Dietary Quirks Among JWs

by millie210 49 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  millie210

  I recently had to accompany an older family member out of state to a family reunion. It was a big reunion and not much was overtly made of the fact that I am "misguided" and not attending meetings (lost soul that I am) which was nice.

  The thing I noticed that I was most struck by was all the dietary quirks in evidence during our 3 days together. This one couldnt have gluten and this one couldnt have MSG and that one couldnt have sugar or dye or whatever, you name it the list just went on and on.

  Im surprised anyone could eat anything frankly!

  Bear in mind I grew up with a lot of these people and we all used to eat hot dogs and drink cheap off brand grape soda and play in the hot sun all day with gusto.

  What happened?

  These are not elderly people either. Most are in their 40s and 50s. They are all pioneers, elders, one is a missionary and one just got the boot at Bethel after 25 years.

  So what I would love to hear from you guys is

  1) Have you noticed this too among JWs more than the general population?

  2) Is there some correlation between how high ranking or "spiritual" you are and how quirky your diet is?

  3) If so, what do you think is really going on here?
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  stillin

  Absolutely! I wonder if the CO's and their wives started the trend with their preferences being read aloud to the congregation ahead of their visit. No MSG, low salt, no peanut butter on and on! So it became stylish to have "special" dietary needs. (Love that word, special)

  So embarrassing to be at a restaurant with somebody who asks the table-waiter if the cook uses (fill in the blank.) I'm like, man they're going to SPIT in your dish!

  Hard to tell though. We're getting further and further from perfection. Gag!
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  Wasanelder Once

  Everyone in my area are focused on this food allergy business. No gluten, no sugar, no starch and no lactose. Its annoying. Its more so among the JW's because they want to stay alive till the end of this system. They are convinced we are sickly because we are farther from perfection and our bodies are breaking down. As if eating different could stop that process. Fools.
  
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  Finkelstein

  Dietary quirks are apparent among many diverse people of the general population not just JWS alone.

  The JWS mindset is to be paranoid about a lot of things that's presented to them, certain foods or additives are sometimes included in that watch out for this or that.

  The foreboding question is how righteously clean one can be, so some JWS think that should also include what they eat or consume as part of that conscious path toward righteous cleanliness.
  
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  Still Totally ADD

  That is all nice but to be frank with all of you the majority of the food we American consume these days is very, very unhealthy. The reason is it all lacks right kind of nutrition important for our health. The unhealthy way our fruit, vegetables and meat is raised is absolutely scandalous. From the 1960's to now our food is almost 40% less nutritious. Our soil is dead because of the bad framing practices.

  So I can see why people are sick but avoiding these foods is not really the answer. Changing our diets to local raised food or your own food is one of the best ways to go. Start cooking your food from scratch not heat and eat packet food. Get rid of all the artificial crap, cola's, and even worse diet cola's. Learn about true organic gardening were you help bring your soil back to life. Remember even with a very small yard or growing space one can grow a lot. I know this is all very radical for us but getting out of the cult was also radical. It will take years to do it but it is will worth it. The modern food industry of today is making us all sick. Still Totally ADD
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  Chook

  Rice milk, almond milk ,soy milk ,lactose free , skim ect ect all created for the jw community.
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  days of future passed

  I work with a JW lady who is germaphobic, counsels against sugar etc. Yet she is the one that goes out and buys horrible rich unhealthy desserts and makes me eat half of it. But there is another guy in the office that is even more conscious of dietary stuff and he isn't a JW.
  
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  Xanthippe

  I don't know about JWs as I don't go any more. My JW sister doesn't eat meat but she eats fish.

  Where I work it's the custom to bring chocolates, biscuits or cake when it's your birthday or you've been on holiday. This gets harder every year.

  Two are gluten free. They won't even eat chocolates unless it says on the box they're gluten free. One can't eat additives of any kind or she goes into anaphylactic shock. She keeps an epipen in her office drawer!

  One can't have sugar because she's type one diabetic and she keeps a sugary drink and some sweets in her drawer in case she has a hypo.

  We have several vegetarians who can't eat certain sweets because they contain gelatine. Although I'm used to that because my daughter became vegetarian at about age 10, her decision.

  We also have one lady who is vegan.

  So it's a nightmare trying to bring anything in for people to eat!
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  OneGenTwoGroups

  JWs seem to be bent on buying into most ideas without thorough research.

  The JW critical thinking skills suppression machine tends to make many of them into hypochondriacs.

  My father (PO/COBE for 25 years) became allergic to perfumes, then before long, he was allergic to the smell of food being cooked in his house. Strangely enough, the smell of gasoline, oil, paint, grease, rust, plastic, welding smoke (all of the shit he loved in his garage), never bothered him at all, zero, zip, zilch.

  Yep, religion poisons everything, a wise man once said.
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  freddo

  As a broadbrush comment I find the more highly strung someone is the more likely they are to be high on the special dietary curve.