Questions and Turmoil
Did I just say yesterday that I was eating raw again? Was it really just yesterday? Well, my mind is spinning with questions now. I never thought I would be in turmoil about the food I eat. I never thought it could be a spiritual issue.
I am constantly astounded by how little humans are able to understand. A thinking, soulful, researching species — and yet we can’t get a grasp on the perfect way to live, specifically the perfect way to eat! God has included so many minute details in His creation, and even the digestion and functioning of our bodies are still mysterious even though we use the functions constantly. Perhaps our ignorance, our trying and failing are enough to remind us that we are in a fallen world.
Is striving for perfection in diet worth the effort? If sickness and death are unavoidable, we could just throw in the towel, eat a Big Mac and be done with it. But if you’re a steward of your body and the earth like I am, you do the best you can. You realize that if you are going to do all things as unto God, you must eat unto God. And that’s how praying about my food (beyond “Thanks, God, for this meal.”) has become a new habit in my life.
I have prayed over too many meals, knowing I made a poor food choice, when I simply could not put my heart into the prayer. “Bless this food, Lord. Help it to nourish… But how? Huh. Uh, bless it anyway. Thanks… I guess. Amen.” But now I find myself pleading that I will make the right food choices — ones that will honor God. At the same time, I never want to lose my thankfulness for a bowl of rice and beans. I don’t want to go to Ethiopia and shun the food because it will wreak havoc with my raw vegan stomach. I don’t want to become so stringent in my food choices that I cannot enjoy a meal with family, a meal with friends.
Do you see my struggle? Are balance and contentment possible?
Eating Raw: Have I Been Duped?
Brooke at the blog. is trying to eat raw this week, and I praised her for embracing such a healthful diet. In starting my own raw diet, I had dismissed the counter-arguments to raw foodism on Wikipedia because I found the arguments for eating raw so much more compelling. But Dan commented on Brooke’s post:
“Most of the claims [for the benefits of a raw diet] confuse me! Enzymes get destroyed by all the acid and proteases in the stomach, and so partially destroying them through cooking should actually aid in digestion. And I don’t see any way that uncooked food would cleanse the bloodstream or eliminate toxins. Have you heard how any of these things are suppose to work? I’ve heard a lot about ‘raw foods’ but none of the claims seem to make sense.”
Hmmm. I sense that I am a person easily persuaded. And I thank Dan for reminding me of that. I don’t understand his digestive jargon either, but he at least convinced me to do more research.
Nourishing the Body
In the article “Myths and Truths about Vegetarianism,” Dr. Stephen Byrnes discusses many claims made by vegetarians. He argues that many of the studies done on vegetarian groups, in which health was linked to the absence of meat in diets, did not take all factors into account. For instance, while Seventh Day Adventists may have fewer cases of cancer and simultaneously eat only vegetarian foods, they also do not smoke, a lifestyle choice that may have more far-reaching effects than the decision to eat meat or no meat.
While Byrnes’s discussions are not necessarily addressing a specifically raw diet, he helped me appreciate a more moderate view of eating. Tom Billings’s comparison of the idealism and realism behind a raw diet hardly seems like a well-researched approach to the issue, but it did make me see my own gullibility. I went to bed last night, totally overwhelmed with the conflicting information but still wanting to nourish my body in a way that glorifies God.
I am in no way saying my raw diet or anyone else’s raw diet isn’t wonderfully good for their health, but it is not a cure for all ills. I have enjoyed the benefits of eating raw. My energy levels have caused me to enjoy my life so much more. But I am also concerned about being underweight. I have already lost so much weight since my pregnancy that I can take off a couple pairs of my pants without even unbuttoning them. And when I stray from the diet, the effects of fatigue can be disheartening, drenching me with guilt.
