Reverend George Malkmus, Founder of Hallelujah Acres
Posts tagged refined grains
What Does A Weight Gaining Kitchen Look Like?
Jan 18th
In last week’s Health Tip we asked “What Does A Healthy Family Look Like?” Under that heading I asked our readers to evaluate: “What is the Size of Your Family.” I wasn’t looking for the number of people in the family, but rather how large family members were and how many pounds they were carrying.
In this week’s Health Tip I want to share some things that cause a family to be overweight and then show how that family can take control of their overweight condition.
We are going to begin by taking a look in the kitchen to see what a person is eating – which is the primary cause of excess weight.
What Does A Weight Gaining Kitchen Look Like?
There are certain foods that contribute to weight gain and there are other foods that contribute to a slim and trim body. Let’s examine the weight gaining foods first.
Carbs
Refined carbs, especially refined sugar, are the greatest cause of weight gain. Anything containing refined sugar should not be found in the kitchen of a home that wants family members to be slim and trim. Where do we find refined sugar in the average kitchen?
Soft drinks – The average 12-oz can of soft drink contains approximately 11 teaspoons of sugar. If a person were to consume just one 12-oz can of soft drink each day for one year, the sugar in that soft drink would cause their body to gain approximately 15 pounds of weight. Now think of all the sugar in those liter bottles!
Bread, cakes, cookies, pies, pastries, cereals, jams, jellies, candy, gum – Almost every one of these items contain large amounts of refined sugar, a substance that not only causes weight gain but also psychological problems. Almost every manufactured product on the grocery store shelf contains some form of refined sugar.
Artificial sugars – These “sugar free” products are not only dangerous in themselves, but cause an increase in appetite, thereby defeating the very reason many people use them. Refined sugars and artificial sugars could also be classified as addictive drugs.
Refined Grains – Refined grains, when ingested, turn rapidly to sugar. Almost all breads, donuts, cookies, pies, pastries, and most breakfast cereals are made with refined grains. When a person consumes these products they are getting a double weight gaining whammy – not only from the sugar in the product, but also from the refined grain.
Fat
All animal products contain fat and the fat in these animal products contributes to excess body fat. That chicken many people think is less fattening than a beef patty is loaded with fat. Remove the skin from the breast of the chicken and broil it, and the percentage of fat remaining in that chicken breast is still 20%. Beef contains some 20 to 40% fat, and park is 40 to 60% fat.
When you cook these animal sourced foods it is impossible to get all the fat out. It’s not hard to imagine where that remaining fat ends up.
Other sources of fat include milk, cheese, hydrogenated oils, lard, and the fats found in deep fried foods such as doughnuts, French fries, fried fish, chicken nuggets, potato chips, etc.
These fats not only contribute to excess weight, but also clog the arteries causing high blood pressure, need for by-passes and stents, and often lead to a heart attack or stroke.
What’s In Your Kitchen?
As we enter the kitchen, we are going to open various doors in that kitchen to see what we see behind them. We are going to be looking for foods that contribute to weight gain behind those various doors.
The Freezer Door – The first thing that jumps out as we open the freezer door in many homes is that pint, quart or half-gallon of ice cream or maybe some popsicles. Ice cream not only contains lots of refined sugar (approximately 37%), but is also loaded with fat.
What else can we find? A stack of beef patties or package of hot dogs? Did you ever notice the fat that drains from these patties or dogs as you grill them? Did you ever consider what happens to the fat that does not drain from these items? That fat is taken into the body and that fat adds to your body fat.
Maybe you have a frozen pizza in there, covered with cheese, pepperoni, sausage, and hamburger meat. Some of the pizzas being sold today even boast “double cheese” and some even have cheese baked into their crusts.
The Refrigerator Door – As we open the refrigerator door what might we see? A six-pack of soda or beer? Are you aware that both of these contribute greatly to weight gain? So do fruit juices. Most of them are sweetened with refined sugar, which contribute to weight gain.
