Hebrew Roots/Unclean foods
The Hebrew Roots movement subscribes to dietary beliefs much like those of Judaism, which are based in those elaborated in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
The "Kosher" or Clean MeatsEdit
Of the animals, they must chew their cud and have a split hoof. Those that qualify are are the ox (bovines, including cows), the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. Animals that are not kosher/clean because they only meet one of these two requirements include the camel, the rock badger, the rabbit, and the pig. Any animal that walks on paws is also not kosher/clean.
The Hebrew word that is translated as "chews the cud" is "ma'alat", which comes from the root alah or "going up". Here, ma'alat literally means "that lifts [the food]". These animals regurgitate the food from the stomach and chew it thoroughly. Animals that chew the cud have three or four stomachs. When they eat, they swallow the food into the first stomach. Then the food moves to the second stomach. From there the food is "lifted" again to the mouth. After this, they swallow it down into the third stomach.
In 1953, an article was published in the bulletin of the history of medicine of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine entitled “an experimental pharmacological appreciation of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 by David I. Macht, M.D”. Dr. Macht tested extracts from the meats of the various clean and unclean animals as defined by the dietary law, including 54 kinds of fish, using a standard toxicological test. The results were that biblically unclean meats were toxic, and biblically clean meats were non-toxic[citation needed].