You may have heard the expression, “Eat to live, don’t live to eat.” As simplistic as this counsel may sound, it really unlocks the door that can dramatically improve your health.

As we struggle with a national obesity crisis, it is clear that we are a nation that lives to eat. So many of our happiest times, celebrations and mood swings center on large quantities of fattening foods, or we use such foods as a form of self-medication.

In the diet given to Adam and Eve, we uncover God’s prescription for our good health. “Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food’” (Genesis 1:29). God designed us to live best on a simple, plant-based diet.

The American diet is rich with processed foods filled with corn syrup, hydrogenated fat and chemical additives that only a Ph.D. could pronounce. Processed foods are frequently calorie dense, laden with salt and full of sugar.

If we assume that what God intended from the beginning is best for us, then we should avoid these foods and choose a more naturally prepared diet. One rule of thumb that many use is, “If it has a label, don’t eat it.” While this may be extreme, we clearly should read food-packaging labels to avoid unhealthy contents.

So if you want to lose weight, control your diabetes or reduce hypertension, then eating as naturally as possible will help. Whole grains, nine servings of fruit and/or vegetables a day, plenty of water, nuts, beans and olive oil are the staples that should constitute the majority of our food intake.

Avoiding all food processing is not realistic in our society, but we should strive to go as natural as we can. It’s almost impossible to become fat on a natural diet. And if we add a dose of daily exercise to that natural diet, then we have just what the Creator ordered to keep us fit, trim and healthy.

But I’m sure I haven’t told you anything you didn’t already know. This isn’t rocket science. Our true dilemma is not knowledge; it’s motivation. Why should we live healthfully? Many think that the added longevity that comes with the Adventist lifestyle — seven to nine years on average — is more than enough motivation. But it’s hard to get that message to a Twinkie-eating teenager or the fast-paced burger-and-fries crowd. Generally, by the time they really get the message, the damage has already been done.

No, longevity alone is not sufficient motivation to live a healthy lifestyle. While most of us would rather “burn out” than “rust out,” we’re “going out” one way or the other. The true reason for our health message is not simply longevity.

The real question we must ask is, “How do I better grasp the mind of God and seek to understand His will for my life?” We seek health to facilitate our quest for God, clear our minds and sharpen our thinking that we may better know our Creator.

In Counsels on Diet and Foods, we read, “He designs that the great subject of health reform shall be agitated, and the public mind deeply stirred to investigate; for it is impossible for men and women, with all their sinful, health-destroying, brain-enervating habits, to discern sacred truth.”

Yes, our super-sized portions, rich casseroles, late night runs for Krispy Kreme donuts, Starbucks, or the 31 Flavors we so often crave may indeed curtail our ability to understand God.

Our ability to comprehend the divine and the sacred can be completely inhibited by unhealthful living. So now we can understand that not only do we eat to live, we eat for eternal life. We are what we eat. And how we live is directly linked to our ability to “discern sacred truth.”