Ep 951 | What Does the Bible Say About Our Diet? | Guest: Chelsea Blackbird
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
182.01234
Summary
What we eat matters not just for our physical health, but also for our spiritual health. God cares about the body, therefore, he cares about how we steward the body. So how should we think of health and wellness and nutrition from a Christian and biblical perspective? A Christian nutritionist, Chelsea Blackbird, is here to break it all down for us.
Transcript
00:00:00.620
What we eat matters. It matters not just for our physical health, but also for our spiritual
00:00:06.180
health. It matters to God. God cares about the body. Therefore, he cares about how we
00:00:11.860
steward the body. So how should we think of health and wellness and nutrition from a Christian
00:00:17.360
and biblical perspective? A Christian nutritionist, Chelsea Blackbird, is here today to break it
00:00:23.700
all down for us. She has been doing this for 20 years, and she has a lot of really interesting
00:00:29.100
insights, not just into physical nutrition, but also into our spiritual health and how these two
00:00:36.400
are tied together. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers. Go to
00:00:40.640
GoodRanchers.com. Use code ALI at checkout. That's GoodRanchers.com, code ALI.
00:00:56.500
Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
00:00:58.180
Yes. Can you tell everyone who you are and what you do?
00:01:01.100
Sure. My name is Chelsea Blackbird, and I love bringing together the topic of health
00:01:10.660
through a biblical lens. I never thought I would be doing anything like this, but about 20 years
00:01:19.580
ago, I was facing my own health challenges. I grew up with a genetic skin condition that I went to
00:01:29.320
doctors for for about 20 years, you know, finally kind of hit a dead-end road with them. They couldn't
00:01:34.500
do anything more for me. I took every cream, every pill that they recommended, had major surgery,
00:01:39.160
and then it was kind of like, we can't help you anymore. So there was that. I had chronic digestive
00:01:43.940
issues growing up, but I just thought they were normal. But it wasn't until I was diagnosed with
00:01:50.280
unexplained infertility that I really became desperate for a solution. And my husband was
00:02:00.620
not on board with the direction that the doctors wanted to take me. So I started researching,
00:02:06.220
looking around, found a doctor with a holistic approach. I found a really great book called
00:02:11.320
Taking Charge of Your Fertility. The holistic doctor changed my diet, gave me some supplements,
00:02:18.180
filled in some gaps, and six weeks later, I was pregnant.
00:02:22.120
So this is 20-ish years ago in small town Texas.
00:02:26.480
How in the world did you go about finding this person?
00:02:29.120
How did I find him? Well, he was in the bigger town not far from me. Honestly, I can't even remember
00:02:36.200
how I found him. It was just through researching.
00:02:39.520
Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. A divine connection. And that really started me on the journey of just
00:02:45.680
being hungry to learn more about that, about nutrition and health. And so I just started
00:02:51.020
reading and reading and reading and finally went back to become certified as a holistic practitioner.
00:02:58.420
And that's what I've been doing for the last 10, 12, 11 years. As I was going through this and
00:03:08.020
learning all of these things, I felt this strong pull from God to call myself the Christian nutritionist.
00:03:17.720
Every time I would read my Bible, all I could see was health advice, frankly. It was like God put a
00:03:23.400
lens over my eyes. And I was like, oh my gosh, this makes so much sense. There's so much information out
00:03:29.780
there, conflicting information. And so it just started to make sense to me.
00:03:32.880
You know, God made our body. Who knows better what our body needs than the creator of our body,
00:03:38.580
right? And so I really just started learning, diving into that. I really resisted. God,
00:03:47.440
I resisted that call when he was calling me to that because I'm like, I don't know enough about the
00:03:52.100
Bible, God. And I'm new to this nutrition stuff. And who am I? And sometimes I like to, you know,
00:03:57.380
eat chips and drink some wine. Maybe I'm not the best person for this job. But when God calls you
00:04:03.680
to do something, you just, you do it, you know, you, he wasn't letting up. And so here I am.
00:04:10.780
So what did your holistic doctor recommend to you that was so revolutionary in your life? And that
00:04:18.740
quickly, you said six weeks later, you were pregnant.
00:04:21.420
Six weeks. Yes. And it was a combination of reading that book, which really...
00:04:26.660
Yes. Re-taught me about my body, which honestly, I really hadn't thought of since fourth grade when
00:04:33.480
Yes. Who's talking about it? Who's really teaching you about your body and timing and hormones and all
00:04:38.540
of these things, right? Once you kind of get past that initial education. So it was a matter of
00:04:48.220
Um, and gave me some essential fatty acid, uh, supplements. Basically just, I was really
00:04:55.680
And did he tell you what his thinking was behind the gluten-free diet?
00:04:59.560
Because that was before gluten-free, you know, kind of has been trendier.
00:05:03.320
And it's not a trend for everyone, but over the past few years, it's been more common for
00:05:07.360
people to be gluten-free. But 20 years ago, it wasn't really.
00:05:10.340
It wasn't. I'd heard of it. I have a celiac in my family. I have a couple of aunts with celiac
00:05:14.860
disease. So it was familiar to me and I'd kind of toyed with it off and on. Um, he, he
00:05:20.460
really didn't. I knew enough that gluten could be inflammatory. And so that, I think that was
00:05:26.300
a big part of it. And at the time, I honestly didn't even understand the significance of the
00:05:32.140
fatty acids and why that was important. Um, but it, you know, just looking back now, I can
00:05:38.600
see my body was not ready to grow a baby. It did not have what it needed. And I think that
00:05:44.640
is one thing that enough people, people don't pay enough attention to is that when something's
00:05:49.900
off with the body, that is a sign that there's an imbalance or a nutritional need or something
00:05:57.720
that needs to be changed. And I always like to remind people that our bodies are not against us.
00:06:04.100
Our bodies are for us. God made our bodies incredibly smart and resilient and wired for
00:06:10.520
wellness. And when we give it what it needs, um, it can do its job better. And so always just to be
00:06:15.940
making those connections and being aware, um, of those connections. So what did it look like? What
00:06:21.480
has it looked like being a Christian nutritionist? What are you offering people? Um, really just
00:06:28.280
looking at health and nutrition from the purpose of the body. You know, I think a lot of us,
00:06:35.320
when we're thinking about health, we're thinking of it very much only from the physicality of our
00:06:40.580
appearance and how we look right. Um, I think as Christians, we really need to take a look
00:06:46.340
at the true purpose of the body. What is the purpose of the body? It is not to hit a certain
00:06:52.460
number on the scale or to, you know, hit a certain size of jeans or even to eat perfectly.
00:06:58.120
Our bodies are meant to be a vessel of the Holy Spirit. You know, first Corinthians 619 says,
00:07:04.900
do you not know that your body is a holy temple, you know, given from God, you are not your own.
