A doctor in Florida says the best way to stay fit and trim is to eat what Jesus would have eaten: loaves of bread, fish and red wine. He says that is the best way to fight the obesity in America.
Don Colbert, a Florida doctor, is writing a book titled, “
What would Jesus eat?” in which he analyzes the Old Testament dietary laws and looks at foods mentioned in the Bible. He wants others to
incorporate this diet for a healthier lifestyle.
He said you cannot follow Jesus in every area of life if you ignore the eating habits mentioned in the bible.
He said the health of most Americans is going down and the country is having an obesity epidemic. People are always on the run and eat whatever possible and settle for poor food choices.
Colbert spoke with BBC Health Reporter, Michelle Roberts and said:
A lot of people have no desire to change their foods. Instead, they just go on medication to control their symptoms of obesity-related disease. But it shouldn't be this way…By getting them to look at the biblical side it allows them to slow down and make the correct choice about their diet and lifestyle,"
From the bible we have the following mention of food:
At the last supper, Jesus is said to have eaten bread and drunk wine.
Luke 24:42 says: "And they gave him [Jesus] a piece of a broiled fish, and of a honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them."
Luke 10:8 says: "Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you," which would seem to suggest that Jesus was not encouraging fussiness about food.
Dr Colbert said Jesus seemed to have eaten only natural foods in their natural states, such as beans and lentils. He also ate wheat bread, lots of fruit, drank plenty of water and red wine. He ate meat only on occasions.
Eric Eve, a tutor in theology and a New Testament scholar at Oxford University, said:
The staple diet of a Mediterranean peasant in Jesus' day would have been bread.
In the Lake Tiberias area, the Sea of Galilee, fish would have been a staple food but for peasants they could only afford fish every so often.
Grapes and Olives were prominently grown in Galilee but mostly for wine and oil trade rather than for consumption. Eve said most peasants remained hungry most of the time and lived on very little food. He doubts many Americans would follow that strict “Biblical” diet.
Dr. Colbert mentioned about the meats Jesus would have ate, and points to Leviticus 11:22 which says:
'Of them you may eat: the locust according to its kind, the bald locust according to its kind, the cricket according to its kind, and the grasshopper according to its kind.'
Dr Colbert said Jesus would have followed this strictly and would have avoided eating pigs, rabbits, and seafood that did not have scales such as crab and shrimp. Most of these meats have a level of high arachidonic acid, which is an inflammatory fatty acid. THey are also high in saturated fat and thus cause many stomach diseases.
Since it is impossible to avoid these meats in our current lifestyle, Dr. Colbert at least advises people to eat smaller proportions.
Dr. Colbert also recommends eating foods like they did in biblical times, gathering around a family, eating slowly and having conversations with family members. It`s a far cry from having fast food on the go.
Are you ready for the Jesus diet?
