Category Archives: Foundations

Where’s the Meat?

Our position on meat in the Good for You-Naturally!™ Lifestyle of Eating

Many times I’m asked about the lack of meat in the Rab Chai (Abundant Life) Good for You-Naturally!™ lifestyle of eating.

Below is a post I sent to my egroup in 2002, addressing our position on “meat eating” — with a “bottom line” addition.

Greetings from Me and My House,

I thought it would be appropriate on this Feast Day of Thanksgiving to address the topic of meat in the Good for You – Naturally! diet(lifestyle of eating.) Some of you are enjoying your meatless feast. Some of you are enjoying your turkey feast. And some of you are enjoying your meat, but feeling guilty about it. And some of you aren’t in the U.S. and don’t get it.

In Genesis 1:29 God sets forth His original diet for man, a way of eating that is not just adequate but also beneficial for man. Yet, we know this perfection doesn’t last. After the Flood He allows the addition of certain animals for food. Teachers of the Genesis 1:29 pattern of eating generally emphasize this as an “allowance”, a concession. The problem that we can’t get around is that there are times when God even commands people to eat meat–namely the priests, but at the Feasts it is declared that all will eat it. This can be a hard thing for purists, and legalists to live with. It is a hard thing for those who look to optimum health–and see the destruction of health from meat. Yet, no matter its ramifications we cannot command what the Word does not command–to not eat meat.

So where is the balance–not compromise? Here are our conclusions after much study of the Word and nutrition. The first, being the meat itself. What does the Word say about the meat we can eat? One of the only commands given specifically for the gentiles was to “abstain from blood”. To understand this we must go back to understanding God’s order, as He sets it out in the Old Testament first, for the Hebrews. The Life is in the blood, therefore God commands that the blood be drained from the animal so that it not set in the meat–the Kosher practice of slitting the animal’s throat to kill it. A “practice” no longer in practice. Most animals are now “stunned” before they are killed which causes the blood to rush to the muscles and set in–the opposite of what God sanctifies in meat eating. When Christians holler, “We aren’t under the Law. We can eat what we want.” They always overlook this verse written specifically to gentile Christians. The Law itself, (not included in the specific command to the gentiles) included the not eating of the fat also. The fat was the Lord’s. Yet, many people look for that prized “well marbled” piece of meat. The blood and the fat just “happen to be” the greatest health risks in meat eating. Most diseases caused by the eating of meat, in general, stem from one of these two properties of meat. Perhaps God had our best interests in His heart?

The second point about the meat itself is that it is to be from “clean” animals only. This is the one that gentiles usually argue over, that they aren’t under the “Law”, saying they can eat anything as long as they give thanks for it–usually siting Peter’s vision, which they neglect to notice that God gave an entirely different interpretation to, that has nothing to do with eating meat. Again, we must look at what the Word says, not just “proof texts”. It says we can eat all animals God has sanctified. He never sanctified unclean animals for food. They are good, very good, for what He created them for–to be scavengers and help clean up the earth, not as nourishment for us. Yet, even as awful as I think it is to eat such detestable animals, I can’t say that it will send you to hell. It is not what goes into the body that defiles it spiritually. But eating these animals certainly does defile you physically–the health risks for eating unclean animals are tremendous. Again, perhaps God was looking out for our health?

The third issue about meat is the condition of the meat itself. Although we have come a long way in sanitation and preservation, perhaps that isn’t always to our best benefit. Our “new fangled” ways have allowed us to eat things that should never have been fit to eat. In times past, a fresh kill was a fresh kill and old stuff was rank enough you knew to stay away from it, unless it had been preserved /dried in salt and the sun–jerky, and even then the “shelf life” wasn’t very long. Animals were free ranging, eating the purity of the living plants that surrounded them, (the same Genesis 1:29 diet we were given) then slaughtered and eaten pure and fresh. Note also that all “clean” animals were plant eaters. (Scientific reasons abound for why they are “clean” and the carnivores “unclean”.) Today it is not so. Animals live off prepared “feed” consisting of not just living and sun-dried pure plants, but of many chemicals, drugs, and possibly other animals. They are given antibiotics and hormone drugs to keep them alive long enough and make them big enough to bring a good profit–but no benefit, only detriment to our bodies.

