Jeremiah 33:6 "Behold, I will bring you health and cure, and I will cure you, and will reveal unto you the abundance of peace and truth."
Prayer: “Lord, help me to appreciate and nourish my body as your temple. Help me to put you first in my life, above all other things.”
Genesis 1:29 “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.”
I know it has been a couple of weeks since I last posted on this topic. The last few weeks have been rather crazy with a few unforeseen circumstances that arose and left me drained both mentally and physically. Thank you to those who saw my unspoken prayer request and have kept us in your thoughts. I know God will see us through and provide. I promise this week to update with more information mainly on the topic of growing your own. I have my files on our desktop pc. Unfortunatly, it has been taken over by Charlie this weekend in his quest for SillyCow to hit lvl 80 on WOW so I am limited to working on the laptop.
A little bit of what I did over the weekend. I finally got my planting started. We bought one of those patio garden planters that is allowing me to try growing upside down tomatoes and more herbs. I had planned on ordering some heirlooms but settled on some creoles purchased from Lowes. I also bought more herbs (sweet basil, cinnamon basil, lemon basil, oregano, rosemary, culinary lavender, several mints, parsley, cilantro and dill.) We have never done well with tomatoes due to the stinkbugs so I am hoping this season will be better with them off the ground. We also have a few pepper plants and several extra tomato plants since it was cheaper to buy in a 9 pack than singles. I plan on cutting a hole in the bottom of several hanging baskets and trying a few more upside down tomatoes. Once the Plant Show at Blackham comes around this April I will try to get some unique chives and odd parsley varieties. LSU usually has some good deals as well as some of the herb vendors. Last year we found one that tasted similar to cucumber which was interesting.
We came across this really neat gardening system at Sam's Club. If you live in Lafayette and are interested in square foot or box gardening go check this out. This would be great for someone living in a small area or little time to commit to a full garden yet still allow you to grow your own. They have one set up in the store right now. It is made of cedar, is raised and has a self irrigation system.
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=426003
Today someone in one of the raw foods groups here on facebook left a note about a movie they recently watched that they they say changed their life. I felt compelled to watch the movie and must say that I was left in awe. I had already known much of the information shared in this documentary and clips of other mercury vapor tests similar to those that were seen and discussed at the Autism Conference I attended a couple of years ago here is Laffy. The movie I watched is called "The Beautiful Truth" and it follows the story of a home schooled teen in Alaska researching a book written 50 years ago by Dr. Max Gerson and his developments on treating cancer nutritionally. Dr. Gerson was poisoned twice with arsenic and his manuscript, "A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 cases" was stolen and had to be rewritten and was completed shortly before he passed away due to arsenic poisioning. Watching this movie has inspired me to research more about Dr. Gerson and his writings. I was especially touched seeing the portion of the movie interviewing a survivor of a rare form of ovarian cancer. She was treated through the Mayo Clinic which eventually sent her home to die saying there was no more they could do. Now several years later and cancer free she returned to Mayo at the amazement of her treating physician at Mayo. He was asked to make a statement but declined, unfortunately, saying that he is "owned by the Mayo Clinic" and they would never allow him to say that a patient recovered without chemotherapy! In addition, anything he said would have to be approved by the Mayo public relations department. They then decided leave the Mayo campus, and film in a public park across the street. In the meantime, the Mayo powers that be alerted the police that "there is a group of terrorists across the street who are casing the place in order to blow it up!" To this day she and that doctor from Mayo have remained friends and he acknowledged that she was the only known survivor of that rare form of cancer.
Here is an article I googled which was written by the woman mentioned above. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6818/is_1_23/ai_n31163082?tag=untagged
The movie website is http://www.thebeautifultruthmovie.com and if you have Netflix you can watch it online. It is a really good documentary. The main subject is the focus on Dr. Gerson's cancer therapies but it also backs up the importance of diet in our overall health and just how strong natural healing can be. Just search The Beautiful Truth and you can watch through the Netflix player. I am interested to learn more about Dr. Gerson's findings and research from others who have gone on to continue his legacy.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Why are so many Christians are in the dark about nutrition? (part 2)
I had planned on this next segment to share information on steps to become more self sufficient and growing your own. I have decided to hold off on this section for a few more weeks to give some time for me to get started with my own planting for this season. this way i can incorporate what is happening with our own garden. A few weeks ago I contemplated how cool it would be if we could have a community garden of sorts on our property and everyone pitch in a share the harvest. How ironic that over the weekend a close friend suggested our family circle of friends get together and do just that. We will see what happens and if that comes to pass. I can remember not too long ago we shared a garden with a former neighbor. Both families took turns planting and caring for our little patch of earth. It was our most successful vegetable garden to date and fun too.
Last year was a struggle for us with injury, hurricanes and most of what we attempted to plant did not fare well through the storms. Although my herbs thrived all way way through and beyond. The beans and tomatoes struggled with only a handful of green beans and no large tomatoes (other than a grape tomato plant grown in a large terracotta pot that produced more fruit than could be consumed) survived. This year I decided to purchase one of those upside down planters with the herb container on top to give it a try. I am hoping it will help prevent stinkbugs from invading as well as opportunity to relocated the planter if any storms loom on the horizon.
Anyway, today I have decided to share an article that was recently shared with me. If any of you are attending the same class that we are at Crossroads, then you will see points that fall in line with our last class discussing the 4 major causes of disease.
