Reverend George Malkmus, Founder of Hallelujah Acres
Posts tagged addictions
Colon Cancer and Lung Cancer Both Gone!
Aug 30th
Mail has been particularly heavy of late, especially in regard to the series on “Addictions.” Thank you for all your letters. I love hearing from our readers so please keep those letters coming.
“George, Thanks so much for your good Health Tips, especially the series on ‘Addictions.’ I always look forward to reading the entire Health Tip and especially like the testimonies. I can now testify that the whole world of sickly people will receive great joy and happiness if they adopt the Hallelujah Diet. Raw Garden foods are the only way to go for a healthy and long life. May heavenly blessings be with your ministry and all that you are doing to save the entire world.”
Timocfi D., Fuji Islands
“Hello Rev. Malkmus, I loved your series on overcoming addictions. I have NO self-discipline and NEED it desperately. I am a believer in the Lord and KNOW He wants to use me to help others. Satan doesn’t want that. I would cherish you and Rhonda’s prayers.”
Lisa D., Alaska
“Dear Rev. Malkmus, I would like to start your diet as I just had surgery on my colon. How can I get BarleyMax here in Zimbabwe?”
Dorothy P., Harare, Zimbabwe
“Hello Rev. George, I have recently come across your Hallelujah Diet and am in the process of reading your book The Hallelujah Diet, and ready to start the Hallelujah Diet soon. How can I get your BarleyMax here in the United Kingdom?”
Bisi, United Kingdom
We’ve received a number of letters lately asking about how to get our products in other countries. You can order off the Hallelujah Acres website from almost anywhere in the world. Each month, we ship orders to some 90 different countries.
“Rev. Malkmus, Your article on the New Medicare Healthcare was outstanding! Thank you for breaking it down so clearly and making it so understandable. I will definitely be passing this article on to others.”
Margaret W., Tampa Bay, Florida
“Dr. Malkmus, Like you in 1976, I was told I had colon cancer in 2008. But unlike you, I allowed the doctors to remove 12 inches of my colon. I thought everything was fine and continued eating the way I had always eaten because the doctors never told me to change my diet to prevent future cancers.
So in 2009, almost to the day I was diagnosed with colon cancer a year earlier, my lab work came back with high tumor markers. A pet scan revealed the cancer had metastasized and this time I had lung cancer.
I was so scared.
My husband and I were teaching a bible study at the time and I shared with the group of my lung cancer diagnoses and asked for their prayers. One of the people in the group told me about the Hallelujah Diet and recommended your book ‘The Hallelujah Diet.’
I purchased your book, read it, and did everything you said. Now it is nine months since adopting The Hallelujah Diet and my tumor markers are normal.
This is why I am writing you – to thank you, because I believe your book and the information contained within has saved my life.
My husband has also adopted The Hallelujah Diet and his blood pressure has gone from very high down to 117/70, his cholesterol is 153, the lowest in years.
We both want to thank you for everything you do to help others. I know that we are just two of the multitudes who have been helped by your ministry, but we wanted you to know that we have been blessed and appreciate all you do. God bless your work for the Lord.”
Mary W.
How To Overcome That Addiction
Aug 10th
For a number of issues of this Health Tip, we have been dealing with the subject of addictions. We have named a number of addictive substances that man indulges in and learned that there are many who desire to be freed of these addictions but are struggling.
In an effort to help people free themselves of these addictions, I began a three-part series to help folks better understand their addiction. First, we dealt with the subject of “Why Do People Struggle With Addictions?” Then last week we dealt with the subject “Why Doesn’t God Take Away My Addictions When I Pray?”
In this issue we are going to answer the question: How do I overcome my addictions?
Before we get to today’s subject, I want to share a few excerpts from letters I received from readers in response to the last article.
“Just read your Health Tip on Why God Seldom Answers Prayers For Addictions and Healing. George, how can we get this message to faith healers? If we want to experience healing, we must take control of our own health and not ask God to do it for us! May God continue to bless your ministry!”
Roger
“Hi George, I wanted to concur about your military and discipline comments. I often tell people that I was afraid to go to college after high school because I didn’t trust myself. The reality is that I knew I didn’t have the self-discipline needed to excel in college, but I learned it in the Navy. I was less afraid of going into the military because I knew in the military I would have boundaries around me to help keep myself in line. What I didn’t realize was how quickly I would learn the art of self-discipline. “
Health Minister Jerrod Sessler
(Jerrod was featured on the cover of our Back to the Garden publication dated Winter 2003. He overcame terminal, metastasized, melanoma cancer in 1999 after adopting The Hallelujah Diet. He is still alive and well and cancer free after being on The Hallelujah Diet for over 10 years. Jerrod published his story this year in the book, 5% Chance – Winning the Cancer Race. This book is available from Hallelujah Acres. Our VP of Health Olin Idol, ND, CNC says, “Jerrod will lead you on a pathway to optimal health.”)
“Thank you, Rev. Malkmus, for all your Health Tips, and especially for this most-excellent one. I agree totally with what you had to say about self-discipline. I, too, have always said that everyone should have to serve in the military . . . especially now with all the broken homes and no one to teach discipline and self-reliance. My vote goes to George Malkmus for President!!!”
Jennifer
“Thank you so much, Rev. Malkmus, for your article on ‘Addictions and Healing.’ I am not always faithful to The Hallelujah Diet, but I do understand that it is my responsibility and no one else’s if I fail. Churches are the worst for feeding their members bad food. I have stopped going to mid-week service because the list of illnesses is so long and I know that if these people are going to get well, they MUST take control of their own health. I love your ministry and pass out your books all the time.”
Beverly
The above letters are just a small sampling of the types of letters I received in response to that article. Now let’s see if we can’t offer some suggestions to those who desire to break an addiction.
