Healthy Living for God’s Glory
Excerpts from the writings and sermons of Evangelist Lester Roloff
If you would like to listen to a collection of sermons that Lester Roloff preached on healthy living, please click here.
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
I Corinthians 6:19-20
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
I Corinthians 10:31
*Throughout his preaching Lester Roloff encouraged listeners to bring glory to God by practicing common-sense principles for healthy living. Many who came to this ministry for help immediately found Christ, but they needed a plan to restore their bodies that had been devastated by the sinful abuses of drugs and alcohol. Brother Roloff was ahead of his time with his healthy-living advice, and many today have greatly benefitted from applying his wisdom for eating, exercising, and common sense in the care of our bodies. He ate and recommended a diet similar to what is called the Mediterranean diet today. It is considered one of the most healthy diets there is. It is plant based with limited meat and relatively low fat. Cancer rates and heart disease rates are drastically lower on this kind of diet as compared to the standard American high fat – lots of meat diet. He used fresh vegetable juice as well as a largely plant-based diet that included moderate amounts of animal foods. His two favorite meat dishes were fresh fish and quail. He recognized the body’s need for a balanced diet, and he encouraged people to eat some animal foods like eggs and cottage cheese in moderate amounts. As you ponder his counsel for healthy living, we hope many will discover the benefits of good health which can multiply our ministries and bring glory to the Lord!
Roloff Evangelistic Enterprises
FOREWORD
But for the grace of God and Bible conviction that has constantly mounted for ten years, I would with fear and trembling pick up my pen to write this book. I make no claims to enticing words of men’s wisdom, but trust that in the demonstration of the Spirit and power, I may write a very practical and helpful book. All I ask as I humbly begin this book, being confident that I have been forced to the very faucets of faith, is that it mean as much to you in its eternal truths as it has to me.
To me, it has been the difference between life and death and between at least a measure of success and failure. I am also aware of the thought that the truth of this book shall invoke: the wrath of some and the misunderstanding of many. The medical doctor could raise a question to whom I would answer, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight.” (Matthew 11:25-26)
“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: That no flesh should glory in His presence.” (I Corinthians l:26-29)
“But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the THINGS of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (I Corinthians 2:10-14)
The preacher may say that we have left our field and yet, I Corinthians 3:16-17 says, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
“For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but He that judgeth me is the Lord.” (I Corinthians 4:4)
“What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (I Corinthians 6:19-20)
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (I Corinthians 10:31)
Now, my friend, if we do not know what to eat or what to drink, how can we do all to the glory of God? God has seen to it that the best of things in life are free and simple. Sunshine and fresh air are free and yet absolutely necessary to life. Love and friendship cost nothing but are essential to joy and happiness.
The other reason I write this book is because for ten years its truth has worked in my own life and ministry. After thirty-five years of sickness, two operations, treatments for ulcers, and many lost days/weeks/months, it is a sin for me to get sick when there is a way to stay well.
With all the doctors and hospitals and miracle drugs, there still seems to be no cure for the common cold, flu, and pneumonia. Think of the loss of time for students and parents – and also the expenses for medicine and hospital bills!
As I begin the first chapter of this book, I ask you to grant me two requests. First, give me an open mind. Secondly, give me credit for sincerely trying to write a book that will be practical and helpful to you and your whole family. Someone has said that success is learning to do what you don’t like to do. Well, after this book is written, I’m bound to be a success!
-Evangelist Lester Roloff
“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
John 10:10
I hope you have read every line of the foreword in order that you might understand the spirit in which this book is written. I am convinced that four things are killing the American people – too much food, bad food, wrong combinations of food, and anxiety & worry which stem from an absence of faith & trust in the wisdom that comes from God.
Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself by eating the wrong thing or by drinking wine. (Daniel 1:8) The wise man said in Proverbs 23:21,”For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty.” In that verse, he yoked the glutton (the man who eats too much) with the drunkard.
