An Ounce Of Prevention Is Worth One Pound Of Cure

Ezekiel 4:9, “Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.”

Daniel 1:12-16, “Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.”

I am now 55 years old. For most of my life I didn't really pay attention to how healthy the foods I ate were. I grew up in the big city, where fast food joints are everywhere. I love those Mom and Pop local eateries, where you can buy cheeseburgers, pizza puffs, extra-dunked Italian sausages loaded with sweet peppers, French fires and other delicious stuff. Unfortunately, all of those tasty foods aren't very healthy.

To be honest, I hate eating fruit. Really. I love deep fried foods, and always have. I love Pizza Puffs, which I order from the ILTACO company in Chicago. They are my all-time favorite food! Yet, I have learned to make myself eat lots of fruits and vegetables for good health. Here is a photo I took of the foods I am eating this week...

God's Healthy Foods That I Am Eating This Week!

When I eat good, I feel good! What we eat today, we will crave tomorrow. I begin each day by drinking a fruit smoothie. I start with one apple. I recently learned that there are about 5,000 different kinds of apples. That is amazing! Walmart sells about a dozen different varieties. This week I bought the Honey Crisp and also Jazz apples. Two weeks ago I got the Ambrosia apples. I cut the apple up and put it into my 24 ounce Nutri-Ninja cup. Then I add some cold water and 1 to 2 Tablespoons of whole flaxseeds (I buy them in a bag at Walmart, near where the cooking oils are sold). Today I also cut up and added 3 baby guavas (the yellow ones), 1 plumcot, 1 apricot, 1 pear, 1 lemon and 1 yellow kiwi. I drank it all down. Since there is a lot of fiber in eating fruit, I feel full.

I also don't eat much flour anymore. Instead, I have been eating flourless bread...

Ezekiel 4:9, “Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.”

Ezekiel bread is 100% whole grain, with a Glycemic Index (G.I.) of only 35 (versus 85 for all white breads). The Glycemic Index is a chart showing how much different foods will spike your body's glucose (sugar) level. This is especially important for diabetic people. For diabetics, you should generally try to eat foods with a G.I. of 40 or lower.

An ounce of prevention is worth one pound of cure. That is so true! If we eat healthy foods, in the long run they will reward us with less of a chance of disease, cancer, stroke or heart attack. Everyone should eat one Tablespoon each day of flaxseeds, to get enough Omega 3 oils in the body, which have been shown to greatly reduce the risk of cancer and a heart attack.

In our text passage from the Old Testament book of Daniel, we see that all it took was JUST 10 DAYS to notice a drastic change in one's health and appearance. That is amazing! If you will decide now to go to your local supermarket, and load up on only healthy fruits, whole grains and vegetables, you WILL FEEL and NOTICE the difference in a couple weeks.

The book of Daniel mentions eating “pulse.” This is pulse...

Daniel 1:12-16, “Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.”

Pulses are edible dry peas, beans, lentils, and chickpeas. They fall under the legume family, but the word "pulse" specifically refers to legumes that are grown and harvested for their dry seed and grown as food. So pulses include lentils, chickpeas as well as split peas and beans like kidney bean or navy bean. Cool, huh?

I heard another interesting statement: “An ounce of mother is worth one pound of clergy.” I like that! In other words, if a mother raises her child wisely and properly, teaching the child to have manners, respect for other humans, avoid vices (booze, cigarettes, recreational drugs), and to always do what is right; then that child likely won't end up in rehab as an adult someday, or be in some pastor's office to get help with their chaotic life. Oh, how our country needs godly mothers again!!! Fathers too!!!

Yes, an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure, whether it be concerning one's health, the raising of children, finances, maintenance of one's vehicle, working on the marital relationship or anything else in life. It is tragic to see so many Americans today who are so obese, that they have to sit in an electric cart to get around places, because they weight 400 pounds! Nobody gains 50 pounds overnight, it happened a little here and a little there.

It happened because of a wrong attitude. But what's done is done. The only concern people should have right now is, where do we go from here? Even if you are grossly overweight, you can lose a substantial amount of weight (5 to 10 pounds a month), just by eating healthy foods. I lost 5 pounds last month just by eating lots of fruits and vegetables. I eat a lot of stir fries. I love baby Bok Choy, which I buy at the local Asian grocery store.

I encourage you dear reader, if you're not doing so already, to start including some fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. You don't have to completely change your normal diet, but I did and I don't regret it. I still eat foods that I like, but I compromise. I was craving a bacon sandwich last night, so I cooked up a pound of bacon. But I used Ezekiel bread instead of white bread. I put a big wedge of iceberg lettuce and a couple thin sliced red tomatoes on it. And a little Miracle Whip. The sandwich was wonderful!

Eating healthy doesn't have to be boring and torture. You can use all kinds of sauces (Oyster Sauce, Soy Sauce, Vietnamese Chili Garlic Hot Sauce, Dark Soy Sauce, Kung Pao Sauce, Szechwan Sauce, et cetera). I bought all of these items from the local Asian store. I add a little brown sugar, salt, white pepper, 5 spice, onion powder and minced garlic to my stir fry. Each meal that I cook in my Chinese wok is different, and tasty. I am eating lots of healthy vegetables. I like to share with others the things that are a blessing in my life, so you can be blessed too. Eating healthy is a blessing! I encourage you to do as I have done, to read up online about all kinds of fruits and vegetables.

I was curious what that white powdery stuff is on all my blueberries. I thought it was pesticide, but I was wrong. As it turns out, it is 100% natural, produced by the blueberries themselves, which is a protective wax coating. The natural wax seals in moisture, keeps our insects and disease, preserving the berries. God is more than amazing!!!

Thank you for reading and God bless.