Dietary instruction in the bible - avoid ULTRA-PROCESSED food, GMO food and other artificial food

[Hopeful 2]

Sin comes from the mind, it's not about certain behaviors. outward behaviors are but a reflection of inward desires.

Agreed.
It's not what you eat, but why you eat something.
I am glad that thanksgiving and prayers can sanctify any food.
Including Twinkies.

 

[Carry_Your_Name]

The law was written about outward behaviors spoken of in the law of Moses.
This was just waiting for Jesus.
These outward behaviors were pointing toward things to come on the inside.
Most of time about Jesus

Sabbaths and holy days were anout our rest in what Jesus later accomplished.

I will put my law in your hearts and minds.

Mississippi rednect
eddif

OK let me put it in this way. The "law" states that broccoli good, Twinkie bad, your mom, your spouse, your health guru, your doctor all tell you that, but broccoli is awfully inconvenient, it takes skill, time and effort to prepare. Broccoli is a vegetable with a relatively short shelf life, it doesn't stay fresh and edible indefinitely like Twinkie, you have to cook and eat it before it goes bad; you start with a large head, you have to cut it in the right way in order to get the florets in equal size and ditch the woody stem; then there are three common ways to cook it - stir-fried with olive oil and crashed garlic; steamed and mixed with other vegetables as a salad; baked with eggs and cheese as a casserole. Usually you need to prepare the florets in advance at weekend. You can freeze fresh broccoli if you want, but when they thaw, they'll get mushy, the texture is lost, it's only good for soup. So keep in mind, in order to live up to the health advice of eating more broccoli, you need to practice and follow all of these. Sounds pretty intimidating and discouraging, isn't it.

Twinkie, on the other hand, is cheap and palatable, you can have it anywhere, anytime. You may observe the "law" and eat broccoli for a while, but the temptation of Twinkie is still there on your mind, you're still craving for it. One day when your willpower is depleted, you'll have no more left for self control, you'll lose it, you'll backslide, you'll be triggered by a certain signal and you'll be overwhelmed by your intense craving for Twinkie, you'll forget all the dangers of seed oil and sweeteners in it and you fall right back into that bag of calorie bombs for a moment of relief and comfort.

This is why true repentance is a transformation of the mind, not behavior modification, because deep down you still think of broccoli as an abomination and Twinkie as a delight. True "salvation" from this "law" and the temptation of Twinkie requires a paradigm shift. You need to reach such a level, where you now think of broccoli as a delight and Twinkie as an abomination, and when you prepare and cook broccolis, instead of a burdensome chore, you now find joy and peace in the process, it's almost like a therapeutic ritual that feeds your soul first before the final meal feeds your body.

 

[reddogs]

The Bible has much to say about the food that people consume, there's a guideline given by God regarding what to eat (Gen. 1:29, Gen. 9:3, Lev. 11), Lev. 11 and Deut. 14:3-21 are commonly known as the kosher law, which, to sum it up simply, no pork, shellfish or naturally dead animals. In principle we're not bound by this law, but kosher diet has certain health benefits, all the animals banned on the list are bottom feeders and scavengers with a lot of pathegeons, pork in particular is known for being the carrier of trichinella parasite, the culprit of trichinosis. Therefore, kosher law is not a religious or ceremonial law, but a food safety law, and it's well advanced of its time.

However, kosher law is NOT the topic I wanna discuss, so do me and yourself a favor, don't stretch it out with a wall of theological lecturing. The real challenge we face today is ultra-processed artificial food, that's the junk/fast food most of us eat everyday because it's cheap and convenient, but how does the bible instruct us on diet?

"I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food." - Gen. 1:29
"Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood." - Gen. 9:3-4

When it comes to diet, there're lots of camps like vegan, keto, paleo, asian in addition to kosher, but nearly all of those health gurus agree on one thing no matter what camp they're in - avoid those food-like substance, eat natural, whole food! You see, according to these two principles, God has created and ordained plants and animals for our sustenance. Most plants can be eaten in raw form, all you need is some cleaning and cutting; animals on the other hand have to be butchered, prepared and cooked properly, hence the no blood part. Again, this is common sense regarding food safety.

What God did NOT create or ordain is ULTRA-PROCESSED junk food. He did NOT create any chemical additive, preservative, coloring or flavoring. Question is, are they considered "unclean" like those non kosher meat by biblical standard? Most would say no, and they quote Matt. 15:11 (Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.), Acts 10:15 (What God has cleansed you must not call common.) and maybe Rom. 14:6 (He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.) Conclusion: there's no prohibition, follow your own conscience.

I think this is a big mistake that would surely cost our health - both physical and mental, and thus our ability to serve the Lord. Ultra processed food are inherently bad with excessive calories but insufficient nutrients that our body needs, they are created by big corporations for profit, ordained by the FDA and sold out experts, and engineered to be addictive, long term consumption will most definitely defile you. By no means does that prove Jesus wrong, the context of Matt. 15 is about hand washing tradition and the Pharisees' hypocrisy. A little dirt on your hand doesn't kill you or defile you, but excessive amount of those artifical chemicals do, they are slow acting poison, their intake should be minimized.

I think if you keep it as natural as possible, you can get what God intended for us.

 

[Christ_empowered]

I dunno
I stumbled upon orthomolecular trying to restore my decimated body and mind. I came to Christ a couple of years later and I have continued the vitamin therapy for over 12 years now and…


God brings restoration. I do think that supplements can have value. Orthomolecular generally emphasizes good diet along with so called megadoses of vitamins. And…
I think that especially in today’s world with aging populations and increasing chronic disease burden orthomolecular should be revisited. Not that it’s a panacea but it takes supplementation above filling in the gaps in a standard diet and takes it up to improving health and response to treatments from doctors when needed.


Never got too excited about herbal remedies. I have some I keep on hand for as needed use now but…
An herbal drug is still a drug but it’s natural and often more chemically complex than pharmaceutical drugs. This can be good…many herbal remedies are relatively inexpensive and accessible and have better tolerability than some pharmaceutical options…


But I think I’ll mostly stick with my vitamins.