The Psalmist said that man is “fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14) Man has never made a machine with a motor that would run 969 years like the heart of Methuselah. The human body is the only machine that will repair itself if given the proper cooperation. Man is not a mechanical machine – but a living organism – and has innate wisdom that no other part of God’s creation has been able to exercise.
The birds and chickens and other fowl change from summer to winter clothes without having to go shopping. The ducks and geese have built-in radar that guides them safely to the south to spend the winter. The dog becomes his own doctor as he puts himself on a fast except for maybe some green grass and licks his bleeding wounds with the healing salve that comes through his tongue. A dog’s tongue is a very valuable member of his body – not only to be used to bark with, to taste with, to eat with, but also it’s his first-aid kit and his air-conditioner. When you see a dog panting, he has his air-conditioner going; apart from it, he would smother to death.
Physically, you can only be what you eat – or at least what you assimilate. Doesn’t it seem strange to you that the average parent knows more about the physical needs of the chicken in the pen, the hog in the lot, or the dog in the house than he does the needs of his own children? The average man knows more about the needs of his automobile than he does about the physical needs of his own child. America is the sickest nation she has ever been, with heart trouble, cancer, leukemia, poliomyelitis, hepatitis, nervous disorders, and mental maladies. I believe much of it can be laid at the door of improper diet. Find out what your body needs and then, in spite of the cost and criticism, stay with it to live longer and stronger.
For thirty-five years, I lived (or rather died) on potatoes, meat, gravy, and refined sweets. I turned down the fresh lettuce, the green beans, the English peas, and many other delightful and healthful things that came straight out of our garden. . . my main excuse being – “I don’t like them.” As a result, I was the sickest boy of the three in our family; I baffled the doctors and was treated for everything except the right thing, namely, an improper diet.
Now don’t get the idea in the first few sentences of this book that I am suggesting that you should starve or go on some unhappy diet. No sir! I’m enjoying eating now more than I ever have before, even though during the last ten days, as I write this book, I have eaten only one cooked meal. But it doesn’t mean that I haven’t enjoyed eating figs, dates, raisins, almonds, pecans, honey, apples, grapes, grapefruit, oranges, cashew butter, and almond butter. I feel fine, and my weight is practically the same. If you don’t have other medical issues, you will have no weight problem if you’ll eat right.
THE PROPER FUEL
Now, friend, don’t say that it doesn’t make any difference what you eat. To me, it would be just as foolish for you to be flying with me over the mountains of Arkansas while I look at the gauges on my panel and say, “Well, it looks like I’m about out of oil and gas, but it doesn’t make a good deal of difference.” Why, it would frighten you to death! If I were to land at the airport and tell the man to put some coal-oil into that high compression engine and some used oil in the crankcase, how far would you ride with me?
There’s a manual that goes with that Tri-Pacer airplane, and the guarantee only holds as I go by the manual. Likewise, I believe God gives a guarantee with your body that if you’ll go by His Word and wisdom, health can be yours. So, if God tells you to burn 100-aviation octane, don’t try to get by on 80. That plane is my flying temple and has already saved me over two hundred eight-hour workdays. But on the other hand, my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and must also be attended to according to His good pleasure.
That’s the reason this book is important. One’s body is only important in the sight of God and the light of the Word as it becomes the very temple of the Holy Spirit to be used as a yielded instrument to glorify our Father and to exalt the Name of Jesus. Therefore, these chapters on Food, Fasting, & Faith are not unrelated. Again, I say, the man who puts salt water in the radiator or sand in the crankcase is a fool – but not any bigger fool than the man who will put alcohol, drugs, or unhealthy food in his human system.
For illustration, a man will drive into a service station and ask for the best permanent anti-freeze to be put in his radiator; the same man will go next door and get a bottle of liquor to put into his human system – which will enter the delicate lining of his stomach and pass through the blood stream to begin cirrhosis of the liver and paralysis of the brain. Have you ever heard a man say, “Well, I eat as much as I want of anything and drink as much as I can hold?” All I can say is that you’d better take out some hospitalization and a burial policy to make it light on your family.
