Introduction
Three fourths of all deaths in the United States are
caused by
cardiovascular diseases and cancer.   These are diseases
which are unknown
in many other parts of the world.   Studies have
confirmed that the major
degenerative diseases in the United States and other
western nations are
caused by our lifestyle.   Heart disease, cancer,
strokes, diabetes,
obesity, osteoporosis and senility are brought on, not
by fate, but by
our own choices.   In most cases these diseases are not
only preventable
but also reversible through simple lifestyle changes.  
Let’s take a look at cardiovascular diseases (heart
and blood vessel
diseases) which are responsible for every second death
in the United
States.   Extensive research during the last fifty years
has identified a
number of risk factors for determining your chances of
heart disease.   The
top three are high blood cholesterol, smoking, and
high blood pressure.  
Other significant indicators include high
triglycerides, diabetes,
obesity, lack of exercise, and stress.   These are all
lifestyle related.  
The way we eat and live determines both the length and
quality of our
lives.
Smokers are 10 times more likely to die by age 60 than
nonsmokers.   Men
only 20 percent overweight are five times more likely
to die of
cardiovascular disease by age 60 than are men of
desirable weight.
Most of the risk factors have to do with our eating
habits, primarily our
intake of fat and cholesterol.   The average fat intake
in America amounts
to around 40 percent of total calories consumed! The
fat intake in China,
however, averages less than 15 percent of calories.  
Not surprisingly,
only 4 out of every 100,000 men in China die of heart
disease each year.
A blood cholesterol of 200 mg% may be considered
normal in the United
States, but normal does not mean safe.   Autopsies of
young American
soldiers (average age: 22!) who died in the Korean war
showed that three
out of four of them already had significantly narrowed
coronary arteries.  
No wonder 200,000 coronary bypass operations are
performed every year in
the United States.  
The American people are now spending nearly a trillion
dollars every year
on sick care.   The real tragedy is that most of those
illnesses could have
been prevented if people would simply follow God’s
health plan.
Health Secrets of the Bible
The Bible is the “owner’s manual” for our bodies,
supplied by our
Designer.   Careful attention to its guidelines will
ensure optimum
perfomance.   Let’s begin with the basic specifications.
1. Eat no unclean meat.
Unclean meat is defined in Leviticus 11 and
Deuteronomy 14.   These animals
are scavengers, carnivorous, or have filthy ways.  
Their diseases are
easily transmitted to humans.
2. Eat no meat with blood in it.
“Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood.” Leviticus
19:26.
The blood is the transportation system for chemicals,
waste products, and
disease.
Closely related to HIV, the human AIDS virus, is BIV
(bovine
immunodeficiency virus) which is widely distributed
among cattle in the
United States.   The USDA National Animal Disease Center
has been able to
transfer the infection among goats, sheep, and rabbits
by blood transfer.  
No testing has been done to determine if the virus is
transferrable to
humans.   Certainly the safest course is to follow God’s
instructions.
3. Eat no animal fat.
“Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or
of goat.   And the
fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of
that which is torn
with beasts, may be used in any other use: but ye
shall in no wise eat of
it.” Leviticus 7:23, 24.
It is now well known that dietary fat is the most
common culprit in heart
disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, and
atherosclerosis.   The
latest U. S. government recommendations call for
Americans to eat more
foods high in complex carbohydrates and fiber.
4. Eat only at mealtime.
“Blessed art thou, O land, when... thy princes eat in
due season.”
Ecclesiastes 10:17.
Digestive functions are accurately timed and do the
most efficient work
when kept on a regular schedule.   Meals should be eaten
at the same time
every day.   After a meal, the stomach normally empties
itself in 2 ½ to 4
hours.   When the stomach and small bowel are completely
empty, an
interdigestive cleansing phase follows, which
rejuvenates the entire
bowel.   If anything is eaten before this interdigestive
phase is permitted
to do its work, the contents of the stomach and
intestine become
stagnated, contributing to cancers, ulcers, and other
gastrointestinal
problems.
