Guideline 1: Ensuring the Quality of Substances Entering the Body

Body cells regenerate and rebuild, as known, from the food entering the body. It is clear then that good quality food builds and renews a healthy body, while poor food builds a declining body. Moreover, much of modern food contains fatty substances that enter the bloodstream, and when in excessive amounts, stick to artery walls and thicken until they block blood flow to essential areas. The outcome is well-known.

There are other substances involved in industrial food, introduced by people into their bodies without realizing that once inside, they encourage body cells to behave incorrectly and uncontrollably, leading to various tumors.

Therefore, food consumption should adhere to the following rules, all based on being more connected to the natural products created for us with love by the Creator and less to industrial products made for economic interests.

The two basic principles regarding food quality and components are:

A. The food should be diverse and contain all body needs: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Priority should be given to minimally processed products, like whole grains and fresh vegetables, whose nutritional value and benefits are intact, and preferred over more processed ones like white flour products and canned vegetables.

B. Avoid as much as possible the consumption of artificial colorings, preservatives, processed fats such as margarine, cholesterol-laden products, and significantly reduce the amounts of sugar and salt common in modern society.

Let us elaborate.

A healthy and nutritious daily menu consists of meals that include all the materials the body needs for cell building, as well as burning and moving like fuel for a vehicle. This menu includes:

1. Carbohydrates, such as bread, potatoes, rice, and the like.

2. A portion of proteins, such as chickpeas, beans, fish, chicken, or meat.

3. A bit of quality fats, like olive oil (cold-pressed by a reputable company, known as "extra virgin" or "superior virgin"), canola oil, etc. It should be noted that in many meals the body gets its required portion of fat from foods containing natural oils like avocado, nuts, etc., without needing to add more.

4. Vitamins and minerals abundantly present in fresh fruits and vegetables.

Avoiding Harmful Foods

Until now, we have addressed the food components desirable in a daily menu. However, in modern times, attention must also be given to avoiding the introduction of toxic and harmful substances that are knowingly added to consumer marketed products for the manufacturer's financial gain. Therefore, one should avoid as much as possible the consumption of products containing artificial colorings, preservatives, processed fats such as margarine, cholesterol-laden products, etc., and significantly reduce the amounts of sugar and salt. To encourage caution regarding these components, we will briefly specify their harm.

Food Colorings: The word "food" is misleading. It implies that the color resembles those suitable for consumption, like the red in watermelon or the orange in an orange, when in reality, they are generally made from various metal powders and coal tar. Yet some people strangely decided they are edible.

In reality, there is debate on their extent of harm and if some indeed cause cancer. However, there is significant concern regarding the motives of those claiming these substances are not so harmful. Also, the increasing number of people suffering from severe illnesses with the expanded use of industrial substances does not support their claim. It is puzzling that while some substances banned for consumption and marketing in other countries are allowed in Israel. For instance, the red-yellow color named Beta-apo-8 is banned for food and marketing in the USA and Europe, another coloring named E123 is banned in the USA and other countries, while in Israel, they are freely marketed and consumed. Undoubtedly, all food colorings are harmful to some degree and should be avoided as much as possible.

Preservatives: Typically, the word "preservation" has a positive meaning. However, in our context, it involves in most parts toxins that kill bacteria. By destroying these bacteria, preservatives prevent product spoilage and allow manufacturers to profit from the product's long shelf life. Yet these substances remain in food, entering the human body and continuing to harm and destroy even the beneficial gut bacteria necessary for effective digestion.

Hardened Fats: The human body was created in harmony with the natural world surrounding it, making it capable of breaking down and digesting natural fats. However, a hardened fat like margarine is liquid natural oil that underwent industrial processing to solidify it. This fat is unfamiliar to the body, making it quite difficult to digest and properly use, potentially damaging body cells.

In this context, regarding animal fats, in previous generations, cattle and sheep ate fresh grass in nature, and their meat and fat were of reasonable health quality. In this age, when animals are injected with growth hormones and fed low-quality food containing pesticides and antibiotics, the impact on meat quality is evident. Hence, significantly reducing the consumption of beef and lamb is advisable, and certainly, avoiding their saturated fats rich in harmful substances is crucial. This applies even to unprocessed meat, let alone processed ones.