Even 100% fruit juices are loaded with natural sugars that can contribute to weight gain. Then there are the sugar laden Kool Aid, Gatorade, and other sport drinks.
Let me emphasize again that milk and cheese are huge sources of animal fat. Cow milk and cheese are not only highly fattening, but possibly the most dangerous items in the refrigerator.
And beware of the “low fat” deception, allowed by government, found on the label of a container of milk. The percentage is based on weight, not as a percentage of calories. As a percentage of total calories, a container of 1% milk is actually 26% fat, and 2% milk is 37% fat.
The Pantry Door – Is that a box of macaroni and cheese I see sitting on the pantry shelf, a very fattening food? Are there bags of sugar and white flour, boxes of cookies, crackers, and refined grain pastas? In most pantries there is also a container of refined salt. Refined table salt causes the body to retain water which can also contribute to weight gain.
What Does The Menu In A Restaurant Look Like?
For a moment, let’s look at what is being served in fast food restaurants. Take a typical fast food meal: animal flesh and cheese between a refined white flour bun, deep fat fried potatoes, and a sugar-laden soft drink. Other items might include deep fried chicken nuggets or a deep fried chicken or fish patty on a white flour bun.
Have you ever considered the size of the patrons in an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant? Yet even in the finest restaurant there is a meat entrée, rolls and sugar desserts, and the salads usually have cheese and bacon bits added. All fattening foods!
Lack of Exercise
Failing to exercise on a daily basis encourages weight gain and discourages weight loss. The basic formula for weight gain and weight loss is this: consume more calories than are burned, and the body will gain weight. Burn more calories than are consumed, and the body will lose weight.
Consequences
- Children who are obese are twice as likely to die before age 55.
- Obese teen girls are more likely to die between the ages of 35 and 56.
- Because of an unhealthy, fattening diet, the average young adult is now facing increased risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, stroke, and cancer.
- But it’s not just the young people facing these problems. Heart disease is the number one cause of death among adults. Cancer is a close second. Type 2 diabetes is rampant and low bone density is becoming an increasing concern.
Discouraged? Don’t Be!
Some reading this might at this point be so discouraged they are ready to throw up their hands and say, “There is nothing my family can eat that will not contribute to their weight gain!” Ah, but there is!
It is called The Hallelujah Diet. For nearly 20 years, tens-of-thousands of folks from around the world have written to share what happened when they changed their diet. When they switched from the unhealthy SAD foods to The Hallelujah Diet, they not only lost weight but were able to maintain that weight loss while eliminating many other physical problems.
Some of the weight losses have been dramatic. In January 2008 one gentlemen adopted The Hallelujah Diet and lost 206 pounds by October of the same year. Another gentleman in Texas lost 320 pounds and proclaimed “I’m not half the man I used to be.”
Several years ago I taught a class titled “Biblical Nutrition 101” in the church Rhonda and I were attending at the time. By the end of the six-month class, the 32 participants who adopted The Hallelujah Diet lost a combined total of more than 700 pounds.
A recent poll on www.hacres.com asked people if they had lost weight on The Hallelujah Diet. Of 240 who responded, 166 (or 69%) reported a weight loss. That is phenomenal!
What Does A Healthy Kitchen Look Like?
Next week, the good Lord willing, we will share ideas to replace those fattening foods in the freezer, refrigerator and pantry - foods that will help a person lose weight, obtain optimal weight, maintain that weight, and assist the body to rid itself of most other physical problems.
We will also share what a “Hallelujah Kitchen” looks like and provide a simple exercise program that will assist in helping a person obtain and maintain their weight goals.
Great Grain Robbery Worse Than Previously Thought
Jun 15th
We’re continuing our series on How we Contribute to our own Physical Problems.
Today we’ll learn more about grains, and continue to share why they become problematic when consumed in their refined form.
