Food

Food – Digestion

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The human body is an amazing miracle that only an omniscient being could create. We each are responsible for the maintenance of our bodies such that we may operate to our fullest potential. Diet is one of the most important ways we revitalize ourselves physically. In order to understand our nutritional needs it is important to understand the intricate workings of the digestive system.

God designed our bodies to partake of a vegetarian diet. The differences between ourselves and carnivores, such as, lions, are pertinent differences that uphold the idea that we are still intended for a diet of plant life. The way by which we obtain food in itself is evidence of this. Humans have hands and fingers, including an opposable thumb, which are excellent for picking foods and, if you have a green opposable thumb, planting! Lions, on the other hand, would find this difficult as they have paws with sharp, retractable claws which are designed to fell prey and tear flesh.

The difference in diet is supported by the digestive differences between the herbivore and carnivore. Most people know that digestion begins in the mouth with saliva. But another structural variation between humans and lions that differentiates how we digest our food is the teeth. Carnivores have sharp, pointed teeth necessary for tearing flesh, where humans have flat teeth for grinding fruits, vegetables, and grains. There is also a difference in the saliva produced. A human’s saliva contains salivary amylase which begins the break down of complex carbohydrates found in plants. So chew well! The lion has no salivary amylase in his saliva, but he certainly has the intestinal juices to make up for it!

Lions have a chemical substance in their stomachs called hydrochloric acid. Humans have this also, but our carnivore friends certainly have the lion’s share. They have ten times the amount of this acid in their stomachs! This is very necessary, however, as meat is more difficult to digest. Carbohydrates and plant proteins are much easier on our stomachs as they do not require such high levels of hydrochloric acid to digest.

Humans have intestines that extend 24 to 26 feet in length! Imagine the convolution that is required to make room just for our intestines! The length is pertinent though. It allows for the time needed to digest our food and allow our bodies to absorb the nutrients we require to function properly. A lion does not need such a long intestinal corridor. In fact it would be quite harmful since the flesh ingested would putrefy in the body’s warm environment. A lion’s intestines, in contrast, average around 8 feet in length to allow for quick removal of the food ingested.

As we consider these few differences between our bodies and the lion’s, it is easy to see that we were built for different diets. In studying Genesis 1:29 and Genesis 3:17 our Creator has spelled out for us the diet He recommends for His most beloved creation. How wonderful that our Heavenly Father is so concerned for our health!

Recipe – Veggie Gravy

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Ingredients

2 cups tomatoes, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

¼ cup flour

½-1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

¼ cup water

Process

Simmer tomatoes with onion and celery 5-10 minutes. Mix flour and water and add slowly to tomato mixture, stirring constantly over low heat until thickened and add seasonings—remember to season it to your taste buds! This is great over hot baked potatoes, toast, or anything else requiring gravy.

Food – Memories — What Veggies?

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The majority of the time, my family just did not seem to get enough vegetables into our diets. Growing up in a meat and potato environment, we really did not think about anything green. My mom was a really good cook but since dad liked his meat and potatoes, which was what comprised the majority of our meals, that is what we ate. Mom used to make “grease gravy” and it really tasted good on our meat and potatoes. The only time we really had any vegetables that I can remember was when the corn-on-the-cob showed up on our plates. YUM! But that was often swamped with butter!

Now, as an adult, I enjoy the variety of flavors that I find in different foods. In fact, I was really surprised to find how many different vegetables and grains were out there. I am very thankful for God’s abundant variety of foods.

I remember when I first decided to become a vegan and saw pictures on vegan food cans and packets showing meat just like mom used to make and it looked so good. My first thought was that it would be easy being vegan replacing the meat with all the products available. Though it may be a good replacement initially for some when changing their diet, unfortunately it was not agreeable to my family’s taste buds and many meals were discarded. Soon I learned about seasoning foods and to make most of my meals from scratch. No one has the same taste buds; so I learned to take a recipe and trim it to the taste of my family. Praise the Lord for the skill to do that! Yes, it took practice and is still a work in progress.

