Monday, April 24, 2006

*What the Bible Says About Healthy Living* by Rex Russell, M.D.

I shared previously that I’ve heard about this book for years but was turned off of it by the “legalism” exhibited from those who read it. I am so allergic to legalism.

When I met a group here who do not seem to be overly legalistic and they recommended the book I was willing to read it. {What a turkey I can be – can you believe I’d be so swayed by impressions of personalities instead of message???}

My new friends were right. The principles in this book are the very ones that God has led our family to step by step over the past few months. They are: Eat What God Created for Food, As Much As Possible Don’t Alter God’s Design, Make No Food an Idol. He also details a way of fasting that mirrors where God has led me over the past 9 months. This book was a huge confirmation of where we are heading.

I want to be clear that this author clearly states that eating in this way is not a moral issue and not a salvation issue. You are justified by FAITH and GRACE….but his premise is that God designed our bodies and food, therefore, we should eat the way He instructed the Israelites to eat. Again and again the author points out where science eventually confirms that God’s design works best for our bodies. He gives examples where the Bible “seemed” to go against science and science has now caught up. This book is well-documented. I was impressed by how Dr. Russell continually points out the design in nature and how this leads to a DESIGNER. In fact this impressed me so much that it is one reason I would highly recommend this book to others. Those of you who know me well know THIS would appeal to me greatly…he constantly draws us back to the Scripture for our answers, rather than science or common “knowledge”.

A few random thoughts: Many who say they are eating the way the Bible says to, have added their own rules and laws…they are NOT in this book {g}. For instance no where in this book does it say that I MUST juice cabbage and cauliflower (though I COULD – I could also eat it raw, cooked or choose something else to eat).

God has given us way more to eat than he has asked us not to eat! After reading why – it’s fairly easy to say no to the few things that we need to avoid.

Even though God clearly says we can eat locusts – it will be a long time before my family tries that.

I will now begin looking for a rancher who will sell me grain fed, chemical free, hormone free beef – in other words an organic rancher?

I am also going to look for a place to buy certified raw milk.

I would love to eat more organic produce but am not sure where to find it or that I could afford the massive quantities that we eat of produce…so we will be sure to wash things well at this point.

*Healthy Living* and Thin Within – I know that many weight loss programs say “use this only” but Thin Within dovetails beautifully with the concepts in this book. Thin Within teaches WHY we over eat. It also teaches heavily that we are to “eat to live not live to eat” (a comment made many times in this book as well). Thin Within’s main emphasis is on Principle 3 – don’t be controlled by ANY food or make no food an idol! In TW they do say you are free to eat whatever you would like but after a bit of time you should begin to make healthy choices that will bless your body. They say you CAN loose weight and eat only chocolate cheesecake but you may be like the spoiled child if that is what you are doing. Healthy Living gives me info to make good choices for my body as I choose to listen to the God-given signals of my body.

I have noted that a person could eat according to this book and be vastly over-weight. I’ve been there – done that years ago….so the key will be NOT to over-eat even whole foods.

*Healthy Living* and the Feingold program – Early in the book Dr. Russell makes statements that Dr. Ben Feingold believed that eating certain foods affected behavior and that his theories had been disproved. Obviously, this caught my attention. As I read on, the author continually gave illustrations of food affecting behavior and “Feingold results”. He also recommends eliminating the very same things that Feingold does (synthetic colors, flavors and petro chemicals – yep – uses the same terms). The only difference is the Stage 1 elimination of natural salcyilates. I viewed Stage 1 of Feingold as a fast from those foods for 7 weeks. Dr. Russell recommends fasting in this way for various health reasons. We were not led to give up all of the Stage 1 foods only the apple juice which Zander drank a LOT of. We have now added it back in. If a person followed the information in this book they WOULD be on Stage 2 of Feingold….and beyond…..I marked many spots in this book where his comments mirror Dr. Feingold. I don’t see a contradiction between Healthy Living and the Feingold Program.

I’d recommend this book to many. No, I didn't agree with everything in the book - but I rarely do. {G} I plan to add it to our “health” curriculum. I’d recommend it to those who are interested in a solid book that answers the question “If God created the world why do we feel so terrible?”. I’d recommend it to those who think that to be a Christian means you have to give up a whole foods/organic lifestyle. I’d recommend it to a non-believer who is into either wholesome diet or science….as it is solid and always points back to a Designer behind the design. This book has caused me further awe at our Amazing Creator. It’s given me even more reason to never touch a hot dog. {vbg}

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