"Eat for Strength not for Drunkenness"
Proper Diet
Let's review the laws of health again. In previous articles I have written about, 1 - fresh air, 2 - sunlight, 3 - rest, 4 - exercise, 5 - abstemiousness, 6 - proper diet, 7 - proper use of water, 8 - trust in divine power(attitude).
When it comes to diet we think of 7 primary objectives. Durability, stamina, longevity, performance, metabolism, assimilation, elimination. Of course we want to remember that all the other laws of health affect these also.
Question: How do you eat for drunkenness? Remember the three major battles? The war against - laziness, drunkenness, and ignorance. "Laziness is most or our sin, the rest is drunkenness, and it's all ignorance." Drunkenness could be any kind of indulgence. If it is for self gratification, if your "god is your belly." If you live to eat, rather than eat to live. Also, drunkenness is living for today, not caring about tomorrow. "Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." In other words the drunk and the glutton aren't much different. More people have dug an early grave with a fork and a spoon than anything else.
T I M I N G :
I really want to try and emphasize how important this information is for children growing up. Everyone should know, babies need nutrition, children need nutrition, young people, they all need nutrition during their formative years. Everyone can see, also, that many aren't getting it. A lot of them almost never get a square meal. Usually because there's no one at home to cook. This is why it's so important, regardless of your situation, to practice good timing. The cardinal sin around our place has always been, SNACKING. It takes 5 to 6 hours to digest food properly. Now everyone is brainwashed to think kids have to have snacks (All with vitamins added.) to get nutrition. The worst thing is, the snacks usually amount to so much junk. Juice, sugar, carbs, vitamin drinks, junk. The best snack would be sunflower seeds, walnuts, or jerky. So, they are growing up learning they can eat anything, anytime, anywhere. Not allowing the proper time between meals is probably the biggest contributer to obesity. You can see the obvious consequence of it everywhere, especially anyone under 35 or so. Unfit, obese, bad teeth, bad eyes, poor bones, etc. Also, sugarholics are inclined to become alcoholics, and diabetics. They say diabetes has increased something like tenfold in the last 10 years in the US.
The other part of timing is, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes you healthy wealthy and wise." Benjamin Franklin. That was over 200 years ago. It's really just common sense. Actually there is growing proof that it's true, with modern data and statistics. The earlier you go to bed, the earlier you get up, and the earlier you eat breakfast, the better off you'll be. Eating at night is an easy trap to get into. Pretty soon you don't feel like eating breakfast at all. Out at logging camp, we used to get up at 4 am. Breakfast would be in the cook shack before daylight. We would get out to where we left off the day before, and wait for it to get light enough to work. The earlier you get to work the more you get done before you get tired. If you start in the afternoon, for example, you're tired already because you're closer to the end of the day.
So, this is the first principle of diet. Timing.
What do you suppose is the next priority? You might be surprised. This is it. "Eat your food, don't drink it." "Milk is for babies." "Juice is for winos." "Smoothies are for people that are too young or too old to chew their food." "Hot drinks are debilitating." "Caffeine is a drug." Soda is addicting and devastating. If you ever eat out you will notice 99% of everyone drinks pop with there meal. Now they know, though it's uncommon knowledge, this is one of the things that's pulling the substance out of our bones.
Again, regardless of your situation, you can practice this rule. The more you have to chew your food, the better. Digestion starts in the mouth. I do what the old timers did. I save good bread and toast it and dry it. This was a matter of survival then, since they didn't have preservatives, or the grocery store a block away or whatever. You've heard of the hardtack they had on the ships and for the soldiers. Obviously it's good for your teeth also, to sink them into something real, like an apple or toast, preferably with some charcoal once in a while. This is one of the ways you improve your assimilation of different nutrients too, raw, cooked, re-cooked, and burned. Try to avoid burned grease though, they say it is carcinogenic. Fried food is bad anyway.
