So many people have found such awesome results after switching to the paleo/primal diet framework. It is so exciting to see and hear everyone’s astonishment, whether it is improved energy, performance at the gym, sleep, smoother skin, digestion, allergies, even chronic pain. Is this a coincidence?
God has already given us all the food options we need. Humanity has survived and thrived up until now, without the onset of food production companies, franchises and brands. They spend their livelihood fishing for us, and sugar is the bait. With their eye on the hallowed dollar, the goal is to keep us consuming more and more. It’s no secret we are addicted. We’re their little lab rats! Don’t let these companies victimize you!! Go back to your corner and don’t bite!
I digress.
It is pretty easy to become totally engrossed in the clean eating movement. Quick results are hard to ignore! My concern is that once people experience the results, they begin exalting the diet on a religious level. (I am prone to this.) Come to think of it, the internet doesn’t help. Blogs and authors portray themselves as the high and holy authority…the writers never seem to even be tempted to cheat or feel bad about themselves…as if they have achieved Nirvana via diet.
Just like everything else, we take something that is good, and make it god.
It is what it is. A clean diet makes for a healthier, happier life. That’s it.
We are all still going to get sick and die at some point. Maybe with less decrepitude, but we will die none the less. A perfectly paleo diet will not save you. Even if you never have a cheat day again, never eat another gram of sugar the rest of your life…chances are you will still feel the nag of “there is something greater than ME out there.”
With this said, enjoy your life. Eat clean at home as much as possible. When you are invited to break bread (whole wheat or almond flour) with neighbors, family, and friends, eat what you are served, and relish the experience. Ensure that you are consistently gracious about whatever food you are served, because in the end, relationships matter more.
“The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. ”
This is Paul’s take on diet convictions in Romans 14. The chapter instructs us to not judge one another about what we eat or don’t eat, but to welcome one another with LOVE. (Check out the Romans 14 Message paraphrase because I just love the way Eugene Peterson writes this. ) I think he drives the point home perfectly.
Stay the course,
Leigh
Thanks Leigh! We are getting ready to take off on vacation with family for a few weeks, so this was a perfectly timed reminder 🙂
Wonderful post! I think I’m on the brink of obsession with this stuff…
Love this! It’s so easy to make food a god, whether it’s healthy or not!
Jessica, YES!! Food is so highly emotional, its so hard to keep it on a correct level of importance. It’s so funny how big of a “thing” it is for so many people. I am getting ready to read “Every Body Matters” by Gary Thomas and hopefully it will continue to refine my personal relationship with food. Thanks for the feed back.
So well said.
Great post Leigh! So well articulated and I couldn’t agree more!
I agree completely. Thank you for writing this. I have the habit of trying to bring my boyfriend over to MY way of eating (paleo primal) but God put that passage in front of me and brought me back to earth for a second. I also lovvve The Message translation