Q&A: Eating Unhealthy Food
Eating Unhealthy Food
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I would be glad to hear your opinion regarding the view of Jewish law on eating foods that are known to be unhealthy for a person.
Does Jewish law permit eating them or forbid it?
If it permits them, why..?
And if it forbids them, how is it that most of us are affected by this?
More generally, is a person allowed to harm himself?
What is the difference between eating processed food and smoking cigarettes, or even smoking drugs..? Is it less harmful, and the destructive effect is not immediate? How much less harmful does it have to be for us to permit it?
It seems to me that this is a complex topic, and as I said, I would be glad to hear the Rabbi give his view on it from the halakhic / moral perspective.
It’s worth a column article..
Think about it..=)
Thank you.
Answer
There is no sharp line when it comes to health. There are different levels of unhealthiness, both in terms of the reliability of the information and in terms of the expected harm, so it is difficult to forbid eating something that is not a proven poison. By the same token, you could ask whether it is permitted to go out into the street, and certainly to drive a car, without an absolutely necessary need (perhaps a matter of saving life). Things that a reasonable person does, Jewish law is not concerned about. Some halakhic decisors cited for this the verse, “The Lord protects the simple.”
Discussion on Answer
Again, it is hard to set a sharp boundary line. Are we talking about one cigarette a day? A pack a day? Two? I do not know how to answer that. Very much not recommended.
“Protects the simple” is a halakhic category
Is smoking cigarettes permitted?