There have literally been thousands of people who have asked me, even with my limited knowledge, “Well, what can I eat? I want to be healthy. I’d like to be well and stay well. Where can I get information that would help me?” Therefore, I hope to give some practical suggestions in this book, and I hope you will practice them.
RETURN TO THE SIMPLE
Let us return to the simple things as God has given them. Even though we are all aware of the fact that man has poisoned the water system & the ground, and polluted the air, I still believe – in spite of the terrible conditions upon us – that with the right effort, man can have a large measure of health. The food situation is sort of like the Gospel. It’s been decorated, advertised, and glamorized, but at the same time, it’s been refined and “de-lifed.” It looks good, tastes good, and lasts longer without spoiling. The American people are sort of like the little bird when the mama bird comes home – he just throws his mouth wide open, and apparently it doesn’t make any difference whether a beetle or a bumblebee goes down his throat.
People ask me, “Well, why don’t you drink coffee, tea, or soft drinks?” I would like to ask, “Why do you drink them? Is there a health reason for it?” Now, I’m interested in being healthy because of the call of God upon my life. There’s no demand for a sick body. People ask, “Don’t you like them?” Why, of course, I like them, and for years, I drank and indulged in all of these things, but let me remind you that it was back in my sick days.
“Your fruit juices are your cleansers; your vegetables and vegetable juices are your feeders.”
Drink unsweetened juices. God put enough sugar in the orange and in the grapefruit and even in the grape juice. I eat grapes practically every day of my life. Let me remind you not to eat your fruits with your vegetables, meats, and so forth. Your fruit juices are your cleansers; your vegetables and vegetable juices are your feeders. Now remember, I’m not writing this book as a doctor; and I’m not trying to introduce a sure cure for everything. I’m writing down some things that have been extremely helpful to me, and if they can be a blessing to you, well and good.
OVER-ELEVATED FOODS
I have gotten away from white sugar, white flour, and an abundance of meat, along with milk (which is mucous-forming and causes congestion in my system, bringing on a sore throat and colds). In my opinion, the two most over-elevated foods are meat and milk, yet you hear people say, “I work hard. I’ve got to have plenty of meat.” “In order to be really strong, you must get plenty of meat,” is the cry of the public, which explains, of course – along with advertising – the high cost of meat. But the average person overlooks the origin of the meat which comes from the alfalfa, the clover, and that which grows in the field. Why not go to the field and get it instead of straining it through an animal. Then the meat is usually put on cold storage, goes through all sorts of packing processes, and finally winds up in a skillet, in hot grease – usually with white flour all over it. And then by the time you put your hot sauces or ketchup on it, just what of the original value do you have left? Have you ever noticed the putrefaction of meat and the horrible smell around a meat-packing plant?
The average American eats meat for breakfast, dinner, and supper. When you think of breakfast, ordinarily you think of bacon, eggs, toast, jelly, and coffee, or either a sweet roll and coffee. While I’m thinking about it, let me urge you to drink your fruit juices at least forty-five minutes before your meal so it will have an opportunity to do its cleansing. I have gotten away from drinking anything while I eat because the salivary juices have proved themselves to be so much better in digesting the food.
Now then you say, “Well, what am I going to do if I do not eat meat three times a day?” Just remember that egg yolks, cottage cheese (especially when it is homemade), avocado, nuts, and the right kinds of cheese are very good meat substitutes. I have friends who haven’t had a bite of meat in twenty years and are in perfect health. That’s proof enough for me! Meat at its best is still greasy. Hog meat is especially detrimental to the human system.
