The Maker’s Diet
The jury’s out whether I’m suffering from carbohydrate withdrawal or a touch of the flu, but I think it’s the former.
I started on The Maker’s Diet yesterday, and the author warned I might feel a little nauseous or headachy for a few days. So, sorry, I’ve been out of it today.
The premise of the book is to get back to eating foods God instructed the Israelites to eat in the form they ate them, organically.
Something the author wrote made me think of the young posters on this site, so many of whom have health problems….
Then there is my generation, affectionately termed “Generation X” – the first generation of young people to suffer in alarming numbers from chronic degenerative and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, Crohn’s disease, Type I diabetes, and even Parkinson’s disease. The rates of infertility are staggering….
I have been very concerned about the startling number of young people here who are on antidepressants, and have all sorts of maladies, including allergies and ADD. Is diet a key? The more I read, the more I think so.
But I’ll not leave we baby boomers out. Here’s what he said about us:
The baby boomers of the 1940s and 1950s are clearly the generation of widespread obesity, a health condition leading to diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. It seems that the main reason some baby boomers do not get cancer is because their lives have already been claimed by sudden heart attack.
I’m seeing food in a whole new light. God warned against eating pork, fish without scales like catfish, lobster, crab, etc., because these are all scavenger animals. They eat crap, pardon me. God just didn’t make up food rules to be mean. Up until recently when many abandoned orthodoxy, Jews enjoyed superior health to others. Because so many of them survived the Black Plague during the Dark Ages, for instance, they were even accused of causing it by poisoning wells from which they would not drink. Wiki confirms this point from the book.
There’s much more, and I’m sure my queasiness may not be the best advertisement for The Maker’s Diet (it’s pathetic, really), but it makes total sense. And it’s not just about food. It discusses Biblical hygiene – which God prescribed thousands of years before doctors learned to wash hands and instruments to maintain germ control – as a way to alleviate colds and flus from ourselves and our children.
I picked up the book at my local Bible book store, but there’s also a website.
Ok, back to work.
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
There was a very interesting episode of Naked Archaeologist that talked about food referred to in the Bible.
They also showed a breed of cattle whose lineage dates back to Biblical times.
Food for Life makes an “Ezekiel 4:9” bread and a “7 Sprouted Grains” bread that also work on the Glycemic Index diet.
They taste a little like packing foam, but when you’re at that point in a carbo frenzy where you’re ready to eat dry white flour out of the bag, they really do the job. (Keep them in the freezer. They go bad FAST.)
PBS had a series on religions back a number of years ago. According to it, pork was banned because it was symbollic of city life which was contradictory to the nomadic life led by the Children of Israel. You cant herd pigs. You can let them run loose, but you cant treat them the way you do sheep or goats and move them around with you.
It discusses Biblical hygiene –
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Uh – yeah …. if you have to go poo youre supposed to dig a hole with a little paddle youre supposed to carry with you all the time and then youre supposed to poo in the hole, then cover it back up with dirt – no toilet paper mentioned …. that would be great in this day and age –
Totally, Jill, totally.
If I could afford organic prices, I’d be the queen of the health food chain.
I’m sure John McD is going to have a field day with this article.
Off topic question aimed at Laura but anyone can pipe in.
Cats. They love to use my yard as the neighborhood litter box.
Any suggestions on ways to keep them out of my yard?
I’ve used some critter spray that obviously hasn’t worked. Am tempted to put up razor fencing …
Also, Jill, one of the NFP counselors at Couple to Couple League has noticed the remarkable increase of irregular/faulty cycle charts in the past decade or so and has questioned aloud like you how improper nutrition has played a starring role in that phenonema.
I can attest to that.
Laura, yes, the book mentioned Ezekiel 4:9 bread, which I spotted in Trader Joe’s yesterday.
TR, glad you brought up pigs, because something I read about them may have turned me off forever. Here’s what the author said:
The pigs did not make the Creator’s list of “clean” animals for a very good reason. Clean animals that chew the cud have an alimentary canal and a secondary cud receptacle. Essentially, they have three stomachs available to process and refine their clean, vegetation-based food into “flesh” in a process that takes more than 24 hours in general.
