Keep Your Health Tips

There are few things as controversial as exactly what constitutes ‘healthy eating‘. Everyone wants to eat more healthily, and producers of food want their customers to believe that whatever they’re selling will help them do that. Somewhere along the line, the truth gets lost in the noise.

In objective terms, most nutritionists agree that the best path to healthy eating is to eat all the different food groups in moderation. These means to avoid fad diets that restrict one food group and go overboard with another, and not to eat too much of whatever your favourite food might be. The key is to eat some carbohydrate, protein and fat at each meal, hopefully balancing out things like pasta and rice with meat or other fats and proteins.

However, it is also necessary to restrict calorie intake, which basically means not eating too much overall. How many calories you need varies depending on your gender, how old you are and what kind of work you do, but somewhere between 2000-2500 calories per day works as a general rule.

A more controversial part of the drive towards healthy eating is that some food ingredients are generally considered to be unhealthy in any quantity - and the big food manufacturers aren’t happy about this, because these ingredients tend to be cheap, or tasty, or useful, or all three. Preservatives are a good example, as are pesticides and sweeteners, and consumers’ attempts to avoid these have led to manufacturers being forced to go to all sorts of lengths to remove them from their foods.

Governments have got in on the healthy eating act, too, with many of them mounting campaigns on it in an effort to drive down obesity and other food-related conditions. The most common one is the message to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables per day, which has led to a marketing feeding frenzy, with other campaigns including anti-salt, pro-oils, anti-trans fats, and sometimes anti-junk food in general.

John Gibb is the owner of healthy eating resources For more information on healthy eating please check out http://www.healthy-eating-guides.info

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Life expectancy has always been high in some remote corners of the globe. Some distant and isolated villages in China and Tibet for example, have always reported cases of folks living to over 100 years old. There are no official birth records to back up their claims but if ever you see photos of these people they really do appear to be extremely old.

So why is it then that some cultures live longer than most others? Do they hold the secret to leading a long and healthy life? I don’t believe there’s a single answer to that question but healthy diet, healthy lifestyle, exercise, positive outlook, faith, family and companionship must all be contributory factors.

As far as diet goes, it’s a well known fact that the best food is natural and balanced produce. Fresh vegetables, whole grains, and fresh fruits are included in most healthy diets. Beans are pretty good for us too, and also nuts in moderation. Furthermore, just about any foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids are excellent for the health. A lot of people don’t know this but eggs which come from free range chickens contain omega-3 fatty acids? Now, omega-3 fatty acids are also found in many cold water fish and in pecorino cheese. Red wine in moderation is also touted by some octogenarians as a key to living longer but like all alcoholic beverages it has to be in moderation.

Another big mistake we make is the huge portions that we serve ourselves all too often. Eating until we’re fit to burst takes an awful strain on the body’s digestive system. The smaller the portions the better, even if it means eating an extra meal or two a day. It’s a whole lot easier on the body than cramming in one or two heavy meals that’s for sure. And smoking? No healthy article would be complete without some mention on the dangers of the tobacco weed. Cigarettes, pipes, cigars etc, make no contribution to longevity and even those folks that do live to a ripe old age as smokers, are certainly not as fit as they would have been if they hadn’t smoked.

Social factors also play a part. Faith in a God or spiritual principle, long term friendships and a happy family all contribute towards lessening life’s work and burdens and consequently play an important role in living healthier and longer lives.

I can’t stress enough how important an active lifestyle is. Many of us are far too deskbound or armchair-stuck these days. It appears to be a normal part of a modern life style but it doesn’t have to be.

Take a country like Japan for example, where many people are still living rural lives far away from the concrete jungles of modern society. They don’t have all the creature comforts that many of us have come to depend on. There’s little automation in their daily chores as they go out to fish, milk the cows and goats, mend the fences, chop wood, trim trees and hedgerows, roping and rounding up animals, and of course, doing all their cooking from fresh organic produce. Phew! Sounds tough doesn’t it, and it is of course, but as they do these things throughout their lives it keeps them fit and healthy. Think about it, they are in the fresh air, they get daily physical exercise, they’re working amongst their friends and family members in close-knit communities, most have a faith in some kind of higher power, or god, and all this equates to them being some of the oldest and healthiest living people on the face of the planet.

