“I dove into a study on the Word of Wisdom like I never had before”

By: Janeen Burke

My name is Janeen Burke. I’m 42 and a stay-at-home mom of four. We recently moved to Provo from Grass Valley, California because my husband got a job teaching at BYU.

My journey has been long, so I’ll try to keep this as short as possible. I gained a fascination for nutrition and health during a nutrition class in high school. I became fascinated about how what we eat determines so much of our health and how certain foods did certain things. Growing up in the Church, I always knew about the Word of Wisdom, but it hasn’t been until about the last four years that I’ve realized what it’s really saying and how important it is to follow it. I know now that it is truly all we need for health, but coming to know that has been a long and slow process.

When my oldest son (now 20) was four years old, he was diagnosed with “high functioning autism.”  I quickly dove into researching treatments that were natural as I didn’t want to medicate him. Coming to that personal revelation is a whole other story, but completely intertwined with this journey and story. In my research, it became clear that my son was an excellent candidate to try the GFCF (gluten free/dairy free) diet due to digestion issues he chronically had. My husband and I noticed immediate improvement in his behaviors, so we were confident we were on the right course. There began to be other things and other diets that we tried as we were going through ups and downs and with each diet, we saw different improvements and I learned different things.  Sometimes progression, sometimes regression, but I never gave up on researching, trying new things all the while seeking guidance from God. Time went by and I had twins, they each had their own issues that were helped with the knowledge I gained.

Then I had my fourth child, and it was a very traumatic emergency c-section to save my son’s life. My recovery was horrible, and I had pains that weren’t going away. I was using the knowledge of nutrition and essential oils that I had gained over the years and there was some improvement. But, I was still dealing with pain that wouldn’t go away. A chiropractor recommended a Paleo diet and I gave it a try. I was on it for a few months and noticed that there was improvement, but new problems started rising. I had horrible ringing in my ears that kept me up at night, heart palpitations and dizziness and then about two years later and worst of all . . . I started having depression and anxiety. I even started having suicidal thoughts out of nowhere and for no good reason because my life was good! I knew it had to be something physical/medical affecting my mental health.  I did not want to be on medication.  I knew there had to be an answer through nutrition, so I prayed earnestly to find it.  Then when my youngest son was also diagnosed with autism at age two, my prayers became even more frequent and passionate in finding an answer for both of us.

A friend told me about a book written by Anthony William. It was very intriguing to me, and I was praying for discernment because he claimed he was getting all of his knowledge from who he called “Spirit” and called himself The Medical Medium. I didn’t realize at the time that this was a very clever tool of the adversary to snare people like me who are very fascinated with the spiritual aspects of physical and mental health through nutrition. I tried all of his recommendations for physical health and saw amazing results. So much so that I almost became obsessed about it, following everything to a T. Then I found myself getting further intrigued with his spiritual recommendations as well. Although I kept praying to have the Spirit and for discernment, I kept myself “open” to Anthony William’s spiritual advice as it was to go hand-in-hand with the physical and mental health advice. I was unknowingly and unwillingly inviting a false spirit, something that I didn’t know was even possible! I thought inviting a false spirit meant you were knowingly messing around with false doctrines, witchcraft, watching porn or something like that. I have learned how easily and cunningly the devil deceives us. I know this for certain because of an experience that both my husband and I experienced while I was reading Anthony William’s books.  I was very disturbed upon learning that I could unknowingly and unwillingly invite a false spirit in. My heart was broken, and I didn’t understand why this was happening as I felt I was doing everything to invite the Spirit and I felt guided to reading his book. Why would God guide me to something that would allow this to happen?  I know now that God was teaching me so many things I needed to learn at once!

Number one was that I needed to learn what faith in Christ really means! A synonym to the word faithful is loyal.  I was not being loyal to Christ when I was turning to another source besides Him!  God already gave us His word on the matter of physical/mental and spiritual health, the Word of Wisdom!  The next biggest lesson was I needed to learn how to discern good from evil and truth from false. I have become so keenly sensitive in my discernment since this experience!

Another big lesson I learned was that the experience was needed to take me away from all of the diets I was trying, especially the Paleo Diet as it is high protein with a lot of meat and low carb, and it dawned on me that the Word of Wisdom is the exact opposite, high carb and low protein!  I realized that the reason I was having great results from following Anthony William’s advice was that it lined up so well with the Word of Wisdom!  I then really dove into a study on the Word of Wisdom like I never had before and realized I was gaining “great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures.”  I gained a sure testimony that the Word of Wisdom is truly God’s word and I needed to stop looking elsewhere for that knowledge.

Guiding me down this path, though a “wrong” one, led to absolute assurance that I know without a doubt that the Word of Wisdom is right. I now wonder what took me so long? This was God’s word on the matter, what more did I need? I trust Him completely now!

I have also learned that Satan always has a counterfeit to everything of God and has a clever way to ensnare and deceive even those who are striving to follow Christ. I know now why it is so important to be faithful to Him and only Him. I know why there’s no good reason to look elsewhere in anything in life!

The “great treasures of knowledge” I gained were both temporal and spiritual.  Temporally I came to know that eating mostly plant based (only meat sparingly) made me feel great physically and I felt a fog lifted off my brain which opened me up spiritually to have more energy and focus to dive into the scriptures.  I began to hunger and thirst on the word of God like never before., I truly learned what it means to “feast on the words of Christ”!

My youngest is now six and we have been eating this way for four years now while also avoiding refined oils, gluten, corn, and soy based on other research I’ve learned on my journey, and I have experienced much better health and seen my son’s progression and my mental health has dramatically improved. I know that has improved because of how I’m eating, but even more so because I’m turning completely to Christ. Everything else can be a “tool” that He helps me through, but not the “source.”

About a year ago, I started to worry a little that I was malnourishing myself and my son by not eating eggs or dairy. I prayed about it and felt that if these things were necessary for good health that they would be mentioned in the Word of Wisdom, so I stopped worrying about it. I’ve never felt better physically, mentally or spiritually and I’m recognizing how that all goes hand in hand.

I know I am enjoying the promised blessings given from God through the Word of Wisdom, by following it and obeying God’s commandments. It has blessed my husband and children’s lives as I have made meals and bought only compliant foods into our home. They still eat elsewhere and are not strict like me, but I feel as they mature that they will come to learn. It’s important to not force it on them, never force anything, but live by example and share what I know is true. They were reluctant about having every dinner plant based, but I sat them down and discussed with them why I needed to do it and asked for their support, and they have been great about it ever since, especially after our youngest was also diagnosed with autism and expressed the importance of this diet for him as well.

We are still learning, and it’s important to give a lot of grace as it’s impossible to be perfectly strict about it. We do the best we can and we have seen tremendous blessings, physically, mentally and spiritually. Now my kids have a much more stable, happy and energetic mom. Now my husband has a much more stable, happy and energetic wife. I’m closer to Christ.  I spiritually discern much easier now. I have more faith, which means I worry less and that helps everyone. 😀

I have shared this way of eating with many friends and family. God has placed people and conversations in my path where I can share and it’s so rewarding to hear them tell me later how much better their health is!

Janeen Leah Burke, age 42, is a stay-at-home mom of four, a singer/songwriter and recording artist.  Her artist name is Janeen Leah and her music can be found on any streaming platform. She and her husband and four kids have lived most of their life in California, both southern and northern. They moved to Provo, Utah in September of 2021.