Food for thought.

I received the following comment on my blog this morning concerning my post on microwave use. I wanted to respond to it publicly, partly because I've already been emailed similar questions but mostly because I want you to hear my heart on why I post these things in the first place.

Here's the comment:

Hi: I'm a Registered Dietitian with a Master's Degree in Clinical Nutrition. I am curious if the nutrition session you went to at Whole Foods provided you with any lists of well done clincal studies that lent to the recommendations given to you. We usually tell our clients to be VERY cautious about what information you find on the internet. There is so much misinfomation out there touted as truth. I found your blog after reading a blog my friend writes and the changes she's made from your recommendations alone.

I am also a Christian who loves to read the Word. Over the years we've had quite a few friends follow what seemed to be extreme diets (and not ask for my opinion, which is really ok). We always felt it best not to say anything (unless they asked) as long as they did not make their convictions a commandment for others to follow. I have not read Mr. Rubin's book--it looks like he includes some good recipes. It is a challenging place to balance Old Testament laws regarding food with the freedom given about food in the New Testament. We're called to not worry about what we eat or wear, to not call any food unclean, etc. Where does faith take a part in how we live and how we take care of ourselves? Anyway, food for thought..

To respond to your first question: Yes, there were several books backed by clinical studies mentioned as resources in the class, none of which I have written about simply because I have not read them myself.
One that I am interested in reading is, The China Study. From what I know of it, a large group of doctors and scientists have conducted studies over a period of years to determine how diet is directly linked to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other maladies. It is not at all a fad diet, but just the opposite - calling for us to eat real, whole foods that are becoming harder to find. I, too, am extremely wary of fad diets and have never personally tried one (unless you call a vegetarian or gluten-free diet a fad diet). So yes, the class at Whole Foods had quite a few studies to back up the evidence they teach. And the teachers, too, are not in favor of fad diets but proponents of detox (in certain cases), juicing, and eating organically grown, whole foods.

Secondly, you brought up this passage in Matthew 6:25-27:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

When read in context, I believe this passage is referring to worrying about provision rather than worrying about nutrition. Besides, what I am doing by learning more about food and diet does not feel like worry at all, but stewardship. I want to be the best possible steward of the body the Lord has given me.

Lastly, I want to make it clear that I blog simply to share my own journey as I seek to become the best possible steward of my life in every area. As my husband and I have been learning more and making little changes, I have felt better than ever and feel that I am able to serve the Lord at my fullest capacity. I spent my first couple years of college tired most of the time because of poor nutrition choices, and I'd never go back now that I know what it feels like to be truly healthy.

So please, if I haven't made this clear before, do not take my advice as an expert in this field. I'm not. And I am surely not commanding anyone to follow my own convictions. My blog has never been meant as an imposition to readers, but a chronicling of my own journey, whether it be about nutrition or not. So whatever I have written, I urge you to research it for yourself, pray about it, and let the Lord speak to you to determine whether it's a change that should be made in your own life.