Let me get straight to the point, your lifestyle of healthy-eating is killing you. You were not made to worship at the altar of food, and the health-food industry has bewitched you. The idol of “healthy-eating” is a cult that particularly ensnares and entices women. This is a false gospel that Christian women are being led away by, and the men in their lives are doing precious little to halt the slide.
You were not made to worship at the altar of food, and the health-food industry has bewitched you.
Let me make some generalizations. A crunchy mama often talks about her healthy eating “journey”, or her quest to feed her family with “real” food. She does her shopping at those stores where they don’t have plastic bags, and regularly spends twice as much money on half as much food. She posts about how sugar is as bad as cocaine, the flour in your pantry isn’t really grain, and shares the discoveries of her “research” into how bad MSG & GMO’s are for you and how great she and her family has felt since 86ing them from their diet.
Here’s the rub, your “quest to eat healthy” never ends until you have bought in to an entire “ecosystem” of products. It is interesting to note that many fear Monsanto and big farm lobbyists and their control of our food supply, but neglect the fact that the all-organic industry (and its ilk) is just as eager to sell you on something you may not really need. You are being advertised to, and it is surprising how little resistance is put up by many well-intentioned housewives.
Crunchy Mama’s quest starts as simply eliminating “junk foods” (chips, soda, candy); but it soon turns into buying pesticide-free foods, then a gluten intolerance, followed by GMO-free toothpaste and BPA-free toothbrushes, Himalayan salt lamps to combat EMFs, expensive vitamin supplements, powders, and drinks, essential oils, and an insistence on grinding your own spelt flour so that you can eat “like they used to.” This devotion to healthy eating will obsess you until it controls every facet of your life. It will also successfully cut you off from Christians who don’t eat like you. In effect, you will have recreated a dietary code that more closely resembles Jewish Pharisaism than it does Christian feasting. You will have erected a barrier to fellowship and liberty that inhibits your enjoyment of God’s good gifts, and stumbles weak consciences.
This soggy reasoning leads many crunchy mamas to forget that pleasure in foods is not evil. Your brain releasing dopamine after biting into a fresh KrispyKreme donut, or munching on a handful of potato chips, or sipping southern sweet tea, a beer, or soda is not a sign that something is going wrong. Rather, God fashioned our tongues to send signals of pleasure to our brains in response to such flavors. Sugar is a gift from God, not a curse from evil corporations. Can gifts be misused? Of course. But the problem, then, isn’t in the gift it is in the heart. Self-control must certainly be advocated for in regards to our eating, but it strikes me that many women who crusade against sugar, flour, etc. want artificial control (i.e. no “bad food” in the house) to take the place of self-control.[epq-quote align=”align-right”]This soggy reasoning leads to many crunchy mamas to forget that pleasure in foods is not evil.[/epq-quote]
The other problem I wish to address is your “lifestyle” choice is rarely left unvocalized. Instead it is talked about ad nauseum. Think about the many women who have been lured into the sins of insecurity and envy because you keep prattling on about your health food choices. She is left running through her cupboard, measuring herself against you and finding herself lacking. She becomes convinced that she is not caring for her family as well as you are, and so she begins her own quest to eat “truly” healthy. The tendency here is to think, “I’m grateful I do not eat like other men!” Those with weaker consciences are left to grapple with whether they are doing something wrong, because all the crunchy mamas told them that you shoudn’t buy bread from the store.
My question is: “truly healthy” by what standard and at what cost? MSG has been shown to be harmless. However, that didn’t stop one Christian lady from asking a hostess of a fellowship meal I attended if the chips had MSG in them. The look on the hostess’ face was one I won’t soon forget as she blushed in shame that she hadn’t lived up to this other woman’s dietary standards. She meekly apologized, and the other woman pronounced she would just skip out on the chips. Surely it would have been better if the first woman had simply eaten the chips in gratitude!
