The GREATEST Health Discovery Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight for 2000 YEARS

Summary

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Episode Overview

Podcast: The Dr. Josh Axe Show
Episode Title: The GREATEST Health Discovery Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight for 2000 YEARS
Air Date: November 13, 2025
Guests: Dr. Josh Axe (host), Jordan Rubin (author, nutrition expert)
Main Theme:
This episode explores the biblical roots of longevity and healing, revealing how ancient wisdom—especially the concept of healing leaves from the “Tree of Life”—can be directly applied to modern health and wellness. Dr. Axe and Jordan Rubin discuss their research from their recent book The Biblio Diet, highlighting potent healing foods, spiritual practices, and the holistic interplay of physical and spiritual health.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Biblical Vision of Longevity and Health

• Biblical Longevity Defined:
  • Moses lived to 120 “with his eyes undimmed and vigor unabated.” (05:55)
  • Longevity in the Bible means living with vitality and health, not just advanced age.
  • “He died when God was ready for him to die. That is the way we all want to go. And he was strong, he was healthy.” – Jordan Rubin (06:09)
• Our Calling:
  • Romans 12:1 referenced: "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit" as a divine responsibility to maintain health. (06:56)

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2. Healing Leaves: Medicine Hiding in Plain Sight

• The Tree of Life as the Longevity Secret
  • Jordan proclaims the "Tree of Life" is the scriptural secret to health and longevity.
  • Key verses: Ezekiel 47:12b and Revelation 22:2 (“the leaves of the tree… are for the healing of the nations”). (07:28)
  • “The Bible refers to a term called we will be like oaks of righteousness. God loves trees. And the oak tree is not just ornamental, it’s powerful.” – Jordan Rubin (10:31)
• Oak Leaves and Quercetin:
  • Oak leaves (quercus genus) contain quercetin—a potent phytonutrient—plus ellagic acid, gallic acid, caffeic acid, and other longevity compounds. (09:21)
  • Recipe: Simmer a handful of oak leaves for 30 minutes for a tea. (13:00)
  • “Medicine grows on trees and it’s free.” – Dr. Josh Axe (13:00)
• Other Healing Leaves for Longevity:
  • Raspberry leaf: High in ellagitannins; supports pregnancy and “restoration.”
  • Walnut leaf: Noted for anti-parasitic effects.
  • Soursop (Graviola): Lab research shows potential anti-cancer benefits.
  • Mulberry leaf: Shown to help with insulin reduction and diabetes—“I know three people now…have either reduced insulin or eliminated it, and they were diagnosed with diabetes.” – Jordan Rubin (19:04)
  • Many fruit, nut, and berry leaves are beneficial: aronia, hazelnut, mango, avocado, citrus (orange, lemon, lime), guava, pawpaw, persimmon. (19:24)
• Accessibility & Simplicity:
  • “All you need to do is make sure the leaf is from a fruit-bearing tree…Nuts can be fruits.” – Jordan Rubin (19:24)
  • Challenge for listeners: Identify local leaves, make tea, and share experiences. (18:32, 21:17)

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3. The Healing Fruits of the Bible

• Olives & Olive Oil:
  • Olive oil: “If the polyphenols are above 600mg/kg, it qualifies as a medicine in Greece.” (24:35)
  • Jordan’s ritual: Consuming high-polyphenol olive oil nightly, tying it to spiritual practice (Acts 1:8). (22:20)
• Avocado:
  • Beneficial for potassium, vitamin E, healthy fats; helps with blood sugar management.
  • “An avocado a day keeps the doctor away…” (25:13)
• Pomegranate:
  • 613 arils (“seeds”); ellagic acid; supports fat loss and metabolic health. (27:53)
• Fig:
  • Used biblically for healing (King Hezekiah); mucilaginous fiber; believed to support gut and skin detox. Possibly, the fruit in the Garden of Eden was a fig, not an apple. (29:55)
• Grapes:
  • Historical “Grape Cure” for cancer (Joanna Brandt); seeded, thick-skinned varieties have most benefits. (30:47)
• Almonds:
  • Contains B17 (amygdalin); “nine almonds a day” for a natural dose of beneficial nitrilocide. (32:42)

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4. Fasting: The Spiritual and Physical Reset

• Jesus & Biblical Fasting:
  • Fasting is central for igniting the body’s healing, including autophagy and the clearing of “senescent cells.”
  • Intermittent fasting, partial fasts, Daniel fasts, and water fasts discussed.
  • “Implementing fasting into your daily life could be one of the greatest longevity benefactors…” – Jordan Rubin (37:45)
• Daniel Fast:
  • Plant-based, pulses, grains, legumes, water. Particularly effective as a reset from a processed or “college” diet. (40:24)
• Personal Experiences:
  • 40-day “one hour eating window” fast; alternative partial fasting options; fasting must be tailored to individual physical state, especially for women or those very ill. (41:52–43:56)
• Key Scriptural Inspiration:
  • Isaiah 58 (“God’s chosen fast…”), Daniel, Acts.

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5. Meat & the Shift from Plant-Based Diets

• Adam and Eve: Plant-based initially (Genesis 1:29); post-Flood, animal foods became biblical norm.
• Modern needs: Most people require animal protein for B vitamins, iron, and resilience to modern stressors.
• “Every health professional that I know…has tried to do plant based at some point and we’re all recovering plant-based dieters.” – Jordan Rubin (47:13)

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6. Sabbath Rest as Medicine

• Regular rest is biblically commanded for all living things.
• Both hosts admit struggles with consistent Sabbath observance.
• “I need to find better ways to observe the Sabbath…lead my family in that, and reap those benefits.” – Jordan Rubin (48:34)

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7. The Spiritual Dimension of Illness & Healing

• All illness involves a spiritual component, from unforgiveness to demonic oppression.
• “Most illnesses involve demonic activity, and that’s just a fact. It can’t be that.” – Jordan Rubin (51:59)
• Examples: Unforgiveness linked to cancer; fear and anxiety as spiritual “entities.”
• Action steps: Seek healing through confession, relationships, prayer, inner healing ministries (“Restoring the Foundations,” “A More Excellent Way,” “The Bondage Breaker”). (56:46–59:42)

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8. Community, Confession, Transparency, and Longevity

• Longevity isn’t just food—it’s transparency, confession (“First John 1:9 cleanse”), and community.
• “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us…cleanse us of all unrighteousness.” – Jordan Rubin (62:26)
• The importance of breaking isolation, having transparent relationships with God and others, and living in authentic community.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Tree of Life and Modern Medicine:
  • “The secret to longevity in the Bible is the Tree of Life. And it’s not even a question… The leaves of the tree… are for the healing of the nations.” – Jordan Rubin (07:28, referencing Revelation 22:2)
• On Oak Leaves as Medicine:
  • "Medicine grows on trees and it’s free." – Dr. Josh Axe (13:00)
  • “You picked a leaf from the parking lot…put that leaf into water…you will get beneficial compounds…” – Jordan Rubin (09:21)
• Challenge to Listeners:
  • “Take a picture of a few leaves in your yard… simmer them, and let us know if you drank the tea.” – Dr. Josh Axe (18:30)
• On Fasting:
  • “Fasting is absolutely the way to trigger the body’s healing mechanisms.” – Jordan Rubin (37:45)
• On Sabbath:
  • “Every living thing was meant to take one day out of seven off… I have been very bad at this, but it does not change the fact that God’s word is God’s word.” – Jordan Rubin (48:34)
• On the Spiritual Dimension:
  • “Most illnesses involve demonic activity, and that’s just a fact.” – Jordan Rubin (51:59)
• On Community and Confession:
  • “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. There are lots of cleanses you can find online…but the First John 1:9 cleanse, the one I would sign up for.” – Jordan Rubin (62:26)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [05:55] – Moses’ longevity, biblical health as strength and vigor
• [07:28–09:21] – Biblical secret: Tree of Life, healing leaves, oak leaves/quercetin
• [13:00] – Oak tea recipe
• [14:20–19:24] – Favorite healing leaves (raspberry, walnut, soursop, mulberry)
• [22:20–25:13] – Healing fruits: Olives, olive oil, avocado, pomegranate
• [29:55–32:20] – Figs and grapes, biblical healing stories
• [34:57–43:56] – Fasting: types, benefits, biblical examples, practical advice
• [47:13–48:34] – Meat vs. plant-based diet in biblical context
• [48:34–51:59] – Sabbath rest, transparency about struggle with rest
• [51:59–59:42] – Spiritual dimension of illness, unforgiveness, inner healing
• [62:26–66:11] – Community, transparency, confession (“First John 1:9 cleanse”), biblical longevity recap

