Menu Planning and Food Preparation - Part 2

 

Quote from the book ‘EDUCATIONS’ by Ellen G. White “Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables, in proper combination, contains all the elements of nutrition; and when properly prepared, they constitute the diet that best promotes both physical and mental strength” pg. 204-205

Genesis 1:29: “And God said, “see, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.”

MARCH 28TH, 2013

MENU PLANNING AND FOOD PREPARATION

PART 2

A Good Meal contains:

  • Fruits or vegetables (start the meal with a small plate of raw vegetable or fruits)
  • Carbohydrates (whole grains – brown rice, whole wheat, sweet potato, Irish potato, Dasheen etc)
  • Proteins (legumes, peas, beans, dark green leafy vegetables etc)
  • Good fats (nuts, olive oil, cold pressed coconut oil etc)
  • You should be having 7-9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day (a serving can hold in the palm of your hand)
  • Eating legumes and grains either at the same meal or during the same day, gives the body the correct amounts of all amino acids needed to synthesize its own proteins. This gives the same as if one had eaten animal protein (meat, fish eggs, etc) Encyclopedia on Foods and their Healing Power, A guide to Food Science and Diet Therapy by Dr. George D. Pamplona-Roger Vol. 1 p. 80

Variety
There should not be a great variety at any one meal, for this encourages overeating, and causes indigestion.

It is not well to eat fruit and vegetables at the same meal. If the digestion is feeble, the use of both will often cause distress, and inability to put forth mental effort. It is better to have the fruit at one meal, and the vegetables at another.

What is a fruit?

And God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding see, (and) the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so. Genesis 1:11

The seed is within itself. Sees are on the inside of: apples, oranges, bananas, kiwi, watermelons, honeydew, cantaloupes, pineapple, sour sop, raisins, prunes, currants, apricots, dates, figs, lemon, lines, peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocadoes, bell pepper (red, orange, yellow), Olives green or black, pumpkins, eggplant, plantain, string beans, strawberry

Fruits are produced from flowers on the plants and trees. Flowers are pollinated and these fertilized flowers turn into fruits.

What is a vegetable?

Technically it is the roots, stem, leaf or blossom of a plant. Example: Callaloo, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, turnips, celery, broccoli, Cho-Cho, celery – root vegetables: Irish potatoes, beets, yams, carrot, sweet potato, cassava, dasheen, onions.

Preparation of Food

It is wrong to eat merely to gratify the appetite, but no indifference should be manifested regarding the quality of the food, or the manner of its preparation. In the preparing of bread, the following points may prove useful:-

The use of soda or baking-powder in bread making is harmful and unnecessary. Soda causes inflammation of the stomach, and often poisons the entire system.

In the making of raised or yeast bread, milk should not be used in place of water. Milk bread does not keep sweet so long after baking as does that made with water, and it ferments more readily in the stomach.

Far too much sugar is ordinarily used in food. Cakes, sweets puddings, pastries, jellies, jams, are active causes of indigestion. Especially harmful are the custards and puddings in which milk, eggs, and sugar are chief ingredients. The free use of milk and sugar taken should be avoided.

Cheese may be regarded as wholly unfit for food. The objectionable features of hard or ripened cheeses are that the putrefactive process which cheese undergoes, result in the production of waste products (amines, ammonia and irritating fatty acids), which cause irritation to the nerves and the gastrointestinal tract; one of the toxic amines produced in cheese called tyramine, can cause migraine headaches and the rennet used in cheese making, comes from the stomach of calves, lambs or pigs.

Regularity in Eating

Regularity in eating is of vital importance. There should be a specified time for each meal. At this time, let everyone eat what the system requires, and then take nothing more until the next meal. There are many who eat when the system needs no food, at irregular intervals, and between meals, because they have not sufficient strength of will to resist inclination. Another pernicious habit is that of eating just before bedtime. The regular meals may have been taken; but because there is a sense of faintness, more food is eaten. As a result of eating late suppers, the digestive process is continued through the sleeping hours. But though the stomach works constantly, its work is not properly accomplished. The sleep is often disturbed with unpleasant dreams, and in the morning the person awakes un-refreshed, and with little relish for breakfast.

In many cases the faintness that leads to a desire for food is felt because the digestive organs have been too severely taxed during the day. After disposing of one meal, the digestive organs need rest. At least five or six hours should intervene between the meals; and most persons who give the plan a trial, will find that two meals a day are better than three.