SUGGESTIONS FOR OVERCOMING AN ADDICTION
When we put things into our physical body that were never designed by God to enter it, there is an adverse chemical reaction that takes place.
Take refined sugar for instance. When a person puts concentrated sugar into their body, terrible things start to happen. Refined sugar is probably the most widely used addictive drug in the world. This drug is found in almost every manufactured food product and consumed by most people every day.
But it is not just the sugar that is addictive, because almost every item found in the average persons diet, is also addictive: meat, dairy, cheese, white flour, caffeine, salt, etc. However, it would appear that sugar is the most addictive. People who attempt to adopt The Hallelujah Acres Diet and Lifestyle tell me sugar is by far the most difficult to give up, with animal products being the second most addictive.
Now some suggestions for overcoming these food addictions, and let me say that these suggestions can also be used as an aid in overcoming an addiction to any substance – including caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, etc.
NUMBER ONE: PRAYER
Prayer helps, but prayer alone will usually not produce victory over an addiction. The Bible tells us in Galatians 6:7: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
God will usually not do for us what we can do for ourselves. Way too many people think that all they have to do is ask God to take away some addiction, while they go merrily along their way, continuing to place this addictive substance into their body.
If a person is going to have victory over an addiction, they must take responsibility and become accountable for their own actions. Isn’t this what the Bible is trying to tell us in James 2:26: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
NUMBER TWO: TAKE CONTROL
A person desiring to break an addiction must understand that this is a physical body God has given them, and although it was probably initially in ignorance they put that addictive substance into their body, nonetheless they are now addicted.
If they want to stop the addiction, they must starve the body of this addictive substance, and not allow the smallest amount to enter the body.
However, and this is so vitally important we understand, starving the body of an addictive substance will cause the body to go into withdrawal symptoms as the body continues to crave and demand this stimulant.
Withdrawal symptoms are not pleasant. Not wanting to experience these unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, the person continues to place these addictive substances into their body, and the vicious cycle continues.
Victory over an addiction will never occur until the person stops putting the addictive substance into their body! No matter how much they pray and ask God for the victory, the addiction will continue as long as they continue placing that addictive substance into their body.
In order to achieve victory over an addiction, a person must mentally take control of their physical body by denying the body its demand for more of the addictive substance.
In other words, the person must mentally take control of their body, and not continue to allow the body to control the mind, as they have done in the past. Yielding to the bodies demand for more, even one time, will bring defeat, and make it increasingly difficult for the person to achieve victory.
NUMBER THREE: ADOPT THE HALLELUJAH ACRES DIET AND LIFESTYLE
The most powerful tool a person who desires to break an addiction has is to adopt The Hallelujah Diet. Why is this so powerful?
Most addictions have their beginning at the cellular level of the body! When the body’s cells are not being properly nourished there is lack of satisfaction at cellular level. Because the cells are not being satisfied with good nutrition, the cells plead for nutritional satisfaction.
Addictions begin when a person subconsciously attempts to satisfy the cell’s desire for good nutrition by the placing a non-nutritional substance called a stimulant into their body. This stimulant tricks the body into believing cellular needs have been met, and thus subdues the body’s cry for good nutrition.
The problem is that now the person is addicted to that non-nutritional stimulant, which is causing the body to believe it is being satisfied nutritionally when the addictive substance is placed into it.
This begins a vicious cycle – The body craves the addictive stimulant – and is only satisfied when more of that stimulant is provided. Deny the body that stimulant, and the body goes into withdrawal, and withdrawal symptoms go away only when more of that stimulant is provided. It is a vicious cycle!
“O wretched man that i am, who shall deliver me . . .”
The apostle Paul, in Romans 8:15-25, went through a similar experience although for a totally different reason. Following are a few exerts from that passage:
“For the good that I would I do not: the evil which I would not, that I do… But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members… O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
How can a person turn things around, break the addiction to this non-food stimulant, and achieve victory over that addictive substance? The first step in breaking an addiction is to start satisfying the cell’s nutritional needs, and that can be accomplished by adopting The Hallelujah Acres Diet and Lifestyle.
If a person will simultaneously stop the intake of the addictive substance through will and mind power and start flooding the body with living nutrients found in the raw vegetables and juices, this will help take the edge off the problem. Now the cells are being satisfied nutritionally.
It is also extremely important that a person start moving their body through daily vigorous exercise, which will cause toxins to start moving out of the body. Vigorous bodily movement also causes the body to take in copious amounts of oxygen, which helps satisfy the cells, clear the mind, and help empower the person.
VICTORY OVER ADDICTIONS IS POSSIBLE
Following is your Scriptural path to victory over an addiction.
- Pray – “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16)
- Request God’s help – “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)
- Take control by of the situation by denying self – “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)
- Start nourishing the body’s cells with the living nutrients God told us in Genesis 1:29 that we should nourish our bodies with – “And God said, Behold I have given you every herb [vegetable] bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seek: to you it shall be for meat [food].”
- Start exercising – “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread . . .” (Genesis 3:19) and “…if any would not work, neither should he eat.” (II Thessalonians 3:10)
- Think only positive thoughts – “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” (Philippians 4:8,9)
Whether you experience victory over your addiction is entirely up to YOU – not God, this editor, nor anyone else! Rhonda and I will be praying for you, but our prayers will not be to ask the Lord to take your addiction away from you, but rather that you will have the strength and courage to take control of your own body and do what you now know you need to do to achieve victory.
Remember, Philippians 4:13 says: “I CAN DO ALL THINGS through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
(If you would like Rhonda and this editor to include you in our prayers as we kneel by our bedside each evening, send us an email here.)
Why Doesn’t God Take Away My Addictions When I Pray?
Aug 3rd
For a number of issues of this Health Tip, we have been dealing with the subject of addictions. We have named a number of addictive substances that man indulges in and learned that there are many who desire to be freed of these addictions.
