vinegar). Nutritional yeast is also a highly nutritious, tasty “superfood” that can be added to many dishes or snacks for a cheesy kind of flavor. It has an amazing nutrition profile including being a complete protein (containing all nine amino acids that the body cannot produce). Be sure to do a Google search on what to look for when sourcing good quality nutritional yeast. While you’re at it, read up on its health benefits, too. You’ll be pleasantly surprised!

  • Natural sweeteners – such as stevia leaf (whole, powder, or liquid), monk fruit extract, unsulphured dried fruit, raw honey, pure organic maple syrup, and organic raw coconut sugar – instead of white sugar. Unsulphured, organic blackstrap molasses is also a nutrient-dense food. Note: Consume these natural sweeteners in very limited amounts. 

  • Non-stimulant substitutes such as carob, herbal teas, and Celtic sea salt instead of their stimulant counterparts (chocolate, caffeinated drinks, and table salt).

Notes: An all-round organic diet is very beneficial, but not essential in order to achieve substantial health improvements (so if you can’t afford them, don’t fret). Most of the commercially grown foods of today are not equal in quality compared to the foods consumed back in the days of Christ. So, if you are able, consider organic foods (or at least local farm-grown foods) for their higher nutrient content, lack of chemical sprays and additives, and superior taste.  

J.E.W.E.L. Living Two-Week Meal Plan

After completing an extended fast or juice cleanse (e.g. the J.E.W.E.L. Living Juice Cleanse), it’s very common for people to undo the progress they’ve made by turning to their old “comfort foods” (even though the desire for these foods is generally a psychological versus physiological one). Most people succumb to their old habits and familiar temptations because they do not have a solid plan and vision of the future. Their “cleaner” bodies certainly desire “cleaner” food, but because they have had years of experience eating otherwise, and because they have not adequately prepared for a new lifestyle, they soon find themselves right back where they started.

Breaking a fast (or juice cleanse) wisely is even more important than preparations leading into a fast, and the longer you fast the greater number of days needed to ease yourself back into eating solid foods. A good rule to follow is one day of a planned “breaking fast diet” for every four days you have fasted. If you have been water fasting for an extended period, you should consume small amounts of fresh juices and small amounts of high water content fresh fruit until your body feels ready to progress to gradually introducing other raw foods (other fresh fruits, raw vegetable fruits, raw vegetables, raw sprouts, raw soaked nuts and seeds, and other “good” fats – in that order). This is the best basic plan to follow. Alternatively, if you need something more structured to follow, the Two-Week Meal Plan can be followed as a “breaking fast diet” (with limited portion sizes, particularly during the first few days) following the J.E.W.E.L. Living Juice Cleanse.

Overall, the Two-Week Meal Plan is a guide that can be re-arranged and modified according to your personal preferences. It is purposely simplified, to ease you into transitioning toward living foods, and it can be continuously repeated until you are comfortable developing your own plan. The recipes provided are basic yet tasty, so as not to overwhelm the novice with long lists of ingredients or time-consuming preparations. As you grow in confidence with your new lifestyle, you can try more adventurous dishes. (There’s a multitude of living and raw foods recipe books and websites.)

Incorporated into the plan is one free choice meal each week. It’s up to you what you do for this meal. You should feel free to have anything you like whether you eat out or dine in, although caution should be exercised not to binge or extend your “free eating” late into the evening with continued servings of desserts, etc. You do not have to have the free choice meal if you would prefer to eat one of the meals (or something similar) within the Two-Week Meal Plan. Even if you do initially choose to “indulge” yourself, you will most likely find that over time you consciously start selecting healthier options for this free choice occasion. While the following meal plan schedules free choice meals for Saturday night, you may swap them to any evening (or even lunch or breakfast time instead) according to your personal preference.

It’s also up to you which day you water fast and for how long, but it’s important to at least start incorporating water fasting into your lifestyle plan. Not that we encourage fasting to become a ritualistic practice at all. Indeed, fasting unto the Lord should be anything but a routine act. Nevertheless, because some of God’s children find fasting such a struggle and are, therefore, somewhat adverse to making the effort to use this precious tool, it’s good to force yourself to overcome your hesitations by initially making fasting a scheduled part of your life.

After you’ve successfully broken your fast or juice cleanse (either by following the basic plan mentioned above or the Two-Week Meal Plan), you can devise your own plan to follow a living foods-focused eating lifestyle. However, if you’re not yet confident to do this, you can choose to use the Two-Week Meal Plan as a guide and then add things to it. For example, while the meals below feature plant-based options, you can easily incorporate animal foods into some meals. Likewise, even though the recipes use all (or a majority of) living foods, some cooked whole foods can be added (see “Side dishes” for some suggestions).

 J.E.W.E.L. Living Recipes