OBJECTIVES;

• At the end of the lesson, the learners will be able to:

i. Define the Reloigion and Food Dietary and Religious
Belief Expressed as Food Customs
ii. Know the Roof Fasting and Health Benefits and
Risks Associated with Specific Practices
iii. Recognice the different Dietary Practices from
different Religon
 RELIGION AND DIETARY
PRACTICES
• Since the beginning of time, dietary practices have
been incorporated into the religious practices of
people around the world. Some religious sects
abstain, or are forbidden, from consuming certain
foods and drinks; others restrict foods and drinks
during their holy days; while still others associate
dietary and food preparation practices with rituals of
the faith.
 RELIGION AND DIETARY
PRACTICES
• The early biblical writings, especially those found in
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy of the Old
Testament (and in the Torah) outlined the dietary
practices for certain groups (e.g., Christians and
Jews), and many of these practices may still be found
among these same groups today. Practices such as
fasting (going without food and/or drink for a
specified time) are described as tenets of faith by
numerous religions.
 Religious Belief Expressed as
Food Customs
• To understand the reasons for nutritional and dietary
customs in any religion requires a brief orientation of the
rationale for such practices and laws. Many religious
customs and laws may also be traced to early concerns
for health and safety in consuming foods or liquids.
• Religious leaders of the day developed rules about the
consumption of foods and drinks, and religious practices,
restrictions, and laws evolved. Specific laws about what
can be consumed remain in most religions today.
 Religious Belief Expressed as
Food Customs

• Laws about the ingestion of foods or drinks, the practice

of fasting, or severely restricting intake of food and/or
drink, became prevalent, and is still practiced by many
religions today.
 The Role of Fasting

• Many religions incorporate some element of fasting into

their religious practices. Laws regarding fasting or
restricting food and drink have been described as a call to
holiness by many religions.
• Fasting has been identified as the mechanism that allows
one to improve one's body (often described as a "temple"
created by God), to earn the approval of Allah or Buddha,
or to understand and appreciate the sufferings of the poor.
 The Role of Fasting
• Fasting has also been presented as a means to acquire the
discipline required to resist temptation, as an act of
atonement for sinful acts, or as the cleansing of evil from
within the body.
• Fasting may be undertaken for several hours, at a specified
time of the day (e.g., from sunrise to sunset, as practiced by
modern Jews), for a specified number of hours (e.g., twelve,
twenty-four, or more, as observed by Catholics or Mormons
who fast on designated days), or for consecutive days, such
as during the month of Ramadan for certain Muslims.
 Health Benefits and Risks
Associated with Specific
Practices
• Diabetes or other Chronic Disorders- those engaged in
very strenuous work
• Malnourished individuals- young children; and frail elderly
or disabled persons.
• Dehydration- Most fasting practices allow certain intakes of
liquid, particularly water.
• Symptoms of dehydration include headache, dry mouth,
nausea , fever, sleepiness, and, in extreme cases, coma.
 Health Benefits and Risks
Associated with Specific
Practices
• Gastric Acidity- results in a sour taste in the mouth, a
burning in the stomach, and other symptoms of illness.
• All the organs of the body, as well as the skin, bones,
muscles, and nerves, need nutrition to survive,
regenerate, maintain function, and develop structural
foundations.
• The vital organs, such as the liver, heart, brain, and kidneys,
depend upon essential nutrients from food and drink to
sustain life, increase strength, and improve health.
 Health Benefits and Risks
Associated with Specific
Practices
The restriction of, or abstention from, certain foods may have a
direct impact on the health of those engaged in such practices.
Some effects have been found to be positive, as in the case of
vegetarian diets, which are eaten by many Seventh-day
Adventists, Hindus, Buddhists, and Rastafarians.
Research results have documented a 50 percent reduction in
heart disease and longer life expectancy in people who eat a
well-planned vegetarian diet . There are a number of religious
rationales for a vegetarian diet.
Major Religions
with Food
Proscriptions
 Buddhism
 Many Buddhists are vegetarians,
though some include fish in their
diet. Most do not eat meat and
abstain from all beef products.
 The birth, enlightenment, and
death of Buddha are the three
most commonly recognized
festivals for feasting, resting from
work, or fasting.
 Buddhist monks fast completely
on certain days of the moon, and
they routinely avoid eating any
solid foods after the noon hour.
 Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
 An essential element of practicing
an Orthodox life includes fasting,
since its intrinsic value is part of
the development of a spiritual life.
To practicing Orthodox believers,
fasting teaches self-restraint,
which is the source of all good.
 Weekly fasts include abstention
from meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and
sometimes other foods such as
olive oil and alcohol as well.
 Hinduism.
 Hindus do not consume any foods that
might slow down spiritual or physical
growth. The eating of meat is not
prohibited, but pork, fowl, ducks, snails,
crabs, and camels are avoided. The cow
is sacred to Hindus.
 Many Hindus are strict vegetarians.
Those who do eat meat are forbidden
from eating beef, because cows occupy
a sacred place in the Hindu
religion.Other products from the cow,
however, such as milk, yogurt, and
butter are considered innately pure and
are thought to promote purity of the
mind, spirit, and body.
 Islam.
 Halal- a term for all permitted
foods