In an effort to help people free themselves of addictions, I began last week in Health Tip #662, a three part series to help folks better understand why they were addicted and give some tips on how to overcome these addictions:
- Why do Christians struggle with addictions?
- Why is God not answering prayers regarding addictions?
- How can victory over addictions be achieved?
PART 2: WHY IS GOD NOT ANSWERING PRAYERS REGARDING ADDICTIONS?
Let’s begin by sharing a few letters received from folks experiencing and seeking help from God in breaking their addictions.
“I just read the testimony of the man who was still smoking and drinking beer even though he is a Christian and has been reading your Health Tips for some time. I am not smoking and drinking, but I am eating sweets and fats like I have no sense of what it is doing to my body. If I eat these things, I know in the morning I will be stiff and my face will look puffy and I will be crabby and everything will get on my nerves.
“I was on The Hallelujah Diet for several weeks, and my skin looked so vibrant, my body didn’t ache in the morning, and I didn’t have headaches, and things did not get on my nerves.
“So what happened? I don’t understand why I lost my focus. I start off every morning praying and thinking I’m going to get back on track but before I know it, I have eaten what I shouldn’t have. It becomes a vicious cycle between the eating and the moods and the feelings of failure.
“I know the benefits and I like how I look and feel when I eat according to God’s plan. So what is my hang-up?”
“I read your article on addictions with great interest. I have a strong addiction to sweets and over 400 pounds in weight speaks to how indulgent I am… I can’t seem to break my habits and cravings… Please pray for me!”
The above letters are just a small sampling of the types of letters I receive from Christians who desire victory over their addictions. Many of them have been praying for victory over their addictions for a very long time, only without experiencing the victory they say they so desire.
So where is God in times like this?
“THE LORD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES”
My dad spoke those words to me time and time again as I was growing up. I understand better now what he was saying than I did then. Quite obviously he wanted me to realize that what I was asking God to do for me was something I could usually do for myself. If God or someone else did it for me, I would never learn to take control of my own situations, actions, or needs, but rather learn to be dependent on others.
Dad made me apply those words as I was growing up. For instance I never once received an allowance. Instead I had to earn money to pay for the things I wanted, even haircuts, beginning at about age ten.
At that age I started washing neighbor’s floors for 25 cents a floor. From ages twelve to sixteen I delivered newspapers 6 days a week for $4.50 a week. From ages sixteen to eighteen I worked behind a soda counter and delivered prescriptions by bicycle after school and on Saturdays for $16.00 per week.
I was in the U.S. Navy from ages nineteen to twenty-one earning $99.00 per month. By age 21 I had saved enough money to buy my first car, a 1955 Plymouth Belvedere, salmon and white hardtop, without any help from dad or the bank.
Throughout my life, and until this present day, I have never asked anyone or expected anyone to provide my wants or needs no matter how dire my situation.
Sadly, we live in a society today that expects others to take care of us. We look to others to pay our obligation if we fall behind in the car or house payment. We want someone else to pay for food or education. We need a hand-out to pay health care expenses when we get sick, or pay unemployment when we are out of work, or social security when we don’t prepare for retirement… and the list goes on.
This has led us as a nation to Socialism, my friends. Our government promises to provide for the needs of the people from the cradle to the grave, and all this without effort or responsibility on the part of the people who receive the hand-outs.
Because of these government handouts, an ever increasing number of people who do not want to be responsible for their own decisions and actions have become dependent. These people are increasing in numbers and slowly becoming the majority in our country, as they vote to elect the politicians who promise to give them the most stuff.
America was not built by this kind of people. Our nation was built by people who were fiercely independent. They asked only to be left alone as they hacked out a home site in the wilderness. They established a government that promised to protect them so that they could pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, while becoming one nation under God.
I realize the phrase “the Lord helps those who help themselves” is not found in the Bible, but I do believe these words have great bearing in the understanding of the subject before us. Why doesn’t God take away my addictions when I pray?
1. When God created this universe, He established certain natural laws to govern what He created. For instance, there is a natural law called gravity. This tells us that if we get too close to the edge of a high place, we will suffer the consequences of that violation. This law applies Christian or non-Christian alike regardless of whether we are aware of that natural law or how much we may pray and ask God to keep us from experiencing the consequences of that violation. Agreed?
2. When God created the physical body we each possess, I believe He also established a natural law that governs what these physical bodies were to be nourished with. That natural law is found in Genesis 1:29, where God told us in no uncertain words what we were to nourish our physical bodies with. Agreed?
Ahhh, do I detect some hesitation in your agreeing with that statement?
3. Did not God tell us that there would be consequences for our actions in Galatians 6:7? Agreed? Surely this verse makes it abundantly clear.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
In our churches, what is the number one prayer request? Is it not requests for healing of physical problems? I believe most will agree that prayers for physical healing comprise almost 90% of all the prayer requests in our churches. Is it God’s fault we are sick or could it be that Galatians 6:7 comes into play here?
4. Does God always answer these prayers for physical healing? Obviously the answer is no. We pray for many of these same people week after week often seeing them becoming sicker and sicker, and even dying, in spite of all the prayers being offered and all that the doctors can do. Where is God in times like this?
Could my dad’s words, “the Lord helps those who help themselves,” have a bearing here? After reading tens-of-thousands of testimonies coming from those who took control of their own health by adopting The Hallelujah Diet and Lifestyle, I believe the answer is a resounding yes!
Through the years, tens of thousands have written to tell me that when they stopped looking to God or to their doctor to heal them, but rather took control of their own health and started eating exclusively the Garden foods God told mankind he should eat for the nourishment of his body and started exercising, the body literally healed itself.
You see, God has given each of us a beautiful physical body, and Scripture tells us that it literally is His temple.
“What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
I Corinthians 6:8-9
What does the Bible tell us the consequences of not taking proper care of our physical body is?
