RE: "What the Bible says about eating meat"
It's a miracle, Arlene!
All of those years in college studying nutrition, and you still are able to present the Truth despite the "religious vegetarian dogma" that was continually preached to you. This is proof positive of, "the renewing of the mind." LOL!
I have sat in many of those classes, with the anemic vegetarian's. It is definitely a religion to them. I graduated from medical school in 1984, from a school that was extremely proud that they taught nutrition to their physicians. We were given, in a short time, the equivalent of two years of college level nutrition. I recall one of the test questions:
What is the greatest source of vitamins in the United States?
The correct answer was: The urine of Americans. No bias there! LOL! Simply preaching that there is no need of supplementation due to our "adequate" food distribution system. ("Excess" water-soluble vitamins are flushed out through the kidneys/urine.). I took a far superior (than medical school) nutrition course in the mid 1970s at a Junior College. It was an agriculture course called "feeds and feeding."
Around 1999 I read a study in a medical journal that they had given a group of women 14 grams of flaxseed oil a day for three months. This greatly reduced their risk of breast cancer and converted the fat in their breast from omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. Amazing I thought! Around 1975 I learned in the agriculture class that the type of fat you feed an animal, will be the same type of fat that they produce. The farmers knew this all along and forgot to tell the doctors.
You are absolutely correct Arlene, our first line of defense is prayer. Our agriculture system is so messed up, that it is almost impossible for us to have enough knowledge to obtain the nutrition we were designed to receive. Think about it a moment. There are over 90 trace elements that should be found in our food, but we force grow it on land and only replace three elements. We package and process the food so that bacteria and critters cannot survive in it. Yet we are supposed to survive eating it. This is such a large topic, let me just share a few things.
1.) Food naturally contains all the enzymes required for its digestion. The problem is that these enzymes are destroyed at 115 -- 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, in most cases you'll gain the greatest nutrition from eating foods uncooked. (exception: tomatoes).
Cooking converts many fats to plastics and varnishes. These are difficult for your body to handle, so it simply stores these fats and asks for more. (Hmmmmmmmmm). Milk is one of the "perfect" foods. Thats if the milk hasn't been cooked (pasteurized). Have you ever seen an infant have a milk allergy to breast milk? It doesn't happen. (mercola.com has a recipe for formula if you cannot breast-feed).
2.) A successful herbalist (Dr. Schultz) realized years ago that his treatments were not working as well as they did for his teacher's decades earlier. (Many of these herbs were foraged, and all were "organic."). He had to greatly increase the strength of his herbs to get the same results. This earth is "running down!" This is where supplementation and juicing might come in handy. Obtaining your vitamins and minerals from natural food is superior to a pill. But sometimes you need to use the pills. "Super foods" are great. Be cautious about your supplementation. Many of these companies have been bought out by the pharmaceutical companies, and will sell you garbage, which might even harm you. Remember, the number one sign of the Last Days is "Deception."
Even if you had the best nutrition, if you are not absorbing this nutrition, it is simply dung. Our nation just happens to be constipated. Just like an infant, you should have one bowel movement shortly after each significant meal. If this is a problem (making your blue eyes, brown), Dr. Schultz has an excellent bowel cleansing package. www.herbdoc.com
While your at it, most people need to restore the "good" bacteria in their gut. Live cultured yogurt, acidophilus, etc., greatly helps. The best I've seen comes from Natren (Healthy Trinity) www.natren.com
3.) Remember that you are not only eating meat, you are eating everything that that animal has eaten. If that animal isn't eating a natural diet, that meat will not contain the proper nutrients in their proper balance. I am somewhat reluctant to eat a cow who has been crowded and is knee deep in manure. There are far more antibiotics fed to our "food" than are prescribed by the doctors to individuals. This is the major source of bacteria becoming antibiotic resistant. Corn, wheat and soybeans are not the natural food for cows, sheep, deer or Buffalo. These grains greatly throw off the balance of the omega-3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Wild game and grass fed cattle have a ratio of 1:1-2 of omega-3 to omega 6. The grain fed cattle have a ratio of 1:15 -20. Raw milk from a grass fed cow is also greatly superior to those fed grain. A grass fed cow takes almost twice as long to bring to slaughter, is somewhat tougher (excluding hamburger) and does taste different th! an our grain fed cattle. You must acquire the taste like everything else.
Remember that when they increased the omega-3 fatty acids in the women, they greatly reduced their risk for breast cancer. I once had a severe case of plantar fasciitis (severe mid foot pain). I prescribed myself all the typical medications and only stopped short of injecting my foot with steroids. Nothing worked (after four months). Then I thought I would try some Flax seed oil. Within 3 days the pain was completely gone. I continued the daily Flax seed, and a few months later when I tested myself for cholesterol (with no other changes in diet, medication or exercise) my total cholesterol was down almost 50 points.
I now prescribe those with different forms of arthritis or hypercholesterolemia, 14 grams of ground Flax seeds a day. One pound of Flax seed's costs about one dollar, and a coffee grinder is a one time cost of $15 to $20. 3 to 4 tablespoons ground fresh each day, in a shake, cereal or on a salad is a lot cheaper than Lipitor or Cellabrex and without the side effects. It also greatly reduces the risk of cancers and adds fiber to the diet.
Cholesterol has never been shown to cause heart disease. I will not get into everything about cholesterol now, but let me simply state that by reducing cholesterol and fats in your diet, you will greatly increase your risk for hemorrhagic strokes, neurological (dementias, growth and nerve disabilities) and hormonal diseases. These are greatly in our future because of our diets. We also need to increase our exposure to full spectrum light (sunlight). This will increase the hormone vitamin D, improve osteoporosis, and reduce many depressions, mood and sleep problems.
There is so much more that could be stated on the subject of diet. But let me finish by saying a few things concerning restoring health.
Hosea 4:6
6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
We are to be responsible for our "Tabernacles/bodies." We have been blinded and deceived with regards to the proper care and repair of the flesh. We first must look to the owners manual for guidance. But then we need to ask of the Holy Spirit to show us specifically the root of the physical problem. Yashua/Jesus did not treat each diagnosis with the exact same treatment, like our physicians do today. Most doctors are treating symptoms, and covering up symptoms avoids the root of the problem. Then they usually have to treat the complications caused by their original treatment. The Holy Spirit (sometimes with the help of Google) will guide you to the solution, if you have the ears to hear.
99 percent of the time you'll need to repent. Repent, meaning returning to the original path God put you on (that narrow one). I am continually amazed at how the body is able to compensate for all of our abuses. If you are sick, something caused your immune system to be overwhelmed or not to function properly. Therefore, a change is usually called for. Of course this might be a specific sin, but today the problem is frequently caused by some unknown "exposure." Doug Kaufman wrote a couple of books (I know the cause.com) and continually repeates this wise statement:
If you always do,
what you have always done,
you will always get,
what you have always got.
You must recognize where you went off the path, and return. If you continue on your path and are healed, you will definitely relapse. Therefore, Repent! And yes, this will require a "renewing of your mind."
Shalom, John Clark (AKA Notadoc)