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Episode Summary

This episode blends ancient biblical wisdom with modern holistic health, asserting that true longevity—living vibrantly to 120 and beyond, like Moses—comes through God-given foods and spiritual practices. The long-forgotten concept that “medicine grows on trees” is resurrected, with oak and other fruit tree leaves highlighted as powerful, free sources of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds. Practical steps are shared for making healing leaf teas at home.

The hosts champion the essential role of fasting, exploring its biblical roots and cutting-edge science. They push back on extreme plant-based diets, pointing out the biblical and physiological necessity of animal proteins in the current era. Sabbath rest, spiritual healing, confession, and authentic community are presented not as “extras,” but as the foundation of holistic longevity.

The call to action: Rediscover biblical nutrition not just as a diet, but as a way of living that integrates faith, food, rest, forgiveness, and transparency for optimal health—body, mind, and soul.

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For a comprehensive, actionable guide, grab a copy of the Biblio Diet, and consider engaging in healing leaves tea challenge or biblical community for enhanced wellness.

Transcript

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[Dr. Josh Axe]

What do you think that number one secret is for Biblical longevity?

[Jordan Rubin]

I'm going to say this with zero humility whatsoever. I know what it is, Josh. The secret to longevity in the Bible is the tree of life. I've studied over 1,500 fruit tree leaves. Every one of them has unique benefits.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Walk us through how just an ordinary oak leaf is one of the greatest forms of medicine ever.

[Jordan Rubin]

The Latin name of oak, it's quercus. That's the genus that oak comes from. And what word do we derive? A certain nutrient or I'll say phytonutrient found in oak leaves. Quercetin. This is oak. It's everywhere. And it's medicine. The Bible has said it all along. It was just hidden in our plain sight. People say we can't follow what you're saying because it's expensive. Josh, you picked a leaf from the parking lot of our office and studio, and if you were to put that leaf into water, whether you cold steep it, cold brew, or bring it to a boil, make a tea, you will get beneficial compounds that help people live longer. As the Bible says. And you mentioned, money doesn't grow on trees, but medicine does. Foreign.

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[Dr. Josh Axe]

Hey everybody, welcome to the show. Today I have my good friend Jordan Rubin on and we're going to dive into biblical medicine and how to heal with the greatest health book ever written, the Bible. Today we're going to be talking about biblical longevity. Now I know many of you know Jordan, but Jordan is a New York Times bestselling author, two times New York Times bestselling author. He was the founder of Garden of Life, co founder with me of Ancient nutrition. And he spent his entire career helping people heal and using principles of the Bible. And today we'll be talking about the top foods for longevity, the top herbs and spices. We'll talk about different diets, we'll talk about lifestyle practices, prayer for longevity. And here's the other thing. You know, I made a comment about a year back on social media about the top foods for longevity and how to live to be 120. You know, the most common comment I got from some of the pessimists out there, I don't want to live to be 120. And the reason being is, listen, a lot of you may have family members who like my grandmother just did, who recently passed away, she had dementia. And we've seen other people who have chronic pain and they're feeble when they get older. Listen, the reality is, as Jordan's going to talk about, my first question for him is going to be Moses was 120 years old with his eyes undim, he'll unpack what that actually means. And so listen, you can live to be 100 plus still playing pickleball, still swimming, still running around with your grandkids in great health. The Bible tells us so. And so Jordan, welcome to the show.

[Jordan Rubin]

Thanks for having me. And I'm pretty sure that I played against 120 year old in pickle ball and she spiked the ball in my face for sure.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

That's a great. Well, I will tell you, I will tell you with pickleball, I went and did a, so I played this morning and I went and played with like this sort of, it wasn't a tournament but like you just, you know, randomly, you just face different groups. And I remember getting against this couple and they were probably Both in their 70s, husband and wife, and we got smoked. I mean, some of these pickleball players in their 70s are absolutely lethal at the net. So if that's you, then bravo. But it's impressive.

[Jordan Rubin]

Don't judge a pickleballer by their cover. Is the message of the day.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Well, you know, we got friends in their 60s, 70s, you know, John Bevere is one. I've heard he played now, you know, unfairly. He played tennis in college. So. John Bevere, we know John shout out to you. You're an awesome pickleball player. Mark Sisson, I saw him working out a few mornings ago. I've heard that he's pretty good at just, well, everything. God's amazingly fit in his 70s, so. So you can do it too. But I want to go to this scripture where it talks about Moses living to be 120 years and his eyes undimmed. What does that mean exactly? And how does that apply to us today?

[Jordan Rubin]

This is an amazing scripture, and it's something, Josh, that I proclaim over my life every single day. Because the scripture means that Moses, on the day that he died, could have fathered children.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Wow.

[Jordan Rubin]

It was his eyes not being dim, meaning he could see, but also his vigor was unabated. He died when God was ready for him to die. That is the way we all want to go. And he was strong, he was healthy. And I know it's hard to believe, but we are hearing from quote, unquote longevity experts that now we can live to 120. Don't you want to follow the principles of the one who made our bodies to live to 120 years? I would say post flood in the modern day, that's God. And there are certain foods, beverages, herbs, spices, and practices in the Bible that can absolutely help people live and live well, far past what they could ever hope or imagine.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Well, I think the other thing is we should want to, but also we're called to. We know Romans 12. One talks about this, right? Is that. Don't you know that you. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, Right? And so we are called to do everything we can with our lives to honor God, to love people, to make earth a heavenly place. So we're literally called to. And when you think about what the Bible dives into when it talks about longevity, what do you think if there is sort of one biblical longevity secret that's not discussed enough, what do you think that number one secret is for Biblical longevity.

[Jordan Rubin]

I'm going to say this with zero humility whatsoever. I know what it is, Josh. The secret to longevity in the Bible is the Tree of Life. And it's not even a question. The Tree of Life was what allowed Adam and Eve, when they were put in the garden, to live forever. And once Adam and Eve sinned, they were not able to have access to the Tree of Life. It was guarded by fiery angels, and they were removed from the garden. Now, what's interesting, if you flip to the last book of the Bible and the Last chapter, Revelation 22, you're going to see the Tree of Life again. It's on the side of the river. And God specifically says the curse is removed. And that curse was no longer could Adam and Eve partake of the Tree of Life. The curse is now removed. But that also is around one of my favorite verses, I would say, and one of the themes of the biblio diet, Revelation 22:2 says, the leaves of the tree, Tree of Life, are for the healing of the nations. This is so exciting. I wish I knew everything about this. I'm only getting Revelation as it's being unveiled. But the Tree of Life is the key to longevity. The question is, how can we partake of it today?

