Latest Faith-Based Diet Books Go Beyond Fruits and Veggies
Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 Posted: 12:47:55PM EST
MIAMI (AP) — When Eve took that forbidden first bite of organic apple, she had no idea she would be linking food and religion forever. Now, evangelicals and worshippers are worrying about how many carbs are in their communion crackers.
Author Jordan Rubin displays some of the latest faith-based diet books and foods. Rubin says his latest book, The Great Physician's Rx for Health & Wellness, is a ''God-inspired road map to wholeness for the body, mind and soul.'' (Photo: AP / J. Pat Carter)
In the first go round, dozens of books like the Hallelujah Diet and The Maker's Diet harkened the fare of Biblical times to take off the pounds that church potlucks and Sunday picnics packed on.
But the latest crop of faith-based diet books are moving outside the realm of food and exercise, touting a more holistic approach that encourages everything from advanced hygiene, a challenge to feed the poor and a call to add a side of prayer and meditation alongside your veggies and hormone free meat.
Author Tom Hafer says diet and exercise don't just benefit you, they allow you to live a longer, healthier life to better care for others.
In Faith and Fitness: Diet and Exercise for a Better World, Hafer says the bulk of the $40 billion diet industry is all about self. But this hippie-preacher who is more U2's Bono than Billy Graham says the real focus should be consuming the right amount of food for ourselves and saving the excess resources for the millions dying from hunger.
"This is motivation like no other. When we switch the understanding of self to the global community, we have more than enough motivation to last a lifetime," said Hafer, a recent seminary grad and physical therapist from Cape Coral.
Jordan Rubin says his latest book, The Great Physician's Rx for Health & Wellness, is a "God-inspired road map to wholeness for the body, mind and soul." It also includes a series of 35 smaller books targeting diseases including diabetes, cancer, arthritis and irritable bowel syndrome.
While his first book, The Maker's Diet, called for dramatic diet changes, this series was written for the average person, interested in making one change a day. It also gives more credence to advanced hygiene — cleanse your nasal passageways and mucous membranes and use an essential oil-based tooth solution. It also calls for reducing toxins in the environment — be wary of chemicals in makeup and cleaning products — and live a life of prayer and purpose.
"You can't be healthy if you only care for your physical body. There is an emotional side, a mental side, a spiritual side," said Rubin, who lives in West Palm Beach with his wife and son.
Some scientists are also acknowledging the link between religion and health.
Dr. Harold G. Koenig, professor of psychiatry and behavior sciences at Duke University Medical Center has conducted several studies that show religious people tend to have shorter hospital stays, lower depression and blood pressure rates and longer life spans.
He attributes part of the success of faith-based diets to support from the religious community.
"If you have a faith community and you're doing it all together and you can connect it to your belief system, then it makes it a lot easier to change your behavior and maintain that," Koenig said.
