Pastor Says Healthy Diet is More Effective Than Medications
A West Virginia pastor and author has highlighted healthy eating and living as being more effective than medications in treating some health problems.
Pastor Steve Willis, author of “Winning the Food Fight: Victory in the Physical and Spiritual Battle for Good Food and a Healthy Lifestyle,” has proclaimed his passion for physical stewardship due to some real-life experiences.
According to The Baptist Press, Willis lost a close-friend from a heart condition after the two joked about overeating in the past, prompting him to take an initiative to promote healthy living.
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Willis, of the First Baptist Church in Kenova, even appeared on the ABC television program, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, to pray for a spiritual and physical change to take place in his town. His youngest son was also diagnosed with ADD, around the time his friend died. The young boy got in trouble in school, didn't follow instructions and didn't get good marks, according to The Baptist Press.
According to Web MD, ADD or Attention Deficit Disorder can rob children of their ability to focus and pay attention. It is usually treated with amphetamine and methylphenidate stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin. Some side effects include loss of sleep, loss of weight and irritability.
When the boy was placed on medications, Willis noticed that it did more harm than good, describing the boy as "zoned out" at times. He and his wife realized they had to do something else, saying that although their son was quiet, he wasn't himself.
Willis' wife, Deanna then began reading about natural, God-given solutions, which led them to eliminate sugar, soda, trans-fats and hydronated oils from their son's diet.
"Within a few months of improving his diet, he was better behaved, an 'A' student in math, and memorized his entire Awana (youth missions) book," Willis said.
A diet that lacks essential nutrients, like fiber and Vitamin E, can decrease a person's ability to concentrate, according to Web MD.
Willis claims that when his son had sugar in his system, he couldn't remember his Bible passages and his progress is due to the parents' decision to give their children the nutrition God intended them to have. The pastor also explained how Americans are being manipulated into eating unhealthy food, pointing out that he grew-up eating fatty government commodities.
"It is a wake-up call for every American," Willis said. "There's a reason our nation is getting more and more obese. It's because or government has helped create a food system that is literally killing us with cheap food."
He also points out the fact that the deadly-sin, gluttony, is killing people as well.
"The church preaches about all the so-called seven deadly sins with the exception of gluttony," Willis said. "As a result, we've slowly allowed our waistlines to expand to the point that we are unable to love God with all our strength."
According to a report on Bibletools.org called “Gluttony: Sin of Lust and Greed,” gluttony is considered merely socially unpleasant rather than a sin. Martin G. Collins, author of the report calls gluttony the sheer defiance of reasonable and balanced behavior.
The report highlights two British proverbs that say "gluttony kills more than the sword" and "there are more gluttons than alcoholics in the grave."
It also points to Benjamin Franklin's statements of humankind's excessive eating habits.
"In general, mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eats twice as much as nature requires," Franklin said.
When we use food or drink in a way that injures our health or impairs our mind, we are guilty of the sin of gluttony, according to Collins.