JOHNS HOPKINS - LATEST FINDINGS ON CANCER, AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STAR TING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY.
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime.
3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
5 To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves p oisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size, However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
A-Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one
important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like
NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg’s Aminos or sea salt.
B. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastrointestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.
C. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
< BR>D. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruit help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
E. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive
enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and leads to more toxic build-up.
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, resentment, and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.
CANCER UPDATE FROM JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL
1. No plastic containers in micro.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.
Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This
information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.
Don’t freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases
dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness
Program Manager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us.
He said that we should not be heating our food in the micro wave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else.
Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what is in the paper. It’s just
safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that awhile ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as
dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually mel t out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.
This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life.
Last year was a struggle for us with injury, hurricanes and most of what we attempted to plant did not fare well through the storms. Although my herbs thrived all way way through and beyond. The beans and tomatoes struggled with only a handful of green beans and no large tomatoes (other than a grape tomato plant grown in a large terracotta pot that produced more fruit than could be consumed) survived. This year I decided to purchase one of those upside down planters with the herb container on top to give it a try. I am hoping it will help prevent stinkbugs from invading as well as opportunity to relocated the planter if any storms loom on the horizon.
Anyway, today I have decided to share an article that was recently shared with me. If any of you are attending the same class that we are at Crossroads, then you will see points that fall in line with our last class discussing the 4 major causes of disease.
JOHNS HOPKINS - LATEST FINDINGS ON CANCER, AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STAR TING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY.
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime.
3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
5 To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves p oisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size, However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
A-Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one
important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like
NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg’s Aminos or sea salt.
B. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastrointestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.
C. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
< BR>D. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruit help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
E. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive
enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and leads to more toxic build-up.
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, resentment, and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.
CANCER UPDATE FROM JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL
1. No plastic containers in micro.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.
Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This
information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.
Don’t freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases
dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness
Program Manager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us.
He said that we should not be heating our food in the micro wave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else.
Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what is in the paper. It’s just
safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that awhile ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as
dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually mel t out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.
This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Why are so many Christians in the dark about nutrition? (part 1)
I just started going a small group at our church on natural healing. Tonight was the second night and it has gotten me really pumped up and not to give up (something I have been struggling with lately) even with all the walls and valleys I have been faced with over the last couple of years that set me back. If you want to read my nutritional testimony then head over to http://www.giveittomeraw.com/profile/RainEdayWoman and read my blog there.
Anyway, I just sent this to Julie who is heading the class and decided I would share it here as well. This is something I have been writing off and on for the last few months to post on my blog at giveittomeraw but the topic has been heavy on my heart as of late.
Basically it deals with the question, "Why are so many Christians in the dark about nutrition?" Now keep in mind this is a work in progress and as you get through it I do have quotes and segments for several articles and sources that I am still reading and working through. Some are my thoughts, portions are notes, quotes and other that I saved for my own reference. Over time I will probably come back and update it as I get further along. I felt like I needed to put this out there in case it may help or encourage someone.
Let me also add, I many not agree with absolutely everything (referring to the response you will see towards the end of this, which I will note again later) but everything here does provoke thought and hopefully encourage more desire to educate oneself.
(Genesis 1:29)
Then God said, Behold, I have given you every herb [plant] bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat [food].
Eze 47:12 And by the edge of the river, on this side and on that, will come up every tree used for food, whose leaves will ever be green and its fruit will not come to an end: it will have new fruit every month, because its waters come out from the holy place: the fruit will be for food and the leaf will make well those who are ill.
Scripture says "My people perish for lack of knowledge." I know that I, and many, many others are sick of seeing their loved ones perish for lack of specifically nutritional knowledge, and to see themselves on the same road. When individuals live (eat) according to what is laid out in scripture and see their body's healed of cancer, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, fungus, and other ailments and that message started getting out, there were so many Christians who heaved a huge sigh of relief, thinking "Yeah, I always thought there was something to that verse, but was afraid to do anything about it, it seemed too radical...but now I see that God in His wisdom always has benefits for us when we obey even the oddest sorts of principles and commandments."
Why are Christian in the Dark about nutrition and natural healing?
The idea that "God will take care of it". No need to take responsibility for your health or think about where you food comes from, God gave it and God will take care of our health if he feels like it. It's a sort of religious passivity particulary endemic to the western world.
Scripture that says in the last days "...their God will be their bellies."
~ Phil 3:17-19
"Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an exsample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.)"
I found a great quote from a person in one of my message boards. (I will post the response in its entirety towards the end."
"God said food would be their (unbelievers) gods. I don't believe that applies to believers, nor to GOOD FOOD (unadulterated fresh raw fruits, herbs and vegetables)...I believe that means all the junk food, processed foods, and genetically modified produce we have substituted for fresh unmodified foods will fog our thoughts...addictions and being unwilling to die to our fleshly preferences will take over good sense. This is a revelation JUST THIS MOMENT for me!!!! I have worried about that Scripture for a couple of years now, knowing how much I think of food for my family. But I am created to seek out good food for my family...in fact to GROW IT (eg tend the garden w/ a husband). Its the junk foods, boxed foods, fast/quick fix foods that are becoming gods for the world at large. What we have grown accustomed to and prefer in the flesh (in food and lifestyle) which is poison to the human body. Its PART of whats leading people down a path of lethargy, complacency and depression. NOT fruits of the Spirit of God."