REFINED GRAINS CREATE BLOOD SUGAR DISORDERS
When whole grains are processed something very serious with potentially devastating health consequences happens to that grain. In order to understand this, we need to recall what refined grains are.
A refined grain is a whole grain that has been stripped of its outer shell (fiber) and its germ (nutrients), leaving only the endosperm (embryo sack).
During processing, refined grains go through a heating, mechanical, and chemical process, during which vitamins, proteins, fats, enzymes, (in fact, almost all nutrients) and the fiber are removed, leaving practically nothing but pure white, naked calories – pure refined carbohydrate.
When you read the word “enriched” on the label of a refined grain product, it means the manufacturer, after removing the germ from the whole grain which contained the nutrients, has attempted to replace some of the lost nutrients with chemical additives.
Also, when a person consumes a refined grain, because the fiber has been removed, a high percentage of the starch (which is practically all that is left after the fiber and germ have been removed) is very quickly broken down into simple sugars.
These simple sugars from refined grain hit the blood stream almost as rapidly as refined sugars do. Dealing with all of this sugar exhausts the pancreas and/or adrenals, and produces the same diabetic/hypoglycemic reactions we learned about in Health Tip #652 and #653.
The average lifetime consumption of refined sugar is approximately 10,000 pounds per person, and the lifetime intake of refined grains, which converts to sugar very rapidly, is approximately 13,000 pounds. Friends, can you now better understand why the people of today suffer with a multitude of blood sugar problems?
This incredibly high intake of refined sugar and refined grains is devastating and is causing a myriad of psychological problems, dealt with by guess what – drugs. No one has ever recovered from a psychological problem through the use of drugs. Rather these drugs only exacerbate the problem, often leading to new problems for which additional drugs are often prescribed.
Prior to the year 1900, practically no refined sugars or refined grains were consumed in America or any other place in the world. For sure there were no refined sugars, or refined grains in the diet God gave Adam and Eden in the Garden of Eden. Nor will you find any refined sugar or refined grains in The Hallelujah Acres Diet.
One of the reasons The Hallelujah Diet helps those with emotional, phychological, and depression problems recover is because these sugars are the primary cause of the problem. On The Hallelujah Diet the cause is eliminated.
We need to remember that every physical and psychological problem has a cause. If we want to recover from a problem the single most important thing we must do to affect a recovery is remove the cause. The Bible puts it this way in Proverbs 26:2:
“…the curse causeless shall not come.”
REFINED GRAINS PROMOTE EMOTIONAL INSTABLILTY
Sadly, studies reveal a strong link between juvenile and adult criminal offenses and not only refined sugar, but also refined grains. Similar research reveals a strong link between mental illness and sugar derived from these refined sources:
Hypoglycemic reactions, for the very sensitive consumer, promote extreme irrationality, emotional instability, and often time’s aggressiveness. Recent studies reveal that sugar, coming from both refined sugars and refined grains, may be as involved in mental illness, divorce, and crime as alcohol has been found to be.
These refined grains and sugars also play a significant role in the bad behavior of children. This bad behavior often leads to a child being diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. And the doctor, rather than telling the parent they need to remove the cause of the child’s problem, prescribes a drug that can have potentially devastating consequences.
Through the years, I have received some wonderful testimonies from mothers reporting that after removing refined grains and sugar from their child’s diet and placing them on a basically raw plant diet, the child became a totally different and well-behaved person.
Depression is also one of the most rapidly growing problems in our society, and refined sugars, along with refined grains, are a major contributing factor!
REFINED GRAINS ARE EXCESSIVELY STARCHY
Refined grains are one of the starchiest foods consumed by humans and present an overwhelmingly difficult task for the digestive system. Refined grains also cause mucus formation. Since 1965, scientists have repeatedly linked high gluten consumption, coming from refined grains, to learning disorders and schizophrenia. (Those with gluten intolerance usually cannot handle whole grains either.)