God has provided so many varieties of vegetables to choose from and innumerable ways they can be prepared. There are many different seasonings available to add to our enjoyment of different foods. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

 

Veggie Gravy

Ingredients

2 cups tomatoes, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

¼ cup flour

½-1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

¼ cup water

Process

Simmer tomatoes with onion and celery 5-10 minutes. Mix flour and water and add slowly to tomato mixture, stirring constantly over low heat until thickened and add seasonings—remember to season it to your taste buds! This is great over hot baked potatoes, toast, or anything else requiring gravy.

 

Recipe – Garlic Penne Noodles

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3 cups uncooked penne pasta

½ large bulb garlic

1 medium onion

1 12.3 oz. Mori-nu extra firm tofu

Cashew milk

Salt to taste

Cook noodles according to directions on box. Chop ¾ of onion and sauté. Add to drained cooked noodles. Blend remaining onion, garlic, salt and tofu together. Add cashew milk to create thin to medium sauce. Garlic, onion, and salt should be strong in the sauce. Pour sauce over the noodles and allow to set overnight to best absorb flavor. Add cashew milk if needed to moisten noodles, and bake at 350 degrees until thoroughly heated.

Food – Biblical Nutrition

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The Bible tells us in I Corinthians 6:19, “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?” When we use something that does not belong to us, we tend to be extra careful with what is lent to us. One way we can take care of the bodies in our care is to nurture them properly.

God addresses how we can best do this in the Bible. He gave Adam and Eve a diet to follow to maintain the perfect health with which they were created. Man was given fruit and every “herb bearing seed.” [Genesis 1:29.] After man sinned, God added the “herb of the field” to our diet. (See Genesis 3:18.) Our diet was changed once more following the flood when flesh was added to the diet. Not all flesh was permitted though. God gave very strict guidelines to adhere to. Clean meats only were acceptable and without the blood or fat. (See Genesis 9:3,4; Leviticus 3:17; 11:47.)

During the Jews captivity in Egypt, the diet was polluted by the Egyptians. “The perverted appetite was to be brought into a more healthy state, that they might enjoy the food originally provided for man—the fruits of the earth, which God gave to Adam, and Eve in Eden.” Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 118. (See also Exodus 16:1–4, 35.) During their deliverance from the land, God once again changed the diet of His people and provided manna.

Many people believe that Peter’s vision was yet another modification in God’s prescribed diet, giving man permission to eat all flesh, but this is not the case. In reading Acts:10:9–17, 28, it is seen that the vision did not pertain to diet at all.

We will have yet another change in our diet in heaven. It is clear that all living species will be returned once again to a vegetarian diet. Isaiah 11:6–9 and 21–25 says, “The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.”

“The education of the Israelites included all their habits of life. Everything that concerns their well-being was the subject of divine solicitude and came within the province of divine law. Even in providing their food, God sought their highest good. The manna with which He fed them in the wilderness was of a nature to promote physical, mental, and moral strength.” Child Guidance, 378. I Corinthians 10:11 speaks in regard to the purpose God had for His dealing with the Israelites in the wilderness.

God has entrusted to us the bodies he created. It is surely a wonderful thing that He would provide us also with a manual to care for His creation.

Recipe – Corn Potato Leek Chowder

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Ingredients

1 medium onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

4-5 cups Yukon potatoes, diced

1 tsp. paprika

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups vegetable broth, divided

2 cups almond milk, unsweetened

3 cups corn, frozen or fresh

2 tsp. nutritional yeast, or to taste

1 tsp. salt, or to taste

1 cup cashews, soaked in water two hours

1-2 medium leeks, sliced

Process

In medium stockpot sauté onion and celery in small amount of water or oil for seven minutes. Add potatoes and paprika; sauté seven minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook one minute. Add one cup broth, almond milk, corn, nutritional yeast and salt. Simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain and blend cashews and one cup broth until creamy; add to potatoes. For a creamier texture, blend half of potato/corn mixture; add back into pot. Stir in leeks; heat 2 minutes. Warm and satisfying!

Food – Leeks

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Leeks are closely related to onions—as the similarity in flavor shows—and are distant cousins of asparagus. All three are members of the lily family.

Although leeks probably originated in warm regions of Asia or the Mediterranean, they are now intensely cultivated in temperate to cool climates, particularly in Northern Europe where they are a favorite. In Wales, where leeks are a national symbol, men parade in the streets with leek-bedecked hats on special holidays.