Then scripture goes on to talk about how proud they are of themselves....basically look at the scientists that think they can make artificial ingredients and market it to society as FOOD. Im not sure they are proud of what they've created or if they are proud of how they can kill us off...either way, lots of pride involved for certain.
PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL AND A HAUGHTY SPIRIT BEFORE DESTRUCTION!!!
Mat 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Questions:
Why should I care about being healthy? It's in the Bible,
I Corinthians 6:19-20, TLB. "Haven't you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that He lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you. For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God, because He owns it."
What is God's desire for us? It's in the Bible,
3 John 2, NIV. "I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you."
On what conditions was freedom from disease promised to God's people? It's in the Bible,
Exodus 15:26, NIV. "He said, 'If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you."
What did God promise His people anciently? It's in the Bible,
Exodus 23:25, NIV. "Worship the Lord your God, and His blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you."
Who is able to heal? It's in the Bible,
Psalm 103:2-3, NIV. "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases."
To enjoy a healthy life we must balance work and rest. It's in the Bible,
Exodus 20:8-10, NIV. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work."
Does attitude affect my health? It's in the Bible,
Proverbs 17:22, TLB. "A cheerful heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit makes one sick."
Stress on the outside need not mean stress on the inside. It's in the Bible,
Philippians 4:6-7, TLB. "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don't forget to thank Him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus."
What was the original diet recommended for men and women? Fruits, grains, nuts, and legumes. It's in the Bible,
Genesis 1:29 NIV. "Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food."
Immediately after the flood, when little if any vegetation remained, what did God say about diet? It's in the Bible,
Genesis 9:2-4, TLB. "All wild animals and birds and fish will be afraid of you, God told him; 'for I have placed them in your power, and they are yours to use for food, in addition to grain and vegetables. But never eat animals unless their life-blood has been drained off."
What example did Daniel set in the importance of proper diet? It's in the Bible,
Daniel 1:8, NIV. "But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way."
What did he eat instead? It's in the Bible, Daniel 1:12, NIV. "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink."
Why should we exercise self-control in our dietary habits? It's in the Bible,
I Corinthians 10:31, TLB. "It is because you must do everything for the glory of God, even your eating and drinking."
Midway through I decided to break this up into several segments since it is such a lengthy read. Next time I will continue this topic with posting on growing your own, planting, cleaning fresh foods and possibly conclude with easy several recipes. I am not sure what will become of this or if it is something I will chose to continue blogging on once I post everything.
Below is the message board post I mentioned in it's entirety. As I stated earlier I may not agree 100% with everything this poster touched on but there are a lot of really good points made that got me thinking and researching more on the subject. Let me add I am so thankful that my church decided on adding the natural healing class to it's small groups as well as Julie teaching the class. She is wonderful and has shared some really interesting information, her knowledge on supplements and diet. Thank you Julie!!!!
"Why are so many Christians in the dark about nutrition?"
It occurred to me that American Christians, especially, have a long cultural tradition of associated food with fellowship. It started with the "First Thanksgiving," perhaps, and maybe evolved out of the need in communities to share food for survival anywhere and everywhere that new communities were established. That pretty much includes the whole country, doesn't it? Offering food is also a part of the "offer hospitality" and "Feed the Hungry" admonitions. When a pioneer Christian read the Bible during the winter in a sod house under 5 feet of snow, which verse jumped out? To eat things that seemed patently unavailable to them at the time, or to feed,comfort and shelter the stranger/fellow pioneer that showed up at their door looking for shelter? And they probably fed him with the same things they had to eat, cooking meat from wherever they had it stored outside, with onions from the cellar and grinding up some grain for bread. They might have had some canned preserves and vegetables, maybe even lacto-fermented cabbage. I'm referring to a rather well-off pioneer, here, of course. As we know from other pioneer accounts, people had to figure out how to survive on much, much less. None of them came from a culture that espoused raw eating, so why should it occur to them when they had worked so hard just to get through the day, and it wasn't much of an option anyway? They ate what was available, and they ate in the way that they had been taught be their parents and the people they encountered, all of whom came from cultures with traditional cooking styles.
I also agree that when our nutritional knowledge began to advance along with worldwide communication, people could see how opposite the New Age/Eastern philosophies were to Christianity and hesitated to associate themselves with any part of it.
Scripture says "My people perish for lack of knowledge." I know that I, and many, many others are sick of seeing their loved ones perish for lack of specifically nutritional knowledge, and to see themselves on the same road. When George Malkmus ate according to Genesis 1:29 and saw that his body healed itself of cancer, and when he started to get the message out, there were so many Christians who heaved a huge sigh of relief, thinking "Yeah, I always thought there was something to that verse, but was afraid to do anything about it, it seemed too radical...but now I see that God in His wisdom always has benefits for us when we obey even the oddest sorts of principles and commandments."
Of course other people, just as in non-Christian circles, look on raw food miracles as either flukes or as dire, painful interventions that they hope that they themselves will never have to endure. The change would cost them too much. One of my girlfriends is constantly asking "How do you DO it, how do you have a LIFE and DO it?" I think most people, Christian or not, who embrace even part of the raw food lifestyle, have realized that there ARE social consequences, and haven't figured out how to handle them gracefully.