THE WAY WE EAT
Maybe you are saying by now, “Well, what am I going to eat?” We’ll come to that a little later on. The way people eat and under the conditions they eat can be just about as bad as the wrong kind of food. For instance, the family gets to the table and starts a family brawl and winds up in tears. That’s a meal that ought to have been skipped. Eating ought to be done under very pleasant conditions.
I’d rather eat one meal with my family, with all four of us happy, than eat a dozen meals with strife and misunderstanding. I think the wise man had this in mind when he said, ”Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.” (Proverbs 15:17)
Who started the three-meals-a-day? Most people feel that they are religiously bound to eat three square meals a day, with coffee breaks and all sorts of supplements in between. God only fed Elijah twice a day, and it probably wasn’t too much of a ration because it was brought by a raven – which, of course, couldn’t have had too big of a baggage department. And yet, Elijah was a specimen of tremendous physical health who could outrun the king’s horses.
Can’t you see the practical side of what I’m talking about? Sickness is no accident, neither is health. Sickness is an accumulation of poisons that the system could not get rid of. God has put every cleanser and purifier and eradicator in the human system that was necessary, but because of man’s misuses and abuses, he often makes himself sick. For instance, many of the poisons of the human system will go out through the pores when one perspires enough, yet we find ourselves riding in air- conditioned cars, sitting in air-conditioned offices, and riding in an air-conditioned elevator. Proper exercise is essential to good health.
Since sore throats and colds (which result many times in flu or pneumonia) are such common maladies, let me offer you a suggestion . . . or at least tell you what I do. If I feel a sore throat coming on, I immediately stop eating and drink only water or grapefruit juice until my system is clean again. It usually doesn’t take more than twenty-four to forty-eight hours until the sore throat is gone. Most people get sick like that in the wintertime because they do not get enough sunshine and fresh air; too often they sit around in some old, stuffy room, too hot from gas stoves that have already burned up the oxygen. Also, most people do not exercise enough in the winter time.
The television set has done plenty to damage the health of the people as they sit hour after hour. It has especially damaged the health of the little children because, instead of playing in the back yard or on the softball lot, they are sitting around watching television – many times in positions that are not good for developing the body. The Lord gave us one seat and two feet; therefore He must intend for us to walk and stand more than He does for us to sit!
WHAT WE EAT
How you prepare your foods is important, and we’ll have more to say about this later. Your health is invaluable! It ought to be measured in terms of souls and spiritual usefulness.
Remember that it is a lot easier to get that which is bad than that which is good. For instance, I go in a café (which I hardly ever do) and ask for a bowl of shredded wheat or some whole-wheat cereal and ask for honey to sweeten it; and they might look at me surprised and say, “We don’t have any honey.” To me, honey is a necessary, natural sweetener that ought to be in every home. Use it for sweetening purposes, but don’t cook with it. You usually have to get raw sugar at the health food store, but you can also use dates and raisins for sweetening purposes.
I get amused at people when sometimes I, as graciously as possible, refuse some offer of food or drink that I consider harmful, and they look with sympathy and say, “I didn’t know you had stomach trouble.” Actually, since I stopped eating and drinking certain things, I have not had any stomach trouble. Oh, the sickness and pain, worry and depression, and lost days of thirty-five years . . . just because of bad food. Overstuffed – but undernourished – is the condition of the average American.
Get away from rich gravies. I’ve had some very unhappy experiences with gravy, even though I used to be the gravy- maker at the big church dinners. When I was a boy I had gravy every morning for breakfast, along with hot biscuits made with white flour and, of course, I suffered with a clogged system. I marvel that I lived for thirty-five years on such a careless and dead diet.
Now, if I haven’t lost my readers, in just a moment, I want to give you some practical suggestions about what you can eat. But in order to allay your fears that you’ll starve to death or become too weak to work, let me remind you that I can run a mile right now without stopping. If you want to be healthy, don’t be a pincushion for a hypodermic needle. Don’t let your system stay saturated with chemicals that are foreign to the human body. Eat natural foods and use natural means for healing (in case you become sick) such as fasting, the Word of God and prayer, and whatever liquids are necessary to cleanse your system.