00:07:11.480
So we are image bearers. We are the hands and feet of Christ in the world. And, uh, I believe that every,
00:07:17.700
that God has given every person, uh, gifts and a special way to bless the world. And we just show
00:07:24.280
up so much more fully to that, you know, to offer that to our family and our friends and our workplace
00:07:30.100
and our communities. When we feel well, when we feel well, we serve well, when we feel good in and
00:07:35.840
about our body. And so that is a huge piece of it is just kind of reframing the way that we look at
00:07:41.320
taking care of our body and that self stewardship, that stewardship that we are called to, um, to be in
00:07:47.120
these bodies. So how should Christian, that's how Christians kind of view the body. How do we
00:08:04.660
view food then? Because there's so many different messages that especially as women have been kind
00:08:12.620
of competing in our minds. I feel like, um, guys in athletics, they learned pretty early on that
00:08:18.820
food is fuel for us, or at least for me, I can't speak for everyone, but it felt less like I would
00:08:26.440
use food for fuel and more like I was competing against it or like competing against my hunger.
00:08:32.640
Right. Um, and you know, only wanting to eat as much as what would satiate you. You go through your
00:08:38.460
preteen, your teenage years, the worst thing that you can think of is not looking good in the mirror
00:08:44.300
or not being comfortable in your skin or not fitting into a certain size. And so you learn very early
00:08:49.920
on to kind of compete against your hunger, to compete against food, to see your body as an enemy. And so
00:08:56.480
how do you fight back against all of those messages that especially women have carried with us for
00:09:02.800
so long about what we eat? Right. First and foremost, we have to look again, as I said, the,
00:09:10.400
the creator of our body knows the perfect thing that our body needs. Right. And so when we look to
00:09:16.560
scripture, we know that he gave us foods from the plant kingdom, Genesis 126, and he gave us foods from
00:09:23.080
the animal kingdom, Genesis 9, 3. And our body requires, uh, certain things from both of those kingdoms to be
00:09:30.660
healthy. And again, you know, viewing the body as being healthy enough to do the work that we're
00:09:35.200
called to do in the world, to glorify the Lord, to do our kingdom work, whether that is being a mother
00:09:39.620
or being a professional, or, um, just being kind to the people in our community. You know, it's so much
00:09:45.280
of how we show up to do that, um, is determined by the foods that we eat, the functioning of our body,
00:09:51.620
the way we feel, our moods, everything that we put in our body determines so much about that.
00:09:56.800
And so as far as all the conflicting messages yet, there's so much, right? It's like,
00:10:02.220
should you be keto or carnivore or vegetarian or fat's bad? Are they good? I mean, so much has
00:10:06.820
changed just in, you know, my lifetime that it's overwhelming. And I think it's very hard for,
00:10:13.140
um, for all of us to really know what is the best thing to do here, but just taking it back to those,
00:10:18.660
those foundational elements, we need plant foods, we need animal foods. Each of those kingdoms offers
00:10:24.540
something very important for the body to run well. From the animal kingdom, we get our proteins,
00:10:31.380
our amino acids, essential amino acids that our body must use to repair and rebuild our body.
00:10:37.720
And from the, the plant kingdom, we get carbohydrates, we get phytonutrients, we get fiber,
00:10:43.200
we get some vitamins and minerals from both of the kingdoms. We get fats from both of the kingdoms.
00:10:47.640
And so when we start looking at the, uh, as food kind of as fuel, you know, we, it is a good thing
00:10:53.960
to, to come around and know that yes, our body needs to be fueled. Our body is constantly rebuilding
00:10:59.600
and repairing itself. I think a lot of people don't think about that, that our body is constantly
00:11:05.180
making new gut cells, new skin cells, new liver cells, new bones. Where do you get the material to
00:11:11.860
do that? Where's your body, get the material to do that from the food that you eat. And so if you're,
00:11:17.120
you know, eating ding dongs and soda, well, you're not giving your body a lot of good material to use,
00:11:23.140
to, to build your body, to run your body, to fuel your body. And so when we think of it that way,
00:11:30.260
just really understanding that we need this, these good materials for our body to be well,
00:11:35.620
to be sound, to be fit physically, spiritually, and mentally. And again, I think as women,
00:11:41.080
when we do change that viewpoint from, uh, you know, thinking of food and weight and thinking
00:11:49.540
all of these things that are against us and thinking, this is for us. This is for me. This
00:11:53.840
is so I can live into everything that God created me to be. And it's just a shift of, of mind.
00:12:00.080
Yeah, definitely. It definitely is, uh, I don't, I don't know if it's a trend or if it's just popular,
00:12:07.600
whatever it is, but to say that we should only be eating this or only be eating that,
00:12:12.820
or we should cut all of this or cut all of that. And I'm thinking of carnivore, I'm thinking of
00:12:18.380
veganism. And honestly, I know people in both of those camps who swear by how they eat, who swear
00:12:25.100
that all we need is leafy greens and vegetables, juice, things like that, and maybe even raw vegetables.
00:12:34.500
And then I know people who do carnivore who swear by that. And they say, it's so much protein. I'm so
00:12:40.800
full. I'm never craving anything. I'm never hungry. I've built so much muscle. And so, and then I, I know
00:12:47.100
people who have done veganism to help fight cancer and things like that. And so it's hard to argue with
00:12:51.600
people's personal testimony because if that works for them, then that's great. But I've also heard
00:12:56.680
other nutritionists like you say, well, we really aren't getting everything that we need. If we are
00:13:03.020
only eating from one food group, but it's hard for someone like me who doesn't have all the expertise
00:13:08.940
to, to really know what's true because these people who have these incredible stories, but also who seem
00:13:14.860
to know a lot more than I do or saying with such authority, no, if you eat meat, then you're probably
00:13:19.700
going to get cancer. Or if you eat leafy greens, those leafy greens are telling you not to eat them
00:13:25.180
because they're bitter. I'm like, I don't know what to believe. I don't know what to believe. I'll just go
00:13:29.300
to In-N-Out again. Right. Well, you know, I think there's a place, there's a time and a place for
00:13:34.520
therapeutic diets. And somebody could use a vegan diet or a carnivore diet or a keto diet
00:13:41.240
therapeutically. And there's nothing wrong with that. And that it's for like one purpose, one ailment
00:13:48.260
or for a specific purpose of trying to heal something? Right. Okay. Right. And temporary,
00:13:53.520
maybe three to four months, maybe longer. It can depend. But ultimately in the big picture,
00:13:58.080
I think the ideal diet, again, when we go back and look at scripture, Genesis 1.26,
00:14:03.300
God gave us plants. Genesis 9.3, God gave us meat. You know, and really that is the ideal diet,
00:14:08.860
a combination of, you know, clean versions of plant food and animal food is really what we are best
00:14:17.100
meant to eat. You know, and I encounter a lot of people that believe that because we originated in
00:14:22.820
the garden, you know, that we should be vegetarian. Yeah, I've heard that. You know, that's, that comes
00:14:27.680
up a lot. And I'd like to remind people that we did get kicked out of the garden. Yeah. And that God
00:14:34.200
gave us the permission to eat meat in Genesis 9.3. And not only that, but he gave us direction about
00:14:40.600
what is the best meat to eat. And when we look at the food laws he gave the Israelites in Leviticus,
00:14:46.280
I think it surprises people to know that what he recommended were the ruminant animals, cattle,
00:14:54.040
bison, deer, sheep, goat, all red meat. Right. Right. And that is very opposite of the narrative
00:15:01.660
that we hear today, that meat will cause cancer and such. And so again, that is one of those things
00:15:07.780
coming back to our, our godly compass for me anyway, that is when I come back to my godly compass
00:15:13.080
and think, okay, God recommended this kind of meat. This cannot be bad for me.
