THURSDAY MARCH 20TH: Spiritual Nutrition

Truth: Your Body is a temple.  It is truly a gift from God.

In my 1 credit yoga class last semester, my instructor would often give nutrition advice.  It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but as someone who is studying human nutrition I was always sure to cross-check his advice with my knowledge and that of my professors.

Then, one class he made this suggestion: try fasting.  He said it is the best cleanse for your body.  He was correct - not putting anything into your body will allow it to clean itself out.  But what he wasn't considering is that as spiritual beings, we are made to be fed.

This is what happens in your body when  you deprive it of food: first you go through any blood glucose, and then you go through your body's glycogen stores.  These carbohydrates are the preferred fuel for your body.  Then you dip into other reserves: fat and protein.  Your body will eventually mobilize its own proteins - which are necessary for all different types of important functions in your body - and use them for energy.  Protein's primary purpose is not an energy source for our body.  Once our primary fuel source is depleted, we also dip into our fat stores.  And from the fat, we use ketones for fuel.  Ketones are helpful, but when they accumulate, they become toxic to the body.

As spiritual beings, we are made to be fed.  We have an emptiness and a hunger that only God can fulfill.  There are things that we need to fast from, but we also need to make sure we are being fed.  When we deprive ourselves, sometimes we try to run on our own reserves (like fat and protein), and that can cause us to self-destruct.  Relying on our own reserves can be like leaning on our own understanding.

Jesus calls Himself the bread of life.  In terms of nutrition, bread is a carbohydrate dense, and typically nutrient dense food.  Was Jesus thinking these things as He made this declaration?  Most likely not.  But He was getting at is the idea that He is our sustenance.  He is our provider.  We need Him.

~SP