Just remember, there are things that we can all do personally to improve our chances of living, not only a longer life, but a healthier one too. Diet, exercise faith, and active participation in our communities can all help our wellbeing and purpose.

“Andy Maingam” is a expert publisher and webmaster of Lookatfood.com where he owns and operates a website that explors the foods of the world. What food comes from what country, and what do they eat? What do we eat? What wouldn’t or shouldn’t we eat. Healthy and unhealthy eating habits, how diet can help us to live longer and healthier lives, medicinal plants, global recipes, edible exotic treats, aphrodisiacs and a whole lot more.

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Many people these days are health and diet consciousand well they should be, as it is an undisputed fact that health and diet are major determining factors in both length and quality of life. As far as the particulars are concerned, there is a much lesser degree of agreement. Advice and opinions abound, much of it conflicting. And those looking for the latest fad diet based on shaky medical concepts will never be disappointed!

Yet the Bible sets forth some deceptively simple rules, and Bible readers and non-Bible readers alike can benefit from this timeless advice. Just think: these dietary guidelines are thousands of years old, and the societies that have followed them are among the healthiest and longest-lived on the planet.

The Essence of the Healthful Old Testament Diet

Correct diet formed the basis of Mosaic Law, and no other ancient writing is so strict regarding what to eat and what not to eat. Modern knowledge of healthful eating is strikingly corroborative of this ancient wisdom.

The Israelites thrived on an almost exclusively vegetarian diet. The use of meat may not have been forbidden per se, yet it was not considered necessary for health, and was generally reserved for special occasions.

Protein sources were mainly grains, including wheat, barley, and millet; and legumes, such as beans, peas, and lentils. The latter group, which comprise the seeds of pod-bearing plants, are referred to as pulse.

Bread, the main part of everyone’s diet, is mentioned frequently in both Testaments. This was whole-grain, unrefined bread; whole grain contains the germ, a rich source of complex carbohydrates, vitamins, and other nutrients. Bread could be made from other grains besides wheat; grains could also be roasted rather than made into bread. Barley provided fiber and high-density lipoproteins, which help control cholesterol. The Israelites so depended on their hand mills for making bread that the law stated a hand mill could not be taken as a pledge against a debt.

Nuts, especially almonds and pistachios, were additional sources of protein.

Foods were flavored with onions and garlic (not coincidentally, now both found on most “10 best foods” lists), as well as mint, dill, and mustard, and other herbs and spices. The manna referred to in Numbers was probably coriander seed (see Numbers 11:6-8).

Food was cooked in olive oil, which was also used as a condiment. Olive oil, unlike animal fats and tropical oils, guards against arteriosclerosis. Sugar as we know it did not exist; honey, a natural sugar, pre-digested by bees, was used for sweetening.

Fruits release digestive enzymes to help metabolize food. Apricots, figs, dates, pomegranates, and grapes were among those available to Old Testament people.

What about dairy products? The Bible makes few references to any dairy product as part of a meal. Occasionally butter and cheese are mentioned, and these were usually made from the milk of sheep and goats.

Besides water, wine is the drink most often found accompanying food in the Bible. It was less likely than water or milk to be contaminated because the alcohol content killed germs. Often the wine probably was not fermented, but actually more like grape juice, and enjoyed by people of all ages.

If and when people did eat meat

God specified that only mammals that chew their cud and have cloven hoovessuch as cattle, sheep, and goatsare fit for human consumption. Wild game that could be hunted would have included deer and wild sheep and goats.

One possible interpretation of Deuteronomy chapter 14 suggests that milk and meat were not to be eaten together. Modern understanding of the digestive system concurs. Dairy products require mild enzymes for metabolism; meat, by contrast, requires much stronger digestive acids. If the two food groups are eaten together, the weak acids dilute the strong ones, and the meat is not digested properly. The result is heartburn and digestive upset.

