Page 89 - Spring2018

All Thumbs Book Reviews

in traditional societies) and explains how this phobia is helping to create while giving people a visual depiction of what
rather than prevent disease. Full-fat cheeses, eggs, organ meats and fatty a healthful diet can look like in the modern
cuts of meat are crucial to dental health and proper dental development, world. The final section of the book includes
whereas a lowfat, high-sugar diet will lead not just to dental problems, solid instructions on how to prepare a host of
but also to degenerative diseases like diabetes. traditional foods (including stocks, sauerkraut,
In Chapter Nine, Lin tells readers what he wants them to do to im- kefir and kombucha), along with other recipes
prove their health. He includes exercises for healthy chewing, healthy and practical information.
breathing and healthy eating. The numerous suggested exercises to The Dental Diet is an easy, accessible read,
improve breathing and thus benefit overall health and body structure one that we hope will make headway in continu-
are a nice addition and something that authors of other similar works ing to attract new people to the work of Weston
rarely mention. Price and raise awareness about the importance
Lin again directly touches on the need for vitamins A, D and K. In of properly grown and prepared real foods, not
addition, he provides lots of solid dietary advice and practical tips that just for dental health, but for all health. Two
stem from his basic underlying premise of jettisoning refined foods and thumbs UP.
learning to properly source and prepare traditional foods. Lin also of- Review by John Moody
fers an alternative food pyramid that puts the USDA version to shame,

GOD-GIVEN FOOD: A BIBLE STUDY AND BEYOND by Celia Maria
Anyone who has participated in a church supper or snacks after a church service will recognize the need for this
book. As Maria explains, among church-goers you will find two very different attitudes about food: one is that every
kind of food is acceptable to eat, as long as a blessing is said over it—this is the attitude that loads the after-church snack
table with sugary processed food and sees no problem in allowing children to stuff themselves with donuts, cookies and
cupcakes; the other holds that we should eat the “original diet plan” given in Genesis of only plant foods.
Moved by all the illness she has observed among church-goers, Maria provides a third way for her fellow Christians
to eat—one inspired by the work of the Weston A. Price Foundation. She begins with an excellent discussion of vegan-
ism, the diet appropriate for the Garden of Eden, but not for mankind after the fall. She provides diagrams of the diges-
tive systems of various types of animals and of the human being. Our digestive systems are most like that of the pig—an
omnivore. Later in the book she quotes more scripture to show that Christians can eat animal foods—starting with God’s
command to Noah to eat meat.
Knowing that she will meet resistance, Maria treads carefully, showing that healthy food actually tastes good and
does not have to be weird. She provides a great chart for “replacements”: whole eggs for breakfast instead of cold cereal,
homemade soaked oatmeal instead of instant oatmeal, fruit instead of donuts. She provides an ingredient list for each
processed food—horrendous ingredients in chicken nuggets, fast food burgers, commercial bread, processed cheese,
canned broth and soup, frozen fries, artificial maple syrup, storebought dressings and pickles—as a way of convincing
families to opt for healthy replacements—baked chicken with spices, grass-fed burgers, traditional breads, real cheese,
homemade soups and broths, real maple syrup, homemade dressing and lacto-fermented foods. She addresses the excuses
most people have—I don’t like to cook, I don’t have time to prepare healthy meals, I can’t afford to eat healthy—and
provides scriptural arguments for taking joy in the activity of cooking, making time to cook and spending money wisely.
Maria’s book includes discussion of all the burning questions in the field of nutrition: animal fats and cholesterol;
grains; fermented foods, dairy foods, broth and soups; and salt. And kudos for finding this wonderful passage from Job
(Maria knows her Bible!): “Can flavorless food be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? My soul
refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food to me” (Job 6:6-7). My sentiments exactly!
Each chapter ends with summary bullet points, relevant passages from scripture and questions for the reader. Finally
Maria provides us with a great collection of basic recipes. For those wondering how to bring the message of healthy food
to a church congregation yet to understand that putting processed foods into the body temple is like taking a sledge

hammer to the church furnishings, this book is an excellent way to begin. Thumbs up! Review by Sally Fallon Morell
SPRING 2018 Wise Traditions 87