Making Healthier Choices- Part 1 by Mary Louise;Town Jaqua, Hallelujah Acres' Health Minister 2/8/11

Improving one's quality of life is not only a noble pursuit but is an invigorating experience! It is a progressive journey that is filled with many wonderful discoveries, the best of which is ultimate health! Many Americans are sick and tired of being sick and tired. They are sick and tired of living with health problems that don't go away. Medical science has not provided the answer to their ills nor have many 'alternative' health modalities met their needs. While many are giving up on their health problems with frustration and anguish, others are happily finding that there is a better way to solve their health woes. They are discovering the natural, healing power of living foods! Yes, living foods are the key to ultimate health. It is remarkable but true that given the right food, the body will heal itself! Got cancer, got heart disease, got diabetes, got fibromyalgia, got ADD, got kidney problems, got excess weight, what health problems do you have? Start eating living foods and let the healing begin! Pull yourself out of the pit of physical distress by making healthier lifestyle choices! When it comes to health issues, diet is the bottom line. We are what we eat. Furthermore, we are what we absorb! Whether we are aware or not, quality of life is directly related to what we put into our mouths each day. A poor diet results in poor health, whereas a healthy diet builds a healthy body. What, then, are we to eat? We must educate ourselves to know what is food and what is not. Discerning the difference is a matter of life and death! Defining diet While many claim to be authorities on diet, the final and only true authority on any matter, including diet, is our Creator, YHVH Almighy. As it turns out, in the beginning He instructed man what to eat: And YHVH said, 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 (food). - Genesis 1:29 Herb-bearing seeds of the ground and tree translates into fruit, vegetables, seeds nuts, and whole grains. Thus, YHVH put man on a plant-based diet so that all of his nutritional needs would be met. Notice that He did not mention cooking them! That is because only raw, living foods, contain the building blocks necessary for the body's wellbeing: live vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants, oxygen, naturally distilled water, phytonutrients, chlorophyll, and more. When living foods are cooked, they lose most if not all of their nutritional value. History proves that as man's diet departed more and more from eating wholesome, living foods and began eating cooked, animal-based foods, he reaped the curse of increasing sickness, pain, disease, and death. Thus we see that thousands of years later, today's Standard American Diet of processed, manufactured, cooked, animal-based foods is shown to be the leading cause of most health problems. Sadly, most Americans are eating themselves into the grave. This should not be! We need to do better for ourselves lest in our ignorance, stupidity, and disobedience to YHVH the human race becomes extinct! It is time now to amend our ways! Choosing life Improving one's quality of life begins with diet. Allowing for the simple fact that eating habits determine personal health, making healthier choices on a daily basis is imperative for one's overall wellbeing and longevity. Changing the course of one's diet can be an immediate or gradual venture, depending upon the individual. Taking small, steady steps as opposed to giant steps or leaps is entirely acceptable. However, in the case of serious or life-threatening illness, implementing immediate change is recommended. Use the following guidelines to chart your course toward ultimate health:

Instead of:	Choose:
Vegetables that are canned, fried (especially deep fried), corn and potato chips	Raw vegetables in salads, smoothies, raw soups
Canned and sweetened fruit, non-organic raisins	Fresh raw and unsulfered, dried fruit
White flour products, hull-less grains (pasta, crackers, snack foods, white rice, cold cereals, etc.)	Whole grain cereals, bread (preferably sourdough), muffins, pasta, brown rice, millet, quinoa
Hot dogs, bacon, sausage, liver, luncheon meats, fish	Handful of soaked, raw nuts or seeds
Milk, cheese, eggs, ice cream, whipped toppings, non-dairy creamers	Non-dairy/soy-less milks (i.e. rice, hemp, almond milk), nut 'cheeses,' coconut butter
Coffee, tea, cocoa, sodas, carbonated drinks, canned juices, artificial fruit drinks (kool-aid, gateraid, etc.), alcoholic beverages	Herb teas, cereal coffees, organic bottled juices
Roasted and/or salted seeds and nuts, peanuts and peanut butter	Raw nuts, nut butters, and seeds in limited quantities
Lard, shortenings, margarine, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils	Cold-pressed, unrefined hemp, flax, safflower, sunflower, and extra virgin olive oils
Canned, packaged, and creamed soups	Soups made from scratch without fat stock or salt

Refined, white or brown sugars, syrups, chocolate, candy, gum, cake, cookies, donuts, pies, etc.	Raw, unfiltered honey, rice syrups unsulfured molasses, carob, pure maple syrup, date sugar (all in limited quanitities)
Table salt, black pepper, artificial flavorings/seasonings (MSG, Asparatame, etc.)	Fresh or dried herbs, garlic, mineral salt (celtic, Himalayan living crystal salt ), cayenne pepper, jalapeno pepper
Tap or bottled water	Filtered, (fresh) spring, well, or distilled water (distilled water should not be consumed on a steady basis)

Healthy strategies
Replacing harmful foods with healthy foods can sometimes seem
overwhelming. Nevertheless, simplifying the process is often the best
strategy. For peace of mind and ease of operation, eliminate one
harmful food at a time. Substitute healthier foods as mentioned in the
guidelines above. Fill the 'void' of non-foods with foods that appeal to
your personal taste. Keep your interest in healthier eating by introducing
one new food into your diet at a time. You will be surprised how many
varieties of fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and whole grains exist! Truly
YHVH Almighty had our best interest at heart when He custom made a
host of delicious foods to not only nourish our bodies but to please
our tastebuds as well!

Celebrate your new, living foods lifestyle by letting your body tell you
what it wants. Given a chance, your body will naturally gravitate to the
foods that it wants/needs. Conventional meals evolve into new eating
habits as the body balances itself, correcting what needs to be corrected
and repairs what damage it may have incurred through previous diet and
lifestyle abuse.

Introducing fresh, raw vegetable and fruit juices into the diet optimizes
the body's nutritional intake. The better the body is fed, the better the body
will feel and perform. Testimonies prove that given only a few days on a
living food diet, energy levels shoot through the roof, proving that living
foods are the life force that fuel the body toward ultimate health!

Incorporating green smoothies into one's diet is another excellent approach
to optimum nutrition. Dark, leafy greens such as kale, collards, chard, beet
greens, etc. are nutritionally-dense foods that are rich in life-giving, healing
chlorophyll. Healthy greens are the building blocks of superior health. Take
advantage of mineral-rich greens by making morning smoothies. They are
a healthier alternative to a conventional, non-food breakfast. As much as
possible, solve your daily food intake by making healthier choices.

As the body recharges and revitalizes itself through an improved diet, you
will be surprised how easy the process and how much better you feel. With
consistent effort to make healthier choices, many people remark that they
are experiencing a quality of wellbeing that they never knew existed!

Additional considerations
Apart from diet, additional factors exist that help determine personal health.
These factors include: whether we exercise or not, what we use for personal
care and household products, what quality of air that we breathe, the quality
of water that we drink, the quality of food that we buy, the clothes that we wear,
etc. Furthermore, our well being is shaped by our attitudes, emotions, and
relationships. Thus, if we want to improve the quality of our lives, a complete
lifestyle overhaul is often required. While the task may seem daunting, it is
comforting to know that making healthier choices is a process that pays
great dividends. Life is a work in progress. Learning to live well takes time.
Thus it is best not to force or chide ourselves in making healthier choices.
Instead, relax and enjoy the process!

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that
I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing:
therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
- Deuteronomy 30:19

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References and resources:

God's Way to Ultimate Health- George Malkmus
Recipes for Life from God's Garden- Rhonda Malkmus
Green for Life- Victoria Boutenko

 

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