Top List of Healing Foods from the Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin

Below is a summary of the top healing foods from the Bible as listed in The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin.

• · Fish and fish oil: Rich sources of protein, potassium, vitamins, and minerals. The healing power comes from the omega 3 fatty acids. The best fish are the cold water fish such as salmon, sardines, bluefish, herring, lake trout, mackerel, sablefish, whitefish, bluefin tuna and anchovies as well as in cod liver oil.
• · Grains of the Bible: The description of the promised Land in Deut 8:8 was a land of wheat and barley. John 6:9-13 describes the food the young boy brought to Jesus as five barley loaves. The young sprouts of these grains are known as cereal grasses and juicing them contains four essential compounds largely absent from our diet – Antioxidant enzymes, trace minerals, chlorophyll, high-quality vegetable proteins.
• · Cultured dairy from goats, cows and sheep: The milk of the Bible was consumed straight from the animals and was not pasteurized or homogenized or it was immediately fermented. They could not keep dairy products fresh so they learned from the wine fermentation process and used it to preserve dairy products. The result is what we know today as yogurt, cheese and curds. (see page 148 for benefits)
• · Olive Oil: Olive oil is one of the most digestible of all fats. Olive oil contributes to health of the bodies’ tissues, organs, and brain. It also reduces heart disease.
• · Small fruit (figs, grapes, berries) Figs are mentioned more than fifty times in the Bible and are the first fruit specifically named in scripture (Gen 3:7). Grapes were the first crops Noah planted after the flood (Gen 9:20) Grapes fight tooth decay, stop viruses, and are rich in other ingredients that researchers believe may lower the risk of cancer.
• · Soups/stocks: Stocks and soups appear in biblical diets as we see in Judges 6:19.
• · Healthy saturated fats (high vitamin butter, coconut oil) Butter from grass-fed animals. Extra-virgin coconut oil is one of the healthiest saturated fats available. Coconut oil can tolerate extremely high heats (other oils become rancid at high temperatures). Coconut oil reduces symptoms of digestive orders, supports overall immune functions, and helps prevent bacterial, viral, and fungal infections.
• · Honey: The Bible implies a strong influence of butter and honey on brain function: Isa 7:15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. Look for high quality produced locally and sold in its raw and unheated form preserving the enzymes.
• · Seeds (Soaked and sprouted) The germination process produces vitamin c and increases the B vitamins. (p152)
• · Omega 3 eggs: Eggs contain all known nutrients except for vitamin c.
• · Cultured/fermented vegetables: fermented vegetables provide the body with natural probiotics and enzymes. Sauerkraut, pickled carrots, beets, or cucumbers.
• · Organ Meats: Liver from grass fed animals is dense with vitamins A, D, B6, and B12.
• · Fermented beverages: kefir, grape cooler, natural gingerale, combucha and kvass.
• · Green vegetables: Green leafy veggies contain beta carotene and virtually every mineral and trace element.

Lesson 3 Part 1: Intro

This is the final section of the material. Lesson 3 is posted in 3 parts for easier reading.

Proverbs 3:7-8

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

We have looked at a lot of information over the last two lessons.

Briefly, Jesus came to fulfill the law, not abolish it. Even though foods have been declared clean for spiritual purposes, there are valid reasons backed up by archaeological and scientific research for following the OT healthy Living Laws.

Lesson 3 Part 2: Avoid Food Addictions

The third principle is Avoid food addictions: Don’t let food or drink become your God.

Exodus 20:3: You shall have no other gods before me.

When anything consumes our attention and replaces God, even good things can be made bad. Common substances that we become dependent on are caffeine, fat, sugar, and salt.

The following verse describes what happened when Isarael substituted an overabundance of food for God.

Deuteronomy 32:15 : Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. 
He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior.

There are also direct commands against drunkenness and alcoholics suffer from heart disease, liver disease, bowel diseases, joint problems, mental disorders, along with various other aches, pains, and fatigue.

Dr. Russell’s recommendation for avoiding food addictions is fasting. A physical explanation of the benefits of fasting is that during this time of rest from food, the enzyme systems replenish themselves to their proper balance.

There are various reasons for fasting in the Scriptures: mourning, seeking God’s face, obtaining answers to prayer, deliverance from enemies and oppressors, getting closer to God, and asking God to intervene in our lives. Clearly the benefits of fasting are largely spiritual.

Fasting is a whole study in itself so just briefly, Dr. Russell describes four kinds of fasts.

Normal Fast: Not eating food for a definite time period: 1 day, 3 days, one week, one month and 40 days are some of the fasting times observed in the Scriptures.

Absolute Fast: Not ingesting food or water – should be short. Moses did an absolute fast for 40 days.

Partial Fast: Omitting a certain amount of meals or certain foods for a specific period of time. Daniel, John the Baptist, and Elijah are some examples of the partial fast.

Rotational Fast: Avoiding certain foods periodically

We typically fast every night while we sleep. Again, a whole study can be devoted to this topic so I just wanted to mention it briefly. Please note sustained fasting should be done with professional guidance.

Personal note about liking frappacinos. I generally don’t like coffee. But I do like the littled bottled frappacinos. But there have been times when I have “fasted” from them such as when following a yeast-free diet. But I really like them. So when it was time to add foods back to my diet, I got a frappacino. And I felt like a heroin addict getting a fix. It was such a total ahhhhh experience. That’s one reason, I don’t drink alcohol except for rare occasions. I know that I am not a sipper. I’m a gulper. So I know my weaknesses and try not to put myself in a position to become addicted.

Lesson 3 Part 3: Hygiene Laws

Now, a note about the hygiene laws. While we have focused so far on dietary laws, healthy living involves hygiene rules also. Way before the scientific community recognized the value of cleanliness, the Israelites were following God’s guidelines on sewage disposal. Deut 23:12 says put your outhouse outside the camp.

Archaeologists have noted that during the Roman Empire, Roman cities and camps planned their sewage and cisterns in the center of their compounds which allowed contamination of the water supply and made them vulnerable to epidemics and plagues. The contrast are both Jewish and Muslim communities have been spared many of those tragedies by following the OT hygiene principles.

In fact, during the black plague that killed millions during the middle ages, the European Jews were spared the disease, and consequently suffered great persecution because they were healthy.

In the Middle Ages the common people did not have access to the scriptures. It is said that as Louis Pasteur developed his theories and learned more scientifically, his faith became stronger. His discoveries help check some of the terrible epidiemics.

Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis became known as the savior of mothers when he discovered that just by washing hands in the ob gyn ward between patients, deaths decreased significantly. His work was used by Louis Pasteur to develop the germ theory.

It was a major discussion in a scripture we’ve already looked at – Mark 7—on washing hands before eating. We also know that there were ceremonial wash stands for the priests to use. So these are just examples of God’s guidelines proved valid by scientific discovery.

There are guidelines on sexual behavior and without going specifically into each prohibition (don’t have sex with your children or homosexual behavior), we know that avoiding sex before marriage and being faithful to your spouse is good disease prevention. We have new diseases and new strains of old diseases developing because of our sexual revolution.

Perhaps a good closing Proverb is one we have already looked at

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

Please understand that many of the problems that happen to us by not following the guidelines given by God are not His punished meted out to us but a result of the natural laws resulting from His creation.

My goal here was to give you new information and new things to think about and encourage you to start or to continue a journey to healthy living so that your focus can be on serving God with the gifts he has given you.