Food

Food for Life – Laws of Health

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God has three expectations of us in regard to our health. First, He expects us to learn the laws of health. Just as the natural world around us is governed by laws, there are laws central to and within our very being that we need to learn in order to be healthy.

“God has placed it in our power to obtain a knowledge of the laws of health. He has made it a duty to preserve our physical powers in the best possible condition, that we may render to Him acceptable service. Those who refuse to improve the light and knowledge that have been mercifully placed within their reach are rejecting one of the means which God has granted them to promote spiritual as well as physical life. They are placing themselves where they will be exposed to the delusions of Satan.” Counsels on Health, 454.

In Hosea 4:6 we are told that not only are God’s people destroyed for lack of knowledge, but “because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee.” God expects us to study the laws of our being and the laws of health.

Knowledge alone will not make us healthy. God also expects us to apply that knowledge in practice and obedience. “We have no right wantonly to violate a single principle of the laws of health.” Healthful Living, 18. “Our first duty, one which we owe to God, to ourselves, and to our fellowmen, is to obey the laws of God. These include the laws of health.” Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 12.

The Bible also makes it very clear that we are to glorify God through our bodies: “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. (See also 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17.) God’s second expectation of us is that we practice or obey the laws of health.

Third, God expects us to teach the laws of health. “No teacher of truth should feel that his education is completed till he has studied the laws of health, and knows the bearing of right practices on the spiritual life. He should be qualified to speak to the people intelligently in regard to these things, and to set them an example that will give force to his words.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 16, 59. We must educate people in right principles of health if we expect them to have perfect physical, mental, social, and spiritual health.

Recipe – Fruited Breakfast Quinoa

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1/2 cup rinsed quinoa

1-1/2 cups vanilla rice milk

2 Tablespoons raisins

1 cup chopped fresh or canned apricots

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

To thoroughly rinse quinoa, cover it with water in a mixing bowl, then rub it between the palms of your hands. Pour off the cloudy liquid through a strainer and then repeat the process two or three more times, until the rinse liquid remains clear.

In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the rinsed and drained quinoa with rice milk. Bring to a slow simmer, then cover and cook for about 15 minutes until the quinoa is tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients; then transfer about 1-1/2 cups of the mixture to a blender; purée. Return puréed mixture to the pan and stir to mix. Serve warm or chilled. Makes about 3 cups.

Recipe from Foods That Fight Pain, by Neal Barnard, M.D. (Harmony Books, New York, 1998.)

Food For Life – Healthy Breakfast – The Best Way to Begin Your Day

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It might be the last thing on your morning to-do list, or it might not be on your list at all, but a healthy breakfast refuels your body and jump-starts your day. So do not overlook this important meal. Select healthy options that fit your taste and lifestyle, and put breakfast back into your morning.

Breakfast not only starts your day off right, but also lays the foundation for lifelong health benefits. People who eat a healthy breakfast are more likely to:

  • Consume more vitamins and minerals and less fat and cholesterol,
  • Have better concentration and productivity throughout the morning,
  • Control their weight, and
  • Have lower cholesterol, which reduces the risk of heart disease.

Breakfast is especially important for children and adolescents. According to the American Dietetic Association, children who eat a healthy breakfast are more likely to have better concentration, problem-solving skills and eye-hand coordination. They may also be more alert, creative and less likely to miss days of school.

A healthy breakfast should consist of a variety of foods, for example, whole grains, low-fat protein sources, and fruit. This provides complex carbohydrates, protein, and a small amount of fat—a combination that delays hunger symptoms for hours.

Addressing the importance of breakfast, Ellen White gave the following counsel to one mother about her daughter: “Never let her go from home to school without her breakfast. Do not venture to give full scope to your inclinations in this matter. Place yourself entirely under the control of God, and He will help you to bring all your desires into harmony with His requirements.

“It is the custom and order of society to take a slight breakfast. But this is not the best way to treat the stomach. At breakfast time the stomach is in a better condition to take care of more food than at the second or third meal of the day. The habit of eating a sparing breakfast and a large dinner is wrong. Make your breakfast correspond more nearly to the heartiest meal of the day.” Child Guidance, 390.

Food – Laws of Health

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God expects us to learn the laws of health, to practice the laws of health, and to teach the laws of health. When we comply with God’s expectations, then He can fulfill in us His desire for us to have health. “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” III John 2. Jeremiah 30:17 makes it very clear that the Lord wants to restore health to us: “For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord.” All of us desire health, but none desire it more than God desires to give it to us.