00:15:19.120
And when it comes to kinds of meat, how should we look at how things are being processed? I mean,
00:15:26.340
that's not something that I know very much about at all. I mean, I get my meat from good ranchers,
00:15:31.820
as people on this podcast know, but most people are going into the grocery store and they're just
00:15:37.760
kind of doing their best. They might look at the composition of, you know, lean meat versus fatty
00:15:43.260
meat, but that's about all they know. And I don't even know how to necessarily control how it's being
00:15:49.700
processed or anything. So how do we look at, if we're going to eat food from all these different camps,
00:15:57.100
how do we look at their characteristics? How do we make the best choice for the best things within
00:16:02.400
those groups? Sure. Well, when it comes to meat specifically, obviously it's just like it's best
00:16:09.340
for us to eat our God-given diet. It is best for the animal to eat their God-given diet, right? So
00:16:14.300
the, the more that we can source our protein from animals that were fed well, raised well,
00:16:21.980
that is ideal. You know, my husband is a, is a grass-fed cattle rancher. So, you know,
00:16:26.880
I see this up close and personal. That said, sometimes that can be hard to find. Sometimes
00:16:32.800
that can be out of people's budget, you know? And, and even labeling can be kind of confusing,
00:16:42.140
right? Because something can say this is grass-fed, but all cattle are grass-fed for part of their life,
00:16:48.600
but not a hundred percent of their life. So it has to be grass-finished. It has to be grass-finished,
00:16:52.880
right? Yes. So that means grass-finished means that they're only eating the grass, right? Because
00:16:59.260
if they're grass-fed, but not grass-finished, it could also, it could mean that they're fattening
00:17:04.660
up towards the end of their life with extra stuff that we wouldn't want. Correct. They're finished on
00:17:09.980
brain. Um, typically, and unfortunately it's usually not high quality. It's genetically modified
00:17:15.560
corn and soy. And so again, that's not, that can lead to illness for the animals, which would
00:17:22.160
require what? Require some shots, things like that. Right. Um, and so, however, I don't,
00:17:28.120
I don't like to scare people, put fear of people, you know, put fear in people about what to eat,
00:17:32.700
but I do have some tips about what you should do. You go to the grocery store and you're looking at
00:17:36.760
your meat. The thing is when you are choosing your, uh, your red meat, say your beef or your bison,
00:17:44.660
um, and those come from ruminant animals. I think this is so fascinating.
00:17:48.380
And what's ruminant? Ruminant animals are animals that have a four part
00:17:52.920
digestive system. Okay. This is different from a monogastric animal, like a chicken or a pig or a
00:17:59.260
person. We are a monogastric animal, one stomach. Okay. Okay. Ruminants have four stomachs. It takes
00:18:05.320
them closer to 24 hours to digest. They are typically they're, they're herbivores, right? And so they are
00:18:11.520
utilizing plant nutrition, turning it into amino acids and all of these wonderful nutrients that they pass
00:18:17.000
onto us when we eat them. And so it's something about this wonderful ruminant digestive process
00:18:22.760
that they can do that. But also that longer digestive process allows them more time and more
00:18:28.840
capability to process some of the toxic effects of, um, what they might be encountering. And so I tell
00:18:36.080
people if you are on a, a budget or you have a lack of access to things, really going for your,
00:18:43.260
your beef, um, is going to be more forgiving or a ruminant animal food, beef, bison, sheep, goat, elk
00:18:50.680
is going to be more forgiving in that kind of toxic arena. Whereas something like chicken or pork,
00:18:57.500
they hold on to more toxins. Yeah. If you will. And another thing to consider is that animals just
00:19:04.440
like humans hold toxins in our fat cells. That's where we store them. And it's beautiful. God's
00:19:09.800
beautiful design to keep toxins away from our vital organs. And so if you are unable to access
00:19:16.960
or afford, you know, grass fed beef or pastured chicken, um, something like that, or pastured
00:19:22.520
pork going for the leaner cuts is, uh, is a good idea. Okay. So leaner cuts of beef, leaner cuts of
00:19:30.020
meat. If you, yes. Okay. So that's less fat, which means less toxins that you would be getting.
00:19:36.040
The lower the quality. Okay. Then I would stick more for the lower fat, but otherwise,
00:19:42.740
if you are able to access, you know, grass fed beef, um, pastured pork or chicken, then I wouldn't
00:19:49.840
worry about that because, you know, animal fats offer fat soluble vitamins. There are health benefits
00:19:55.800
to eating the animal in its entirety. Um, if, if it's good quality. Okay. Gotcha. And then,
00:20:02.580
because we do hear so often that, well, I eat meat, but only chicken. I don't want to eat any
00:20:08.420
red meat. We are kind of made to believe that chicken is actually the healthiest form of meat
00:20:13.500
for us. But you're saying because of that, the one chamber. The monogastric stomach. Yes. Yes. We
00:20:20.140
could get more toxins from chicken than we would from beef possibly. Yes. And I don't want to scare
00:20:25.100
people from chicken. Yeah. Eat chicken, eat fish, eat, you know, red meat, eat all of it. Yeah. Just
00:20:30.220
please eat protein. Yeah. Please eat protein from animal sources. That's, you know, uh, I really try
00:20:35.740
to, uh, get people, so many women, especially under eat protein is a huge problem. Yes. I definitely do.
00:20:41.440
And I want to talk to you about that. Yes. Um, and so, uh, but again, when we're trying to make the best
00:20:47.480
choices we can, what we have access to, what is in our budget food is so expensive right now and it's tough.
00:20:53.200
And so if, you know, when we're in the grocery store making those decisions, yes, um, that red
00:20:59.060
meat is going to be more forgiving as far as tox toxicity and, um, going for the, you know, lower
00:21:06.040
fat cuts. It's not time to, you know, eat all the ribeyes if you are, you know, you can't get a very
00:21:11.360
high quality meat. Yeah. Okay. Let's talk about protein then. Okay. Because that is obviously one
00:21:17.340
benefit to a carnivore diet. They say you're going to get protein and that is one complaint that
00:21:23.060
people have, if they're going all vegan or something, that's just tough to get, especially
00:21:28.480
natural forms of protein. Of course you can get protein powders and things like that, but then you
00:21:32.880
run into all different kinds of ingredients. So you've already advocated for basically a diet that
00:21:38.540
takes the best of every kind of group. Yes. But how much, how much should we be eating of
00:21:46.340
what? Right. Because it's also been popular to say, just do almost all leafy greens and then kind
00:21:53.240
of add in the protein when you can, but it doesn't sound like that's what you would recommend.
