Preface/ About the Author/ Disclaimers/ Sources …………………………………………………..... 5
Introduction – The Author's Experience …………………………………………………………....... 7

Chapter One – Fruits …………………………………………………………………………...… 11
Chapter Two – Vegetables ……………………………………………………………………….. 23
Chapter Three – Nuts, Seeds, and Peanuts ……………………………………………………..… 35
Chapter Four – Whole Grains …………………………………………………………………….. 45
Chapter Five – Legumes ………………………………………………………………………….. 55
Chapter Six – Vegetable Oils and Related Foods ……………………………………………….… 61

Chapter Seven – Vegetarianism and the Bible ……………………………………………………… 77
Chapter Eight – God-given Meats and Problems with Vegetarianism …………………...…………... 95
Chapter Nine – Red Meats and Fowl ………………………………………………………….…. 109
Chapter Ten – Fish ………………………………………………………………………………. 119
Chapter Eleven – Milk ………………………………………………………………………….... 131
Chapter Twelve – Other Dairy Foods and Eggs …………………………………………………... 139

Chapter Thirteen – Beverages …………………………………………………………………..… 149
Chapter Fourteen – Sweeteners …………………………………………………………………... 161
Chapter Fifteen – Condiments …………………………………………………………………….. 171
Chapter Sixteen – Desert and Snack Foods ……………………………………………………….. 177

Chapter Seventeen – The Glycemic Index ……………………………………………………….... 189
Chapter Eighteen – Organic Foods: Are They Worth the Cost? …………………………………… 195
Chapter Nineteen – Hormones and Diet …………………………………………………………... 199
Chapter Twenty – Starting and Progressing in an Exercise Program ……………………………....... 211

Chapter Twenty-one – Summary of God-given Foods and non-God-given Foods ………………... 221
Chapter Twenty-two – Fine-tuning a God-given Foods Eating Plan ………………………………. 227
Chapter Twenty-three – Starting and Following a GGFEP .............……………………………….. 235
Chapter Twenty-four – The Author's Eating Plan/ Sample Menus ……………………………….... 245
Conclusion to Book ……………………………………………………………………………… 253

Appendix One – Additional Books by the Author ………………………………………………… 257
Appendix Two – Web Sites and Newsletters by the Author/ Contacting the Author ……………….. 259

The first food group to be investigated is fruits.

Fruits have a prominent place in the Bible, with "fruit" being mentioned 189 times and "fruits" 20 times. Some of these references use "fruit" in a metaphoric sense, such as in the well-known phrase "fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22). But most of the references are to fruit as a food.

So fruit and fruit trees are singled out for a special mention during the creation narrative.

The most obvious food that grows on trees is fruit. Eve clearly understood God intended her and Adam to eat fruit when she told the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden" (Genesis 3:2). Unfortunately, she went on to eat of the one tree God said not to, and the rest, as they say, is history. But be that as it may, it is clear God intended fruit to be eaten as food.

When Moses sent out the spies to investigate the Promised Land, he told them to, "… bring some of the fruit of the land." So Moses wanted to know what kind of fruit grew in the Promised Land. The text then tells us, "Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes" (Numbers 13:20). So fruit was so important that seasons were recorded based on what fruits were ripe at the time.

So "one hundred clusters of raisins" and "one hundred summer fruits" were considered to be a pleasing gift. They are even specifically said to be "for the young men to eat."

Some specific fruits are mentioned as well. Grapes were mentioned in one of the previously quoted verses. Grapes are mentioned 37 additional times in Scripture. Jesus even refers to grapes when He asks, "They do not gather a grape cluster from thorns, or figs from thistles, do they?" (Matthew 7:16). He then says, "every good tree yields good fruits" (v.17), with the implication that grapes are among these "good fruits."

Figs are also mentioned in this passage, again with the implication they are among these "good fruits." Figs are mentioned 21 additional times and fig trees six times.

Raisins were mentioned in the passage from 2Samuel quoted above. There are seven additional references to raisins.

So figs and raisins, along with bread and water, are given to this man to restore his strength.