God’s laws further specify that seafood must have fins and scales. Scales protect the fish from disease, and fins enable the fish to control its direction. Shellfish merely drift with the current; they cannot avoid polluted waters and are therefore vulnerable to infection.

As far as edible fowl are concerned, those considered acceptable are chickens, turkeys, geese, and ducksthose that eat grain and not dead flesh or other garbage.

The Israelites were forbidden even to touch the carcass of an animal already deadeven of a clean animal. And if a rodent or some small creature was to fall into a vessel of food, the food would be discarded and the vessel, depending upon the material, was either destroyed or scoured clean.

In addition, creeping things such as lizards and snails were not to be eaten or even touched. This is fascinating in light of modern cases of babies and young children who have become infected with salmonella, in which the infection has been traced to parents who did not wash their hands after handling the family’s pet reptile. “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” may not be Scriptural, but whoever first said it probably knew his Bible.

Some meat for sale had been slaughtered in pagan religious ceremonies, and therefore was spiritually as well as physically unhealthful.

He even told us how to prepare it

Within God’s guidelines for the eating of appropriate animal flesh, He directed the manner of slaughter. The method was designed to be painless for the animal, and in turn was more healthful for the humans who subsequently ate it, because humane slaughtering precludes the accumulation of toxins in the carcass of an animal that suffers a slow and stressful death. (Besides, it was more kindly toward God’s creatures.)

The modern-day meat industry is anything but painlessfor the humans who work there, as well as the animals that die there. More accidental amputations occur in the meatpacking industry than in any other, and injuries from falls are common becausewell, imagine what the floors of these places must look like. Human civilization has digressed a long, long way from God’s instructions.

Daniel and the three other captive Israelites requested vegetables and water in place of the rich meats and wine offered by the Babylonian king (Daniel chapter 1). The king was concerned that they would become malnourished, but at the end of a ten-day trial period, they were healthier than the others who had taken the traditional rations. In the story of Daniel, he (along with his companionsand they were probably mere teenagers at the time) took a stand for God and was rewarded for his faithfulness.

Why did God make these rules?

God wanted His people to be separate from other people; He wanted them to survive and thrive in order to serve Him better.

Pagan peoples during Old Testament times routinely ate virtually any type of animal, with the result of frequent plagues and epidemics. In the ancient civilizations that consumed animal fats to excess, there was a higher incidence of illness and lower life expectancy. Thousands of people died needlessly, and God handed down, through Moses, a set of dietary guidelines.

What difference do cud chewing and cloven hooves make? Cloven hooves are less susceptible to disease, because of better air circulation. It is an observable fact that feet are a critical point of entry for infection. This is not surprising considering the amount of stress to which feet are subject. Consider the importance of foot care for humans. We are all taught as children how to cut our toenails in order to avoid ingrown toenails, and I have heard more than one story about someone whose heel blister or stubbed toe was not properly treated and led to the risk of foot or leg amputation.

Additionally, cud-chewing animals have better digestion, resulting in overall better health. Pork, expressly forbidden to God’s people, is a notorious disease-bearer in hot regions. Note that animals with closed hooves include horses.

Animals with paws were forbidden for the same reasons, and for the additional reason that most animals with paws (especially lions) are hunters (carnivores), and the possibility existed that such an animal had previously eaten a human.

The people may not have known the reasons behind the rulesbut God did.

Please continue to Part 2

About The Author
Lisa J. Lehr is a freelance writer with a specialty in business and marketing communications. She holds a biology degree and has worked in a variety of fields, including the pharmaceutical industry and teaching, and has a particular interest in health matters. She is also a graduate of American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI), America’s leading course on copywriting. Contact Lisa J. Lehr Copywriting www.ljlcopywriting.com, for help with your business writing needs.
This article ©Lisa J. Lehr 2005.

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