Freely Eat — No Limits

²⁹Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. Genesis 1:29

This verse was not the inspiration for our new diet, but it could have been. In fact, there is a religious group that does refer to this verse to guide their eating and they are probably the healthiest group in the United States.

I love to read Genesis chapters one and two. It’s such an amazing story and a wonderful time and place to visit in my imagination. It takes some work to imagine what it must have been like to live in that world of perfection because we have only ever lived in a world of sin. It’s almost impossible to imagine our lives without pain, shame, guilt, hatred and all the other by products of sin. In these first two chapters of the Bible, before sin came in, everything was just as God intended, just as He designed it. God made everything good — very good — including the food. Adam and Eve never went hungry, but they also didn’t have to count calories to lose weight. God gave them the most wonderful food and plenty of it. In fact, all they could eat! No limits!

What did they eat? Plants! That’s what we eat at our house, plants. Fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds. I would try to list all the options here, but there isn’t room on the page. God made such a huge variety! Different colors and textures. Sweet, sour, salty, spicy, all kinds of tastes to enjoy. And there are no worries about which ones are healthy — they ALL are! The same God who designed our bodies, designed the plants to nourish our bodies.

Let me be quick to say that I am not suggesting that eating foods that are not plants is wrong. What we have discovered from reading through a great deal of research is that plant-based foods are ideal. It’s not a matter of right and wrong, it’s a matter of what’s best. There are many options that are good, others are better and still others are the best options available. From all we have read, plant-based foods appear to be the best option for our bodies to be healthy.

When eating plants, which are high in fiber, our bodies register fullness much faster. That means we are satisfied and much less likely to overeat. In fact, some say these foods are self-limiting.

We also avoid processed foods as much as possible, including refined sugars, white flour and all extracted oils. Our goal is to eat foods as close to their original form as possible and with as little chemical additives as possible.

We have found that white sugar does not compare with the wonderful sweetness of dates — which we use as our go-to sweetener. I don’t recall ever eating a date until a year ago, but they are now such a favorite! I use them in smoothies, oatmeal, baking and plain old snacking.

Next post will be a list of books and videos that have helped us on this journey.