A nearly four-page treatise concerning foods of plant-based origin and the human diet.
A vegan diet
is a diet consisting of foods solely from plant sources. Vegans never consume
any food of animal source, for various reasons. Many vegans are “raw foodists”,
meaning that they only consumed food that has not been treated at high enough
temperatures to chemically alter if from its inherent, raw, state.
As a student
of the Bible, I see clearly that Adam and Eve were given to eat herbs, fruits,
vegetables, and seeds, in the Garden of Eden. Later on, after man sinned, God
gave Noah to eat of “every living creature that moves”. Then when God gave the
Torah, he defined “clean” and “unclean” food for the children of Israel. The
righteous prophet Daniel, while exiled in Babylon, chose to only consume foods
of animal sources as well as abstain from wine so as not to defile himself. Judging
material I read from Josephus, a historian of antiquity, I think Daniel’s diet
not only consisted of fresh and raw fruits and vegetables, but also grains,
legumes, and dehydrated foods such as prunes and dates.
Sometimes we
may call to question the cleanliness of certain animal-derived foods, or not be
able to attain them for consumption. If so, we must know how to nourish our
bodies with foods of vegetable source.
I am not a
vegan for moral or social reasons, in fact I believe in consuming milk and meat
products. I don’t believe that being a vegan will save or heal the world, or
that killing animals is wrong. I believe that animals should be treated kindly
and humanely, but that they are different from humans. Since the sin of man,
blood has been shed, and will continue to be shed until the world is born anew.
Today is
happen often that animal flesh and life has been treasured over human flesh and
that is wrong. Humans and animals were both formed from the dirt and made into
living flesh (nefesh) but humans have the neshama and ruach of
God breathed into them and they are unique because they are made in the image
of God. The Noachide covenant reveals to us that every human life shed must be
repaid. Not so with animals; animals can be consumed by all descendants of
Noah.
The world’s
problems – its horrible sufferings and injustices – I believe can only be done
away with, and the entire world renewed, with the coming of the Messiah. During
that age it is be like Gan Eden, only better. That is when animals will no
longer prey on each other and slay each other, but they will live in peace.
When the Messiah comes into the world – creation and all its fullness – will be
at peace and rest in perfection.
The
environmental impact that humans have had in this world has largely been for
evil and not for good, especially since the Industrial Revolution. Earth’s
resources have been badly polluted. Many plants have been genetically modified
for the worse. Unfortunately, humans at large only realize now what evil has
been done on the environment. Do you know that many of our habits and practices
harm our environment? Whatever harms our environment harms us, and whatever
harms us today will kill our children tomorrow. So we should live
responsibly.
Vegan food
is not the perfect food – no matter what you base your diet on, you cannot
escape death. All men die and will continue to die. In this age, death abounds –
but the day will come when death, our greatest enemy – will be defeated. Science
has proven that unlike in the days of Adam and Eve, we cannot “eat and live
forever”.
I believe
that everything Adam and Eve consumed gave them life – it was life-giving,
nourishing, food. It was not only the Tree of Life that gave them life but
every tree in the Garden nourished and sustained life.
As a result
of human intervention in the past and in the future, food has been corrupted
and genetically modified. The environment has changed since the flood of Noah,
and has changed for the worse. When the environment changes, so does the
plants, animals, and humans in that environment change, also for the worse.
The food
that Adam and Eve ate was perfect, pure, and good in every way. During that
time God’s creation was still perfect and unharmed. God said that it was good.
Certainly it was good, very good. Traces of that goodness and
nourishment can still be found in food today – vitamins, minerals, and other
essential nutrients are always best consumed from natural, fresh sources rather
than from pills. Nature has its green “pharmacy” of herbs, fruits, and
vegetables that are life-giving. If you were to study the goodness of each
natural fruit, vegetable, and herb, you would be amazed at the wisdom and
thoughtfulness of God who made them so good.
However we
know that there are anti-nutrients. Today, foods, even the best of foods, can
harm you. Too much of bananas will kill you. Too much of soy will affect your
hormones and your ability to absorb nutrients. Too much of anything is bad.
Every food, no matter how vegan, raw, or organic, has something “bad” inside of
that, and that is sad. Nothing in this world is perfectly good and pure. This
world is sick. The trees and plants are sick. And as Jesus said, “A good tree
bears good fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree bear
good fruit”. In a perfect environment, perfect trees grow perfect fruits. In a
corrupted environment, corrupted trees bear corrupted foods which fed into
humans already corrupted in body, mind, and spirit, can only bring forth
corruption.
Health comes
not only through eating a varied, balanced, and nutritious diet but through
obeying Torah. When you are healthy and abundant in spirit and soul, full of
joy, speaking words that edify others, that affects your physical health. If
you are depressed, bitter, greedy, full of hate, resentment, unforgiveness, or
speak much gossip, that will affect you health also. A soul at peace with its
Creator is one at peace with itself, and at peace with creation. Peace is a
state of health and abundance. A spiritual relationship with God, and an
unselfish relationship with regard to other people, and a life lived the best
possible in good faith, good conscience, generally makes for the best possible
physical health also.
Our lifestyle
also impacts our health. We were made to till the ground and work the grain.
Non-manual labor is unhealthy, because when our muscles are not being used and
built the body goes into a state of entropy. The best kind of exercise is productive,
food-building exercise.
