Author Encourages People To Eat Like Jesus

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Move over Atkins and South Beach. Dieters are putting their faith in a new weight loss plan based on the Bible.

After less than a month on the market, "The Maker's Diet" is already a best seller with thousands of followers. The author, Jordan S. Rubin , uses the consumption of natural foods as one of the cornerstones of his diet.

KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City recently asked Rubin: "What would Jesus eat?"

Rubin said Jesus and his contemporaries would likely not eat today's popular foods -- many of which are filled with fats, carbohydrates and processed products. He said people who lived 2,000 years ago survived instead on a diet that was, in many ways, more nutritious.

"If you look at what the people ate at that time, they ate a diet that was high in natural foods -- meat, grains, fruits (and) vegetables ... they had seeds, nuts and legumes," Rubin said.

Rubin said his new diet is aimed at putting people back on a path of nutritional righteousness.

"We're really focusing on two principles for diet," he said. "Number one -- did God create it for food? Number two -- are we consuming it in a way the body can use?"

"The Maker's Diet" is a diet plan that took 10 years to produce. Rubin said it is based on a concept that came to him when he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease.

Rubin said he decided to take centuries-old scriptures from the Bible and apply them to healthy living. He said natural foods are key parts of his plan.

"(Because) there were no fertilizers or other toxins during Christ's time, this diet is all about eating organic," he said. "So if you've never done it before, you may find yourself eating something you've never heard of ... but you have 40 days to get used to it."

A sample menu Rubin gave KOCO looked like this:

Breakfast: A goat-cheese omelet with onion and pepper and avocado slices on the side.

Lunch: An "Oriental Red Meat Salad" made with steak or lamb.

Dinner: Coconut-milk soup, broiled halibut and a side salad.

Rubin said the sample menu also allows an evening snack of goat's milk yogurt with honey and blueberries.

Shelves stocked with proper ingredients are a necessity when starting "The Maker's Diet." Among the items Rubin picked up on his recent shopping trip was grass-fed beef.

"When you're looking for meat, you want to look for grass-fed organic," he said. "This way, you're not going to get the hormones and antibiotics."

As for dairy products, Rubin recommends organic eggs from healthy, free-range chickens rather than regular eggs. He also said Jesus drank goat's milk rather than cow's milk.

Rubin's forbidden items include shellfish because they can be high in toxins. He also frowns upon concentrated juice, opting instead for natural fruit juices that Jesus would have consumed.

The author also suggests avoiding contact lenses, passing on fluoride toothpaste and skipping morning showers. Rubin claims fluoride is poisonous, while contact lenses can lead to infection and showers can rob the hair and body of their natural oils.

"The Maker's Diet" is packed with organic recipes and also includes a prayer to get dieters through the 40 days of the plan.

Rubin said his diet feeds the mind, body and spirit.

"You'll never regret giving up 40 days of your life and trading it in for adding years to your life and life to your years," he said.