00:21:58.240
I would, I recommend a pretty high protein diet. Um, I would say between 70 to 90 grams.
00:22:04.880
Okay. Um, most days, if you can swing it, that's high. Um, but a lot of people, not a lot of people,
00:22:10.400
but some would even recommend higher than that and recommend one gram of protein per pound of
00:22:18.380
ideal lean body mass. So lean body mass is everything in your body besides fat. It includes
00:22:25.360
your, your muscle, the water, everything. And so it's not your weight, but, um, like my ideal lean
00:22:32.060
body mass, um, at my height at five, six is if I'm remembering correctly is 108. Yeah. How do you
00:22:39.580
know that? There's a chart. Oh, you can just, you can just search it. Okay. So it's not individual.
00:22:44.040
It's really just for like your height. You can figure it out. Okay. Yes. And so for somebody
00:22:49.280
that is really targeting, uh, maybe weight loss or trying to tone up, build muscle, I recommend
00:22:56.920
going that closer to that. Okay. But for just kind of your everyday person and maybe somebody that's
00:23:03.000
not used to eating very much protein, 70 to 90 grams is kind of a nice range to go towards and
00:23:08.580
animal protein, because what we're after in protein are amino acids, essential amino acids. Those are
00:23:15.300
the building blocks of the body. That is what makes your body. That is what your body uses to repair,
00:23:20.380
build your cells. And we get those amino acid, the essential amino acids, so much more bioavailably
00:23:28.300
from, from animal protein than we do from plants. So animal foods, animal proteins are considered a
00:23:35.620
complete protein because they have all of those eight essential amino acids that we need in the
00:23:39.900
right ratios and the right amounts to each other. Okay. Whereas a plant protein has some of these amino
00:23:45.780
acids, doesn't have quite the amount of them, um, and not in the right ratio. So for example,
00:23:52.700
to get the same amount of protein, um, from say like quinoa and, uh, you know, a three ounce piece of steak,
00:24:00.720
you'd have to have like three cups of quinoa or like a little three or four ounce piece of meat.
00:24:05.840
Well, then what's happening? Well, I don't know about you. If I eat three cups of quinoa, I'm gonna
00:24:09.080
be bloated. Yeah. And I'm going to be hungry and like 30 minutes. Right. You're gonna be bloated.
00:24:15.320
It's not that filling. Um, and there's, there's a high energy or caloric load with that comes with
00:24:20.420
that. When you can get those amino acids that you need so much more efficiently from a small piece
00:24:25.200
of meat. And so that's where the animal kingdom shines, right? Is, is the essential amino acids
00:24:30.220
where your plant kingdom is going to give you that fiber and some of those phytonutrients that you
00:24:34.400
need. And so that's really what I like to remind people is that both kingdoms have their strengths,
00:24:38.920
right? But the amino acids, boy, the animal kingdom hands down is the winner there.
00:24:44.440
Okay. So 70 to 90 grams of protein you would say. And then what about fat and carbs? What are you
00:24:52.440
aiming for? Okay. So with fat and carbs, um, carbs, I like to keep those under about a hundred grams
00:24:59.680
and little, that can be ish. I'm kind of ish, you know, it depends, depends on how much you move.
00:25:06.700
Um, it depends on the quality of those carbohydrates, but, um, I would say the more real food, I would say
00:25:14.260
real food, the way God made it, the more real food, carbohydrates that you're eating from plants,
00:25:19.920
you know, your leafy greens and your, your produce basically. Okay. Um, you're, you can eat more,
00:25:25.740
you can get away with more. Um, but about a hundred grams or less is a, is a good target.
00:25:30.660
Okay. So for our carbs, you recommend getting those mostly from vegetables rather than say bread.
00:25:39.140
Ideally. Yes. Although I'm, I'm not against bread. I have to tell you that, you know, I was gluten free
00:25:44.460
for 10 years and in the last year I started milling my own wheat and baking bread. Wow.
00:25:51.680
That's awesome. Huge change. And so, um, so I eat bread every day practically. So I'm not,
00:25:56.360
but it's bread that you are making high quality, high quality. Um, and also that can fit in your
00:26:02.500
carb range. You know, that's the thing is that yes, you want to get a lot of vegetables. You want to get,
00:26:07.660
um, some fruit, um, some fruit, whole grains are not, you know, not a bad thing either. You know,
00:26:12.880
quinoa is not a bad food. Beans are, you know, have some, absolutely have some protein and have
00:26:18.820
some things in them, fiber and such again, fiber, some of those phytonutrients from the plant foods,
00:26:24.340
but the amino acids leave that to the, to the animal kingdom. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then, um,
00:26:31.420
fat, there are also some differing theories on how much fat we should have. There definitely
00:26:37.420
was a craze at one point in the nineties and early two thousands where like every snack would say
00:26:43.380
like zero grams of fat or no trans fat or whatever. Um, so what is your thought on how much fat we
00:26:49.960
should be eating? Right. Everything was low fat and now it's, everything's like full fat. Yeah.
00:26:54.360
Eat everything like that. So really, um, I kind of fill in the blanks with the fat after that. So if
00:27:00.220
we're eating 70 to 90 grams of protein, we are keeping our carbohydrates at about a hundred,
00:27:05.660
less than a hundred grams, then the rest will be made up from fat. And that can vary.
00:27:09.480
That could be, ew, 70 to a hundred grams of fat, 60 to a hundred grams of fat somewhere in there.
00:27:17.040
Once you kind of balance all those macronutrient ratios, the thing to remember is that carbohydrates
00:27:22.680
and fats are both forms of energy. Okay. And that's what our body uses as fuel. And so those are things
00:27:31.020
that we, we want to consider in relationship together. You know, when one is up, the other
00:27:37.260
needs to be kind of down. And so I always say proteins are steady, Eddie. We stay steady with
00:27:41.960
the protein. That's going to not going to change that much, but where we do some manipulation
00:27:47.780
is with our carbohydrates and fats. And so with the higher fat diet, it's, you're going to have less
00:27:52.520
carbohydrates that might be look more like 50 grams or 25 grams. Or if you're having more carbs,
00:27:59.080
we're going to bring those fats down a little bit more. So it's kind of a balance between them.
00:28:03.180
Just balance. And what would you say some of the best sources of healthy fat are?
00:28:07.240
From the plant kingdom, I would say extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil. Those are probably the
00:28:14.280
best from the animal kingdom, your butter, high quality tallow. Just those, again, if you are,
00:28:21.580
if you're able to source those good grass-fed meats or pastured meats, that fat has some good
00:28:29.000
fat-soluble vitamins in there. So, you know, if you think of our early ancestors, especially here
00:28:34.080
in America, that's, that is the fat that they would have eaten. It would have come from these
00:28:38.700
animal foods, right? Because in the early 1900s, they're not importing a lot of olive oil and coconut
00:28:44.240
oil, right? So they would have really relied on butter and tallow and lard and those things.
