Breaking the Stronghold of Food: How We Conquered Food Addictions and Discovered a New Way of Living

This book has been a blessing for me, it's full of encouragement and wisdom. I highly recommend.

I read Dr. Brown's daily column and have come to respect what he has to say. When I saw that he and his wife had written a book on conquering food addictions, I knew I had to read it. I have long recognized that gluttony is my besetting sin and have tried to conquer it for years. Strangely, as Dr. Brown points out in the book, Christians in general don't look on gluttony/obesity as a sin. I realize that not everyone who is obese or overweight is a glutton, but many of us are. Years ago, in a Sunday School class I confessed that gluttony is my besetting sin. After the class, the priest who taught the class took me aside and told me that just because I was overweight (actually I was obese but he didn't acknowledge that) didn't mean I was a glutton. There were many reasons that people were overweight. Yes, I know that and I acknowledge it. However, I also know that it is sinful when I eat more than I should or when I eat things that are not good for my body. I have diabetes and should never eat sweets but over the holidays I not only indulged in sweets, I overindulged. Recently, a Christian friend started a conversation on Facebook asking us to share our besetting sins so we could encourage and help each other overcome. I posted that my besetting sin is obvious to anyone who sees how fat I am; it is gluttony. The next week at church, this friend took me aside and told me I shouldn't have said that because my fat didn't mean I was a glutton. These people meant well and intended to be kind, but it isn't a kindness to say sin isn't sin. This book is very candid in calling food addictions and overeating sin. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and instead of treating those temples with honor and care, many of us abuse our temples with too much food, especially food that is harmful to us. If we are sinning in this way, we need to repent and turn away, just like any other kind of sin. I have been careful about what I eat for the last couple of years, and my health has improved as a result. But I reverted to my old ways during the recent holiday season. Now I'm re-committed to a healthy lifestyle, especially in my eating habits. Not only will healthy eating improve my physical health, it will improve my spiritual health.

Wonderful book about our health from a biblical world view. There are close to no books that address food addiction and sin. I have really been searching for this for a long time and have prayed about my gluttony and feeling quite hopeless about it. God put a podcast of Michael Brown in my path (I had never heard of him) and God has been so faithful putting many things in my path since 🙏 Michael Brown wrote this book with his wife and I found it very helpful because I related a lot to her struggles and it gave me hope to see how God delivered both of them. There is so much wisdom in this book and they make many great suggestions and encourage a plant based lifestyle but do not push or endorse any type of products. Your health is between you and the Lord!

I have all the info I need on nutrition. What I was looking for was wisdom about what my eating has to do with obedience to God and fulfilling His plan and purpose for my life. This book was very helpful. I now have scriptures to lean into for wisdom and guidance. God is my best eating coach and I want to be faithful to Him. I gained some new perspectives and a better understanding of what it means to “eat to live” and not “live to eat”. I liked Nancy’s comments and it was helpful to read another perspective. The only negatives were that the book was repetitive and the author didn’t need to apologize for using the word “fat” or writing something that might offend someone. But that’s being picky. I skipped over those parts and moved on the the real “meat” (forgive me) of wisdom. I will be rereading this book and keeping it close.

Dr. Brown's book has changed the stereotypical way I view food. Admittedly, most of us struggle with food addictions. Unfortunately, very few today would consider the over consumption of food as sinful. It's interesting that 2 Timothy 4:8 is often used as a defense of food consumption when the same New Testament Paul of scripture uses physical training in illustrating spiritual truth (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Paul doesn't suggest we neglect our health he only prioritizes godliness as superior to the physical. I immerse myself every day in God's word and wouldn't dream of putting exercise before Jesus. I'm a late comer to Christ having been saved only 2 years ago ... I know firsthand what it’s like to not know Him so now that I do I'm not looking back! Not long after Dr. Brown's book was released (Feb 2017) I had an annual physical. The results were shocking! My weight was increasing year after year in seemingly small increments but this time my bad cholesterol was at 244 and it was starting to affect my liver (I don't consume alcohol). I've always been an active person and am no stranger to physical labor. Never the less this made no difference due to some terrible eating habits that gradually led to consuming anything I deemed pleasingly eatable! "Breaking the Stronghold of Food" has made a profound impact on my personal health. Upon completing the book I decided to make a radical change in my diet. In addition to reading Dr. Brown's book I purchased Dr. Fuhrman's "Eat to Live" book and cookbook (which I highly recommend). My follow-up doctor’s appointment is in August 2017 and I'm pleased to say that since March 2017 I've lost 25 lbs. and I feel great! Instead of processed/sugar/fatty foods I've learned (thanks to Dr. Fuhrman) to eat nutrient rich foods. And by the way I lost all 25 lbs. without exercising ... I've since incorporated a workout routine. Thank you Dr. Brown for writing this amazing book and sharing godly wisdom we all can spiritually and physically grow upon! God bless

A really nice book but a bit boring sometimes. I've found it to be a little bit too repetitive for my tastes, I think it could have been written in half the pages and be just as good. I would have also tried to incorporate more biblical linking, since that seems to be the strength of the author and he can provide very useful spiritual insights and teachings.

Really got into the real problems behind our unhealthy eating habits. Dealt in a biblically based manner. Would be recommend.

The main point is excellent and resonates with my experience - we need to dump the dieting mentality and change our relationship with food. That's the mindset. They do not give you details (and we all know, that's where the devil is) but guidelines. Pity that it is based on mysterious measures like pounds, ounces, inches etc. A suggestion for a future edition would be to fill in metric equivalents in brackets.

Best book if you wanna maintain healthy lifestyle

It is a straight forward book that tells of the journey of two people who overcame their food addictions. The journey of each person is different; this isn't a 'do it my way' book. It offers suggestions. Dr. Brown's wife, for example, went, 'no cook' in her household (asked her husband to cook his own meals). She set a boundary and loving Dr. Brown didn't guilt her for it but was instead supportive. Dr. Brown learned that snacking wasn't working for him or having 'treats' once and awhile because it kept his addictions alive.