Apples are mentioned seven times in the Bible, most often in the affectionate phrase, "the apple of His eye" (Deuteronomy 32:10, Psalm 17:8; Proverbs 7:2; Zechariah 2:8). Apple trees are mentioned three times (Song 2:3; 8:5; Joel 1:22).

Melons are mentioned by the Israelites when they fondly (though ungratefully) remembered what they ate in Egypt (Numbers 11:5).

Pomegranate is mentioned ten times and pomegranates 23 times. Most of these references are by way of symbolism used in the clothing worn by the high priest (Exodus 28:33,34; 29:24,25) and in the pillars and wreaths in the temple (1Kings 7:18,20,42; 2Chronicles 3:16, 4:13). But there are eight references to pomegranates as food (Numbers 13:23; 20:5; Deuteronomy 8:8; Song 4:13; 6:11; 7:12; Joel 1:12; Haggai 2:19).

So "fruit" or "fruits" are mentioned over 200 times and some specific fruits are mentioned dozens of times in the Bible. Many of these references refer to fruit as being nourishing for hungry people. So this is more than enough to establish fruits as being a God-given food.

With fruit being a God-given food, it is no surprise fruits are an excellent source of a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. This can be seen in the high percentages of the Daily Value for various nutrients they provide. The Daily Value (DV) is the amount of a nutrient that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends to be consumed each day. It is the basis for the "Nutrition Facts" values seen on food labels.

Fruits like apricots and cantaloupe are high in beta-carotene (the precursor to vitamin A). Just one apricot contains 10% of the DV for vitamin A and half a cup of diced cantaloupe contains 28%.

Citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruits, along with cantaloupe, kiwi, and strawberries, are excellent sources of vitamin C. One average Florida orange contains 113% of the DV for vitamin C, half of a white Florida grapefruit 73%, a half-cup of diced cantaloupe 94%, and a half-cup of strawberries 71%. Kiwis are the highest of all, with just one kiwi containing a very high 144%.

Folic acid is found in high supply in oranges (26% of the DV) and grapefruit (11% in half a grapefruit). Most berries are a rich source of manganese, with half a cup of blackberries containing 41% of the DV.

Fruits in general are a good source of potassium, with bananas being a particularly good source (15% for an average-sized banana).

Just as important as the vitamins and minerals in fruits is their antioxidant capacity. Antioxidants neutralize "free radicals."

Free radicals are implicated in the formation of cancers and in increasing the risk of heart disease. They are even believed to be responsible for the aging process in general. So neutralizing them is very beneficial.

Beta-carotene and vitamin C are antioxidants, as are vitamin E and the mineral selenium. But there are also elements in fruit other than vitamins and minerals that have antioxidant capabilities. These are known as phytonutrients (or phytochemicals). They are mainly the pigments that give fruits their bright colors.

So generally speaking, the brighter or darker colored a fruit is, the greater its antioxidant capacity. This can be seen in the following study:

What this means is brightly colored fruit like blueberries that are not very high in specific vitamins and minerals are still very healthy due to their high antioxidant capacity.

It should also be noted. "… peeled apples are not as healthful as the whole fruit. Canadian researchers recently discovered that 80 percent of an apple's antioxidants are found in the skin, (That's where you'll find the fiber too)" (Men's Health. "Nutrition Bulletin," September 2005, p.540). So when the peel of a fruit is edible, it is best to consume it.

Along these lines, fruit juice would not be as healthy as whole fruits, especially if the whole fruit is not included in the juice. For instance, apples are usually peeled before they are made into juice, so most of the antioxidants would be lost.

Moreover, most often the fiber is filtered out when fruit is made into juice. Plus, the processing often destroys some of the nutrients in the fruit. So what you're left with is mainly just the sugar in the fruit but very little of the beneficial elements. Or to put it another way, the food has been altered so much that it barely resembles the nutrient-packed food that God created for us to eat.

This point leads to a theme that will recur throughout this book. The more processed a food is, generally speaking, the less nutritious it is. And foods that are so highly processed as to contain very little of the original God-given nutrients can no longer be classified as God-given foods.

In fact, "juice" is only mentioned one time in Scripture, in the Song of Solomon, "I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother, she who used to instruct me. I would cause you to drink of spiced wine, Of the juice of my pomegranate" (8:2).