REFINED GRAINS CONTAIN HIGH AMOUNTS OF GLUTEN
Gluten is the “grayish, sticky component of wheat flour and some of the other grain flours, composed mainly of the proteins gladin and glutenin.” (Webster)
Not all grains contain gluten. Examples of those that do not contain gluten include millet, amaranth, quinoa and oats.
“Refined grains such as wheat, which is exceptionally high in gluten, can produce many physical and mental problems, in addition to celiac disease. Problems linked to high gluten intake can include: asthma, allergies, gluten intolerance, digestive disturbances, yeast infections, various mucus and congestive disturbances, several types of arthritis, and even chronic overeating.” (Source: “Grain Damage” by Douglas Graham, D.C.)
REFINED GRAINS LEAD TO ADDICTION AND WEIGHT GAIN
Refined grains are addictive! We have found that when a person decides to adopt The Hallelujah Diet, refined sugar and refined grains are the two most difficult items to eliminate from the diet – much more difficult than eliminating animal source foods. Why? Because these sugars have a very powerful addictive influence upon the body – as powerful as nicotine and alcohol.
Another thing we need to remember concerning refined grains is that whenever a food has been fragmented, it is nutrient-deficient and always results in lower levels of nutrition and health. This is the case concerning refined grain products.
Because refined grains do not provide satisfaction at the cellular level, the body continues to be hungry – continuing to seek adequate nutrients to satisfy nutritional needs. This leads to overeating.
Sadly, all these refined foods have produced a nation of overfed, undernourished, predominantly overweight people.
The Hallelujah Diet, by comparison, produces a people who are properly nourished while at the same time consuming a much lower volume of food. The Hallelujah Diet contributes to a person being of ideal weight along with possessing a healthy, strong physical body, a sound mind, and an uncompromised immune system.
REFINED GRAINS COMPROMISE THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
We need to remember that the immune system was built into each of our physical bodies by God to protect us from the germs, viruses, and bacteria of this world. Our immune system is our first line of defense!
Refined grains, which convert very rapidly to sugar, along with refined sugar suppress the immune system, keeping it from being able to perform its God-given tasks.
Does this give us a clue as to why so many people experience infections, colds, the flu, along with other flu like symptoms and more? Since this editor adopted a predominantly raw, plant-based diet, free of refined grains or refined sugars, over thirty-four years ago, I have not experienced any infections, the flu, or even a cold. Not even one time.
Does not the Bible tell us that we will reap what we sow in Galatians 6:7?
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man [or woman] soweth, that shall he [or she] also reap.”
REFINED GRAINS CAUSE MANY OTHER PHYSICAL PROBLEMS
Finally, refined grains are associated with not only malnutrition, decreased resistance to disease, mental instability, and being overweight. Refined grains impact our quality of life.
Refined grains cause or increase the severity of PMS symptoms. They decrease cognitive or intellectual function, especially in children. Refined grains, along with refined sugar, also contribute to our current epidemic of heart disease and so much more.
Following is just a partial list of other health problems related to the intake of refined grains: acne, addiction to drugs (including caffeine and alcohol) anxiety, behavioral problems, binge eating, bloating, bone loss, Candidiasis, depression, difficulty concentrating, eczema, edema, emotional problems, fatigue, food cravings, hormonal imbalances, hyperactivity, insomnia, mental illness, mood swings, premature aging, psoriasis, and the list goes on.
IN CONCLUSION:
For almost every negative influence refined sugar has upon the body refined grains offer an equally negative influence. If we want to have a strong healthy body and mind, we must eliminate not only refined sugars from our diet, but also refined grains!
After spending three Health Tips on the subject of refined grains, sharing all the physical and mental problems refined grains can create within not only our own bodies, but especially the bodies of our children, don’t you think it is time we all removed refined grains, along with refined sugars from our homes?
Will you say “Amen” to that?
Why Refined Grains Are So Dangerous To Our Health
Jun 8th
For the past seven Health Tips (#648 through #654) we have been talking about “How we contribute to our own physical problems”:
In Health Tip #648 we talked about the FAT contained in animal sourced foods that clog the arteries, and contribute to high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes.
