Foods That Heal      What Does The Bible Say About Food Choices?    

Who, Me?  A Glutton?         Why I Chose To Only Eat Organic

Some Closing Thoughts

Foods That Heal!

There are tons of webpages out there that discuss the dos and don’ts of the “Candida Diet.”  I will not waste space here re-inventing the wheel!  If you are looking for a very comprehensive look at a healing diet that truly helps those battling candida and is also healthy for everyone else in your family, Whole Approach is a great place to look.

 
What I will do is give you a few foods and concepts that I feel are vital to health-PERIOD!  Foods that God has programmed with healing properties and you will want to incorporate into your daily diet and that of your loved ones.  As the woman of my house, I am typically in charge of the food.  With my husband’s blessing, I have designated myself “The Minister of Health” for my home.  I make sure that healthy foods are available for my family on a daily basis and I take responsibility for what is and is not in my cupboards and refrigerator.  Here are some of the things that I faithfully believe will help my family to live in divine health:

    Eat at least 50% of your food RAW!  To some of you the importance of raw food may be a new concept and to others you may, as I once did, dismiss it as a fad for extremists.   I say here 50% because I think it is a large enough amount to help, but not large enough to scare away those who have never considered upping their raw intake.

o       Why?  When we cook fruits and vegetables or even roast the nuts we eat, we destroy a percentage of the vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and enzymes-these things are what actually make the food “ALIVE” and give it the ability to pass on that “life” to us when we eat it.  They are the things that keep us from getting cancer, heart dis-ease, high blood pressure, depression, and a host of other all too common dis-eases. The longer we cook or the higher the heat we cook them at, the more of these vital life giving ingredients we destroy. 

o       How? There are several easy ways to add in more raw foods to your diet.  Here are a few:

1.      Juice fresh vegetables or incorporate a good green drink such as Perfect Food by the Christian company Garden of Life.

2.      Eat raw snacks instead of cooked ones throughout the day.  Chopped berries in plain yogurt, a Granny Smith apple, baby carrots or broccoli with a homemade yogurt dip, or celery with raw almond butter help give you a boost of nutrients midday.

3.      Try eating one salad each day.  It can be a small salad with your dinner, or a larger salad as your lunch.

4.      Make one of your meals all raw!  Breakfast is the perfect choice as a class of veggie juice or a sliced green apple mixed with sprouted raw walnuts  make a great breakfast.

5.      If you have a sandwich (on brown rice bread if you are battling candida), stack it with raw veggies!  Onions, peppers, lettuce, and sprouts add great flavor and nutrition.  Note: Once you are free from candida or find that you do not have issues with gluten grains, choose sprouted breads like Ezekiel bread from the Christian compay Food for Life (who also sales candida friendly breads found in many larger grocery chains).  Then all but the meat is raw!

*For more RAW ideas, visit the Hallelujah Diet.  Though I do not think a vegetarian diet is God’s ideal for this time in creation, they have hundreds of great recipes that will make incorporating raw foods into your diet more fun!

    Limit your meat intake!  For many Americans, this is unthinkable, but I am not saying we should all be vegetarian.

o       Why? Other animals that are carnivores create more hydrochloric acid than human beings do and have a shorter digestive track.  This means that the hydrochloric acid is able to break the meat down better and to remove it from the body sooner.  Because God originally did not give us the meat of the earth to eat, our digestive systems reflect that.  Also, because animals are living beings their bodies, like ours, hide toxins in their fat.  When we eat that fat, we eat those toxins.

o       How? 

1.      Supplement with other food choices.  I committed to filling half of my plate with vegetables.  The other half was divided between my grains and meat for that meal.    

2.      Choose to eat your other foods first.  Instead of eating your meat first and getting full before you eat the rest of your food, eat it in reverse.