It is hard to feel "ok" about bringing nut-pate nori rolls to a potluck for teenagers when you are supposed to bring an "entree/casserole." The idea is to bring things that people will enjoy eating, right? And what about doughnuts? Can't stop serving those, everyone expects them, right? It's part of our hospitality! And what about handling big church-wide dinners? Gotta serve what people want, right? When we host missionaries and people from all around the world, we have another arena of having to figure out "what's for dinner that most people will eat."
Then there is evangelism and being connected to the world around us. It is amazing how much food seems to be involved in evangelism as well. We bring meals to needy families. We provide canned food to the hungry. We bring food to school and sporting and other events in our communities as a way of connecting with others that might need the gospel. We might host informal breakfasts each week at church so the teens have somewhere welcoming to bring their friends to, to introduce them to their life at church. I think that when Christians think through the implications of being raw, they have a hard time getting past how much food affects every part of their life, including the way they've been doing their faith walk in community with others. Changing to a raw lifestyle can be daunting enough when it only affects you and your family. Oh yes, family. Christians are like everyone else with families that may or may not be supportive of going raw. They need to be fed, too....
If the social barrier feels too overwhelming to climb, there is another barrier to climb: no one else in most churches is doing it. There's no support from the church leadership. Their hearts and minds are engaged with the gospel and sharing it. When they are ill and I have suggested that they look into raw foods, their immediate reaction seems to be that God and their doctors have things in hand. The message of diet and lifestyle isn't one that is likely to be delivered in the pulpit. Remember the bit where Peter has the dream about unclean foods in the book of Acts, and Paul's attempts to keep the Jews in Jerusalem from imposing heavy, pharisee-influenced rules onto new gentile believers. The Jews, of course, had been eating cooked foods since after the flood, when there was basically only mud on the ground and God gave them permission to eat meat. Any message on eating that I have ever received in church or at home (so far as the spiritual implications of our eating goes) is that the food we ate was not a matter of sin, but rather a matter of moderation and respect for our bodies, which Paul described as the temple of the Holy Spirit. I think we tuned out Genesis 1:29 for the most part as "old covenant" but acknowledged that those things were good for us in a more general way. We focus more on our "freedom in Christ," than being bound by food rules.
As to Christians I know, in general, they are beginning to understand the importance of diet, mainly through their own life experiences, usually involving their children. But others are discontented with their own health, and have been hearing from me, and no doubt others, that there is more to nutrition than they realized before. For me, going raw 100% for three weeks almost did me in...I was dangerously dehydrated despite drinking plenty of water, had some bizarre neuro symptoms, and I had to modify my doctor-suggested 6-week raw retreat in order to survive. When I returned home, I was tested for heavy metal poisoning with a big POSITIVE result. Yes, it can be dangerous to go 100% raw. I am no longer supposed to eat 100% raw all the time. I have a long road ahead of me to get to the heart of my various imbalances in a way that doesn't poison me in the process. So I haven't exactly been the poster-child to get everyone onto the raw bandwagon, either. I'm sure that throughout the country, there are 'failed" raw fooders in churches for one reason or another. But as more and more of us try new things and talk about them, it gives people around us permission to consider other ways besides their doctor's advice to address their health problems. I'm seeing much more interest in alternatives among my friends. At our church, a number of members have changed their diets using herbs and supplements from a local wellness company, and have experienced some great results...so going raw still seems too extreme when they can get results in other ways. I think that response is pretty natural and human, whether you are Christian or not. After all, we don't usually change unless we perceive more pain in the status quo than in making a change.
My last thoughts on why Christians are in the dark about diet and health is because most Christians don't read their Bibles, and take them seriously. Granted, it takes some study and the Holy Spirit to understand it, and understanding Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic (which is really useful for clarifiying a few things that people call "inconsistencies) is really useful. But if people would just read it they would see the holistic advice it contains....
I don't have the references or the exact wording at the tip of my tongue, but scripture tells us really helpful things....
Meditate on the law day and night and you will become like a tree planted by a river--meditation is good, especially if God is your topic!
Don't sin (guilt isn't good for you)
Don't fornicate or have adultery (good for your mental, emotional and physical health)
Don't disrespect your parents or provoke your children-ditto
don't let the sun go down on your wrath - go to bed with restored relationships
eat growing things a la Genesis 1:29
if eating meat, avoid bottom feeders, carnivorous predators and carrion-eaters and foods likely to hold nasty pathogens
a cheerful heart is good medicine - an all-around holistic healing approach
as a man thinks in his heart, so is he - ditto
give thanks to the Lord, for He is good - cultivating a heart of gratitude
Don't covet - feel peace inside instead - ditto
don't bear false witness - guilt/bad relationships aren't good for you
eat in moderation - don't burn off all your enzymes in one sitting!
some kinds of prayer is more efficacious with fasting
Fasting modeled as part of the lives of those who walked close to God
work 6 days and rest on the 7th (France tried to go to a 10 day workweek during one of their anti-God campaigns. Didn't last. The horses couldn't handle that schedule and began dying.)
The "Daniel Diet" of vegetarian fare gave Daniel and his buddies a superior glow and physique that impressed the king.
John survived just fine on locusts and wild honey. While not strictly vegan, it was raw.
wash your hands and clothing and houses according to guidelines of different sorts, including those to prevent the spread of leprosy.
