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If you need coconut oil or cod liver oil, now is a great time to buy. Green Pasture’s is having a great sale through Monday, the 16th. Check it out!
…to put your trust in the Lord.
It can get overwhelming when you dig into a subject, be it nutrition or anything else. Sometimes I feel a little helpless and want to throw up my hands. But then I’m reminded to trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). I think it hit me when I was reading about how many toxic chemicals are out there that we breathe and eat and even absorb through our skin. I felt powerless in the fight to stay healthy. I think that was a good place for me to get to because I had done so much research I was starting to feel in control of my health. This is a hindrance, when we no longer rely on God, but feel we’ve got it under control.
I heard someone say about a year ago that there is a problem with being too intellectual. I bristled at this thought! I LOVE to learn and am always reading and trying to educate myself. But I see, now, what this speaker meant. The problem with intellectualism is that you feel like you know it all and can solve all your problems and as a result you lose a trust in God. There is nothing wrong with learning, we should in fact be learning all the time. But the problem comes when we lose trust in God. This applies to all areas – healthy eating, finances, raising kids, etc.
God was reminding me that first and foremost I must always put my trust in Him. So I started to dig into that passage that we’ve all heard so many times in Proverbs. I noticed something. The verse that tells us to trust in the Lord is prefaced by promises. Verses 1 and 2 tell us that if we keep God’s laws we will have a long and peaceful life. Verses 3 and 4 tell us that if we are merciful and truthful we will have favor with God and man. This tells me that God does not expect a blind trust, but rather faith in the promises in His word. So we must find out what His promises are if we are going to put our trust in Him. This will take a little study.
So whether you want to change your eating habits or are believing for healing in your life, first put your trust in God and do not lean on your own understanding (intellect). Acknowledge the Lord and He will direct your path (verse 6). God wants to direct our path in all areas, not just the big life decisions, but our everyday life as well. And finally verse 7, do not be wise in your own eyes – never reach a place where you think you have it all figured out and you’ve got it under control and don’t need God’s help. As Barnes commentary puts it, “The great hindrance to all true wisdom is the thought that we have already attained it.”
As you do your research, know this, man does not have all the answers. The doctors and scientists have not figured it all out yet. Our bodies are intricately engineered machines and only our Creator knows everything about them. So trust in God’s wisdom as you learn more about nutrition. Test all things against the Word of God.
We are obligated to do what we know to do. I try to make the healthiest choices I can. Sometimes, I’m sure, I’m ingesting toxins and don’t even know it. God promises us protection from unknown toxins in Mark 16:18 – “If they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them”. So rather than be overwhelmed by the knowledge of countless toxic carcinogens out there, I will trust that God will protect me from them if I am unknowingly in contact with them. I will make healthy choices based on what knowledge I have and know that my life is in God’s hands and He cares for me (I Peter 5:7).
Find out what God promises you in His word and put your trust in Him.
This article was originally published on this blog on August 6, 2007.
It is time for another post about a recommended read, but this came across my desk today. This is a video clip, but I think the book mentioned will be my recommended read for this month. I know I want to check it out. This is a prime example of my basic philosophy–that processed food is not as nutritious as we are led to believe and it certainly isn’t equal to the unprocessed counterpart.
Check it out.
Time again for a 7-day challenge. Can you go seven days without eating nitrates or nitrites? Ni-what?
Processed meats like bacon, sausages, hot dogs, pepperoni, ham, lunch meat, and more contain nitrates and nitrites. According to this source, they are what make the meat pink, rather than an unappetizing gray. They have been linked to colon cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, decreased lung function, and for children born to mothers that eat a lot of processed meats–brain tumors.
So, check your labels, look for SODIUM NITRITE in the list of ingredients. This is where turkey hot dogs aren’t necessarily better for you. They have it, too.
But the good news is that at some stores you can find uncured products. They don’t have nitrates and nitrites. I’ve been buying my family bacon and hot dogs from Whole Foods and they taste great. In some parts of the country you will find uncured items in your regular grocery store. I haven’t seen them in mine, here in Oklahoma.
I will check back in at the end of 7 days and report on my findings.
Sunday night, 9:00pm, I passed out on the couch. There was no waking me. You would have thought I had drank a full bottle of wine, or perhaps a 6-pack of beer…NO, just some homemade peanut brittle!!!
I woke at 10:15pm and was very disoriented and felt sick. I was bloated, had swollen hands, and a slight headache. I went to bed, regretting my indulgence.
Why did I do this to myself? The thought that comes to mind is, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41) My flesh is weak for a few things, one being my homemade peanut brittle. I even had some more last night. Not as much this time, but I did regret it and went to bed not feeling too great.
And wouldn’t you know it, I woke up this morning feeling a bit weird in my throat and a tiny bit stuffy.
You see, sugar weakens our immune system. It seems that the only time I get sick is when I slip and indulge in some sweet treats.
I thank the Lord for things like kombucha and coconut oil. By lunch time I was feeling 100% again. No more sugar for me, for a while.
How many of you are sick and tired every single day? Feeling bloated, groggy, headaches, lacking energy, etc.? This is what the wrong kind of food will do to us. It’s time to pay attention to what our bodies are telling us. Kick the junk and make some healthy changes.
