In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Every known thing today had its origin in the six days of creation week. On the sixth day man was formed of the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7), from the very same elements from which the earth was created. God blessed our first parents, Adam and Eve, instructing them to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, giving them dominion or rulership of all of creation. In order to have dominion over the earth that is around you, you must have dominion over the earth from which you are made.
God gave the human race every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it would be theirs for food (Genesis 1:29).
The nutrition, the elements from the ground in the foods that we eat, and our lifestyle, has a direct reflection on our general health and also brain functions and thoughts. We know that the physical structure of the brain is the medium through which the mind works to receive spiritual messages and enable a relationship with God.
If you build a house, it must be built from the basement up and not from the attic down. The body is the physical foundation, the basement is the structure of your life and the brain is the centerpiece of our interface with God. Without a sound physical structure, there will be impairments in our relationship with God. Nutrition influences memory so that the brain, the capacity to learn, and the ability to have self-control over behavior and moods are affected by the food eaten.
Each day we ingest any number of compounds that we know influence mental function. We do not want to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol but under the influence of the Holy Spirit. That is the influence that convicts us to eat according to the will and word of God. We are in a battle for the brain, the operating mechanism of the mind. God does not talk to your finger or your toe; He communicates with your mind.
If a person decides not to eat vegetables, they may very well become one! Repeated poor food choices and eating habits can set fundamental patterns in the production of the brain chemicals that regulate appetite and mood so that they become a victim of mood swings, food cravings, poor sleeping habits, and other emotional problems.
Diseases That Dull The Brain
We know that the enemy seeks to destroy, and his ultimate purpose is to separate all whom he can from God. The brain is continually stressed if the body does not get enough rest or exercise, and is continually being eroded, making it impossible to make intelligent decisions to stand for truth.
An experiment was carried out on 1,800 people who were tested on their learning and memory ability. They were poor performers because of the presence of diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and smoking, all of which negatively affect brain function.
It was discovered that one risk factor caused a 23% decline in performance. If another risk factor was added, there was a further 23% decline. The more risk factors a person had, the greater the risk of developing memory and learning impairments. One risk factor is 23% decline. Two risk factors, 46%. Three risk factors, 69%. Four risk factors, 91%. If there are five risk factors the person is in big trouble! What did Jesus say? If the good man is not at home, the thief will come to crush, kill, and destroy. The enemy wants to get in there and decapitate you through lifestyle measures while you are sitting there eating food.
Elevated LDL cholesterol is linked to a four-fold increase of dementia. Dementia is senior moments that stay. You just can’t remember what you were going to say and you just hope the person you are standing in front of will have mercy, and say he/she has senior moments too!
Elevated total cholesterol is linked to a three-fold increased risk of dementia. Dementia means mental, thinking, inability to think, because the enemy has been stealing his way into the brain through our foods. God would have us eat according to His purposes and His design so that we may function with optimal performance.
The Purpose of Eating
The purpose of eating is to receive nourishment. We are admonished in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” We should be more mindful of eating only that which is nourishing, according to God’s purpose.
The heart feeds blood to the brain. Foods that are eaten are processed through the digestive system; then through the liver before entering into the bloodstream and circling around the body and then feed the mind. It has been found that older diabetic women have a 74% increased risk of inability to think because of diabetes. The brain cells which fire electrical messages have pathways where nerve transmission moves along by various codes and circuits. These brain circuits are made up of brain cells which are nourished by what is put into the body.
The Purpose of Drinking
The body needs hydration and also cleansing. It is God’s purpose that we keep the body that He gave us healthy, eating that which is nourishing, and drinking according to that which is cleansing. Some beverages, e.g., soda pop, alcohol, coffee, to mention a few, which are consumed in extremely large amounts, are not beneficial for either hydration or cleansing. Some nutritious beverages like juices consumed appropriately meet another purpose. These should be consumed in moderation. Drinking pure clean water not only hydrates the body, but refreshes and also cleanses. There are also a number of herb teas that are cleansing or nourishing, or both.
