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INTRODUCTION
“Christianity is not a collection of rules and regulations, but a wonderful prescription, in following which man obtains a healthy body and a sound mind. The Bible presents a remedy for spiritual and physical disease….” Pacific Union Recorder, November 24, 1904 par. 3. {PUR, November 24, 1904 par. 3}
“If we follow the Bible rule, ‘Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God,’ we shall not indulge appetite at the expense of the physical health, which it is our duty to preserve.” Funamentals of Christian Education, p. 425 par. 3. { FE 425.3; EC.292.3 }
The Spirit of Prophecy also clearly presents the “prescription” for our spiritual and physical health.
WHY SHOULD WE CONSIDER REFORMS IN DIET?
1. OBEDIENCE WILL BRING PHYSICAL HEALTH
“Health, life, and happiness are the result of obedience to physical laws governing our bodies. If our will and way are in accordance with God’s will and way; if we do the pleasure of our Creator, He will keep the human organism in good condition and restore the moral, mental, and physical powers in order that He may work through us to His glory. Constantly His restoring power is manifested in our bodies. If we cooperate with Him in this work, health and happiness, peace and usefulness, are the sure results. –MS 151, 1901. (1BC 1118.)” Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 2, p. 648 par. 2. {2MCP 648.2}
“…we do not live to eat, but that we eat to live.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 444 par. 2. {CD 444.2}
“Those who understand the laws of health and who are governed by principle will shun the extremes both of indulgence and of restriction. Their diet is chosen, not for the mere gratification of appetite, but for the upbuilding of the body. They seek to preserve every power in the best condition for highest service to God and man. The appetite is under the control of reason and conscience, and they are rewarded with health of body and mind. While they do not urge their views offensively upon others, their example is a testimony in favor of right principles. These persons have a wide influence for good. –MH 319 (1905).” Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 2, p. 395 par. 1. {2MCP 395.1}
Disobedience can result in sickness.
“If the light God has given in regard to health reform is disregarded, He will not work a miracle to keep in health those who pursue a course to make themselves sick.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 401 par. 1. {CD 401.1}
“It is a sin to be sick, for all sickness is the result of transgression.” Counsels on Health, p. 37 par. 2. {CH 37.2}
2. HEALTH REFORM IS PART OF PREPARATION FOR THE SECOND COMING
“December 10, 1871, I was again shown that the health reform is one branch of the great work which is to fit a people for the coming of the Lord. It is as closely connected with the third angel’s message as the hand is with the body. The law of Ten Commandments has been lightly regarded by man, but the Lord would not come to punish the transgressors of that law without first sending them a message of warning. The third angel proclaims that message. Had men ever been obedient to the law of Ten Commandments, carrying out in their lives the principles of those precepts, the curse of disease now flooding the world would not be.
“Men and women cannot violate natural law by indulging depraved appetite and lustful passions, and not violate the law of God. Therefore He has permitted the light of health reform to shine upon us, that we may see our sin in violating the laws which He has established in our being. All our enjoyment or suffering may be traced to obedience or transgression of natural law.Our gracious heavenly Father sees the deplorable condition of men who, some knowingly but many ignorantly, are living in violation of the laws that He has established. And in love and pity to the race, He causes the light to shine upon health reform. He publishes His law and the penalty that will follow the transgression of it, that all may learn and be careful to live in harmony with natural law. He proclaims His law so distinctly and makes it so prominent that it is like a city set on a hill. All accountable beings can understand it if they will. Idiots will not be responsible. To make plain natural law, and urge the obedience of it, is the work that accompanies the third angel’s message to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 161 par. 1-2. {3T 161.2}
“Ignorance is no excuse now for the transgression of law. The light shines clearly, and none need be ignorant, for the great God Himself is man’s instructor. All are bound by the most sacred obligations to God to heed the sound philosophy and genuine experience which He is now giving them in reference to health reform. He designs that the great subject of health reform shall be agitated and the public mind deeply stirred to investigate; for it is impossible for men and women, with all their sinful, health-destroying, brain-enervating habits, to discern sacred truth, through which they are to be sanctified, refined, elevated, and made fit for the society of heavenly angels in the kingdom of glory.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 162 par. 1. {3T 162.1}
3. DIET AFFECTS SPIRITUALITY
“…whatever affects the body has a corresponding effect on the mind and the soul….” The Ministry of Healing, p. 315 par. 2. {MH 315.2}
“True temperance teaches us to dispense entirely with everything hurtful and to use judiciously that which is healthful. There are few who realize as they should how much their habits of diet have to do with their health, their character, their usefulness in this world, and their eternal destiny. The appetite should ever be in subjection to the moral and intellectual powers. The body should be servant to the mind, and not the mind to the body.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 562 par. 1. {PP 562.1}
“There are but few who are roused sufficiently to understand how much their habits of diet affect their health, their character, their usefulness in this world, and their eternal destiny. I saw that it is the duty of those who have received the light from heaven, and have realized the benefit of walking in it, to manifest a greater interest for those who are still suffering for want of knowledge. Sabbath-keepers who are looking for the soon appearing of their Saviour should be the last to manifest a lack of interest in this great work of reform. Men and women must be instructed, and ministers and people should feel that the burden of the work rests upon them to agitate the subject and seek to educate others.” Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, p. 154 par. 3. {CTBH 154.3}
“Eating has much to do with religion. The spiritual experience is greatly affected by the way in which the stomach is treated. Eating and drinking in accordance with the laws of health promote virtuous actions. But if the stomach is abused by habits that have no foundation in nature, Satan takes advantage of the wrong that has been done and uses the stomach as an enemy of righteousness, creating a disturbance which affects the entire being. Sacred things are not appreciated. Spiritual zeal diminishes. Peace of mind is lost. There is dissension, strife, and discord. Impatient words are spoken and unkind deeds are done; dishonest practices are followed and anger is manifested–and all because the nerves of the brain are disturbed by the abuse heaped on the stomach.” Counsels on Health, p. 577 par. 4. {CH 577.4}
“…The better you observe the laws of health, the more clearly can you discern temptations, and resist them, and the more clearly can you discern the value of eternal things.–Youth’s Instructor, Aug. 25, 1886, p. 135.” Temperance, p. 188 par. 3. {Te 188.3} (see also {ML 141.5})
BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR A HEALTHY DIET
How does the body get what it needs to be healthy?
Besides exercise, the primary way is from what we eat. The food we eat is converted into blood by the digestive organs. Blood contains the “life” or the life giving elements (Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:11 and 14, Deuteronomy 12:23). It consists of nutrients, water, oxygen, and disease fighting components, which are distributed to the entire body by the circulatory system. A correct diet will supply adequate nutrients and healing elements to the blood and body.
“In order to have good health, we must have good blood; for the blood is the current of life. It repairs waste and nourishes the body. When supplied with the proper food elements and when cleansed and vitalized by contact with pure air, it carries life and vigor to every part of the system. The more perfect the circulation, the better will this work be accomplished.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 271 par. 2. {MH 271.2}
“Our bodies are built up from the food we eat. There is a constant breaking down of the tissues of the body; every movement of every organ involves waste, and this waste is repaired from our food. Each organ of the body requires its share of nutrition. The brain must be supplied with its portion; the bones, muscles, and nerves demand theirs. It is a wonderful process that transforms the food into blood and uses this blood to build up the varied parts of the body; but this process is going on continually, supplying with life and strength each nerve, muscle, and tissue.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 295 par. 1. {MH 295.1}
“We are to be guarded how to use reason and select those articles of food that will make the very best blood and keep the blood in an unfevered condition.–Manuscript 5, 1881.” Selected Messages, book 3, p. 287 par. 3. {3SM 287.3}
“Great care should be taken to form right habits of eating and drinking. The food eaten should be that which will make the best blood. …” Counsels on Health, p. 576 par. 2. {CH 576.2}
HOW TO MAKE GOOD BLOOD
The following is an outline of what is required to make good blood and a healthy body. Each category will be explained in more detail hereafter:
- B. DIET ADAPTED TO THE INDIVIDUAL
- C. ADEQUATE VARIETY OF FOODS FOR ADEQUATE NUTRITION
- D. PROPER DIGESTION, WHICH IS ACCOMPLISHED BY:
- PALATABLE OR TASTY FOOD
- NOT TOO MANY KINDS OF FOODS AT ONE MEAL
- NOT TOO MUCH FOOD (OVEREATING)
- PROPER FOOD COMBINATIONS
- NO STIMULANTS OR FERMENTATION IN DIGESTIVE PROCESS
- E. GOOD EATING HABITS
THE CONSEQUENCES OF HAVING BAD BLOOD
“Because principle requires us to discard those things that irritate the stomach and impair health, we should remember that an impoverished diet produces poverty of the blood. Cases of disease most difficult to cure result from this cause. The system is not sufficiently nourished, and dyspepsia and general debility are the result.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 321 par. 3. {MH 321.3}
“…The eating of food that does not make good blood is working against the laws of our physical organism, and is a violation of the law of God. The cause produces the effect. Suffering, disease, and death are the sure penalty of indulgence.– Letter 123, 1899.” Evangelism, p. 265 par. 4. {Ev 265.4}
“…Foul blood will surely becloud the moral and intellectual powers, and arouse and strengthen the baser passions of your nature. …” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 64 par. 2. {CD 64.2}
A. GOOD QUALITY FOOD
The best quality meals are made from fresh and ripe foods prepared from their most natural state. Foods from the home garden are best, because they can be grown in the most simple and wholesome way, in nutrient rich soil. When purchasing manufactured (packaged) food, the principle to follow is that less refined foods provide better nutrients. Food should be chosen that has whole, unrefined grains and few unfamiliar, unnatural substances.