3.      Save meat for only one meal each day.  Maybe eat meat with your dinner, but not breakfast and lunch.

    Drink plenty of water each day.  Half of your body weight in ounces is a good rule of thumb.  Note:  I am not talking about chlorinated tap water.  Though it is regulated, the chlorine in it will kill good bacteria in your gut that God supplied to fight against things like candida.  It is also not as “toxin” free as people are led to believe. Purified water is best!  Distilled water unfortunately removes the minerals that God put in the water for us.

o       Why?  Because your body uses water as a way of transporting toxins from your body.  This is very important in a healing person.  It also helps to oxygenate your cells and alkalinize your entire body.  Water helps with nearly all of the bodily functions including digestion which candida can impede. If you are taking a fiber supplement, you will need to increase your water intake even more.  You will also need to increase it if you take a whole foods multivitamin (which I highly recommend).  The dehydrated foods in your vitamin with absorb some of your water as they re-hydrate in your body.  

o       How! 

1.      Grab a cup of water first thing in the morning and drink it as you go about your daily routine.

2.      Find a water bottle with a straw.  A straw helps you to drink the water faster without even realizing it!

3.      Drink herbal teas like chamomile, ginger, peppermint, milk thistle, dandelion root, nettle, pau d’ arco, etc.

Note: Drinking ice cold water or large amounts of water while you eat is not recommended for digestive purposes.

    Eat foods that are anti-fungals and anti-virals and promote a healthy immune system.  God created foods like onions, garlic, organic unrefined apple cider vinegar, coconut oil and others to help keep us well by killing off fungus and viruses that attempt to attack us.  Cook with them on a regular basis to keep you and your family healthy!

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What Does The Bible Say About Food Choices?

Many of the things that the God spoke in the Old Testament are what we describe as being “under the law.”  As Christians, thanks to Jesus, we walk in liberty and are free from the old law.  We walk in grace.  I mistakenly thought that this was true of all of the regulations given in the Old Testament.  I found out that some of the things that were in the Old Testament regarding “clean” and “unclean” foods I had wrongly abandoned.  God did not tell me not to eat certain foods in the OT to restrict me, but to keep me healthy.  He knew which foods He had created for eating and which ones He had created for other purposes. He knew which ones were fit for human consumption, and which ones would harm me.  For instance, God knew that swine does not have sweat glands, a vital way to rid itself of toxins.  It also is not a discriminating eater and will eat manure from the pen or even another pig that has perished in the pen with it.  Shrimp are another great example.  They are bottom feeders and therefore create their cells out of toxic materials that other fish have expelled.  In God’s wisdom, He tells us to avoid them.  Out of His Love, He shared that wisdom with us.  God’s Word concerning food choices is a wisdom that has since been abandoned by many, but I realized that it deserves to be re-visited.   To study what God has said about “clean” and “unclean” foods, study Leviticus 11.  If you have doubts about whether any of the law is still valid, look to what Jesus Himself said

“Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and fulfill them”  (Matt 5:17 AMP))

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Who Me? A Glutton?

Like many Christians, I verbally spoke out about the sins of drunkenness and even admonish smokers not to abuse their “Temple.”  And yet I never seemed to have an issue with gluttony.  Like most others, I not only tolerated it, but indulged in unhealthy man-made foods to the point of stomach pain and heart burn and often forsook the foods that God Himself made!  It is as if it was the acceptable sin.  Now, you do not have to tell me if you are in the same boat.  But, just in case, here are some of God’s warnings to consider as you choose your foods and how much of them you will partake of.

 "Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags." (Proverbs 23:20-21)

"He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father." (Proverbs 28:7)

"Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony."( Proverbs 23:2)

 
I will not be like those of whom it was said, “Their god is their belly (appetites)” (Phil 3:19).  I will reign over my flesh.

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Why I Chose To Only Eat Organic.