In Health Tip #649 and #650 we discussed how the ACID in animal sourced foods cause a myriad of problems, including acid stomach, heartburn, osteoporosis, and more, and how if the blood becomes even slightly acidic, we die.
In Health Tip #651 we talked about PROTEIN and how the excessive amounts of protein found in animal source foods harm the body, and contribute to numerous physical problems.
In Health Tip #652 and #653 we talked about SUGAR the second greatest cause of both the physical as well as the mental problems being experienced today.
In Health Tip #654 we began talking about GRAINS and shared why grains were not a part of the Genesis 1:29 diet, but are allowed on the Hallelujah Diet in their whole form.
Today we will continue to discuss grains, and share why they become problematic when consumed in their refined form.
WHAT IS A REFINED GRAIN?
The word “refined” when used in connection with grains means that the bran (fiber-rich outer layer) and the germ (nutrient-rich inner part) of the grain have been removed during milling. This processing leaves only the endosperm (middle part). While this process makes grains easier to prepare and consume, it removes vital nutrients along with the extremely important fiber part (bran).
Whole grains, because they have not gone through the refining process, contain the bran, the endosperm, and the germ, and thus are good sources of fiber, B vitamins, iron, zinc, magnesium, vitamin E, and selenium. Whole grains also contain plant chemicals called phytochemicals, which have many health-promoting benefits. Refining grains, removes a significant percentage of these nutrients, plus much more.
Whole grains would include: whole wheat, barley, brown rice, bulgur, oat grouts, quinoa, rye, amaranth, buckwheat, millet, and spelt.
Whole grains, if not consumed too frequently, do the body good. Whole grains are more nutritious than refined grains; they have more texture and flavor, as well as being more filling than refined grains. On the other hand, refined grain does the body bad! On The Hallelujah Acres Diet, whole grain cereals and breads, like Ezekiel 4.9; along with brown rice and other whole grains, as well as whole grain pastas are allowed.
Now that we understand the difference between whole grains and refined grains, we will devote the remaining part of this article talking about the dangers of refined grains, and why we should not consume them.
REFINED GRAINS ARE DEVOID OF ALMOST ALL FIBER
In order to turn a whole grain of wheat into a refined grain, the outer shell, called the husk is removed. This outer shell is the fiber part of the grain and is also called bran.
There is a similar difference between brown rice and white rice in that the outer shell or husk of the grain has been removed. The outer shell or husks of grain play an important part in the digestion of grains.
Definitions from Webster
- Fiber: “bulk, roughage, the structural parts of plants that are wholly or partly indigestible, acting to increase intestinal bulk and peristalsis. . . “.
- Husk: “the dry external covering of seeds;” and “bran” as: “the partly ground husk of wheat or other grain, separated from flour meal by sifting.”
- Another definition of fiber is: “A substance in foods that comes from plants that help with digestion by keeping stools soft so that it moves smoothly through the colon.”
Now let me begin to share the importance of fiber. Between our mouth, where we take food into our body, and the anus where the digested food exits the body, are approximately 30-feet of tubing the food must pass through. Fiber plays a very significant role in this process!
When we consume a whole grain, containing fiber, in its whole natural form as supplied by nature, the food moves quite rapidly through the alimentary canal. However, when most of the fiber has been removed, as it has been in all refined grains, it moves very sluggishly.
Two more definitions from Webster before bringing this thought to a conclusion:
- Alimentary Canal: “a tubular passage functioning in the digestion and absorption of food and the elimination of food residue, beginning at the mouth and terminating at the anus.”
- Peristalsis: “progressive waves of involuntary muscle contractions and relaxations that move matter along certain tube like structures of the body, as ingested food along the alimentary canal.”