Wrong Conditions of Eating

Food should not be eaten very hot or very cold. If food is cold, the vital force of the stomach is drawn upon in order to warm it before digestion can take place. Cold drinks are injurious for the same reason; while the free use of hot drinks are debilitating. In fact, the more liquid there is taken with the meals, the more difficult for the food to digest; for the liquid must be absorbed before digestion can begin. Do not eat largely of salt, avoid the use of pickles and spiced foods, eat an abundance of fruit, and the irritation that calls for so much drink at meal time will largely disappear. Food should be eaten slowly, and should be thoroughly masticated. This is necessary, in order that the saliva may be properly mixed with the food and the digestive fluids be called into action.

Another serious evil is eating at improper times, as after violent or excessive exercise, when one is much exhausted or heated. Digestion is hindered. When one is excited, anxious, or hurried, it is better not to eat until rest or relief is found. At meal time cast off care and anxious thought; do not feel hurried, but eat slowly and with cheerfulness, with your heart filled with gratitude to God for all His blessings.

Overeating

Many who discard flesh-meats and other gross and injurious articles think that because their food is simple and wholesome they may indulge their appetite without restraint, and they eat to excess, sometimes to gluttony.

"For they are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." (Romans 16:18).

Sometimes the result of overeating is felt at once. In other cases there is no sensation of pain; but the digestive organs lose their vital force, and the foundation of physical strength is undermined.

"(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame , who mind earthly things.)" (Philippians 3:18, 19).

The surplus food burdens the system, and produces morbid, feverish conditions. It calls an undue amount of blood to the stomach, causing the limbs and the extremities to chill quickly. It lays a heavy tax on the digestive organs, and when these organs have accomplished their task, there is a feeling of faintness or languor. Some who are continually overeating call this all-gone feeling hunger; but it is caused by the overworked condition of the digestive organs. At times there is a numbness of the brain, with disinclination to mental or physical effort.
 

Reform in Diet

Here is a suggestion for all whose work is sedentary or chiefly mental; let those who have sufficient moral courage and self-control try it: At each meal take only two or three kinds of simple food, and eat no more than is required to satisfy hunger. Take active exercise every day, and see if you do not receive benefit.

Strong men who are engaged in active physical labour are not compelled to be as careful as to the quantity or quality of their food as are persons of sedentary habits; but even these would have better health if they would practice self-control in eating and drinking.

One person cannot lay down an exact rule for another. Everyone should exercise reason and self-control and should act from principle.

NB:  Persons, who have indulged their appetite to eat freely of meat, highly seasoned gravies, and various kinds of rich cakes and preserves, cannot immediately relish a plain, wholesome, nutritious diet. Their taste is so perverted they have no appetite for a wholesome diet of fruits, plain bread and vegetables. If they cannot at first enjoy plain food, they should fast until they can. That fast will prove to them of greater benefit than medicine, for the abused stomach will find rest which it has long needed, and real hunger can be satisfied with a plain diet. It will take time for the taste to recover from the abuse it has received, and to gain its natural tone. But perseverance in a self-denying course of eating and drinking will soon make plain, wholesome food palatable, and it will be eaten with greater satisfaction than the epicure enjoys over his rich dainties.

Our bodies are Christ's purchased possession, and we are not at liberty to do with them as we please. Therefore the question with us is not, "What is the world's practice?" but, "How shall I as an individual treat the habitation that God has given me?"

 

God's Original Diet to Man:

·       God, who created man and understands our needs, gave us a diet that best supplies the elements needed for the building of the body.

·       "Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." (Genesis 1:29). The word "meat" originates from the Hebrew, oklah, which means food.

 

·       The following explanation of the above scripture is given according to foods as we know them today:-

Source: http://www.leavesoflife.org/NEW-START-Eight-Natural-Remedies.htm

After man sinned, he was driven out of the Garden of Eden, and no longer had access to the wonderful tree of life. Man had to gain his livelihood by tilling the earth, and the "herb of the field", which was originally food for the animals (Genesis 1:30), was added to his diet.

"And unto Adam He said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife...cursed is the ground for thy sake... and thou shalt eat the herb of the field." (Genesis 3:17, 18).

Although vegetables (the green herb of the field) were not part of the Original Diet given to man, they were added to man's diet after he had sinned and are a part of his diet today.

"I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven..." (John 6:48-51).

Main source: “Ministry of Healing” by Ellen G. White

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER

The information given here is for educational purposes only. It is meant to be used as a guide towards health and does not replace the evaluation by and advice of a qualified licensed health care professional. For detailed interpretation of your health and specific conditions, consult with your physician. 

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