Eating Pure and Natural Food

Life, these days, has become complicated.  A simple thing like eating has become complex.  Long, long ago, the choices were few and simple.  People just ate what was available in each season.  But nowadays people have the choice of any kind of food at any time they want it.  Technology has made it possible that sometimes you don't even have to leave the comfort of your home in order to buy your next meal or your groceries for the week.  With today's fast-paced lifestyle, many people are also wanting everything in a jiffy, including their food - stuffing themselves with all sorts of "fast" or "instant" unhealthy foods, and with the powerful influence of media advertising, bombard their bodies with slimming pills or drinks and various "health" supplements to cut down on excess weight and to make up for the unhealthy choices that they make.

A lot of our foods these days have been so processed and deprived from life-giving vitamins, minerals, and digestive enzymes.  Man stripped the life out of the wonderful natural foods God gave him by processing them so it will be "easily prepared and eaten", adding chemical preservatives to "last longer", artificial flavors and colors to look "more appealing", and synthetic vitamins to make them appear "healthy".  We get sick and overweight because we eat more refined foods than we do natural pure foods.

But as I ponder upon God's Word, I realized that God's ways are orderly, simple, balanced and clear.  God never intended our life to be confusing, complicated and unbalanced.  He never wanted us to get sick and suffer.  God's ways are also pure and natural.  Everything else must have been processed by man.  Since the beginning of time, God designed the best foods for man to sustain life.  He gave us fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds that have the perfect balance of nutrients that our bodies need.  "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.'" (Genesis 1:29 NIV)  Later, after the great flood, God said to Noah, "Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything," (Genesis 9:3 NIV) which added meat to our diet.

Toxic wastes build up in the body when you eat too many processed, impure, unhealthy foods and don't give your body a chance to rest and get rid of them.  The body will naturally try to purify and cleanse itself.  If you help it by providing food the way God made it (or as close as possible to the way He made it), exercise, rest, fresh air and sunshine, plenty of water, regular fasting, and by living a peaceful and relatively stress-free life, you will have a clean bloodstream and a healthy body.  Disease does not come overnight.  It builds for a long time, which started even when we were still young.  And I am no exception to having one.  I am now reaping the fruits of my (and my forefathers') poor health choices in the past.  But I put my hope in my Maker, whose ways are pure and natural, and I am determined to fix my life and my health, with His help and with the help of medical professionals.

The book "Greater Health God's Way" confirmed what I have been pondering upon as I meditate on God's Word, especially in relation to the area of health.  In Stormie Omartian's seven steps to greater health, the first step is peaceful living, while the second step is eating pure, healthful food the way God made it.  Natural foods, the way God made them or as close as possible to the way He made them, when eaten in moderation, promote health, strength, endurance, and life.  Processed foods promote disease and death.  And what are these familiar natural foods, you may ask?  Here are most of them:

1.  Vegetables and fruits - Fresh not canned, frozen nor processed, in any way.  Eaten raw, steamed or lightly boiled, baked, or stewed.  Preferably vegetables and/or fruits must make up 50% of every meal.

2.  Whole grains - may comprise 25% of one meal or, at the most, 25% of two meals each day

3.  Meat, poultry, and fish - Have the red meat no more than two times a week, poultry two or three times a week, and fish two times a week.  Let meat, poultry, and fish be no more than 25% of the meal.

4.  Seeds, nuts, and berries - These make wonderful, healthful snacks, desserts, or "munchies".  Buy them unprocessed, unsalted, or eat plain raw when you can.

5.  Milk, unprocessed cheese, yogurt, kefir, and butter - Only three or four times a week for adults, and low-fat as much as possible.  Must be taken in moderation, and should be in the purest form available.

6.  Eggs - Two or three times a week only, and as fresh as you can get them.

7.  Honey - Honey is the most nutritious natural sweetener that you can get if you buy it "raw", "unprocessed" and "unfiltered".

Now, living in a country like the Philippines, it is a luxury to eat whole grains and whole grain foods.  You have to go to a health store or a high-end grocery store or bakeshop to buy them.  Processed foods, canned goods, and refined products are more mass-produced and are easily available in regular supermarkets and sari-sari stores (mini stores).  And with the influx of the western culture, more Filipinos are now eating fast foods and instant foods.  Gone are the days when we have lesser choices in food that people mostly eat what Westerners call the "Asian" diet, a healthful diet based on plant foods such as rice, vegetables and fresh fruits, and less of the meats.  With this change in eating habits, no wonder more and more Asians are catching up with the Westerners in terms of mortality caused by diseases and other health-related problems.  So, I think it is about time we go back to basics - to pure, natural and balanced food the way God made it.  I know it is difficult especially when our taste buds have been so accustomed to eating all the refined, processed and devitalized foods.  But remember that our taste buds do need to be humbled and re-educated as well to God's ways just as all the other areas of our life do.  "Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." (2 Corinthians 7:1 NIV)  

May you be concerned in rebuilding (or maintaining) good health, and everything else like weight loss and eating a regular balanced healthy meal will follow.  If you eat the way God intended you to eat, excess weight will come off slowly and painlessly!  Remember, let your main purpose for losing (or maintaining) weight be to have a long, healthy life of service to God.  "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV)