Eating Right by God

Every diet approach that hits the hungry U.S. consumer market makes a bold claim or two. The Maker’s Diet, written by Jordan S. Rubin, is no exception.

“Dr. Jordan Rubin is on a mission from God to change the health of this nation,” reads the first sentence of the book, a New York Times bestseller for the past 18 weeks.

Rubin, a lifelong Messianic Jew, isn’t kidding. He credits God for healing him after Crohn’s disease (an inflammatory bowel disorder) and related complications that struck him in 1996, at age 19, and nearly killed him. At 6’1” Rubin weighed only 100 pounds at the worst point of his disease. Now, he says, his lifework is to share the method that saved him.

“I don’t claim to do it all,” says Rubin, now 29 and living in West Palm Beach, Fla. “It’s not about [me] reaching the masses. It’s about reaching people who are going to reach other people.”

The Maker’s Diet promises to transform the life of the devotee in 40 days, a timeframe that mimics the physical and spiritual transformations of several biblical characters, Rubin explains. Like other popular diets (Atkins, The South Beach Diet), it consists of three phases. During the first 14 days, many foods (particularly carbohydrates) are limited or eliminated. The next two-week phase permits greater food variety. Phase three, the “maintenance phase,” takes you through days 20 to 40 and is designed for life.

Throughout the plan, The Maker’s Diet advocates organic meat and poultry, wild fish, healthy fats and oils, beans and legumes, vegetables, and nuts and seeds. It also calls for regular doses of rest, sunlight, supplements, improved hygiene, fasting and prayer—completing the combination Rubin faithfully followed to defeat his disease.

Common sense says this is a wholesome plan. Restricting certain foods is a surefire way for the obese to drop pounds and the spiritual notion of a diet prescribed by the Creator obviously resonates with many Americans. But The Maker’s Diet attracts its cynics, too.

“It’s just another weight-loss plan packaged in a different way,” sighs Dr. Rebecca Reeves, a registered dietician and assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Tex. “It’s another attempt to convince people to lose weight my way so I can make money from it.”

Reeves says she doesn’t doubt the power of spiritual belief or the validity of Rubin’s personal story. She is critical, she says, because The Maker’s Diet is not based on scientific proof. “That’s one person’s experience. You’re going to base your whole judgment on one person? That’s not science, it’s a testimonial.”

A compelling one, for sure. While wracked with pain and wasted as a wheelchair-bound skeleton, Rubin says he sought help from some 70 doctors and more than 500 alternative therapies. Nothing worked. Until he began to adhere to the eating habits he found described in the Bible.

“After the 40-day program I went on, I gained 29 pounds and I was a person again, out of a wheelchair,” Rubin claims. “Twelve weeks later I was back to my normal weight.”

Inspired and certain God was using him to help people in need, Rubin went on to earn a degree in naturopathic medicine and a doctorate in nutrition. He wrote two books on restoring digestive health before developing The Maker’s Diet.

Others, too, attest to weight loss and increased energy thanks to The Maker’s Diet. After gaining weight due to a shoulder injury and shingles, Adam Cooper, a 31-year-old television producer and host in Miami, knew he needed to do something to regain his former well-being and physique. His wife turned him on to The Maker’s Diet.

Cooper claims he lost 35 pounds after sticking to the 40-day program and has shed another 10 pounds since January. “I’m the last person you would ever think would try a diet, but it’s been really incredible,” he says. “I’m surprised myself at how quickly it happened…[But] it’s not about the weight; it’s about how I feel as a human being and how healthy I feel overall.”

Melding the body, mind and spirit is what The Maker’s Diet is all about, says Rubin. He hopes his book eases the “indescribable mental and emotional trauma” that often accompanies life-threatening illnesses.

“If I can be a small ray of hope for people who have been told they’re going to die or be on medications the rest of their life, that’s a huge blessing,” he says.