So where does this leave us? We do not believe in vegetarianism for any religious nor political reasons. But we do believe in “sanctified” meat eating–meaning pure meats only, “clean” and lean animals, kosherly killed (bled), with the blood and fat removed, and raised free-ranging and “organic” without chemical, drug, and hormonal additives in growing or processing. Are you saying, “Lisa, you’ve sold out! I thought you promoted a meatless Genesis 1:29 diet.” I do–for optimal health, and yet I cannot say my teaching is scriptural if I command abstaining from meat. There’s another verse that says those that are weak eat only vegetables. [Yes, it’s primary point is spiritual, those with a weak conscience toward animals sacrificed to pagan gods.] But, if this doesn’t depict the state of health of modern man! Because of the adulteration and lack of nourishment in our “foods” today, most of our society is sick and weak, and would therefore benefit greatly–in restoring their bodies back to health–by eating only “vegetables” (a Genesis 1:29 diet). Most of our digestive systems are in such poor shape that we aren’t able to digest meat properly, even if we do eat only the “sanctified” meats as mentioned.

Which leads me to our second area of balance, moderation in eating “sanctified” meats. Even when including many organic and raw (and some cooked) fruits, nuts, seeds, and vegetables, but still having your menus centered on (even “sanctified”) meat dishes, most won’t see the health benefits they desire. The fact remains that meat is hard to digest and very “acid-ifing” to our bodies, and the number one cause of dis-ease is acidosis.

So here’s our stance. The primary diet should be based on Genesis 1:29, an abundance of raw and organic (as much as you can find them) fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, with some cooked vegetables and grains. An occasional addition of “sanctified” meats is not life endangering for most people–such as on Feast Days, not once–or 2 or 3 times–a day, but rather every two or three weeks–or months. For the extremely “weak” (in health) even this could be life threatening, and they should abstain.

So enjoy your Turkey today, with no regrets–especially if it’s a nice kosher, organic one. Or enjoy your Feast today with NO turkey, but an abundance of the “fruit of the ground”. If you aren’t “here” yet, but your everyday menus are based on meat dishes, enjoy your turkey today, and tomorrow give this message some prayerful consideration. But above all, in all things, give Thanks unto God for He is good and His mercy endures forever.

[Update: Since this article was written there has been great change on both sides. The commercial meats have gotten worse, especially with the advance of genetically modified (GMO) grains (corn) being fed to nearly all feedlot (commercial) animals. This puts them in the even-more-dangerous-to-our-health category. On the other side, we have seen a great rise in the production of pasture raised/grass fed organic meats, making the clean meats better, even their nutritional value is better. However, they are still hard on our digestive system and acidifying. Therefore, we still recommend great moderation, even for those that are walking in good health–and great restriction or abstinance for those that are needing to heal. We encourage this, not for your spiritual life, but for your health. Also the higher cost of these properly raised meats will generally keep most from overindulging.]

4 Power Keys

Extra Help for Achieving Good Health

“Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.” Psalm 103:5

Although we can eat the same “food groups” that God originally gave for mankind to the thrive on, nutritionally, we can’t have what Adam and Eve had in Eden. Sin has had its effects, and will, on every human born and on the earth itself. Environmental pollution and toxins have changed the nutrition of the foods we have. Our food sources, water sources and land are obviously not pure like Eden. But with a foundation of foods God created to nourish our bodies, and 4 Power Keys we can work to overcome the nutritional deficiencies and environmental impurities. We know that our bodies are going to eventually wear out and die.  We can not go back to the Garden physically, but we can take the mandates given there and apply them to our lives to achieve the best health we can have here on earth.