This is
quick summary of some natural plant products that you can and should consume:
1)
Fruits
Fruits are
sweet, juicy, and beautiful. They taste appetizing, look appetizing, and come
in many colors. They are full of nutrients. You can consume fruits in their
natural state. Having obtains them in season, wash your fruits well. It is best
to consume fruits raw, and cooking them spoils their natural enzymes. Cooking
fruits reduces their nutritive value to mostly sugar, which is energy, and
soluble fiber. Fruits, herbs, and vegetables can be combined raw into cold smoothies. Smoothies are full of fiber and nutrients.
Consume all
manner of fruits, such as, apples, guavas, pears, bananas, oranges, peaches,
apricots, persimmons, etc. Be amazed at God’s creativity.
Try to eat them with the skin and with the
seeds. God told Adam and Eve to eat the seeds – seeds are the source of
cancer-killing B17, good oils, and fiber. But don’t consume too much of fruit
seeds on their own – take fruits in their naturally occurring form, seeds
together with the skin and the meat.
Preserve
fruits in season by freezing them in their best condition. Some fruits are
delicious dehydrated, like raisins, dates, prunes, etc.
2)
Vegetables
I never liked vegetables, because they
never tasted that great to me. There are green leafy vegetables, cruciferous
vegetables, starchy vegetables like pumpkins, carrots, turnips, and sweet potatoes,
there are tomatoes, and there are grasses.
You can eat
well-cleaned and natural fresh vegetable in a salad, flavored with honey, olive
oil, salt, pepper, and fresh good-smelling herbs. I love making vinaigrettes to
pour over salad – they are enjoyable even to non-vegans and make a good
addition to a meal.
You can make
a “roasted vegetable” salad by roasting pumpkin, carrots, tomatoes, and other
starchy vegetables. Roasted vegetables are delicious, seasoned with herbs.
Thirdly, several
varieties of vegetables can be lightly steamed, blanched, or fried, for example
broccoli or brussel sprouts. It is important to consume raw as well as cooked
vegetables as cooking vegetables often bring out their best nutrients.
Of course
there are other non-animal organisms consumed on a lower scale, such as
mushrooms, fungi, etc. that can be considered “plant” based. They are also
delicious and benefitial. Some harness the natural fermenting properties of
food to preserve them. Pickles, fermented carrots, fermented alcoholic
beverages, etc. have been used for millennia to preserve food. Fermentation has
been long known to promote digestion and consuming good bacterium also does
too.
3)
Herbs
Herbs are
either “soft” or “hard”. Soft herbs are like leaves and vegetables. Hard herbs
are like dried berries and tree bark. Herbs are very medicinal, meaning, full
of benefits for our body.
You can make
herb teas, out of fresh or dried herbs, flavored with honey. Lemongrass tea,
for example, fights cancer and disease. Many herbs have a long list of health
benefits. Sometimes you may need a concentrated dose of herbs, and you should
make a thick tea, called can infusion, with less liquid. Some people make
tinctures by infusing a large proportion of herbs in vinegar, alcohol, or
honey. Herbs infused in oil or made into curry pastes are very delicious in
cooking.
Aloe vera is
a herb that is good for you both internally and externally.
4)
Legumes
Legumes are
a multi-purpose food – they are vegetables, carbohydrates, and sources of
protein. Sprouted legumes are delicious in a salad and nutritious, but they
also can be cooked into savory dishes like dhal curry or hummus. Mediterranean,
Middle Eastern, and Indian cuisines are full of legume recipes. Chinese cuisine
uses sprouted beans in many, many, ways and in many dishes. Legumes like soy are
also fantastic sprouted and made into tempeh, soy sauce, etc.
5)
Grains
Rice,
barley, corn, oats, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, etc. should be consumed whole.
They are energy-giving carbohydrates and can pack a powerful nutritional punch
also. You should eat carbohydrates and fiber in your diet. You can sprout many grains, and that makes
them digestable. Soaking grains makes them even more digestable. Being Asian, I
have a stomach built to consume grains, especially rice. Grains can be ground
fresh and baked into pastries and bread. Grains can be boiled, and or eaten as
raw sprouts. The easiest way to cook grains is to sprout and boil them with
sufficient water so that they have the texture of cooked rice – not wet, not hard,
not grainy, and not clumpy – and serve them with vegetables, herbs, spices,
etc. You can also make your own natural yeasted baked or steamed whole grain
bread.
6)
Seeds and nuts
Chia seeds,
flax seeds, sesame seeds – all these seeds can be consumed in so many ways.
Seeds can be sprouted, freshly ground, or made into cold-pressed oils. They can
go into your salad, into your bread, or just eaten on their own. Nuts are full
of beneficial oils and nutrients. You can soak them, roast them, and season
them with natural salt. Nuts pack a huge energy punch because they are full of
oils. Nuts make good “butters”.
One
superfood from a plant source is the coconut. It can be used as sugar, as milk,
as meat, and as fat. Seed oils, nuts oils, nut butters, palm oil, etc. are
great to use in cooking.
Nut milks,
grain milks, and legume milks are a common part of vegan diets. They serve many
culinary and nutritional purposes and can be consumed raw.
Fresh,
natural, and non-commercially processed plant based foods are the food we were
created to consume and to live, that we have been eating since Adam without
additives, preservatives, artificial colors, etc. Soon, I shall make a post
about animal-based foods that we have been eating since Noah and since Moses.