“If any man [or woman] defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
I Corinthians 3:17
SO WHERE IS GOD WHEN WE PRAY FOR HELP IN OVERCOMING ADDICTIONS?
God can and on occasion does answer prayers for healing. God can do anything!
But it appears God is increasingly leading His people to do what they can do for themselves. He provides the body with the Genesis 1:29 nutrients it needs so it can do what God designed it to do, which is heal itself.
Do not the Scriptures say: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me?” (Philippians 4:13)
Most Christians want to only look at God’s part here, and not their part, “I can do…”
Could it be that God wants us to participate in the healing of our own physical problems and the overcoming of our own addictions, which we ourselves have created?
I find way too many Christians are not only lazy, but also very, very undisciplined and thus dependent! They do not want to participate in their healing when they are sick. They do not want to become proactive by participating in the overcoming of their addictions. Rather, they want to let someone else do for them what they can, but are unwilling to do for themselves.
They pray, “Dear God, please remove this sickness” or “Dear God, please remove this addiction from me – Amen.” Some even demand that God do this for them.
I wish everyone could go through military training after they complete high school.
Why would I say that? Because most people have never learned self-discipline!
For instance, in the military, if you do not instantly obey a command, you may stand at attention for an hour on a hot tarmac. You may have to do 100 push-ups.
It usually doesn’t take a person very long in the military before they learn that they will reap what they have sown if they do not respond immediately to a command with “YES SIR!”
You say what good could possibly come from what some would consider this cruel and inhuman treatment? Friend, it teaches self-discipline. As we learn self-discipline, we also learn how to take control of our actions and situations. We do not give up, or allow ourselves to become defeated or look to someone else when difficulties arise.
I personally feel that it was because of the self-discipline I learned going through Navy boot camp and serving during the Korean War that when faced with cancer in 1976, I was able to change my diet overnight from the addictive Standard American Diet to God’s Genesis 1:29 diet and start drinking lots of vegetable juices.
Making this diet change was not hard for me. Nor have I found it difficult to remain on this diet these past almost 35 years. Why have I not found it difficult? I thank God for my military training. It taught me self-discipline, and that played a big role in my recovery from cancer.
Making a diet change isn’t necessarily easy but “I can do…” And so can you!
During World War II our military boys sang, “Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition.” What were they saying? They were saying that they were looking to God for help, but they were going to do all they could do to achieve victory. And they did achieve victory!
Today, if we want to have victory over our physical problems and/or our addictions, we need to pray. But then we need to get up off our knees and start doing our part.
So what should we do when we get sick? Run to a doctor and ask the doctor for a pill that will hopefully make us feel better? Should we run to God and ask Him to take away our physical problem and make us all better?
Or rather, should we run to the bathroom, look ourselves square in the mirror and ask, “What did I do to create this physical problem?” Then do what is necessary to help our body do what God designed it to do. Give it the nutrients it needs so that it can heal itself.
And what should we do when we are dealing with an addiction? Should we run to God and ask Him to take away that addiction and take no personal responsibility? No. We should take control of the addiction by denying our body that addictive substance (and yes, that does take some self-discipline). Ask the Lord to help us have the strength necessary to do what we need to do for ourselves – BREAK THAT ADDICTION.
You can do it friend if you want to bad enough! Remember: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Why Do Christians Struggle With Addictions?
Jul 27th
Last week in Health Tip #661: The Root of Addiction, I wrote: “Five of the six substances we have dealt with are addictive: refined sugar, refined grains, caffeine, Nicotine and alcohol. Only one of them is not addictive: animal flesh (including Dairy).”
I WAS WRONG – ANIMAL FLESH IS ADDICTIVE
For the past month and a half on this blog I have posted the following question to our readers: “Which of these was the hardest thing to give up on The Hallelujah Diet?”
Nearly 400 have responded to that question. Approximately 50% answered with refined sugar. That result did not surprise me as it was in keeping with what I have known for years. Sugar is the single most addictive thing in the Standard American Diet, some saying it is as addictive as heroin.
But in second place, with almost 25% of the votes, was Animal Flesh. This came as a big surprise to me because when I adopted The Hallelujah Diet over 34 years ago, animal products were the easiest thing for me to eliminate from my diet and many through the years have agreed with me.
That new revelation gives me direction for this Health Tip. But before dealing with animal flesh I am going to share a few letters I have received from readers regarding addictions.
“I read your article on addictions with great interest. I have a strong addiction to sweets and over 400 pounds in weight speaks to how indulgent I am… I can’t seem to break my habits and cravings… please pray for me!”
“I have not had a cigarette in over 5 years. However I use low dosages of nicotine in gum and nicotine lozenges. My doctor suggested the nicotine gum and lozenges as an aid to help me stop smoking 5 years ago. Now, 5 years after I stopped smoking cigarettes, I find myself addicted to the nicotine in the gum and lozenges. I would like to abandon the crutch, however, it is not easy to do. Thanks in advance for any information you can shed on this to assist me.”
The above letters are just a small sampling of the types of letters I have received through the years. Most of these letters have come from Christians who want to and have been trying to stop their addiction. Many of them have been praying for victory over their addictions for a long time without experiencing the victory they say they so desire.
There is a real problem of misunderstanding regarding the cause of addictions by many Christians. If a person is going to obtain victory over their addiction, there are several things they must understand.
I will try and address the problem and the solution under the following headings which may take several Health Tips.
- Why do Christians (as well as non-Christians) struggle with addictions?
- Why is God not answering prayers for help in overcoming addictions?
- How can victory over addictions be achieved?
WHY DO CHRISTIANS STRUGGLE WITH ADDICTIONS?
After God had created Adam and placed him in a garden (See Genesis 2:7-9), God told Adam what he was to eat to nourish the physical body that had been given him. What was it he was told to eat?
