Diet Program

Excerpts From 
GOD'S BANQUET TABLE

People grow emotionally attached to food.  Unfortunately, many have developed psychological attachments to foods that are killing them. We do not realize how much we depend on eating for emotional stability, pleasure and escape. When you are trying to change someone's eating habits, you must tread with love.

Some people are incapable of making radical changes quickly. They need a period of transition to grow accustomed and be comfortable.

God is a merciful, gentle Father, allowing us time for change. He knows how difficult it is for us to be thrust into an unfamiliar world. We become emotionally attached to food. It is a form of comfort. This is why some find it more difficult to change their eating habits than quitting smoking or drinking.

Therefore, we would like to provide you with a step-by-step transition diet program in moving towards a life of health and blessing. It will also assist you through the difficulty of changing your childrens diet so that it will not be such a shock. Emptying the fridge of all their familiar food and replacing it with a herd of cantaloupes is definitely not a wise move. If done right, with a little creativity, making changes in your family's diet can be painless.

Education is vital. Showing my children pictures of bowels that were encrusted with pounds of hard stringy black mucus had a definite impact on their desire to better their diet. It allowed them to make an association with what they eat and how their bodies function. We taught them that they could not trust the commercials on television.

It is our most earnest desire to help you through the transition of change to reach the goal of a healthy diet.  Through this book, we will provide a variety of delicious alternatives.  Transition is a time for prayer and seeking God for strength. You can be sure that He will be delighted to assist you in making wise changes in your eating habits.

Diet Program
Month #1

The first month is so important because it may be the first introduction your family will have to healthy eating.  It needs to be a delicious introduction!

1. The very first thing that has to go is milk. It is the most mucus-forming substance in the world. This will save you on Kleenex and save your children from countless colds and flues. They will not mind the subtraction of milk if it is replaced with refreshing fruit juices. If they are old enough, teach them how to use the juice machine so that they are able to make their own juices on demand. Even frozen concentrated juices are far better for you than milk. Look for our nut milks in the nut section of this book. You can also purchase soy or rice milk from your health food store which can be used for drinking or baking. Banana milk shakes are excellent for replacing milk. .

At one time, people would be horrified at the thought of removing milk from a childs diet, but, recently, there has been a substantial amount of information on the destructive effect that milk has on health.

2. We can live without deep-fried foods. French fries are a family favorite. We have a recipe to make delicious almost fat-free french fries and potato chips. Your kids will love them and they will barely be able to tell the difference. If you want to saute and lightly brown food, we suggest you use just enough butter to prevent food from sticking.

3. Bread is a big part of most of our diets. Change to whole grain, fresh, high-quality bread. When looking at the ingredients, check for the addition of preservatives, additives, gluten and oils. These are undesirable and unnecessary for good taste.

4. Get rid of brown and white sugar. It is absolute, man-made garbage. There are natural sweeteners that taste better and are far healthier. Change to unpasteurized honey, Sucanat, frozen juice concentrates, fructose and molasses.

5. Replace margarine with butter. Use half the butter you would normally apply on potatoes, vegetables, popcorn, bread, etc.

6. Go natural! One example is peanut butter. Your health food store will have freshly-ground peanuts without the addition of fat, sugar and salt. For the first month, you can add a sprinkle of sea salt and honey to your natural peanut butter to ease the change in flavor.

If you are a pasta lover, switch to whole grain pastas. Other than a slight difference in texture, the flavor is the same. Get into the habit of reading the ingredients before purchasing prepared foods. For instance, some spaghetti sauces are loaded with oil, sugar and preservatives, whereas, others will have natural ingredients.

7. Introduce more fresh fruit into your diet. To encourage this, keep a fruit bowl filled with fresh, washed, ready-to-eat fruit in the middle of the kitchen table. You will find that your children will naturally snack on these quick nutritious foods, especially if the cookie jar is empty. Twice a week, determine to have a fruit breakfast.

8. Make a fresh glass of vegetable juice for the family each day. A great starter for kids that is regularly accepted is carrot and apple. As they become accustomed to this natural flavor, you may begin to add some greens. Kids love to push the carrots through the juicer. Carrots in one hole, juice out the other. If you involve your children in these changes, they will be more receptive, feeling a part of the exciting discovery process.

9. Split your coffee, tea and pop consumption in half. This one is going to hurt because caffeine is a drug that has tampered with your natural chemistry. Discover the soothing flavors of herbal teas. Decaffeinated coffee is useful only for transition and should not be a permanent coffee replacer.

10. Desserts and treats. This is a tough one. Kids love treats and so do we. The food industry is expert in making colorful creative, sweet, delicacies that appeal to children. So we have a challenge. Lets be creative, making our own treats that are equally fun but nutritious and healthy. We have some great suggestions in our recipe section.

Diet Program 
Month #2

You should already be noticing a change in health. The discipline it has taken to get you through the first month will be a blessing in every area of your life, not just in how you eat. Satan hates a disciplined life. Discipline is a tool that helps us fight against his seductions, resolving our hearts to obedience.

1. Cut back on or eliminate animal products from your diet. There is a variety of simulated products made from soy that look and taste like meat: soy burgers, soy hot dogs, soy chicken fingers, soy scrambled eggs, soy bacon bits, soy ground beef, and the list goes on and on of textured vegetable protein products available. If you decide to continue to eat meat, we suggest small servings of fish or naturally-raised lean meats, no more than two to three times a week.

You do not need to eat meat to be healthy. You can receive all your protein needs from the vegetable kingdom. If you become a vegetarian, supplement your diet with a good intake of B12. 

