Healthy Eating Habits
Statista, a global statistics company, produces a health score by county using a 100 point scale. The healthiest country on the list is Singapore with a score of 86.9. The USA is ranked 69th with a score of 73.3. At the bottom of the list is Central African Republic with a score of 32.0. Looks like the entire world can use a few health tips.
With that said, let’s take a look at what God says about healthy eating habits. Leviticus chapter 11 provides a breakdown of what God says is healthy and not healthy to eat.
And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. - Lev 11:1-2
Chapter 11 provides a list of categories, a few specific animals, and some reasons why certain animals are on the list and others are not. Since the chapter is 47 verses long, I will only provide a few of the highlights rather than the entire text.
Categories addressed to help you determine what is good for you to eat, referred to as Clean, and that should be avoided, Unclean:
Land Animals: Divided Hoof and Chews the Cud (must be both), verses 1-8
Water: Fins and Scales (must have both), verses 9-12
Birds: Mainly those that eat flesh are unclean, verses 13-19
Flying Insects: Unclean if walk on all fours (probably not in your diet anyway), verses 20-23
Others: Any swarming animal that walks or crawls along the ground such as rats, verses 29-30
A Few Specifics
Split / Divided Hoof.
Also known as Cloven Hoof. A hoof that is split into two toes. This is just one test, the other is chews the cud. Both are required for the animal to be considered clean.
Chews the Cud.
Chewing is often used as an indicator of a healthy animal. Animals that chew the cud are vegetarians. Another benefit of chewing the cud is it extracts the most nutrients.
Chapter 11 provides examples of types of animals which are good and bad to eat as some split hoofed animals don’t chew the cud which puts them on the don’t eat list.
Shell Fish.
Shell fish are natural filters for the water. They will eat just about anything including dead and decaying animals, and any other pollutants they find. As a result, they have been shown to maintain high levels of mercury, heavy metals, and industrial contaminants. Therefore, shell fish such as shrimp are considered unclean.
Pork.
Pig fat is the best medium there is for cancer growth. A 2012 Consumer Report found that 83 percent of pork tested positive for E. coli, staph, and Salmonella. If you eat port, be sure it is marinated. A test of the impact of pork on red blood cels found that 5 hours after eating a non marinated pork chop, the red blood cells significantly aggregated indicating inflammation and disruption of blood flow.
Bacon.
A Healthline.com article states the following. Meat tends to be very nutritious and bacon is no exception. A typical 3.5-ounce (100-gram) portion of cooked bacon contains (8):
37 grams of high-quality animal protein
Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and B12
89% of the RDA for selenium
53% of the RDA for phosphorus
Decent amounts of the minerals iron, magnesium, zinc and potassium
However, it also contains 40% saturated and 10% polyunsaturated, accompanied by a decent amount of cholesterol which is not so healthy. Most of us ignore that part and the facts about pork in general noted above because bacon is just that tasty.
In general, for a healthy balanced diet 60% of your diet should be vegetables, legumes, grains & nuts, 25% fruit, 5% meat, poultry, & fish, and the remaining 10% dairy, eggs, etc.
Back Then and Now
Obedience to God’s dietary restrictions demonstrates obedience, faith, and trust in God. It also protects us from potential health risks. The way certain foods are processed and current cooking techniques helps in that regard.
As Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4:4, For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. However, you must also consider 1 corinthians 6:12-13, when speaking about the body, food for the body, and immorality, “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body..
There's a lot to unpack in those verses but in general terms, while everything God makes is good, everything has it’s purpose which for some things is helpful but for others no so much. Mosquitoes come to mind, they are a food source for many animals and they are pollinators. But, they also carry diseases through infected blood they inject which is why we screened in our patio.
Overall, the Bible is full of ways to live a better life and food is not an exception. God took the time to inspire the writers to provide details about what is healthy and not healthy to eat. If God thought it was important enough to provide the information, we would be wise to heed his advice.
