Hallelujah Another Diet!

by Randall Birtell

(This originally appeared in the Fall 2002 edition of the MCOI Journal, Beginning on page 8)

In March of 1513, Juan Ponce de LeÃ³n launched an expedition to find the “fountain of youth.” Indians had told him of a miraculous spring that rejuvenated those who drank from it. Instead of finding a miraculous fountain, he discovered Florida. In 1521, he was killed by the arrow of an Indian. Death had found Juan.¹

The yearning in Juan to live eternally is not foreign to any of us. God created us with this desire. It is natural to want to live and to live a healthy life. The thought of death is, at least at some level, difficult to embrace. As the Apostle Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose” (Phil. 1:21-22).

In the Garden of Eden, death was alien. It was a scene of complete perfection where God dwelt with His creation. But sin entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. The result was expulsion from the garden, toil in this world, and certain death. This is the world in which we now live.

The short life on earth God has given each of us should be cherished. Wisdom in our care for the physical body should be sought. We should have the same attitude as Paul who wanted to live to have “fruitful labor” for Christ. But the fact is: The physical body, as we know it, will die. It is then each and every one of us will give an account to God for what we did on this earth. The condition of our body or the length of our life will not be of importance. It is the heart of man that will be judged.

George Malkmus believes too little attention has been given by the church to the physical body. The diet he prescribes supposedly causes one to retain youth, stay healthy, and live a long life.

This diet-called the Hallelujah Diet-is not merely a way to health, but according to Malkmus, it is “God’s way to health.”

The Birth of the Hallelujah Diet

George Malkmus was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1976.²

His mother just died of cancer after following standard medical treatment. Malkmus decided to combat his cancer with a method “…that did not contradict the teaching of the Bible, as did the administering of drugs.”³ He changed his diet. This was the beginning of what he now calls the Hallelujah Diet.

The Hallelujah Diet entails eating certain foods at certain times. Breakfast consists of one tablespoon of Barleygreen* and a piece of fresh fruit later in the morning if you get hungry. At lunch, another tablespoon of Barleygreen and a freshly extracted 8 oz. glass of carrot juice; and 30 minutes later, some fresh fruit or vegetables. Supper again begins with a tablespoon of Barleygreen and another 8 oz. glass of freshly extracted carrot juice. Thirty minutes later, you can eat a large green, leafy vegetable salad and, then, the only cooked food of the day. Some choices for this cooked food can be a baked potato, brown rice, whole-grain pasta, or steamed vegetables. The ideal diet will be 85% raw food and 15% cooked food.⁴

What can’t be eaten on the Hallelujah Diet is meat of any kind, dairy products, salt, sugar, white flour, and caffeine. Malkmus claims “Eighteen years of research has revealed meat as it is produced today to be the single most dangerous food that we put into our body.”⁵The reason he believes meat is dangerous is because he claims it is the main cause of colon cancer, breast cancer, prostrate cancer, and adult-onset diabetes.⁶ Dairy products are taboo because they, too, come from an animal source. Malkmus states that “The only source of bad cholesterol (LDL) is animal products! Animal products are not good food!!!” [emphasis in original]⁷ Salt is excluded from the diet because it “is an inorganic sodium compound formed by the union of sodium and chlorine that is extremely toxic to the body, causing it to retain fluid in an effort to keep this protoplasmic poison in suspension and out of the cells.”⁸

According to Malkmus white flour “…clogs up your intestines, creates excess mucus in your sinus passages and white flour depletes your nutrient levels as your body works to digest it.”⁹ Finally, he calls caffeine an “extremely dangerous substance” and something we should completely eliminate from our diet.¹⁰

These claims made by Malkmus are serious charges against the standard food groups with which most of us grew up. I would certainly agree with Malkmus that most Americans need more raw fruits and vegetables in our diet and less hamburgers and fries. However, Malkmus does not back up his dogmatic claims about the ills of such food with hard evidence. Rather, he uses the testimonies of himself and others as his field of research.