“Families and institutions should learn to do more in the cultivation and improvement of land. If people only knew the value of the products of the ground, which the earth brings forth in their season, more diligent efforts would be made to cultivate the soil. All should be acquainted with the special value of fruit and vegetables fresh from the orchard and garden.” The Paulson Collection of Ellen G. White Letters, p. 313 par. 3. {PC 313.3}
“Fine-flour bread does not impart to the system the nourishment that is to be found in unbolted-wheat bread. Its common use will not keep the system in the best condition.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 236 par. 2. {CD 236.2}
“The science of cooking is not a small matter. . . . This art should be regarded as the most valuable of all the arts, because it is so closely connected with life. It should receive more attention; for in order to make good blood, the system requires good food. The foundation of that which keeps people in health is the medical missionary work of good cooking.” Child Guidance, p. 372, par. 1. {CG 372.1}
“Your food has not been of the right quantity or quality. You have eaten too largely and of a poor quality of food which could not be converted into good blood.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 74 par. 1. {3T 74.1}
DECAYED OR POOR QUALITY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
“Nicely prepared vegetables and fruits in their season will be beneficial, if they are of the best quality, not showing the slightest sign of decay, but are sound and unaffected by any disease or decay. More die by eating decayed fruit and decayed vegetables which ferment in the stomach and result in blood poisoning, than we have any idea of.—Letter 12, 1887” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 309 par. 6. {CD 309.6}
“Poor, half-decayed fruit and vegetables should never be placed upon the table because it is a savings of a few pennies. This kind of management is a loss, and the body that should be nourished as a temple of the Holy Ghost and be fitted to do the very best kind of work is neglected. …” The Retirement Years, p. 127 par. 2. {RY 127.2}
“Let there be a plentiful supply of fruits and vegetables that are in a good condition. Overripe fruit or wilted vegetables ought not to be used.” The Signs of the Times, September 30, 1897, par. 6. {ST September 30, 1897, par. 6}
“Care should be taken to have all food in as good condition as possible. In the end, good food is the cheapest. Vegetables that are stale or of poor quality are likely to be unpalatable and unwholesome. So with fruits. Ripe and fresh, they are as wholesome as they are delicious; but green, partly decayed, or overripe fruit should never be eaten raw. When cooked, unripe fruit is less objectionable. So far as possible, however, we should use fruit in its natural state. The more we accustom ourselves to use it fresh from the tree, the greater will be our enjoyment of fruit, and the more benefit we shall receive from its use.” Pacific Health Journal, July 1, 1905 par. 7. {PHJ July 1, 1905, par. 7}
B. DIET ADAPTED TO THE INDIVIDUAL
“There is real common sense in dietetic reform. The subject should be studied broadly and deeply, and no one should criticize others because their practice is not, in all things, in harmony with his own. It is impossible to make an unvarying rule to regulate everyone’s habits, and no one should think himself a criterion for all. Not all can eat the same things. Foods that are palatable and wholesome to one person may be distasteful, and even harmful, to another. Some cannot use milk, while others thrive on it. Some persons cannot digest peas and beans; others find them wholesome. For some the coarser grain preparations are good food, while others cannot use them.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 319 par. 2. {MH 319.2}
“Our bodies are constructed from what we eat; and in order to make tissues of good quality, we must have the right kind of food, and it must be prepared with such skill as will best adapt it to the wants of the system. It is a religious duty for those who cook, to learn how to prepare healthful food in a variety of ways, so that it may be both palatable and healthful. Poor cookery is wearing away the life energies of thousands. More souls are lost from this cause than many realize. It deranges the system and produces disease. In the condition thus induced, heavenly things cannot be readily discerned.” Counsels on Health, p. 116 par. 3. {CH 116.3}
“But not all foods wholesome in themselves are equally suited to our needs under all circumstances. Care should be taken in the selection of food. Our diet should be suited to the season, to the climate in which we live, and to the occupation we follow. Some foods that are adapted for use at one season or in one climate are not suited to another. So there are different foods best suited for persons in different occupations. Often food that can be used with benefit by those engaged in hard physical labor is unsuitable for persons of sedentary pursuits or intense mental application. God has given us an ample variety of healthful foods, and each person should choose from it the things that experience and sound judgment prove to be best suited to his own necessities.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 296 par. 2.{MH 296.2}
“There is a wide difference in constitutions and temperaments, and the demands of the system differ greatly in different persons. What would be food for one, might be poison for another; so precise rules cannot be laid down to fit every case. I cannot eat beans, for they are poison to me; but for me to say that for this reason no one must eat them would be simply ridiculous. I cannot eat a spoonful of milk gravy, or milk toast, without suffering in consequence; but other members of my family can eat these things, and realize no such effect; therefore I take that which suits my stomach best, and they do the same. We have no words, no contention; all moves along harmoniously in my large family, for I do not attempt to dictate what they shall or shall not eat.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 494 par. 1. {CD 494.1}
“We cannot regulate the diet question by making any rule. Some can eat beans and dried peas, but to me this diet is painful. It is like poison. Some have appetites and taste for certain things, and assimilate them well. Others have no appetite for these articles. So one rule cannot be made for everyone.–Manuscript 15, 1889.” Selected Messages, book 3, p. 294 par. 4. {3SM 294.4}
C. ADEQUATE VARIETY FOR ADEQUATE NUTRITION
The body needs a variety of different vitamins and minerals, and therefore, the diet should not be extremely limited to only a few items of food with no variation. We should eat a reasonable variety of the fruits and vegetables available in the local area.
