Health-Nutrition Talk: A Preview and Transcript

I have WONDERED and wondered how to begin talking to

• family

• co-workers

• and our greater community

about a few of our nutritional and health needs, in ways we maybe don't normally consider.

I thought why not begin with how I worried about a child who only would drink heavy sugar drinks and only would eat salty, at a time when at least one in five of our children in the U.S. were prediabetic:

That's one in five -- a number that has grown to possibly one in three, according to CDC analy-ses scientists want to better understand in 2025. 

And I wondered whether I should start this talk another way:

And I decided to start by saying

• experienced dieticians all are different in how they approach health communications. My college background is in journalism, and I've looked to all kinds of write-ups about our health.

I've seen articles that try coaching us to pick this snack food at Chick-fil-A, or pick this one at Subway, or the most crazy thing I've seen has been to take half your bun off of your hamburger.

• But there also are a lot of absolutely sane health articles that are peer-reviewed by doctors, nurses, and diaticians. And those articles, with sometimes a little word of advice from a loved one, have helped me navigate hard times.

• I've had a lot of guidance.

But what about the child who spends more than a few months running to the store to get a little boxed cereal for him and his brother when his mom hasn't been doing well and he doesn't know what else to choose or to do?

And what about most of us in the U.S., who just don't think much of food and the body?

When it comes to our health, I think too many people have gotten wrong ideas when health professionals have generalized and oversimplified comments for magazine and blog articles and TV news.

And I think that, often, lay people run in wrong directions with those generalizations:

One result is that

• some people overwhelm the internet with stuff that says to diet, diet, diet:

to diet this way and that way, when none of it really meets us at our needs.

Some people wind up saying things that amount to, "Don't eat bread. Count your carbs. Don't drink whole milk," and on and on.

But truth is

• that bread is not the enemy, but that it helps to understand different kinds of bread and bread density;

• and that rice is among the most health-wise and affordable foods we have, if we know one rice from another, and especially if we have certain rices with certain other foods;

• and that cattle milk --

beginning from when time began for the human race --

was as much part of God's plan to sustain us as were leafy greens, beans, and peas.

I believe in the Bible that says my Savior came eating milk curds!

And I believe in science that says it's reasonable to recognize an epidemic trend in heart disease, from 20th-century food consumption, didn't come from drinking milk, but did come from trans-fats that were in a majority of what we were eating, be it foods prepared with margerine or shortening, fast foods and TV dinners, or foods more generally cooked with oils that were used and reused, on top of many cooking oils not being the best oils for cooking.

And as to what we need for food every day, it just helps us to know a little about our bodies and the goals we need as individuals.

When I've been prediabetic, I've needed to know maltodextrin is a thickener that's in everything from some commercial pizzas, to Ensure and most other complete-protein nutrition-replacement drinks;

• that maltodextrin spikes blood sugar higher than table sugar;

• and that one of the things I really need to do when times are tough is drink milk, milk, and even whole milk, especially considering I have NOT fallen prey to the lactose-intolerance that has grown among newborns today.

I've also needed to understand milk CAN help cover my hydration needs, and that the amount of sugar in a cup of orange juice is a good measure of what limits I should set on an every-now-and-then serving of ice cream;

• or that that ice cream treat goes better with a burger, because real beef's natural fat can help prevent a rise in blood sugar that wears me out and that raises the risk of diabetes.

When I've fought viruses and other infections, I've needed to understand complete proteins with vitamin D are as important as vitamin C -- that vitamin C and other dietary acids only go so far.

When I've been anemic, I've needed to understand there are different kinds of anemia, that iron isn't our only need:

• that I get more iron if I'm eating whole foods with iron and vitamin C;

• that B12 anemia means that, among other foods, I should probably decide on a once-a-week real-beef burger from a place where burgers are not fatty or greasy, and that whole chicken (including its beneficial fat) can help a little, too.

When I've considered some blood disorders can sometimes mimic sickle-cell anemia, causing cells to misshape a little when there is over-exertion and not enough hydration, I've needed to be even more mindful of all we need each day.

So the bottom line is that I want to talk about food and health awareness, or mindfulness, not special diets or trends or silly advice, but some common-sense things our foreperents seemed to miraculously understand, despite falling prey to things like alcoholism, trans-fats, and sugar-sugar!

If you're interested, we should speak to one another!

He Never Meant Us To Be without Mother and Father, But ...

 

I'm not a Smoothie King customer. But I had to stop there today, because I needed a restroom when I off-boarded a bus.