Or another woman who wondered aloud whether God even intended us to eat grain, and if He did, He certainly didn’t mean our modern “produced” grain. Now living in the Inland Northwest, we grow enough wheat around here to feed nations. Further, while they “used to” eat stone ground wheat, they also used to hope that they’d have enough food to make it through the winter. We take it for granted that we can get a loaf of bread (made from wheat from around here more than likely) anytime of the year. Surely this is a better arrangement than hoping there’d be enough to last until next year’s harvest!
If you’ve read thus far, well done! I know that many in my readership probably fall on this spectrum of healthy-eating. I don’t wish to offend unnecessarily, but I do hope to jar you enough to help you spot the gluttony that is often found at the heart of healthy-eating. It obsesses over food. It stresses over what “poisonous, cancer causing ingredient” might I accidentally be feeding my family! The focus is often not on glorifying God, enjoying His gifts (such as refined sugar, manufactured wheat, and even MSG), and encouraging Christian hospitality. Ask yourself if perhaps you’ve been suckered into being a willing costumer of the “organic food” industry. Ask if you have been subtly converted to the school of thought which teaches certain foods are “better for you.” Christ is Lord of the earth and history. That means refined sugar wasn’t somehow outside of His foreknowledge and He is now scrambling to figure out which angel leaked the secret directions for processing sugar cane into that (clearly wicked) white powder.
After all, at some point in history, some guy put a rock in his mouth and discovered salt. Does that mean we should eat rocks by the fistful? Nope. It does mean that God has placed us here to discover the many uses of the blessings he’s filled the earth with. Should we use wisdom and self-control? Of course. Should we insist that the sawdust flavored flourless flour is actually “better for you?” Um. Negative. Gut health is not as important as some clever marketer would have you believe. In essence, your smugness in not drinking a 64oz Big Gulp of Mountain Dew will do far more harm to your soul than it will to the body of the fellow who chugs three a day. There is obviously not enough space here to go into all the details of these many issues, and I’m sure this raises many questions, which I will gladly answer in the comment section and, if necessary, in follow up posts. Let the discussion commence…
Ben Zornes’ helpful guide to health food. pic.twitter.com/zenacWLOZv
— Ben Zornes (@benzornes) May 12, 2017
Wow. Just. Wow. Clearly you’ve been harboring some feelings against a housewife of well intentioned health for quite some time. Did it perhaps ever occur to you that the woman inquiring about the chips gets debilitating migraines from MSG? Perhaps you should not be so quick to judge.
Is there something holier about not caring what you put into your body? Or about the health of your children? I find I cannot take this article at all seriously bc the undertone of mockery ruined any an all spiritual cautions you would have for someone. Perhaps if you dealt w a chronic health condition, as I’m sure many of the women that you do flippantly judge do or have a family member who does, you would care more for looking for ways to be as healthy as possible.
I endeavor to not harbor feelings toward anyone. However, in this instance I wish to address (yes with doses of mockery at times) the tendency of “Crunchy Mamas” to be evangelical in their food code. I never said we SHOULDN’T care about what we put in our bodies. Rather, that we should be concerned more so about what is in our heart that defiles.
Finally, I linked (in the article) to a fascinating study on the whole MSG issue. There is not a shred of evidence that MSG causes adverse responses; it is all in the power of suggestion and the unfortunate branding which MSG received in the mid1990s.
Thanks for the comment…
Yes, I can say that I often have discussions regarding food that involve some of the things you mention. I also have health issues that precipitate a certain way of eating. As a mother, I feel the weight of providing the best food possible on a budget for my family, trying to keep them as healthy as possible. My family often eats in a way that I am unable to, because I don’t force them into the restrictions I must adhere to. I also do not force hosts to cater to my restrictions, often eating what I shouldn’t in a position of gratefulness, but sometimes obstaining without trying to draw attention to myself. Maybe the real sin is thinking that we, and our choices, are more important than others, and their choices. I do not feel that being aware of the latest nutitional trends is wrong. Using that knowledge as a tool for good is proper. My family’s health is in part due to the food I give them to eat, and not giving thought to good nutrition would be negligence. Sharing that knowledge, in a proper season, is wisdom.