“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat (food).” Genesis 1:29
Clearly, God was telling Adam here that all the nutrients necessary to support his physical body were to be found in the living plants God had placed in the Garden before Adam was ever created. Adam’s diet was to consist simply and exclusively of the raw fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts God had created and placed there.
Following Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden, the Bible indicates this Genesis 1:29 diet continued to be the exclusive diet of mankind for the next 1,700 years, right up until the flood. During this time, man lives to an average age of 912 (age of patriarchs at death) without a single recorded instance of sickness.
But then came a flood that covered the entire earth. The flood-waters covered all of the plant foods God had told mankind he was to eat for the nourishment of the physical bodies God had created.
“And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.” Genesis 7:19
Because the flood had destroyed all garden foods, it becomes obvious that if man was to continue to sustain life on planet earth, God had to provide something else for man to eat. In response to that need, God allows man to deviate from the exclusive Garden food diet He had originally given Adam in Genesis 1:29, and that had sustained man for the previous 1,700 years for the very first time, for what appears to be survival purposes.
And what was that deviation? Animal flesh!
“Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.” Genesis 9:3
Prior to man being allowed for the first time to consume animal flesh, a non-garden food, there is no indication from Scripture that man had ever experienced an addiction to any of the garden foods. Nor during those 1,700 years, while man was on that exclusive garden diet, will you find the words ‘glutton’ or ‘gluttonous’ used even one time.
However, after the Israelites had gone down into the land of Egypt where they learned to eat a lot of animal flesh, we read:
“And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died at the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat at the flesh pots…” Exodus 16:3
Scripture indicates that while in Egypt, flesh became a big part of their diet and when God was bringing them out of Egypt and these flesh foods were no longer available to them, they were so unhappy they wished they had died.
When God was again the dietitian, during the 40 years of wilderness wandering, what did He miraculously provide the Children of Israel for food and nourishment? Was it not a garden food?
“And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. . . . And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.”
Exodus 16:15 & 31
Were they satisfied with God’s miraculous and life-sustaining provision during their wanderings? Listen to Moses as he speaks to God concerning Gods provision as they continued on their journey.
“Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? For they weep unto me, saying, give us flesh, that we may eat.” Numbers 11:13
Read the rest of Numbers 11 and learn how God responded to the Israelites murmuring and demand for flesh. Note especially verses 32 and 33.
“And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp… and the people gathered the quails… And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague.”
It would appear from the above Scriptures, that animal flesh became the very first substance to which man became addicted! But for sure it would not be the last! As man continued through the years to turn ever further from the Garden foods, man become addicted to an increasing number of substances found only outside of the Garden.
Upon reading the above Scriptures regarding the struggle the children of Israel had with animal flesh, along with the results of the poll on my blog, obviously I was wrong when I said animal flesh is not addictive.
In any event, in today’s society we continue to stray ever further from the Garden foods God designed these glorious, God created, physical bodies to be nourished with.
Today, instead of eating exclusively the Garden foods God told us we should in Genesis 1:29, we have allowed our taste buds to be manipulated by and controlled by the world, the food industry!
Most of the so-called foods that comprise the Standard American Diet (SAD) of today are addictive substances, the very substances I shared with you earlier in this Health Tip. Refined sugar, refined grains, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and now I must add animal flesh to those addictive substances.
Interestingly, these addictive substances are the same substances Hallelujah Acres has been encouraging folks to remove from their diet for the past 18 plus years if they wanted to obtain the health God designed for His human creation. In the place of these addictive substances we have recommended people adopt a 100% plant based diet – a diet similar to the diet God gave to Adam in the garden.
We call this The Hallelujah Diet. It is patterned after the very diet God gave Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 1:29, with a few minor deviations as discussed in last week’s Health Tip #661.
But now comes the problem and the challenge. Most people are literally addicted to almost everything found in the SAD.
What can one do in order to obtain victory over these addictive substances? Let’s start with prayer.
WHY IS GOD NOT ANSWERING MOST PRAYERS FOR HELP IN OVERCOMING ADDICTIONS?
I’ll begin by sharing a letter from a Christian lady who has been praying for God to help her overcome an ADDICTION for a long, long time, only without success:
“I am addicted to sugar, overweight, really desperate, and don’t know where to turn. I am saved and have asked God to help me with this problem, but keep failing over and over again. I am always exhausted in the middle of the day and the only thing that makes me feel better, temporarily, is to eat something sweet. I feel like I am getting weaker and weaker in the area of temptation day by day. I don’t know why it seems so impossible to get the victory over this problem, but with my track record of struggling with overeating and sugar addiction for 40 years, I feel like it is impossible. Please pray for me.”
Ooops! I am out of room for this week. Next week, Lord willing, in Health Tip #663, I will share why many Christians who are praying for victory over various addictions are not having their prayers answered. Then I will offer some suggestions as to how victory over addictions can be achieved.
The Root of Addiction
Jul 20th
For the past twelve Health Tips we have been dealing with the subject “How We Contribute to Our Own Physical Problems.” During this series we talked about six harmful substances people take into their bodies, usually on a daily basis.
These harmful substances are animal flesh and dairy, refined sugar, refined grains, caffeine, Nicotine and alcohol.
(All of these articles are available in the George Malkmus category on this blog and in printable form in the Health Tip archives.)
Five of the six substances we have dealt with are addictive: refined sugar, refined grains, caffeine, Nicotine and alcohol. Only one of them is not addictive: animal flesh (including Dairy).
WHY DO PEOPLE BECOME ADDICTED TO VARIOUS SUBSTANCES?
At Hallelujah Acres we recommend that all of these harmful substances be removed from the diet. In their place we promote a basically living (raw), 100% plant based diet. We call this “The Hallelujah Diet.” It is an eating plan patterned after the diet God gave Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 1:29, with a few minor deviations.
