Faith-based diets promote health for body and soul

MIAMI

Eve had no idea that when she took that forbidden first bite of organic apple that she would be linking food and religion forever. Thousands of years later, evangelicals and worshippers of low-carb diets are worrying about how many carbs are in their communion crackers.

In the first go-round, dozens of books such as the “Hallelujah Diet” and “The Maker’s Diet” hearkened back to the fare of biblical times to take off the pounds that church potlucks and Sunday picnics packed on.

But the latest crop of faith-based diet books are moving outside the realm of food and exercise, touting a more holistic approach that encourages everything from advanced hygiene, a challenge to feed the poor and a call to add prayer and meditation alongside your vegetables and hormone-free meat.

Author Tom Hafer says diet and exercise don’t just benefit you, they allow you to live a longer, healthier life to better care for others.

In “Faith and Fitness: Diet and Exercise for a Better World,” Mr. Hafer says the bulk of the $40 billion diet industry is all about self. But this hippie preacher says the real focus should be consuming the right amount of food for ourselves and saving the excess resources for the millions dying from hunger.

“This is motivation like no other. When we switch the understanding of self to the global community, we have more than enough motivation to last a lifetime,” said Mr. Hafer, a recent seminary graduate and physical therapist from Cape Coral.

Jordan Rubin says his latest book, “The Great Physician’s Rx for Health & Wellness,” is a “God-inspired road map to wholeness for the body, mind and soul.” It also includes a series of 35 smaller books targeting diseases including diabetes, cancer, arthritis and irritable bowel syndrome.

His first book, “The Maker’s Diet,” called for dramatic diet changes, but this series was written for the average person interested in making one change a day. It also gives more credence to advanced hygiene — cleanse your nasal passages and mucous membranes and use an essential-oil-based tooth solution. It also calls for reducing toxins in the environment — be wary of chemicals in makeup and cleaning products — and live a life of prayer and purpose.

“You can’t be healthy if you only care for your physical body. There is an emotional side, a mental side, a spiritual side,” said Mr. Rubin, who lives in West Palm Beach with his wife and son.

Some scientists also acknowledge the link between religion and health.

Dr. Harold G. Koenig, professor of psychiatry and behavior sciences at Duke University Medical Center, has conducted several studies that show religious people tend to have shorter hospital stays, lower depression and blood pressure rates, and longer life spans.

He attributes part of the success of faith-based diets to support from the religious community.

“If you have a faith community and you’re doing it all together and you can connect it to your belief system, then it makes it a lot easier to change your behavior and maintain that,” Dr. Koenig said.

Effectiveness aside, it’s hard to deny the rising popularity of faith-based diet books, though no figures have been reported.

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