Smoothie King was not on the way in Jesus, not for me today, but life sometimes ignores our heart in Him, sometimes ignores that commerce apart from kindness isn't king in my heart, but that goodwill, peace, living secure in Him all are - all with a lot of help in Him.

With that said, I have a tangent:

The love of Jesus says not to put even mother or father above, in place of, or in the name of our Heavenly Father, not in the name of the only God who created us from nothing at all, the only Heavenly Father who hopes for all of us among the masses.

Only God in Heaven is our everlasting king, who gives me hope for the unduly departed, even for the Bernie Mac who portrayed absolute fatherly love.

Why not make fathers king in place of God above?

The Jesus, the Son who lives in many earthly (not worldly) fathers, tells us so many reasons why not. Here are only a quick few reasons why not:

• No matter how perfect an earthly father or dad, all have fallen short of perfection in Jesus.

• Earthly fathers are not without wrong perceptions or misunderstanding; but oh, thank God for his perfect understanding of us all. (God knows His children don't need destroying. He knows when the problem is that we simply need release from something satanic that's taking hold.)

• God knows there will be times of loss, times when parents leave us for Heaven (prayerfully, very late in life). That's in contrast to how God alone is always there for us, always Heavenly Father.

• God's will is for us not to adore one another to the point of worshipping one another (even though living honorably toward mother and father, not shamefully, is part of our life's calling); but, instead, it's more important for fathers and children alike to look forward to being with Him in the heavenly realm, one day.

• God needs us to be Heaven minded.

• And there are so many things we must depend on God for that only God can do, although we know He needs earthly fathers to do their parts, too.

Amen.

I Can't Explain ...

 

When a crazy-popular celebrity dies, fans who fantasize may say the celebrity, the idol of mind, has not died. And a few psychologists may try to twist that phenomenon into their atheistic way of thinking about eternal life.

But Jesus is so much better to us than that. In a world at battle against Him, in a world ill enough to manufacture a missile meant to blasphemy His finished work of giving God's life in flesh on one appointed cross, Jesus still proves Himself faithful to us, every day of our lives in Him.

One day over this past year, I was at a Walmart store where a song on the store's radio broadcast, brimmed with new life -- but without saying anything about faith in what God has done. ... Oddly, the song reminded me a little of a celebrity who died in the 1990s, leaving a legacy of blasphemy or unpardonable sin.

I don't have any way of knowing who was singing that new song. I can't remember the song's melody or even what the song was saying. But I remember a voice that sounded a little like a godless celebrity redeemed, or a son of celebrity brimming with honest to God freedom in Jesus.

Living in a backslidden world, we do struggle against enemies, whether those enemies are atheism, terrible habits, or the kind of idolatry that clings to a godless past or that, on the other hand, denies that there is power or deliverance in Jesus.

But thank God the battle's already won.

~

In the Old Testament, a man named Elijah called for a group of false prophets to be slain. Unlike John the Baptist, who Jesus commended as "the last and the greatest" of old prophets, Elijah was ultimately a violence-for-violence preacher. Elijah shows us the agony of living in a world before God gave us Jesus: a reality still lived in many parts of our world today. But John the Baptist signaled a time of spiritual freedom -- freedom from a sinful world -- before succumbing to that old world he knew would perish.

In Elijah's case, there was a man who cleaved to Elijah the way a son without Jesus might hold to an earthly father. The man, Elisha, witnessed something maybe hard to explain at that time. It's more probable than not that the sons of prophets slain by Elijah, came to Elijah and Elisha at nightfall, bearing torches on a chariot or wagon, and swiftly knocked Elisha into a stupor while carrying Elijah away under stormy weather.

Apparently, in those grim times, stormy weather emboldened men's enemies, as when the Chaldeans attacked Job's estate.

And isn't it remarkable how a storm passed over at the death of God's own flesh, when Jesus was crucified?

... I'm so glad, today, that we've already obtained victory over grim times.

He Gave Us Everything Needed for Living

 

So much online tries to pull us into arguments about putting our morals and ethics above leading others to salvation. Some bloggers - even ministers - even muddy the waters with foolishness about Muslim morality, Hindu morality, on top of silly arguments about "morality versus ethics."

One good article I wish I could find again, points out that many, many people groups teach that an individual earns salvation in Jesus through good works, when nothing could be further from truth.

The Bible comforts us in saying, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The Bible tells of New Testament disciples who searched the scriptures to reassure themselves that what was being preached was true.