The Hallelujah Diet’s primary deviation from the Genesis 1:29 diet is that it does allow for 15% of the diet to be comprised of cooked plant-sourced foods such as baked potatoes, whole grains, whole grain pastas, steamed vegetables, baked sweet potatoes, baked squash and beans. The remaining 85% of the diet consists of raw foods along with lots of freshly extracted vegetable juices (the most important part of the Hallelujah Diet).
What I find so interesting in working with and receiving letters from tens of thousands of people through the years is that the items Hallelujah Acres is criticized the most for eliminating from the Hallelujah Diet are the most destructive of anything we can place into our body – cow milk and animal flesh.
Interestingly, when talking about addictive foods, those are the easiest to remove from the diet because they are not classified as addictive. However, many people find it very difficult to give up these animal sourced foods because they have been deceived into believing that they are items the Bible endorses and nutritionists falsely claim are necessary for proper nourishment of the physical body.
With that as a little introduction, let’s begin dealing with the subject of addiction by sharing a letter received from a subscriber.
LETTER FROM A CHRISTIAN ADDICTED TO ALCOHOL & NICOTINE
“I come from a Christian background, yet here I sit smoking butts and drinking beer! I have been reading your Health Tip every week for some time now and know very well the truths it contains! I have always known of the need for ‘live’ foods as opposed to all the dead things we have been raised on. But the temptations of the Standard American Diet (SAD) along with smoking and drinking beer have been greater than I. I have wanted to write for some time now but have not. And I don’t even know what to say – just that I know I need some guidance.”
WHY DO PEOPLE BECOME ADDICTED TO VARIOUS SUBSTANCES?
Let’s turn to the Bible and see if we can’t find something in the Scriptures that will help us answer that question.
In Psalm 139:14 we read,
“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
The Bible repeatedly tells us that the physical body we each possess was made [or created] by God. See Genesis 1:26, 27; 2:7; 5:2; Deuteronomy 4:32; Job 33:4; Psalm 8:5; 100:3; Isaiah 51:13; Malachi 2:10; and there are many, many, more verses.
The Bible also tells us what this beautiful God-made physical body we each possess was to be nourished with in Genesis 1:29.
“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat (food).”
So what is the Bible telling us here? It is simply saying that this magnificent physical body God created was designed to run on and be nourished with those plant sourced foods that can only be found in the garden!
So here we are, some 6,000 years after God created man and told man what he/she should eat to properly nourish and sustain these physical bodies. In what physical state do we find these physical bodies to be in?
Are these physical bodies “in health” as God said they should be in 3 John 2? Or do we find mankind not only sick from eating the wrong things, but also addicted to some of these harmful substances the body was never designed to ever have to contend with.
As we read the Scriptures, it becomes quite obvious that God designed man to forage for his food, just like all the rest of God’s animal creations. He was intended to consume only the plant foods created by God and placed in that Garden of Eden by God.
“And the Lord God planted a garden eastward of Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.” (Genesis 2:8-9)
Most people do not realize that for the next 1,700 years after man was expelled from the Garden, he consumed only foods that originated in the garden just as God intended.
From Creation to the Flood, on this 100% plant based Garden diet, man lived to an average age of 912 without a single recorded instance of sickness.
Then came the flood destroying all garden foods.
“And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.” (Genesis 7:19)
When all the garden foods God had told mankind to consume in Genesis 1:29 had been destroyed by the floodwaters, what was man to consume to sustain life?
Following the flood, God gives permission to change the diet for the very first time since He had created man. God gave man permission to consume the flesh of the clean animals that were on the ark. (See Genesis 9:3)
Why did God give man permission to consume the flesh of animals after He had created a body to be nourished exclusively with plant-sourced foods? I personally believe it was for survival purposes because all garden foods had been destroyed by the flood and were temporarily unavailable.
Following the flood, man also began to cook his food.
As we study physiology, we quickly learn that the physical body we each possess is a living organism, comprised of living cells. It was designed by God to be nourished with living (raw) plants.
Animals in the wild, by natural, God-instilled instinct, consume all their food in the living raw form as served up by nature. Sadly, man has lost this natural instinct.
I do believe, though, that if a child were to be placed in a room with only a rabbit and an apple, instinct would take over. The child would instinctively not chase after the rabbit until he caught it, then sink his teeth into the rabbits flesh and eat a chunk. He would rather play with the rabbit and by natural instinct eat the apple.
When we consume garden foods in their natural, living form our cells are satisfied, our body functions flawlessly, and we remain free of sickness and disease just as god intended.
However, when we put other substances into the body, it finds itself in a crisis situation. Now it has to contend with substances it was never designed by God to ever have to deal with.
All the body was designed for were the plant-sourced foods found in the garden for nourishment, water for hydration, and oxygen.
Sadly, today, physical bodies have to contend with all kinds of things that are harmful to the them. Let’s name a few of these substances: animal flesh and dairy, refined sugar, refined grains, caffeine, Nicotine, alcohol and two we haven’t talked about in this series as yet, table salt and trans fats.
The only substances that should ever enter the mouth are substances that nourish the physical body. These are the fuels the body was designed by God to run on and be sustained by. Other substances cause the cells not to be satisfied and they begin demanding satisfaction.
Here’s an example:
When a person gets up in the morning and has something cooked for breakfast, the stomach is satisfied, but not the body’s living cells. Only living foods can satisfy a living organism and this physical body we each possess is comprised of living cells.
When the stomach empties of these dead and devoid of life foods, hunger is once again experienced, usually within a very brief period of time. Why? Because only the stomach has been satisfied with that cooked food, but not the living cells.
So what happens next? It is common in America, after that fullness has worn off, for a person to have a mid-morning coffee and donut snack. But does that dead food devoid of nutrition satisfy the nutritional needs of the body’s living cells? No! As a result, long before lunchtime that person is once again hungry and can’t wait to eat something – sometimes experiencing energy drains and weakness.