Eat fish, fowl, wild game, avocado, egg yolks, nuts, cheese, cottage cheese, and sunflower seeds as sources of protein. Eat a minimum of meat. One of the worst punishments we give our poor stomachs is throwing so many different foods into them at mealtime. Try serving just three items at your meals, or four at the most. You’ll find that you will feel much better. And do make it a habit to have at least one raw food at every meal. A salad made of lettuce, carrots, celery, avocado, boiled egg yolks, and sunflower seeds, with a little healthy dressing sprinkled over it, with maybe some cottage cheese, makes a delicious and nourishing meal.
Drink a lot of juices, always unsweetened, forty-five minutes to an hour before the meal or a couple of hours after the meal. Everyone ought to have a vegetable juicer. You may say, “I can’t afford one,” yet, one trip to the hospital costs you from three hundred to a thousand dollars. My dad has spent over fifty thousand dollars on illnesses in our family, and I’ve not spent five cents for drugs in ten years. If what I’m doing for God and others is as vital as I believe it is, nothing is too costly to keep me well enough to do it.
IN THE MORNING
Let me bear a personal testimony about how I begin my day. I start with a great big juicy verse or a chapter of the Word of God. Before reading a number of chapters and entering into a season of prayer, I usually drink a big glass of grapefruit juice. If I cannot get grapefruit, I drink a big glass of lime or lemon water. If no juice is available, I will drink just a big glass of water. However, I usually see that juice is available. In my plane or car, I carry an icebox with all arrangements made for fruits and juices.
For breakfast, sometimes I will have chopped dates, figs, raisins, a banana, a piece of whole wheat toast or other good whole grain bread and honey, along with some nuts or sunflower seeds sprinkled over the fruit. Sometimes I may have a bowl of steel cut oats or whole grain cereal or other health food cereal that still has the life in it. Many times, when in season, I have grapes, pears, apples, or fresh peaches, with nuts. I may have dried apples or apricots that have been properly soaked, mixed with some cashew butter or almond butter and honey, with nuts and various seeds – which make a delicious breakfast. And occasionally, if I eat an egg (or maybe two or three eggs) I eat the yolks steamed slowly in butter in a covered pan or poached, with toast and honey, or with toast and Fig Pep, which is a product made from black mission figs. During fruit season, I may have a cantaloupe or a watermelon. Sometimes I put a little cream, preferably goat’s milk, over my cereal and over the dates, figs, and raisins. Raw milk, of course, is better because it still has the culture and the life.
It would be well if you had the opportunity and the place to keep a good milk goat and a cow and your own chickens and feed them properly in order to have the right kind of food. Also, it would be wonderful if you had a little garden spot and would organically grow (without commercial fertilizers and poisons) your own vegetables and some of your fruits.
“Your health must be guarded and protected, and you’re not wasting time or money when you’re making an effort to stay well.”
You may say, “Well, I travel a great deal.” I doubt if you travel more than I do. I travel from fifty to a hundred thousand miles a year, but that presents no insurmountable problem. I’m here in the hotel where I’ve been since yesterday, and I have ample food in the room such as honey, black mission figs, dates, raisins, almond butter, grapefruit, oranges, and Fig Pep. Friend, it’s just a matter of whether or not you want to be well. Your health must be guarded and protected, and you’re not wasting time or money when you’re making an effort to stay well.
The thing that has amazed me is how little a person can eat and still feel good and go hard. Thousands of people have said to me, “I don’t understand how you have so many ministries, travel so many miles, preach so many times, and even live.” Let me be quick to say, the first secret is the goodness of God and faith in Him and His Word. But on the human side, He certainly has blessed the efforts I have put forth in “temple care.”