Several scientific and dietary responses have been given to the Hallelujah Diet. Dietary experts Ellen Coleman and Rebecca Long have this to say about the Hallelujah Diet: “Although a vegetarian diet can be healthful, the extreme diet advocated by Malkmus may result in malnutrition, especially in children and adolescents. The National Council Against Health Fraud has received reports of individuals not suffering any particular illness who adopted this diet only to become thin and gaunt looking, lacking energy and vitality, but claiming that they feel the best they have at any time previously.”¹¹

The Bible: God’s Manual for Diet

I have spoken personally with Malkmus on two occasions.¹² Our conversations focused on his interpretation of certain passages of Scripture. As I expressed my concerns with his twisting of Scripture, his rebuttals would ultimately always turn pragmatic. He uses Scripture out of context and selects only the portions that seem to support his beliefs. Let us now investigate the failed attempt of Malkmus to use the authority of the Bible to advance the Hallelujah Diet.

Malkmus believes his Hallelujah Diet is God’s Way to Ultimate Health.** He says that in Genesis 1:29 God prescribed the perfect diet for mankind. In this verse, Moses wrote: “Then God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you.’ ” Malkmus teaches that “the only nourishment God ever intended to enter these body temples of ours is raw fruits and vegetables. Period! That’s it!!!”¹³

The idea people did not eat meat prior to the flood is not without warrant. The Zondervan NIV Study Bible states that based on Genesis 1:29-30, “People and animals seem to be portrayed as originally vegetarian.”¹⁴ Further boosting this idea is the specific declaration God gave to Noah after the flood. “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant” (Gen. 9:3).

The meaning of Genesis 1:29 is clear. In the Garden of Eden, God commanded Adam and Eve to eat fruit and vegetables. The denotation of Genesis 9:3 is equally clear. God now gave them the opportunity to eat the meat of animals. It is in his interpretation of the latter passage where Malkmus goes seriously off course.

Malkmus understands the events of the first nine chapters in Genesis in a unique way. First, “When God created man, He placed him in a garden and told him his diet was to consist of raw fruits and vegetables.”¹⁵ Second, man “lived an average of 912 years without any recorded sickness.”¹⁶) Third, “Sickness did not begin at the fall. I was taught that all through my life. Sickness, my friend, didn’t begin until almost two-thousand years after the fall.”¹⁷

It is the contention of Malkmus that God purposely gave meat to people so their life would be shortened. The people had messed up, and God was going to wipe them out. But Noah found favor with God, so He changed His mind and decided not to let man live so long.¹⁸ Meat was the tool God chose to carry out this task.

The Bible: God’s Manual for Faith and Practice

This understanding of Genesis 1-9 is an absolute torture of the text and an attack on the Gospel itself. The result of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). God created Adam and Eve and placed them in a pristine garden. He commanded them not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:9) for if they did they would die (Gen. 3:3). God set before Adam and Eve the rules of this new world. However, they chose to attempt to define their own rules and ate of the fruit (Gen. 3:6). They immediately became aware of their own nakedness (Gen. 3:7), were not allowed to eat of the Tree of Life, and death became imminent (Gen. 3:22).

Death entered the world because of The Fall of Man. A necessary predecessor to death is sickness of one or more body systems. People do not die of old age. Before any death occurs (natural or accidental), at least one part of the body fails to function correctly-it is sick. Sickness is, therefore, a mandatory condition that befell mankind when Adam and Eve were displaced from the garden.

It is the very fact of the bodily resurrection of Christ that our sins are covered. As Paul told the Corinthians, “…if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17). It was sin that brought death to mankind, and it was Christ who brought us life. In eternity, our soul will be reunited with our body. It will be for us as it was for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Malkmus, himself, cannot separate the ideas of sickness and death. “Sickness and disease and physical problems are not normal! They are the penalty one pays for violating God’s natural laws!”¹⁹ Malkmus thus believes sickness and disease were not a result of spiritual disobedience as Genesis 3 explains. He asserts sickness only came into the world when God gave man meat to eat after the flood. He gives no cohesive explanation for why or how death was a part of the world before the flood.