I think we have several points of agreement, and perhaps some differences in emphasis. You’re on the right track to not inhibit people hosting you to “stress out” over whether they might offend your food code. We should of course be concerned about the health of our families, but the occasional bag of chips is not going to cause a family to descend into feral raving! 🙂 Food is for both nourishment and enjoyment, and not all foods serve both purposes simultaneously. Thanks for the comment and gracious interaction with my post!
“There is obviously not enough space here to go into all the details of these many issues, and I’m sure this raises many questions, which I will gladly answer in the comment section and, if necessary, in follow up posts.”
Hi Ben,
Would you mind doing a follow up post about how people with real health issues that cause them to *have* to eat in a “healthy” way that also happens to be a fad can kindly and lovingly handle the rolling of eyes, sidelong glances, guilt-tripping that is done for eating healthy, and others saying that they are idolatrous? Because, those are real things, too. 🙂
Does someone with real health issues that cause them to have to eat “healthy” really have to tell people, “I went to x number of doctors, here are their names and specialties; we did x number of tests and these are what they are and the results; and this is why I can’t eat x, y, and z.” or “yes, the doctor put me on this diet”, before they can be believed and their choices in food validated without the assumption of idolatry? Or at what point are these brothers and sisters in Christ trustworthy enough that they can just say, “I actually can’t eat that.†without the assumption then being that they worship food or are, at the very least, being smug and a stumbling block to others?
Also, would you be willing to address how people who have the freedom to eat anything can make it so that those who have allergies or health issues are not cut out of hospitality and how people who do have serious reactions to multiple foods can be gracious in how they handle the hospitality of others while not destroying their ability to serve their family? I have yet to run into a situation where someone who “eats healthy” has cut anyone out of his or her hospitality because of differences in eating.
“In essence, your smugness in not drinking a 64oz Big Gulp of Mountain Dew will do far more harm to your soul than it will to the body of the fellow who chugs three a day.”
Firstly, there isn’t any smugness, and secondly, if I did drink that much Mountain Dew I would be unable to serve my family as a direct consequence of indulging in that craving, which I think would be a far bigger sin than not drinking the mountain dew.
With all due respect,
Leslie
P.S. My boy loves ice-cream, and sandwiches, and chips, and all sorts of other good things and very few people know of the food issues that occur in our family (until now). I promise I’m not coming up with a baseless situation or even perhaps an exception to the rule.
A very gracious response, thank you. I’ll work on a follow up soon. A peanut allergy is clearly in a different category than the mass “fadiness” of the gluten-free, GMO free, MSG free, organic subculture. A visit to WholeFoods demonstrates there is a clear culture that has developed there (the blend of yoga pants, “hippie-ish”, all-natural vibe). My concern isn’t so much with the person who has the allergy, as the person who has adopted the “spirit of the age” by jumping on a gluten-free bandwagon. My mom told me recently that she saw a whole section in Walmart that advertised “gluten free tea”. This is plainly advertising strategy that is playing upon our propensity to fear.
The smugness issue is still in play though, I believe. A construction worker, sweating in the sun all day can probably put away the 64oz soda, and is entirely free to do so if he wishes. My concern is with the “tongue-clicking” that many Crunchy Mamas have towards that individual choice. Their smugness IS a greater issue, than the consumption of the soda. As Jesus told the Pharisees, it isn’t what goes in that defiles a man, but what comes from his heart (Mark 7:15)!
Finally, my concern regarding the effects upon Christian hospitality are that if Christian mothers are jumping on bandwagons of “health fads” it leaves other families perpetually guessing if they might accidentally offend and “poison” their guests. There is a gracious and thoughtful way that those with real allergies can make that known in a “take-it-in-stride” manner. It is the Crunchy Mama evangelism that I wish to see curtailed. Hope that clarifies…
Thank you for the clarification! I have never been to a Whole Foods or heard of gluten free tea. How funny!