If we comply with God’s expectations through obedience, then He can bless us with greater health than would be possible without our obedience and His blessing. This can mean a life that is healthy and filled with vitality. Exodus 15:26 says, “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I [am] the Lord that healeth thee.” In Psalm 105:37 we see the fulfillment of this promise. Speaking of the Israelites that left Egypt, we read: “He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and [there was] not one feeble [person] among their tribes.” It has been estimated by some historians that as many as one million people may have been part of the exodus from Egypt. Where before or since could we find a million people on the planet earth in which there was not one feeble person among them?

Daniel and the three Hebrew worthies are also examples of the results of obedience to God’s requirements concerning health. In Daniel 1 is given the faithful recording of what the results are when we refuse to defile ourselves with the meats and wine of the world. Daniel and his three companions were found to be fairer in countenance and ten times greater in knowledge and wisdom than all the wise men of Babylon. (Daniel 1:1–21.)

We must, through obedience, cooperate with God’s design if we ever hope to have the health that He wants to give us. Regardless of our current health status, we can experience a greater blessing if we begin to faithfully obey God’s health laws. These laws are simple and available to everyone. An overview of these laws will be given in future LandMarks.

Recipe – Creamy Steel-Cut Oats

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Ingredients

1 14-oz. can light coconut milk

1 ½ cups water

1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats

dash sea salt

 

Process

Pour can of coconut milk and water into pot; bring to low boil over high heat.

Add oats; stir. Immediately reduce heat to low. Gently simmer, covered, for 1 hour, stirring several times throughout cooking. Portion into bowls. Add desired garnishes: chopped medjool dates, raisins, shredded coconut, toasted walnut pieces, fresh fruit, etc. Creamy and delicious!

Food – Beta-Glucan & Oats

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While you may know that the fiber in oatmeal is responsible for lowering cholesterol, as well as offering other health rewards, you may not know that it’s a very particular type of fiber called beta-glucan that’s responsible for the benefits.

Nutritionally beta-glucans trigger a cascade of events in the human body that help regulate the immune system, making it more efficient. Beta-glucans also stimulate white blood cells that bind to tumor cells and viruses and release chemicals to destroy these cells. Studies also show that beta-glucans reduced the incidence of infection in patients with high risk surgeries, as well as shortened intensive care unit stay and improved survival rate. Bottom line – of all the polysaccharides studied that act as immunostimulants, beta-glucans were found to be the most effective against infectious disease and cancer.

Beta-glucans have also been found to improve insulin response and restore the activity of gut organisms.

Beta-glucans form a viscous solution (gel) in the gut which slows digestion and absorption, giving a feeling of fullness for much longer and is the basis for many health benefits. This thick gel grabs cholesterol as it moves through the digestive system to prevent absorption, and then eliminates it from the body. Getting 3 grams of beta-glucan a day may help lower cholesterol levels by as much as 8 percent. One and a half cups of cooked oats provides 3 grams of beta-gluten.

https://www.breadbeckers.com/the-beta-glucans-of-barley-and-oats/cholesterol

Incorporate oats in granola, muffins, waffles, breads, crisps, cooked alone or with other grains in cereals, and in savory dishes to ensure an ample amount of beta-glucan in your daily diet.

 

Creamy Steel-cut Oats

Ingredients

1 14-oz. can light coconut milk

1 ½ cups water

1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats

dash sea salt

Process

Pour can of coconut milk and water into pot; bring to low boil over high heat.

Add oats; stir. Immediately reduce heat to low. Gently simmer, covered, for 1 hour, stirring several times throughout cooking. Portion into bowls. Add desired garnishes: chopped medjool dates, raisins, shredded coconut, toasted walnut pieces, fresh fruit, etc. Creamy and delicious!

Recipe – Veggie Patties

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¾ cup shredded zucchini

½ cup cooked rice

¾ cup shredded carrots

¼ cup egg substitute

1 ½ teaspoons onion powder

2 Tablespoons nonfat bread crumbs

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 15-ounce can nonfat black beans, mashed

Preheat broiler on high heat. Line broiler pan with foil; lightly spray with nonfat cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. (If mixture is too moist to shape, refrigerate for 1 hour.) Shape mixture into 8 patties and place on prepared pan. Broil 4 to 6 inches from heat for 5 to 6 minutes per side, until lightly browned. Great as a sandwich on roll with lettuce, tomato, and condiments.