But the fact is, death comes only as the result of sickness. Thus, sickness was present before the flood because death was present before the flood. According to Malkmus “one of the greatest tragedies in history is the change in diet man made from the original raw vegetarian/fruitarian diet God gave to mankind in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 1:29 to one of meat and cooked and artificial foods.”²⁰ If this is true, then the “greatest tragedy” of all time must be credited to none other than God Almighty. It was God who made the dietary change in Genesis 9:3. However, the decree of Genesis 9:3 was not a tragedy.

The giving of meat in Genesis 9:3 is part of a larger pronouncement by God. The first four words of chapter nine are “And God blessed Noah” (Gen. 9:1a). God did not give meat to curse man. He gave the birds of the air and the creatures of the ground as a blessing to Noah.

Malkmus completely tortures Genesis 9:3 by reading his own meaning into the passage and then misappropriates Genesis 1:29 as God’s diet for man. He boldly proclaims, “Yes, heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and a host of other diseases can be eliminated if Christians will return to the Bible and observe the natural laws God gave man thousands of years ago!”²¹

As a pastor, Malkmus saw a steady dose of sickness, disease, and death. When he was cured of cancer, he felt the call of God to take his dietary information to the people of God so they might not suffer like those in his church. There is little doubt Malkmus is passionate about his message.²² However, his use of Hosea 4:6 to substantiate his ministry is completely without warrant.

Malkmus chooses only to quote “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”²³ The verse in its entirety is: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priests; since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

Hosea was not speaking to Israel about the Hallelujah Diet. Israel was not following the law of Moses, and the Israelites were thus being destroyed. God was calling His people back to the knowledge of Him, specifically-the law of Moses.

One final example of his biblical ineptness is found in his interpretation of Mark 5:25-26. In this passage, a woman with a flow of blood for 12 years could not be healed by physicians. These are the verses Malkmus uses as a subtitle in the fifth chapter of his book When Christians Get Sick.²⁴ In this chapter, he warns his readers of the ineffectiveness of the medical community and the drugs they prescribe.

Whatever one thinks of the medical community, we can be assured Mark 5:25-26 does not address this issue. The point of the story of the bleeding woman was to show the divine power of Jesus. Man could not heal the woman but Jesus miraculously did. Jesus was God, and the people should have heeded His words.

Barleygreen²⁵

Popeye the sailor man was birthed from the imagination of Elzie Segar in 1929. Popeye began his stellar career in a comic strip as a minor character. He hit the silver screen in 1933 and still can be seen in various places today. Most will remember the prominence spinach played in the stories. Popeye would be in a desperate situation with his nemesis Brutus and would say something like, “Tha’s all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more!” With that, Popeye would pop open a can of spinach and snarf it down. His body would be energized with strength, and he would finish off his foe.

Spinach became a symbol of strength for an entire generation. Consumption of spinach in the 1930’s rose 33 percent. If it was good enough for Popeye, it’s good enough for me! Popeye was seen as such an advocate for spinach that a statue was erected in his honor in the spinach-growing community of Crystal City, Texas.²⁶

For Malkmus, Barleygreen generates similar excitement as spinach did for Popeye. Of all the elements of the Hallelujah Diet Malkmus declares it is “the single, most important food I put into my body, and I always consume at least three tablespoons daily.”²⁷

The one component of the Hallelujah Diet that cannot be grown in your garden is Barleygreen. Barleygreen is a powder first created in the twentieth century by Yoshihide Hagiwara from barley grass juice.²⁸ According to American Image Marketing (AIM), it contains 18 amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and chlorophyll.²⁹ It should be noted that healthcare professionals and dieticians find the nutrients in Barleygreen are “insignificant.”³⁰