“The grains, with fruits, nuts, and vegetables, contain all the nutritive properties necessary to make good blood.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 316 par. 2. {MH 316.2}
“But while we would recommend simplicity in diet, let it be understood that we do not recommend a meager diet. Let there be a plentiful supply of fruits and vegetables that are in a good condition.” The Signs of the Times, September 30, 1897 par. 6. {ST, 30 de septiembre, 1897 párr. 6}
“Here is one reason why some have not been successful in their efforts to simplify their food. They have a poverty-stricken diet. Food is prepared without painstaking, and there is a continual sameness. There should not be many kinds at any one meal, but all meals should not be composed of the same kinds of food without variation. Food should be prepared with simplicity, yet with a nicety which will invite the appetite.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 63 par. 1. {2T 63.1}
“There are some who go to extremes. They must eat just such an amount and just such a quality, and confine themselves to two or three things. They allow only a few things to be placed before them or their families to eat. In eating a small amount of food, and that not of the best quality, they do not take into the stomach that which will suitably nourish the system. Poor food cannot be converted into good blood. An impoverished diet will impoverish the blood.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 199 par. 1. {CD 199.1}
D. PROPER DIGESTION
“Health and happiness depend upon the healthy condition of the stomach. …” Pamphlet 123, p. 42 par. 2. {PH123 42.2}
“…The delicate organs of digestion should be respected. God requires us, by being temperate in all things, to act our part toward keeping ourselves in health. He cannot enlighten the mind of a man who makes a cesspool of his stomach. He does not hear the prayers of those who are walking in the light of the sparks of their own kindling.” Counsels on Health, p. 576 par. 2. {CH 576.2}
Cesspool: sewage tank
“The sin of intemperate eating–eating too frequently, too much, and of rich, unwholesome food–destroys the healthy action of the digestive organs, affects the brain, and perverts the judgment, preventing rational, calm, healthy thinking and acting.” Child Guidance, p. 398 par. 4. {CG 398.4}
There are several things that can affect digestion and the quality of the blood. The following should be considered in order to have proper digestion:
• PALATABLE OR TASTY FOOD
“…It is important that we relish the food we eat. If we cannot do this, but eat mechanically, we fail to be nourished and built up as we would be if we could enjoy the food we take into the stomach. We are composed of what we eat. In order to make a good quality of blood, we must have the right kind of food, prepared in a right manner.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 681 par. 3. {1T 681.3}
“There is a class who seem to think that whatever is eaten is lost, that anything tossed into the stomach to fill it, will do as well as food prepared with intelligence and care. But it is important that we relish the food we eat. If we cannot, and have to eat mechanically, we fail to receive the proper nourishment.” Counsels on Health, p. 116 par. 3. {CH 116.3}
“The state of the mind has largely to do with the health of the body, and especially with the health of the digestive organs. …” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 375 par. 2. {CD 375.2}
“Unless the food is prepared in a wholesome, palatable manner, it cannot be converted into good blood to build up the wasting tissues.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 538 par. 1. {2T 538.1}
“Food should be prepared with simplicity, yet with a nicety which will invite the appetite.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 63 par. 1. {2T 63.1}
“The meals should be varied. The same dishes, prepared in the same way, should not appear on the table meal after meal and day after day. The meals are eaten with greater relish, and the system is better nourished, when the food is varied.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 300 par. 1. {MH 300.1}
“Often health reform is made health deform by the unpalatable preparation of food. The lack of knowledge regarding healthful cookery must be remedied before health reform is a success.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 263 par. 2. {CD 263.2}
ADAPTING THE TASTE TO HEALTHFUL FOOD
“Persons who have accustomed themselves to a rich, highly stimulating diet have an unnatural taste, and they cannot at once relish food that is plain and simple. It will take time for the taste to become natural and for the stomach to recover from the abuse it has suffered. But those who persevere in the use of wholesome food will, after a time, find it palatable. Its delicate and delicious flavors will be appreciated, and it will be eaten with greater enjoyment than can be derived from unwholesome dainties. And the stomach, in a healthy condition, neither fevered nor overtaxed, can readily perform its task.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 298 par. 3. {MH 298.3}
“Persons who have indulged their appetite to eat freely of meat, highly seasoned gravies, and various kinds of rich cakes and preserves, cannot immediately relish a plain, wholesome, and nutritious diet. Their taste is so perverted they have no appetite for a wholesome diet of fruits, plain bread, and vegetables. They need not expect to relish at first food so different from that which they have been indulging themselves to eat. If they cannot at first enjoy plain food, they should fast until they can. That fast will prove to them of greater benefit than medicine, for the abused stomach will find that rest which it has long needed, and real hunger can be satisfied with a plain diet. It will take time for the taste to recover from the abuses which it has received, and to gain its natural tone. But perseverance in a self-denying course of eating and drinking will soon make plain, wholesome food palatable, and it will soon be eaten with greater satisfaction than the epicure enjoys over his rich dainties.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 158 par. 3. {CD 158.3}
• NOT TOO MANY KINDS OF FOODS AT ONE MEAL
“We must care for the digestive organs, and not force upon them a great variety of food. He who gorges himself with many kinds of food at a meal is doing himself injury. It is more important that we eat that which will agree with us than that we taste of every dish that may be placed before us. There is no door in our stomach by which we can look in and see what is going on; so we must use our mind, and reason from cause to effect. If you feel all wrought up, and everything seems to go wrong, perhaps it is because you are suffering the consequences of eating a great variety of food.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 111 par. 4. {CD 111.4}
“There should not be a great variety at any one meal, for this encourages overeating and causes indigestion.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 299 par. 6. {MH 299.6}
“The stomach suffers when so many kinds of food are placed in it at one meal. Simplicity is a part of health reform. There is danger that our work shall cease to merit the name which it has borne.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 275 par. 4. {CD 275.4}
“The variety of food at one meal causes unpleasantness, and destroys the good which each article, if taken alone, would do the system. This practice causes constant suffering, and often death.—Letter 54, 1896” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 110 par. 4. {CD 110.4}
HOW MANY ITEMS?
“Do not have too great a variety at a meal; three or four dishes are a plenty. At the next meal you can have a change….” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 109 par. 5. {CD 109.5}
“I make myself a criterion for no one else. There are things that I cannot eat without suffering great distress. I try to learn that which is best for me, and then saying nothing to any one, I partake of the things that I can eat, which often are simply two or three varieties that will not create a disturbance in the stomach.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 493 par. 5. {CD 493.5}
“If your work is sedentary, take exercise every day, and at each meal eat only two or three kinds of simple food, taking no more of these than will satisfy the demands of hunger.—Letter 73a, 1896” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 110 par. 5. {CD 110.5}
• NOT TOO MUCH FOOD (OVEREATING)
“Any unnecessary burden placed on the stomach will becloud the brain….” Manuscript Releases, vol. 13, p. 203 par. 2. {13MR 203.2}
“The digestive organs should never be burdened with a quantity or quality of food which it will tax the system to appropriate. All that is taken into the stomach, above what the system can use to convert into good blood, clogs the machinery; for it cannot be made into either flesh or blood, and its presence burdens the liver, and produces a morbid condition of the system. The stomach is overworked in its efforts to dispose of it, and then there is a sense of languor, which is interpreted to mean hunger, and without allowing the digestive organs time to rest from their severe labor, to recruit their energies, another immoderate amount is taken into the stomach, to set the weary machinery again in motion. The system receives less nourishment from too great a quantity of food, even of the right quality, than from a moderate quantity taken at regular periods.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 103 par. 1. {CD 103.1}
“If more food is eaten than can be digested and appropriated, a decaying mass accumulates in the stomach, causing an offensive breath and a bad taste in the mouth. The vital powers are exhausted in an effort to throw off the excess, and the brain is robbed of nerve force. Less food would have nourished the system, and not wasted its powers in overwork.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 425 par. 3. {FE 425.3}
• PROPER FOOD COMBINATIONS
“The digestive organs have an important part to act in our life happiness. God has given us intelligence, that we may learn what we should use as food. Shall we not, as sensible men and women, study whether the things we eat will be in agreement, or whether they will cause trouble? People who have a sour stomach are very often of a sour disposition. Everything seems to be contrary to them, and they are inclined to be peevish and irritable. If we would have peace among ourselves, we should give more thought than we do to having a peaceful stomach.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 112 par. 1. {CD 112.1}
“Knowledge in regard to proper food combinations is of great worth, and is to be received as wisdom from God.—Letter 213, 1902” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 109 par. 4. {CD 109.4}
“Disturbance is created by improper combinations of food; fermentation sets in; the blood is contaminated and the brain confused.