Leeks are surprisingly nutritious, providing an appreciable amount of minerals and fiber together with plenty of vitamin C. A half cup of chopped, boiled leeks contains only 15 calories but 25mg of vitamin C, as well as 16mg of calcium and a small amount of niacin.

Vegetables in the allium group (leeks, onions, shallots, scallions, chives, garlic) may have a protective effect against cancer, particularly gastric cancer, diabetes and heart disease, and like onions, leeks may help to lower cholesterol. Much of its therapeutic effect comes from its sulfur-containing compounds such as allicin. As allicin digests in the body, it produces sulfenic acid, a compound that neutralizes dangerous free radicals faster than any other known compound.

Leeks are most commonly used to add flavor, particularly to soups and stews. They are delicious in salads, vegetable dishes and quiches. But leeks have a milder, sweeter flavor than onions and a crunchy texture when cooked, which is why they are also delicious served on their own.

Excerpts from Foods that Harm Foods That Heal, The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., ©1997, 212, 213.

Recipe – Parmesan Cheese, Delicious and Simple

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Ingredients

1 cup raw almonds (or cashews)

½ cup nutritional yeast

3/4 Tbsp. Herbamare, (herbed sea salt) more or less or salt-free seasoning if preferred.

 

Process

Combine all in food processor with “S” blade and process until powdery texture (or blender). Yummy! Use on spaghetti, popcorn, steamed veggies, etc.

Recipe – Tangerine Maple Cashew Cream

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Tangerine Maple Cashew Cream

Ingredients

1 cup raw cashews, soaked for 30 minutes in water to cover

1 cup fresh squeezed tangerine juice

2 tsp. pure maple syrup

Process

Drain cashews. Place in blender with tangerine juice and maple syrup. Blend on high until mixture is smooth and creamy. Drizzle over a fresh fruit salad, cooked cereal, waffles or toast.

Food – Tangerines

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Although Americans often use the terms tangerines and mandarins interchangeably, tangerines—along with clementines and satsumas—are actually types of mandarin oranges. These sweet citrus fruits with loose-fitting skins originated in China, but they are now grown in many parts of the world.

Ounce for ounce, oranges have about twice as much vitamin C as tangerines. But even a medium-size tangerine fulfills about 50 percent of the adult Recommended Daily Allowance. In addition, tangerines are richer in vitamin A (in the form of beta carotene) than any other citrus fruit. A medium-size tangerine contains 775 I.U. of vitamin A, as well as 130mg of potassium. It is also high in pectin, a soluble fiber that helps lower blood cholesterol.

This orange fruit is an excellent remedy for depression and the winter blues.

While most varieties are available from November to March, tangerines are an especially popular Christmas fruit. The following are among the most common types sold in the United States:

Clementine. This fruit is seedless, and smaller and sweeter than most other varieties. It is sometimes called an Algerian tangerine, but most clementines sold in the U.S. are actually imported from Spain or Israel.

Honey tangerine. Also known as a murcott, this variety has a greener skin than other tangerines, but the flesh is more orange and the flavor is sweeter.

Satsuma. Any of several varieties of tangerine, satsumas are a little larger than clementines, nearly seedless, and very thin-skinned. Japan is the leading producer of satsumas.

Tangelo. A cross between a tangerine and grapefruit or pomelo, the tangelo looks like an orange, is tangier than a tangerine, and is sweeter than a grapefruit. Its name is a combination of tangerine and pomelo.

Tangor. This hybrid, also known as temple orange or royal mandarin, looks like a tangerine but tastes like an orange; it is juicy and contains many seeds.

Dancy. While it is no longer as widely grown, the Dancy tangerine, whose peak season is December, is commonly known as the Christmas Orange since children would often receive them as gifts.

Foods That Harm Foods That Heal, The Reader’s Digest Association, © 1997, 339.

 

Tangerine Maple Cashew Cream

Ingredients

1 cup raw cashews, soaked for 30 minutes in water to cover

1 cup fresh squeezed tangerine juice

2 tsp. pure maple syrup

Process

Drain cashews. Place in blender with tangerine juice and maple syrup. Blend on high until mixture is smooth and creamy. Drizzle over a fresh fruit salad, cooked cereal, waffles or toast.