Review of The Hallelujah Diet by "Dr" George Malkm

[Canuckster1127]

Originally Posted to Amazon.com

Unfortunately, many looking at this book have elevated it to near Scripture. Those who believe in its teachings are passionate and see any criticism of it as equal to criticizing God Himself.

Despite that, there are some things you should know about Hallelujah Acres and their diet plan, marketing practices and communications.

The basis of my knowledge is direct. My Father was diagnosed with stage 4 Kidney Cancer in October of 1999. He was given 6 months to 2 years maximum to live with no real hope being offered by the doctors. If you go to Hallelujah Acres Web Site and look under the testimonies you will find Dad's testimony of his healing and his praise of the Hallelujah Diet under the name Jim Breen and posted in their health tips in August of 2004. It remains there unchanged despite my contacting Hallelujah Acres directly asking them to correct some of the misinformation present which is described below. This appears to be typical of Hallelujah Acre's practise of bombarding people with testimonies and not following up with how the stories end, or only focusing on those stories that support their goal, which apparently is to sell more literature, juicers and supplements.

Dad had always been independent and skeptical about doctors. He believed they often do more harm than good and use their positions to rob their patients.

As it stood, Dad walked out of the hospital swearing never again to enter and to combat this disease every way he could without the medical profession. As the medical profession had little to offer, it was an easy decision to make.

Dad latched upon the Hallelujah Diet and passionately began a regiment of carrot juice, barley green (supplied by Hallelujah Acres), shark cartilage (for a short while, until he couldn't stomach it any more) fresh organic fruits, vegetables, and eventually some B12 supplement which is essential for anyone who is vegan to avoid very serious nerve damage.

Dad exercised religiously, tracking his progress daily.

Over time, he did appear to get better, he dropped 70 lbs, his energy increased and he attributed all of this in large part to his adoption of the Hallelujah Diet. In fact, he became so passionate about it, that he began telling others about it and strongly advocating this as the solution for any ailment. Doctors were routinely referred to as "Poisoners, Cutters and Burners" and immediately discounted with the diet being held up as paramount to the will of God in anyone's life for any physical, emotional or mental problem.

Dad attended the Hallelujah Acres location in Shelby NC where he learned more about his new found passion and eventually went on to become an elite "Health Minister" within the organization. Dad shared his testimony with the leaders at Hallelujah Acres and indicated he would go to a doctor for the purpose of validating his recovery. Nevertheless, they published his testimony in August of 2004 before he did this and allowed by inference Dad's faith in his healing to be given in the context of the Hallelujah Diet having contributed to that healing and in fact were he not "healed" directly by God, that the diet could have done it. This is typical from what I've observed of Hallelujah Acres. They do not maintain any standards of medical confirmation for the testimonies made and there is no practise of updating the cases they do present.

Dad went to a doctor in Mexico (where he had retired) and that doctor, with no blood work, a single MRI scan and a simple exam, declared Dad free of cancer. This was exactly what Dad wanted to hear. He sang even louder the praises of the Hallelujah Diet for a short while.

Here is the rest of Dad's Story.

Unfortunately, Dad continued to struggle with health issues for the next 2 months and finally relented to see a different doctor in October of 2004. This doctor did the blood work, ran thorough tests with multiple CAT scans and the word came back that the original cancer had spread and was now in the Kidneys, Liver, Lungs, Brain, Prostrate, Testicles and likely the bones.

Dad died on Christmas Morning of 2004 after a relatively brief time although it was a very painful death as he continued to maintain his diet would heal him and he resisted to the greatest degree possible any further medical intervention, even to help manage the pain.

The only regret he voiced was, "I told all those people I was healed, and now look at me."

I'm not mad at Hallelujah Acres. I'm not mad at Dr Malkmus. I am not mad at anyone. Hallelujah Acres did not give Dad cancer and I believe for the most part they believe what they preach and teach, although you have to factor in the fact that they are a for-profit business with financial interests in people's behavior.

Frankly, Dad beat the odds to live 5 years after his diagnoses, and he lived reasonably well. I don't doubt that several elements worked in his favor to bring about that result, including his adherence to the Hallelujah Diet (which while excessive in my opinion did take a lot of negative elements of the Standard American Diet out of his body), his positive thinking and faith and his passion to be healed.

