Biblical eating

What is that anyway?

I am by no means the first person to come up with such a concept. In fact, I googled it and found a lot of people have their own ideas, theories, diets, programs, etc., all claiming to be "the way Jesus ate".

So, what did he eat? Fruits, vegetables, nuts, herbs, meat, bread, milk (and honey!) were probably included in his diet and those of his contemporaries in the Bible. While some did keep kosher, the gentiles may have eaten meat that was considered unclean (crab, lobster, pork).

I didn't see anything that said Jesus (and by Jesus, I also mean people in the Bible times) ate Twinkies, donuts, chips, etc. These people were afflicted with cancer as early as 1500 B.C. as breast tumors were recorded on papyrus in Egypt (who knew you were getting a history lesson today?!) just as we are now. The prevalence may be increasing and what can we atribute that to? Diet. Exercise. Lifestyle.

We no longer walk to school, walk to the store; heck! We barely walk the dog! People didn't have to deliberately exercise as their lives were simply more physically active than ours. I remember playing outside at the park, in the back yard, with a friend, running, riding bikes, and swimming with my friends as a kid. Now kids watch TV and play video games at alarming rates and this cause contributed to the obesity epidemic facing the youth today. (Am I on a rant or what?!)

Basic nutrition states burn more calories than you consume and you will lose weight. Great. How is that possible when the food of today consists of burgers, pink slime, pizza, Ranch dressing, sugary coffee drinks, and hormone-antibiotic-dye laced meat products? It is near impossible to consume these foods and maintain a healthy waist. Therefore, we come back to Biblical eating.

More fruit. More vegetables. More whole grain. Less processed foods. More home cooked foods. Less meat. More legumes.

This is my goal. More to come.... :)

Whole food

No, this isn't a post about the grocery store; rather, what is a whole food? What is whole food eating?

These are questions I've been pondering for the past few weeks. If you're anything like me, you've considered many different 'diets' or eating plans, nutrition options, good food vs easy/convenient foods.

Over the last six months or so I have watched several movies about food, nutrition, and health. Forks Over Knives; Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead; and Food, Inc are all wonderful! They are available on Netflix, too! Each has a different agenda and point of view, but each spoke to me in it's own way.

As a result of watching Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, I drank fruit and vegetable juice for four days. I noticed more stability over my mood, emotions, which lead me to conclude my blood sugar was more stable throughout the day as a result of not eating refined sugar and processed foods. Food, Inc challenged me to buy protein (beef, chicken, eggs, pork, etc.) that is hormone-free, free-range, grass fed, antibiotic free, etc. And to the best of my ability, I have done just that. Finally, Forks Over Knives challenged me to do something I don't want to do. FOK promotes a vegan lifestyle citing meat as a leading cause for cancer and many other health problems. As an RN, I know (and teach my patients) that fruits and veggies are best. Whole grains over white grains are a better choice. Soda is poison, and on and on. I like meat. I like Filet and chicken. I believe God gave us dominion over animals and provided them as food for us.

Let me clarify. I do NOT believe the animals in the Bible are the same as they are now. A cow is and was a cow, yes. But, the cow and sheep and chickens were part of the family. They lived with other animals, grazed all day, were treated well, slaughtered responsibly and used to their fullest potential. They were not crammed in a feed lot, standing in feces all day, pumped full of hormones to create breasts larger than any poor chicken should have on their body.

So, that leads to me to my next thought about Biblical eating. Which, I'll save for another day!