1. Juicing – will not heal us, only the body itself can heal itself; but fresh raw juice gets concentrated nutrients to the cells so they can heal themselves. Juicing allows 92% of all nutrients to reach the cells without using energy from our already worn out systems for digestion, because it’s 90% predigested. (Only 1-35% of nutrients in raw foods reach cells, less than that for all other food preparations.) Because fresh juice is raw food it provides all the nutrients including enzymes in perfect balance.

We recommend 2 glasses of fresh raw (primarily) vegetable juice per day as the best vitamin/mineral “supplement” you can take for a Rab Chai (Abundant Life) diet. Fresh juice is a meal rather than a beverage and should not be drank with meals. We recommend the Champion Juicer.

A juice diet (as opposed to a “fast”) consists of more than 1/2 gal. raw fresh juice per day. 1 month of juice only will provide the healing benefits of 6 mo. of raw food only. The body will need about 1 year of healing on Good for You-Naturally! foods for every 7 years of bad eating. See our Freedom & Simplicity™ Guide to Juicing ~ Drinking Your Vitamins for more info.

For those times when you can’t make fresh juice, we recommend and use  Barley Max, young barley grass juice powder. Until we got used to it, we mixed just a little natural green leaf Stevia Powder (about 1/16th to 1/8th tsp. per glass–or Sweet Leaf brand stevia liquid drops , 1-3 drops per glass) in with it to ease the “green” taste. It’s great! Our babies grew up on fresh juices including this barley grass juice powder and all loved it “straight”. (There is a Carrot Juice Max and Beet Max also.)

Even better, for fresh, nutrient packed green juice, is Wheat Grass Juice. You can grow and juice your own, or purchase it flash frozen.

[Since this article was written, another method of consuming larger quantities of high nutrient content foods has joined the line-up. Green Smoothies are made by blending, rather than juicing, fruits, vegetables, and large amounts of greens for a very nutrient dense drink of raw fruits and veggies. Raw nuts, seeds, and other super foods can be added too.]

2. Sprouts – are the purest organic food, with concentrated nutrients at the peak of enzyme activity. They’re easy to digest, packed with living nutrients and enzymes, cheap and easy to grow all year long. See our booklet on Gardening for Wimps to see just how easy it is to grow fresh daily, organic baby vegetables. We recommend the Sprout Master and the Sprout Bag. See our Modern Maidservants article on Sprouters for more info on others.

3. Cruciferous Vegetables – such as broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrobi, kale, turnip, radish, cabbage, brussels sprouts, rutabage, watercress, and mustard greens, contain anti-carcinogenic phyto-nutrients that are destroyed by cooking. Eat 1-3 cups a day.

 4. Food Combining – is eating foods only with other foods that properly digest together, because our digestive systems are stressed and wornout, and our cells acidic from our improper eating habits. See our simple overview on Food Combining.

Sample Optimal Menu
for a Good for You-Naturally!™ Lifestyle of Eating

“O taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalm 34:8 

Remember, this is only a sample menu–a basic outline of an optimal diet. There is vast variety in these choices. Check out our Recipe resources and read our ‘from me’ blog for ideas for variety and recipes.

Upon rising –

• Glass of distilled water with fresh lemon juice

Breakfast –

• Fresh raw veggie juice (or green smoothie)

1/2 hour later and throughout morning, if and as desired –

• Raw/ fresh fruit (or dehydrated with no additives)

Lunch –

• Fresh veggie salad with sprouts and raw nuts, seeds or avocado
• – with Lemon juice or nut (or flax or olive oil) dressing, if desired,
• – and Steamed veggies, if desired
• OR continue with raw fruit only

Mid-afternoon –

• Fresh raw vegetable juice

Supper –

• Fresh veggie tray or salad
• Steamed veggies
• Steamed / cooked whole grain or potato

Eating for Rab Chai
(Abundant Life)

A Good for You – Naturally!™ Lifestyle of Eating

Following G.O.D. (God’s Original Diet) that He gave for man in Genesis 1:29 is best for our bodies and especially important for healing. God’s original 4 Food Groups are Raw Fruits, Raw Vegetables, Raw Nuts, and Raw Seeds. But due to our cultural traditions and habits, many of us find it very hard to give up cooked foods completely. Studies have shown that most of us, (if currently healthy,) can eat 15-25% of our foods cooked, if we eat the right things, without severely affecting our health negatively.