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind - another mind-body connection as well as great spiritual advice
Give to others, care for widows, orphans, the sick, the imprisoned, the destitute.
Let those in debt to you have the option of working for you (slavery) but give them the choice of either staying with you (security) or being free after their debt is paid or when a Jubilee Year comes around.
Don't take advantage of your neighbor or charge interest, and restore land to original families every Jubilee year so everyone can have a chance to start over again. -- practicing charity results in better health and well-being for everyone.
Rotate your crops and let fields lie fallow every seventh year.
So lets see, we are implored to Meditate. I will suggest that it is hard NOT to breathe deeply and restfully when doing this, even though it isn't specified. The Holy Spirit is referred to as a breath, too.
We are implored to have a peaceful, stress-free, cheerful, forgiving, thankful and trusting mindset.
We are to eat in moderation, eat clean and periodically give our bodies a rest with fasting
we are given both a command to eat a vegetarian way, which, though rescinded out of necessity of survival, is confirmed as a great way to eat in the book of Daniel. Raw and natural eating is demonstrated by John the Baptist.
Practice good hygiene for personal and public health in both specific ways (like not spreading leprosy), but also having social rules to take care of the needy and give people a second chance. The "slavery" they practiced was never supposed to be anything more than a way to keep a roof over the debtor's head and food in his tummy while the lender got something in return for what he loaned, and it was to be temporary unless the debtor liked his new home well enough to stay there permanently. No homelessness giving rise to increased rates of AIDs, hepatitis (like today), or whatever scourges were common back in those days.
God's sustainable agricultural practices would have ensured a high quality of nutrients and health in their crops, too. I forget now, but there were rules about wells and water, too.
The Bible shows us how to be healthy both in our own bodies and in relationship to both our families and our communities and our land.
Those are all pretty holistic to me. But if Christians aren't reading their Bibles, they don't know that this stuff is there. Christians, as a group, are so ignorant of the Bible anymore that when the President of the United States misquotes Scripture on a national news network, they don't know that he misquoted it, and misapplied it, and you barely hear a peep about it. The other thing is that Christians aren't believing that their Bibles are relevant. When other non-Christian groups figure out that washing hands before surgery or that organic methods of gardening are key for our health, with no mention of Scripture having a similar plan or principle, it is very, very telling. The fact that Christians don't even seem to realize that there was already a command or principle in the Scriptures about it is very, very telling.
It tells me that we, as a culture, are totally ignoring what God has to say to us in His Word. It is fascinating to me that scientists and clergy alike created doubt in God's work in previous centuries...and that all the supposed "proof" was false, and that a lot of the missing "proof" that let the clergy toss out parts of the bible has now been found. Yet we blindly continue to believe, in fact seminaries continue to teach, that the Bible is a nice story with spiritual implications, not the Word of God. It "contains" the Word of God, and you and I get to pick and choose which parts are "real." (now them are fightin' words, sorry if I'm stepping on toes! I feel about this cover-up the way I feel about the AMA and big pharma trying to coverup natural remedies and true nutrition information!)
As a side note on a couple of other holistic practices...
While the Bible doesn't specify deep breathing, I think that quietly meditating and praying usually brings this sort of breathing on, naturally.The Bible also doesn't mention specific physical exercises like Yoga, nor techniques like sun-gazing. Since the Jews left Egypt behind, it is easy to see why God didn't particularly want them worshiping the Sun so I imagine that is why he left out that particular technique. Kind of like his rule about avoiding cooking meat in milk...one of the religious rituals of other tribes was to boil a kid in its mothers milk. God's commands to the Jews were to make them peculiar and different from the cultures around them.
As for Yoga in particular, I know that some Christians have heard the argument that when practicing some forms of meditation, you are to empty your mind and open it to bad influences. God's command in meditation isn't to empty your mind, but to think on Him and His word. Anyway, those are my thoughts on why Christians are in the dark when it comes to nutrition and holistic health."
Anyway, I just sent this to Julie who is heading the class and decided I would share it here as well. This is something I have been writing off and on for the last few months to post on my blog at giveittomeraw but the topic has been heavy on my heart as of late.
Basically it deals with the question, "Why are so many Christians in the dark about nutrition?" Now keep in mind this is a work in progress and as you get through it I do have quotes and segments for several articles and sources that I am still reading and working through. Some are my thoughts, portions are notes, quotes and other that I saved for my own reference. Over time I will probably come back and update it as I get further along. I felt like I needed to put this out there in case it may help or encourage someone.
Let me also add, I many not agree with absolutely everything (referring to the response you will see towards the end of this, which I will note again later) but everything here does provoke thought and hopefully encourage more desire to educate oneself.
(Genesis 1:29)
Then God said, Behold, I have given you every herb [plant] bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat [food].
Eze 47:12 And by the edge of the river, on this side and on that, will come up every tree used for food, whose leaves will ever be green and its fruit will not come to an end: it will have new fruit every month, because its waters come out from the holy place: the fruit will be for food and the leaf will make well those who are ill.
Scripture says "My people perish for lack of knowledge." I know that I, and many, many others are sick of seeing their loved ones perish for lack of specifically nutritional knowledge, and to see themselves on the same road. When individuals live (eat) according to what is laid out in scripture and see their body's healed of cancer, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, fungus, and other ailments and that message started getting out, there were so many Christians who heaved a huge sigh of relief, thinking "Yeah, I always thought there was something to that verse, but was afraid to do anything about it, it seemed too radical...but now I see that God in His wisdom always has benefits for us when we obey even the oddest sorts of principles and commandments."
