Rebuild His Temple

Learn

Nourish

Food as it was given

The pattern, not the product

Poor diet is now the leading risk factor for early death worldwide, linked to about 11 million deaths a year. The largest shares come from too little whole grain, fruit, nuts and seeds, and too much sodium1. The problem is less about one villain than about what is missing from the plate.

The best-tested answer is the Mediterranean pattern: vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, olive oil, nuts and fish, with little processed meat or sugar. In the PREDIMED trial of 7,447 adults at high risk, it reduced heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death by about 30% compared with low-fat advice2. In the Lyon Diet Heart Study, people who had already had a heart attack had 50 to 70% fewer recurrences on it3.

The land God described to Israel is this pattern: “a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey” (Deuteronomy 8:8). The food God called good in the garden was plants bearing seed and trees bearing fruit, and after the flood He gave animals for food as well. Scripture names no diet plan, and neither should we be dogmatic about one. It does describe a table of real food, received with thanks.

Eat food close to how it was made

In a tightly controlled study at the US National Institutes of Health, twenty adults lived in a metabolic ward and ate either ultra-processed or unprocessed meals matched for calories, sugar, fat and fibre. On the ultra-processed diet they ate about 500 more calories a day and gained weight; on whole food they lost it4. Nothing about willpower changed. The food did.

Fibre is the clearest marker of whole food. Across 185 studies and 58 trials, people eating 25 to 29 g a day had 15 to 30% lower rates of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, bowel cancer and early death than those eating the least5. Soluble fibre from oats, beans and psyllium lowers LDL cholesterol directly67.

Eating about 800 g of fruit and vegetables a day, roughly ten portions, is associated with the lowest risk of heart disease and early death8. People who eat a handful of nuts daily have about 20% lower mortality than those who eat none9.

Fat, sugar and salt

Replacing saturated fat (butter, fatty and processed meat, coconut and palm oil) with unsaturated fat (olive oil, nuts, fish) lowers cardiovascular disease by about 30% in randomized trials, an effect similar to statin treatment10.

One to two sugar-sweetened drinks a day is linked to a 26% higher risk of type 2 diabetes11. Proverbs puts it gently: “Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you” (Proverbs 25:16). Sweetness is a gift. Sufficiency is the wisdom.

The DASH trials showed that a diet rich in vegetables, fruit and low-fat dairy lowers blood pressure within two weeks, by about 11 mmHg systolic in people with hypertension12, and that cutting sodium lowers it further13.

Low-carb or low-fat?

In the year-long DIETFITS trial of 609 adults, a healthy low-fat diet and a healthy low-carbohydrate diet produced the same weight loss, and neither genes nor insulin levels predicted who did better on which14. Both groups were told to eat vegetables, cut sugar and refined flour, and choose whole food. The quality was the common factor.

For type 2 diabetes, weight loss itself is powerful. In the DiRECT trial, a structured programme in ordinary GP practices put diabetes into remission in 46% of participants at one year, and in 86% of those who lost 15 kg or more15. In the Diabetes Prevention Program, modest weight loss with 150 minutes of weekly activity cut new diabetes by 58%, almost twice the effect of metformin16.

Fasting

Daniel asked for ten days of vegetables and water, and looked better for it (Daniel 1:12-16). Studies of a 21-day “Daniel Fast” (plants only, no processed food) found lower cholesterol, blood pressure and inflammation17. Adventists who eat vegetarian diets live longer than those who do not18.

Eating earlier in the day and leaving a long overnight gap improved insulin sensitivity and blood pressure in men with prediabetes, even without weight loss19. In Scripture, though, fasting is never a health method. It is hunger turned into prayer (Matthew 6:16-18). If you fast, fast for that. Anyone on insulin or a sulfonylurea, pregnant, underweight or with a history of disordered eating should not fast without medical advice.

Alcohol

The largest global analysis found that the level of drinking associated with the least harm is none, with risk rising with every drink20. Scripture permits wine and warns hard against excess. For these 52 days, consider leaving it out and letting your blood work tell you what changed.

References

  1. GBD 2017 Diet Collaborators Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet. 2019. PubMed 30954305 · Full text
  2. Estruch R et al. Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet Supplemented with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil or Nuts. N Engl J Med. 2018. PubMed 29897866 · Full text
  3. de Lorgeril M et al. Mediterranean diet, traditional risk factors, and the rate of cardiovascular complications after myocardial infarction: final report of the Lyon Diet Heart Study. Circulation. 1999. PubMed 9989963 · Full text
  4. Hall KD et al. Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake. Cell Metab. 2019. PubMed 31105044 · Full text
  5. Reynolds A et al. Carbohydrate quality and human health: a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Lancet. 2019. PubMed 30638909 · Full text
  6. Brown L et al. Cholesterol-lowering effects of dietary fiber: a meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999. PubMed 9925120 · Full text
  7. Jovanovski E et al. Effect of psyllium (Plantago ovata) fiber on LDL cholesterol and alternative lipid targets, non-HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2018. PubMed 30239559 · Full text
  8. Aune D et al. Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality-a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies. Int J Epidemiol. 2017. PubMed 28338764 · Full text
  9. Bao Y et al. Association of nut consumption with total and cause-specific mortality. N Engl J Med. 2013. PubMed 24256379 · Full text
  10. Sacks FM et al. Dietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2017. PubMed 28620111 · Full text
  11. Malik VS et al. Sugar-sweetened beverages and risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis. Diabetes Care. 2010. PubMed 20693348 · Full text
  12. Appel LJ et al. A clinical trial of the effects of dietary patterns on blood pressure. DASH Collaborative Research Group. N Engl J Med. 1997. PubMed 9099655 · Full text
  13. Sacks FM et al. Effects on blood pressure of reduced dietary sodium and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. DASH-Sodium Collaborative Research Group. N Engl J Med. 2001. PubMed 11136953 · Full text
  14. Gardner CD et al. Effect of Low-Fat vs Low-Carbohydrate Diet on 12-Month Weight Loss in Overweight Adults and the Association With Genotype Pattern or Insulin Secretion: The DIETFITS Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2018. PubMed 29466592 · Full text
  15. Lean ME et al. Primary care-led weight management for remission of type 2 diabetes (DiRECT): an open-label, cluster-randomised trial. Lancet. 2018. PubMed 29221645 · Full text
  16. Knowler WC et al. Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. N Engl J Med. 2002. PubMed 11832527 · Full text
  17. Bloomer RJ et al. Effect of a 21 day Daniel Fast on metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk factors in men and women. Lipids Health Dis. 2010. PubMed 20815907 · Full text
  18. Orlich MJ et al. Vegetarian dietary patterns and mortality in Adventist Health Study 2. JAMA Intern Med. 2013. PubMed 23836264 · Full text
  19. Sutton EF et al. Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress Even without Weight Loss in Men with Prediabetes. Cell Metab. 2018. PubMed 29754952 · Full text
  20. GBD 2016 Alcohol Collaborators Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet. 2018. PubMed 30146330 · Full text

Build my plan