Studies have shown the detrimental effects of eating
between meals.   A
person was given a regular breakfast at 8:00 in the
morning.   Twice during
the morning and twice during the afternoon a bit of
chocolate candy was
given.   At 9:30 that night, 13 ½ hours after breakfast,
x-rays showed that
more than half of the morning meal was still in the
stomach.   It has been
found that even a little peanut nibbling delays
digestion to the extent
that eleven hours after breakfast there is still a
large residue in the
stomach.
5. Do not overeat.
“Blessed art thou, O land, when... thy princes
eat... for strength, and not
for drunkenness!” Ecclesiastes 10:17.
Any abuse to our system will bring weakness and
disease.
6. Keep away from alcohol.
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and
whosoever is deceived
thereby is not wise.” Proverbs 20:1.
In addition to damaging the liver, brain, and other
organs, alcohol also
affects the heart tissue, is associated with many
cancers, and diminishes
immunity to disease.   (Sixth Special Report to Congress
on Alcohol and
Health, released by the U. S. Department of Health and
Human Services.)  
According to The Washington Monthly, thirty-five
percent of all hospital
beds in America are occupied by people who are there
because of
alcohol-related problems.
The Best Diet
God designed the human body to operate most
efficiently on a diet of
plant foods: fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts.   The
diet God gave to
Adam and Eve is the best diet for us today.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell, a Cornell University scientist,
has worked with
the National Academy of Sciences in a study of the
relationship between
nutrition and cancer.   Their research revealed that
replacing animal
products with fresh fruit, vegetables, and whole-grain
products is the
best way to guard against cancer.   They found that
regardless of the
number of cell mutations caused by environmental
factors, those who have
a low-protein, low-fat diet have significantly lower
cancer rates.   In
fact, a natural, whole-food diet has even been shown
to reverse the
growth of cancer cells that have already formed
malignant tumors.
Whether you are concerned with cancer,
atherosclerosis, obesity,
diabetes, osteoporosis or hypertension, the only diet
which can prevent
or reverse the problem is the diet God gave to man at
his creation.  
According to data supplied by the National Cancer
Institute, countries
with the most bowel cancer deaths and the most heart
disease deaths are
the countries with the highest per capita meat
consumption.
Strokes and heart attacks occur when important
arteries become clogged, a
condition known as atherosclerosis.   Cholesterol, the
primary factor in
atherosclerosis, is found only in animal products.  
Plants do not produce
it.   Before western culture and eating habits were
introduced to the
Japanese, atherosclerosis was so unheard of in Japan
that Japanese
medical schools had to import plaque-filled coronary
arteries from the
United States to demonstrate to their medical students
the disease that
was causing half of all deaths in America.
Antonio Gotto, M.D., president of the American Heart
Association, stated
in a U.S. Senate hearing that “In societies where the
blood cholesterol
is under 160 mg% there is virtually no coronary artery
disease or
atherosclerosis.”   His conclusion?-- “If we lower the
cholesterol count of
everyone in the United States to below 150 mg%, we
would probably wipe
out heart disease.”
One of the most respected authorities on diabetes, Dr.
James Anderson,
after working with low-fat, low-protein, high-fiber,
unrefined starchy
food diets for fifteen years, stated, “Ninety-five
percent of adult onset
diabetics on oral drugs could be off such drugs in
less than eight weeks,
and 50 to 75 percent could normalize their blood sugar
and get off all
insulin within weeks.”
A few years ago, people thought a high-protein diet
was best.   But it was
found that the highest rates of heart disease, cancer,
diabetes, and
osteoporosis are found among those who consume the
most protein.   The
average adult probably needs less than 30 grams of
protein per day, which
is easily obtained from fruits, vegetables, grains,
and nuts.   Most
Americans consume 100 grams of protein or more per
day.   This
overconsumption of protein increases urinary excretion
of calcium and
other minerals, weakens the bones, and places stress
on the kidneys.