We transgress the law when we “knoweth to do good, and doeth it not” (James 4:17); by killing ourselves slowly on the installment plan or by neglecting the laws of health, it is still murder. The enemy wants to destabilize the physical foundation so that the attic comes tumbling down. And the enemy wants to destroy your body so that your mind cannot know God. We have been told that God will say to some, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23), because you were not able to know Him.
Studies have been done on the effect of insulin resistance on the pancreas, the retina, and other organs. What about the effect on the brain? No one seems to consider the brain. For every Alzheimer’s patient, there are eight older people who suffer enough memory loss to significantly harm their quality of life, yet have no dementia-causing disease. This is because the physical body is being so stressed that the mind is being drained. Diets high in saturated fats, refined foods, and refined sugars cause brain drain.
Drinking beverages that are not cleansing to the body causes the body to rebel. The body begins to marshal water from the muscles and other parts of the body in an attempt to dilute whatever has been put into the stomach before passing into the intestines, and then into the bloodstream, and liver. The body gets all the water it can and tries to rush it over to the kidneys demanding them to “do your job; get rid of that stuff, because this guy doesn’t know what he’s doing!” These stimulating, dehydrating drinks are destroying us as a people.
If the brain is not sufficiently hydrated, it may lead to impairment with respect to reasoning. The thing that separates man from the animal kingdom is the ability to reason. Man has been so equipped with the power of choice but, if the right electricity is not supplied, the equipment will not function and learning, reaction time, alertness, among other things, are affected. When found in a difficult spiritual situation, it is imperative to be able to reason correctly, and be able to react in a quick fashion. Some of the ways the brain is tested with mental status examinations are to check if the attention span is impaired, concentration, the working memory, dialing a phone number, and picture recognition.
A person who is always making lists, and never completing any of them, may be suffering from poor eating habits. Word recall, abstract reasoning, and being able to conceptualize the message require understanding concepts and intellectual performance. All of these things are affected: short-term memory; long-term memory; spatial memory, like a rat in a maze; logical memory.
High fat and sugar cause problems with the structure of the brain, affecting its function. High fat and sugar alter blood sugar metabolism, promoting high insulin levels and hinder the oxygen-nutrient access causing free-radical damage.
Twenty years ago anti-oxidants and free radicals were unheard of, but now this is common language in the medical field. These things cause damage to the body when not eating healthfully, impeding circulation and intensifying nutrient deficiencies and hormones in the brain so that the nerve cells are damaged.
Time For an Oil Change
The body needs oil and the body needs cholesterol, but the stomach does not need cholesterol. Cholesterol does not need to be ingested. The body makes cholesterol from the fats that you eat, from the right fats, so we need an oil change. Taking out that old, dirty oil and replacing it with good oil may improve the attention and cognitive function, and in the elderly, lower the LDL cholesterol and elevate the HDL. LDL is the bad type just because we generally have it too high. The HDL is supposed to be high because it functions to help keep things in balance.
Exercise is the main thing that helps HDL, and proper diet lowers the LDL.
Plant foods provide phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, superior fats, and superior proteins. Plant foods promote lower dementia risk. Remember your veggies. If you don’t eat your vegetables, you might become one! If you don’t eat your vegetables, your brain is going to be drained and will not be able to function properly. Low fruit and vegetable intake is linked to higher levels of damage to nerve tissue, resulting in shrinkage of vital memory centers.
Antioxidants have a beneficial effect on almost any degenerative human disease. Eat smart to be smart!
May God give us a desire to want to serve Him fully and to be loyal to Him so that we will not be slowly impressed with the enemy’s character and paralyzed from the neck up, but that we will have His liberating influence and receive His seal.
Used by permission by Vicki Griffin and produced by Hope Media Ministry. Visit the website at www.hopevideo.com. Hope Media Ministry, P.O. Box 752, Ada, Michigan 49301