16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:16-17 NASB

Introduction

I have a series on the blog called You Are What You Eat; I named it after the saying people tell you as a child. It seems silly on the surface, but there's definitely some merit to the saying. What we eat has a major impact on our health, both physically and mentally. Not surprisingly, a lot of the religions of the world will tell you the same thing albiet in different ways. This episode focuses on the similarities and differences of several religions' stance on dietary restrictions and how to fuel our bodies.

This episode focuses on the Abrahamic religions, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Rastafari beliefs.

27 Health Problems Cause by Poor Diet

Across Religions

Below are high level bullet points about each religion's stance on what we consume to fuel our bodies.

Abrahamic Faiths

The three Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) share the same origin point—Abraham. Although there may be slight variations in each faith's understanding/interpretation of events, there is significant overlap over all. These faiths all stem from the family and people groups born of Abraham.

Judaism

• Food must be Kosher
• Bible outlines clean vs. unclean meat
• Fat is not to be consumed
• Diary and meat can't be mixed

Islam

• Requires halal food
• No pork, meat must be halal
• Halal is similar to kosher but not quite the same

Christianity

• Technically, Christianity has Kosher laws as well, despite the fact that most Christians don't adhere to them (search the blog for more info on why we should)
• Most food restrictions in Christianity are debated, such as alcohol and caffeine

Hinduism

• Mostly vegetarian
• Regards the cow as sacred so meat eaters do not eat beef
• Also stays away from fat

Sikhism

• Many vegetarians
• May not eat meat killed according to other religious laws (e.g., Kosher)

Jainism

• Vegetarian or vegan

Rastafari

• Vegetarian or pescatarian
• Concerned about eating quality food
• Avoid processed foods

Disclaimer

I believe that all religions and cultures trace their origin back to Adam and Eve. While I believe the Bible to be the true and preserved Word of God, I believe that we can find bits of truth in other religions and cultures. The purpose of this series is to examine the themes that remained universal to highlight universal knowledge—in this case, the pattern of watching what we eat.

References and Footnotes

1. Kate Eller. "These 27 medical problems are caused by a poor diet". Health News; visited July 2021
2. Sarah Patience. "Religion and dietary choices". Independenct Nurse. September 19, 2016
3. "For Rastas, Eating Pure Food From the Earth is a Sacred Duty". National Geographic. July 19, 2016
4. "Poor Nutrition". CDC; visited July 2021