“The habit of overeating, or of eating too many kinds of food at one meal, frequently causes dyspepsia. Serious injury is thus done to the delicate digestive organs. In vain the stomach protests and appeals to the brain to reason from cause to effect. The excessive amount of food eaten, or the improper combination, does its injurious work. In vain do disagreeable premonitions give warning. Suffering is the consequence. Disease takes the place of health.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 7, p. 257 par. 2-3. {7T 257.2-3}
“In the use of foods we should exercise good, sound common sense. …Change the diet; use less of some foods; try other preparations. Soon we shall know the effect that certain combinations have on us. As intelligent human beings let us individually study the principles and use our experience and judgment in deciding what foods are best for us.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 7 p. 133 par. 3. {7T 133.3}
“I consider that one reason why I have been able to do so much work both in speaking and in writing, is because I am strictly temperate in my eating. If several varieties of food are placed before me, I endeavor to choose only those that I know will agree. Thus I am enabled to preserve clear mental faculties. I refuse to place in my stomach knowingly anything that will set up fermentation. This is the duty of all health reformers. We must reason from cause to effect. It is our duty to be temperate in all things.—Letter 50, 1908” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 493 par. 3. {CD 493.3}
COUNSELS ON SPECIFIC FOOD COMBINATIONS
Correct combinations:
- fruit with bread (grains)
- vegetables with bread (grains)
- puddings and custards with bread (grains)
- nuts with grains and fruits
- nuts with grains and some roots
Incorrect combinations:
- Fruits with vegetables
- Vegetables with fruit and sweet desserts
- Sour fruit with milk
- Milk with sugar
- Foods with lots of sugar
- Foods with grease
COMBINATION: FRUIT WITH VEGETABLES
“It is not well to eat fruit and vegetables at the same meal. If the digestion is feeble, the use of both will often cause distress and inability to put forth mental effort. It is better to have the fruit at one meal and the vegetables at another.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 299 par. 7. {MH 299.7} (see also{CD 112.3})
“If we would preserve the best health, we should avoid eating vegetables and fruit at the same meal. If the stomach is feeble, there will be distress, the brain will be confused, and unable to put forth mental effort. Have fruit at one meal and vegetables at the next. . . .” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 394 par. 3. {CD 394.3}
“We do not recommend a meager diet, but a plentiful supply of fruit and vegetables; but both ought not to be used at the same meal. At one meal eat only one or two kinds of food, such as bread and fruit; at the next meal, bread and vegetables. The placing of a large variety of dishes upon the table is not for the health of those who partake of the dishes.” Manuscript 111, 1894, par. 2. {Ms111-1894, par. 2}
“In the night seasons, it seemed that Elder —– was taken sick, and an experienced physician said to you, ‘I took notice of your diet. You eat too great a variety at one meal. Fruit and vegetables taken at one meal produce acidity of the stomach; then impurity of the blood results, and the mind is not clear because the digestion is imperfect.’ You should understand that every organ of the body is to be treated with respect. In the matter of diet, you must reason from cause to effect.—Letter 312, 1908” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 112 par. 6. {CD 112.6}
“The juices of fruit, mingled with bread, will be highly enjoyed. Good, ripe, undecayed fruit is a thing we should thank the Lord for, because it is beneficial to health.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 437 par. 1. {CD 437.1}
Exception: Lemon juice with vegetable
“My thistle greens, nicely cooked, and seasoned with sterilized cream and lemon juice, are very appetizing.…” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 324 par. 1. {CD 324.1}
COMBINATION: VEGETABLES WITH FRUIT AND DESERTS
“As applied to diet, true hygiene demands the intelligent selection of the most healthful articles of food, prepared in the simplest and most healthful manner. It is customary to provide a variety of vegetables and other articles of diet for the first course at dinner. Then fashion requires that dessert shall come on the table in puddings, custards, or other kinds of sweets. To introduce such combinations into the stomach after partaking of vegetables and fruit is anything but wise. A large share of the endless mixtures called health reform dishes is in reality anything but healthful. Grains and fruits, or vegetables with bread and accompaniments, are all that the system needs. …” The Signs of the Times, September 30, 1897, par. 4. {ST September 30, 1897, par. 4}
“Puddings, custards, sweet cake, and vegetables, all served at the same meal, will cause a disturbance in the stomach.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 112 par. 5. {CD 112.5}
“…if we must have puddings and custards, let bread and these articles form the meal.” The Signs of the Times, September 30, 1897 par. 6. {ST, September 30, 1897 par. 6}
“Plain, simple pie may serve as dessert, but when one eats two or three pieces merely to gratify an inordinate appetite, he unfits himself for the service of God. Some, after partaking largely of other food, will take dessert, not because they need it, but because it tastes good. … —Letter 17, 1895” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 333 par. 5. {CD 333.5}
COMBINIATION: SOUR/ACID FRUIT WITH MILK
“I have a word of caution for Brother Gates. He is a nervous dyspeptic. I noticed he ate fruit and milk mixed. Sour fruits or even subacid fruits mixed will certainly increase his difficulties. Now I hope he will not be careless in the diet question, but be exceedingly careful. It would be more favorable for him to eat meat occasionally than to eat many things in the fruit and vegetable line. If he is strict to eat only vegetables at one meal and fruit at the next and [not] eat both at the same time, he can do much toward a more healthy condition of the digestive organs. If he will avoid putting milk or cream in his sauce, he will find less difficulty in taking care of his food. I hope, Elder Gates, you will be a very strict sentinel over your appetite in this respect.” Letter 49a, 1892 {Lt49a-1892} [note: EGW often refers to fruit sauce as sauce]
COMBINATION: MILK WITH SUGAR
“Sugar and milk used at the same time is hard for the digestive organs, clogs the machinery.” Letter 5, 1870 {Lt5-1870}
“Far too much sugar is ordinarily used in food. Cakes, sweet puddings, pastries, jellies, jams, are active causes of indigestion. Especially harmful are the custards and puddings in which milk, eggs, and sugar are the chief ingredients. The free use of milk and sugar taken together should be avoided.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 301 par. 4. {MH 301.4}
“…If for dessert sweet cake is eaten with milk or cream, fermentation will be created in the stomach, and then the weak points of the human organism will tell the story. The brain will be affected by the disturbance in the stomach. …” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 334 par. 5. {CD 334.5}
NUTS
“Nuts and nut foods are coming largely into use to take the place of flesh meats. With nuts may be combined grains, fruits, and some roots, to make foods that are healthful and nourishing. Care should be taken, however, not to use too large a proportion of nuts. Those who realize ill effects from the use of nut foods may find the difficulty removed by attending to this precaution. It should be remembered, too, that some nuts are not so wholesome as others. Almonds are preferable to peanuts, but peanuts in limited quantities, used in connection with grains, are nourishing and digestible.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 298 par. 1. {MH 298.1}
GREASE COOKED IN FOOD
“…The grease cooked in the food renders it difficult of digestion. …” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 368 par. 6. {CD 368.6}
“You should keep grease out of your food. It defiles any preparation of food you may make.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 63 par. 1. {2T 63.1}
“There are but few who eat to the glory of God. How can those who have cake and pie crust filled with grease ask God’s blessing upon it and then eat with an eye single to God’s glory? We are commanded to do all to the glory of God. We must eat and drink to His glory.—Manuscript 3, 1854, 8-10.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 7, p. 370 par. 1. {7MR 370.1}
“Grains and fruits prepared free from grease, and in as natural a condition as possible, should be the food for the tables of all who claim to be preparing for translation to heaven. The less feverish the diet, the more easily can the passions be controlled. Gratification of taste should not be consulted irrespective of physical, intellectual, or moral health.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 352 par. 1. {2T 352.1}
• NO FERMENTATION OR STIMULANTS IN DIGESTIVE PROCESS
Fermentation negatively affects blood, disturbs digestion, and unnaturally stimulates the nervous system. Fermentation, therefore, should be avoided in the digestive system. Fermented foods that should be discarded from the diet include all alcoholic beverages, any items containing vinegar, and cured (non-fresh) cheeses. There are certain foods that have a small amount of fermentation, which the world promotes as beneficial to the digestive system. This includes yogurt and other probiotic items, sourkraut, soy sauce, miso, tempeh, kombucha, kefir, and kimchi. While the Spirit of Prophecy does not mention these specific foods, it is likely that they should be avoided because of the fermentation. Adding “good bacteria” in to your body may only be necessary occasionally or for medicinal purposes during sickness. A good, balanced diet of unfermented foods should provide all that is needed for a healthy digestive system.
Certain foods, although not eaten in a fermented state, can cause fermentation during the digestive process. This includes foods high in sugar, flesh meat, and incorrect food combinations.
Fermentation is not the only thing that can cause unnatural stimulation of the nervous system. Stimulation is also caused by some unfermented foods. Spices, tea (containing caffeine) and coffee (containing caffeine) contain substances that stimulate the nervous system. This stimulation should be avoided also.
Ellen White explains what happens when fermentation takes place in the stomach.
“…fermentation takes place in the stomach, and the food does not digest, but decays or putrefies; as a consequence, the blood is not nourished, but becomes filled with impurities, and liver and kidney difficulties appear.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 345 par. 6. {CD 345.6}
“I refuse to place in my stomach knowingly anything that will set up fermentation. This is the duty of all health reformers. We must reason from cause to effect. It is our duty to be temperate in all things.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 493 par. 3. {CD 493.3}
STIMULANTING SUBSTANCES OR FOODS
“The principles of temperance must be carried further than the mere use of spirituous liquors. The use of stimulating and indigestible food is often equally injurious to health and in many cases sows the seeds of drunkenness.” Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 2, p. 394 par. 4. {2MCP 394.4}
“Under the head of stimulants and narcotics is classed a great variety of articles that, altogether, used as food or drink irritate the stomach, poison the blood, and excite the nerves. Their use is a positive evil. Men seek the excitement of stimulants, because, for the time, the results are agreeable. But there is always a reaction. The use of unnatural stimulants always tends to excess, and it is an active agent in promoting physical degeneration and decay.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 339 par. 2. {CD 339.2}
“Through the use of stimulants, the whole system suffers. The nerves are unbalanced, the liver is morbid in its action, the quality and circulation of the blood are affected, and the skin becomes inactive and sallow. The mind, too, is injured. The immediate influence of these stimulants is to excite the brain to undue activity, only to leave it weaker and less capable of exertion. The aftereffect is prostration, not only mental and physical, but moral. As a result we see nervous men and women, of unsound judgment and unbalanced mind. They often manifest a hasty, impatient, accusing spirit, viewing the faults of others as through a magnifying glass, and utterly unable to discern their own defects.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 422 par. 3. {CD 422.3}
“Do not in any way encourage an appetite for stimulants. Eat only plain, simple, wholesome food, and thank God constantly for the principles of health reform. In all things be true and upright, and you will gain precious victories.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, p. 162 par. 4. {9T 162.4}
“Gross and stimulating food fevers the blood, excites the nervous system, and too often dulls the moral perceptions, so that reason and conscience are overborne by the sensual impulses.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 243 par. 3. {CD 243.3}
SPECIFIC FOODS
The following are counsels on specific, stimulating foods that should be avoided.