Athletes know that complex carbohydrates are the best
fuel for our
bodies, providing the most energy and endurance.  
Unrefined plant foods
also provide the natural fiber necessary for health.
Animal products contain no fiber, but are loaded with
cholesterol and
excessive amounts of protein.   Typically, meats provide
no carbohydrates,
and are the single largest source of fat in the
American diet.
It sounds too easy, but it’s true: A simple switch to
a broad vegetarian
diet would lower our fat and cholesterol, provide all
the starches and
fiber we need, guard against overconcentration of
protein, lower our
blood pressure, our weight, and our chances of early
death.  
The Bible has much to say about the benefits of
vegetarianism.   Adam lived
nearly a thousand years on a pure vegetarian diet.  
After the introduction
of “clean” meats at the time of the flood, man’s
lifespan was immediately
cut by a third.   After just a few generations of meat
eating, people were
dying at age 200.   And just a few generations later
Moses wrote, “The days
of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by
reason of strength
they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour
and sorrow; for it
is soon cut off.” Psalm 90:10.  
When the Israelites were in the wilderness, God
provided manna for
them—bread from heaven—and water from a rock.   But many
of them “fell a
lusting” and said, “Who shall give us flesh to eat?”
God had hoped to
bring His people back to the original diet of Eden.  
Their craving for
flesh meats greatly disappointed Him.   So He gave them
the flesh they
wanted, but “while the flesh was yet between their
teeth, ere it was
chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the
people, and the
Lord smote the people with a very great plague.   And... there they buried
the people that lusted.” Numbers 11:33, 34.
This experience was so significant to God’s people
that it was recounted
in its entirety in Psalm 78:18-31, and referred to
again in Psalm 106:15,
“He gave them their request, but sent leanness into
their soul.” God
often allows us to have what we want, but the result
is a loss of
vitality both physically and spiritually.
Referring to the same event, Paul counsels, “We should
not lust after
evil things, as they also lusted.” 1 Corinthians 10:6.
Notice in these texts that eating flesh is associated
with God’s
displeasure: “Be not among winebibbers; among riotous
eaters of flesh.”
Proverbs 23:20. “Slaying oxen, and killing sheep,
eating flesh, and
drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we
shall die.” Isaiah
22:13.
When we consecrate our lives to the service of God,
our bodies become the
temple of the Holy Spirit. As Christians we are called
to glorify God in
all our habits and practices. We will seek to do all
we can to live in
the most healthful way possible, to the glory of God.
The book of Daniel, with its vital message, was
written for us who live
in “the time of the end.” How significant it is to us
that the book of
Daniel opens with the message of abstinence from rich
and unwholesome
foods, and emphasizes the benefits of a pure
vegetarian diet!
Practical, Biblical Instructions on Eating
“Thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of
thy face shalt
thou eat bread.”—Genesis 3:18, 19
“Eat thy bread with joy.”—Ecclesiastes 9:7
“Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a
stalled ox and hatred
therewith.”—Proverbs 15:17
“Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than
an house full of
sacrifices with strife.”—Proverbs 17:1
“My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the
honeycomb, which is
sweet to thy taste.”—Proverbs 24:13
“Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient
for thee, lest thou
be filled therewith, and vomit it.”—Proverbs 25:16
“It is not good to eat much honey.”—Proverbs 25:27
“When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider
diligently what is
before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be
a man given to
appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they
are deceitful
meat.”—Proverbs 23:1-3
“He should have fed them also with the finest of the
wheat.”—Psalm 81:16
“That which should be set on thy table should be full
of fatness.” Job
36:16
“...with the fat of kidneys of wheat.”—Deuteronomy
32:14
“Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not
bread? and your labour
for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto
me, and eat ye
that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness.”—Isaiah
55:2
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will
give grace and
glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that
walk uprightly.”
Psalm 84:11
“There is nothing better for a man, than that he
should eat and drink,
and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his
labour.