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
Refined grains, just like we saw with foods of animal origin, and refined sugar origin, are devoid of almost all fiber. Without lots of fiber, there is nothing to promote peristaltic action, and thus foods containing little or no fiber move very sluggishly through those 30 feet of tubing called the alimentary canal.
Animal flesh contains no fiber. It moves very sluggishly through those 30 feet of tubing in an atmosphere of approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit, taking anywhere from 3 to 4 days to exit the body.
This slow movement in that 100 degree atmosphere causes the animal flesh to putrefy, creating all kinds of colon problems along with the bad body odor people try to cover up with antiperspirant deodorants. Most people, once they stop consuming fiberless animal source foods, no longer require a deodorant, and often experience digestive and colon problems simply going away.
The lack of fiber in refined grains contributes to constipation problems. And what do people turn to in an effort to alleviate constipation problems? Is it not drugs to artificially stimulate the colon, or laxatives containing fiber, the very fiber that has been removed when grains are refined?
The Standard American Diet (SAD) is almost completely devoid of fiber. When a person switches from the nearly fiberless SAD diet to the fiber-rich Hallelujah Acres Diet, a diet loaded with natural plant fiber, they usually see their constipation problems, as well as digestive and colon problems, disappear!
One more thing. Earlier, we learned the definition of fiber: “bulk, roughage, the structural parts of plants that are wholly or partly indigestible, acting to increase intestinal bulk and peristalsis…”
Pay particular attention to the words “intestinal bulk.”
Today, many people wrestle with trying to control their weight, while nearly 70% of our population is considered overweight. An ever-growing segment of our population, including children, is being classified as obese.
Foods containing fiber provide bulk, which cause people to feel full long before they would feel full consuming refined foods (foods devoid of fiber).
Consuming foods that are high in fiber is an important ingredient in weight management. The only type of grains people should consume is whole grains, not only for their nutritional value and the prevention of constipation, but also to help in weight control.
ALL GARDEN (GENESIS 1:29) FOODS ARE RICH IN FIBER!
It is only when a person goes outside the Garden to obtain their food that physical problems occur.
When you take a good look at The Hallelujah Acres Diet, you will find that it promotes exclusively Garden Foods, which are high in fiber. And when you look at the listing of foods Hallelujah Acres encourages people to avoid, you will find that it consists exclusively of foods that are devoid of fiber.
Almost every physical problem people experience today (other than accidents of course) are caused by consuming the fiberless foods found outside of the Garden!
On the flip side, we have received tens-of-thousands of testimonies from people reporting that when they stopped consuming these fiberless, outside the Garden foods, and went back to consuming the high fiber-rich Garden foods, they recovered from over 170 different physical problems.
Do you not think God knew what He was doing when He planted a Garden eastward of Eden before He ever created man? Do you not think God knew what He was doing when He gave mankind 30 feet of tubing called the alimentary canal, which required fiber to move food through that lengthy digestive tract?
Do you not believe God knew what He was doing when He placed His human creation into that Garden and told Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:29 that all of the foods necessary to nourish their physical bodies were to be found in that Garden?
I believe God most definitely did!
This editor adopted a 100% raw (living), plant based diet, loaded with fiber, along with large quantities of 100% raw (enzymatically alive), freshly extracted vegetable juices, after being told I had colon cancer in 1976.
After one year on a 100% raw, fiber-rich diet, I added 15% cooked plant sourced foods back into my diet. It has been at least 85% raw plant sourced foods every day since 1977.
I am so excited that as I approach my 77th birthday, I still have the physical abilities I had as a teen, and a mind superior to when I was a teen. Do you think my basically raw and FIBER rich diet might have something to do with my current health?
Please, for the sake of your own health and that of your family, let’s return to the Garden as the source of nourishment for the glorious physical bodies God has given each of us. Let’s come back to the diet God told us we should consume in Genesis 1:29.
If we will do that, we will be able to stop eating according to the dictates of this world in which we live, which is the cause of most every physical problem we experience!
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. AND BE NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Romans 12:1-2
Loading ...