What's next? Again you might be surprised. Here it is. "Avoid too rich of a diet." I know this is hard to understand, especially when we are trying to get better nutrition. Look again at the list of objectives. You're liquid diet and concentrated fat, protein, and sugar, will give you a higher metabolism and short quick performance, but that's about it. The other 5 goals are in the negative. Here's a simple illustration. Horses are designed to consume mostly fiber. That is why they chew up the wood fences when they are confined. People are always wanting to give them grain, thinking that it's good for them and will make them warm. Neither are true. What keeps horses warm is; having enough fiber working in their gut. Grain is like candy to horses, they go crazy over it, and it will kill them if they get into the bin. We only give them whole oats (higher protein and less carbs than other grain.) when we are working them. Giving horses grain to fatten them up would be like giving some scrawny old person candy all the time. It might make them fat, but it would make them sick. This goes along with what a lot of doctors and nutritionists have been saying. "Avoid processed food." Eat real food and drink water. This is the best prescription for just about everything. If you are like me you find yourself getting into all kinds of junk. I find I have to eat a little of everything. (Sanctified by the Word that is.) I think this helps me to get a more complete range of nutrition. Here's the secret though; "The solution to pollution is dilution." Also, "The more junk you eat, the more fiber you need." and "Sugar needs to be slowed down." The worst thing that I see so many people do, is eat and\or drink straight sugar.
Now I better talk a little about clean vs. unclean. Do you think God had a good reason for telling us not to eat all those dirty scavengers high on the food chain? I have often thought of writing a paper, "100 reasons not to eat pork." Here's the first reason, it's enough, God says it is an abomination to Him. Do you know what that means? It means it is hateful and detestable to Him. Isn't that enough? I don't think He changed His mind about it. Yes, I know about the verses in the New Testament that are misinterpreted to make Him into a liar. Like a lot of things there, they are symbolic in different ways. Nothing to do with eating, and certainly they do not contradict God's Laws.
This is another reason though, not to eat pork. It is the richest and the most stimulating.
E A T R I G H T :
We've talked about when to eat, what to eat, and what not to eat. Now I want to tell you how to eat. If you've made it this far I'm sure you realize you are "...dying for lack of knowledge.", and you are ready to admit you don't know how to eat!!! Even if you have your grave half dug, you can still get on track and overcome the fork and the spoon!
I've already alluded to the fact, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you, to chew your food. Like anything else, there's a lot to know. I also mentioned, "eat your food, don't drink it." This goes along with what I am saying here. "Don't wash your food down." "Digestion begins in the mouth." "Besides being a bad habit, drinking water with your food is bad manners." This is another common sense observation that has been known for thousands of years. Believe it or not, this used to be taught in public schools, just 60 or 70 years ago. This also goes along with the critical need for nutrition. When your eating, especially growing children, you need food to eat. If kids especially, drink a bunch of water while they are eating, not only are they diluting a lot of their saliva, but they will be hungry before the next meal. The only thing worse than this is drinking juice first, which will kill their appetite. Also, you will have better stamina and endurance, and capacity when you eat when it's time to eat, and drink when you are good and thirsty. This is also very important for preventing certain types of illness. If your stomach is working right, the chemistry there will kill or neutralize most pathogens. For example, if you are ever in the wilderness and you have to drink out of a creek, (or die of thirst), make sure you are good and thirsty. By then the juices in your stomach are just about like battery acid. Then drink slowly and not too much. This is another reason not to eat too fast. Your stomach functions properly at 100 degrees. You definitely do not want to gulp down cold food and cold drinks. You should have "... a good hot meal at least once a day." This is also another reason for not snacking, don't eat unless you are actually hungry, and your stomach is ready. Why am I the only one telling you this?
It's kind of a hard habit to break for some. What we do when the little ones are here, is give them a drink of plain soy milk. This will usually satisfy them, until you can wean them from it. "Milk is for babies." However soy milk is not a substitute, only a compliment.