Why are Christian in the Dark about nutrition and natural healing?
The idea that "God will take care of it". No need to take responsibility for your health or think about where you food comes from, God gave it and God will take care of our health if he feels like it. It's a sort of religious passivity particulary endemic to the western world.
Scripture that says in the last days "...their God will be their bellies."
~ Phil 3:17-19
"Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an exsample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.)"
I found a great quote from a person in one of my message boards. (I will post the response in its entirety towards the end."
"God said food would be their (unbelievers) gods. I don't believe that applies to believers, nor to GOOD FOOD (unadulterated fresh raw fruits, herbs and vegetables)...I believe that means all the junk food, processed foods, and genetically modified produce we have substituted for fresh unmodified foods will fog our thoughts...addictions and being unwilling to die to our fleshly preferences will take over good sense. This is a revelation JUST THIS MOMENT for me!!!! I have worried about that Scripture for a couple of years now, knowing how much I think of food for my family. But I am created to seek out good food for my family...in fact to GROW IT (eg tend the garden w/ a husband). Its the junk foods, boxed foods, fast/quick fix foods that are becoming gods for the world at large. What we have grown accustomed to and prefer in the flesh (in food and lifestyle) which is poison to the human body. Its PART of whats leading people down a path of lethargy, complacency and depression. NOT fruits of the Spirit of God."
Then scripture goes on to talk about how proud they are of themselves....basically look at the scientists that think they can make artificial ingredients and market it to society as FOOD. Im not sure they are proud of what they've created or if they are proud of how they can kill us off...either way, lots of pride involved for certain.
PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL AND A HAUGHTY SPIRIT BEFORE DESTRUCTION!!!
Mat 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Questions:
Why should I care about being healthy? It's in the Bible,
I Corinthians 6:19-20, TLB. "Haven't you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that He lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you. For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God, because He owns it."
What is God's desire for us? It's in the Bible,
3 John 2, NIV. "I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you."
On what conditions was freedom from disease promised to God's people? It's in the Bible,
Exodus 15:26, NIV. "He said, 'If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you."
What did God promise His people anciently? It's in the Bible,
Exodus 23:25, NIV. "Worship the Lord your God, and His blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you."
Who is able to heal? It's in the Bible,
Psalm 103:2-3, NIV. "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases."
To enjoy a healthy life we must balance work and rest. It's in the Bible,
Exodus 20:8-10, NIV. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work."
Does attitude affect my health? It's in the Bible,
Proverbs 17:22, TLB. "A cheerful heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit makes one sick."
Stress on the outside need not mean stress on the inside. It's in the Bible,
Philippians 4:6-7, TLB. "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don't forget to thank Him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus."
What was the original diet recommended for men and women? Fruits, grains, nuts, and legumes. It's in the Bible,
Genesis 1:29 NIV. "Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food."
Immediately after the flood, when little if any vegetation remained, what did God say about diet? It's in the Bible,
Genesis 9:2-4, TLB. "All wild animals and birds and fish will be afraid of you, God told him; 'for I have placed them in your power, and they are yours to use for food, in addition to grain and vegetables. But never eat animals unless their life-blood has been drained off."
What example did Daniel set in the importance of proper diet? It's in the Bible,
Daniel 1:8, NIV. "But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way."
What did he eat instead? It's in the Bible, Daniel 1:12, NIV. "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink."
Why should we exercise self-control in our dietary habits? It's in the Bible,
I Corinthians 10:31, TLB. "It is because you must do everything for the glory of God, even your eating and drinking."
Midway through I decided to break this up into several segments since it is such a lengthy read. Next time I will continue this topic with posting on growing your own, planting, cleaning fresh foods and possibly conclude with easy several recipes. I am not sure what will become of this or if it is something I will chose to continue blogging on once I post everything.
Below is the message board post I mentioned in it's entirety. As I stated earlier I may not agree 100% with everything this poster touched on but there are a lot of really good points made that got me thinking and researching more on the subject. Let me add I am so thankful that my church decided on adding the natural healing class to it's small groups as well as Julie teaching the class. She is wonderful and has shared some really interesting information, her knowledge on supplements and diet. Thank you Julie!!!!
"Why are so many Christians in the dark about nutrition?"
It occurred to me that American Christians, especially, have a long cultural tradition of associated food with fellowship. It started with the "First Thanksgiving," perhaps, and maybe evolved out of the need in communities to share food for survival anywhere and everywhere that new communities were established. That pretty much includes the whole country, doesn't it? Offering food is also a part of the "offer hospitality" and "Feed the Hungry" admonitions. When a pioneer Christian read the Bible during the winter in a sod house under 5 feet of snow, which verse jumped out? To eat things that seemed patently unavailable to them at the time, or to feed,comfort and shelter the stranger/fellow pioneer that showed up at their door looking for shelter? And they probably fed him with the same things they had to eat, cooking meat from wherever they had it stored outside, with onions from the cellar and grinding up some grain for bread. They might have had some canned preserves and vegetables, maybe even lacto-fermented cabbage. I'm referring to a rather well-off pioneer, here, of course. As we know from other pioneer accounts, people had to figure out how to survive on much, much less. None of them came from a culture that espoused raw eating, so why should it occur to them when they had worked so hard just to get through the day, and it wasn't much of an option anyway? They ate what was available, and they ate in the way that they had been taught be their parents and the people they encountered, all of whom came from cultures with traditional cooking styles.