- VARIOUS STIMULATING FOODS, CONDIMENTS, AND SPICES
“Food prepared with condiments and spices inflames the stomach, corrupts the blood, and paves the way to stronger stimulants. It induces nervous debility, impatience, and lack of self-control. Tobacco and the wine cup follow.–Signs of the Times, Oct. 27, 1887.” Temperance, p. 57 par. 3. {Te 57.3}
“Flesh meats, butter, cheese, rich pastry, spiced foods, and condiments are freely partaken of by both old and young. These things do their work in deranging the stomach, exciting the nerves, and enfeebling the intellect. The blood-making organs cannot convert such things into good blood.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 236 par. 2. {CD 236.2}
“Rum, tobacco, opium, increase the action of the pulse, but as soon as the immediate effect is gone, the system sinks down below par, as much as it was elevated above par. This is the effect of the use of mustard, pepper, and spices, tea, coffee, and all of these drugs. For a time they seem to have a good effect, quickening the circulation, but it is not a healthful quickening, and a reaction is the result.” Letter 100, November 3, 1898, par. 7. {Lt100-1898 (November 3, 1898) par. 7}
“Condiments, so frequently used by those of the world, are ruinous to the digestion.
“In this fast age, the less exciting the food, the better. Condiments are injurious in their nature. Mustard, pepper, spices, pickles, and other things of a like character, irritate the stomach and make the blood feverish and impure. The inflamed condition of the drunkard’s stomach is often pictured as illustrating the effect of alcoholic liquors. A similarly inflamed condition is produced by the use of irritating condiments. Soon ordinary food does not satisfy the appetite. The system feels a want, a craving, for something more stimulating.
“Some have so indulged their taste, that unless they have the very article of food it calls for, they find no pleasure in eating. If condiments and spiced foods are placed before them, they make the stomach work by applying this fiery whip; for it has been so treated that it will not acknowledge unstimulating food.
“Spices at first irritate the tender coating of the stomach, but finally destroy the natural sensitiveness of this delicate membrane. The blood becomes fevered, the animal propensities are aroused, while the moral and intellectual powers are weakened and become servants to the baser passions.” Counsels for the Church, p. 223 par. 6-9. {CCh 223.6-9}
“You have perhaps seen a picture of the stomach of one who is addicted to strong drink. A similar condition is produced under the irritating influence of fiery spices. With the stomach in such a state, there is a craving for something more to meet the demands of the appetite, something stronger, and still stronger.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 340 par. 3. {CD 340.3}
“Teach your children to abhor stimulants. Do not place luxurious dishes before the children,–spiced foods, rich gravies, cakes, and pastries. This highly seasoned food irritates the stomach, and causes a craving for still stronger stimulants.…
“Under the irritating influence of fiery spices, as well as under that of strong drinks, the stomach becomes of a fiery red color. With the stomach in such a state, there is a craving for something more to meet the demands of the appetite, something stronger, and still stronger.” The Signs of the Times, August 10, 1915, par. 5-6. {ST, August 10, 1915 par. 5-6}
“I had used pepper and mustard in my diet; but these should not be put into the human stomach. The delicate membrane becomes inflamed, the healthy tone of the stomach is lowered, and the appetite is perverted, the taste loses its discernment, and the delicious flavors of grains, vegetables, and fruits become insipid and unpalatable.” The Signs of the Times, February 17, 1888, par. 5. {ST February 17, 1888, par. 5}
“Cake was brought into our tent. I ate a small piece, and my stomach refused to retain it; it was spiced with cinnamon. If my stomach would not acknowledge this as food, but rebelled against it, what condition must these be in who partook of this food every day.…” The Review and Herald, July 19, 1870, par. 5. {RH, July 19, 1870 par. 5}
- FLESH MEAT
“Flesh food also is harmful. Its naturally stimulating effect should be a sufficient argument against its use; and the almost universally diseased condition of animals makes it doubly objectionable. It tends to irritate the nerves and to excite the passions, thus giving the balance of power to the lower propensities.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 397 par. 1. {CD 397.1}
“When the use of flesh food is discontinued, there is often a sense of weakness, a lack of vigor. Many urge this as evidence that flesh food is essential; but it is because foods of this class are stimulating, because they fever the blood and excite the nerves, that they are so missed. Some will find it as difficult to leave off flesh eating as it is for the drunkard to give up his dram; but they will be the better for the change.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 316 par. 3. {MH 316.3}
- TEA AND COFFEE (CAFFEINATED)
“Tea and coffee, as well as tobacco, have an injurious effect upon the system. Tea is intoxicating; though less in degree, its effect is the same in character as that of spirituous liquors. Coffee has a greater tendency to becloud the intellect and benumb the energies. It is not so powerful as tobacco, but is similar in its effects. The arguments brought against tobacco may also be urged against the use of tea and coffee.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 426 par. 1. {CD 426.1}
“…all should bear a clear testimony against tea and coffee, never using them. They are narcotics, injurious alike to the brain and to the other organs of the body….” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 430 par. 3. {CD 430.3}
“You say again, ‘They are not educated in regard to the injurious effects of meat eating and of using sugar and vinegar, tea and coffee. That is, they depend for their herb drink on tea from China and coffee from Java. These things are injurious and deleterious to the human system. Tea and coffee are stimulants and poisons, and their effects have been presented before them.’” Manuscript Releases, vol. 20, p. 2 par. 4. {20MR 2.4}
“All these nerve irritants are wearing away the life forces, and the restlessness, the impatience, the mental feebleness caused by shattered nerves become a warring element, ever working against spiritual progress. Shall Christians bring their appetite under the control of reason, or will they continue its indulgence because they feel so ‘let down’ without it, like the drunkard without his stimulant? Shall not those who advocate temperance reform awake in regard to these injurious things also? And shall not the pledge embrace coffee and tea as hurtful stimulants?” Counsels on Health, p. 442 par. 2. {CH 442.2}
“Tea acts as a stimulants and, to a certain extent, produces intoxication. The action of coffee and many other popular drinks is similar. The first effect is exhilarating. The nerves of the stomach are excited; these convey irritation to the brain, and this in turn is aroused to impart increased action to the heart and short-lived energy to the entire system. Fatigue is forgotten; the strength seems to be increased. The intellect is aroused, the imagination becomes more vivid.
“Because of these results, many suppose that their tea or coffee is doing them great good. But this is a mistake. Tea and coffee do not nourish the system. Their effect is produced before there has been time for digestion and assimilation, and what seems to be strength is only nervous excitement. When the influence of the stimulant is gone, the unnatural force abates, and the result is a corresponding degree of languor and debility.
“The continued use of these nerve irritants is followed by headache, wakefulness, palpitation of the heart, indigestion, trembling, and many other evils; for they wear away the life forces. Tired nerves need rest and quiet instead of stimulation and overwork. Nature needs time to recuperate her exhausted energies. When her forces are goaded on by the use of stimulants, more will be accomplished for a time; but, as the system becomes debilitated by their constant use, it gradually becomes more difficult to rouse the energies to the desired point. The demand for stimulants becomes more difficult to control, until the will is overborne and there seems to be no power to deny the unnatural craving. Stronger and still stronger stimulants are called for, until exhausted nature can no longer respond.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 326 par. 1-3 {MH 326.1-3} also {CD 424.3}
EXCEPTIONS
Not all tea or coffee is harmful. The Spirit of Prophecy counsels reveal that some herb teas, which are naturally caffeine free, are acceptable. There are many herb teas that are useful as remedies for sickness. Also, coffee made from toasted cereal has no caffeine and is acceptable. When the counsels are correctly harmonized, it is concluded that the stimulating element, or caffeine, in the tea and coffee is what should be avoided.
“‘Crackers’–the English biscuit–or zwieback, and fruit, or cereal coffee, are the foods best suited for the evening meal.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 321 par. 1. {MH 321.1}
“I am not guilty of drinking any tea except red-clover-top tea, and if I loved wine, tea, and coffee, I would not use these health-destroying narcotics, for I prize health and I prize a healthful example in all these things. I want to be a pattern of temperance and of good works to others.–Letter 12, 1888.” Selected Messages, book 2, p. 302 par. 6. {2SM 302.6}
“…We never use tea or coffee. Occasionally I have used red-clover-blossom tea for a warm drink, but few of my family drink any fluid at our meals. …” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 492 par. 1. {CD 492.1}
MEDICINAL TEA
“In the morning he said he felt rather bad. I prepared a cup of weak red pepper tea….” Letter 9, 1877 {Lt9-1877}
“I had an ill turn that night. The wind came up while we were searching for a place to rest. I think I took cold. I was in such severe pain I called for cayenne pepper and obtained some relief, but the same kind of a cold I had when at San Diego was upon me. …” Letter 353, August 27, 1905, par. 3. {Lt353-1905 (August 27, 1905) par. 3}
“Once when crossing the waters I was sick and could retain nothing on my stomach and I did take a little weak tea as a medicine, but I don’t want any of you again to make the remark that ‘Sister White uses tea.’ If you will come to my house I will show you the bag that contains my herb drink. I send to Michigan, across the mountains, and get the red-clover top. In regard to coffee, I never could drink it, so those who reported that Sister White drinks coffee made a mistake.– Manuscript 3, 1888.” Selected Messages, book 2, p. 301 par. 5. {2SM 301.5}
“A cup of tea made from catnip herb will quiet the nerves. {2SM 297.4}
“Hop tea will induce sleep. …” Selected Messages, book 2, p. 297 par. 4-5. {2SM 297.5}
- BAKING SODA (inflammation)
Baking soda is not a stimulant, but it causes inflammation in the stomach.
