Rex Russell's Three Principles Inspired Improved Health and Life Changes

February 4, 2009 -- Rex Russell was not your ordinary kidney transplant candidate. A board-certified invasive radiologist, Dr. Russell was the author of What the Bible Says about Healthy Living, a landmark book that many credit as the genesis of the mainstream biblical eating movement. Russell died last Thursday at the age of 68.

"God used Dr. Russell to deliver a message that transformed the health and lives of thousands of people," said Jordan Rubin, the New York Times best-selling author of The Maker's Diet, and himself a longtime admirer of Dr. Russell's.

Russell's Three Principles are (1) eat only those things that God designed to be eaten, (2) eat those foods in a form as close as possible to the form in which God provided them, and (3) do not let any food or drink become an idol. While some people might interpret these guidelines to mean a raw, vegetarian diet, Russell was a strong proponent of eating beef, chicken and certain fish, since the Bible permits eating these foods in Leviticus 11.

When Hope Egan rushed to release her cookbook based on Russell's three principles by January, she had one goal: get it to him before his kidney transplant. However, a stroke two days before his scheduled surgery left him in a coma. Russell died just moments before Egan received her first case of books.

"He was amazing," said Egan. "He always had a story about God's design for eating. Sometimes it was about a new scientific study he'd read. Sometimes it was about a friend whose health had improved with a change in diet. Most of the time it was about the miracles he'd experienced in his own life; for example, he reduced his blood pressure by going off his four blood pressure meds and eating Real Salt, and lowered his cholesterol by going off statin drugs and eating nuts. He was a hard-core adherent of the Three Principles."

"Rex is a hero of mine," agreed Doug Hudson, speaker for Song of Solomon Resources and longtime friend of Russell's. "He never understood the magnitude of what God did through his life. To me, that is the mark of a true hero: to be given ‘genius' but to never take credit for it. Russell's life and influence will be better known 20 years from now than when he was alive."

Russell is survived by his wife, Judy, and their sons, Randy and Rodney.