Not that the world needs a new diet but we have to say the Jesus Diet should not be overlooked as we make our New Year’s resolutions. Read about the new dieting craze of 2009 which was inspired by a book called “What Would Jesus Eat” by Florida doctor Don Colbert.
This is a Right Pundits open talk thread where you can discuss this topic or anything else. As you finish off that turkey and prepare your fat bellies for Christmas fudge, cookies, and Aunt Melba’s fruitcake, the proper response is to participate in this conversation.
What would Jesus eat? What would you eat? And who the hell are you to eat any differently than Jesus Himself?
So what is the Jesus diet? It turns out that eating like Jesus is an extraordinarily healthy way to a low-fat, high vegetable and healthy carb diet.
We know from the bible that Jesus ate a typical Mediterranean diet for a peasant in his day. That means fish. Makes sense. Jesus preached from fishing boats and used many fishing metaphors. It means very little red meat. That is not because they didn’t want red meat 2,000 years ago. But that stuff was food for the princes and upper class. Despite what you might have heard from your militant vegetarian friends like commenter LisaB, Jesus was not a vegetarian.
Jesus ate bread in his diet. Lots of it. We know at the last supper that Jesus broke bread for the disciples. That makes tons of sense because bread went a long way cheaply back then as now. The modern prison diet of bread and water was in ample supply for those with little money. 2,000 years ago the variety tended to be even healthier flat breads with little rise. They lasted longer on the kitchen counter that way.
Olive oil has been a staple in Mediterranean cooking since the beginning of time. Olive trees grow in abundance in the region due to the climate of hot dry summers and wet winters. Olive oil was a part of Jesus’ diet to go along perfectly with those healthy fish oils high in Omega-3 fatty acids. In today’s science we know that olive oil is healthy fat. Studies show that olive oil drives down cholesterol. Score one for the Jesus diet.
Lastly bring on the wine. Yeah. If you are going to have something bad in your diet it might as well be wine. The biblical references for boozing are easy to find, including no less than the authoritative model of the Last Supper feast. And back in the day it was strong red wine they were drinking, often watered down to make it last longer. Not Merlot you wusses. More like burgundy with a dash of petrol. Red wine is good for the heart. Score another point for Jesus.
So there you have it, the Jesus diet, which looks a lot like other diets that are known to succeed. Little red meat, lots of fruits and vegetables, and you get to eat carbs and wine too. No chance of going wrong.
So now you know what would Jesus eat, tell us what you will eat.
(Funny Diet Video!)










November 29th, 2009 at 5:57 am
Okay, but Jesus was a carpenter not a fisherman.
November 29th, 2009 at 7:06 am
Well, I DO eat ham, mashed potatoes. I do NOT like or want fish (ugly in smell, taste and looks) except for tuna. I do not want to sub olive oil on my popcorn or anything that uses canola oil. I am concerned that it may taste turn-offish and I would have wasted that food.
Also I don’t like olives for the same reason I don’t like fish. The smell of a fish market …
November 29th, 2009 at 7:07 am
I guess I pretty much follow the Mediterranean diet except that chicken is a staple in my diet and I eat it (sans the skin) almost daily. I try to eat fish in some shape or form at least three times a week. I only treat myself to red meat once a month and that’s usually a steak.
I’m not a fruit eater (too inconsistent) with the exception of bananas but I do drink a lot of fruit juices and vegetable juice. Also eat plenty of whole grains, cereals, wheat bread, brown rice. No simple carbs.
My two weaknesses are pasta and cheese. I’m weaning myself off of cheese as it gives me bad indigestion anyways but being part Italian, I can’t go without my 2 or 3x a week pasta fix. On the plus side, I eat it in tomato sauce which is a good source of antioxidents.
November 29th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Well, eating right did Him a lot of good, didn’t it??
November 29th, 2009 at 9:56 am
There were no heavy metals in the fish back then. Now the fish often contains those because of people disposing them in the water.
November 29th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
I’m sorry to burst your little euphemistic bubble but Religion is a mythology and Je-sus is a fictional character. There are no human Gods. We humans are a bunch of savages who gallivant around the planet perpetrating atrocities and genocide against one another for no intelligent reason. With the world economy on the verge of total collapse, we humans will be lucky if we have anything to eat.
November 29th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Yes John Odd Owl …. there is a place at the table in heaven for you also.
November 29th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
MY GRANDMAS SECRET TO LIVE OVER 100 YEARS IS TO ALWAYS BE HAPPY!!! SECOND EAT ONLY ONCE A DAY OF WHAT FITS IN THE PALM OF YOUR HANDS ONLY!!! DRINK LOTS OF WATER. EAT LOTS OF FISH, BREAD, AND SEEDS LIKE WALNUTS AND ETC. AND DRINK 1 TO 2 GLASSES OF WINE A DAY. EAT LOTS OF FRUITS AND VEGATEBLES.