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Well, you know, I was walking in, and I knew you talked about this because obviously we wrote about this in our book, the Biblio Diet. But this is an oak leaf from a tree out there. And I also found this, this acorn here. And so, as you talk about in the book of Ezekiel and Revelation, the last two chapters in the Bible really talk about the Garden City and talk about the Tree of Life. And so this leaf here has a Latin name that's really interesting in terms of the medicinal compound that's in it. Walk us through how just an ordinary oak leaf is one of the greatest forms of medicine ever.

[Jordan Rubin]

This is so exciting because it flies in the face of a lot of our colleagues and friends who do podcasts talk about longevity. They get interesting therapies like gene editing and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of treatments. And you've had to do some expensive treatments, as have others. And I have in the past when I was deathly ill. People say we can't follow what you're saying because it's expensive. Josh, you picked a leaf from the parking lot of our office and studio, and if you were to put that leaf into water, whether you cold steep it, cold brew, or bring it to a boil, make a tea, you will get beneficial compounds that help people live Longer, as the Bible says. And you mentioned the Latin name of oak. It's quercus. That's the genus that oak comes from. And what word do we derive? A certain nutrient, or. I'll say phytonutrient, found in oak leaves. Quercetin. And if you didn't know about quercetin prior to the COVID pandemic era, you certainly did, then.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

That's right.

[Jordan Rubin]

It was probably the second or third most recommended supplement. And as we sit here in Middle Tennessee, Pollen's out. I could see pollen all over our office parking lot as well. Quercetin is one of the best ways to fight seasonal allergies because it blocks excess histamine production. Oak leaves. And oak is one of the most abundant trees in our yards. For example, our farm has. It might be a million oak trees, Josh. I don't even know how many. And oak, because it has an acorn like you brought in, is considered a fruit tree. That. Not only that, the Bible refers to a term called we will be like oaks of righteousness. God loves trees. And the oak tree is not just ornamental, it's powerful.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Yeah, well, it's obviously life giving for us. Plants are just critically important to our survival. Us breathing in the air we need to breathe for survival. Would you quote the exact verse or verses that this is taken from when you're quoting about the tree of life?

[Jordan Rubin]

Absolutely. So Ezekiel 47:12b discusses the trees on the side of the river where the water flows from the sanctuary and the fruit bears every season. The leaves will not wither and fail. The fruit will be for food, and the leaves are for healing. Now, it doesn't specifically call it the tree of life, but In Revelation, chapter 22, verse 2, it talks about the sanctuary. This is the Apostle John the Revelator, the revelation of Jesus. The same river that we see in Ezekiel, but the trees on both sides are referred to as the tree of life, and they bear 12 kinds of fruit, or, depending on the translation, 12 crops of fruit. And, Josh, this is where we get our recommendation in chapter 14 of the Biblio Diet to use a combination of 12 fruit tree leaves for healing. And. And oak is good for quercetin, but I didn't mention this. Oak leaves have ellagic acid, which is one of the most powerful longevity antioxidants or polyphenols, Gallic acid, caffeic acid. And it has similar compounds to green and black tea. This is oak. It's everywhere. And it's medicine. And the Bible has said it all along. It was just Hidden in our plain sight.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

I mean, it's amazing. So literally, medicine grows on trees and it's free. I mean, that's one of the most amazing things things is, you know, you can go and invest in supplements. I know we do. But you can also get some amazing healing foods for free and herbs for free. So you can go out and find oak leaves, take a fistful, put them in a pot, simmer them for about 30 minutes, and then drink that fluid. That' sthat's oak tea. Okay. Quercetin, allegic acid, some of the most powerful anti inflammatory, longevity, anti aging compounds on the planet. And it's free in your own backyard. So I want to encourage you to try healing leaves. These are literally healing leaves. You know, I got some mulberry leaf from our farm. This is another one that's amazing. You can get it from berry bushes. We grow raspberry bushes, blueberry bushes. I know. In Chelsea, my wife was her second, third trimester of pregnancy. She drank a lot of raspberry leaf tea to support. To support just readying her body for giving birth. And so again, medicine can actually be free, and it's all around us. So, Jordan, I love this. I'm excited about this. I know this is something we wrote about in the Bilio diet. We have a whole chapter on healing leaves. What are some of your other favorite healing leaves? And maybe give me maybe your top few for actual longevity.

[Jordan Rubin]

Absolutely. Well, you mentioned raspberry, so raspberry is one of the richest leaves in ellagitannins, which convert into urolithins in the body. Now, I didn't tell you this, but a mutual friend we have Eric Newman, who is someone who had a debilitating back injury. Now, he went and had stem cell treatments at the recommended clinic that you're passionate about and partner with, and he got results. But I sent him healing leaves from our farm, and he texted me back and he said, jordan, my back feels better than it has in four years. I can't even believe it. I'm doing everything I couldn't do before. So this is a great example of utilizing integrative medicine and God's healing. And it's amazing because Eric's also part of the production team who's helping us get the biblio diet to the world. And it's so powerful when you have that personal experience. So it's really amazing. And we're seeing more benefits. So raspberry leaves, walnut leaves, and pomegranate leaves all are high in ellagitannins and walnut by the way, is very common. So if you're dealing with parasites. Now, I know we want to talk about longevity, but walnut leaves, good old black walnuts.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Yeah.

[Jordan Rubin]

They are highly anti parasitic for animals and for humans. So you mentioned something in our previous program. Money doesn't grow on trees, but medicine does. That's an awesome statement. And when it comes to one of the major health topics today, parasitic infections, which every 10 years it becomes the hot talking point I remember since the 90s. But if you think you've got some type of parasitic load which then causes immune dysfunction and can allow for virus to come in and can even lead to various cancers, we know that an ancient message of cancer was for the cure of all cancers to get rid of parasites. And I'm not saying that's exactly correct, but it's still a best selling book today by Holda Clark. Walnut leaves are amazing. Soursop is one of my absolute favorites. Now if you have not heard of soursop, it's a tropical fruit and it's found in South America. It's called guanabana. It's found in Central America and, and in Africa as well as other islands. It is delicious as a fruit. And the soursop or graviola leaves have been shown in laboratory research to be as effective as chemotherapy. It is absolutely amazing. I love so many leaves. Aronia berry is another one. I've been in the process of tasting individual leaves and the quote unquote tea we make from it. Aronia is perhaps the highest antioxidant fruit out there, even more than acai, blueberry, et cetera. It's called Indian chokeberry, black chokeberry, red chokeberry. We have thousands of aronia bushes on our properties. Aronia is delicious and it's very powerful. It has the same benefits of what you get from grapeseed. Some like green tea and still has that ellagic acid, which is amazing. Hazelnut is great. Some that people haven't heard of, sugarberry, which is also a relative of eastern hackberry. You mentioned mulberry, Josh. I know three people now by only consuming mulberry leaves in hot water have either reduced insulin or eliminated it and they were diagnosed with diabetes. One was a Native American medicine man who had mulberry in his backyard and forgot how good it was because his ancestors had consumed it and he is now off of insulin as a previously diagnosed type 2 diabetic doctor.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

I mean, it's amazing, you know, when you look at what the top supplements are in herbs for diabetes, for blood sugar, insulin resistance, Mulberry's in the top three, you know, you've got some of the Burberry, you know, leaves up there as well. But it truly is amazing. And so you can, you know, one thing I did on my phone the other day, I went out and took pictures of some leaves.

[Jordan Rubin]

Yes.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

And I just plugged it into just a search engine.

