For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Proverbs 2:6-11
What if the laws that have been set in place to protect Americans from harmful food are actually ushering in suffering, disease and ultimately death?
Unfortunately, food is now a political topic and if there is one thing I am not about it is politics but I believe in the power of food and its ability to impact our health for better or worse. I have seen this played out in my own life and with my kiddos, which I will share in future posts if you stick around.
I wrote a research paper in college on the benefits of organic food vs non organic for my nutrition class. At that time I could not find evidence of the impact of non organic or find a reason to pay the extra cost at check out for the organic label.
Fast forward twenty years and my bookshelf has numerous recordings of the impact of pesticides on health and the importance of organic food, fermentation, and clean eating, while my grocery cart has pretty much converted to the organic label or homegrown options.
Biology, my least favorite subject in school, has quickly become one that absolutely fascinates me. The impact on our cells, which make up our entire body, from what we eat is astonishing. I can totally nerd out here and all my friends and poor Ricardo can roll their eyes at this point from my constant barrage of health related trivia over the last few years.
In school we studied the importance of eating vegetables and drinking milk but what was the importance of the vegetable or milk? What was it doing to the function of the body after we ate it? How did it impact our cells, which impacts our digestion, metabolic function, brain, gut health and every other process? If these things have benefits, what happens on the cellular level of our bodies when we consume food preservatives, binders, additives and food coloring that is added? Clearly I am no doctor but science and research by medical professionals have revealed how the body processes these things.
If you are curious, I encourage you to do a quick google search of your favorite processed snack ingredients and see: what each of the ingredients are, if you can pronounce the name or know how they were developed and most importantly, what it does to your body.
The more I learn about how our body processes food and everything else we put inside it, the more passionate I get about health and food. The more my heart breaks as another friend or family member is diagnosed with a health issue or walks through an illness. The more I believe we have the power to change our health and bring healing to our bodies and the lives of those we love, which is my hope behind The Inspire Shop.
Wisdom is needed to navigate the current state of the food industry. There are so many loop holes, ingredients and phrases to navigate that at times it can feel impossible to make a positive health choice. Again my poor husband has been on this adventure with me and has felt the brunt of hard choices, so I get it (the Bobby Approved app is a game changer if you need some guidance on what to purchase, just ask Ricardo). It can feel daunting to change but wisdom brings life. Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and he guides us in all things. Jesus came to bring abundant life and food is one of our core necessities for life.
Thank you, God, for the gift of food and the gift of a good meal. Praying for God to give us wisdom in our health choices, for food to nourish the mind, body and spirit and for discernment and provision for everything we bring into our pantries.