2. Increase your intake of raw foods to 40% of your diet. This will be the most difficult step you will take but the most significant in contributing to health. The standard diet is mostly comprised of cooked foods. We do not realize it until we start trying to make changes. Achieving a 40%, raw-food diet is a major accomplishment but is probably the single most important element in achieving optimum health. Living food for a living body from a living God.

3. Start making your own natural salad dressings. Store-bought salad dressings are pure garbage. We have provided you with a variety of recipes for healthy dressings and vegetable dips which will satisfy the most ferocious fat cravings, but can be indulged in with a clear conscience. Remember, fat is not bad, it is the type of fat we eat that is harmful.

4. Make your own nut butters. You will be amazed at how delicious they are and the kids will readily accept them, often not even noticing the difference.

5. Most of us overeat wheat products. Try sprouted breads, heavier pumpernickels and rye breads that are lower in gluten, making them less mucus-forming. Make fruit your mainstay instead of wheat products.

6. Have a farewell party to coffee, tea, pop and all caffeine products. These can be happily replaced with herbal teas, Sucanat tea, fresh fruit and vegetable juices, broths, dandelion coffee, etc. A healthy body no longer needs the kick start it received from caffeine. You will have a natural energy high all day long.

7. Change from:

* Three meals a day to smaller meals and health snacks.
* Table salt to herbal seasoning.
* Potatoes to yams.
* Fried food to steamed or boiled.
* Meats to fish, TVP, raw nuts, beans and sprouts.
* Salad dressings to avocado flax seed dressing.
* Butter to butter replacer.
* White vinegar to cider vinegar.
* Eggs to tofu scrambler.
* Fattening desserts to fruit salads.
* Coffee to coffee substitute and herbal teas.
* White sugar to Sucanat, frozen pineapple or apple concentrate or honey.
* Snack foods to bananas, raisins, raw nuts, dates, dried fruits, and oranges.
* Tap water to filtered or distilled.
* Heavy breakfasts to fruits and/or fresh juices.
* Peanut butter to raw nut butters.
* White rice to brown rice
* Wheat products to gluten-free grains, such as quinoa.

Diet Program 
Month #3

Congratulations! You have reached the lofty heights of your third month. There will be a noticeable difference in you and your family's health. Isnt it wonderful? Is it not worth the temporary struggle? You should be able to breathe more deeply with a heightened sense of smell. This is a result of reducing mucus-forming food from your diet. You should also find that, in the morning, there is more immediate energy and clear mindedness. Your bowel movements will be easier and more frequent because of a softer spongier stool. Your skin should become softer and more elastic. You may find eyesight improving, emotions stabilizing, cravings disappearing, breath sweetening, body odor diminishing. There will be loss of excess weight, including unsightly cellulose. Joint pain allergies and headaches will be noticeably reduced. But this is only the beginning!

1. Go to a 70% raw food diet. With a pair of binoculars you will actually be able to see the gates of Eden. There will be a simplicity in eating. Your body will receive a large supply of nourishing enzymes. You will have no cravings and even fewer dirty pots and pans.

2. Eliminate processed food. Eliminate all sources of transformed, fatty acids. All oils and fats should be from fresh natural sources such as raw nuts and seeds, cold-pressed, refrigerated oils and avocados. Be understanding to negative reactions from people who care. Your increasing health and unusual youthfulness will testify to the rightness of what you are doing. Your discipline may alienate you, but will testify to a spirit of self-control that has been given to you by the Holy Spirit. If you want to eat this kind of a diet, you have the freedom because you are not in bondage to your flesh. You are free to eat in whatever way you choose because the blood of Christ has set you free from the cravings of the sinful nature. It is not a law, but a choice.

3. This is a level that very few will achieve or even desire to. But for those few who would like to include their names with Adam, Eve and John the Baptist a 100% raw food diet.

Sell your pots and pans, use your stove as a storage closet. Your microwave will be great for telling time. Everything you eat will be alive. And you will be amazed at the variety and creativity that you can put into a raw food dish. We have included many raw food recipes that you can explore. Achieving a raw food diet is not a sign of spirituality or godliness. Christ cooked fish and ate it. It is simply a decision of eating in a way that will achieve optimum health and simplicity. 

Food Combining
In recent years, there has been much made about food combining. Some books have come out with formulas that are so ridiculously stringent, it takes the joy out of sitting down and having a meal. Eating can become a science instead of communion with one another and Jesus Christ. There needs to be balance, so we would like to lay down some simple principles in food combining.

For convenience let us class food under two groups, concentrated and nonconcentrated.

Meat, eggs, cheese, legumes, grains, starches, nuts, etc. are all considered concentrated food, and take longer to digest. Fruits and vegetables have a high content of water and are relatively low in protein. This makes them very easy to digest and pass quickly through the stomach, colon and out of the body.

Fruits do not combine well with concentrated foods. A concentrated food will stop the quick movement of fruit, causing fermentation, resulting in excess gas, bloating and mild toxemia. Vegetables and concentrated foods go well together because of their lowsugar, highfiber content. If you eat dairy products, such as meat, eggs, cooked beans or grains, always try to eat a salad. Here are the points to follow:

* Avoid mixing fruits and concentrated foods. Try to separate these meals by 2-4 hours. * Avoid mixing concentrated food together. Try to eat only one concentrated food per meal. * Eat salad or raw vegetables with concentrated foods. * Fruits and raw vegetables do digest well together. * Cooked, starchy vegetables do not combine well with fruit. * Nuts do not digest well with fruit. * Nuts and dried fruit digest well together. * Try to drink liquids half an hour before or after the meal to avoid diluting digestive juices. * Chew your food well.