Did God really make this?
I was about to tuck into a budget Ready Meal I had bought from a supermarket, and was asking a blessing over my food, as I customarily do.
Suddenly, the Holy Spirit interrupted my pious prayer. ‘You don’t expect me to bless that, do you? I only bless what I created, and I didn’t create that!’
Ultra-processed food is generally defined as a product containing ingredients you wouldn’t normally find in a regular kitchen.
I don’t know if you ever bother to read the ingredients and nutrition lists on food packaging, but I promise you, it can be a real eye-opener.
The longer the list of ingredients, the more likely it is to have been industrially produced and the less healthy it will be.
These are some of the commonly used additives
Industrial oils.
Added sugars or artificial sweeteners.
Flavourings.
Gums.
Emulsifiers.
Dyes.
Preservatives.
Protein isolates.
Starches.
Fillers
Ultra-processed food is convenient, appealing to our taste buds and is very profitable to food manufacturers. It fills our bellies, but it does not nourish us.
Real food, food that God created, does,
The more ultra-processed food you eat, the greater the toll on your body. Research is increasingly linking such products with poor metabolic health, which encompasses insulin insensitivity, hormone disruption, inflammation, visceral (tummy) fat, obesity, high BP and cardiovascular disease.
We can’t avoid processed foods completely, but we should be aware of the risks and choose wisely.
God doesn’t want us to be in bondage to the food police.
The New Testament teaches us, concerning food, that ‘All things are permissible’ but adds, ‘not all things are wise or expedient.’ (1 Corinthians 10:23)
Freedom needs to be tempered with responsibility.
As we seek to align our eating with God’s blueprint for a healthy body and weight management, here is something we can all do:
Have no confidence in your flesh nature, and seek to be led by the Holy Spirit.
Pray for wisdom when grocery shopping.
Listen for a check in your spirit if you are being drawn towards ultra-processed food.
Rejoice in every small victory. Changing ingrained habits is a marathon, not a sprint!
Much more on this topic can be found in Sue’s book, Weighting on God.
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