This also I say, that it was from the hand of
God.”—Ecclesiastes 2:24
Abstaining from Harmful Substances
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and
whosoever is deceived
thereby is not wise.”—Proverbs 20:1
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God?
Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor
effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkard...shall inherit the kingdom of
God.” --1
Corinthians 6:9, 10
“Which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable
things is in their
vessels.”—Isaiah 65:4
“For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to
poverty: and drowsiness
shall clothe a man with rags.”—Proverbs 23:21
“Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel
venom of asps.”
Deuteronomy 32:33
“Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that
they may follow
strong drink; that continue until night, till wine
inflame them!”—Isaiah
5:11
“Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions?
who hath babbling?
who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of
eyes? They that tarry
long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Look not thou upon the
wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the
cup, when it moveth
itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent,
and stingeth like an
adder.”—Proverbs 23:29-32
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves
servants to obey, his
servants ye are to whom ye obey: whether of sin unto
death, or of
obedience unto righteousness?”—Romans 6:16.
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be
filled with the
Spirit.”—Ephesians 5:18
“Do not drink wine nor strong drink...that ye may put
difference between
holy and unholy, and between unclean and
clean.”—Leviticus 10:9, 10
“Drink the pure blood of the grape.”—Deuteronomy 32:14
“The new wine is found in the cluster,...Destroy it
not; for a blessing
is in it.”—Isaiah 65:8
“Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the
Lord.”—Isaiah 52:11
“Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the
soul.” --1 Peter 2:11
“If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall
be a vessel unto
honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and
prepared unto every
good work.” --2 Timothy 2:21
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord,
and touch not the unclean thing.” --2 Corinthians 6:17
“Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as
Esau, who for one
morsel of meat sold his birthright.”—Hebrews 12:16
Notice: Man’s first sin in the garden of Eden was
related to appetite.
Jesus’ first temptation in the wilderness was also
related to appetite.
Christ conquered where Adam failed, thereby making it
possible for you
and I to gain the same victory.
1 Timothy 4:1-5
1 Timothy 4:1-5 (Bible Link)
Some people have used this passage to say that
Christians are free to eat
anything they want. But that is not what it says.
The passage speaks of some who depart from the faith
and command “to
abstain from meats which God hath created to be
received with
thanksgiving of them which believe and know the
truth.” Notice that these
people are commanding to abstain from meats which God
created to be
received.
The vital question is, What “meat” did God create to
be received? The
Genesis account is clear: “Behold, I have given you
every herb bearing
seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and
every tree, in the
which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it
shall be for meat.”
Genesis 1:29. The meats which God created for us to
receive are herbs and
fruits and seeds.
The word “meat” today almost always means flesh meat,
but in the Bible it
simply means “food.” When Paul’s ship was about to be
wrecked he invited
the passengers to “take some meat,” adding, “for this
is for your
health.” Acts 27:34. Notice then what meat he took.
He “took bread, and gave thanks to God in the presence
of them all: and .
. . began to eat.” Verse 35.
1 Timothy 4:4 says, “For every creature of God is
good, and nothing to be
refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.” Some
people claim that
this means that we are to eat anything and everything.
Following that
line of reasoning, we should not refuse to eat rats or
cockroaches.
Obviously Paul’s “every creature” is to be qualified
by the previous
verse—foods which God hath created to be received!
Verse 5 gives
additional qualifications: foods which are “sanctified
by the word of
God.” Sanctified means set apart and designated for a
specific purpose.
Far from giving license to eating anything we please,
this passage is
fully consistent with the rest of Scripture,
permitting only those foods
which are designated by the word of God.
Acts 10 - Peter’s Vision
Acts 10 (Bible Link)
Peter’s vision of the sheet full of animals is
sometimes cited in an
attempt to sidestep the Bible’s dietary guidelines.
Actually, its message
does not pertain to food at all.