My Dad, brothers, and husband work in the construction industry and can pack away pizza and soda like nobody’s business with no problems. What I meant was that I personally wouldn’t be able to do so and I wouldn’t be smug in skipping it or look down on others for drinking it.
I will say that I have a friend who has a severe and real allergic reaction to gluten, another with dairy, another with peanuts, and another with onions. The first two can easily be put into the category where someone may (and I could even go so far as to say will) assume that they have idolized the fad of eating healthy rather than having serious health issues that cause their need to curtail their consumption of those foods.
I agree with you, completely. However I wouldn’t mind seeing a second article about the ditch on the other side of the road (unhealthy eating) for balance. The fact is you can be just as much a slave to junk food as organic food, and this can happen long before you are overweight. In should be noted that in the US, a lot of people spend the last 20 years or so of their lives with health problems that can be traced back to unhealthy lifestyle habits (not exercising and eating right). A potential waste of that time isn’t glorifying to God either. We shouldn’t be a slave to any kind of food, but we also need to be faithful and care for the gifts we are given.
I’ll get crackin’ on that follow up post… When it comes to “junk food”(or perhaps better called “cheap food”), I think we need to look at the trade-offs. It is amazing how quickly and cheaply we can make food available, which is a game changer for some of the poorer communities, but it perhaps comes with health consequences (diabetes, etc.). However, the “crunchy mama” tendency is to demonize any stripe of food that is processed. Stay tuned for a follow up.
Thank you for your thoughts. I will think on them for awhile I am sure! This is my first time to your blog, so I may poke around some more later 🙂
I am a home educating mother of five young children, and naturally home-making takes up a great deal of my thoughts. A huge deal! Those small people sure do eat!
I often need to strive and assess myself to see how much time is needful to spend on food prep and planning, and how much extra I am doing because of a desire to improve our health. I have found that, as God turns my heart more toward Him and being concerned about spiritual things- there yet remains a great deal of food preparation and planning!!
Our family has experienced a great deal of blessing through eating well- most particularly the healing of a range of health complaints that my husband suffered from, that has helped him to be able to continue to work and live with less pain and illness. I also have a child with complex health issues, so being savvy about ingredients is a must. I also just personally love the creative outlet of cooking well for my family- it is a good thing to find joy in- as it is a big (not the most important surely) but very big part of my role in serving my family well as a mother.
I do not see a pre-occupation with healthy eating as being a core issue- merely a prominent one. The problem, as you noted, is the heart.
I think Titus 2 encompasses this (and many other plaguing issues) very well. The young women are to be taught to be discreet and chaste homemakers. The key here is discretion! (A sadly lacking virtue in this day and age I fear.) I can be passionate about using coconut oil in my cooking, or improving my family’s gut health, and be busy about my own work in my home, without giving offence or causing a sister to stumble. We eat what we are served in other people’s homes and at church get-togethers- giving thanks to the Giver of all good gifts. When certain foods must be avoided (in the case of our child with health troubles), this too can be done with discretion.
I am also reminded of what Victoria Botkin said regarding home-making (cleaning in particular). She admonished mothers to do the best that they can; to not judge ladies with messier houses, nor to feel inferior to mothers with spotless houses. God has given each of us our duties to joyfully fulfil- without comparing ourselves to others!
The main issue is idolatry of the heart, not healthy eating. You can tear down an image, but there’s no need to throw out the kale chips. 🙂
Welcome to my online home! Glad you found your way over…
I think you are right on the money with emphasizing “discretion” amongst young women, and this is the role of older Christian women. We don’t want our young wives and mothers to be so flighty that they swing from one fad to another, thus making creating an unhealthy spiritual culture in their home and Christian community.