00:28:50.060
Yeah. And so that is, you know, and today it's, we're like, don't eat, don't eat fat,
00:28:56.220
don't eat butter, don't eat, you know, beef and all those things. But we got to think historically,
00:29:00.420
I think our common sense just flies out the window when it comes to this stuff.
00:29:04.200
What is a typical day of eating like for you, breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
00:29:20.280
So I eat a lot of eggs, love eggs. So the eggs, I did have a question about the eggs because we
00:29:27.220
talked about chickens and how sometimes just depending, they can have more toxins or they
00:29:31.960
have the propensity to have more toxins because of that single chamber of the stomach.
00:29:36.300
But does that count for the eggs? Like that might seem like a silly question,
00:29:42.260
but I don't know if it's the same concern that we have with the meat of the chicken.
00:29:47.040
Right. We do want to be concerned and aware of quality of the eggs. So again, the higher quality
00:29:52.960
of the chicken, the higher quality of the egg, you know, depends on what the chicken was fed,
00:29:57.960
how high quality the egg is. Again, you know, chickens are supposed to be out pecking around,
00:30:03.440
eating grass and grubs and different things like that. And when they do, they're very healthy.
00:30:07.500
They have healthy meat and they produce healthy eggs. The more that is, most chickens are kept in
00:30:13.520
a cage and they're, you know, they don't ever see the light of day and they're going to produce
00:30:18.940
these eggs. They're still going to have some nutritional value. They're just not going to be
00:30:22.460
as healthy as ones that are, you know, pastured. Right. So.
00:30:26.840
And the chickens are stressed out in those little chambers. Right. And I've heard that that can
00:30:32.160
affect also what gets into the egg, just like the different hormones and things that are happening
00:30:37.900
when you're under stress. They're different than the hormones that are present or elevated when you're
00:30:45.520
Exactly. Exactly. You know, when those chickens are fed genetically modified corn and soy,
00:30:51.480
you know, and there are people that are so sensitive that they could eat an egg that was
00:30:59.180
not pastured and it could set off a reaction because of what the chicken ate and produced the egg,
00:31:07.400
which is, you know, becoming alarmingly more and more common. Yeah.
00:31:12.340
You know, sadly, with food sensitivities and such. But so there's something to be said there.
00:31:17.120
But again, you know, not to scare people. I don't want to scare people off from eating eggs or
00:31:23.180
chicken or meat or anything. You just do the best you can. Yeah.
00:31:27.340
You know, you do the best you can. But the higher quality you can get, it's absolutely you're going
00:31:31.440
to get more nutrition. Right. It's going to be higher quality if you if you crack an egg.
00:31:35.080
So we have chickens. And when you when you see an egg that was passed from a pasture chicken,
00:31:41.620
I mean, the yolk is just this beautiful, vibrant, orangey yellow. Right. And then when you see the
00:31:47.780
yolk of an egg from a chicken that was, you know, didn't have as good a living conditions, it's very
00:31:52.640
pale, light yellow, light yellow. It's just not as rich in those and those vitamins and those
00:31:58.300
nutrients. And so you're just going to get so much more from those animals when they're fed well
00:32:02.820
and raised well. Yeah. So you eat a lot of eggs. A ton of eggs. Yes. A ton of eggs. So breakfast
00:32:08.360
might be something like scrambled eggs. Maybe I might scramble up some spinach in there. Some
00:32:12.820
cheese. Make like an omelet. Maybe a piece of toast with that. Lunch is usually leftovers from
00:32:19.740
dinner or I might make some tuna fish with apple. Tuna fish. Something like that. Dinner is usually a
00:32:28.260
meat and a vegetable and some kind of carbohydrate, like meat and potatoes and salad. Yeah. Like
00:32:35.160
husbands love me. I'm like, yeah, eat your meat and potatoes. Yeah. Tell their wives, yes. Yeah.
00:32:40.320
Make meat and potatoes. It's wonderful. Yeah. That's a very typical kind of meal. Okay. So
00:32:46.100
that's typically what you're eating. Are you a snacker at all? I try not to snack. Okay. And what
00:32:51.480
is your thought on snack? That's another theory that I've heard over the years that we should just be
00:32:55.100
eating little things throughout the day rather than the big meals. No. No, I know. You're right. I've
00:33:02.220
heard, you know, that is definitely one of those things. And I'm not, the thing is there's no one
00:33:08.660
perfect way that works for every single person, right? It really depends. I think ideally our
00:33:13.400
bodies should be able to have a meal and then go three to four hours and then have another meal.
00:33:19.720
What's happening in that time that you're not eating, there's a lot of digestion going on. Our
00:33:24.500
body needs to complete that digestive process. It takes two to three hours. When we're constantly
00:33:29.400
eating all day, we're keeping our digestive system engaged. And over time that can be hard
00:33:33.920
on the digestive system. Also in between meals, you know, your body is being able to
00:33:40.420
better switch between fuels for burning between being a sugar burner or a fat burner. If you're
00:33:45.560
constantly eating, you're really not giving your body enough time to burn stored energy,
00:33:50.640
the sugar and the fat on your body if you're always eating energy. So we want our bodies to be
00:33:55.320
able to have opportunity to burn some of that stored energy. But if we're eating all day,
00:33:59.980
that's not going to be happening. So eating, you know, three meals, sometimes two meals for people,
00:34:05.620
two meals and a snack. And in that case, that, you know, that's fine. That's not a big deal.
00:34:09.620
Sometimes I'm not that hungry for lunch. I might have something, a smaller meal, maybe
00:34:20.960
That's another thing, though, that some people are like, no, I know that you're okay with dairy
00:34:24.800
because of animal products, but some people are anti-cheese. So that's good to know. I like cheese.
00:34:29.740
I especially love goat cheese. It's my favorite.
00:34:33.140
Okay. What is your thought on intermittent fasting?
00:34:39.520
Okay. Okay. I wasn't sure. Because again, this is highly contested stuff. Okay, tell me.
00:34:45.220
It's, you know, it's, this is another topic because intermittent fasting has, you know,
00:34:49.720
kind of had its glory and now it's being attacked, right? So I feel like everything has its moments,
00:34:55.000
you know, like, right, you know, like eat all the carbs, you know, with the food pyramid. No,
00:34:59.760
don't eat the carbs, eat all the fat. No, we're always, you know, building up and then tearing it
00:35:03.640
down. Same with intermittent fasting. I think what a good common sense thing to remember is that
00:35:10.900
historically people ate dinner and then they stopped and then they didn't eat till breakfast.