[Jordan Rubin]

Yes.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

And I said, what are the medicinal benefits of this as an, as a, as a leaf, as medicine? And it'll tell you. I mean, so there's ways that you could go literally in your own yard. I want to challenge you guys. Do this. If you're watching this on YouTube, go and take a picture of a few leaves in your yard, take a picture of them, simmer them, and then let us know if you drank the Tea on YouTube. We'd love to hear from you again. Oak leaves, we know, are a great one, but there are many, many other leaves that you could do this with. And we should do a whole challenge of this, Jordan, online to where you make your own healing leaves concoction at home. And again, it's easy. You take a handful of leaves. That's it. You can put them in a stainless steel pot and you can bring it to a boil. Then put on simmer for 30 minutes, and then you just pour it through a strainer into a cup and you drink it. That's it.

[Jordan Rubin]

Yes. You can even store it for weeks if you put it in like a mason jar week. I make massive batches because I serve it to my family, all of us, at night. It's part of our biblical ritual before our very bitter extra virgin olive oil, which we'll talk about in a moment. And it's just become a part of our lives. I've got kids that are athletic. I've got my wife and I both over 50. This is an important part of our daily habit. And I love that it gives God glory because we are taking him at his word. And if you're watching from around the world, avocado leaves are amazing. Mango is one of my favorites. If you're in south Florida, I don't know if you remember being there, but there were mango leaves and avocado leaves everywhere. All you need to do is make sure that the leaf is from a fruit bearing tree. And by the way, nuts can be fruits. Most pine trees, therefore, pine needles constitute part of healing leaves. And they taste really good. They're citrusy. And by the way, that's another one. Orange, lemon, grapefruit, lime leaves. Awesome. They can be a little bit bitter. Guava leaves are Great. Super high in minerals, particularly zinc. And the list goes on and on. I've studied over 1,500 fruit tree leaves and. And every one of them has unique benefits. A favorite in the US Is pawpaw, which is similar to soursop or persimmon. Now I want to challenge people on YouTube to go a step further. People who love hiking because we're in a time of year where it's still nice. If you go on a hike, you will have access to dozens of fruit tree leaves. Even if you don't see the fruit. Again, take a picture, either utilizing an herb or plant finder app or. Or just take a picture, as you mentioned, and plug it into a search engine. You will see what the fruit or nut tree is and then you'll see some of the benefits.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

You know, we used to do this with our. We lived in Puerto Rico a couple years ago with our daughters. And so our one daughter, she loved doing this. You know, we would go and pick different flowers and leaves and she would make a whole sort of binder full of them. But we're going to do this with them and make healing, leave tea at home. So it'll be a lot of fun. So we talked about the leaves, Jordan, the incredible healing power of these tea, of these leaves that are for free on our trees. Part of me also thinks that one of the reasons why these maybe haven't been popularized, one, I think God is bringing sort of a new revelation. The other might be, though, is, you know what, it's free. You know, I mean, oftentimes people are trying to find, how can I make a lot of money on something versus, this is something that people can get for free and literally heal with. The other thing I want to say is it also talks about fruit. Right? So the fruit on the tree has incredible health benefits as well. Walk me through. I want to go through five here, healing fruits of the Bible and their benefits. Olives. Let's talk about pomegranate, fig, grape, and I'll let you kind of pick the fifth one there. Whichever you want.

[Jordan Rubin]

Yeah. So start with olives. Now, olive is a fruit that is very bitter if you eat it. I learned about this when I went to Greece last year and I found an olive tree, Josh, that was reported to be 3,000 years old. So you can imagine how excited I was when I cut some of the leaves off and I picked some of the fruit. The fruit's really, really bitter. That's why you find olives in a form of being pickled, so to speak, because Raw is just really, really yucky. Olives contain polyphenols, and olives are primarily used to make olive oil. And what I love about Greece and Italy, Spain and other countries, Morocco, they grow olive trees in the wild. It's almost like those are their weeds. And so amazing people have them in their yard, et cetera. So when you are looking for olive oil nowadays, you can find, especially on Amazon or at a finer specialty store, look for the polyphenol count per liter or per kilo, which is another way to do it. So right now I'm consuming and I'm giving my family a Greek olive oil that has over 1,000 milligrams of polyphenols per kilo. Now, mind you, you don't want to cook with this. It is so bitter. Not just aftertaste, but it's bitter from the jump, as they say. I'm using it every night with my kids. So we do a tablespoon for the smaller family members and an ounce for Joshua and I, the bigger family members. And I just love it. And when we do it, Josh, we quote Acts 1:8 and we say, and we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us and we will be your witnesses, depending on which house we're in in Birmingham, Alabama, Nashville, Tennessee, and to all the ends of the earth. That's another challenge, because oil represents the Holy Spirit and it's just been a great thing that we've added to communion and our evening prayers. And so olive oil, one tablespoon to one ounce a day, is important. And if the polyphenols are above, I think 600 milligrams per kilo, it qualifies as a medicine in Greece according to their health system. How amazing is that?

[Dr. Josh Axe]

It's amazing. You know, a lot of people don't realize that olives are fruit, right, because they're not sweet, but they are fruit and they're low sugar. In fact, there's essentially no sugar in them. They're high in these incredible healthy fatty acids that we've talked about. And really it's the best oil to use all around, from everything from salads to even cooking with. There's some old studies in the past or there was one study or belief that, oh, because it smoked earlier than some oils, it shouldn't be cooked at a high temperatures, but it's still probably overall is the best oil. So I encourage most people to have it as the main oil. I see a lot of people switching to avocado oil, and that's okay. Olive oil is still much better. It's still the best oil you could use.

[Jordan Rubin]

And you said I could pick my fifth fruit. I'll go ahead with another fruit that people don't know is a fruit and that is avocado. Now, I do not believe avocado oil has the same benefits of olive oil. I really don't. Now, if you're going to buy french fries or chips or something packaged and it's an avocado oil that's much better than the hateful eight of the cottonseed or canola or soybean sunflower safflower. But avocados are wonderful. I would say this, that the adage an apple a day keeps the doctor away, you could substitute avocado instead of apple because an avocado a day keeps the doctor away and most people can benefit from the potassium, vitamin E, wonderful fats. It's delicious with some salt. I've seen this great, I'll call it Biohack, where you take an avocado, you put an egg yolk you in the center after you slice it and it's like an Eggs Benedict with all the best nutrients and fats on the planet. So avocado is an amazing fruit that's also low in sugar, high in good fats. And if you consume olive oil and avocado every day, your blood sugar is really going to be balanced. And they've done studies where you add an avocado to meals and people have much better weight management, fat loss and blood sugar control. So avocados are amazing. You might not think they're grown in Israel, but I beg to differ. I saw a 25 year old avocado grove in Israel. I walked in, the canopy was so high no light could even get in. Avocado leaves are amazing and can be one of the most delicious teas. So that's my second fruit. I'm going to hit your biblical three Pomegranate. And I've said this before, it's so amazing that pomegranate has 613 seeds known as arils. Those are the individual seeds where there's fruit on it. You can eat the seeds with the fruit. Pomegranate has not only ellagic acid, but it's got a form of cla. It's a derivative of cla that helps with fat loss. So pomegranate is absolutely amazing. It's delicious. It's also low sugar. It's got good amounts of vitamin C and other vitamins. It's beautiful. It's harder to eat. Most people Aren't used to cutting it open and then putting out, pulling out the little arrows, but it is so, so good. And every part of the pomegranate, Josh, is useful for medicine. Every part.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

You know, I was going to say my mother in law has this trick where she like does it in water and like it's so much faster for her to get the, the, the pomegranate seeds out. And sometimes we just buy them already. Already plucked as well.

