As some of you know, I have been reading a lot lately about different types of dietary lifestyles. I would like to lose a few pounds but I also would like to use food to cure or at least control some of the abnormal health problems I face.
The first book that I had picked out from the library was Natalia Rose's Raw Food Life Force Energy. I liked a lot of what she was talking about probably since I love fruit and vegetables. I already eat raw baby carrots, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower. Who hasn't been to a party with a veggie platter? And, some things sounded interesting enough to try. While still looking it over, I met another flight attendant who's sister is really into this. Apparently, the woman has diabetes and wanted to eat better. Her and her husband have a business in it now and do not eat anything that goes over 115 degrees. Now, I am all for eating raw fruits and veggie and I cannot wait to try the "green lemonade" but nothing cooked? Forget that! Her business is doing great but the diabetes? Well, she still needs her insulin.
Another factor in the Raw Food idea is that certain foods should not be eaten with other foods. This means when you eat that steak, no baked potato, no mashed garlic potatoes (yum!) and no sweet potato either. You may have a raw salad (with no cheese or nuts or dried fruit) and a steamed veggie. You can still have a sweet potato but only 3-4 hours before the steak or 6-8 hours after it.
I like some of the principles but am not sure if this is for me. No offense intended.
I also still have the Raw Food Detox Diet and The Complete Book of Raw Food (recipes) and am thrilled to use some of the principles and foods. My favorite book so far, perhaps because it is based off of the Bible, is The Maker's Diet.
This book written by author, Jordan S. Ruban N.M.D., Ph.D., and is based on the Bible and how he used food as written in the Bible to save himself from the ravishing affects of his Crohns Disease. Dr. Ruban combines scientific fact about how the body works, the food we eat and should eat as it is written by God, personal stories of himself and others and what he calls The Maker's Diet: Your 40-Day Health Experience. A lot of the same foods that are in the Raw Food Diet are in here to and should be as they are made by God. However, he debates the validity of the whole alkiline/acidic combinations as written in the Raw Food books. Dr. Rubin also describes each of the fad diets and why they are not complete along with any good points in them.
Earlier today, I made an unfortunate comment on another blog saying that a Camel is a putrid animal in regards to eating it's meat. Wrong words. What I had read and was confused on is that pigs (swine) eat putrid things and we should avoid eating pork. I was seriously questioned and almost rudely so but I did apparently make an offensive comment because of the word I used. I was told that many people eat Camels (?) and that it cannot be anymore unclean that American factory farming. The rest of the second response when I tried to respond was this:
"Biblical dietary laws were created in a time and a place that are very different from our own. I’m going to exclude Kashrut (Jewish dietary law, based on both scripture and tradition, and something I’m fairly familiar with in theory if not in practice) from this argument, but last I checked, most Christians do not adhere to dietary laws (outside of fasting, abstinence, and occasional avoidance of intoxicating or stimulating beverages (i.e. LDS)). That said, I am not religious, and this is not a religious blog, so I’d prefer not to exclude anyone of any culture by painting certain foods as “unclean”. I prefer culinary curiosity and food science to inform my decisions on what to eat."
Since I didn't get to really explain the situation since it was a post about Findlay Market (although I unintentionally started it), I didn't get to fully explain why I said the animal was unclean. I am sure that the animals placed on this Earth, regardless of where you think they came from, have not changed and therefore the reasoning has not changed. The Camel is one of the animals that only has one single stomach. Whereas cows and goats have 4 compartments in their stomachs. They are called ruminants because they ruminate (chew the cud). You can read more about this by clicking on the 'goat link'. From what I have read, been told and saw for myself when I was little and my aunt had pigs is that they eat pretty much anything. Their digestive system is not designed to digest it all properly and then we ingest the putrid food that they ate when we eat them.
This brings about Julie's thought regarding the American factory farms and also why people choose to be vegetarians. That is a whole other post though. And, a good reason to buy local and from a farm you trust. While God gave us these animals to eat, it can be done more humanely.
I welcome anyone's input on this subject (or any other) as always. Thanks and have a blessed day!
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