This Rab Chai diet consists of:

* 75-85% of food intake: 

• raw fruits, including fresh raw fruit & greens smoothies
• raw vegetables, including fresh raw juices
• raw seeds, including sprouts
• raw nuts

* 15-25% of food intake: 

• lightly steamed or baked fresh vegetables
• steamed or cooked whole grains (and possibly legumes)

8 Keys to Good Health

Unlocking a Healthier You

Genesis 1:29 ~ “And God 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 food.” 

8 is the number of new beginnings–and I believe these 8 Keys can help give you a new beginning in health. Below is an outline of 8 Keys to Health.

1. Fresh Air: at least 1/2 hour a day outside, deep breathing exercises, window cracked open at night.

2. Pure Water: the way God does it–Distilled. Use distilled or Reverse Osmosis purification for all drinking water and food preparation. In addition to being totally pure, distilled water carries toxins out better than any other. Use a water filter on your shower too.

3. Living Food: G.O.D. foods (God’s Original Diet) consist of 4 Food Groups–raw fruits, raw vegetables, raw nuts, raw seeds. This is both the Eden and the New Jerusalem food source. This is the only source of alkaline for our bodies. All other foods, drugs, stress, etc. pull our bodies acid; producing aging, sickness, and death.

Nothing else provides enzymes, the life source that activates all other nutrients and physical components of the body. “Every breathe you take, every move you make, every thought you think and every action you take requires enzymes.” Man cannot understand how enzymes work let alone reproduce them. Only God can create Life. “If you ingest pure wholesome unadulterated foodstuffs in their raw state you will soon know the benefits of a body that produces unbounded energy, properly eliminate toxins, and properly signals you when you have put in something which it deems poisonous or unusable.” Sample Optimal Menu

4. Vigorous Exercise: pumps lymph which feeds and cleanses man’s cells, increases immune system, keeps cells, and the organs and tissues made from them, from atrophying. Rebound exercise (mini-trampoline) is best. 3-4 times a day 5-10 min. each time. Next best is fast walking 1-5 miles a day in good walking shoes. More Info.

5. Abundant Sunshine: at least 1/2 hour per day outside, no sunscreen, gradually build up a tan.

6. Peaceful Rest: needed by the body for cleansing, recharging, repairing and rebuilding. The body makes 2/3 of its energy and elimates toxins while we sleep. The body goes through 3 cycles daily: digestion–approx. noon-8 pm, when the body digests the food put in it; assimilation–8 pm – 4 am when the body assimulates the nutrients out of the foods we ate; detoxing–4 am – noon when the body rids itself of the toxins it has ingested and wastes it produced. Exercise before resting and quiet and fresh air help us to rest. 7-9 hours per night are needed. We need to dream for our emotional health. Stimulants, drugs, and meds keep us from properly dreaming. We also need one day a week rest from our work and our pleasure, set aside as holy to the Lord Yahweh.

7. Merry Heart: Pro. 17:22-23 Attitude is the most important aspect of health, because it will dictate what you eat and do. Stimulants (coffee, sugar, chocolate, soft drinks, constant snacking), drugs (alcohol and tobacco), meds, TV, negative music, being around/listening to negative people cause negative emotions and thoughts. Poor health creates a vicious cycle with negative emotions. (Obviously not the only causes of negative emotions, but definitely a cyclical one.)

