DIET IN THE BEGINNINGS

003-ALIMENTACION ORIGENESAs God was mankind’s creator he gave him the best diet in order to improve his productivity and health. No one else could know better what suits us the most. That is why in Genesis the food content of the original diet is explained: “And God said: Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat”.1 This is the diet, which people kept while living in the Garden of Eden, before the entrance of sin. When mankind was expelled from Eden, there was, due to modifications made by the fall of men, a light change in his food habits. God added vegetables to it, which were not mentioned before.2

In other words, before the entrance of sin in the world, people would eat fruits and seed-bearing plants. When expelled from the Garden of Eden they included vegetables to their alimentation. Later, one notices another radical change in mankind’s eating habits, more precisely, God granted the human race to add meat to their diet.3 But the Bible makes clear since the book of Genesis that some animals are clean and others are not. For that reason seven couples of the clean animals entered the Ark instead of only one couple.4 The book of Leviticus gives us a detailed list of the animals and animal products, which were not to be used for human consumption.5 This last change in human diet brought a severe decrease in health and in human life expectancy,6 together with an earth which produced less fruit, due to progressive disease and corruption,7 all of this in consequence of sin, which affected the whole Creation.8

 

Biblical References:

  1. Genesis 1: 29
  2. Genesis 3: 18
  3. Genesis 9: 3
  4. Genesis 7: 2
  5. Leviticus 11
  6. Genesis 11: 10-26
  7. Isaiah 24: 4, 5
  8. Romans 8: 21, 22; 6: 23