Cholesterol-rich Products: Cholesterol is a fat-like substance found in blood that protects artery walls from wear. However, there are two types of cholesterol. There's good cholesterol (HDL) that protects and benefits, and bad cholesterol (LDL). The bad cholesterol causes high blood pressure, gallstones, artery calcification, and heart diseases.

Bad cholesterol is found in animal fats, in both meat products and dairy product fats, as well as in liver and egg yolk.

Good cholesterol is found in salmon, mackerel, sardines, flax, soy, and more.

Sugar: One of the major harmful substances abundantly found in modern food. Sugar is produced from sugar beet and sugarcane, which in their natural form contain fibers, minerals, and vitamins. However, after processing, they are marketed once all beneficial and healthy components are removed, leaving only the white sugar providing empty carbohydrates. Brown sugar isn't much healthier as it is white sugar with a bit restored to it.

The significant damage from sugar comes from the fact that to break down these useless carbohydrates, the body uses its vitamin and mineral reserves. Thus, not only does the sugar fail to benefit the body, but it also drains its resources. Additionally, sugar negatively affects in several ways:

A substantial portion of children with attention and concentration problems is affected by sugar excess. It has been proven that significantly reducing sugar in their diet caused calmness in many (and by the way, before rushing to give these children chemical medications, assess the child's sleep hours and iron levels in his blood. Some children benefited from natural remedies without needing chemical drugs, and each case should be examined by a professional who understands and is qualified).

Excessive sugar causes calcium reserves depletion in the body, weakening bones.

Decay-causing bacteria multiply due to sugar consumption. The list of diseases caused by sugar is long.[1] Human nature doesn’t require sweetening water with sugar or adding sugar to foods. Those used to drinking sweetened drinks can gradually reduce sugar until they enjoy naturally filtered water free of chlorine and other harmful substances found in regular tap water, improving taste. When sweetness is needed, honey or natural fruit concentrate is preferred in drinks, and whole or ground dates and raisins in baking. Sesame paste and other natural products can improve flavor and replace sugar. Sweet fresh fruits and dried ones can replace chocolate and other sugar-laden candy for those wishing so. This writer knows a family whose children are happy to return home with the sugary sweets received in kindergarten and swap them for healthy treats or "sell" them to their mother, placing the money received in their private savings box...

Salt: Similar to white sugar and white flour, table salt is marketed after healthy components are removed. Original sea salt contains iodine and various minerals, but after refinement, only clean salt remains, with added whiteners and substances to maintain dryness and flow, usually containing harmful aluminum compounds. While the body needs salt, excessive salt in the body leads to calcium release and bone depletion, kidney, heart and blood vessel issues, and rheumatic diseases. Modern food contains excessive salt. Even standard bread contains approximately 1% salt, so eating 250 grams of bread means ingesting half a teaspoon(!) of salt. Salty products include olives and various pickles, nuts, soup powders (a cube of which can contain a teaspoon of salt), bagged chips, self-rising flour, cold cuts, and more.

An intelligent person will learn spice and herb (healthy in themselves) flavors and use them to enrich dishes instead of soup powder and large salt quantities.

The information discussed thus far presents a bleak and even challenging picture of harmful consumption habits. The aim of detailing these is to encourage those accustomed to them to make substantial changes, as the Torah instructs us to preserve our health. Yet care must be taken not to become excessively stressed or impose undue pressure on loved ones with whom we share food. Our bodies are created by the Creator to handle unhealthy substances in food, but only up to a certain level. We should engage in pleasant explanation so that those around us align with and internalize these messages willingly and joyfully, not from pressure, anxiety, or coercion. As anyone following the correct path of Torah knows: "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."

It is certain that anyone accustomed to today's industrial foods will find changing their habits difficult, but our bodies are part of nature, and we must return to nature and cease self-harm. The choice is granted to everyone, and happy is the person choosing the right path, both spiritually-soulfully and materially-bodily.

Concluding this subject, it's appropriate to quote the enlightening words of the Rambam:[3] "When one eats and drinks, which is not for mere pleasure — implying that one only eats and drinks the sweet to the palate — rather one should bear in mind that they eat and drink only to facilitate their body and organs. Therefore, one should not consume whatever the palate desires, like a dog or donkey, but one should eat things beneficial to the body, whether bitter or sweet. And one should not eat harmful things to the body, even if they are sweet to the palate."

[1] See more on this in depth in the book "Health in Practice," Chapter 12 page 173.

[2] Proverbs 3:17.

[3] Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot De'ot Chapter 3, 2.