MIAMI — When Eve took that forbidden first bite of organic apple, she had no idea she would be linking food and religion forever. Thousands of years later evangelicals and worshippers of low-carb diets are worrying about how many carbs are in their communion crackers.
In the first go round, dozens of books like the Hallelujah Diet and The Maker’s Diet harkened the fare of Biblical times to take off the pounds that church potlucks and Sunday picnics packed on.
But the latest crop of faith-based diet books are moving outside the realm of food and exercise, touting a more holistic approach that encourages everything from advanced hygiene, a challenge to feed the poor and a call to add a side of prayer and meditation alongside your veggies and hormone free meat.