The vision occurs in the context of the opening of the
gospel to the
Gentiles. At that time all the Christians were Jews.
They viewed the
Gentiles as beyond the reach of the grace of God. God
wanted to break
down that wall of prejudice, and used this strange
dream to do it.
While messengers were on their way from Cornelius to
get him, Peter, on a
housetop, fell into a trance. He saw a large sheet let
down before him
“wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the
earth, and wild
beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
And there came a
voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter
said, Not so, Lord;
for I have never eaten anything that is common or
unclean. And the voice
spake unto him again the second time, What God hath
cleansed, that call
not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel
was received up
again into heaven.”
If God was indeed instructing Peter to add all those
creatures to his
diet, then it would be our Christian obligation to eat
skunks and mice
and snakes. But the purpose of the vision was not to
change Peter’s
intake, but his outlook. It was not to alter his
meals, but his mission.
We have learned in previous lessons that beasts in
symbolic visions
represent nations. Just as, in Revelation 10, John in
vision was asked to
eat a book, here Peter in vision was asked to eat
beasts. These beasts,
being unclean, represented the uncircumcised nations.
Peter represented
the church, as did John in Revelation 10. Eating a
thing symbolized
receiving it. God was graphically illustrating to
Peter that the church
was to receive “every nation” (verse 35) into it.
The words that were spoken to Peter were, “What God
hath cleansed, that
call not thou common.” While Peter still wondered what
God was referring
to, the messengers from Cornelius reached the house
where Peter was
staying. Then “the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three
men seek thee.
Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them,
doubting nothing:
for I have sent them.”
Peter then began to understand the meaning of the
dream. When he arrived
at Cornelius’ house he found a large group of Gentiles
assembled, waiting
to hear the gospel of Jesus.
Peter said, “Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing
for a man that is a
Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another
nation; but God hath
shewed me that I should not call any man common or
unclean. Therefore
came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was
sent for.” “Of a
truth,” He concluded, “I perceive that God is no
respecter of persons:
But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh
righteousness, is
accepted with him.”
1 Timothy 5:23
1 Timothy 5:23 (Bible Link)
What was Paul recommending when he told Timothy to
“use a little wine for
thy stomach’s sake”? Was he suggesting that alcohol is
good for our
system? The fact is that alcohol does not benefit the
stomach at all.
The word “wine” in the Bible means grape juice. The
same word is used for
both fermented and unfermented juice. The practice of
using unfermented
grape juice for medicinal purposes in Paul’s day is
well documented.
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), Athenaeus (A.D. 200), and
Pliny (A.D. 24-79; a
contemporary of Paul’s), each advised the use of sweet
grape juice to
alleviate stomach disorders.
Both Paul and Peter taught abstinence from alcohol.
This is evident from
their frequent use of the word “sober” (See 1
Thessalonians 5:6-8; 1
Timothy 3:2, 11; Titus 2:2; 1 Peter 1:13; 4:7; 5:8).
The greek word
translated “sober” in these verses is nepho or
nephalios. Nepho means
“to abstain from wine” and nephalios means “abstinent
in respect to
wine.”
By that definition, attested in the writings of
Josephus and Philo, Paul
admonished in 1 Timothy 3:2 that a bishop must be
abstinent in respect to
wine. In verse 3 he declared that a bishop must be me
paroinon, which
literally means “not around wine.” Having so strongly
thus instructed
Timothy to abstain from alcohol and not even be around
it, Paul certainly
would not have advised him in the same book to take
some for his
stomach’s sake. Obviously in Chapter 5 he was
recommending unfermented
grape juice.
A Recommended Health Program
The ABC’s of Health
A Simple program for avoiding illness or restoring
health
A - Abstain from intemperate practices.
B - Breathe deeply of fresh, pure air.
C - Carefully expose to sunlight.
D - Drink pure water freely and bathe.
E - Eat simple, whole, plant foods.
F - Follow an exercise program.
G - Get regular, adequate rest.
H - Have faith in God’s power.