Barleygreen is a processed substance distributed by AIM. They explain the production process as follows: “The barley used for Barleygreenï£ª is organically grown and harvested when the leaves contain the widest spectrum of nutrients. The leaves are then juiced (not milled, as many other barley grass products are) and spray dried, using a patented, low-temperature processing method. Brown rice and kelp are added, and the result is Barleygreen.”³¹ While there are several other products³² based on Hagiwara’s process, Malkmus will only use the AIM product. In his words, “It is vitally important to me that the BARLEYGREEN powder I use comes from AMERICAN IMAGE MARKETING and that it contains kelp.”³³

So what does Barleygreen do for the body? Malkmus consumes Barleygreen because it builds “new, strong, healthy, vital, and vibrant cells.”³⁴ These claims are not validated by AIM. In an e-mail I received from the AIM On-Line Team, they state, “AIM does not make specific health claims for any of our products including Barleygreen.”³⁵ This denial of any health benefits seems to stem from an FDA order in 1988 ordering AIM “to stop making unproven claims for the product and to stop disparaging the American food supply.”³⁶

AIM is a multilevel marketing company of which Malkmus is a representative. Hallelujah Acres³⁷ sells a 7oz. canister of Barleygreen for $34.34.³⁸ They also sell other AIM products, juicers, books, and a variety of health foods and literature.

The plea to return to a Genesis 1:29 diet consisting of raw fruits and vegetables is the constant message of Malkmus. Why,then, is Barleygreen a required element of the Hallelujah Diet?

Since Barleygreen was only created in the late-twentieth century, it would have been impossible for anyone to follow God’s diet prior to that time. The hard facts are that Adam and Eve did not eat Barleygreen. The Hallelujah Diet is Malkmus’ way to ultimate health, not God’s.

It’s True Because it Works

In the introduction of his book God’s Way to Ultimate Health, Malkmus addresses his critics: “If you find something in the text of this book a little hard to swallow, then start paying closer attention to the testimonials of people who have actually put these teachings to practice. These are real people with real testimonials. Again, the bottom line is results.”³⁹

Personal testimonies are the foundation of the for-profit ministry of Hallelujah Acres. Testimonies are displayed on their web site, books, newsletters, and most everywhere the Hallelujah Diet is promoted. It is evident from the words of Malkmus that results are all that matter. Malkmus uses this pragmatic justification to deflect criticism of the Hallelujah Diet and his novel biblical interpretation.

Some of his claims seem astounding. For instance, he states when animal fat is removed from one’s diet “they reduce their chances of ever having a heart attack or stroke by over 96 percent” [emphasis in original].⁴⁰ His claims about how to avoid cancer are equally as dogmatic. “If a person doesn’t smoke or eat animal products or consume sugar, their chances of ever developing cancer are practically nil.”⁴¹

Malkmus gives little medical or scientific documentation to support his claims. Rather, he uses dogmatic assertions that certain foods are bad, and he reinforces these claims by the thousands of testimonies he has received. The lack of hard evidence supporting the benefits of the Hallelujah Diet lead health professionals like Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch⁴² to conclude the dietary methods of Malkmus are not trustworthy.⁴³

It is the strength of Malkmus’ assertions regarding the effectiveness of his Hallelujah Diet that is most disturbing. These kinds of allegations lead people away from sound medical treatment.

Most Americans should eat more raw fruits and vegetables and less food that is high in fat. Barrett notes, “It is well established that low-fat eating lowers blood cholesterol levels and that high intakes of fruits and vegetables are associated with lower incidence of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. …For these reasons, the risk of these conditions is lower for users of Hallelujah Diet than it is for the average American diet. However, the difference for most people is probably not great…”⁴⁴

The results of the Hallelujah Diet in the life of Malkmus have recently been challenged. On Thursday, July 12, 2001, he had a stroke.⁴⁵) Malkmus believes the stroke was caused by a hectic schedule and stress in his life.⁴⁶)

Malkmus has strong words concerning the effectiveness of modern drugs. He writes, “People cannot be drugged (poisoned) into health! Drugs create problems, rather than solve them! To regain health, the sick person must cleanse the body of the drugs and toxic substances that have accumulated and then provide the body with the proper building materials and influences that will allow the body to purify, repair and rebuild itself!”⁴⁷

In the process of regaining his health after the stroke, Malkmus chose to ignore such advice. In Health Tip #194 he writes: “I am currently working closely with a medical doctor, taking two low dosage blood pressure medications, and have seen my blood pressure drop to normal levels.”⁴⁸ So it appears, even in the life of Malkmus, at least some problems are solved with medicine.

