A Bible-Based Diet Healed Me

At nineteen, I (Jordan) begged my mom to take a picture of me—not for a special occasion like a birthday or college graduation. I wanted proof of how sick I was for when my miracle would come.

My mom refused at first. When I became a father, I finally grasped her hesitation. No sane parent wants to capture a forever image of their once-healthy six-foot-tall, 180-pound athletic son whittled down to a skeletal 111 pounds. I also imagine it’s hard to say no to your child who is literally starving to death from an incurable disease.

I didn’t smile in the photo. My prognosis at that point was grim at best: lifelong, irreversible surgical procedures or inevitable death.

My skin, stretched thin and nearly transparent, clung to protruding bones. Veins etched beneath like a vivid map. Protruding cheekbones veiled by a wild and wiry tangle of beard that I was too weak to shave. It had been more than a year since the onset of Crohn’s disease symptoms, which had escaped the treatment plan of nearly seventy health practitioners from seven countries.

A complication from what my gastroenterologist called “the worst case of Crohn’s disease” he had ever seen caused a several muscle wasting known as cachexia. But that was just one item in a list that kept on growing. My ailments included endocarditis, prostate and bladder infections, extreme anemia, chronic electrolyte imbalance, malabsorption syndrome, parasitic infection, jaundice, and arthritis.

It felt like death by a thousand maladies.

I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that I tried every treatment under the sun during my two-year battle. Both of my parents were health conscious and involved in the organic food movement at a time when it was more controversial than mainstream. So not only did I try conventional therapies, including a pharmacological arsenal of meds, I also took a more holistic route.

Almost five hundred different “miracle” products”? Definitely! Consults and plans with several famous diet practitioners like Drs. Barry Sears and Robert Atkins of the famed Zone and Atkins Diets, respectively? You bet! $150,000 spent on natural health treatments? Of course! Stem cell therapy with injectable sheep cells taken from embryos? Why not? An experimental drug made from the juices of the Venus flytrap plant? Let’s do it!

Nothing worked.

A year after that photo was taken, I met a man who told me that if I followed a diet based on the Bible, I could be healed. I had nothing to lose at that point and a great testimony to gain. I spent the next forty days devouring, living, eating, and breathing the word of God. Forty days after changing my diet to one following biblical principles, I had gained twenty-nine pounds. Within four months, I’d gained another twenty pounds and was well on my way to a total health transformation. I had achieved what millions battling illness dream of—a complete recovery.

This experience ignited a fierce passion within me to see God’s people restored to health, one life at a time. Many claim that Crohn’s disease is a life sentence, but I refuse to accept that. From my journey, I’ve learned that no disease is truly incurable. While some may face greater challenges and may never achieve full wholeness, every single person can enhance their health through the potency of whole-food nutrition.

What we’ve outlined in “The Biblio Diet” is about making the right choice to live the life God wants us to lead—healthy and whole. The Biblio Diet won’t necessarily make you more righteous, but it will allow you to live a fuller, more abundant life in service to the Lord. God has given you free will. We’re reminded in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” We choose every day how to honor Him in ways that are worthy of His glory. Don’t just worship through music or in a service; use food to fuel your journey, honor the work He started in you, and become a living testament to God’s glory.

Adapted from The Biblio Diet by Jordan Rubin and Dr. Josh Axe. Copyright © 2025 by Jordan Rubin and Dr. Josh Axe. Published by Worthy Books, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. Used by permission. Tune in to LIFE TODAY this week to gain practical insights from Jordan Rubin, known as “America’s biblical health coach.”