Healthy and Healing - Part 2

Continuing from yesterday's post, here are the 

second SIX healthy food items found in the Bible.

7.        Legumes:  2 Samuel 17:28-29, Genesis 25:34.  As reported in the book of Samuel, beans were among the highly nutritious foods sent to feed King David's hungry army and restore their strength for the hard times ahead.  Beans have a lot of soluble fiber, which helps lower LDL and reduce blood pressure.  The fiber also helps keep blood sugar levels stable, stave off hunger, and even reduce the insulin requirements of people suffering from diabetes.

8.       Nuts, including almonds, pistachio nuts and walnuts:  Song of Solomon 6:11, Gen. 43:11.  Botanists today believe that Solomon's "garden of nuts" referred to in Scripture was a rich grove of walnut trees.  At the time, walnuts were prized for the oil they produced, which was regarded as only slightly inferior to olive oil.  Nuts contain the right mixtures of natural ingredients whose benefits include cancer prevention, a lower risk of heart disease and help for diabetics

9.       Olives:  The olive was one of the most valuable and versatile trees of biblical times.  It is mentioned frequently throughout the Bible.  Probably the most famous reference to olive oil and its healing powers is in the parable of the Good Samaritan, in which the Samaritan cares for a beaten and robbed traveler, treating his wounds with oil and wine.  Olive oil, mixed with wine, was even used to soften and soothe bruises and wounds. 

10.   Onions:  Numbers 11:5.  Like its cousin, garlic, the onion is noted as a cure-all.  And the folk healers hold it in high regard as far back as 6000 years or more.  At least 3000 years before the birth of Christ, onions were treasured both as food and for their therapeutic value --- particularly in the treatment of kidney and bladder problems

11.    Wheat:  Jeremiah 41:8, Ezekiel 4:9.  Wheat was the "staff of life."  Biblical people ate their grain boiled and parched, soaked and roasted, and even ate it green from the stalk.  It was pounded, dried or crushed to be baked into casseroles, porridges, soups, parched grain salads and desserts.  Ezekiel's bread was intended to be a survival food during the dark days of the Babylonion conquest because it contained wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt.  Wheat bran is high in insoluble fiber. 

12.   Wine:   I Timothy 5:23. John 4:46.  Making wine from grapes is one of the most ancient arts and the beverage of choice in the Bible.  According to Genesis, one of the first things Noah did after the flood was plant a vineyard so he could make wine.  Researchers are now rediscovering what the physicians of the Bible knew centuries ago.  In moderation, wine has a profound impact on our health and healing.  Just a single glass of wine a day may be enough to raise the good cholesterol by 7% and help the body put up a barrier to a variety of cancers.

Excerpts were taken from “12 Healthy and Healing Foods from the Bible” by Judy Thompson, M.A. Health & Physical Education.  Read the full article HERE.  

Have you shared the good news about healthy food with friends today?