So what happens at lunchtime? Multitudes head for the nearest fast-food restaurant. And what do they have for lunch? Maybe a cheeseburger, fries and a soda or milk shake? Once again they fill the stomach with dead items that offer the living cells of their body practically zero nourishment. The hunger again manifests just as soon as the stomach empties.
By mid afternoon they are once again hungry. Instead of providing the body with the living plant sourced foods it was designed by God to be nourished with, they consume maybe a candy bar. Does that dead, sugar-laden candy bar satisfy the body’s living cells? No! By the time they reach home for supper they are famished. The living cells are now screaming for some nourishment.
And what do they have to eat for supper? Probably they consume an entirely cooked meal, consisting of some cooked animal flesh, cooked vegetables, and a cooked sugar dessert, along with possibly a glass of wine. Because there is very little nourishment here, the body is hungry again before bedtime. It has to have something more to eat if they are going to survive till breakfast.
Throughout the day people are hungry, then full, hungry then full, hungry, then full. All day long they suffer while the living cells that comprise the body are starving to death. Only living plant sourced foods can satisfy living cells.
Meanwhile, weight often increases and physical problems manifest. This constant cycle occurs because the only thing that will satisfy the cells and prevent sickness is supplying the body’s living cells with the living plant-sourced foods God designed it to be nourished with.
Because our living cells are not being satisfied with dead food, the body starts craving something that will satisfy the cells. In the attempt to satisfy these cravings, the person often turns to addictive substances such as sugar, refined grains (which turn quickly to sugar), alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana.
These non-food substances stimulate the body but do not meet the body’s nourishment need. So now the body is screaming for a fix that can only be satisfied by consuming more of that addictive substance.
Thus an addiction begins.
If you are a consumer of any of these addictive substances and say you can quit anytime you wish, just try going cold turkey and see what happens. See how strong you are at eliminating them.
Yes, you are addicted!
Wake Up and Smell the Theobromine
Jun 22nd
In this Health Tip we are going to turn our attention to an addictive, toxic drug that contributes greatly to our Physical Problems when consumed.
Caffeine is that substance found in coffee, many teas, most soft drinks and in chocolate in the form of “theobromine.”
Theobromine is “a crystalline alkaloid powder, C7H8N4O2 related to caffeine, obtained from the cacao bean and used chiefly in medicine as a diuretic and stimulant.”
Webster’s Dictionary
Before we go any further, I need to lay a little groundwork for what will follow, so that you will better understand how caffeine contributes to physical problems
FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE
The Bible tells us in Psalm 139:14 that we “are fearfully and wonderfully made.”
The physical body we each possess is comprised of approximately 100 trillion living cells. Whether it be our skin, muscle, heart (the most important muscle in the body), our lymph, bone, blood, immune system; everything we are in the physical is comprised of living cells.
These living cells are made up of protoplasm, a grayish, translucent, colloidal substance.
Our health or lack thereof, is determined at this cellular level. If we keep our bodily fluids purified and our cells free of toxic build-up, we will experience health. On the other hand, if we fail to keep our bodily fluids purified and our cells free of toxic build-up, physical breakdown results.
One of the reasons The Hallelujah Acres Diet and Lifestyle has such a profound effect upon the health of the physical body, is because it promotes health at this most basic of all levels – cellular protoplasm. This happens when we stop consuming toxic substances and start consuming substances that contribute to our health – a basically living, raw, 100% plant-based diet, which includes an abundance of raw vegetable juices.
If we want to promote health and avoid disease we must carefully avoid placing substances into our body that will poison the body at the cellular protoplasmic level.
It is a terribly sad commentary to realize that most people today have absolutely no realization of this simple, but most basic truth concerning their health. On a daily basis, the average person is placing protoplasmic poisons into their body! These drugs may be in the form of caffeine, theobromine, inorganic sodium chloride (white table salt), refined sugar, alcohol, nicotine and other addictive drugs derived from plants (marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc.) along with doctor prescribed and over-the-counter medications (drugs).
Not a single one of these toxic substances are a food that will nourish the physical body. Rather they are almost all addictive drugs that will poison the body at the cellular level. Sadly, most of these drugs are socially accepted and even cherished. They are commercially advertised, medically prescribed, and some even government subsidized.
CAFFEINE
Caffeine is the most popular and widely used stimulant in the world, and coffee is the major source of this stimulant. Coffee is also the most popular beverage in the world, with tea and caffeinated soda coming in second and third place.
One cup of drip coffee contains 150 mg of caffeine. A cup of brewed black tea has 50 mg of caffeine. Green tea, which is being so highly touted for its anti-oxidant properties, can contain as much caffeine as black tea. A 12-ounce can of caffeinated soft drink (and most are caffeinated) contains 50 mg of caffeine. One 8-oz bar of milk chocolate contains 50 mg of caffeine.
WHAT ABOUT RAW CHOCOLATE?
While many realize the dangers inherent in the average commercial chocolate product, there is an organic, raw, chocolate craze sweeping the raw food movement today, with some touting supposed benefits. However, on closer examination we learn the following about raw chocolate.
The Cacao bean, from which organic raw chocolate is made, contains methylxanthines (a stimulating drug known as caffeine), theobromine, and theophyllin, (both of which are known to produce permanent degenerative alterations in cellular protoplasm). The Cacao bean also contains more tannin than tea, plus oxalic acid, cannabinoids and aflatoxins.
Yes, it is addictive. I know a lady who bought some because of all the propaganda coming from some raw food advocates promoting raw chocolate,. Well, to make a long story short, she is literally addicted to this expensive stimulant. Can’t do without it! Spending lots of money for a drug doing potentially great harm to her body, while at the same time she is being so careful to eat a basically raw and organic plant based diet.