00:35:18.060
And that was probably about 12 hours. And it really wasn't until the onset of all the processed
00:35:23.840
food and food globalization and all this access to food all the time, right? It's, you know,
00:35:28.900
midnight snack, midnight snack, I'm drifting into the kitchen, making popcorn or eating ice cream or
00:35:33.460
whatever it is. That is not the natural, you know, what has been going on for forever and ever. This
00:35:41.500
is all of this eating all the time is really a new phenomenon and our body needs that digestive rest.
00:35:47.960
And so I love, yeah, stopping at about, you know, a decent time, not long after sunset, ideally,
00:35:54.740
and you give your body that time that needs two to three hours to digest. And then you go to sleep
00:36:00.440
and then your body goes into detoxification mode. When you eat too late, you extend that digestion
00:36:06.900
time and your body can't go into detox mode. What is detox mode? Well, at night is when we do all of
00:36:13.300
our repair processes. We're synthesizing memories. We are, our body's rebuilding muscle. It's repairing
00:36:20.420
tissue. Our hormones are resetting. Our hormones are telling our brain about how much energy we have
00:36:27.540
to store to burn. All kinds of things are happening at night, right? And so those are the things that
00:36:32.520
are supposed to happen when we are without food. And then there are certain things that are supposed
00:36:36.980
to happen during the day when we eat food. So it's really our circadian rhythm. And eating is supposed
00:36:41.720
to happen during the day, digestion, absorption, you know, utilizing and getting all this energy.
00:36:47.960
At night, we're meant to burn energy, burn fat, burn calories, repair, detoxify, and do all of those
00:36:56.160
things. Eating too late puts those processes off, delays those processes. So we really shortchange
00:37:02.960
ourselves from our detoxification processes when we eat too late. Okay. Gotcha.
00:37:08.880
And so that is one of the biggest advantages to intermittent fasting. And it doesn't have to be a
00:37:15.020
super long time, 12 to 16 hours. I average about a 14-hour fast most days. Sometimes it's closer to
00:37:20.880
12. Sometimes I'll go higher and it's 16. I think, you know, you definitely have to discern what's best
00:37:27.580
for where you are in your stage and season of life. You know, there's a lot of hormonal components and
00:37:34.220
such to it. And you don't want to get into almost like starvation mode. Because, you know, I've
00:37:40.120
unintentionally fasted to where, like, I'll say I'm running out the door and I just didn't eat
00:37:44.380
breakfast and then I'm on the go and I can't eat until one. Well, then all I crave is carbs,
00:37:51.540
sugar, that like quick energy because I'm so hungry. Yes. And so I guess there's some kind of
00:37:58.140
balance and it also depends on the time of day that you're doing it. Obviously, if you're asleep,
00:38:04.280
then I guess you and you can wake up and eat. That's different than trying to go all day and
00:38:09.940
constantly thinking about food and then just crashing, you know, at 3 p.m. or whatever.
00:38:15.680
Right. Ideally, we want to eat our food when the sun is out.
00:38:21.040
Yes. I always say I like to eat with the sun in the sun. Eat when the sun is out. Eat with a very
00:38:25.600
receiving, grateful attitude. You know, give thanks to God for our meal that puts us in a state of
00:38:31.280
receiving and really helps our body prepare to release the digestive enzymes and the hormones
00:38:37.140
and everything we need to really receive and utilize that food well. Yeah. And then cut it
00:38:42.240
off not long after sunset. If we look biblically, their largest meal of the day was dinner and they
00:38:47.540
ate it right around sunset, but before it was completely dark outside. And so really trying to
00:38:53.680
wrap up dinner about, you know, dark and then going into that nice time in the evening and night when
00:39:00.460
we're repairing, sleeping, repairing, rebuilding, and resetting.
00:39:18.160
So you mentioned kind of stopping and thanking God for the food and that that's not a good practice
00:39:27.000
only spiritually, but also that that prepares our body. And so that just makes me think of how
00:39:33.320
often we're on the go with fast food and we're just grabbing it. And when it's like, when you know
00:39:39.540
it's bad processed food, you almost feel bad thanking God for it. You're like, please help this
00:39:46.320
go to the nourishment of my body, even though it's chicken fingers. And so I could see how that kind of
00:39:55.240
makes a difference in how we treat our food and how I guess our body receives those nutrients.
00:40:01.900
Yes, absolutely. Digestion begins in the brain and you have to be in a parasympathetic state,
00:40:07.300
which just means in a relaxed state. And when we're moving and we're working and we're thinking
00:40:12.600
about stressful things, we are in a sympathetic state. And so our body's not really in the state
00:40:19.780
of receiving where it's going to release these important-
00:40:24.260
Right. And I know, and I was thinking, you know, about you when I, my kids were babies. I mean,
00:40:29.440
I was just standing at the counter with a baby, like throwing food at people, like you're just
00:40:34.820
I feel like I never sit down and eat. I really, I mean, yeah, it's bad.
00:40:39.600
There's a season, right? But being more aware of that, sitting down when you can, because it is very
00:40:44.620
hard for your body to digest. And this leads to a lot of digestive issues for people.
00:40:50.360
And digestion is, if we can't digest our food well, well then I'll, you could be eating the
00:40:55.820
perfect diet. But if the nutrients can't get to where they need to go because you're not digesting
00:41:00.340
well, well, that's not helping, helping your body out. So yes, sitting down is huge.
00:41:06.600
What happens to your body when you're eating only in fight or flight mode? I mean, I'm just trying
00:41:10.920
to think through this logically. It seems like if you were really in fight or flight, like your body
00:41:16.240
would be like, okay, I got to hold on to this because I don't know, I'm in some, I'm running
00:41:20.980
from a bear or something. So I could see how it'd be difficult to lose weight again, even if you're
00:41:26.880
eating the right things, but you're always in fight or flight while you're eating, running. And what I
00:41:32.860
mean by fight or flight is like you're stressed, you're stressed out, which I know a lot of moms of
00:41:37.520
toddlers are stressed out. It's not like you're sad or angry. It's just, you got a lot of different
00:41:42.500
things vying for your attention. So I could see how it'd be difficult to lose weight in those
00:41:47.660
situations because your body might be thinking, I need to hold on to everything that I can because I
00:41:52.340
don't know when I'm going to get another meal or whatever. Yes, exactly. Hold on to the energy.
00:41:57.280
Absolutely. And so I do recommend as much as you can. I mean, being a mom of littles is a challenging
00:42:05.740
time, but I just don't think people even realize that we really, we need to be seated. Number one,
00:42:11.060
this was so funny when I was explaining this to my family, my dad was like, well, I just thought
00:42:14.700
if you're standing up, it just does, it's a bit straighter shot. No, you know, we need to be
00:42:21.940
seated. We have to be in that, that restful posture as much as we possibly can. We want to
00:42:27.060
chew our food really well. And it sounds like old grandma advice, but this is where we start
00:42:30.660
releasing enzymes that help us break down carbohydrates. You know, people are like, like
00:42:34.720
just cranking through, trying to hurry and eat. We don't release all those things. Our body has to
00:42:40.240
release the enzymes, the stomach acid to break down our food and that way and move
00:42:44.300
through the rest of the body so we can absorb the nutrients. And so, and yeah, so if your
00:42:47.980
body can't do that process well, and it's feeling like it's not getting the nutrition
00:42:52.700
it needs, yeah, your body will hold on to nutrition, hold on to weight for a rainy day.