 Haram- foods that are

prohibited, such as pork and
birds of prey

 Mashbooh- foods that are

questionable for consumption
 Islam.
 Muslims eat to preserve their good
health, and overindulgence or the use
of stimulants such as tea, coffee, or
alcohol are discouraged.
 Fasting is practiced regularly on
Mondays and Thursdays, and more
often for six days during Shawwal (the
tenth month of the Islamic year) and for
the entire month of Ramadan (the ninth
month).
 Fasting on these occasions includes
abstention from all food and drink from
sunrise to sunset.
 Islam.
 In the Muslim faith, the holy month of Ramadan is the ninth month of
the Islamic year and is devoted to prayer, fasting, and charity.
 Muslims believe that it was during this month that God first began to
reveal the holy book of Islam, the Quran, to the prophet
Muhammad.
 The fast is broken in the evening by a meal called the iftar, which
traditionally includes dates and water or sweet drinks, and is resumed
again at sunrise.
 Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five Pillars of Faith, which are
the most important religious duties in Islam.
 Ramadan ends with Eid al-Fitr, the "Festival of Breaking the
Fast."
 Judaism.
 The Jewish dietary law is called
Kashrut, meaning "proper" or
"correct."
 KASHRUT- a set of dietary laws
dealing with the foods that Jewish
people are permitted to eat and
how those foods must be
prepared according to Jewish law
 The term kosher refers to the
methods of processing foods
according to the Jewish laws.
 Judaism.
Rules about the use of pans, plates, utensils, and separation of meat from
dairy products are intended to reduce contamination.
Other rules include:

1. A Jewish person must prepare grape products, otherwise they are

forbidden.
2. Jewish laws dictate the slaughter and removal of blood from meat
before it can be eaten.
3. Animals such as pigs and rabbits and creatures of the sea, such as
lobster, shrimp, and clams, may not be eaten.
4. Meat and dairy products cannot be eaten at the same meal or served on
the same plate, and kosher and nonkosher foods cannot come into
contact with the same plates.
 Mormonism.
 The law of health—the Word of
Wisdom—contains the laws for
proper eating and the rules of
abstinence for tobacco, alcohol,
coffee, tea, chocolate, and illegal
drugs.
 Mormons must choose foods
that build up the body, improve
endurance, and enhance
intellect.
 Products from the land, such as
grains, fruits, vegetables, and
nuts, are to take the place of
meats; meats, sugar, cheeses,
and spices are to be avoided.
 Rastafarianism.
 Members of this group are
permitted to eat any food that is
I-tal food, meaning that it is
cooked only slightly.
 Therefore, meats are not
consumed, canned goods are
avoided, and drinks that are
unnatural are not allowed.
 Fish under twelve inches long
may be eaten, but other types of
seafood are restricted.
 Protestant.

 there are no specific Protestant

prohibitions or requirements
related to diet, individual
preferences may vary, especially
regarding consumption of
caffeine, meat, and alcohol.
 Roman Catholicism.
 The dietary practices of devout
Catholics center around the
restriction of meat or fasting
behaviors on specified holy
days.

 On the designated days,

Catholics may abstain from all
food, or they may restrict meat
and meat products. Water or
nonstimulant liquids are usually
allowed during the fast.
 Seventh-day Adventists.
 The Seventh-day Adventist Church
advocates a lacto-ovo vegetarian
diet, including moderate amounts of
low-fat dairy products and the
avoidance of meat, fish, fowl, coffee,
tea, alcohol, and toboacco products

 The church's beliefs are grounded in

the Bible, and in a "belief in the
wholistic nature of people"
Refferences:
http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Pre-Sma/Religion-and-
Dietary-Practices.html