“The use of soda or baking powder in breadmaking is harmful and unnecessary. Soda causes inflammation of the stomach and often poisons the entire system. ..” The Ministry of Healing, p. 300 par. 4. {MH 300.4}
“Hot biscuit raised with soda or baking powder should never appear upon our tables. Such compounds are unfit to enter the stomach. Hot raised bread of any kind is difficult of digestion. …” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 319 par. 5. {CD 319.5} {CD 343.1}
- HIGHLY SEASONED (inflammation)
“Lectures should be given, explaining why reforms in diet are essential, and showing that the use of highly seasoned food causes inflammation of the delicate lining of the digestive organs. Let it be shown why we as a people have changed our habits of eating and drinking. Show why we discard tobacco and all intoxicating liquor.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 285 par. 2. {CD 285.2}
FERMENTATION
Fermentation in the digestive process is caused by the following:
IMPROPER COMBINATIONS
“Often the different kinds of food placed in the stomach do not agree, and fermentation is the result. This is the cause of many stomach difficulties.” This Day with God, p. 340 par. 4. {TDG 340.4}
“…when several kinds of food are eaten at the same meal, indigestion is often the result. Some foods do not agree with other foods. A disturbance is created by improper combinations of food, fermentation sets in, the blood is contaminated, and the brain is confused.” Pacific Union Recorder, October 9, 1902, par. 2. {PUR, October 9, 1902 par. 2}
TOO MANY KINDS OF FOOD AT ONE MEAL
“So many varieties are introduced into the stomach that fermentation is the result. This condition brings on acute disease, and death frequently follows.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 110 par. 3 {CD 110.3}
“Too great a variety of foods should not be taken into the stomach at one meal; for fermentation is set up, and injurious results are felt. Subsisting on a diet of fruits and grains properly prepared in the most simple, natural form is the very best way to preserve the health of the digestive organs, which do the work required for the nourishment of the human organism.” Manuscript 123, 1901. {Ms123-1901}
TOO MUCH FOOD
“If more food is eaten than can be digested and appropriated, a decaying mass accumulates in the stomach, causing an offensive breath and a bad taste in the mouth. The vital powers are exhausted in an effort to throw off the excess, and the brain is robbed of nerve force.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 425 par. 3. {FE 425.3}
“At bountiful tables, men often eat much more than can be easily digested. The overburdened stomach cannot do its work properly. The result is a disagreeable feeling of dullness in the brain, and the mind does not act quickly. Disturbance is created by improper combinations of food; fermentation sets in; the blood is contaminated and the brain confused.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 139 par. 4. {CD 139.4}
“Do not place in your stomach a heterogeneous mass of food, which will set up a fermentation.” Letter 310, 1904. {Lt310-1904}
POOR QUALITY FOOD
“Nicely prepared vegetables and fruits in their season will be beneficial, if they are of the best quality, not showing the slightest sign of decay, but are sound and unaffected by any disease or decay. More die by eating decayed fruit and decayed vegetables which ferment in the stomach and result in blood poisoning, than we have any idea of.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 309 par. 6. {CD 309.6}
SPECIFIC FOODS RELATED TO FERMENTATION
The following are counsels on specific fermented foods that should be avoided.
- ALCOHOL
Isaiah 5:22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
Isaiah 5:11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
Proverbs 31:4-5 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: (5) Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
“Alcohol and tobacco pollute the blood of men, and thousands of lives are yearly sacrificed to these poisons.–Health Reformer, November, 1871.” Temperance, p. 57 par. 4. {Te 57.4}
- VINEGAR
Foods that contain vinegar:
pickles, mustard, ketchup, some kinds of salsa, salad dressing, vinaigrettes, mayonnaise
“Condiments, so frequently used by those of the world, are ruinous to the digestion.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 339 par. 1. {CD 339.1}
“In this fast age, the less exciting the food, the better. Condiments are injurious in their nature. Mustard, pepper, spices, pickles, and other things of a like character, irritate the stomach and make the blood feverish and impure. The inflamed condition of the drunkard’s stomach is often pictured as illustrating the effect of alcoholic liquors. A similarly inflamed condition is produced by the use of irritating condiments. Soon ordinary food does not satisfy the appetite. The system feels a want, a craving, for something more stimulating.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 325 par. 2. {MH 325.2}
“The salads are prepared with oil and vinegar, fermentation takes place in the stomach, and the food does not digest, but decays or putrefies; as a consequence, the blood is not nourished, but becomes filled with impurities, and liver and kidney difficulties appear.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 345 par. 6. {CD 345.6}
“There was a time when I was in a situation similar in some respects to yours. I had indulged the desire for vinegar. But I resolved with the help of God to overcome this appetite. I fought the temptation, determined not to be mastered by this habit.
“For weeks I was very sick; but I kept saying over and over, The Lord knows all about it. If I die, I die; but I will not yield to this desire. The struggle continued, and I was sorely afflicted for many weeks. All thought that it was impossible for me to live. You may be sure we sought the Lord very earnestly. The most fervent prayers were offered for my recovery. I continued to resist the desire for vinegar, and at last I conquered. Now I have no inclination to taste anything of the kind. This experience has been of great value to me in many ways. I obtained a complete victory.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 485 par. 1-2. {CD 485.1-2}
- CHEESE
Cheese ferments during the curing process, and this may be the primary reason why it should not be eaten. This would also include cured, non-dairy cheese.
“Cheese should never be introduced into the stomach.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 368 par. 4. {CD 368.4}
“The effect of cheese is deleterious.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 236 par. 2. {CD 236.2}
“Flesh meats, butter, cheese, rich pastry, spiced foods, and condiments are freely partaken of by both old and young. These things do their work in deranging the stomach, exciting the nerves, and enfeebling the intellect. The blood-making organs cannot convert such things into good blood…” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 354 par. 3. {CD 354.3}
“Some brought cheese to the meeting, and ate it; although new, it was altogether too strong for the stomach, and should never be introduced into it.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 369 par. 2. {CD 369.2}
- SUGAR
“Sugar is not good for the stomach. It causes fermentation, and this clouds the brain and brings peevishness into the disposition.—Manuscript 93, 1901” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 327 par. 1. {CD 327.1}
“Some use milk and a large amount of sugar on mush, thinking that they are carrying out health reform. But the sugar and milk combined are liable to cause fermentation in the stomach, and are thus harmful. The free use of sugar in any form tends to clog the system and is not unfrequently a cause of disease.” Counsels on Health, p. 154 par. 1. {CH 154.1}
“Far too much sugar is ordinarily used in food. Cakes, sweet puddings, pastries, jellies, jams, are active causes of indigestion. Especially harmful are the custards and puddings in which milk, eggs, and sugar are the chief ingredients. The free use of milk and sugar taken together should be avoided.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 301 par. 4. {MH 301.4}
“If for dessert sweet cake is eaten with milk or cream, fermentation will be created in the stomach, and then the weak points of the human organism will tell the story. The brain will be affected by the disturbance in the stomach. This may be easily cured if people will study from cause to effect, cutting out of their diet that which injures the digestive organs and causes pain in the head.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 334 par. 5. {CD 334.5}
“…It would be better not to tax the stomach with unhealthful desserts, and not to demand that the cook expend time and strength and ingenuity in preparing them. It would be much better to discard the sweet puddings, jams, and marmalade, which cause fermentation in the stomach. When these are banished from our tables, when we have sweeter stomachs, we shall have sweeter tempers, and be better enabled to live a Christian life.” The Signs of the Times, September 30, 1897, par. 4. {ST September 30, 1897, par. 4}
- FERMENTATION IN BREAD
“Good brown bread and rolls, prepared in a simple manner yet with painstaking effort, will be healthful. Bread should never have the slightest taint of sourness. It should be cooked until it is most thoroughly done. Thus all softness and stickiness will be avoided.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 108 par. 1. {CD 108.1}
“Bread should be light and sweet. Not the least taint of sourness should be tolerated. The loaves should be small and so thoroughly baked that, so far as possible, the yeast germs shall be destroyed. When hot or new, raised bread of any kind is difficult of digestion. It should never appear on the table. This rule does not, however, apply to unleavened bread. Fresh rolls made of wheaten meal without yeast or leaven, and baked in a well-heated oven, are both wholesome and palatable.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 301 par. 2. {MH 301.2}
“Hot bread and biscuit, fresh from the oven, is not healthful. The heated gases need to be evaporated.” Spalding and Magan Collection, p. 46 par. 4. {SpM 46.4}