00:43:00.600
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. I'm doing every, every possible thing wrong. I eat really
00:43:06.980
fast. I've always been like a fast eater. My husband and I both, um, both do. And I am
00:43:14.060
almost always eating on the go. My breakfast does not contain protein. I'm just telling all
00:43:20.180
myself here. It is typically now it is like it's sourdough bread, real sourdough bread,
00:43:26.180
not from the store that's actually made from scratch. So that's a little better and butter
00:43:30.660
and a little bit of salt. Maybe not the worst thing in the world, but also not the best thing
00:43:35.100
in the world to last me until like, I usually can't eat lunch until one 30. Right. Lunch is
00:43:40.440
honestly probably my hardest meal because I feel hungriest at lunch and I'm also still in some kind
00:43:48.560
of hurry. And so I also don't get a ton of protein typically. And I'm just saying this because I bet
00:43:55.520
there's a lot of people that can relate to this out there. I typically don't eat a lot of protein
00:44:00.020
until dinner and then, okay, it might be a steak or chicken or something with like sweet potatoes,
00:44:05.860
green beans. It's typically kind of the meal that you described to a green, some kind of carb and a
00:44:12.160
meat. So I know I'm not getting anywhere close to 70 to 90 grams. And every day I want it to be
00:44:18.400
different. And every day it's not different. And even dinner, I'm standing up and then sometimes it's
00:44:24.160
like, oh my gosh, we didn't even prepare for dinner. I forgot to take the meat out to thaw. Then it is
00:44:27.720
some kind of like takeout or something like that. And I also, I know some people say that they lose
00:44:33.480
weight when they're breastfeeding. I do not lose weight when I'm breastfeeding. I typically don't
00:44:37.460
start losing weight until like six months to a year after birth because I start breastfeeding less.
00:44:44.540
I don't know. When I'm breastfeeding, my body is like, I'm going to hold on to everything I possibly
00:44:48.680
can. And I have tried to cut things out or to eat less while breastfeeding and it affects my milk
00:44:56.020
supply. And so, yeah, anyway, that's like the state of my nutrition, which is not great at all
00:45:02.380
right now. A lot of it is just to be honest, like a lack of discipline and some laziness on my part,
00:45:09.000
just plain and simple. And some of it is just like not knowing what to do and just do every meal feels
00:45:17.020
like I'm just doing what works, you know? So, yeah.
00:45:20.240
It definitely takes some planning, you know, but I would say, yes, protein at that first meal of the
00:45:26.540
day is huge. It kind of sets the tone for the whole day, right? You'd be less hungry at lunch if you did
00:45:31.600
that, right? And protein is really important. First meal of the day, as we have been doing all our
00:45:38.660
detoxification process and repairing all night, our body's using all those amino acids, right, that we get
00:45:43.980
from protein to do that. So when we wake up in the morning, we're in kind of a catabolic,
00:45:48.220
kind of broken down state and our body needs a replenishment of those amino acids. And so it's
00:45:54.060
a really important time to restock the body with the amino acids for the day. I would say, you know,
00:46:00.300
the morning meal and then the evening meal are the two most critical times for the protein. And then
00:46:05.720
also, again, you know, like you're not going to feel as hungry. And yeah, by if you haven't eaten very
00:46:10.660
much and by the time one o'clock's rolling around, everybody's like, just give me anything.
00:46:14.380
Just put anything in here so I can keep going, right? Your body's really seeking energy and
00:46:18.180
we don't always make the best choices. But yeah, I make a one thing that kind of saves me. I make
00:46:23.920
I call it a high protein egg casserole. And it is a dozen eggs, a carton of cottage cheese blended
00:46:29.740
together over a pack of sausage, you know, cook sausage, put it in like a Pyrex pan, put some grated
00:46:35.960
cheese on top, and then pour that that egg mixture with the cottage cheese, lots of protein, eat a couple
00:46:42.680
squares of that. It's 30 grams of protein, which is a really nice, a really nice target.
00:46:47.920
Yeah, that is good. Because if you can do that for every meal, then you're good to go.
00:46:51.260
It's easy. We eat on that all week. Yeah. You know, so if you make that and you can have bread
00:46:55.280
with it too. And yeah, that is super easy. You don't have to follow a recipe.
00:46:59.420
Right. It's four ingredients. We make I make that every week.
00:47:03.420
If you had that with a piece of bread, oh, you would be you'd be solid. Yeah. Way better than
00:47:08.100
right now when I'm like always starving by lunch. And then you just just like everything else,
00:47:12.760
honestly, there's probably a spiritual lesson there. But when you allow yourself to get super
00:47:18.020
hungry and super desperate, you just don't make the best choices because you're really acting
00:47:21.800
emotionally. Right. Rather than it's like your discernment can't even really function because
00:47:29.620
all you can think of is the immediate hunger feelings of starvation and panic. Exactly.
00:47:35.760
Yeah. So if someone is coming to you for your services, like what does that what does that
00:47:43.480
look like? Does it is it individual? Do you have different packages for different stages of life
00:47:48.780
or what is that like? Well, I've recently moved away from one on one consultations. I feel like
00:47:55.600
the direction God has put me in is to really teach as many people as I can. And so I have a group.
00:48:04.560
It's called the Christian Health Club. That's also the name of my podcast where I talk a lot about this
00:48:08.240
information. And within that health club membership, I have all kinds of programs that address all of
00:48:13.920
these things. We address carbohydrate load and fasting and protein meals and timing and all kinds of
00:48:23.340
different things. Because one thing I want people to also realize is that it takes time to implement
00:48:29.000
these things. You know, there's it's a habit changing, ongoing process of making choices for our body.
00:48:36.700
It's not about a short term diet, 30 days, three months. We got to wake up every day and make choices
00:48:41.780
about the food that we make. And, you know, when we're going to go to sleep and the movement that we're going
00:48:47.440
to get. And so I I've just decided to move to really group programs to teach people kind of more
00:48:53.540
the comprehensive load of that and really take time to implement it with them. You know, and so that's
00:49:13.760
Do you give advice to moms about how to get their children? Because you're a mom of three and they're
00:49:21.320
older now. Yes. So but when they were younger, how were you implementing these principles for them?