There are 6 primary negative emotions. Each affects a different organ of the body, locking toxins in to contribute to specific diseases related to that organ. The attitudes and organs are: Anger/thyroid, parathyroid; Fear/thymus; Grief/pancreas, adrenal; Apathy/spleen; Rebellion/gonads; Selfish Pride/Self-will is the root attitude that leads to all the others when faced with a source of irritation. We need to shun negative input by avoiding stimulants, drugs, and negative mental input and instead face irritations with an attitude of gratitude and faith. 1 Thes. 5:16-18, Rom. 8:28, Luke 18:27, Phil. 4:7-8. We need to engraft the Word into our very beings by reading, memorizing, meditating on, and personalizing it. Ps. 1:2

8. Prayerful Fasting: Is. 58:6 Habits and/or addictions determine our health or lack of it. Fasting, through its denial of the flesh, brings the body into submission to the spirit. 1 Cor. 9:27, Gal. 5:16. Fasting breaks bondages/addictions and heals both physical and mental diseases. The body uses times of fasting to catch up on detoxifing the body of the overload of toxic and waste matter in it, and utilizes the energy saved from not having to digest food for healing.

A pure fast is water only. Use distilled, at least 1 gal. per day. A healing fast utilizes fresh raw fruit and vegetable juices, less than 1/2 gal. per day with the remainder of 1 gal. total liquid made up of distilled water. To prepare for a 3+ day fast we need to eat only raw fruits and vegetables for 2-3 days before and 2-3 days after the fast. Other less restrictive ways of “denying the flesh” are: A “Daniel fast” which is vegetables and water. This is sometimes translated sprouts, or pulse (dried peas). Some take this to include fruits, generally eating raw fruits and vegetables, but some also include cooked grains or legumes (all in their natural state, besides being cooked, with no additives). An “Ezekiel fast” is a bread consisting of various grains and legumes and water. Anyone can deny the flesh by eliminating harmful deceptive foods such as meat, dairy, and processed foods without harming the body, only bringing it health, but a Gen. 1:29 eating lifestyle is not a “fast”.

The Keyring that holds all 8 together is Connection to God through Faith and Prayer. The 8 Keys are natural law. They work for anyone. Christians also seek healing through faith in Jesus Christ, by prayer and anointing. God will heal us even when we caused the problem but He wants us to repent, change our ways, and “go and sin no more” so that “nothing worse comes upon us.” He wants to raise up His people into His Mighty Army accomplishing all that He created them to do. 1 Thes. 5:23

Why I Teach Nutrition the Way I Do

“Behold, a son!” (translation of the Hebrew, “Reuben”)

Levi Reuben was born in March 1994, our seventh child and first son. From the moment of birth it was clear satan wanted to steal life from this child as he had 2 of our others. We’d come to peace with the presence of the others with the Lord, but we weren’t letting this one go too. We were prepared to wrestle for him. He was born in the sack of waters and didn’t breathe for over 5 minutes. Our primary doctor was a great blessing in those moments. It was our first home birth, and a perfect pregnancy, labor and delivery. And after those scary first moments, all was well. But a month later he was still having occasional trouble breathing–actually he was waking up about 3:00 every morning struggling for breath. We’d get him upright, pray, and he’d be O.K. The doctors said, “It’s probably an allergy to something.” A voice inside said, “Could it be dairy products?” He was totally breastfed. I was eating a whole foods diet which included animal/dairy products.

The opportunity arose for us to attend an all-day seminar by a Christian nutritional doctor with degrees behind his name for, what seemed to me like, every medical field. We set out in a blizzard, my one month old, me, and my newly licensed 16 year old daughter behind the wheel. The car behind us rolled over an embankment, and I took over the wheel. satan had made strike two. The two and a half hour trip took somewhere between four and five hours; but surprisingly, turning around never crossed my mind. At the seminar I tried to balance jostling a colic-y baby and listening to information I hadn’t learned in my 16 years of nutritional study. I went up to ask a question at the end of a session and Dr. Joel said, “You’re on dairy aren’t you? I’ve been watching your baby this morning. Get off of it and he’ll be fine.” It worked. I radically changed my diet (again), even more than it already was from the American “norm”, and within 30 days Levi’s problems had totally disappeared.