Conclusion

Malkmus is an energetic and friendly man. I do not question his genuine concern for the people who come to him with health and diet concerns. What is alarming is the message he preaches.

His gospel is perfect health for the physical body. This good news will not last for Malkmus or anyone else. The ultimate sickness of death finds each and every living being.

Contrast this with what the good news of Scripture says about this temporal world:

“For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:53-57)

Our hope is an eternal hope of which this world knows nothing of.

We will all get sick and die. Barring the imminent return of Christ, there are no exceptions. Yet, this does not give us license to abuse our body. The body is a creation of God and should be respected. There will be a one-to-one correspondence between the body that perishes on earth and the one that is “raised in glory” (1 Cor. 15:43).

To claim God has a specific diet we must follow is a serious declaration. This is precisely what Malkmus does. He attempts to lay a biblical foundation for his assertions by pouring his own meaning into Scripture. But mere scattered Bible references do not make a teaching biblical. When the words of Malkmus are tested in light of the Word of God, they fail miserably.

A look at the ministry of Jesus also presents an insurmountable attack on a God-ordained meatless diet. Jesus fed the multitudes fish (Matt. 15:36; John 6:11), helped the disciples catch fish (John 21:6), and ate fish (John 21:10, 15). Jesus, being God, could not contradict his own teaching. It seems clear that at least one form of meat-fish-was not prohibited by God.

Upon further examination of the New Testament, other evidence is found that meat is not prohibited from our diet. The Lord revealed to Peter while in Joppa even the animals that Jews formerly saw as unclean were clean and good for food (Acts 10:11-13). Paul even rebuked Cephas because he withdrew from eating with the Gentiles where they most certainly ate meat (Gal. 2:11-12).

Those who choose to eat only fruit and vegetables do so under the freedom of the Gospel. Those who eat meat and other foods do so under the same freedom. We do not find favor with God by what we put in our stomachs. Our relationship with God is sealed by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

God’s Word is the final authority. The letter to the Romans reads:

“Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Rom. 14:1-4).

The message of Malkmus is divisive. He claims his dietary method is superior to all others because it is God’s way to eat. Those who do not follow his way are conforming to the world and are breaking the principles of God. He states, “As a result the Christian community lives in constant violation of almost every fundamental principal of life God established when it comes to the body/temple God gave us and how we should live here on earth. We violate God’s principles by what we feed our bodies and minds, and then when they break down, we violate God’s principles in how to get well. Yes, sadly the Christian community has conformed to the world to which God said “be not conformed.’ ” [emphasis in original] ⁴⁹

So according to Malkmus, those who are not on the Hallelujah Diet are violating principles of God. The author of Romans encourages freedom in the area of diet. Malkmus draws a line in the sand separating the standard American diet as the diet of the world and the Hallelujah Diet as the diet of those following God’s principles.

By proclaiming the Hallelujah Diet is God’s way of eating, Malkmus leads people into the bondage of legalism. In contrast, Jesus brings broken and imperfect people into His eternal kingdom, where perfect health ultimately will be realized in Heaven.

There is not a specific dietary formula a Christian is bound to follow. God’s ultimate way to health is through Jesus Christ and Him alone. It is only when the believer receives a glorified body that sickness and death are conquered. Then the words of John the Revelator will come to pass:

“…and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).Î©

All quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible.

*Barleygreen is a registered trademark of AIM (American Image Marketing).

**Title of George Malkmus’ 1995 book.

Randall Birtell is the Scranton, KS co-Branch Director of MCOI (along with Randal Ming). He is also completing his Master’s Degree in Apologetics at Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, NC.

Hallelujah Another Diet!

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