00:49:27.200
Right. Just giving, cooking, making, giving this food. They do. They always want it. No,
00:49:34.560
you know. But what you have in the house, you know, as a mom, we have so much influence over what our
00:49:40.760
children eat. And I always say also, the most important thing to do, first of all, is to steward
00:49:46.340
your body well to be that example, right? Because they're watching. They're watching what you do. And they
00:49:51.740
do soak up so much more by observing you just the way they observe your marriage or the way that you work
00:49:56.840
anything. Also, the way that you take care of yourself or don't. So first and foremost, that
00:50:02.960
and when you are preparing and have that food making for yourself, you're also making it for
00:50:07.720
your family. And it's just it is. This is what we're having. This is it. This is what we got. If
00:50:13.680
you're hungry, this is it. This is what we're eating. And, you know, also, upgrading the best that
00:50:18.940
you can. I won't say that I don't eat perfectly. My family doesn't eat perfectly. But we do the best we
00:50:23.940
can. And I always try to upgrade our food. So do my kids eat chips? Yeah, they eat chips. But I'm
00:50:29.440
going to find the best upgraded version of chips that I can find, right? We're going to use, try to
00:50:37.260
find something that doesn't use seed oils. We're going to try to find something that, you know,
00:50:40.960
maybe is non-GMO. If I'm going to eat tortilla chips, they're going to be non-genetically modified.
00:50:45.480
You know, just making the best decisions that you can. Now, when they do get older and they get in
00:50:49.680
school, I will say I have teenagers and they don't want to listen to my advice.
00:50:55.220
Yeah. And when you start. Oh, really? My parents who are listening to this are thinking, wow,
00:50:59.240
Allie always listens to our advice. Right. Like every parent's like, yeah, of course they don't.
00:51:04.400
Well, and when you have less control, that's the thing is when they're little, you have so much more
00:51:07.980
control over what they're doing, you know, and then as they get older and make those decisions,
00:51:12.680
they're not always great decisions. But with my kids, I'm just praying and, you know, taking stock
00:51:20.280
in the fact that they have good roots. I've planted the seeds. They know. And I feel like
00:51:25.100
they'll come back around, you know, they'll come back around to it and they know that our food affects
00:51:29.180
our body. And so when they want to feel better, they know what to do. You know, it's just a matter
00:51:35.200
of them having to make that choice for themselves.
00:51:38.540
And again, there's such a parallel there too, with the Christian life. And I've heard that from
00:51:42.240
so many parents, they plant those seeds of the gospel. When they're young, they do everything
00:51:47.380
they can to disciple their kid. Then maybe they're discouraged because in the teen years or early
00:51:52.020
twenties or in college, it seems like their kids aren't following the path that they laid out for
00:51:56.780
them. But gosh, so often those seeds bloom later in life and the kids look back and they say,
00:52:04.840
gosh, I remember what I learned in church. I remember that Bible passage. I know that hymn.
00:52:09.580
And so, gosh, there are so many different ways that we can sow those seeds for our kids,
00:52:14.880
spiritual and also physical. You're right. They look back and they're like, wait,
00:52:20.940
Right. I know. Yes. I know what to do. And so, yeah, I really do think they come back around.
00:52:26.540
And when they start caring, you know, kids are so much more resilient, but with that aging process,
00:52:31.740
you know, things don't work as well as they used to. And so like, oh yeah, maybe I should
00:52:35.780
eat more protein. Maybe I should, you know, I'd like my skin to look a little clearer.
00:52:39.820
Mom told me that this, you know, that. So yeah, they will come back around.
00:52:44.560
What is your, I would just say like final message or like, how would you encapsulate
00:52:49.320
what you wish people knew? I know this is a big question. There's probably a million ways that you
00:52:54.520
could answer it. But what do you wish people knew about being healthy, food, our bodies,
00:53:02.240
if you just had like, okay, you got 30 seconds to tell the world how to think about food and eating
00:53:10.200
and weight loss, dieting, all those things. What would you say?
00:53:13.880
I say the creator of your body knows the perfect foods for your body, made the perfect provision
00:53:20.440
for your body. Use the Lord, use God's word as your compass. Eat plant foods, eat animal foods,
00:53:27.680
know that your body is designed with an amazing resilience. It is always for you. It is on your
00:53:35.380
side. And when you give it what it needs, it knows exactly what to do. And just honoring that
00:53:42.300
self-stewardship and knowing that we use our body to glorify the kingdom, to be the hands and feet of
00:53:49.940
Christ in the world. As we started this, kind of coming back around, that our bodies take us through
00:53:54.680
this gift of life. And stewarding well means that we show up to all that God has called us to do.
00:54:01.080
And so always keeping that first and foremost, first and foremost, way over the scale, way over
00:54:06.360
the, you know, am I going to fit in my reunion dress or whatever it is, that is a very crown for
00:54:11.480
the day experience. It's very fleeting. But when we're taking care of our body as a vessel of the
00:54:16.600
Holy Spirit, it's just a complete different focus. And I think we do, um, we do take it more
00:54:24.280
seriously. Um, and, and, um, just, yeah, you know, definitely have a different viewpoint about it.
00:54:32.460
Exactly. And the Christian viewpoint is different because we actually care about the body more than
00:54:39.600
anyone because it is the dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. And that is the why behind so many of
00:54:46.760
God's commands. Of course, he cares about our hearts and our souls and our mind and all of that. But
00:54:52.440
nutrition, just as anything else we do with our body, it, it, it matters. It matters because God gave us
00:55:02.200
these bodies, uh, purposely and he loves our bodies. That's not just why he commanded the things he did
00:55:09.840
about food, but also part of why he gives us the commands that he does about marriage and sexuality,
00:55:16.340
how we spend our time, how we're supposed to refuse the temptation to worry, to be anxious, to fear.
00:55:23.600
All of these things have an effect on our bodies and God really cares about our bodies. He loves our
00:55:29.660
bodies. He wants us to love our bodies. And Christianity is so interesting in that it cares
00:55:35.120
about the body so much that we actually read about a resurrection of the bodies. Right. People
00:55:39.680
sometimes like think of human beings as just like, oh, well the body is temporary. It's just about
00:55:44.780
appearances. It's just superficial here today, gone tomorrow. Partly true in that, yeah, we're all
00:55:51.220
going to age and beauty fades and all of that, but the body matters forever. That's how much God
00:55:59.600
cares about the body, how much he cares about gender, how much he cares about life, how much he cares
00:56:04.920
about what we put in our bodies, that it actually lasts. It lasts forever. And it really is stewardship,
00:56:12.440
like you said. It is. It is stewardship. And, um, you know, and I'll just say that the body is
00:56:20.040
ground where the enemy really tries to, to interfere and get in, you know, if, if he can get in and make
00:56:28.480
us not only physically unwell with these health habits, but keep us in mind drama about our diet
00:56:38.560
and our weight and all these things. And it just distract us, distracts us from all that we're called
00:56:43.960
to do here. I mean, Eve was tempted by food, right? In the very beginning. And so, um, truly it is
00:56:52.100
spiritual warfare when we are, um, not stewarding our bodies and thinking of it in the way that,
00:56:59.420
gosh, this is the way that we show up in the world to, to be, uh, to spread God's love and his message.
00:57:09.480
The Christian nutritionist.com. That's where I am everywhere on Facebook, Instagram,
00:57:15.060
uh, website, the Christian health club podcast is where I go into all of these topics more deeply.
00:57:21.260
And so. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate you being here.