Clare Bryan, a member of Curtis Baptist Church in Augusta, reads from the Bible on Sunday during a free, Bible-based nutrition class she teaches at the church on Broad Street. Mrs. Bryan is a strict vegetarian. BRANT SANDERLIN/STAFF

Teacher touts Bible-based program for healthy eating

Web posted June 29, 1998

By Virginia Norton
Staff Writer

Never underestimate the healing power of the body God gave you, Clare Bryan told a class of about 15 people Sunday evening at Augusta's Curtis Baptist Church.

But the body won't try unless it has the right tools for the job, she said.

Those tools include fresh fruits, vegetables and some of the whole grains and nuts that are the darlings of today's nutritionists.

They are also the sum of God's original diet for man found in Genesis.

``People will say it is `New Agey,' but it was in the Bible first,'' said Mrs. Bryan, who has put allergy and weight problems behind her since becoming a strict vegetarian.

Mrs. Bryan, who earned a degree as a pediatric physician's assistant from Georgia State University in 1976, started her classes about a year and a half ago at Curtis Baptist.

The course is free, lasts about 12 weeks and then is repeated.

Students can come in any time, she said.

The body craves an alkaline balance, but our diets don't always reflect that.

``If you go out and eat a nice 8-ounce steak, it is going to take nine meals of raw fruits and vegetables to neutralize that one half-pound steak,'' she said.

If only acidic foods such as fats, sugars, coffee, meats and alcohol are ingested, the blood -- which maintains an acidity level of 7.4, or a slightly alkaline quality -- will borrow what it needs from the rest of the body.

That can suppress the immune system and lead to sickness, she said.

Many people's diets line up on the acidic side.

If they understood chemistry better, they wouldn't be surprised they are sick, she said.

Following Mrs. Bryan's diet and using a supplement helped Nancy Wilcox lose about 40 pounds, reduce her blood pressure medicine and, more importantly, control her diabetes, said Mrs. Wilcox, principal at Curtis Elementary School.

Her blood sugar stays between 90 and 120.

Three weeks after she was diagnosed in March with diabetes, her doctor couldn't believe the change in her, she said.

``He said, `Nancy, you've licked it.'''