I also agree that when our nutritional knowledge began to advance along with worldwide communication, people could see how opposite the New Age/Eastern philosophies were to Christianity and hesitated to associate themselves with any part of it.
Scripture says "My people perish for lack of knowledge." I know that I, and many, many others are sick of seeing their loved ones perish for lack of specifically nutritional knowledge, and to see themselves on the same road. When George Malkmus ate according to Genesis 1:29 and saw that his body healed itself of cancer, and when he started to get the message out, there were so many Christians who heaved a huge sigh of relief, thinking "Yeah, I always thought there was something to that verse, but was afraid to do anything about it, it seemed too radical...but now I see that God in His wisdom always has benefits for us when we obey even the oddest sorts of principles and commandments."
Of course other people, just as in non-Christian circles, look on raw food miracles as either flukes or as dire, painful interventions that they hope that they themselves will never have to endure. The change would cost them too much. One of my girlfriends is constantly asking "How do you DO it, how do you have a LIFE and DO it?" I think most people, Christian or not, who embrace even part of the raw food lifestyle, have realized that there ARE social consequences, and haven't figured out how to handle them gracefully.
It is hard to feel "ok" about bringing nut-pate nori rolls to a potluck for teenagers when you are supposed to bring an "entree/casserole." The idea is to bring things that people will enjoy eating, right? And what about doughnuts? Can't stop serving those, everyone expects them, right? It's part of our hospitality! And what about handling big church-wide dinners? Gotta serve what people want, right? When we host missionaries and people from all around the world, we have another arena of having to figure out "what's for dinner that most people will eat."
Then there is evangelism and being connected to the world around us. It is amazing how much food seems to be involved in evangelism as well. We bring meals to needy families. We provide canned food to the hungry. We bring food to school and sporting and other events in our communities as a way of connecting with others that might need the gospel. We might host informal breakfasts each week at church so the teens have somewhere welcoming to bring their friends to, to introduce them to their life at church. I think that when Christians think through the implications of being raw, they have a hard time getting past how much food affects every part of their life, including the way they've been doing their faith walk in community with others. Changing to a raw lifestyle can be daunting enough when it only affects you and your family. Oh yes, family. Christians are like everyone else with families that may or may not be supportive of going raw. They need to be fed, too....
If the social barrier feels too overwhelming to climb, there is another barrier to climb: no one else in most churches is doing it. There's no support from the church leadership. Their hearts and minds are engaged with the gospel and sharing it. When they are ill and I have suggested that they look into raw foods, their immediate reaction seems to be that God and their doctors have things in hand. The message of diet and lifestyle isn't one that is likely to be delivered in the pulpit. Remember the bit where Peter has the dream about unclean foods in the book of Acts, and Paul's attempts to keep the Jews in Jerusalem from imposing heavy, pharisee-influenced rules onto new gentile believers. The Jews, of course, had been eating cooked foods since after the flood, when there was basically only mud on the ground and God gave them permission to eat meat. Any message on eating that I have ever received in church or at home (so far as the spiritual implications of our eating goes) is that the food we ate was not a matter of sin, but rather a matter of moderation and respect for our bodies, which Paul described as the temple of the Holy Spirit. I think we tuned out Genesis 1:29 for the most part as "old covenant" but acknowledged that those things were good for us in a more general way. We focus more on our "freedom in Christ," than being bound by food rules.
As to Christians I know, in general, they are beginning to understand the importance of diet, mainly through their own life experiences, usually involving their children. But others are discontented with their own health, and have been hearing from me, and no doubt others, that there is more to nutrition than they realized before. For me, going raw 100% for three weeks almost did me in...I was dangerously dehydrated despite drinking plenty of water, had some bizarre neuro symptoms, and I had to modify my doctor-suggested 6-week raw retreat in order to survive. When I returned home, I was tested for heavy metal poisoning with a big POSITIVE result. Yes, it can be dangerous to go 100% raw. I am no longer supposed to eat 100% raw all the time. I have a long road ahead of me to get to the heart of my various imbalances in a way that doesn't poison me in the process. So I haven't exactly been the poster-child to get everyone onto the raw bandwagon, either. I'm sure that throughout the country, there are 'failed" raw fooders in churches for one reason or another. But as more and more of us try new things and talk about them, it gives people around us permission to consider other ways besides their doctor's advice to address their health problems. I'm seeing much more interest in alternatives among my friends. At our church, a number of members have changed their diets using herbs and supplements from a local wellness company, and have experienced some great results...so going raw still seems too extreme when they can get results in other ways. I think that response is pretty natural and human, whether you are Christian or not. After all, we don't usually change unless we perceive more pain in the status quo than in making a change.
My last thoughts on why Christians are in the dark about diet and health is because most Christians don't read their Bibles, and take them seriously. Granted, it takes some study and the Holy Spirit to understand it, and understanding Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic (which is really useful for clarifiying a few things that people call "inconsistencies) is really useful. But if people would just read it they would see the holistic advice it contains....
I don't have the references or the exact wording at the tip of my tongue, but scripture tells us really helpful things....