[Jordan Rubin]

Yes, the, the, the hack that we do so we don't have to get in there and dig in. It's so great on salads, it's great in smoothies, etc. Fig is super powerful. Now the Bible doesn't talk about the word cancer, but one of the closest things to it was when King Hezekiah had a boil that was said to end his life and he asked God for more time and God granted him 15 more years. But then he instructed the prophet, or through the prophet to Hezekiah, to put fig poultice on the boil. So Josh, when you see a fig and you open it up, especially fresh, they're rare because they're so perishable. But whenever I see fresh figs in stores, I buy them. Dried are good as well. Fresh figs contain mucilaginous fiber that helps to draw impurities out of the skin and of the gut. So I believe that while God sovereignly healed Hezekiah of what may have been cancer and gave him 15 more years of life, he used fig poultice, which has mucilaginous fiber, and the enzyme ficin, which is a proteolytic enzyme which breaks down something called circulating immune responses which lead to cancerous growths, et cetera. Figs are awesome. You can eat a lot of them because they're pretty sweet, but they're absolutely amazing. And I'm going to do a 3A and 3B dates are another amazing biblical fruit. Dates are so sweet, but yet they are gentle on the system. They seem to be low glycemic and they're the only dried fruit that grows on trees. I remember my first time in Israel thinking that dates were a different form. And then we dried them to become the dates that we love to eat. But no, they dry right on the trees. Dates are powerful. Their leaves are powerful. Fig leaves, Josh, in my whole taste testing ranked the highest among all the leaves for flavor, interestingly enough. So we hear about fig leaves covering certain body parts from out of E. That's right. But. And by the way, here's another Interesting, I'll say. Bible trivia is that the idea that Adam and Eve picked an apple off the tree and ate from the tree of Knowledge of good and evil. Many scholars believe it was a fig because they ate the fig. Then they learned that they were naked and covered themselves with the figure.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

So that's pretty amazing. You know, figs in Roman culture were known for male libido. They say it looks like male reproductive organs. They see all the little seeds are like sperm. So there's that, like, supports, like principle of ancient medicine. So there. I mean, there are just so many incredible benefits of figs. This is like our daughter's favorite snack when we're traveling. We buy dried figs and of course, very sweet and delicious. And then grapes. You know, Jordan once cracked his tooth eating a grape. Didn't you? Didn't you almost crack your tooth?

[Jordan Rubin]

Yes, yes, I must have died. Which is kind of like a grape. And those grow all over in the south where we are. I was driving through Alabama and I saw you pick muscadines. Muscadines aren't grapes, but they're berries and that are close to grapes. But here's the thing about grapes. Now, I've never shared this because it's just coming in my mind, but years ago, a woman named Joanna Brandt had cancer, and she followed something called the Grape Cure, and she ate 3 pounds of grapes a day and nothing else with seeds, because seeded grapes are more beneficial, even though we'd rather have seedless through two to three pounds of grapes a day. And she believed that the grapes and the compounds within them dissolved her tumors. And there was a book called the Grape Cure which testifies to its amazing benefits. Now, when I eat grapes for flavor, I like all these new varieties with thin skins. And they say they're bubblegum grapes or cotton candy grapes, organic, but they're the improved varieties. If you want the best grapes for your health, get something like a Concord seeded grape or a muscadine that has thick skin and is a little more sour with seeds. And you can eat some of the seeds. They actually contain a small amount of cyanide, proanthocyanidins, which in the body are converted to powerful compounds to kill cancer and other unhealthy cells.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Well, you see this. I remember when my mom had cancer and I was researching all of the different sort of natural cancer remed, and I remember coming across, of course, apricot seeds and other ones, some of these muscadine seeds, and as you mentioned, the cyanide in there and of course they talk about B17 as well and this being sort of part of a holistic cancer protocol, which is, which is so, so incredibly interesting.

[Jordan Rubin]

And speaking of that, I'm going to throw almonds in even though they're a nut in the Bible, the Bible described fruit as nuts. Fruit that we know is fruit that's sweet as well as certain grains, believe it or not, like varieties of wheat, spelt and barley, they would call that fruit. The feast of first fruits was really a grain harvest. But almonds contain B17 like you're talking about. Same thing that apricot kernels contain. I remember years ago reading eat nine almonds a day and you will get a dosage of this amygdalin which is a nitrilocide which can attack unhealthy cells. And some people today say almonds contain anti nutrients and lectins. And you should have removed the skin. But the skin of the almond, that kind of little skin is where some of those slightly bitter compounds are found.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

This is where you could easily buy sprouted almonds and still have those same benefits without the same level of phytic acid. So. And that's a great thing to do. In fact, we've bought sprouted almond butter, we bought sprouted almonds and I think that's a fantastic option. Do you have unexplainable illness, hormone dysfunction, weight loss resistance, brain fog, and you're tired of being dismissed when you know something isn't right? Well, get my at home testing of targeted biomarkers including hormones, thyroid and metabolism, plus a full hour with one of my senior health advisors to help you understand your results. The truth is your doctor's probably reading your blood work all wrong. They're missing the cellular issues behind the symptoms. This new testing flips the scri. The future of interpreting test results is here. I'm currently offering a simple at home blood test that actually tests for the right things. And just as importantly, it comes with proper interpretation of your results. If you want to check it out and grab one before they're gone, just go to mybloodwork.com now. Jordan, I want to, I want to transition into some of these other ideas around longevity. What do you think? This is one of the questions I wanted to pose to you. If Jesus were alive today, what do you think his diet would look like?

[Jordan Rubin]

This is a really hard question because we know what Jesus ate at least on three occasions or at least we know twice. And we can assume once. When Jesus was alive, he ate bread and fish. When Jesus was resurrected, he ate Bread and fish. And we know he was at the supper of preparation before the Passover, before he was crucified, and in ancient Israel would have eaten lamb and bread. Now, I would say this. Jesus was on the move a lot. Jesus was extremely focused on his ministry, to say the least. So I can't say if he was in the same mode as he was back then today, what he would have eaten. But anybody in biblical times who could afford it, we're going to prioritize red meat, because there were some waters, but there wasn't as many fish as you would think. They weren't by oceans. And we've been to Israel and there are lakes and streams and rivers, but you're not having huge ocean harvests of fish. Certainly would have eaten fish. Nonetheless, he would have eaten bread, because in biblical times, bread is somewhat storable. Nutrition, powerful source of energy. It would have been higher in protein but lower in gluten and had all these other benefits for energy. So he undoubtedly would have eaten fruit. And you can look back to sort of what David ate, what the angelic hosts were fed. I think Jesus would have eaten dairy. In fact, there's a prophecy that talks about the future Messiah, that he would eat curds and honey in order to choose the good and refuse the evil. So I believe Jesus would have eaten honey and he would have eaten what we would call yogurt or cottage cheese. So I don't want to say Jesus would have followed the exact biblio diet, because I can't confirm that. But we tried to do the research as to what people in the times of Jesus and prior would have eaten to maintain their amazing health. And here's one thing I will tell you he absolutely would have done. He would have fasted. And I would argue that implementing fasting into your daily life could be one of the greatest longevity benefactors, because fasting is absolutely the way to trigger the body's healing mechanisms. In fact, there are studies on water fasting dating back 50 to 100 years that showed conclusive cures for horribly disfiguring diseases like childhood rheumatoid arthritis or juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, other health conditions of the skin, severe allergies. The challenge is you can only water fast for so long without starting to become catabolic. But fasting is a miracle. And I know you've talked about this on your programs. We've talked about it. Even if you implement fasting twice a week, what you'd call a partial fast, maybe go from dinner to dinner or Dinner to lunch, you're going to get benefits. Moving, breathing and living in a fasted state means that your body is breaking down old and decomposing cells, which now they call senescent cells, zombie cells. Your body can heal through fasting. And I've seen some new research and a few health experts now that are talking about fasting for 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 days and seeing amazing breakthrough physically, mentally and spiritually. And if you want to know what benefits you'll receive, Isaiah 58 is an amazing chapter that talks about God's chosen fast and what happens to you physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally when you go without eating. Now, we've talked about modified fasts where you can drink bone broth, drink juices that are not sweet teas. So when I do my intermittent fasting or daily cleansing, I'm consuming healing leaves because there's no calories, there's no protein, and it is a soluble beverage that goes right into suspension. So that's a great way to amplify a fast.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Well, you know what? Probably, I think when most people think about fasting, Jordan in the Bible, I would argue that the most popular fast for the past 15, 20 years has been a Daniel fast. Walk me through sort of. Do you believe that should be the most popular fast today? What are the benefits of it? But what are other fasts that you think maybe if there are more beneficial fasts or things that like churches can be doing today when they want to fast? Because I think fasting, as you mentioned, is talked about a lot in the Bible. And when we look at Jesus, when we look at the Jews, when we look at the early church, they were fasting regularly, very regularly. We had mentioned at least one day a week, if not two Wednesdays and Fridays, they were doing partial day fasts of breakfast and lunch. So it was a regular rhythm of the early church. When you read about the Book of Acts and what they were doing, they were fasting very frequently. And so, all that being said, I would love to hear your thoughts of both the Daniel fast and if there are any other sort of fasts that are maybe superior to that for most.