The main thrust of Byrnes’s article, which I will explore in more detail, is that meat and animal products provide specific nutrients like DHA, protein, and Vitamins A, B12, and D, that cannot be easily absorbed and effectively used by the body when eating only a plant-based diet. Instead of blaming the beef and butter for our chronically diseased society, Byrnes says that “what has…risen precipitously [in the last few decades] is consumption of margarine and other food products containing trans-fatty acids, lifeless, packaged ‘foods’, processed vegetable oils, carbohydrates and refined sugar.”
The Morality of Meat
Byrnes further argues that if abstaining from meat-eating is strictly an environmental, land-use issue, one should take into account the benefits that organic animal waste has on the land. If animals are farmed on pasture that is not prime cropland, it can easily be considered a wise use of the earth’s space.
Byrnes does not condone senselessly gorging on meat, but instead brings to mind the Native American attitude toward killing animals:
“When Native Americans killed a game animal for food, they would routinely offer a prayer of thanks to the animal’s spirit for giving its life so that they could live. In our world, life feeds off life. Destruction is always balanced with generation. This is a good thing: unchecked, the life force becomes cancerous. If animal food consumption is viewed in this manner, it is hardly murder, but sacrifice. Modern peoples would do well to remember this.”
And then I think to myself: raw veganism sounds like such a pure, perfect diet, but even Jesus — perfect Jesus — ate fish.
A Beautiful Balance
The argument that intrigues me most is this:
“[C]ommercial farming of livestock results in an unhealthy food product, whether that product be meat, milk, butter, cream or eggs. Our ancestors did not consume such substandard foodstuffs, and neither should we.
“It is possible to raise animals humanely. This is why organic, preferably Biodynamic, farming is to be encouraged: it is cleaner and more efficient, and produces healthier animals and foodstuffs from those animals. Each person should make every effort, then, to purchase organically raised livestock (and plant foods). Not only does this better support our bodies, as organic foods are more nutrient-dense and are free from hormone and pesticide residues, but this also supports smaller farms and is therefore better for the economy.”
So, is it really that easy? Or should I say, does it have to be that hard? Was Barbara Kingsolver right on track in her quest to eat locally for a year (please read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life)?
It seems that the food issue — what should we eat? — comes down to our care of God’s creation, both our own bodies and the land. Has our laziness been the catalyst of our health problems? We depend on food in the grocery stores, and think little about where it has come from, or how early it has been picked from the tree. In so doing, we depend on transportation to get the food to the store, and we exchange nutritional value for convenience. Speaking of convenience, so-called convenience foods are often highly processed; if we gave them up, how many nutrients would we gain?
What Byrnes is calling for is not the end of vegetarianism (as he says, “there is no one diet that will work for every person”) but a diet of living, whole, local, and organic foods. For me, I think that means I can continue to eat yogurt and eggs without guilt. Although I have been avoiding meat for most meals, I can include them if I trust their source. But I also think I can include lots and lots of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. (But maybe I can decrease my consumption of my beloved bananas, shipped all the way from Guatemala.) I have felt the impact of raw produce enough that I believe it should not be a mere supplement to meat.
But I think it’s safe to say I’m not a raw vegan, or even a raw foodist anymore. For now, I’d like to be known as a whole foodist, a local-as-often-as-possible foodist, an organic foodist, a grateful foodist.
The Price of Beauty
However, I don’t think I have to explain how 100% nourishing food would break our budget right now. I dearly love my local farmer’s market, but it comes with a hefty price tag.
Is the only other option to do the work ourselves, to either become a farmer, or to start a first-hand relationship with one? Community-supported agriculture requires the people who eat the produce to help with weeding and picking, to get their hands dirty. To put an end to chemically-treated vegetables and factory-farmed meat means we have to stop supporting those industries. Maybe that means adjusting our budgets to include the best food; maybe it means growing our own gardens and raising our own animals. We must start a movement to get things to changed if we really want healthier food options for future generations. And if that means breaking a sweat, if it means getting our hands dirty, I hope you’ll agree that it’s worth it.
But in the end, it’s still a journey. We still ask questions, repent of our past, seeking contentment and displaying gratitude with every bite we eat.