NOTE YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!!!!!!
November 29th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
One thing for sure, Jesus would not eat meat that comes from factory farms where 99% of the meat is produced for Americans. If you don’t know what a factory farm is watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDiSR0LGry8
or
http://www.mercyforanimals.org/pigs/
God Bless!
Julie Eyrich
November 29th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
When I pick up the Bible, I see that Jesus Christ does talk briefly about food. He says, “…I say unto you, do not worry about…what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life MORE than food and the body more than clothing?” And, “…For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” -Matthew 6:25 & 32-33.
November 29th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
John Odd Owl is the type that couldn’t wait to tell his younger siblings that there was no Easter Bunny or Santa Clause. Has probably been a jackass his whole life.
November 29th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I can tell you what I eat if you would only ask with an open mind. I will say flying monkey eats so well he should be blogging on forever.
November 29th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
I wouldn’t say well Brian, just as correctly as possible. My diet is healthy but boring. Need to find a good “cooking with herbs and spices” cook book.
Just finished a big plate of spaghetti though so feeling fat and sassy right now.
November 29th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I find variations on spicey hummus, pappa ganosh, humara, ikra, indian cooking and indian and mediterranean yogurts and new mexico hot red and green chilli platters quite good. If you can get ethnic eastern european, lithuanian, yogoslavian plates prepared by the locals you won’t go wanting for spicey antioxidants. For some reason the American adaptations of these dishes are bland, but if you can get the real ones they taste most lively. homemade cilantro pesto on pinon nut and fontina cheese ravioli’s works too, easy enough to make and store as frozen sheets in the fridge.
November 29th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
“One thing for sure, Jesus would not eat meat that comes from factory farms where 99% of the meat is produced for Americans.”
Factory farms keep the costs down for both the producer and the consumer so I guess they are a necessary evil.
November 29th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
All sounds good Brian and would be within reach if I still lived in Chicago, but it’s not exactly the kind of fare one finds in small town Missouri where meat and potatoes is king.
I don’t like to eat out anyway. Prefer to cook for myself so I know what’s in it and how it’s prepared.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:09 am
“Factory farms keep the costs down for both the producer and the consumer so I guess they are a necessary evil.”
It’s not a necessary evil. There is a very easy solution, millions of people already doing it, Go Vegan!
November 30th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
i find a vegan diet too restrictive …
i actually went under 85 pounds on a vegan diet and my doctor yelled at me my freshman year in college
vegetarian is much easier to stay healthy than vegan
November 30th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Julie, did you know that over a half million voles are killed every year when the farmers are preparing their fields for planting grain crops? This number does not include rabbits, skunks, racoons, snakes, etc… that also happen to wander in the path of farm equipment.
Reminds me of back in the day when the environmentalists would bemoan the few dolphin that would get caught up in the tuna nets. Rush Limbaugh finally posed that faithful question. “WHAT ABOUT THE TUNA?
November 30th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
the TUNA are the al quaeda of the oceans
and squirrels are the al quaeda of back yards
i saw a possum a month or so ago … in massachusetts we call them rats
November 30th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
“This number does not include rabbits, skunks, racoons, snakes, etc… that also happen to wander in the path of farm equipment”
are they stupid rabbits, skunks, raccoons, and snakes?
farming equipment does not exactly sneak up on you
November 30th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Neither do trains and they are on tracks.
November 30th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Actually animals are pretty stupid. They’ll hunker down until you’re right on top of them and then they’re just as likely to run right at you as run away.
I once braked to let a possum cross the road. As soon as it crossed the center line I accelerated and damn if it didn’t turn around and run right under my wheels.
November 30th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
well just so you know
i brake for republicans
December 5th, 2009 at 12:46 am
Very interesting blog. But, one thing you do not mention (and I think this is important!) is that Jesus was a practising Jew. Jesus kept kosher! Beyond that, 2,000 years ago, people may have eaten sensibly simply because there were no other options. I do not know how common obesity was but most images from 2,000 years ago seem to depict slender, fit people. Our diets today are terrible. We have lost the ability to discern what is, or isn’t, healthy food. We have even lost the ability to determine just what food IS (or isn’t). Jesus’ diet is food (as Jesus is food for the soul). McDonald’s, Burger King, Boston Market, Quiznos et al, are NOT food. I am not one who subscribes to the WWJD school of pop-religiosity, but somehow I am certain the Jesus would greatly condemn the food indulgences of our modern era.