SHAIR 79: "Raw Food Recovery" with Yovana "Rawvana" Mendoza: Sleep, Hydrate, Move, Fruits and Veggies.SHAIR 79: "Raw Food Recovery" with Yovana "Rawvana" Mendoza: Sleep, Hydrate, Move, Fruits and Veggies.
The SHAIR Recovery Podcast
Yovana “Rawvana” Mendoza shares how severe drinking, blackouts and family alcoholism led her to a raw food detox and a renewed spiritual life. She explains how changing her diet, daily habits and connection with a higher power supported her decision to stay sober one day at a time.
1:06:36•16 Aug 2016
Raw Food, Higher Power and Sobriety: Yovana "Rawvana" Mendoza Shares Her Turnaround
Episode Overview
- Removing alcohol revealed underlying anxiety, low self-worth and lack of purpose that had been numbed for years.
- A structured detox with raw foods, juicing and colon cleansing brought mental clarity, emotional stability and a sense of inner peace.
- Daily connection with a higher power through gratitude, intentions and spiritual reading became as essential as food.
- Substituting the old party lifestyle with movement, plant-based eating and creative work helped make sobriety enjoyable and sustainable.
- Starting with one substantial smoothie or plant-based meal a day, plus simple snacks like fruit and nuts, is an easy first step toward feeling better in recovery.
“I always say, sleep, hydrate, move, and fruits and veggies.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This SHAIR Recovery Podcast episode follows Yovana “Rawvana” Mendoza as she links alcohol recovery with raw food, movement, and daily spiritual habits. Growing up with alcoholic parents, Yovana’s own drinking took off in her teens, ramping up through wild years in Paris and later in Mexico City. Blackouts, dangerous drunk driving and waking up with strangers in her flat became normal, even as she managed to hold down a 9–7 job.
Hangovers so severe she needed hospital IV drips were a regular feature. Yet, as she admits, alcohol was still her main definition of “having fun”. Everything shifted when surgery forced her to stop drinking for several weeks. Without alcohol, the anxiety, emptiness and lack of purpose she’d been numbing hit hard. A detox programme based on raw foods, juicing, colon cleansing and education about mind–body–spirit connections left her feeling “clear minded”, peaceful and unexpectedly alive.
One night there, she knelt down and prayed: she told her higher power she wanted to quit alcohol and cigarettes, but knew she couldn’t do it alone. From that point, she leaned into a plant-based, largely raw diet, daily exercise, gratitude practice and reading the Bible. She took it “one day at a time”, never promising she’d be sober or vegan forever, just deciding not to drink today.
As her energy and appearance changed, friends began asking what she was doing, which pushed her to share recipes, challenges and education in both English and Spanish. Yovana keeps her message simple and memorable: “Sleep, hydrate, move, and fruits and veggies.” For anyone in recovery who’s living on junk food or sugar, her starter tip is to replace just one meal a day with a substantial smoothie and keep easy fruit and nuts on hand.
If your body still feels as toxic as your old drinking days, could changing what’s on your plate be the next step in your recovery?
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