As members of the Church of God who obey the biblical dietary laws, and who look to God for health and healing, we often wonder why many of us still get sick? What could be the reason? Are we missing out on something important?

In the Bible, Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Is there then some lack of knowledge which could be destroying God’s people – health-wise?

Of course, we are aware about basic health laws or principles which if we violate cause us to be sick – sooner or later. This was pointed out in last month’s article by our Senior Pastor. Some of the causes are somewhat difficult for us to control – like genetic problems or weaknesses. On the other hand, there are also others we can control, but we may simply be ignorant about them.

What could be some of these which we may be ignorant about?

While all Church members focus on avoiding biblically “unclean” meats – which can be categorized as “biologically unclean” food, most are unaware that there is also what we may call “chemically unclean” foods! Most are completely unaware about these because the Bible does not address such issue.

Why?

Because these concerns modern adulterations and tampering of our natural food products in our present food industry which were not known in Biblical times.

These problems start with our soil being burned, and poisoned by chemical fertilizers, and killing the helpful natural creatures and microorganism therein. Add to that the poisons contributed by various herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and many other such poisons already banned in advanced countries.

A poisoned and unhealthy soil produces unhealthy plants which cannot withstand God’s natural elimination process through insects and microorganisms designed to weed-out all those which are unfit for human consumption. But in our “modern” ignorance and greed, we solve such problems with more poisons sprayed and applied to plants.

While God designed food products to be consumed soon after harvest, human greed over-rides that by treating harvested products with more poisonous chemicals (to drive away organism designed by God to guard against our consuming unfit food) to prolong their shelf-life for more profits. Also, most fruits are harvested while still immature (when healthful enzymes and substances have not yet been developed), and again they are treated with added chemicals to force it to a ripened state at the groceries.

Then, most of our food products are further processed into an unnatural state by removing their vital components which are helpful for optimum health. In wheat or rice for example, not only is the husk removed, but the grain is polished to make it look “nice,” whereupon the vital B-vitamin complex and other helpful minerals under the husk are completely removed. These vital substances are then fed to animals which make them healthy – but causes man to be malnourished and sickly.

But that is not all. The “wheat germ” (plant embryo or baby plant, and its equivalent in grains like corn and rice) is also removed which actually contains most of the vital nutrients in each grain. Why do commercial processors remove these? Because the Vitamin-E and other vital nutrients rapidly oxidizes, causing the grain to spoil faster. What is then left is a lifeless pulp of white grain with only carbohydrates which even most insects would not consider as food. This refined and tampered grain which also now lacks dietary fiber can now be stored for many months – but causes cancers, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, arthritis, rheumatism, hyper-active but learning-deficient children, and a host of many other modern diseases.

That is not the end of the story. In the case of wheat for example, the remaining white pulp is ground, and to further preserve it, commercial food processors add other poisons to repel insects such as bromide; and to further prevent it from spoilage, add chemicals similar in effect to those used in embalming – generically called “preservatives.”

Since most of these products have by now acquired a bad taste through the chemicals, the food industry has another “solution.” Industrialization now makes possible the production of large quantities of refined sugars. Almost all food products now have high refined sugar content. This includes all soft drinks, almost all snack items, delicacies, breads, etc.

However, health research shows that in addition to the effects of refined, tampered, and adulterated food products, most modern illnesses can also be traced to the consumption of refined sugars. You may not believe it, but try entering the words: sugar diseases in an Internet search engine like Google. In a split second it catalogs 14,200,000 entries giving you an idea of the magnitude of the problem! One such entry alone has this heading: “146 Reasons Why Sugar Is Ruining Your Health” with each of those reasons backed up by the details of independent researches also listed by the author, Nancy Appleton, Ph.D. She is also the author of Lick The Sugar Habit and Lick The Sugar Habit Sugar Counter. Her Web site is at www.nancyappleton.com.

There are many more reasons why we get sick, such as the effects of antibiotics and steroids in the animals we eat; plus carcinogens, artificial food coloring & flavoring agents; and other harmful substances in our processed food. Individuals vary in the abuse their body can take.

This short article is simply meant to alert and inform us about the many possible reasons why we get sick, even if we are Church members. It is also possible that many of us are ignorantly deceived by the advertising hype in Satan’s world. As much as possible, the more we can stick to eating natural, unadulterated food the way God designed it, the better our health will be. It is just a simple matter of cause-and-effect, and the way God designed our mortal bodies. Each of us therefore should strive to be as knowledgeable, so we will not be guilty of lacking the knowledge which can destroy us and thus defile our body which is “the temple of God” (1 Cor. 3:16-17).