The Standard American Diet

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of

your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his

good, pleasing and perfect will. -Romans 2:12

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If

anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and

you are that temple. -1 Corinthians 3:16-17

If we are going to change our nutrition, we are going to need to change

our minds about the way we eat.

The problem is we live in a profoundly sick society, especially if you live

in America. The standard American diet (SAD) is characterized by high

intakes of processed meat, pre-packaged foods, butter, fried foods,

high-fat dairy products, refined grains, corn, high-fructose corn syrup

and high-sugar drinks.

This SAD diet, telling acronym, has led to an increase in a host of diseases

including obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Let’s take diabetes alone. In 1960, less than 1% of the population was

diagnosed with diabetes. In 2017, that number increased to 9.4%. We

skyrocketed from 1 in 100 people with diabetes to 1 in 10 people in about

half a century.

If we conform to the patterns of this world (Romans 12:2), the SAD diet

most Americans consume, we are headed toward disease.

So what needs to go? The main three villains in this story are:

1. Sugar (especially added sugars)

2. Refined Flour

3. Vegetable Oils (Canola, Corn, Soybean, Sunflower, Safflower, and

cottonseed)

These are what we find in almost all packaged or processed foods. Check

the labels of the packages the next time you are at the store or in your

pantry.

Sugar, refined flour, and vegetable oils are man-made substances that

God did not intend for us to consume. Our bodies were not designed to

know what to do with them, so they cause disease in our body.

Not only does our body not know how to process processed foods, these

foods are designed by food scientists to be easy to eat, tasty, and

addicting. Did you know that sugar activates the same part of your brain,

the nucleus accumbens, as cocaine?

What we DON’T put into our bodies is just as, if not more important,

than what we do put into our bodies. You can’t eat enough broccoli to

undo the damage processed foods do to our body.

So what do we eat? We’ll talk about that next week. For today, let’s

remove or drastically reduce the added sugars, refined flours, and

vegetable oils from our plates.

Prayer: God help me to identify foods that are helping my body and foods that are

hurting my body. Let me honor you in my food choices, as I clean up the dwelling

where your holy spirit resides. Thank you for leading me toward the healthiest

version of myself, so that I can glorify you with my life.

If you want someone to help you get back on track, encourage you, and help you achieve your health goals, contact me about becoming a coaching client.

If you are new to the blog, I want to encourage you to go back and check out my previous posts, as they serve as the foundation for what we talk about each week.

Here's to the best version of you!