“Milk should not be used in place of water in bread making. All this is extra expense, and is not wholesome. If the bread thus made is allowed to stand over in warm weather, and is then broken open, there will frequently be seen long strings like cobwebs. Such bread soon causes fermentation to take place in the stomach…. Every housekeeper should feel it her duty to educate herself to make good sweet bread in the most inexpensive manner, and the family should refuse to have upon the table bread that is heavy and sour, for it is injurious.—Unpublished Testimonies, January 11, 1897.” Healthful Living, p. 80 par. 7. {HL 80.7}
“In the making of raised or yeast bread, milk should not be used in the place of water. The use of milk is an additional expense, and it makes the bread much less wholesome. Milk bread does not keep sweet so long after baking as does that made with water, and it ferments more readily in the stomach.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 316 par. 3. {CD 316.3}
- FLESH MEAT
“…Then the light came me: ‘Use no flesh meant as food. You do not need the flesh of dead animals. There are simple foods that you can eat that will not create a disturbance, and cause fermentation, as does the meat.’” Manuscript 41, 1908 {Ms41-1908}
“Those who use flesh meat disregard all the warnings that God has given concerning this question. They have no evidence that they are walking in safe paths. They have not the slightest excuse for eating the flesh of dead animals. God’s curse is resting upon the animal creation. Many times when meat is eaten, it decays in the stomach, and creates disease. Cancers, tumors, and pulmonary diseases are largely caused by meat eating.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 383 par. 4. {CD 383.4}
“The flesh of dead animals, fermenting and putrefying in the stomach, to be sent through every part of the system, is not pleasant to reflect upon, or to experience. It causes many wretched feelings, and is the greatest cause of fevers, suffering of every type, and of death. Those of sedentary habits should certainly discard flesh-meats. Many greatly abuse their stomachs by eating too much of even healthful food. But how much more those who eat of unhealthful food. The abused stomach bears up in a wonderful manner under the continued abuse daily heaped upon it, until malignant disease brings down the victim. The entire system seems to be corrupted, and nothing can stay the rapid work of disease and premature death.” Pamphlet 123 (Testimony to the Church at Battle Creek), p. 42 par. 1. {PH123 42.1}
“Those who claim to believe the truth are to guard carefully the powers of body and mind, so that God and His cause will not be in any way dishonored by their words or actions. The habits and practices are to be brought into subjection to the will of God. We are to give careful attention to our diet. It has been clearly presented to me that God’s people are to take a firm stand against meat eating. Would God for thirty years give His people the message that if they desire to have pure blood and clear minds, they must give up the use of flesh meat, if He did not want them to heed this message? By the use of flesh meats the animal nature is strengthened and the spiritual nature weakened.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 383 par. 1. {CD 383.1}
“Flesh meats will depreciate the blood. Cook meat with spices, and eat it with rich cakes and pies, and you have a bad quality of blood. The system is too heavily taxed in disposing of this kind of food. The mince pies and the pickles, which should never find a place in any human stomach, will give a miserable quality of blood. And a poor quality of food, cooked in an improper manner, and insufficient in quantity, cannot make good blood. Flesh meats and rich food, and an impoverished diet, will produce the same results.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 387 par. 3. {CD 387.3}
“Vegetables, fruits, and grains should compose our diet. Not an ounce of flesh meat should enter our stomachs. The eating of flesh is unnatural. We are to return to God’s original purpose in the creation of man.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 380 par. 2. {CD 380.2}
MEAT EATING CAUSES IMPURE BLOOD
“Will the people who are preparing to become holy, pure, and refined, that they may be introduced into the society of heavenly angels, continue to take the life of God’s creatures and subsist on their flesh and enjoy it as a luxury? From what the Lord has shown me, this order of things will be changed, and God’s peculiar people will exercise temperance in all things. Those who subsist largely upon flesh cannot avoid eating the meat of animals which are to a greater or less degree diseased. The process of fitting animals for market produces in them disease; and fitted in as healthful manner as they can be, they become heated and diseased by driving before they reach the market. The fluids and flesh of these diseased animals are received directly into the blood, and pass into the circulation of the human body, becoming fluids and flesh of the same. Thus humors are introduced into the system. And if the person already has impure blood, it is greatly aggravated by the eating of the flesh of these animals. The liability to take disease is increased tenfold by meat eating. The intellectual, the moral, and the physical powers are depreciated by the habitual use of flesh meats. Meat eating deranges the system, beclouds the intellect, and blunts the moral sensibilities. We say to you, dear brother and sister, your safest course is to let meat alone.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 63 par. 3. {2T 63.3} See also {HL 103.1}
“Those who use flesh meats freely do not always have an unclouded brain and an active intellect, because the use of the flesh of animals tends to cause a grossness of body and to benumb the finer sensibilities of the mind. The liability to disease is increased by flesh eating. We do not hesitate to say that meat is not essential to the maintenance of health and strength.
“Those who subsist largely upon meat cannot avoid sometimes eating flesh which is more or less diseased. In many cases the process of fitting animals for market produces an unhealthy condition. Shut away from light and pure air, inhaling the atmosphere of filthy stables, the entire body soon becomes contaminated with foul matter; and when such flesh is received into the human body it corrupts the blood, and disease is produced. If the person already has impure blood, this unhealthful condition will be greatly aggravated. But few can be made to believe that it is the meat they have eaten which has poisoned their blood and caused their suffering. Many die of diseases wholly due to meat eating, when the real cause is scarcely suspected by themselves or others. Some do not immediately feel its effects, but this is no evidence that it does not hurt them. It may be doing its work surely upon the system, yet for the time being the victim may realize nothing of it.” Counsels on Health, p. 115 par. 1-2. {CH 115.1-2}
“Flesh-eating was permitted in consequence of the fall. But until after the flood, animal food was not used. By the flood all vegetation was destroyed, and the Lord, instead of working a miracle, gave those who were preserved from the waters of the flood permission to eat animal flesh. Swine’s flesh has ever been prohibited. But notwithstanding that the swine was made only as a scavenger, notwithstanding that the Lord pronounced it unclean, and forbade the use of its flesh, because it chooses to eat everything that is defiled, yet men and women look upon its flesh as a sweet morsel.
“The use of animal food has become, to the meat-eating portion of the human family, the principal article of food. It is erroneously supposed to give physical strength and endurance. But this is false, and is contradicted by facts. Grains, fruits, and vegetables are the foods which will keep the human machinery in the best running order and increase the higher faculties of the human being. More and purer blood is made by fruits and grains than can be produced by the use of flesh, which is a stimulant. Flesh-eating is destructive to health. It was never the original plan of God for man to subsist upon this diet. Therefore the Lord did not say to the children of Israel, Ye shall have no meat. But He took them away from the fleshpots of Egypt. And when He could just as easily have wrought a miracle to give them a flesh diet, He gave them instead bread from heaven.” Manuscript 38, March 11, 1898 par. 10-11. {Ms38-1898 (March 11, 1898) par. 10-11}
MEAT EATING INJURES SPIRITUALITY
“Eating the flesh of dead animals is deleterious to the health of the body, and all who use a meat diet are increasing their animal passions and are lessening their susceptibility of the soul to realize the force of truth and the necessity of its being brought into their practical life.–Letter 54, 1896.
“Eating the flesh of dead animals has an injurious effect upon spirituality. When meat is made the staple article of food, the higher faculties are overborne by the lower passions. These things are an offense to God, and are the cause of a decline in spiritual life. . . . Whatever we do in the line of eating and drinking should be done with the special purpose of nourishing the body, that we may serve God to His name’s glory. The whole body is the property of God, and we must give strict attention to our physical well-being, for the religious life is closely related to physical habits and practices.–Letter 69, 1896.
“The Lord has been teaching His people that it is for their spiritual and physical good to abstain from flesh eating. There is no need to eat the flesh of dead animals.–Letter 83, 1901.” Selected Messages, book 3, p. 290-291 {3SM 290.2-291.1}
E. GOOD EATING HABITS
REGULAR MEAL TIMES
“Eat at regular hours, and eat wholesome food.” This Day with God, p. 340 par. 4. {TDG 340.4}
“Neither should the meals be delayed one or two hours, to suit circumstances, or in order that a certain amount of work may be accomplished. The stomach calls for food at the time it is accustomed to receive it. If that time is delayed, the vitality of the system decreases, and finally reaches so low an ebb that the appetite is entirely gone. If food is then taken, the stomach is unable to properly care for it. The food cannot be converted into good blood.
