- Thou shalt not eat junk food or snack between meals is
the 11th commandment for millions of Americans caught up in a Bible-based
slimming craze.
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- In The Weigh Down Diet, Gwen Shamblin advises readers
to stick within "God's perfect boundaries of hunger and fullness"
if they want to shed a pound or two.
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- Dr Don Colbert, author of What Would Jesus Eat? advocates
consuming large amounts of "living foods" from non-animal sources
and cutting out processed or "dead" foods completely.
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- Meanwhile, the Rev George Malkmus, from North Carolina,
has a successful range of books featuring his Hallelujah Diet, inspired
by Genesis 1:29: "And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every herb-bearing
seed, which is upon the face of all the Earth, and every tree, in the which
is the fruit of a tree-yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.'"
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- Mr Malkmus recommends an 80 per cent raw food diet and
bans all animal products except pure honey. He argues that, in Biblical
times, people who ate a raw diet lived an average of 912 years, although
concedes he lacks the science to prove it.
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- But "the Lord gave us everything we need in the
Garden of Eden: fruit vegetables, nuts and seeds," he insists. "That's
why we call the way we eat the Hallelujah Diet. We celebrate its true creator."
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- However, even God could be forgiven for getting confused
by the conflicting advice being touted by the Christian health brigade.
In The Maker's Diet, the most recent addition to this particular slimming
genre, author Jordan S Rubin warns against a strict vegan and raw food
regimen.
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- Instead, his approach, drawn from Leviticus, promotes
"consuming meats, poultry, dairy in a form the body was designed for".
That, says Mr Rubin - who describes himself as "a biblical health
coach" - means eating yoghurt derived from raw, fermented milk rather
than the pasteurised, low-fat, flavoured variety.
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- So far, nutrition experts are unconvinced. Louise Sutton,
a dietitian who is head of health and exercise science at Leeds Metropolitan
University, thinks some of the approaches go too far.
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- "Of course you will lose weight if you start cutting
out whole food groups and eating only uncooked meals," she says. "But
it is so difficult to stick to. Diets that advocate such harsh changes
from normal eating patterns are not healthy."
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- She adds that certain recommendations, such as the use
of unpasteurised foods, are unrealistic and inadvisable. "The idea
might appeal to people who favour a back-to-nature, organic approach, but
it's risky to health and is certainly not something that will benefit anyone
in today's society."
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- Certainly, none of the books meets current healthy eating
guidelines. In the case of 70-year-old Mr Malkmus's diet plan, one researcher
found it to be deficient in certain vitamins.
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- He admits to being shocked by the thought that "God's
eating plan might have a flaw", but puts it down to fruits and vegetables
being more nutritious before intensive farming methods eradicated vitamins
and minerals from the topsoil.
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- Cynics suggest that the underlying motives of the authors
are perhaps not entirely Christian, that maybe they are swelling their
coffers by cashing in on the $40m US diet market.
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- Already, there are spin-off products being launched off
the back of the Bible diet craze, including a range of supplements and
"advanced hygiene" toiletries being marketed by Mr Rubin's company,
Garden of Life.
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- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=533353
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