I sent an e-mail recently to Hallelujah Acres outlining this story and asking them to publish an update on my Father telling of the mistake the doctor made, the testimony given based on bad information and Dad's subsequent rapid decline and death. After 3 inquiries on my part requesting that they update Dad's story, I received a promise from them that they will update it in a future Health Tips. When this will be was not said and a further request on my part to get them to commit to a time went unanswered.

I will update this review when and if it takes place.

With regard to this book, I have some serious reservations in several areas.

1. First, I believe it is bad theology to base a diet upon Gen 1:29 and to ignore everything else in the Bible that speaks of diet and nutrition. If a meat diet was the result of sin, then it would make sense that Christ would have been a vegan to adhere to all righteousness. Christ was not a vegan. He in fact partook of the passover feast which was lamb. His miracles involved multiplying fish and bread, both of which are foods banned by the Hallelujah Diet. Jesus served his disciple broiled fish. Was Jesus serving them poison?

2. Second, I believe it is bad science to claim that the human body is engineered for vegetables only. Our teeth say we are omnivores. Our digestive system says we are omnivores.

3. Many people think Hallelujah Acres is a ministry. It is a for-profit organization and they profit from the sale of juicers, supplements and literature. They have a financial interest in your acceptance of their teaching and seek to translate your acceptance into some big ticket items and then an ongoing regimen of health supplements that can average over $2,000 per year. Small wonder they are slow to publish anything that would jeopardize that cash flow. Better from that perspective to just keep moving people through and telling them what they want to hear.

4. There is a strong anti-medical point of view present that in effect relegates all who reject their message by using medicine, doctors, or anything but blind adherence to their diet plan to less than fully Christian or fully faithful. This is often subtle but if you read the other reviews on this site you will see it is often not so subtle.

5. Only the positive is emphasized. Retractions are rare or non-existent.

6. Some refer to it as a cult. While I would not go that far, I would say that there are strong elements of it present. When rational thought is suspended in favor of blind faith and the people promoting the message have a financial interest in your behavior, then there is a recipe for abuse.

7. Dr. Malkmus' testimony of healing from cancer was never verified medically and is based on his hearsay. He has himself recently had instances of cerebral hemoraging and is on medication himself. In fairness, he disclosed it in his newsletter. But it is a radical departure from the standards he's preached and shows that not everything is solvable by diet alone. It is no coincidence, in my opinion, that the condition he describes is pretty rare here in the US and in fact more common in third world countries where it is associated with malnutrition.

8. Dr. Malkmus' doctorate is honorary and he is not a medical doctor nor does he have an earned doctorate. Nevertheless, the title of "Dr,." figures prominently on this book, leading some to believe, falsely, that Malkmus is a medical doctor. You can discover that on closer examination of the book, but that isn't likely to happen until after you purchase the book. Doesn't seem particularly honest to me but I guess that is between "Dr" Malkmus, God and his publicist.

If someone wants to be a vegan, that is fine. There is no question that there are serious issues with what is described as the "Standard American Diet" (SAD) and as a society we are getting fat and a great deal of disease comes from nutritional deprivation, empty calories and overeating.

Where I take issue is with the implication that accepting or rejecting this diet is equated with someone's Christianity and spirituality. You cannot read the reviews of this book by many wide-eyed adherents and not realize that you are dealing with passions that go beyond what you'd expect at a "weight watchers" group meeting. This is many ways is a willing of something to be true, because those adhering to it want it to be true and maybe have no other hope.

Much of what this program is, is a hook thrown out to desperate people who want to believe that modern medicine is out to get them, that God has a plan for their lunch, and that anyone who questions them is not listening to God. That is what I took issue with more than anything else as I had to stand by and watch my Dad fade.

I don't know that he could have done anything different and done any better. I am grateful for the additional time that he had.

If you buy this book, please hear the story of my father as you read it and keep things in perspective and in balance.

Like much in life, there are some good things it has to say and there is no doubt that a better diet will serve to accomplish a lot in a person's life. There is no need to take it as far as this book and "ministry" does. Please check other sources and don't just take it all in without doing some thought, research and yes ... even some prayer.

Rest in Peace Dad.