The Rooted in Faith Library

The Food Fight Nobody’s Winning

THE SMART BITE: ROOTED IN FAITH The Food Fight Nobody’s Winning Have you ever stumbled into a food conversation online? One side is saying it’s wrong to eat animals. The other is saying we evolved to be carnivores. Both sides are loud, both are certain, and nobody seems to be changing anyone’s mind. Here’s the thing. If you’re reading this, we probably already agree on something. We care about our health, our families, and the world our food comes from. So, this week I want to try something different. Let’s set that debate down entirely and ask a quieter question instead. Not who’s right. Just: what do we actually know today? We know the longest-lived communities on Earth, the Blue Zones, eat mostly plants, and beans show up daily in nearly every one of those regions. We know whole plant foods are linked to lower rates of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, still the two biggest health battles in America. We know more today than we’ve ever known about what animals feel and understand, from pigs that solve puzzles to fish that recognize faces. The science of animal minds keeps growing, and it keeps pointing the same direction. We know growing plants for people uses less land, less water, and fewer resources than routing crops through animals first. We know most of the world’s farmland goes to feeding animals, not people, and that growing food for people directly could feed far more of us on the same land. We know healthy, living soil is one of the planet’s biggest carbon sponges. It quietly pulls carbon out of the air and helps cool the climate, and it does its best work when many kinds of plants are growing in it, roots down, feeding the life below. And we know a third of the world’s fisheries are now being fished faster than they can recover. That’s the reality of today. Not a debate, just a set of facts sitting on the table. And the beautiful part is what they all point toward: more plants on the plate helps every single one of them. Your heart, your soil, your oceans, your grocery bill. No labels required, no side to join. Just one small step at a time, which is how we do things around here anyway. And you probably know where my heart landed. This whole thing did start with a pig, after all. But here’s what ten years taught me: I’ve never seen an argument change a plate. Curiosity does. This week, just the facts, a bowl of beans, and an open door. And if you’re wondering what Scripture says about food arguments, it turns out Paul faced this exact moment. More below. YOUR SMALL STEP Add one cup of beans or lentils to your day, a few days this week. It’s the single most common food habit across every Blue Zone. Toss them in a salad, a soup, or a taco. That’s it. Go Deeper If any of these made you want to know more, start here: Whole plants and better health – The comforting bowl that works quietly against inflammation, Harvard Health. How everyday plant foods quietly lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and more. The planet math – Environmental Impacts of Food, Our World in Data. Land, water, and emissions across different foods, side by side. What animals feel and understand – Thinking Pigs, on pig cognition. Pigs solve puzzles and play video games, with minds researchers compare to a young child’s. Soil and carbon – Capturing Carbon in Soil, Climate Central. A key climate solution is right under our feet, and healthy soil is what unlocks it. Our oceans – Overfishing, WWF. A third of the world’s fisheries are now pushed past their limits, and why that matters. Pigs Tips What the Blue Zones Have in Common Five regions around the world where people routinely live into their 90s and 100s. Different cultures, different continents, same pattern on the plate: Beans every day. Black beans in Costa Rica, lentils and chickpeas in Sardinia, soy in Okinawa. About a cup a day is the common thread, and researchers consider it the cornerstone of every longevity diet on Earth. Greens and vegetables at nearly every meal. Often homegrown, always in variety. Remember, that variety feeds the soil too. Whole grains not refined ones. Sourdough in Sardinia, corn tortillas in Nicoya, brown rice in Okinawa. Intact grains, the way they came. Nuts as the everyday snack. About a handful a day, linked in study after study to longer life. Meat as a side note. In most Blue Zones it shows up a few times a month, in small portions, not at the center of the plate. Here’s what strikes me most: nobody in a Blue Zone is arguing about labels. They’re just eating this way, together, around tables full of people they love. Maybe that’s the real recipe.   Easy Mediterranean Quinoa Salad If the Blue Zones had a starter recipe, this would be it. Whole grains, vegetables, and room for any bean you’ve got. Chickpeas, white beans, lentils, whatever’s in the pantry. Make it once, eat it all week. GET THE RECIPE PIGS’ SCRIPTURE AND SMILES Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Romans 14:19 (NIV) Paul wrote that in the middle of a food dispute. Some believers ate everything, some ate only vegetables, and his answer wasn’t a verdict. It was peace. He held real convictions, and he didn’t abandon them. He just refused to let them become a weapon at the table. Two thousand years later, that still feels like the wisest voice in the room. We can hold what we believe gently, set a generous table, and let the fruit speak for itself. Share Rooted in Faith If this was forwarded to you and you’d like to get it each issue: GET ROOTED IN FAITH Small steps are easier when we take them together. More whole foods. Made doable. Tammy

