Choose Nutritious Foods
Choose Nutritious Foods
And God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb 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,” Genesis 1:29. God’s original diet for man consisted of fruit, grains and nuts. These natural foods contained every necessary ingredient for good health. After mans fall God added the herbs of the field, Genesis 3:18. This would include vegetables and herbs. It would stand to reason that God gave us the herbs of the field for their healing properties. There was not sickness in the world prior to sin, nor was the body designed to become weaker. Fruit and vegetables complement each other to strengthen and heal our bodies.
A nutritious diet is the most useful tool to improve health. When choosing fruit and vegetables, choose organic foods whenever possible. It has been noted that organic foods contain 300 times the nutrients of none organic foods. When choosing food for you and your family remember you are choosing the building blocks of your lives. Choose health fruit and vegetables, life unto life. Bargain bins of fruit and vegetables that have areas of mole or over ripeness seems like a good deal, but when considering how they will benefit the body they are of no value. When you see mole on the outside know that it first begin on the inside. For greater health benefits our best choice of food is fruit, grains, nuts, vegetables and herbs.
It was after the flood that God permitted mankind to eat flesh. However, God gave specific instruction as to which meats could and could not be eaten. They are called clean and unclean meats. We are permitted to eat clean meats. Leviticus chapter 11 tells us what meats are clean and unclean. Clean meats include such animals as cows, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, and fish with fins and scales. Unclean meats include swine (pig), also called pork (Leviticus 11:7). Lard, a fat used for cooking, is made from pork. We must be careful to read the ingredients on the products we buy to make sure they don’t contain this type or fat. A hare (or rabbit) is also unclean meat. Other unclean meats include camel and reptiles such as snakes, turtles, lizards and creatures like mice, weasels, snails, moles, and fish without fins and scales. This includes catfish, shark, shrimp, lobster, crab and oysters.
Some of these are known as scavengers. Scavengers are specially designed by God to be able to eat dead and decaying things. They help to keep the earth clean and free of diseased and dying animals. Some of them also eat the waste products of other animals. When we eat animals that are scavengers, we take into our bodies all the sick and diseased foods they have eaten. Our bodies are not designed to handle this type of food. They do nothing to maintain or improve our health. In fact they are harmful to our health.
God also instructed the Israelites in Leviticus 3:17, “It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat not blood.” Many believe these health principles are no longer binding. They believe they were for the Israelites during that time. But let’s look at God’s instructions from a medical point of view.
Health risk factors are factors in the lifestyle that will increase the possibility of developing a disease. Some common risk factors for developing heart disease and stroke are obesity, diabetes, hypertension, lack of exercise, a high-fat diet, alcohol, and smoking. As we look at these factors in this way, we can see that fat is not the only contributing factor in these disorders, but it is the most common. God further instructs in Leviticus 17:14, “For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.”
Knowing the life giving principles of blood, let’s look at it from a medical standpoint. Blood is vital for life. Many illnesses and infectious diseases are detected by examining the blood. The blood circulates throughout the body carrying its life forces whether they are rich in vitality or contaminated with life-threatening organisms. Blood denotes the condition of that life. Illnesses can pass from person to person through contaminated blood. It has been found that many animals have the same or similar diseases, as do humans. These diseases can be detected in their blood. As a health consideration, health-care workers try very hard not to become even externally contaminated with blood, yet we introduce the blood of sick and diseased animals into our bodies through our diet. We truly are what we eat.
Our health status exemplifies our diet. We glorify God through our obedience to his health principles. If we obey, God he has promised, “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee” (Exodus 15:26). History has taught us the Egyptians suffered from many of the diseases we suffer from today, such as various cancers and heart and lung diseases. Knowledge of God’s health principles empowers us to take better care of our bodies.
