Eat well for good health

God has designed your body to function best when you follow His principles for eating. Giving your body the nutrition it needs is vitally important, because it prevents disease and gives you strength to participate fully in the adventures God has for you each day.

Throughout the Bible, God uses images of the food and drink He has created - Jesus is the Living Water and the Bread of Life, wisdom, is as sweet as honey. God wants you to hunger and thirst after righteousness, which includes taking good care of your body by eating the way He has intended.

Here are some ways you can eat for good health:

• Drink at least eight glasses of water every day. Don't count other drinks that contain some water (such as juice or tea) as part of your eight daily servings. Your taste buds will adjust to the taste of pure water, and every part of your body will benefit from it. For convenience, you could buy a large water bottle to fill daily and carry around with you wherever you go.

• Replace refined grains with whole grains when you eat bread, cereal, rice and pasta. The refinement process removes valuable elements from the grain - many of which cannot be replaced when synthetic vitamins are added to supplement the grain's nutritional value. Plus, whole grains contain lots of fiber, which your body needs. In the grocery store, read the ingredient labels on all food you're considering buying, so you can determine its true nutritional value.

• Substitute honey for sugar to sweeten your foods and drinks more nutritiously. Rather than consuming ice cream, cake, pie or cookies for dessert, try fruit, which is naturally sweet and loaded with vitamins, minerals and enzymes.

• Incorporate as much calcium into your diet as you can without adding extra fat or calories. Especially consider eating more yogurt, which contains natural antibiotic elements.

• Make fruits and vegetables staples of your diet. Remember that God created them to be our primary source of nutrition. Take a daily multivitamin supplement to ensure that all your nutritional needs are met, but don't rely on the supplement alone. There are many valuable components inside fruits and vegetables that cannot be duplicated in a pill.

• Don't eliminate all fats from your diet; some fats are very beneficial. Unsaturated fats (such as those found in olive oil) are good for you. Saturated and hydrogenated fats (such as those found in meat and shortening) are harmful. Always read food labels when shopping; information about the types of fats products contain should be included.

• Know that God allows people to eat meat and doesn't consider it wrong. However, He has deemed certain types of meat better then others. For example, Jesus Himself ate fish, but God told people not to eat pork and research has shown that pork can be harmful.

• Keep a record of what you eat for a week or so, then study it to determine how you need to change your eating habits. Pray for God's grace to help you gradually incorporate changes into your diet so you can begin to regularly eat well.
  

Adapted from The Bible's Seven Secrets to Healthy Eating, copyright 2001 by Joyce Rogers. Published by Crossway Books, Wheaton, Ill., www.goodnews-crossway.org, 1-800-635-7993.

Joyce Rogers is a committed homemaker who has been an enthusiastic advocate for healthy eating for more than 20 years. She is the wife of Adrian Rogers, pastor of one of the world's largest churches, Bellevue Baptist in Memphis, Tenn.