Food – Vegetables

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What is meant by the term vegetable? The term vegetable in its broadest sense refers to any kind of plant life or plant product; it usually refers to the fresh edible portion of a herbaceous plant consumed either raw or cooked. The edible portion may be a root like a rutabaga, beet, carrot, and sweet potato; a tuber or storage stem such as potato and taro; the stem as in asparagus and kohlrabi; a bud such as Brussels sprouts; a bulb such as onion and garlic; a petiole or leafstock like celery and rhubarb; a leaf such as cabbage, lettuce, parsley, spinach, and chive; an immature flower like cauliflower, broccoli, and artichoke; a seed like pea and Lima beans; the immature fruit like brinjal (eggplant), cucumber, and sweet corn (maize) or the mature fruit like tomato and chili.

Those plants or plant parts that are usually consumed with the main course of a meal are popularly regarded as vegetables, while those mainly used as desserts are considered fruits. Actually, cooked vegetables constitute our principal meals, while fruits are consumed as desserts. Thus, cucumber and tomato are botanically fruits, but they are mainly used as vegetables.

It is an accepted and well-settled fact that cooking or heat destroys nutritive value of vegetables. The tender leaves and stems of fresh vegetables contain the highest percentage of vitamins and minerals. If they are consumed fresh in a raw state (as expressed juice), it will be highly beneficial for the body to keep fit and healthy. For this reason there is now a growing tendency to consume more vegetables and fruits in their raw states.

Many elements are required to make a diet that is nutritionally adequate, and no single natural food can supply all. Vegetables supply some elements in which other food materials are deficient. The dark green leafy vegetables are rich sources of carotene that is converted by the body into vitamin A. Vitamin C is also amply provided by leafy and green vegetables.

Few vegetables are valuable sources of proteins or carbohydrates; beans and peas are rich in iron and proteins; potatoes and sweet potatoes are important sources of carbohydrates; citrus fruits supply most of the vitamins, including ascorbic acid in plenty.

Classification of Vegetables

Vegetables are classified on the basis of the part of the plant such as root, stem, or tuber that is used for food.

Root vegetables: The root group includes beets, carrots, radishes, rutabagas, turnips, and yams.

Stem vegetables: The stem group includes asparagus and kohlrabi.

Tuber vegetables: The tuber is an underground stem. Edible tubers include Jerusalem artichoke, potato, taro, and yam.

Leaf and leaf-stalk vegetables: The leaf group includes Brussels sprouts, cabbage, celery, chard, chicory, endive, lettuce, parsley, rhubarb (pie), and spinach.

Bulb vegetables: The bulb group includes garlic, leek, and onion.

Immature inflorescence vegetables: This group includes artichokes, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Immature fruit vegetables: This group includes cowpea, cucumber, papaya, jackfruit (ichar), eggplant (brinjal), Lima bean, okra, pea, and summer squash (gourd).

Mature fruit vegetables: This group includes muskmelon, pumpkin, tomato and watermelon.

Do you know how to make sure you are in good health? Eating vegetables is a good start.

Recipe – Seven Grain Patties

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Recipe

Seven Grain Patties
3 cups of boiling water 2 Tablespoons soy sauce (or equivalent)
1½ cups seven grain cereal 2 teaspoons onion powder
¾ teaspoon salt ¼ cup sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon thyme ½ cup walnuts, chopped
Cook cereal in water until done. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Shape into patties and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Yield: 6 servings. You may select seasonings of your choice to alter the flavor of the patties.

 

Recipe – Pineapple Tofu Cheesecake

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20 oz. can of crushed pineapple w/juice ½ cup Pineapple Juice Concentrate
3 ½ Tbsp. Agar-Agar  1/3 cup Honey
2 12.3 oz. pkgs. Mori Nu Silken Tofu,   extra firm Rind of ½ Lemon or ½ tsp. Lemon Extract
½ tsp. salt  
Combine crushed pineapple with Agar-Agar in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.  Blend with the remaining ingredients in blender until smooth.   Pour into prepared crumb crust in 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.  Chill and serve.  Adapted from a recipe by Barbara Watson in The Total Vegetarian Cookbook.