Until two and a half years later, Levi seemed to have no problems at all, just like all his older sisters. He and I remained dairy free, and continued a whole foods diet with some meat. Then Levi got chicken pox. He got sicker and sicker, and paler and paler, and weaker and weaker until he couldn’t stand and his lips were white. Our family physician had said it’s harder on some than others, but a friend and I took him in to his office on our way to a church conference. His blood counts were 2.6 (should be 14-15 – and death occurs often at 6 or lower) and 6% (should be 30-36%). He was immediately sent to a larger hospital ER and admitted to ICU for blood transfusions. It didn’t matter that I didn’t believe in them, I had no choice, and my husband was four hours away, on his way home. satan makes strike three. After three days in ICU with a diagnosis of a perfectly healthy boy except he didn’t have any red blood cells and his body wasn’t making any, the transfusions raised his levels to normal and he was released. Every other day blood checks would reveal if his body restarted making red blood cells on its own. It was a rare complication of the chicken pox and corrected itself after the transfusions. But. . .

Two weeks later he got a severe urinary tract infection that was resistant to nearly all antibiotics. After the antibiotic treatments the “specialist” decided his kidneys were malfunctioning. They decided they needed to run serious tests (ie. medically beyond my comfort range on a child with such compromised health), and put him on antibiotics for the rest of his life. satan makes strike four. Not acceptable to me! We recontacted the nutritional doctor, 2 states away, for a second opinion. He confirmed our hopes that there was another way to deal with this. A two week fresh juice diet and consultations with a Christian nutritional councelor and no more meat. Now the relatives truly thought we’d flipped! It was bad enough to not let him have dairy. They were waiting for the day he’d “outgrow it” so he could grow “big and strong”, and now no meat, surely he’d die. But die he didn’t! Within the two weeks of fresh, raw juice only, he not only put back on the weight he’d lost from being ill, but also more and was filling out.

In the past two years Levi has been in perfect health with rarely even as much as a 24 hour sniffle or upset stomach. I’ve spent that time in even deeper study of nutrition, both medically and biblically, and of those with cancer, heart problems, and other life threatening diseases that have chosen this “old path” and seen complete healing. We thank God for bringing these servants of God, that know the supremacy of eternal life, into our lives to instruct us in ways of health here on earth also.

[Update: This story was written in 1998. Levi continues to be healthy at age 20 in 2014. Levi has had no health issues since those above, and continues to eat Good for You-Naturally!™ (Although he does occasionally digress, like all of us, he remains in good health.)]

God tells man, right at the beginning, what is to be his food, what will provide the nourishment his body needs to live, be strong, and in health. The temptation and fall of man involved eating something God said not to eat. That led to all mankind’s problems, most importantly, spiritual. Today a similar temptation, to eat things that “look good, taste good, and ‘I want it’,” but that don’t fall into what God has declared to be our food, or man has perverted, destroying all the life and health giving properties from, is the cause of much of man’s physical health problems (not spiritual).

Food does not commend you to God, but food may be a factor in your effectiveness for Him here on earth. The laws of God are not just spiritual. There are physical laws that affect us physically. Gravity affects us all physically. Poison affects us physically. Whether that poison is the quick acting kind, or the slow killers that are in all the non-foods we choose over God’s bounty, daily.

We are pleased to see an increasing number of people returning to the “old paths” of real foods, those things God has said shall nourish our bodies. We do not believe we can go back to the Garden physically. Because of the effects of sin, every human body will wear down and die. But we do believe that we can eat the real, living foods God has given for our nourishment to achieve the best health possible here on earth. There are countless testimonies of real, living foods working to restore vibrant health, in the bodies of people who once had all forms of degeneration and disease. Isn’t it much better to begin before you are faced with such a crisis, and to enjoy the bounty God has provided and its health giving properties now?

Welcome to Good for You-Naturally!

Foundations – the basics of what I teach and why

Catalog – of my Good for You-Naturally!™ Exclusives and other recommendations

Good for You-Naturally! blog – articles, updates, health info, recipes

‘from me’ Blog – more recipes, and health news

Modern Maidservants – kitchen helpers (tools that is), and how to choose good ones

Online Course – 7 Freedom & Simplicity™ steps to eating Good for You-Naturally!™