The Hallelujah Diet, also known as the Genesis 1:29 diet, is a vegan, raw-food diet. It is based on a passage in the first book of the Bible that reads "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 meat [food]", according to Hallelujah Acres, creators of the diet. The diet consists of about 85 percent raw foods and 15 percent cooked foods. As with any raw, vegan diet, there may be certain dangers on the Hallelujah Diet. Discuss any diet with your doctor before you begin to insure your health needs are met.
Vitamin Deficiencies
People who are on the Hallelujah Diet for a long period of time often begin to experience severe deficiencies of Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D, both of which are essential for human health, according to former Hallelujah Diet Health Minister Greg Westbrook and Hallelujah Acres Foundation director Dr. Michael Donaldson. Vitamin B12 is necessary for healthy brain function, while Vitamin D protects the body from osteoporosis and other diseases, according to the Mayo Clinic. The most recent versions of the Hallelujah Diet recommend taking supplements containing these vitamins to make up for the deficiency.
Protein Deficiency
The research of Dr. Michael Donaldson, head of the Hallelujah Acres Foundation, discovered that people who stuck to the Hallelujah Diet religiously were taking in only 0.66 grams per kilogram of body weight per day of protein, which is insufficient to sustain human health. Getting too little protein leads to a condition called kwashiorkor, which causes wasting away of muscles, fatigue, lethargy and other symptoms, according to the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Donaldson found that those Hallelujah Diet followers who did not show signs of protein deficiency had been supplementing the Hallelujah Diet with animal products like milk, cheese, eggs or meat.
Cholesterol Imbalance
While raw food diets like the Hallelujah Diet have been found to improve low-density lipoprotein, also known as LDL or "bad" cholesterol and triglycerides, they have also been found to reduce the amounts of high-density lipoprotein, also known as HDL or "good" cholesterol, according to the Journal of Nutrition. This imbalance can lead to a number of diseases, including heart disease and arterial blockages that can lead to heart attack or stroke.
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