Greetings! In this class we will begin a new chapter entitled, How the Body Uses Food. By God’s grace, as we consider how food nourishes, repairs, and furnishes the body physically, let us also consider the spiritual application with the Word of God. Please share with us your thoughts in the comments below!
Definition of Food
A food may be defined as any substance which, when absorbed into the blood, will nourish the tissues, repair waste, furnish force and heat to the body, without causing injury to any of its parts or loss of functional activity, or calling for constantly increasing quantities of itself.
It is now in order that we consider how the body uses food. In this field of study we will discover something concerning the amounts the body uses of various foods, and that will reveal which foods are eaten to excess, and those of which we are usually deficient, and so we will get directly at the most common cause of disease. The uses of foods in the body have been separated into three classes to make the study easy to understand.
Classification of Foods
Class 1
Heat and Energy Foods
Class 2
Building and Repair Food, Protein. Nitrogenous: 10 percent of total
Protein
Class 3
Regulators of Body Processes
Concerning Class 1. It is a matter of common knowledge that as a rule people overeat of sugar and starch; and that more people are overweight than underweight.
Class 2 is the tissue-repairing substance-protein. In the preceding class the daily need of protein was set at 2 ½ oz. From this it is apparent that an excess of protein is more common than a deficiency.
With Class 3 it is quite different; the average person does not take enough water, uses refined foods deficient in minerals, cellulose, and vitamins, besides using methods of cooking which destroy vitamins and remove minerals.
The result is that the system is filled with sugar, starch, fat, and protein, none of which can be used without the water, minerals, cellulose and vitamins; and so the former become a burden to the system.
The above unbalance of the average ration is cause number one of disease. No health program or medical procedure will ever cope with the resulting diseases. There is but one remedy-a proper balance of these elements. We must reduce our average consumption of sugar, starch, fat, and protein, and increase very markedly the use of water, minerals, cellulose, and vitamins-the elements, which carry on the life processes, which run low because we fail to supply the elements that would make their continuance possible.
There is no substitute for a balanced ration. This will become more and more evident as we proceed in our studies. It’s interesting that what we do in the physical realm is often carried over into our spiritual life. There may be things in our life that we should reduce, could be time spent on our devices etc., and furthermore, increase very markedly our time with Jesus. Do you sense your need? “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5.6 Stay tuned for next week’s study, we shall look into what water does in the body!
*Study adapted from the book, Abundant Health by Julius G. White.