IN THE EVENING
In the evening, a big fruit plate is a good, light meal. A big glass of unsweetened juice before you go to bed will be healthy for you. In serving nuts over fruit dishes, it is good to grind them briefly in the food blender. They are more digestible this way, and your body can assimilate more of the food value from them. Be sure to thoroughly chew all your food, especially nuts.
When the body is real tired, it is certainly not good to eat a heavy meal. One of the fatal faults of the American people is to eat late at night and then come in at midnight and fall into the bed dead tired. I can just hear the heart saying to the liver, “Well, old boy, we’ll have to take the night shift tonight.” Many people die with a heart attack in their sleep, or wake up the next morning and say at the breakfast table, “I feel like I’ve never gone to bed. I’m so tired and have a headache, and I don’t see how I’ll make it through the day.” or “I’m not hungry.” Well, no wonder, my friend, the liver and the heart and all the other organs are still hammering away at what you ate at midnight.
IN THE KITCHEN
Now, I would like to give you some practical suggestions to help you in your kitchen. It is most important that you have proper utensils. If you want to be at your best physically, you will discard all your aluminum pots and pans (and aluminum foil) and equip your kitchen with some good stainless steel utensils. I realize that this involves money, but in the long run, it will mean much more to you than the initial expense. These stainless steel utensils will last indefinitely and be just as lovely as when they were new.
We have already mentioned the value of a vegetable juicer. I would like to suggest one other appliance for your health kitchen that will be of great help – a food blender. These come in a wide range of prices.
The cook stove is the murderer in your house. After our foods are poisoned, they are then killed, cooked, fried, baked, boiled, stewed, mashed, hashed, and seasoned; therefore, we don’t get much of the original good that was in them when they were harvested. It would be a wonderful start for you to take one day a week just to fast, and – if necessary – drink a little unsweetened fruit juice or eat a piece of fruit. The body is about ninety percent liquid and therefore ought to have a lot of liquids . . . but liquids of the right kind. For maximum health, we need to eat as much of our food as possible in its raw state. However, our American people have become so accustomed to cooked foods that it is unlikely that I would be able to persuade very many of you to try a raw food diet. Proper food preparation, though, will be of great benefit to you and your family.
Get away from the habit of peeling such vegetables as carrots and potatoes before cooking them. Much of the food value in your vegetables lies just under the skin and is lost if they are peeled. Scrub them clean with a vegetable brush. In cooking vegetables, use just a small amount of water. By this, I mean just enough to barely cover the bottom of your pan, less than a fourth of a cup. Put your prepared vegetables in the pan, cover with a tight-fitting cover, and place on high heat just until steam begins to escape, and then reduce your heat to as low as possible. BE SURE TO KEEP PAN TIGHTLY COVERED WHILE COOKING. Cook just until tender. Do not overcook your vegetables. The longer you cook them, the more of the food value you destroy. Do not use fat meats in cooking vegetables. Learn to enjoy the good natural flavor of the things you eat. It is best to season vegetables AFTER cooking with a little butter, and if desired, add vegetable salt.
If you like cabbage, but find that it doesn’t agree with you, try cooking it by this steaming method just until tender. You’ll have no cabbage odor in your house and no indigestion after eating! We like sliced carrots cooked with cabbage.
Form the habit of tightly covering all food stored in the refrigerator.
Now let me summarize the thing that I’ve been trying to say. Eat natural foods as much as possible. Don’t over-eat. Stay away from things that may not be particularly harmful or kill you right away, but simply do not have any contribution to make to your over-all health picture. Paul says there are some things that may not be sin, but they are weights, and he suggested we lay them aside. Most people are trying to run the race of life weighted down with too much luggage.
“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
HINTS FOR GOOD HEALTH
Since food is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer, quote a verse of Scripture and always ask the Lord to bless the food.
Eat uncooked food one day each week. Eat slowly at mealtime. Do not eat starches, sugar, or sweet fruits such as raisins, dates, and figs with meats or fruits such as grapefruit, oranges, lemons, apples, pears, peaches, etc. Avoid fried foods, gravies, hot sauces, and black pepper.