    I do not eat organic for organics’ sake.  I specifically hunt for foods that that use sustainable agriculture.  Those using sustainable agriculture do not abuse the land.  Let me explain: 

In Leviticus 25:2-7, God tells us to give the ground a Sabbath year; a year of rest.  Unfortunately, many Christians are still under the impression that all of God’s requests are for His benefit-but our God is Love and Love gives.  Everything He does is out of His wisdom and for us.  When we allow the ground to rest, just as when we allow the body to rest, it is able to recuperate and regain strength for future use.  In the land’s case, that strength is what we call nutrients; vitamins and minerals.  If the ground is abused, it will lose its nutrients and the food that it produces will therefore lack nutrients.  If that food is given to a cow, and that is all that cow eats, that cow will now lack nutrients.  If, as a human being, I now eat that cow and more of those nutritiously deficient vegetables for dinner, that meal will lack nutrients.  If I continue to attempt to nourish my body with empty foods, my body will not have the building blocks that it needs to keep me healthy.  The immune system that God has blessed me with to keep me in divine health will not function properly.  The well tuned machine that God so intricately designed will begin to slowly breakdown because the fuel to He wisely created for it is now altered.   Even if I were overweight, that says nothing to the amount of nourishment in my body; I would still  be under-nourished!  Why?  Would God be punishing me because someone else did not follow a rule (letting the ground rest)?  No!  Because God told me the truth in His Word, but I did not seek it out to live by it.  Honestly, instead of God’s truth, I was believing two lies: That what I eat really does not matter because God will keep me healthy.  That the U.S. government will protect me.  I assumed that if my government allows it on the shelves or in the fruit bin, it must be ok.  It may not be good for me, but the FDA would certainly not allow it if it were bad for me…right?  I had not taken responsibility for myself and trusted in God’s wisdom.  I had given over the responsibility to the government and trusted in man.  Now, I follow God’s wisdom; I eat things grown through sustainable agriculture.  Sometimes this merely means that they add the nutrients back into the soil manually instead of allowing the ground to rest, but that is better than merely replacing the nutrients that produce the visual appeal of the food which is what many conventional farms do. 

    God did not make chemical pesticides!  He did not make them because they are hazardous to our health.  They can not be broken down or used by our bodies and our bodies recognize many of them as toxins.  Even those posing the smallest threat put an extra burden on our liver and kidneys.  Because our bodies are so magnificently designed, if the body is already not in a healthy state and is overloaded with things it needs to do, it will store them in the body’s fat cells in an attempt to get them away from the vital organs.  This is a minimum effect.  There are several pesticides that are known to cause fatal dis-eases which have been banned in the US in recent years.  Though the government has attempted in this instance to protect US citizens from these deadly pest-killers, they are still used in many countries that we accept our foods from.  This means that many people in the US are still eating them on a regular basis, not knowing that they are slowly toxifying the temple that God gave them.

    In my opinion, it is VERY important to eat only organic meats! Though they are more expensive, conventional meats are often full of antibiotics which are absorbed when you eat them and kill off good bacteria.  The antibiotics are not merely given to the animals when they are sick, but often put in their feed on a daily basis to keep them from getting sick and costing the farm revenue.  Also, conventional farmers often feed the parts of animals that do not sell well or even animals unfit for sale to other animals on their farm!  This is a very unhealthy practice as this makes the animal much higher in Omega 6 fats than normal because of the lack of grass in the diet.  These animals are often kept in indoor feed lots similar to factories and do not receive enough sunlight or exercise.  This is not what God intended!  Lack of exercise makes them higher in fat and cholesterol.   When organic meats are not available, I choose meats that specifically say on the label that they are free of antibiotics, vegetarian fed and free-range (allowed to roam in the open field as originally intended.)

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Some Closing Thoughts

As long as the earth remains, there will be seed time and harvest.  God’s unchanging Word reminds us “Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.” (Galatians 6:7 AMP bolding added)  This means if you sow things into your body that you know are detrimental, or you set aside God’s guidelines for keeping the land strong, you should not be surprised at what you get!

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