DR. JOHN MCDOUGALL SPEAKS ON THE SUBJECT OF CAFFEINE
Following are a few quotes taken from Dr. John McDougall’s book The McDougall Plan.
“Some of the most popular DRUGS consumed by people of affluent western nations are found in coffee beans, tea leaves, and cocoa beans (chocolate)… all of which contain a group of natural substances known as methylxanthines. These chemicals include caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine. Many prescription and nonprescription drugs also contain methylxanthines.
“One of the most important of the methylxanthines is the popular DRUG ‘caffeine’… undesirable effects from the stimulating properties of caffeine include: elevated heart rate, irregular heartbeat, increased blood pressure, frequent urination, increased gastric acid secretion (which contributes to indigestion, gastritis, and ulcers), nervousness, irritability, insomnia, loss of appetite, nausea, and diarrhea. Obviously, discontinuing caffeine will relieve the problems caused by this DRUG. It is particularly important for someone with hypertension who is trying to lower his or her blood pressure to stop drinking caffeinated beverages.
“Caffeine has been shown to cause birth defects in animals and is suspected of causing the same defects in humans. It would follow that you should completely avoid coffee, tea, colas, and chocolate in all forms during pregnancy.
“All three of the methylxanthines can stimulate growth of breast cells, causing painful enlargement of breast tissue and benign lumps. This condition is known as fibrocystic disease… In as many as 90 percent of women with fibrocystic disease, these benign breast lumps significantly improve or completely disappear in two to six months when methylxanthines are eliminated from the diet. There is also concern from investigators that the chronic stimulation of the breast tissue by methylxanthines may progress to cancer of the breast. Cancer of the bladder also has been related to caffeine use.
“One more undesirable effect of caffeine is that the DRUG has been shown to cause loss of calcium from the body. Therefore, another dietary maneuver you can use to prevent and possibly correct thin, calcium-deficient bones, or osteoporosis, would be to discontinue use of caffeine.
“The body actually becomes physically addicted to caffeine. When you attempt to quit taking this DRUG, expect withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, anxiety, irritability, drowsiness, tension, and depression. Withdrawal symptoms can last as long as a week.”
DR. RUSSELL BLAYLOCK SPEAKS OUT ON THE SUBJECT OF CAFFEINE
In the November 2005 issue of Newsmax magazine Dr. Blaylock reports:
“Caffeine is considered to be the most widely used psychoactive substance in the world. In some ways it is acting like MDMA (Ecstasy) and cocaine. That is, it stimulates brain cells intensively… If you stop consuming caffeine you will notice two things right away: that you cannot stay awake and that you have a splitting headache… This is because the brain has turned down the sensitivity to caffeine so much that your brain is struggling to remain conscious. The headache is because of rebound dilation of the blood vessels in the scalp… Excessive caffeine has several dangers. With high consumption, one can have a sudden seizure or even abnormal heartbeats. On some occasions the abnormal heartbeats – called arrhythmias – can lead to sudden death, especially if your magnesium is low.”
MORE ADVERSE EFFECTS RESEARCH HAS REVEALED
Caffeine stresses the nervous system; increases uric acid production and can lead to kidney damage. Researchers at Boston University Medical Center consider coffee intake to be associated with heart attacks and cancer, and when used with sugar becomes even more harmful.
“Coffee nerves” or “coffee jitters” can occur after 150 mg (1 cup) are ingested, while physiological and psychological dependence can occur at 300 mg/day (2 cups).
62% of American coffee drinkers in a recent survey claimed they “could not function” without their daily coffee (caffeine) intake.
Caffeine intoxication is a form of severe poisoning that occurs at the cellular level when as little as 250 mg of caffeine is consumed in a day. This toxic stimulant may result in heart palpitations, stomach irritation, dizziness, muscle tension and trembling, insomnia, shortness of breath, diarrhea, ringing in ears, lightheadedness, and headaches.
Children are far more susceptible to caffeine intoxication due to lighter body weight and comparative purity of physiology. Parents who wouldn’t dream of giving their children coffee are giving them the equivalent dose of caffeine every time they let them indulge in caffeinated soft drinks, cocoa, iced tea, and chocolate. The irony is that most of the caffeine taken from coffee in the decaffeinization process is bought by the soft-drink industry and added to soft drinks!
Caffeine first triggers an adrenalin release and then mimics the “fight-or-flight” response by stimulating the cardio-respiratory and central nervous systems. Every cell, organ, and system is affected by caffeine.
Caffeine speeds up Basal Metabolic Rate by 10 – 25%. It increases blood pressure, causes irregular heart rate, and restricts brain blood flow. It is implicated in cardiovascular disease. Six cups of coffee daily, doubles heart attack risk.
Caffeine stimulates overproduction of gastric pepsin/hydrochloric acid, contributing to the formation of stomach ulcers.
Besides all of these physical symptoms of auto-poisoning, caffeine can stimulate mental disorders with symptoms identical to “anxiety neurosis”: nervousness, irritability, self-consciousness, moodiness, and/or depression. Indeed, some people who suffer from mental disorders are undoubtedly “adding fuel to the fire” when they become caught in a vicious circle of caffeine use.
TO SUMMARIZE…
Caffeine is either the cause or a contributing cause of many of the physical and psychological problems being experienced today. Please don’t forget that caffeine and theobromine are toxic and addictive and that along with animal source foods, refined sugar, and refined grains, are destroyers of our health.
You can expect withdrawal symptoms when you attempt to eliminate caffeine and theobromine from your diet. But you can quit its use if you really want to. Many others have successful done so. With a strong determination to quit and with God’s help, you can stop the use of these addictive, poisonous, drugs. But without your participation, God will not do it for you! You must pray and then put feet to your prayers.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)
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