Drink lots of pure water. Do not drink liquids real hot or real cold. Do not drink liquids with your meals. Drink your fruit juices at least forty-five minutes before you eat, and wait at least two hours after you eat before you drink fruit juices or vegetable juices.
Fast at least three meals a week.
Some form of regular exercise is essential. Take a good fast walk every day, concentrating on breathing deeply. It’s better to walk early in the morning when things are fresh and you get your purest air. Wear the most comfortable shoes if you want healthy feet. Do not wear clothes that interfere with the circulation. Do not be afraid of sunshine. There is healing in it.
Good sleep habits are essential to health. Do not eat late at night. Keep plenty of fresh air in the room. Try to be asleep by ten o’clock and not later than eleven. One hour before midnight is worth two after midnight. Sleep on a hard bed and learn to sleep on your back. Your framework is in your back, but if you sleep on your stomach or side, you are likely to impair the organs of your body and many times develop cricks in your neck and in your arms. It is better to sleep three hours on a hard bed than four on a soft bed.
Use common sense. Good food and good health habits really work. Find out what your body needs and faithfully provide it. Do not be deceived either by the advertisements or by the great intellects.
Good complexion does not come out of a jar or a bottle, but out of your stomach. A healthy outside comes from a healthy inside. Make your own toothpaste out of salt and soda. The dentist will tell you this is safer and better for your teeth. Don’t compare money or time with health. Health is priceless!
RECIPES THAT I ENJOY
PRUNE WHIP
Dried prunes
Water
Honey
Barely cover prunes with water. Let soak overnight. Put prunes in blender with enough liquid, including honey to taste, to puree them into a pudding consistency. This may be served in individual boals, with chopped pecans top, or as a spread on whole wheat toast. Very delicious!
Variation: Substitute dried apricots instead of prunes.
PERSIMMON WHIP
When fresh persimmons are in season and ripe, peel them and freeze the pulp. Place the frozen persimmon pulp in a blender. Add enough milk and honey to purée into a pudding consistency. Keep chilled. This is delicious when served topped with chopped pecans and coconut. Most people cannot guess what they are eating!
MAYONNAISE
1) 2 egg yolks
2) 1 cup vegetable oil
3) 2 tablespoons lemon juice
4) 1 tablespoon honey
5) 1 teaspoon vegetable salt
6) 1 teaspoon boiling water
The first three ingredients and all utensils should be thoroughly chilled. Use a rotary beater or electric mixer. Beat egg yolks well. Add oil and lemon juice, drop by drop, increasing the amount as the dressing thickens. Gradually add honey and salt during the mixing process, ending with oil. When all oil is used, dressing should be thick enough to hold its shape; if not, add a little more oil. Add the boiling water last to prevent separation. Refrigerate.
AVOCADO SALAD DRESSING
1 or 2 soft avocados
1 tomato (optional)
Chopped onions
1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish or some bread pickles
Small amount of sweet pickle juice
Place all ingredients in blender and liquidize. Season with vegetable salt. Brother Roloff often used this dressing, or a variation or guacamole salad, to put on his vegetable salads. His salad resemble but we would call tossed salads, and he used a combination of a number of raw vegetables – lettuce, celery, tomatoes, sliced or shredded carrots, dried or fresh onions, etc. He would also add flax seed, sunflower seed, or pumpkin seed; sometimes sliced boiled eggs and/or cottage cheese. Delicious and nourishing!
DRESSING FOR VEGETABLES SALADS OR SLAW
Mayonnaise
Honey
Lemon juice
Mix in proportion to suit your own taste. This is especially delicious on cabbage slaw.
EGG CUSTARD
I also make this custard that I think is delicious; I hope you enjoy it.
You will notice that we use just the egg yolks.