And the Bible encourages us to "correct" one another, as members of Jesus, "in the Spirit of gentleness."

The good article I mentioned is a reminder that the Holy Spirit is our guide as people who already know Jesus. And His word is food for our daily journey.

In Jesus, we know anyone can have personal morals, and that ethics are only what we express as groups of people who have shared values or morals (Romans 2:14-15).

But for the Christian, personal values are outgrowths of heartfelt faith, outgrowths of the salvation in Jesus that God freely gave us. Personal values, for the Christian, are part of maturing: growing in sanctification over the whole of whatever life span we have after realizing salvation.

Without personal convictions, we make poor witnesses in the faith.

... Jesus, help us in our walk, every day (Proverbs 4:27). Help us pick up your easy to carry cross each day, and live.

Can the Season of Lent Bring an End to Fighting?

 

Food for Thought: Christians who are strong in faith

would not want vegetarians to force a diet that's
less than what's needed for wellbeing; so we shouldn't
want to force meats on those who are vegetarians,
 who feel all meat eating is immoral.

Not every Christian has Lent as part of the Easter season. Most don't acknowledge Lent, and many are not aware of Lent, at all. Lent is not a command from Jesus!

But Lent, for maybe a majority of Catholic believers, is a heartfelt tradition of feeling closer to God, denying temptation, during the 40 days leading up to Easter.

Many of the faithful who make a personal vow about what they will and will not eat or do during the Lenten season, are thinking about how Jesus didn't eat anything for 40 days in a barren desert where Satan tempted Him.

Some give up eating all meats for 40 days; some may commit to personal ideas like a diet of fish, dry bread, and bitter herbs; some may eat nothing at all for one or two days of each week; some may only eat vegetables without bread; some may do silly things like saying no chocolate or morning lattes for them during Lent; and some may commit to doing things that altogether jeopardize their health or wellbeing, eating as little as small birds and subjecting themselves to suffering.

Yet, some people agree that many of those commitments aren't really in keeping with the life God has given us. And keep in mind, no one can demand how your Lenten season should be, neither what you can or cannot eat, nor whether being more like Jesus means outright suffering.

The Savior who we find in Jesus has taught many of us differently than that. Among many of us, Jesus leads us away from or helps us rebuke suffering. We know that He suffered so that our lives wouldn't be all about suffering. He even gave us instructions not to make fasting about suffering.

He says, "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full." (Matthew 6:16, NIV)

So personal times of fasting or abstaining should be about needing a closeness to God, not about being subjected to the ways of others, like many who were taken hostage in Gaza.

Being subjected to suffering or to the beliefs of others isn't what God means when He says the saints (the church) will judge even angels (messengers). When He says things like, "Let judgment begin at the house of God," God is not telling His people to run around destroying people's provision (nor the sense of thanks giving that feels close to Him) to make people fast and suffer and even to be unclean!

Instead, God is saying to (a) settle disputes between believers in His church, and to (b) examine the body of His church and judge/correct/rebuke transgressions that are destroying the body, even if doing so means removing a member of the body who believes sexual sin is permitted or is part of life in the body of the Holy Spirit.

God, our Heavenly creator, doesn't smile at the idea of people quarreling and destroying foods that He provides, instead of people recognizing that Heaven isn't about the food but is about repenting of all the hell many people are doing.

The Holy Spirit doesn't put fights about food above needing to end assaults against the body of His word! That can be kind of difficult to see or to discern in many translations of Heaven's words, but there is a translation that makes one helpful passage of the Bible a little more plain to see: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%206&version=NIRV.

How many times does the word of God say to put food fighting aside and focus on what matters between Heaven and hell?

He says, "Let us not ... judge one another any more ... " in matters of who eats acceptable meats and who refuses acceptable meats. He says sexual sins (inequities passed from one generation to another, one people to another, causing even children to stumble in sin) are the chief of problems, the ungodly master of problems, plaguing His people everywhere.

He says, yes, like you say, "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food" (1 Corinthians 6:13), and, yes, He "will destroy both (food) and the (body)" after there is physical death. But He says neither the physical nor the spiritual body was created for sexual sin. "The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body."

People practicing sexual sins at any time, but especially during times set aside for greater closeness to Heaven, are those fallen away from pure faith right now.

Hebrews 13:4: "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous."

"For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." (Romans 8:6)

... Maybe Lent is a reasonable time to focus on the promise of His peace while eating.