Mind your manners. Don't get excited. Take your time, enjoy your meal and your company. Seems like every time I have to eat in town, which is fortunately a rare occasion anymore. I always see someone hogging down their food like it was their whole life, there face in their plate, too busy to even visit, and of course they are wearing the usual stupid duckbill hat that's glued to their head, and the ubiquitous pot belly to go with it. Manners might seem silly sometimes, but lack of these will affect your health, your digestion (acid reflux), your breath, your teeth, etc., and often produce gas. Flatulence is simply a product of undigested protein. Digestion starts in the mouth and follows all the way through. It's easy for it to malfunction along the line if things get out of order.
EAT YOUR RABBIT FOOD !!!
I was reading about Lewis and Clark and their expedition in 1804 - 1806. It was the most remarkable venture ever accomplished. The reason they are not more famous is because they never killed or captured anyone. They all made it back in good health. They were smart enough to know they needed greens. They wrote about gathering greens along the way. This was probably the real secret to their success. I find it so amazing that people were so ignorant during the dark ages, that the sailors would suffer and die from scurvy, when all they needed was some fresh produce. It wasn't until the mid 1700's that Captain Cook sailed around the world without losing a single man. He found out all they needed was sauerkraut, and they would get fresh food wherever they stopped. When Magellan sailed around the world only 18 men survived of the 237 that started. He died also. Of course we don't need greens, we have vitamins and and vitamin scientists! In spite of all of our great technology, sometimes it seems like we are going back into the dark ages. Like that great city Nineveh, where "... more than 120,000 people didn't know their left hand from their right." What good is our technology if we don't know right from wrong? "Knowledge without faith is dangerous."
What do you think happens if you only eat greasy junk food, fried chicken, and ice cream? Then sit on the couch and drink pop and watch TV? It's good to eat some of everything, but you can make up for a multitude of sins just by eating good fiber with every meal, and fresh vegetables for dessert. Greens, especially fresh, provide real available calcium, and enzymes that help digestion, and vitamin B-12, and a host of other things we don't know. Sauerkraut can be a real lifesaver, especially in the winter. Fresh cabbage is my favorite. They say cruciferous vegetables are the best.
CONCLUSION:
These are laws of science, laws of Nature, Laws of God. The plain simple cold hard facts of life. There's no escape. You break the Law, you suffer the result. We should be so thankful that God made everything perfect and He has given us this information. We should not "....ruin our lives with our own foolishness, (Lawlessness), and then blame God." Proverbs 19 : 03. "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God (Law)." Psalms 14 : 01.
This is personal stewardship. Why be careless, without self control? The problem is, "Suicidal people are never content with their own destruction." No man is an island. Children grow up like their parents. "Bad habits are cool, is a lie." "Good food is intolerable, is a lie." "Your taste needs to be educated, like anything else." "It's hard to overcome the consequences of what you never learned when you were young." Is it OK to be careless and irresponsible, even if you don't have children? I don't think so. No one else in their right mind would think so either.
So, the war goes on, the battle against sin and ignorance. "Only dead fish roll with the flow." Just remember, "Satan yields to uphill traffic."
At last, don't forget the 8th law. We are all hopelessly sick and lost. Only a miracle can save us. You can spend your whole life, like I have, studying, and learning about anything and everything to do with health, and we are still going to die! "No matter how I struggle and strive, I'll never get out of this world alive." How can I tell you about health when I am sick? How can the preacher inform you of sin, when he is full of it? How could David write the Psalms that are full of prophecy, poetry, and wisdom, when he failed so many times? How could Ellen White be a true prophet when she was imperfect, human like the rest of us? Although she has stood the test of time and the critics, just as the Bible has.
We are talking about stewardship, RIGHTEOUSNESS by faith, not careless ignorance and unrighteousness excused by grace. God's grace covers anything and everything, but it does not excuse it or condone it. The Bible says, "...to be perfect as God is perfect." That means make an effort, even though we know we will never be perfect, until we know everything He does! Even though we know we are not saved by our own efforts. "No one will be saved by their good works, no one will be saved without them."
"I wish above all things, that you should prosper and be in good health." 3 John 2.