6 egg yolks
3 cups milk
2/3 cup raw sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
Scald the milk and sugar. Add VERY slowly to the lightly beaten egg yolks. Add vanilla. Pour through strainer into baking dish. Sprinkle the top with nutmeg or dot with butter. Place baking dish in a pan of hot water and bake at 325 ̊ until knife inserted in middle of custard comes out clean, about one hour.
WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
There is nothing quite so delicious as a fresh loaf of home- baked, whole-wheat bread. However, even though the temptation is great, be careful that you do not overeat – even of good, whole-grain products. Keep your diet well-balanced. Get some whole-wheat flour, and make your own bread. Make every effort to get freshly ground whole-wheat flour, if possible.
Here is the recipe for whole wheat bread. If you like, you can replace part of the whole wheat flour with unbleached white flour. For other variations, try kneading raisins, chopped dates, cinnamon, or nuts into your dough.
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 yeast cakes, or 2 packages of active dry yeast 1/3 cup lukewarm water
5 1/2 cups un-sifted whole wheat flour
Scald milk. Add butter, salt, and brown sugar, and pour into large mixing bowl; cool to lukewarm.
Dissolve yeast in 1/3 cup lukewarm water; add dissolved yeast to mixture in bowl.
Add 3 cups of the flour. Stir eight minutes with electric mixer at low speed or 300 strokes by hand. Add remainder of flour and mix well.
Turn onto floured board, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, kneading in more flour, if necessary.
Place in an oiled bowl, cover with towel, and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about one hour.
Knead down to original size, cover, and let rise again.
Knead down, cut in half, and shape into two loaves. Place in oiled bread pans, cover with towel, and let rise until dough begins to lift towel.
Bake in 350 ̊ F preheated oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans and place on wire rack to cool.
For soft crust, brush with butter.
DROP COOKIES
We have done quite a bit of experimenting with cookie recipes, especially drop cookies, substituting unbleached and whole wheat flour. Here is one suggested recipe that you can try.
Mix together thoroughly:
1 cup soft shortening
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
Stir in:
1/2 cup sour milk or buttermilk
Sift together and stir in:
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Add:
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup chopped nuts
Chill at least one hour. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls about 2″ apart on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake 10 – 12 minutes at 350 , until, when touched lightly with finger, almost no imprint remains.
(There is a preparation that you can get at the health food store that is a wonderful substitute for chocolate, called Carob Powder. You can experiment with your recipes using this Carob Powder in place of chocolate. As a general rule, 3 level tablespoons Carob Powder plus 2 tablespoons liquid – milk or water – equals 1 square of chocolate.)
BROWNIES
2/3 cup sifted whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup raw sugar or brown sugar
2/3 cup chopped nuts
3 tablespoons milk
8 tablespoons Carob Powder mixed with 1 tablespoon melted butter
Cream butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs, salt, vanilla, milk, and Carob Powder mixture. Beat vigorously.
Sift the baking powder with the flour. Add flour and chopped nuts to mixture.
Spread batter in a 9 x 9 inch greased pan. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 ̊. Cut brownies before they have cooled.
BANANA MILK SHAKE
Freeze bananas whole or sliced into a freezer bag or container. Place frozen bananas with milk and vanilla and blender. Blend until all is mixed well. This makes a delicious thick milkshake.
ICE CREAM
3 quarts milk
10 egg yokes & 2 whole eggs
2 cups raw sugar
3 tablespoons vanilla
Salt
Scald milk. Beat egg yolks. Add sugar to eggs and add to milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until it nearly curdles or turns to custard. Cool. Add flavoring and beaten egg whites. Pour into freezer can and freeze. Makes 1 gallon. Fresh fruits may be added for variation.
Roloff Evangelistic Enterprises
P.O. Box 100
Fort Thomas, AZ 85536
“Living By Faith”
(excerpts from Food, Fasting, & Faith by Lester Roloff)
(copyright 2020)