This one verse provides little support for juice being a form of fruit that is God-given. But importantly, pomegranate juice is usually not very processed. So it still contains much of the original nutrients and antioxidants. But this is not the case for most other fruit juices.

The next point to be covered is a fruit's nutrient density. By this is meant the amount of nutrients and phytonutrients a particular fruit contains in comparison to its caloric levels. The greater the ratio of nutrients to calories the more "bang for your buck" you'll get from the fruit.

So a fruit with a high amount of nutrients and antioxidants and a low amount of calories would be best. And generally speaking, the higher the fiber and water content of a fruit, the lower its caloric levels, and thus the greater its nutrient density.

For instance, one of the previous quotes mentioned that prunes, raisins, blueberries and blackberries had the highest levels of antioxidants. But this was by weight. Since prunes and raisins are dried fruits, they have little water content. So by weight and by volume, they have a much higher caloric content than berries, which have a high water and fiber content.

Specifically, half a cup of prunes has 193 calories and of raisins 221 calories, but a half cup of blueberries only has 40 calories and of blackberries only 38 calories. So even though raisins and prunes are high in antioxidants, you get a lot of calories with those antioxidants. But berries provide the antioxidants at a very low caloric cost.

Also, fruits that are high in fiber and water tend to provide greater satiety value. This means they fill you up faster and for longer. For instance, one average sized apple only has 81 calories. You would only be able to eat about three tablespoons of raisins to keep to this caloric level. But the apple would fill you up much more than what would be a small handful of raisins.

The final point about fruit is its glycemic rating. Much more will be said about the glycemic index in Chapter Seventeen. But here it will simply be said that the lower a food's glycemic rating the less it raises blood sugar levels. Conversely, the higher the glycemic rating the more the food raises blood sugar levels. A lower glycemic response is better for reasons that will be detailed later.

You need to consult a glycemic ratings chart to know for sure what a particular fruit's glycemic rating is. But generally speaking, fruits that are high in both water and fiber content tend to have lower glycemic ratings than ones that are low in one or the other.

So berries, high in both water and fiber, have a low glycemic rating, while bananas, with a low water content, have a moderate rating, and watermelon, with a low fiber content, has a high rating. Dried fruit also has a high rating, and fruit juices have higher ratings than the fruits they are made out of. So both dried and juiced forms of fruits would not be as beneficial as the whole fruits.

So dried fruit is still good food. But due to its concentrated sugar content, it is not as beneficial as fresh fruit.

There are a wide variety of fruits available, such as: apples, apricots, bananas, berries, cantaloupe, cherries, dates, figs, honeydew, granadilla (passion fruit), grapes, grapefruit, guava, jackfruit, lemons, limes, kiwi, kumquats, mangos, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, plums, pineapple, pomegranates, tangerines, and watermelon.

All of these fruits are healthy, God-given foods. But dark or brightly colored fruits with a high water and high fiber content, lower caloric levels, and a low glycemic rating would be best. Fruits that fit all of these criteria are apricots, berries (all colors and types), cherries, grapes (red and purple, not white), kiwis, and plums. These would be the best fruits. Next best would be the various citrus fruits and the more "exotic" fruits like guava and papaya.

The preceding discussion on phytonutrients is one reason why supplements of vitamins and minerals are not the best way to nourish our bodies. It is best to attain nourishment from real food like fruit. Such God-given foods not only contain vitamins and minerals, they also contain these antioxidant phytonutrients.

This is not to say there is not a place for supplements. But they are just that, a way to supplement or to add a little "extra" to a healthy diet. In no way can supplements make up for an unhealthy diet. In fact, if it is necessary to supplement a person's diet to make up for a nutrient deficiency, then most likely there is something wrong with that person's eating plan.

God did not intend for us to get our nourishment from pills. He put all that we need in the foods He provided for us. But we need to eat a variety of these God-given foods. This point will be another theme of this book. And fruit is one such God-given food to include in a diverse eating plan.

With such a wealth of nutrients and phytonutrients, it's no surprise there are proven health benefits to the consumption of fruit. Below is a sampling of research and comments on the value of fruit.