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Your Heart and the Foods That Protect It

THE SMART BITE: ROOTED IN FAITH Your Heart and the Foods That Protect It Heart disease is still the #1 killer in America. And yet, according to the American Heart Association and the World Heart Federation, 80% of cardiovascular disease is preventable. Let that land for a second. Your body already makes all the cholesterol it needs. So does every animal, because they need it for their brains too. So when we eat animal foods, we’re just adding more on top of what our bodies already produce. Plants? They don’t need to make cholesterol, so they never do. God built this into our design, and into the animals too. Of course. It made me smile when I learned that. New guidelines from the American College of Cardiology now recommend people start paying attention to their cholesterol as early as age 30. Not because it’s too late, but because it’s the perfect time. Prevention is most powerful before damage happens. The good news? Some of the most effective tools for lowering LDL cholesterol, the “bad” kind that builds up in your arteries, aren’t medications. They’re foods. Foods you already know. YOUR SMALL STEP Each day, eat one LDL-lowering food. Replace a food that raises LDL, even better. A bowl of oatmeal for breakfast Beans or lentils at lunch A handful of walnuts as a snack An apple or pear after dinner Your heart is worth one small addition a day. Pigs Tips Foods that lower LDL: Oats and barley, soluble fiber that binds to cholesterol and removes it from your body Beans, lentils, and soy, consistently linked to lower LDL; plant sterols block cholesterol absorption Nuts, especially walnuts and almonds; one handful a day linked to 20% lower cardiovascular risk Avocado, monounsaturated fats that lower LDL and raise HDL (the good kind) Fruits high in soluble fiber, apples, pears, citrus Leafy greens and vegetables, fiber-rich, zero cholesterol, zero saturated fat Flaxseeds and chia seeds, omega-3s and fiber, both protective for heart health Foods that raise LDL: Butter, cheese, and cream Red meat and processed meats (beef, pork, lamb) Whole milk Chicken skin and dark meat Coconut oil The American Heart Association, Mayo Clinic, and American College of Cardiology all agree. Go Deeper How to Reverse Heart Failure with Diet, NutritionFacts.org. Yes, reverse. Dr. Greger breaks down the evidence. High Cholesterol (Hypercholesterolemia), Harvard Health. Their guidance: get the majority of daily calories from plant sources, especially fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. Sauteed Spinach with Pumpkin Seeds and Flax Every ingredient here is working for your heart. When topped with lentils, these sauteed greens are one of the most protective combinations of whole plant foods you can put in a bowl. And it comes together in minutes. BUILD YOUR BOWL PIGS’ SCRIPTURE AND SMILES Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 Pretty good advice. Take care of your heart, in every sense of the word. You Belong Here If this was forwarded to you and you’d like to get it each issue, click below to learn more: JOIN ROOTED IN FAITH Know someone who might enjoy it? Forward it along. Small steps are easier when we take them together. Lookin’ Good! Eco-friendly, high-quality gear you’ll actually live in. Easy to wear. Easy to feel good about. Every purchase supports healthier choices for you and the planet. SHOP THE GEAR More whole foods. Made doable. Tammy

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Let’s Talk Summer Berries

Summer berries are tiny nutritional powerhouses, rich in antioxidants and fiber and some of the best brain food around. A Rooted in Faith look at savoring one of God's good and perfect gifts, and easy ways to enjoy more of them.

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