This treat knocked me out because I don’t eat like this often, it really is rare. It’s when we eat like this all the time that we don’t realized it’s the food that is making us sick. Cut back on the sugar, eat good fats, like butter and coconut oil, cook your meal from scratch, and see if you start feeling better.
It was time for a change–I was bored of the old look. Hope you like the new look. Now I need to work on my own photo for the header.
There are some really great articles around the blogosphere this month.
Food Renegade has some excellent information about butter and margarine. Click here.
Concerns about the swine flu? We can always count on Dr. Mercola to give us the truth!
Natural mole removal? Who would have guessed? Check it out here at Cheeseslave’s site.
I found a new health blog (new to me), check it out — Just Making Noise: Sound Bytes From a Deaf Mama. Marilyn Beard is a missionary, with her husband, in Costa Rica. She is into Nourishing Traditions, homebirth, kombucha, kefir, and more!
And last, but certainly not least–Kelly the Kitchen Kop is hosting a giveaway–Beef Tallow from US Wellness Meats–a $99.95 value!
This is why I haven’t blogged here lately – click here.
Thank you everyone for participating in this month’s Mystery Food guessing game. Most of the responses were on facebook, so I will list them here. Here are the guesses:
- canned buttercream frosting
- ice cream
- pudding
- sweetened condensed milk
- Miracle Whip
- caramel ice cream topping
Caramel ice cream topping was SO close! Good job! This happens to be Marzetti’s Light Caramel Apple Dip.
Let’s review these ingredients again:
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, NON FAT MILK, POLYDEXTROSE, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, BUTTER (MILK, CREAM, SALT), SUGAR, LESS THAN 2% OF: DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, SALT, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVATIVE), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES.
Is nothing made from good old-fashioned sugar anymore? Everything is high fructose corn syrup based. Notice it’s the first ingredient, meaning, of all the ingredients, this one is the highest quantity. Then corn syrup. Sugar is the 7th ingredient listed. And then…aaaah!–partially hydrogenated soybean oil–this is the trans fat we talked about, just the other day. Mono and diglycerides are also trans fat.
But you may be thinking, it’s a treat, all treats are bad for us. We can have a little, right?
There are levels of bad. If you were to make your own caramel dip (not that hard) at home, you would use sugar, butter, cream, salt, vanilla, and maybe a little corn syrup (I use Griffin’s since it lists corn syrup and sugar syrup on the label, not high fructose corn syrup). These ingredients are much better for you. (Note, I did not say “healthy”, but better. For more information, check out my Ladder of Healthy Eating.)
This is an October treat for us, we don’t eat it all the time. I used to buy the Marzetti dip. No more, we are taking our steps up the ladder. Checkout any good cookbook for a recipe for real caramel. Make some at home. I especially like Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything and The Joy of Cooking. Real food–this is what grandma lived to 90 on!
Little late here with my update on the trans fat challenge–been busy!
Well, trans fat is probably the number one thing I look out for. I avoid it like the plague. I don’t just look for the grams of trans fat listed on the label (it’s often not correct), I look at the ingredients list and check for partially hydrogenated oils. That’s the true tell. So, I don’t have a lot in my house that contains it. The only staple I can think of is flour tortillas. Some day I will get around to making my own, but for now I still buy them. However, I abstained during the challenge. 
My family wanted Oreos with our movie night. In the past I bought Newman’s Own Newmanos, because the cream filling was trans fat free. Since companies are now required to label trans fat, Oreos has reformulated their product. They couldn’t risk everyone knowing just how many grams of trans fat their product contained. So now I will buy them about twice a year. The other night I indulged in one cookie.
Other things that come to mind are peanut butter. I buy Smucker’s Natural because it truly only contains peanuts and salt. Don’t be fooled by the other brands that try to say they don’t contain trans fat. They do, and they’re loaded with sugar.
Many bread products have trans fat added to soften them–sandwich bread, hamburger buns and hot dog buns. Packaged cookies, cakes, and chips contain trans fat. Packaged cookie dough is a big one–it’s loaded, and also packaged biscuits and rolls. Make your own cookies and use real butter. Believe me, they will be much better for you!
I used to buy crescent rolls in a tube. Pampered Chef recipes call for this ingredient all the time. Well, not any more! Not since I found out about the trans fat! Packaged pizza crust, too. Make your own with my french bread recipe. It’s so very easy and much, much more delicious!
Boxed cake mix contains trans fat and canned icing is pure trans fat and sugar. Think of it as a can of Crisco with sugar and flavoring added. I do not eat store-bought cakes anymore and trans fat is the reason. If you invite me over for a party and see that I do not partake of the cake, don’t think I have immense will power to avoid junk food. I have just read about trans fat and what it does to your body and it totally turned me off to store cakes. I make my own and enjoy them fully! Click here for my chocolate cupcake recipe.
I could go on and on about trans fats. Learn to check your labels. Cook with butter, coconut oil, and olive oil. Start making more things at home from scratch. Take your babysteps and checkout The Trans Fat Solution by Kim Severson for more information. I don’t agree with everything in this book (she mentions using soy protein, for example), but her information on trans fat is wonderful. And she has good information about coconut oil, too. The informative part of the book is only 31 pages, the rest are recipes. It’s available at my local library, it might be at yours, too.
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