Kosher Living, Healthful Living
 
My views about kosher have been formulated as a nutrition scientist, a physician, a kosher food consumer and a Jew.
 

By Kenneth J. Storch

My views about kosher have been formulated from many perspectives: as a nutrition scientist, as a physician, as a kosher food consumer and as an American Jew. Over the years, I have been privileged to blend my profession with issues that are personally important to me. Kashrut has become one of them.

The laws of kashrut transform every morsel that enters our mouths into an opportunity for a mitzvah. Similarly our choices in food and lifestyle can enable us to follow the Torah precepts for preserving human life and health.

The Biblical injunction, "Therefore, take good heed of yourselves," (Deuteronomy 4:15) assigns priority to both our spiritual and our physical well-being. Indeed, it is a long-lasting Jewish percept that the two are inextricably linked. The famed Jewish physician and scholar Maimonides stated in his codification of Jewish Law, the Mishnah Torah: "...[Since it is] impossible to understand or have knowledge of the Creator when one is sick, it is obligatory upon man to avoid things which are detrimental to the body and to acclimatize himself to those things that heal and fortify it."

Not only did this twelfth-century scholar-doctor presage the current medical concepts of curative and preventive medicine, but he also set down recommendations that read like a contemporary checklist for good health: don't overeat; watch your weight; get sufficient sleep and exercise. Maimonides also recognized the importance of a moderate temperament in the quest for physical health, enjoining Jews to "love peace and seek peace." In this he set the stage for twentieth century recognition of emotionally-induced illness and research into the mind-body response.

The Rabbis of the Talmud felt that a Jew must not rely solely on G-d for the preservation of health, but that he or she must also seek medical assistance as well as take measures to prevent illness from occurring in the first place. The authors of the Talmud were attuned not only to the importance of the physician, but also to advances in medical thought. (In view of the fact that their own numbers included many physicians, this is not surprising.) They therefore enjoined Jews in every generation to seek out the best medical knowledge of their respective eras.

In our own time, great medical strides have been made in the field of nutrition. We know that diet is a major factor in the prevention and control of such common health problems as heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, high serum cholesterol and diabetes. Nutritional factors have been linked with 6 of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States. The public's interest in healthy food consumption is at an all-time high. Our society is tuned into the importance of preventing disease and promoting health through good eating habits.

Although kashrut is a commandment of the Torah and is not observed on the basis of health, the kosher diet creates an excellent format for healthy eating with its categories of meat, dairy and pareve. We are forbidden to combine the meat/poultry and dairy groups (both of which are high not only in protein, but also in cholesterol). But we may eat the pareve whole grains, beans fruits and vegetables at any meal. As a result, we can mix and match grains, beans, fruits and vegetables (which contain the complex carbohydrates and natural nutrients recommended by nutritionists) with either meat or dairy foods to provide a balanced diet at every meal. And because this pareve group comprises the widest variety in the food chain, it takes very little effort to provide culinary variety with a kosher diet.

In light of this current knowledge, we can read with renewed appreciation the Biblical description of Eretz Yisrael... "A land of wheat and barley, and grape vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey." Today health-conscious consumers could virtually do their supermarket shopping on the basis of this verse.

Jewish foods include such gastronomic delicacies as kishke, chopped liver, salami and smoked fish. We may enjoy these foods, but how can we reconcile eating them with our concern for what is truly good for us?

We can, and easily. These foods may be enjoyed as an occasional treat, but are not necessarily staples of a kosher diet. A more balanced menu would include the foods now recommended by nutritionists and also enjoyed by our ancestors. Further, the rich culinary heritage of Eastern Europe can be savored by the health-minded Jew if it is modified with some simple substitutions.

We should also distinguish between kashrut and cuisine. "Jewish" food in fact varies widely. For example, traditional Sephardic foods rely heavily on rice, lentils, fish, nuts and honey. Any contemporary Israeli cookbook includes dozens of vegetable recipes. Jews have lived in all parts of the world and have successfully adapted the dishes of many countries to meet the requirements for kashrut.

The diet of any population, including a Jewish populations, is determined by what is available. Our forebears were limited in their choice of foods to what was raised locally. And if that included a significant amount of saturated fat, they worked the long hours of heavy labor to burn it off. We, who usually perform relatively little physical labor, sit a great deal, and have the accumulated body fat to show for it, have available to us an array of foods that is mind-boggling. There are no longer seasons for most fruits and vegetables. If they're not available locally, they're flown across the country or across the ocean for our delectation. Our meat, poultry and cheese come in neat packages, and we can keep them edible for weeks in our freezers or refrigerators. Milk, juice, bread -- not to mention cake, candy and cookies -- are available in unlimited quantities.

One could get lost in this vast sea of options. But there is another way of looking at it.

The variety of foods available to us today includes not only our particular forebear's cuisine, but that of virtually every other Jewish population in existence to date. And therein lies our advantage. By using our new knowledge of nutrition, we can select the most desirable combinations of traditional Jewish foods from all over the world. We can also adapt favorite recipes for certain rich, high-calorie foods by substituting more healthful ingredients. And thanks to food processors, juicers, microwave ovens and other devices, we can do all this in record time.

Kosher consumers have yet another advantage. Because our consumption of food is performed within the framework of halachah, we are a nutritionist's dream. We are acutely conscious at the point of eating -- we stop to recite a blessing before placing anything in our mouths. We wait prescribed periods between eating meat and dairy foods. Our very notion of food is linked to the idea of limitation and self-discipline, since certain categories of food are outside our realm of possibility. Add to this the value we assign to life and health, and you have the ideal candidate for improved health through dietary modification.

Finally, we are receiving unprecedented assistance from new sources in our quest for better nutrition. The recent explosion of health foods has had great impact on the kosher industry. Kosher organic foods, salt-free seasonings, soy products, egg substitutes, tofu-based versions of dairy dishes, even frozen vegetarian entrees are literally at our fingertips. Scores of companies are beginning to serve the health-conscious kosher consumer. If we continue to make our needs known by purchasing beneficial foods, they will respond.

Our generation has the opportunity to "take good heed of ourselves" as no generation before ever had. We have access to advanced medical and nutritional information; and our ability to apply this knowledge within the context of kashrut observance has been magnified by modern technology and by obliging kosher producers. With each passing day, it seems, new medical developments reveal the wisdom of concepts that have been part of our heritage for thousands of years.

Who can imaging what wonder the future holds?


Reprinted from Body and Soul

Kenneth J. Storch, M.D, Ph.D., is a nationally renowned physician, researcher, author and lecturer. He has a private practice in Nutritional and Preventive Medicine with offices in Elizabeth and Union, NJ. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and served as a clinician at Harvard Medical School. He received his Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry from M.I.T.