Pigs, on the other hand, never limit their diet to vegetation. They will eat anything they can find – including their own young and sick or dead pigs from the same pen.
Josephson claimed the pig’s single stomach arrangement was very simple in design and function and that it was combined with a limited excretory organ system: “… four hours after the pig has eaten his polluted swill and other putrid, offensive matter, many may eat the same [swill] second handed off the ribs of the pig.”
My son lived next to a pig farm a couple years ago and told me he saw pigs eating so much they would explode, and the others would eat the disemboweled pig.
Yuck!
I’ve used some critter spray that obviously hasn’t worked. Am tempted to put up razor fencing …
Posted by: carder at November 29, 2007 3:36 PM
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It’s almost impossible once they’ve established an area for that purpose.
My front yard – where I don’t have dogs loose – is such an area. I just don’t fight it. I put in a 2×3 foot covered *catbox, planted shrubs and perrenials in front, and added a small water feature. I do a very casual job of raking it out once a week, and throw in litter as needed.
Like many sub-tropical Southern California neighborhoods, the area is full of roof rats, as well as native vermin that carry plague. (One of my neighbors has spent almost $10,000 on pest control in the last three years. I’ve never seen a rodent near my home.) It’s way cheaper and safer to be nice to kitties.
* Many people around here use those molded plastic baby pools as alternative cat boxes. The ones with a hinged lid keep the kids out of the turds.
My son lived next to a pig farm a couple years ago and told me he saw pigs eating so much they would explode, and the others would eat the disemboweled pig.
Yuck!
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Oh for crying out loud – you expect ANYONE to believe that?
Carder, speaking of cats, the author mentioned the origin of SARS has been tentatively traced to civet cats, a delicacy in southeast China, but an unclean animal to eat, according to God.
Laura, why not?
Hi Jill,
a might too simplistic is what this diet seems. Even if it does answer some questions – there are others … . I now modify the blood-type diet at http://dadamo.com to a seasonal pattern. It is interesting that the ancient Jewish people shared a more common blood-type and that the vast majority of biological pathogens show a remarkable affiliation with certain blood types … ie. The Black Plague bypassed that blood type (I think ‘A’s ???).
One of the seasonal variation ‘tricks’, is to induce a mild ketosis for the winter months … eating mainly meat for a few days … a headache is normal, but will soon stop as the body switches from burning carbohydrates as fuel to burning fat.
Getting over a mild sickness is typical, as the immune system increases energy …. (if you eat extra fat while eating meat you will become very hot in the coolest temperatures, especially if you also supplement with L-carnitine).
If there is a deeper, more-complex disease process, following the advice in ‘Lights Out’ by TS Wiley helps immensely. There is a great deal more … but this is a good start!
When we lived in Colorado I had a bed of catnip for my two cats but of course that made our yard very popular with the neighborhood cats. They ‘marked’ here and there but I didnt think it was any big thing. When we moved to New York one of our kids’ teachers ‘house sat’ for us. One day she was down stairs which was not a ‘basement’ but it was sunken – the big windows were at ground level. She had the window open and was standing there looking outside – you could see the Rockies so it was a nice view – but a big neighborhood tom came up and peed right in her face …. she tore up all my catnip :(
Laura, why not?
Posted by: Jill Stanek at November 29, 2007 3:51 PM~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I missed something.
Why not what?
I think Jill might have meant that “why not?” to be directed at TexasRed because she questioned the exploding pig story.
Laura, whoops, Bobby (congrats!) is right. I meant TR.
Anon, good info on ketosis. Yes, the focus on the first 12 days of The Maker’s Diet is to eat protein and vegetables, with a minor in fruit.
Hey carder,
t’was me John McD who was the ‘anonymous’ above
LOL does that mean I can only eat lamb and grains?
And goat. No camel.
You know some severe epileptics are put on a ketogenic diet, high in fats and low in carbs. But it is an extreme diet that most of the time needs medical planning and monitoring.
lol jill!
Ooh strangers with candy time!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iUCqpD-Yzp8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BSqjOWXHI-o
SOO MUCH BETTER
Laura, whoops, Bobby (congrats!) is right. I meant TR.
