The Cliff Notes Version

For those that may be reading this that really do not care to go deep into the book or into the scriptures of the Bible that give us instructions on what to eat, this post is for you. Keep in mind to go back to the Three Principles.

What we can and should eat:

All fruits and vegetables in their form closest to how God created them. (Without cooking them to death until all the nutrients are gone. Not eating vegetables fried in grease or lard. Fruits and veggies free from chemicals really are the way to go.)

Grains, Nuts, Seeds, Beans (legumes). (Again, as close to its original design as possible. For example, brown rice instead of white rice. Nut butters are ok as long as the ingredients are only the nut and salt. Skippy makes a peanut butter that is natural and really good. Dried beans are in their original design, but canned are ok to save time. Just be sure to rinse off the excess salt, etc.)

Fats (Olive oil, butter, cheese, yogurt, kefir, coconut and palm oil. Butter, coconut and palm oils have short-chain fatty acids that are used by the body for energy. Because these fats are efficiently utilized, they are healthful unless they are over consumed. from page 122 in "What The Bible Says About Healthy Living")

Meat - In the book he breaks down what the Bible says about clean and unclean meats and why God made certain animals unclean. Later, in future blogs, I will go into this in more detail, but for now I will just list the clean and then the unclean meats.

Clean
MEAT=Calf, deer, goat, ox, sheep.
BIRDS=Goose, chicken, coot, duck, pigeon, quail, swan, turkey.
FISH=black bass, black drum, bluefish, carp, channel bass, chub, cod, croaker, flounder, flying fish, goldfish, haddock, hake, halibut, herring, kingfish, mullet, pike, pompano, porgy, rainbow trout, rock bass, salmon, sea bass, shad, smelt, Spanish mackerel, spot, sturgeon, tuna (bluefin), white perch, Carolina whiting, yellow perch.
INSECTS (If you feel so inclined.)= cricket, grasshopper, locusts.

UNCLEAN
MEAT=Black bear, camel, cat, coney (guinea pig), dog, fox (silver), grizzly bear, ground hog, hamster, horse, opossum, rabbit, rat, rhinoceros, squirrel, swine (yes, that means any pork, including bacon, lol).
BIRDS=Bat, cormorant, crow, eagle, falcon, hawk, heron, ibis, kite, nighthawk, osprey, ostrich, owl, pelican, raven, red-tail hawk, sparrow hawk, seagull, stork, vulture.
FISH=Catfish, clams, crabs, eel, lobster, octopus, oysters, porcupine fish, puffer, sand skate, scallops, shark (dogfish), shrimp, squid, stingray, toadfish.
INSECTS= All others that are not listed above in the "clean" section.

Eggs are fine to eat, but the more nutritious choice would be to eat eggs from free-range chickens and not from commercially fed chickens. page 156

SWEETS
Honey is by far the best sweetener around, especially in the raw, organic form. There are a lot of scriptures that mention honey. Other sweeteners that are ok are natural maple syrup, natural fruit juices, barley sweetener, black strap molasses. Moderation is still key, even in a good thing.

SPICES
Yes, God has given us many herbs and spices to cook with. In reading this book there was one verse in the Bible that made me chuckle out loud. In Job 6:6-7 it reads, "Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg? I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill." I thought that was great. Again, moderation is key, especially when using salt.

BEVERAGES
Of course, water is the number one thing to consume, but what about everything else? Freshly squeezed fruit juice is ok. In Chapter 12 of the book it goes into great detail about milk. To summarize what he said in the book if you are cooking with milk commercial skim milk is ok. Principles II and III cause him to avoid homogenized and pasteurized milk products. Again, he goes into the "whys" in the book. There are certain farms that produce a raw milk product and he personally would go with that over a commercially altered product. As far as alcohol, he recommends only low alcoholic wines are what God intended for us, particularly for health. page 216

A note from me...
This is my own personal search to really understand God's design for the foods we eat and to rid myself of the things that may be causing me illness. These food laws were Old Testament laws that He gave His people. No, we are not under the Law anymore (Thank you, Jesus!!!), so we do have free choice over what we eat or drink. We aren't going to be punished for eating a bacon, cheeseburger with chemical/hormone ladened meat and having a glass of wine or a beer with it, but over time what we put into our bodies really does affect our health physically and mentally. I'll be posting more about the statistics of how Americans eat and what we are dying of in comparison to other countries around the world. I don't think that the statistics will surprise you much, because we all know that the American diet is horrible, but what will it take for us to each really take a good look at how we are treating our bodies and make some changes?

If you would like more information on all of this now, then I highly recommend you purchasing "What The Bible Says About Healthy Living" as well as the cookbook "What The Bible Says About Healthy Living Cookbook". I love this cookbook! I really do. It's very practical and doable. This isn't a diet, so if you are looking for a diet you'll be disappointed. Rather this is a way that you can learn how to fill your body with whole foods and why you should fill your body with whole foods. This will also let you into the amazing Creation that God has given us and that He really does love us and want us to lead full, active lives and not just sit on the sidelines with illness, disease, depression, etc. He's given us an instruction booklet on life and what better way to honor Him than by starting with what we put into our mouth!