[Adapted from The God of Healing]:

Said a doctor who witnessed oil exuding from a miraculous icon in Chicago:

“A great physician or scientist, if honest with himself, is humbled by what little he knows as a function of what there is to know—not just of the human body, but of nature itself, of the universe in which he exists. The infinite order of it all, the intricacy of design of all existing matter, whether alive or inert, boggles the mind of anyone giving expression to such thoughts.

“Through it all, the issue of origin, of ontology, is brought to bear. There had to be a beginning. There had to be a superhuman architect to have fashioned the universe in all of its unfathomable complexity.

“To me and to the physicians and scientists I’ve known and respected during my career, that answer can only be God, however expressed by any given person. Under such a premise, it is not hard to reconcile the natural with the supernatural. Things can and do occur for which we have no immediate or rational explanation. And just what does, for example, constitute a rational explanation? After all, we learn in science that too often today’s wisdom is merely tomorrow’s folly.”

If healing involves the natural and supernatural—as it does, and as this doctor implies—we must take care of the body as well as the spirit.

Those who do can add years to their lives (whatever lifespan God designed for them).

It is an area that’s ignored by medicine.

Let’s look at real examples. Start with Hunzas: Doctors have been investigating them for decades to see what gives these residents of the Himalayas (northern Pakistan) such longevity. They are regularly over a hundred, and some are purportedly a decade or more beyond that. Their diet consists of fresh raw carrots, sprouted legumes, cabbage, whole-grain chapattis, unpasteurized whole milk (yes, they ingest some dairy), a little meat once a week, and lots of pure water. When laboratory rats were fed the same, scientists were startled to find that at the age at which these rodents often die, none had detectable disease (and there were no infant mortalities!).

The animals seemed happy, alert, and lived harmoniously (in unhealthy circumstances, they fight). When the animals were fed other diets, including one with white rice (as opposed to whole grain, which is how God made it), they developed lung, nose, ear, stomach, reproductive, urinary, skin, blood, heart, nervous system, and lymphatic problems. Hair loss and bad teeth were also noted. An even less fortunate group of animals, fed a typical English diet of margarine, sweetened tea, canned meats, white bread, and inexpensive jams, became belligerent and contracted intestinal, stomach, and nervous disease, also prevalent among humans on such a diet.

In the land of the Hunzas, apricots are staples as are cherries, mulberries, and walnuts. Organic vegetables are grown in soil prepared with natural compost. Their proteins come chiefly from beans, legumes, and chickpeas. When meat is taken, it’s in small doses from animals (“free-range”) that graze in a natural manner. Hunzas also drink that clean glacier water and eat fermented butter and cheese in small quantities.

A main drink is apricot oil (which can be purchased in the U.S. and used on salads). The kernel of apricots are full of vitamin B17, which many credit with remarkable cures. As author Tanya Harter Pierce has written, “Researchers over the years have shown similar correlations between diets high in B17 and low incidence of cancer among other native populations of the world as well.

These include many of the native North American tribes and native peoples of South America and Africa.”

Citing another researcher, she points out that “in the Old Testament of the Bible there is specification for how to prepare grains to be used in the making of bread. The formula is presented in Ezekiel 4:9 and discusses six ingredients. Five of these ingredients are rich in [B17] content and are barley, beans, lentils, millet, and chickpeas (garbanzo beans).”

God’s medicine is often found in a natural state.

There are other places as well. There is Okinawa, Japan, which recently boasted the oldest documented person in the world as well as the most elderly without debilitating disease. There the mainstay is whole grains, leafy vegetables, sweet potatoes, and smaller amounts of fish, organic soy products, and pork. (When it is not genetically modified, soy is very beneficial.) Fish a couple times a week is highly beneficial (when it isn’t fried, which negates the benefits). These things may not only protect organs and dismiss toxins but bequeath a younger, vibrant look—beautify.

The fewer the ingredients, the better. Simplify.

Open your heart. Look up, not down.

Take the initiative.

A nurse who had cervical cancer changed her diet, ate smaller portions, and reduced her intake of fatty, refined foods, and processed foods. Her diet became a simple one of whole grains and beans. With it she freed herself from the threat of cancer. In the process, her chronic lower-back pain, stuffed nose, blocked sinuses, psoriasis, and pre-menstrual syndrome also vanished (and she was able to lose weight; being overweight is a major factor in cancer).

Always, pray for the right doctor.

Light overcomes darkness—when we let it.

Pray about what you eat (as well as praying over whatever you end up bringing to the table).

“In Christianity we have the Holy Scriptures, what God said from the beginning we should eat,” said an eighty-nine year old named Belgrove Josiah from Loma Linda, California, another long-living community. “He gave us the nuts and the grains and the herbs that He placed in the earth. And He said you will do better if you subsist on that type of thing.”

[resource: The God of Healing]