LIFE
Abundantly

Vegetarianism is best Part II

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad's teaching of how to eat to live fulfills what is written in the Holy Quran of Chapter 3, verse 48 concerning the Messiah who is to teach the people what foods they should eat and what they should store in their houses. When one studies, "How To Eat To Live" Book 1 and 2, one discovers that in essence, these books are about the proper foods to eat, which ones are good and which ones are bad. In fact, one could compose a list from the foods that are discussed in "How To Eat To Live" and place some at the very top of the list as being the very best foods to eat and place others at the bottom of the list as the very worst foods to eat and everything else somewhere in between.

Master Fard Muhammad taught the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, "Fasting with the proper foods is the cure for all our ills." This fasting that was taught to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad by his teacher, Master Fard Muhammad, is not only to be observed during the Fast of Ramadan, with the predominate Muslim world, but it was also to institute a practice of eating one meal a day, or one meal every other day. Thus the practicing followers of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad are literally fasting 365 days a year.

If we look at the other half of the teaching, "...with the proper foods", then we would discover that there are no flesh foods that are placed on top of the list. At the top of the list we find fruits and vegetables, but in the supreme number one position we find the navy bean. In another place we find that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad says that if we ate the navy bean with whole wheat bread and milk that we could live indefinitely.

So if we take together all of the fruits which are good and nearly all of the vegetables with the navy bean, whole wheat bread and milk, then we would have the essentials of a complete nutritious diet that would extend our lives and keep us happy and healthy for a long, long time.

In order for us to achieve the results promised by Allah through the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, we have to take on the whole practice of "How To Eat To Live" and not just a part. Nor should we take the Supreme Wisdom teachings of Master Fard Muhammad in regards to the proper foods to eat and how to eat them, how to prepare them and when to eat them and mix those teachings up with the inferior teachings of inferior teachers.

If we intend to give equal weight to the scientists of this world, with that which was revealed to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, then we indeed are making fools of ourselves and headed for disaster. Certainly, if we listen to the cacophony of conflicting advice that we hear and read about in the media, we would end up with a bad case of confusion, not to mention bad health and short lives. When it comes to accepting spiritual wisdom, we would do better if we had a restrictive diet and restrict it to that which was taught to us by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Otherwise we make spiritual hogs of ourselves and suffer the consequences.

It is the experience of this writer, who is a practicing physician, that when in my professional capacity I interact with some members of the Nation of Islam it is often the case that many who claim to be following "How To Eat To Live,"in fact are not. When we do a detailed interview of dietary practices, in more cases than not, the practice is far off from what the teacher taught and therefore the results have been far off from what was promised and expected. Therefore, we must constantly check our practice and verify that we are doing exactly what the Honorable Elijah Muhammad has taught us and that we have not misunderstood or adopted practices that he never recommended.

Fruits:

In brief, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad recommended any and all fruits- all of them are good to eat-especially if eaten in season. They should be eaten raw after ripening and not cooked. Hard unripened fruit can be ripened in a natural way by placing it in a brown paper bag that is closed at the top. It is recommended that at least three or four pieces of whole, fresh fruits be eaten on a daily basis, or a medley of fruit salad or freshly squeezed fruit juices. Fruits are naturally sweet and are an excellent dessert in place of more fattening sweets such as cakes, pies and ice-cream. Soft , ripe fruits are also an excellent way to break a fast as they are easily digestible and do not immediately stress the digestive system like heavier foods may do.

Vegetables:

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that nearly all vegetables are good to eat except kale, collard greens, and turnip salad. If properly prepared, vegetables are an excellent source of nutrition in the way of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and co-enzymes and other micro-nutrients that have a tremendous effect to maintaining good health and preventing many degenerative diseases and even cancer. Vegetables also provide fiber which helps the process of solid waste elimination from the body.

Fresh organic produce is better if it is available and affordable. Spending a little extra on organic produce can pay big dividends in terms of health and nutrition. Vegetables that are grown locally can be purchased fresh to great advantage. However, "fresh" vegetables that are shipped thousands of miles by trucks or by rail are often treated with chemicals and may not be as healthy as frozen vegetables that are flash frozen right out of the field. Of course, the very best vegetables are the ones that you grow in your own garden at home or on the farm. The season's harvest can readily be stored by canning to last all through the winter.

No one should try to make a meal out of raw vegetables. A little raw salad or vegetable juice is fine with the meal, but do not try to make a meal out of raw vegetables. Our stomachs were designed to digest cooked foods, so most vegetables should be eaten cooked. It is recommended that we eat four, five and maybe six different types of vegetables on a daily basis. The vegetables on our plate should be an array of colors-green, yellow, red, purple and orange. Each color giving its health ray of vitality.

Vegetables should be cooked lightly in order to preserve the nutrients. Overcooked vegetables may have lost some of their nutritional value. Steaming, sautéing and stir-frying are excellent ways to cook vegetables. There are many creative recipes that have been devised by chefs to make the consumption of vegetables very enjoyable in deed.

However, taken together, fruits and vegetables do not constitute a balanced diet. Fruits and vegetables may supply all of the necessary vitamins, minerals ,enzymes, micro-nutrients and some of the carbohydrate (sugar), that is necessary, but they are nearly free of protein and essential oils, and are lacking in sufficient calories (energy) to sustain us. Therefore, the three essentials mentioned by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad-navy beans, whole wheat and milk-must be added to our fruits and vegetables to make it completely nutritious, fulfilling, sustaining and healthful.