Anon, good info on ketosis. Yes, the focus on the first 12 days of The Maker’s Diet is to eat protein and vegetables, with a minor in fruit.
Posted by: Jill Stanek at November 29, 2007 4:27 PM
……………………
The Atkins diet revisited?
And goat. No camel.
Posted by: Jill Stanek at November 29, 2007 6:09 PM
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I get cranky without a regular serving of hump.
My father made so much fun of me tonight when I refused a bun for the hamburger he so graciously prepared for me. It has nothing to do with carbs, though–there’s SUGAR in the bread! I could smell it. It was repulsive.
I love sweet stuff to a reasonable extent (you know, in a “come between me and my chocolate and I’ll tear your head off” kind of way), but some things are just too sweet! Can’t stand grape juice because all I taste is the sugar–I am repulsed by sugar and cream in coffee (France made me a coffee purist–if it has stuff added to it, it isn’t “real coffee”), etc.
Seriously though. Who wants their bread to taste sugary. Gross.
Leah – agreed – why ruin a good cup of coffee by dumping other stuff in it?
As for lobster, yes, lobster is very bad – you all should give me all your lobsters.
Doug
Finally someone who agrees with me…
Give Doug lobsters, give me the crabs. I just had crab legs for the first time a couple weeks ago and I am HOOKED.
“give me the crabs.”
tee hee hee.
I’m sorry. I’m immature.
*headdesk* I walked right into that one. And yes, you are Pip- but immature humor is sometimes the best kind!
Jill,
great-post, very-true.
Doug,
As for lobster, yes, lobster is very bad – you all should give me all your lobsters.
You’ll have to fight ME for them…and butter! I want the butter too!
Now here is what I’m talkin’ about:
The Guide to Good Nutrition
Here is the real guide to good nutrition.
Q: I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that’s it.. don’t waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that’s like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.
Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.
Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!
Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can’t think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain … Good!
Q: Aren’t fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU’RE NOT LISTENING!!! …. Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they’re permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?
Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.
Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It’s the best feel-good food around!
Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.
Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! ‘Round’ is a shape!
Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.
And remember:
“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways – Chardonnay in one hand – chocolate in the other – body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “WOO HOO, What a Ride”
AND……
For those of you who watch what you eat, here’s the final word on nutrition and health It’s a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION
Eat and drink whatever you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.
That’s why I learned French, MK. Now watch me outlive all y’all!
Ok, this is silly. There is no secret to healthiness. You don’t need to go on special diets.
(just follow my super special exerse plan and you’ll lose 100 lbs and feel healthier in just two weeks! Only $1,245 for the entire plan!!)
But seriously. Eat a wide variety of foods in MODERATION and get some EXERCISE and you’ll be ok.
Bwaha! I know Taiwanese, Mandarin (sort of), a couple phrases of Japanese, and Spanish (er…yeah)!!
I think Jill might have meant that “why not?” to be directed at TexasRed because she questioned the exploding pig story.
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Its not believable. Just consider the physiology involved and the tensile strength of the pigs skin if nothing else. You’d think a nurse wouldnt believe something that absurd.
Leah – agreed – why ruin a good cup of coffee by dumping other stuff in it?
As for lobster, yes, lobster is very bad – you all should give me all your lobsters.
Doug
Posted by: Doug at November 29, 2007 9:30 PM
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ROFL! dont forget the drawn butter – butter’s bad for ’em too ;)
“give me the crabs.”
tee hee hee.
I’m sorry. I’m immature.
Posted by: prettyinpink at November 29, 2007 10:40 PM
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Well – I giggled too
“Leah – agreed – why ruin a good cup of coffee by dumping other stuff in it?”
Eww…coffee is disgusting and bitter. I like the smell, but definetly not the taste.
The only way I can drink it is in the form of a Java Chip from Starbucks or something similar.
Jill honey,
I’ve worked as personal weight trainer. I’ve educated myself in nutrition. You are fat because you think fat. You behave fat. You want others to be fatter than you. Kinda explains your blog.
It’s all about lazy fat you.