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Vegetarians and the bible diet: figs
Vegetarians will appreciate many health benefits from eating another of the Bible Diet's foods: figs. The fig tree is probably the first tree cultivated by man. Evidence of the existence of figs as food for humans has been documented as far back as some say, 6000 B.C. Certainly no one can deny the biblical references to the fig tree and it’s fruit. In Genesis, Eve and Adam fashioned aprons of fig leaves to cover their nakedness after eating the forbidden fruit. Some scholars argue that the forbidden fruit was not an apple, but a fig.
The fig is a strange fruit. It seems to just appear on the tree without first producing a flower. Technically, a fig is not a fruit, but an inverted flower that blooms inside the outer covering.
For thousands of years, the fig tree and its fruit has been of great importance to mankind. Figs were so important to the people of ancient Greece that laws were enacted forbidding the exportation of the tree or its fruit. Olympic athletes received gifts of figs and were allowed to consume as much of the fruit as they wanted. The Greeks and those from far more ancient times knew figs had extraordinary and positive effects on the body, but they didn’t know why. The science of the twenty first century has now explained it.
By now, most of us are familiar with terms like “free radicals” and “antioxidants”. As in other fruits and vegetables, figs are high in the antioxidants that fight damage to our bodies from free radicals. In addition to the antioxidants, figs contain high concentrations of Vitamin C, calcium, potassium, iron and dietary fiber.
Because fresh figs spoil so quickly, drying is an excellent way to preserve them. Of all dried fruits, figs lose fewer nutrients in the drying process. It’s best to purchase organically preserved figs because no sulfites are used to dry them. It is especially important to those who have asthma not to come in contact with sulfur-containing compounds.
