A Candyd Confession

Confession time.

This photo, right here, represents an addiction.

For more years than I care to number, I have made sure never to run out of two things: coffee and candy. My absolute favorite is the fruit gummies, especially Welch™ brand fruit snacks. But almost anything will do, even these chalky lollipop things.

I tried not to admit how much I needed them. But without fail, if the candy stash was getting low, I found a reason to go grocery shopping. I would barely even admit it to myself, but there was a definite sense of panic that I might run out.

I mean, it was so bad that when the shutdown hit, back in late March, my pandemic shopping included a large bag of fruit snacks. In addition to the two I already had. Just in case.

Ah, but the story doesn’t end there. It would have. Or I should say, that chapter would still be continuing, except that Author ended it. In His gentle way, he started a new chapter, and invited me to join in.

The new chapter actually began a good ways before the old one ended. For around two years, I’ve been sporadically studying the New Testament in search of God’s ways for health. And the things I found there have been steadily changing me, down deep inside.

I discovered, as I read, that Jesus heals. A lot. Just start skimming the Gospels and you’ll see what I mean. But the other thing I discovered was maybe even more important. God cares about things being real. He hates fakeness, pukes it out even.

And I began to be convicted that this hatred of fake things should permeate every aspect of His people’s lives, too. Not in the sense that we will only have the best name brand clothes, or only “real” Louis Vitton or whatever the current cool brand is to have. Not at all. But rather that we care about things being what they say they are. Including food.

As I said, I’ve been seeing this for going on three years. Jesus heals. And He hates fake stuff. But it is only in the last two weeks, as I’ve been praying and working and wrestling with writing a book of these things, that I’ve been convicted as never before. Eyes opened to just how much fake food I eat.

Three different people messaged me, this week alone, asking about inflammation and gut health. I told them all the same thing. Eat real food and cut the sugar. And I didn’t admit how much of a problem I had, doing the same.

Because, candy. It’s been a week, I think, since I had one. The last few lollipops just sit there in the cupboard.

In this week, I’ve been fighting a sore throat, and deliberately avoiding all sugar. And I feel better, even though whatever-it-is is still stubbornly hanging on in my throat.

Today, I opened that cupboard door to retrieve something else and stood there for a minute, looking at those lollipops. And my hypocrisy and stubbornness hit me in the face. I pulled them out and carefully arranged them on a white piece of paper to have their picture taken. Then I sat down and wrote out this confession.

I’m gonna go throw them in the trash. And then I’m going to put some meat on the grill. Real meat. I’ll eat it with a real salad.

Oh, and one last thing. If you want to join me in intentionally living like this, eating real food and throwing out the fake, I’d love to hear about it. I have a feeling I’m going to need all the accountability I can get!

PS: One last, last thing. If you do decide to join me, this ain’t any all-or-nothing challenge. This is direction, an intentional moving toward a goal. And for sure, this is not a diet! This is not about no sugar, no Cheetos, no snack foods, no whatever. This is about what we choose MOST of the time, not about a treat every once in a while, or eating the candy some sweet little kid wants to give me. Because food freedom is very clearly also a part of the New Testament life of the Church, and I want to embrace that too. But for right now, that addiction must go, so I’m throwing out the candy. Yours will look different, if you choose to join in. And that is more than okay.

PPS: The book I mentioned in passing is about two weeks from printing. As Your Soul Prospers: Biblical Principles for Wellness. The book will be available immediately through Amazon, and plans are that it will be both print and ebook, for your reading pleasure. I’m super excited and can’t wait to share it with you all!

Grace, Food, and Food Diaries

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Acts 11:9 says, “What God has cleansed, do not call common or unclean.” (See also Acts 10:13-15) Of course, this is about so much more than food, but I believe it applies to food as well. The opposite of common is sacred. This points toward intentionality, in food and in eating. This is grace and sacredness, grace-filled eating.

The other day, I had pizza and a green smoothie for breakfast. Pizza because that’s what I felt like eating, and a green smoothie because I knew that’s what my body needed. There was no condemnation or guilt, just joy. Choosing my consequences and honoring my needs. That is grace-filled eating.

I think Michael Pollan said it well in his book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma". He said, "Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much." That first phrase is important. Eat food. Real food. Not just food-like substances. Simply choose to eat real food, as close to the way that God made it, as much as you can. This does not always mean raw, although some foods are delicious and digestible without cooking. Eating real food is one of the best things that you can do for your body and for your health.

Pay attention to what your body is telling you, because it will not be the same for everyone. Pay attention to whether a food makes you feel well or ill. Whether it makes you feel your best or just okay. When you've identified that, there is no condemnation for making the choices that don't make you feel well. But choosing the foods that do make you feel well is honoring your body. It's treating food as something that is not common.

Certain foods that have been identified as very commonly making people feel less than well, and these are known as “The Big Eight” of food allergens. Milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soy are the eight most common food allergens in modern times. While those foods are not inherently bad, some bodies react negatively to the food and those individuals will feel much better if they avoid the offending food. I'm not going to get into why those foods don't work for us, but I want you to be aware that those are foods that many people simply don't feel well on. And if that's you, it's okay to avoid them. In fact, avoiding those foods is honoring what your body needs.

Certain stressors can make food intolerances suddenly appear, or at least become severe enough to come to attention. Chronic illness, like Lyme disease, will often trigger gluten and dairy intolerances or other food allergies. Stress, chronic inflammation, and lack of sleep can often trigger an allergy or make it worse.

Our bodies are incredibly complex and amazingly engineered. Gut health is intricately linked to brain health, and indeed to the health of the entire body and soul. We actually have more neurons inside our guts than inside our skulls. Which kind of blows my mind.

But it helps us make sense of how the foods that we eat affect the way that our brains function. When I was a child, my mom would not allow us to have Kool-Aid or anything with food coloring, because she realized that we would become so hyper that she couldn't control us. But when she cut out the Kool-Aid, and other foods and drinks with food coloring, we wouldn't be hyper. I had, and to some extent still do, a gluten intolerance from Lyme disease. I used to become quite grumpy when I accidentally got any food containing wheat or gluten. What we put in our stomachs affects the way that our brains work.

The gut neurons are responsible for producing a large percentage of serotonin and other neurotransmitters that affect mood and brain function. There is a direct connection between gut health and brain function, between the foods we eat and the emotions we feel. It may take some extended times of observation and connecting the dots to find out what works best for you. But if you choose to put in the effort, it will pay off.

You can find a food diary form here. Feel free to download and print for your personal use.

Good for What? Changing the way you think about food

"good" food/"bad" food

Is this a useful construct?

Whenever I say something about "food" and "health" in the same sentence, the responses overwhelmingly identify certain foods as "good" and others as "bad".

Ice cream, hamburgers, mac and cheese, and all things salty or fatty = bad.

Carrot sticks, salad, celery juice, raw apples, and all things green and/or raw (except meat 😂) = good.

The problem with this mindset is that "good" foods tend to feel like a punishment and "bad" foods like a reward. It's a recipe for longterm failure.

What if, instead of thinking about food being good or bad, we would instead think about whether this food will support our goals? For example, I mostly make food choices based on what I know will make me feel alert and energetic for the rest of the day.

This means deliberately including protein, prioritizing complex carbs over simple carbs, and choosing real food over fake food. Ice cream, cheesecake, pretzels, candy, chips, coffee, wine, and pretty much anything else is included. The only question is whether it will leave me feeling my best, and if not, whether that is worth the pleasure of eating it.

Since practicing this mindset, I feel more alert, and more energetic, more of the time. (I also accidentally lost 10 pounds. That wasn't the goal, but I'm happy with it.)