[Jordan Rubin]

People, I believe a Daniel fast, which is largely based on whole plant foods. Now, if you look throughout history, sometimes the Bible will say in a certain translation, Daniel and his three friends ate only vegetables and water. Some would say pulses, which would mean some grains and legumes. But I would assume they were more in their whole roasted or cooked form, not necessarily breads and pastas. So depending on which translation you Read. You're going to be consuming some version of a plant based diet. Now, Josh, you and I counsel and coach various friends and friends of friends. In addition, you have a very large online clinic. They'll tell us what their diet is. And recently we heard of someone who said I eat a college diet, which for me that would be pretty rough. And so if somebody is following a college diet or what you would call a junk food standard American diet, I think a Daniel fast can be great. In other words, consuming some nuts, seeds, legumes and fruits, vegetables, very simple, with water, not a bunch of wild and crazy combo recipes. And I would do it potentially for 10 days like Daniel did. However, you and I did that. We both lost a ton of weight.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

We did a 21 day. Yes. And I lost like 15 pounds.

[Jordan Rubin]

I lost 14 or 16.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

I was eating everything I could lack.

[Jordan Rubin]

And we did it very traditionally to the letter, like sprouted pulses, legumes, et cetera and water, no salt even. And we lost a lot of weight. I personally do much better on an intermittent type fast. So the last long fast I did was 40 days with Nikki, my wife. And we ate for one hour a day for 40 days. Now we prepped it so that we could make sure we had the food ready, etc. Now when I got past 40, like to 45, I started to really drop in energy and I got to a point where I had sort of brain fog. I wasn't functioning that well. That was very doable compared to a water or juice only fast, which I do very poorly on. A raw juice fast causes me to lose weight, my digestion isn't good. So I would prefer for me to do a intermittent fasting program where I'm eating one hour, two, three or even four. And that's pretty extreme. But I'm eating a diet like what the Biblio diet recommends. I'm eating healthy meats, healthy dairy, healthy grains or starches, lots of fruits and vegetables, but all within that time window. And when I'm not eating, I'm only consuming healing leaves or maybe at most bone broth. That is something that works the best for me. I'll lose weight, I'll get energy from it. But the most extreme I would do is that one hour a day eating. I've done a seven day water fast and I'm not suggesting that's not beneficial, but we're in such a toxic environment. I would say anyone who water fasts, or if you decide to do an absolute fast with no water, do it under some kind of medical supervision because it can be pretty challenging, especially if you've been exposed to toxins over the course of your life. But here's the bottom line. You can't have a biblically based diet and not incorporate fasting at some point. It just doesn't work.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Yeah. And it may be where, again, you know, you're. You're taking one day a week. Right. And. Or maybe there's a, you know, a couple. A couple times a year where you do some sort of. Sort of fast. But as you mentioned, I mean, it is referenced so much throughout the Bible. I'm thinking about even Jesus when the disciples are trying to cast out demons and they're like, it's not working. It's like, oh, this sort of demon. This takes prayer and fasting. So we know that fasting is incredibly beneficial. I know that when you and I were writing the book, I said probably our biggest thing we really had to work on in the book early on was just coming to alignment on what we want to see with fasting and the benefits of fasting. But I want to throw this out there. I think if you're a person that's really ill and a female, for women, just listen to your body when it comes to fasting. I think that if you are very weak and not feeling the best, knocking down your eating window to maybe even nine or 10 hours total, and you're fasting for 14 to 15 and still getting your three meals a day, I think for a lot of people, that's what you want to do. So if you've got chronic fatigue, you're really sick, you got to be careful with fasting. But again, for a lot of people, general population, for weight loss, for insulin resistance, for healing the gut microbiome, for clearing your body of senescent cells, for a number of things, there's so much great research on it, activating autophagy and for supporting healing in the body. I know. I went on Daniel Amen's podcast and so we were talking about this. It's so funny because this came up recently when I was talking to Mark Hyman about when they wrote the Daniel Plan. And I know, Jordan, that we've had people talk about sort of different diets of the Bible quite a bit over the years when it comes to even longevity. And I know the Daniel Plan was obviously a fast. It's something you're doing for like 10 days, you know, for the most part. So that's a little different. But I've heard people say, oh, well, you know, you should only be a vegetarian. Right? That was sort of. You remember some of these diets, I know you do, from many years ago where they talked about that's the only thing you should eat. When you hear things like that, when people say, well that's a biblical diet, what are your, what are your thoughts on that?

[Jordan Rubin]

I believe that Adam and Eve only consumed plant foods. I think that's very clear based on Genesis 1:29. But for over, I'd say 50 or 100 years we've seen published books called the Genesis Diet or there was another very popular diet, the Hallelujah Diet. And I do believe that in a highly oxygenated environment like Adam and Eve lived in, with access to the tree of life, you could live on a plant based diet which I think would be fruits and nuts and fruit tree leaves. However, after the flood, it was evident that animal foods came into the picture. And for the more modern day biblical heroes like Moses and Caleb and Joshua and Jesus, they ate meat. And I think meat or some version of animal protein is more or less required today for most people. Very few can handle a plant based only diet. And every health professional that I know and health expert has tried to do plant based at some point and we're all recovering plant based dieters. It's just a fact.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

I know, I remember trying it. This was when I was probably 21 years old and I thought, hey, I'm going to be healthy and I'm going to do this. And this is before I really knew what I knew. And, and I remember the first week I actually felt pretty good. And then after two weeks and then one month I'm like, I feel weak, I feel terrible. I just felt really weak and feeble. And so I think that there's, I'm totally like, I mean the Hallelujah Diet was the one that I was thinking of as well in terms of some of those. But you know, I think when you look at what meat has in it, it's very high in B vitamins, it's very high in iron. These are things we need for energy today. And I think that, you know, when stress goes up, which we're definitely under more stress now because of blue light and social media devices, I mean even driving people used to walk places like we are under. And I would argue that the number one reason why today still we're not living to be 120 would be due to just the very, very high levels of stress we're constantly putting ourselves under in that fight or flight state and how that starts to Just suck the B vitamins and a lot of these nutrients and magnesium, the glutathione, right out of our bodies. And so we're not getting it. So I think that's a major issue. And I think one other thing that the Bible talks about in terms of a remedy for that is taking a Sabbath rest day. What are your thoughts on a Sabbath rest as a form of medicine?

