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Weight loss. Much better overall health. Better skin and mental acuity. That's what people say about a way of life taught by a woman who trained under the Hallelujah Diet guru.
By GAIL HOLLENBECK
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 26, 2002
INVERNESS -- It's the time of year when many people resolve to improve their health through exercise and diet. Locally, a group of individuals and families have embraced the Hallelujah Diet.
Susan Winter, trained as a "health minister" for the program, teaches a class about the diet on Thursday mornings and evenings. She believes God directed her to share her knowledge of health and nutrition.
"I have wanted for so many years to do something where it would be life-changing, something that was really meaningful," Winter said. "And now I'm doing that."
The Rev. George H. Malkmus developed the Hallelujah Diet after he survived colon cancer 25 years ago. He credits a diet of raw foods, such as those found in the Garden of Eden, for his healing from that disease as well as other health problems.
The diet is based on Genesis 1:29, which states: "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food."
Winter attended a seminar given by Malkmus five years ago and decided that the information she had learned could help her husband overcome joint pain and some other ailments.
"Basically the diet has you staying off foods that are harmful, like processed foods. In place of that, we eat live food that gives our bodies the proper nutrients so that they can heal," Winter said.
The diet worked for the couple. Winter decided to train under Malkmus at his Hallelujah Acres in Shelby, N.C., to become a "Back to the Garden" health minister and offer classes locally.
Today the couple enjoys excellent health and Winter says she wanted to share what she had learned.
"I just couldn't not share it," Winter said. "It was definitely God-led."
Originally a radical departure from the normal Western fare, the diet program no longer requires that students begin with an all-raw diet, she said.
"If people go all raw, they have a tendency to not stay on the diet," Winter said. "They have found if you do 15 percent cooked, you'll do just as well and you'll stay on the diet. I try to work with people at whatever level they want to do."
Classes cover juicing, giving up addictive foods, the importance of using distilled water, enzymes, digestion, fiber, sugar, protein and exercise. Winter gives some of the information; videos also are used. There is interaction with the students, and Winter is open to questions throughout the session.
Classes are ongoing. A student can expect to learn the basics of the diet in eight to 10 classes, but many people use the class as a support group.
Edward Sweeper attended a recent class for that purpose.
"I slipped a little over the holidays," Sweeper said. He has lost 35 pounds on the diet so far.
Ruth Rausch, a registered nurse, also keeps attending. "I go back to the classes because each time I go I learn one more thing," she said.
When Rausch began the Hallelujah Diet four months ago, she was taking seven prescription drugs. She had asthma and used two inhalers. She suffered with acid reflux, severe allergies and several other health problems. Now Rausch says she is taking no medicine and is feeling better than she has in years. A born-again Christian, Rausch is on the diet for spiritual reasons.
"When you become a Christian and have a relationship with Jesus, the holy spirit lives in you," said Rausch, "and our body is to be treated as the temple of the holy ghost."
Recently Jan Powell, a home school mother of four, talked to the group about the health benefits her family has enjoyed on the diet. She began following the program two years ago after her husband suffered a heart attack.
"We had been praying for a better way of eating anyway, and when this happened I knew it was time for me to change my way of cooking," Powell told the group.
Powell said that since starting the diet, her family has rarely had any meat. She said her family's health has greatly improved on the diet.
"We have not taken any medications," she said. "There has not been the flu in this house since we started, and that was a normal routine for our family. We'd think, okay, it's time for the flu to come on, and we would have a flu forever. But everybody's been healthy and doing well and whenever we put something that's foreign in our body.
"It's alert, alert. Our bodies let us know."
Powell said she lost 10 pounds the first week on the diet and has lost a total of 25. At age 40, she maintains a healthy weight of 120 pounds.
"My husband jumped onboard because of the heart attack," she said. "We changed over and did more salads and cooking more vegetables. In two months he lost 40 pounds. It was amazing. It's so rewarding to the body. The body is so alert. You feel younger. Your skin changes. Your mental thoughts change."
Powell stressed that it's important to have a balanced life that includes exercise. She said her family walks and sometimes goes rollerskating.
Winter said that a student may begin the classes at any time. Classes are reviewed and repeated, so eventually those participating will receive all the information. Winter has numerous health products, videos and books available for purchase.
Classes begin at 10 a.m. for two hours and 7 p.m. for 90 minutes Thursdays at Inverness Church of God, 416 U.S. 41 S. Drive behind the church and look for the posted signs. There is a suggested donation of $3 per class.
The class this Thursday will cover the importance of juicing. For information, call Susan Winter at 860-2715 or visit her Web site at www.hdiet.cjb.net or the official Web site for the diet at www.hacres.com.