God gave to the first people freedom to explore the garden in which he had placed them, but forbade them to eat the fruit from one particular tree. It seems, as it often happens, we misinterpreted the memo, which could explain why USDA is having such a hard time with “eat 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day for better health” message.
The Holy Land is known for a wide variety of cereals, vegetables, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. There is plenty of fish in Lake Galilee, whereas Dead Sea supplies salt and minerals. To the east of River Jordan, rich pastures made this region famous for its cattle. From biblical times until this day, sheep and goats provide milk, cheese and meat.
I do not know if the people of the Old Testament knew about nutritional and medicinal qualities attributed to pomegranates, but they sure gave them a special treatment. The shape of this fruit was copied around the edge of the High Priest’s robe, and carved on the pillars in Solomon Temple.
Until recently, mostly the Jewish religious community followed the dietary principles described in the Old Testament. But it all changed when a Christian doctor discovered Purdue University study linking obesity with higher levels of religious participation.
It was only a matter of time until a new breed of diet books flooded the market. Essentially, all these diet books are trying to answer one question, “What Would Jesus Eat?” There is little doubt in my mind that this question will be debated for years to come.
Meanwhile, I am scratching my head, because I think that bringing religion into dieting only adds another layer of unnecessary confusion. I do not know what Jesus ate, nor do I think that it is relevant to the issue of obese Christians. However, I do know what Jesus or any person of that era did not eat.
We know that they were blissfully unaware of fast food, refined sugar, simple carbohydrates, sugary soda, artificial food additives, hydrogenated oil, etc. We also know that their diet was simple, but rich in pasture-fed meat, fish, olive oil, fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates.
Not to mention copious amounts of calorie-burning physical activity that went into putting all that food on a table. Here is a short audio clip in which the experts sound off on this curious diet trend.