[Jordan Rubin]

I'm sure, Josh, as a health expert, you're often asked questions that you can easily answer because you live the lifestyle. But every now and then you get a question that is convicting, and you have to admit that you've been very bad at practicing what the Bible preaches. And I am guilty as charged. I believe absolutely that every living thing was meant to take one day out of seven off. The problem for me, and I'm going to make a really lame excuse, is that I love what I do, and that line between work and rest is very blurred. But I will tell people, do what I say, not what I do. I need a lot of help in the area of taking one day out of seven off. And, Josh, I'm not even sure I know what that means for me now. I know, theoretically, shut your phone off, spend time with your family, talk about God, pray, and do relaxing things. I have been very bad at this, but it does not change the fact that God's word is God's word. And I need to find better ways to observe the Sabbath, lead my family in that, and reap those benefits. And I think oftentimes people like you and I are supposed to have all the answers. We say things like, we drink olive oil every night and quote Acts 1:9, and we read the Bible every day. But there are areas in my life, and I'm sure yours, where we know what's best and we've not taken steps to do them. So here's what I'm going to say. I'm going to challenge myself on the Dr. Josh Axe Show. I want next time when we're together to have a better answer for you on how I've been able to implement the principles of resting one day a week and observing the Sabbath, because it's been a real struggle for me, and I've been very poor at living up to that standard.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Well, you know, we want to be able to preach what we practice. And so I'm very appreciative of that answer. And, you know, I can say a similar thing. I mean, I'm always aware going into the weekends that I need to take one of these two days and not work. And I'm like, 50, 50. Sometimes I'm like, okay, I did it. And then sometimes, somehow, I mean, I've had times. Sometimes I'm like, how did I start working? I intended not to. You know, it's like Paul's like, I do what I don't want to do sometimes. And so I think that's it. But there's no doubt that scientifically and biblically, that taking a Sabbath day, just one day, Saturday or Sunday, taking it completely off and resting, is incredibly powerful. I'm going to switch gears a little bit here. And it made me think of this. I've been going back and watching a lot of Charlie Kirk videos, and I watched him do one on taking a Sabbath rest. He talked about that, and it seemed like he was just such a great dad and father and just really spending great time with his kids. And I was so grateful of that. You know, I think that I've become more and more aware over the years that there are so many things going on that are supernatural, that are spiritual. Everything is spiritual. You know, how often do you think when somebody is suffering with a chronic illness. We got a text last night from a pastor of ours who's a mutual friend for another pastor who is sick, in the hospital, ill, and he had texted us that he believes that this was a supernatural attack. How often do you think when somebody's struggling with things today, that there is a spiritual component to their illness?

[Jordan Rubin]

You're asking harder questions now, because My answer is 100% of the time. Now, you said spiritual, I think, is the question, how many cases of illness are demonic or spiritual? Because I would say on the spiritual side, you can include unforgiveness and bitterness, unresolved trauma. You can include certain things that wouldn't be demonic in nature. But as a parent of five adopted children who all had a poor family tree, a bad story in their lineage, I'm seeing and believing that the demonic activity, what we pray against in Ephesians 6, when we put on the full armor of God, because the battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, rulers, and the darkness of this age. I have to think that's quite often, if we look in Scripture, we see that we will do greater things than Jesus. That's what he said about his disciples. And he said that he was more or less setting a precedent for us to follow. Most illnesses involve demonic activity, and that's just a fact. It can't be that. Illness in the Bible, particularly mental illness, this is a Tough one. I know people are going to have a hard time hearing this or maybe be triggered. But in the Bible, you're seeing when people were not in their right mind or when they had what we would call multiple personalities or schizophrenia, that there was demonic activity, that it was then cast out before they were healed. And so I think demonic activity, or what you would call supernatural components to illness are much more prevalent than we think. And for many people, if they're not resolved, eating the best foods, drinking the best beverages, fasting, it might not do the trick, so to speak. And I've been researching more and more into what you would call inner healing and even deliverance ministry, because I'd much rather recommend a supplement or exercise. But I believe that we need to look into and start understanding the spiritual warfare that we're battling in. And it can't just be a few churches deal with this or certain denominations. We have to confront this, because if we want to believe in the miracles of Jesus, we need to understand the battles that he faced and he won.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Yeah. You know, I even think about, like, there's several verses in the Bible that talk about, don't have a spirit of fear or a spirit of fear. Well, it's not just fear.

[Jordan Rubin]

It's a spirit of fear.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

So there are demons of fear, there are demons of anxiety, there are demons of bondage and addiction.

[Jordan Rubin]

Yes.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

And so I think that those are real things that can influence us and impact us in a really negative way, you know, and dealing with, as you've consulted thousands of patients. I've worked with thousands of patients. And I know for a fact that anytime anybody's dealing with an illness, there is always a spiritual component. And even in something like as simple as hypothyroidism or pcos or just low testosterone, those issues always have some sort of spiritual component of, you know, here's an example. A lot of women with infertility today, they have a fear that they can't get pregnant and that they're trying. And one of the things I've constantly seen is they'll tell me this. They'll say, when I stopped trying, then I'll get pregnant. When I stopped worrying, when I stopped living in fear, when I was able to just trust in God and just kind of let go, or when I.

[Jordan Rubin]

Adopt a child, we get pregnant. You hear that so often.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Yeah, total agreement. And again, unforgiveness is one of the greatest examples. If the Bible really talks about that unforgiveness is so toxic to you. Jesus says, Forgive 77 times 7. That's infinity in the Bible. So keep forgiving. Because he knows that if you don't forgive, well, that verse then says, your heavenly Father then will forgive you. So that's obviously important. But I think the other part of that is that it's like drinking poison. It makes you sick, it makes you ill. And even when you look at Chinese medicine, German new medicine, these are things starting to touch on these things. They believe that unforgiveness shuts down the immune system and the detoxification systems, which are the two main systems linked to cancer. So unforgiveness in cancer is absolutely linked there. And I think these things are just so important for we've been talking about longevity. It's incredibly important that people build a relationship with Jesus, that they are focusing on being grateful, taking a Sabbath rest, doing all these things if they want to live a long, healthy life.