Meditate on the law day and night and you will become like a tree planted by a river--meditation is good, especially if God is your topic!
Don't sin (guilt isn't good for you)
Don't fornicate or have adultery (good for your mental, emotional and physical health)
Don't disrespect your parents or provoke your children-ditto
don't let the sun go down on your wrath - go to bed with restored relationships
eat growing things a la Genesis 1:29
if eating meat, avoid bottom feeders, carnivorous predators and carrion-eaters and foods likely to hold nasty pathogens
a cheerful heart is good medicine - an all-around holistic healing approach
as a man thinks in his heart, so is he - ditto
give thanks to the Lord, for He is good - cultivating a heart of gratitude
Don't covet - feel peace inside instead - ditto
don't bear false witness - guilt/bad relationships aren't good for you
eat in moderation - don't burn off all your enzymes in one sitting!
some kinds of prayer is more efficacious with fasting
Fasting modeled as part of the lives of those who walked close to God
work 6 days and rest on the 7th (France tried to go to a 10 day workweek during one of their anti-God campaigns. Didn't last. The horses couldn't handle that schedule and began dying.)
The "Daniel Diet" of vegetarian fare gave Daniel and his buddies a superior glow and physique that impressed the king.
John survived just fine on locusts and wild honey. While not strictly vegan, it was raw.
wash your hands and clothing and houses according to guidelines of different sorts, including those to prevent the spread of leprosy.
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind - another mind-body connection as well as great spiritual advice
Give to others, care for widows, orphans, the sick, the imprisoned, the destitute.
Let those in debt to you have the option of working for you (slavery) but give them the choice of either staying with you (security) or being free after their debt is paid or when a Jubilee Year comes around.
Don't take advantage of your neighbor or charge interest, and restore land to original families every Jubilee year so everyone can have a chance to start over again. -- practicing charity results in better health and well-being for everyone.
Rotate your crops and let fields lie fallow every seventh year.
So lets see, we are implored to Meditate. I will suggest that it is hard NOT to breathe deeply and restfully when doing this, even though it isn't specified. The Holy Spirit is referred to as a breath, too.
We are implored to have a peaceful, stress-free, cheerful, forgiving, thankful and trusting mindset.
We are to eat in moderation, eat clean and periodically give our bodies a rest with fasting
we are given both a command to eat a vegetarian way, which, though rescinded out of necessity of survival, is confirmed as a great way to eat in the book of Daniel. Raw and natural eating is demonstrated by John the Baptist.
Practice good hygiene for personal and public health in both specific ways (like not spreading leprosy), but also having social rules to take care of the needy and give people a second chance. The "slavery" they practiced was never supposed to be anything more than a way to keep a roof over the debtor's head and food in his tummy while the lender got something in return for what he loaned, and it was to be temporary unless the debtor liked his new home well enough to stay there permanently. No homelessness giving rise to increased rates of AIDs, hepatitis (like today), or whatever scourges were common back in those days.
God's sustainable agricultural practices would have ensured a high quality of nutrients and health in their crops, too. I forget now, but there were rules about wells and water, too.
The Bible shows us how to be healthy both in our own bodies and in relationship to both our families and our communities and our land.
Those are all pretty holistic to me. But if Christians aren't reading their Bibles, they don't know that this stuff is there. Christians, as a group, are so ignorant of the Bible anymore that when the President of the United States misquotes Scripture on a national news network, they don't know that he misquoted it, and misapplied it, and you barely hear a peep about it. The other thing is that Christians aren't believing that their Bibles are relevant. When other non-Christian groups figure out that washing hands before surgery or that organic methods of gardening are key for our health, with no mention of Scripture having a similar plan or principle, it is very, very telling. The fact that Christians don't even seem to realize that there was already a command or principle in the Scriptures about it is very, very telling.
It tells me that we, as a culture, are totally ignoring what God has to say to us in His Word. It is fascinating to me that scientists and clergy alike created doubt in God's work in previous centuries...and that all the supposed "proof" was false, and that a lot of the missing "proof" that let the clergy toss out parts of the bible has now been found. Yet we blindly continue to believe, in fact seminaries continue to teach, that the Bible is a nice story with spiritual implications, not the Word of God. It "contains" the Word of God, and you and I get to pick and choose which parts are "real." (now them are fightin' words, sorry if I'm stepping on toes! I feel about this cover-up the way I feel about the AMA and big pharma trying to coverup natural remedies and true nutrition information!)
As a side note on a couple of other holistic practices...
While the Bible doesn't specify deep breathing, I think that quietly meditating and praying usually brings this sort of breathing on, naturally.The Bible also doesn't mention specific physical exercises like Yoga, nor techniques like sun-gazing. Since the Jews left Egypt behind, it is easy to see why God didn't particularly want them worshiping the Sun so I imagine that is why he left out that particular technique. Kind of like his rule about avoiding cooking meat in milk...one of the religious rituals of other tribes was to boil a kid in its mothers milk. God's commands to the Jews were to make them peculiar and different from the cultures around them.
As for Yoga in particular, I know that some Christians have heard the argument that when practicing some forms of meditation, you are to empty your mind and open it to bad influences. God's command in meditation isn't to empty your mind, but to think on Him and His word. Anyway, those are my thoughts on why Christians are in the dark when it comes to nutrition and holistic health."
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