[Jordan Rubin]

And the Biblio diet is really more than a diet because we have a chapter called Mindset Medicine. We talk about forgiveness. In fact, our mutual friend and grandfather figure, Don Finto, is a local pastor here. He talked about a lifetime of not only unforgiveness that he sees in people he's ministered to, but how he had to battle as someone whose parents were gone, was sexually abused, and then consistently was going through struggles, and how he had to literally dump that junk in the trunk in order for him to then be set free, have a family, and minister to others. It's powerful because we know so many people who have been in a traumatic situation and they become individuals who are addicted. They can't make their family situation work. Their whole life is challenged. It's like they've got a 50 to 100 pound backpack on or a weight or a millstone. And that's where I do think the spiritual components are there. You do what you can by processing forgiveness. I think I said this before on our program when I was battling cancer. It was important for me to go back to my earliest memories of when people hurt me and I didn't properly allow God to heal those moments or those offenses. And secondly, the times where I hurt people and I needed to ask God to forgive me. And in some cases those individuals, that is an excess amount of weight and baggage carrying that we do. And that's why people are addicted to food or addicted to nicotine or addicted to drugs. They can't process or eliminate that fear. And there are many biblical programs that help people unpack these issues. One's called Restoring the Foundations. There's another One where a book was called the More Excellent Way, where this pastor in Georgia tied every disease to a certain spiritual component, unforgiveness, et cetera. That was whether it was Lyme disease or cancer or heart disease. I'm not suggesting that's perfectly accurate. But if you're eating the best way you can, exercising, turning off your blue lights and all the right things, but you're still suffering, I think the Bible has an answer for you outside of just what we would call more superficial treatments. And the Biblio Diet unpacks that everything from exercise to a biblical mindset to unforgiveness to fasting, because you can't live the biblio way without incorporating all of it. That's why the Biblio Diet is really about eating by the book, living by the book, and I think it's why it's in its infancy, in its first few weeks, done so well.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. And we want to thank all of you who Jordan was my co author on the Biblio Diet when we've always loved biblical nutrition. Of course, Jordan wrote Makers Diet 21 years ago. We've taught a lot of churches, but again, our heart has always been helping people heal using God's medicine, using what God teaches in the Bible. And so it's been such an honor. And the book hit the New York Times bestseller list. So Biblio Diet there. I want to just thank all of you guys for buying the book, for the great reviews. And if you haven't bought it yet, I want to encourage you buy it. We think it's really just again, the reviews, if you go on Amazon.com are incredibly positive of people saying they've never read anything like it. So I want to say thank you, all of you who have bought the book, who have shared the book with your friends and family members, helping them heal. We know a lot of people are going to be doing small groups with the book, has a study guide. A lot of churches are going to incorporate it as part of church programs. So I just want to say thank you, all of you guys, for buying the book, supporting the book. And I want to hit on one of the last things here as well is I do think if you have never been, if you're living with shame, with guilt, with any type of hurt from the past and you've never dealt with it. You know, I'm thinking about the number of women that have been through a miscarriage, the number of people that were abused when they were children, the number of people that are living right now with a chronic illness or you lost a loved one, went through a divorce, or lost someone you really cared about and you haven't gotten emotional, spiritual, really, really healing. I want to encourage you to do that. As Jordan mentioned, restoring the foundations a more excellent way. Heart sync. There's a lot of different things to do. I went, I remember Jordan. This was when I was probably 22 years old. I just wanted to just. I rededicated my life to God. I said I wanted just a fresh start. I did a program called the Bondage Breaker. A guy named Neil Anderson. And so there are a lot of great programs people can do. But I really believe that I've had better health because of doing the right thing spiritually. And when we have gone through, you know, just a year ago, I had lost my father in law, Joel, and I was having a hard time with it emotionally. And so I went and saw somebody, a guy, and did a process of just healing and just being able to share my heart. And of course I did that with Jesus. I did that with my wife. We did that with our family. But sometimes it's good to see a professional and just work through those things together. And the Bible talks about confessing our sins, but also we're meant to live in community. That's probably the number one longevity principle. We could talk about the importance of connecting with others as well. And so building the great relationships would be another thing for longevity. Jordan, what is your last and final tip? Maybe something we haven't covered yet that can support longevity.

[Jordan Rubin]

I think staying on what you just said is really, really important. And it is that transparency. So I have seen on your program and others a lot more discussion on men dealing with pornography addiction and admitting it, being transparent with others. The Bible calls it putting on the armor of light. And there are people out there who definitely suffered during 2020 and 2021 because they were lonely, because they were distant. People were dying of loneliness. And so I think it's easy to say live in community, go play pick up basketball with your friends if you're a female, you know, go on a girls trip. But I think the transparency part is really, really important. And it's so difficult, even with your spouse and your kids to be transparent because we can hide ourselves or put these devices between us. You know, you picture everyone at the dinner table with their devices. You can just go to that and watch somebody else's life or whatever kind of nonsense we see on social media. Although there's good things on social media, including clips of this program. I think living in a transparent relationship with God, which is critical and with man is important. David was said to be a man after God's own heart. And even when David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered Uriah, her husband, he got with God once the sin was revealed to him by Nathan the prophet. And he realized, oh, my goodness, I have done this. I think it's Psalm 51 where he pours out his sin and shame. And he said, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, Lord, make me new again. So it's a transparent relationship with God. You mentioned First John 1:9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. I want to tell you, Josh, there are lots of cleanses you can find online from everybody known to man. But the first John 1:9 cleanse, the one I would sign up for. And it's the one we need. And it's not every year, it's every day. I started in my journal writing down things that I needed forgiveness for, because for whatever reason, it's not natural for me to open my mouth and say, lord, forgive me for being rude or short with my daughter. Forgive me for taking offense and then acting out in anger toward my wife. Because it's almost always those that are closest to us. Yeah, I try to keep my spirit in check for things like envy and jealousy. I don't think I have that too much. But we look at all of these other people, we think that their life is easier. We don't understand how come this person did this when we worked so much harder. So I would say transparency and the first John 1:9 cleanse can add to longevity in incredible ways. And I would challenge somebody. Forgiving those that hurt you is amazing. You mentioned earlier, unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting it to kill the other person you were mad at. But if you can truly confess your sins to God, he will cleanse you of all unrighteousness. And I will tell you this, Josh, I would rather be cleansed of unrighteousness than senescent cells, because I believe they are. They're going to cause a problem. But being separated from God is the ultimate challenge we will face in our health and life.

[Dr. Josh Axe]

Yeah, absolutely agree. Remember, there are a lot of great things you could do for biblical longevity. We start off talking about healing leaves. Listen, there are. There's medicine growing in your backyard. You know, whether it be an oak leaf or a walnut leaf or raspberry leaf. Want to challenge you. Go and make healing leaves tea from your own yard here this week. It's easy to do and we have a recipe there in the biblio diet as well. You can do that. We talked about some healing fruits, olive oil being at the very top in olives. We talked about avocado, raspberry, we talked about pomegranates, we talked about grapes and muscadines and we also talked about figs there as well. So a lot of benefits there of a lot of those fruits. We didn't get into walking. But listen, walking in nature, spending time in nature, amazing for longevity. We talked about this on a previous episode that Jesus some days walked a marathon, but on average at least 10 miles a day. So lots of walking there if we want to model Jesus and a lot of great longevity foods and diets, organic meat, loads of fruits and vegetables as part of that diet there as well. And more than anything, focus on having the mind of Christ, focus on forgiveness, on connecting with others, living that biblical lifestyle. Forgiveness and living in a state of gratitude will all help you live in a greater state of longevity. Not only add years to your life that 120we talked about with Moses, but also life to your years where you can be vibrant and healthy and Young in your 80s and 90s and beyond. I want to say thanks so much for watching and listening to the Dr. Josh Axe Show. Remember, each and every week we're diving deep into the science and principles of how you can heal physically, mentally and spiritually. And thank you to my good friend Jordan Rubin for coming on and sharing his wisdom around biblical nutrition and biblical healing. And by the way, the number one thing you can do to support the episode is subscribe. Listen. We actually have a lot of people that still aren't fully subscribed and sometimes some of the videos because we get into things controversial here about the Bible and things like cancer. Sometimes they're shadow banned so you don't always see them. If you're not subscribed, it won't show up on your feed. So make sure you subscribe again. It's the number one thing you do to support the show. Also, share Share this. So many people don't know the truth about biblical nutrition that the Bible is the greatest health book ever written. So thank you so much for sharing and we'll see you on the next episode.