“If all would eat at regular periods, not tasting anything between meals, they would be ready for their meals, and would find a pleasure in eating that would repay them for their effort.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 179 par. 3-4. {CD 179.3-4}
TWO OR THREE MEALS AND NO FOOD BETWEEN MEALS
“It was customary for the Hebrews to eat but twice a day, their heartiest meal coming not far from the middle of the day.” The Health Reformer, June 1, 1878, par. 8. {HR, June 1, 1878 par. 8}
“Most people enjoy better health while eating two meals a day than three; others, under their existing circumstances, may require something to eat at suppertime; but this meal should be very light. Let no one think himself a criterion for all,–that every one must do exactly as he does.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 176 par. 3. {CD 176.3}
“It is plain that two meals a day are better than three. I believe and practice this, but I have no ‘Thus saith the Lord’ that it is wrong for some to eat the third meal. We are not to be as the Pharisees, bound about by set rules and regulations. God’s word has not specified any set hours when food should be eaten. We are to be careful not to make laws like the laws of the Pharisees, or to teach for doctrines the commandments of men.” Medical Ministry, p. 284 par. 4. {MM 284.4}
“The practice of eating but two meals a day is generally found a benefit to health; yet under some circumstances persons may require a third meal. This should, however, if taken at all, be very light, and of food most easily digested. ‘Crackers’–the English biscuit–or zwieback, and fruit, or cereal coffee, are the foods best suited for the evening meal.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 321 par. 1. {MH 321.1}
“I dare not say to you or to anyone else, You must eat only two meals a day. But I do say that too much food should not be placed in the stomach at one time, for when this is done, the stomach has no chance to do its work properly. For some, three meals a day are better than two.” This Day with God, p. 340 par. 5. {TDG 340.5}
“If those who only eat two meals have the idea that they must eat enough at the second meal to answer for the third meal also, they will injure their digestive organs. Let the students have the third meal, prepared without vegetables, but with simple, wholesome food, such as fruit and bread.—Letter 141, 1899” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 178 par. 4. {CD 178.4}
“Those who are changing from three meals a day, to two, will at first be troubled more or less with faintness, especially about the time they have been in the habit of eating their third meal. But if they persevere for a short time, this faintness will disappear.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 175 par. 1. {CD 175.1}
“The stomach may be so educated as to desire food eight times a day, and feel faint if it is not supplied. But this is no argument in favor of so frequent eating.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 175 par. 3. {CD 175.3}
“Regularity in eating should be carefully observed. Nothing should be eaten between meals, no confectionery, nuts, fruits, or food of any kind. Irregularities in eating destroy the healthful tone of the digestive organs, to the detriment of health and cheerfulness.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 384 par. 3. {MH 384.3}
“I am astonished to learn that, after all the light that has been given in this place, many of you eat between meals! You should never let a morsel pass your lips between your regular meals. Eat what you ought, but eat it at one meal, and then wait until the next.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 373 par. 2. {2T 373.2}
“In many cases the faintness that leads to a desire for food is felt because the digestive organs have been too severely taxed during the day. After disposing of one meal, the digestive organs need rest. At least five or six hours should intervene between the meals, and most persons who give the plan a trial will find that two meals a day are better than three.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 304 par. 1. {MH 304.1}
“The stomach must have careful attention. It must not be kept in continual operation. Give this misused and much-abused organ some peace and quiet and rest. After the stomach has done its work for one meal, do not crowd more work upon it before it has had a chance to rest and before a sufficient supply of gastric juice is provided by nature to care for more food. Five hours at least should elapse between each meal, and always bear in mind that if you would give it a trial, you would find that two meals are better than three.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 173 par. 1. {CD 173.1}
“The digestive organs, like a mill which is continually kept running, become enfeebled, vital force is called from the brain to aid the stomach in its overwork, and thus the mental powers are weakened. The unnatural stimulation and wear of the vital forces make them nervous, impatient of restraint, self-willed, and irritable.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 181 par. 2. {CD 181.2}
“When traveling, some are almost constantly nibbling, if there is anything within their reach. This is a most pernicious practice. Animals that do not have reason, and that know nothing of mental taxation, may do this without injury, but they are no criterion for rational beings, who have mental powers that should be used for God and humanity.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 182 par. 1. {CD 182.1}
BREAKFAST THE BIGGEST MEAL
“It is the custom and order of society to take a slight breakfast. But this is not the best way to treat the stomach. At breakfast time the stomach is in a better condition to take care of more food than at the second or third meal of the day. The habit of eating a sparing breakfast and a large dinner is wrong. Make your breakfast correspond more nearly to the heartiest meal of the day.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 173 par. 2. {CD 173.2}
“Their breakfast consisted of coffee and bread with the addition of prune sauce. This was not healthful. The stomach, after rest and sleep, was better able to take care of a substantial meal than when wearied with work.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 105 par. 3. {CD 105.3}
FOOD TEMPERATURE
“Food should not be eaten very hot or very cold. If food is cold, the vital force of the stomach is drawn upon in order to warm it before digestion can take place. Cold drinks are injurious for the same reason; while the free use of hot drinks is debilitating.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 305 par. 1. {MH 305.1}
“I do not approve of eating much cold food, for the reason that the vitality must be drawn from the system to warm the food until it becomes of the same temperature as the stomach before the work of digestion can be carried on.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 603 par. 1. {2T 603.1}
“Very hot food ought not to be taken into the stomach. Soups, puddings, and other articles of the kind, are often eaten too hot, and as a consequence the stomach is debilitated. Let them become partly cooled before they are eaten.– R. and H., 1884, No. 31.” Healthful Living, p. 91 par. 1. {HL 91.1}
LIQUIDS WITH THE MEAL
“Many make a mistake in drinking cold water with their meals. Taken with meals, water diminishes the flow of the salivary glands; and the colder the water, the greater the injury to the stomach. Ice water or ice lemonade, drunk with meals, will arrest digestion until the system has imparted sufficient warmth to the stomach to enable it to take up its work again. Hot drinks are debilitating; and besides, those who indulge in their use become slaves to the habit. Food should not be washed down; no drink is needed with meals. Eat slowly, and allow the saliva to mingle with the food. The more liquid there is taken into the stomach with the meals, the more difficult it is for the food to digest; for the liquid must first be absorbed. Do not eat largely of salt; give up bottled pickles; keep fiery spiced food out of your stomach; eat fruit with your meals, and the irritation which calls for so much drink will cease to exist. But if anything is needed to quench thirst, pure water, drunk some little time before or after the meal, is all that nature requires. Never take tea, coffee, beer, wine, or any spirituous liquors. Water is the best liquid possible to cleanse the tissues.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 420 par. 1. {CD 420.1}
“The dishes of soft foods, the soups and liquid foods, or the free use of meat, are not the best to give healthful muscles, sound digestive organs, or clear brains.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 225 par. 2. {FE 225.2}
“It is of great importance not to drink at the meal. Eat food as dry as possible. Then digestion will commence in the mouth. Sufficient time is seldom given to the period of eating. The slower the process the better will be the digestion.” Letter 142, 1900 {Lt142-1900}
EAT SLOW AND CHEW WELL
“The digestion begins in the mouth. Masticate your food thoroughly. Let there be no hurried eating.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 13, p. 257 par. 2. {13MR 257.2}
“Food should be eaten slowly and should be thoroughly masticated. This is necessary in order that the saliva may be properly mixed with the food and the digestive fluids be called into action.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 305 par. 2. {MH 305.2}
“In order to secure healthy digestion, food should be eaten slowly. Those who wish to avoid dyspepsia, and those who realize their obligation to keep all their powers in a condition which will enable them to render the best service to God, will do well to remember this. If your time to eat is limited, do not bolt your food, but eat less, and masticate slowly. The benefit derived from food does not depend so much on the quantity eaten, as on its thorough digestion; nor the gratification of taste so much on the amount of food swallowed, as on the length of time it remains in the mouth. Those who are excited, anxious, or in a hurry would do well not to eat until they have found rest or relief, for the vital powers, already severely taxed, cannot supply the necessary digestive fluids.” Counsels on Health, p. 120 par. 2. {CH 120.2}
“So far as possible we should avoid hurried eating. The shorter the time for a meal, the less should be eaten. It is better to omit a meal than to eat without proper mastication.” Education, p. 206 par. 1. {Ed 206.1}
EXERCISE BEFORE OR AFTER A MEAL
“Another serious evil is eating at improper times, as after violent or excessive exercise, when one is much exhausted or heated. Immediately after eating there is a strong draft upon the nervous energies; and when mind or body is heavily taxed just before or just after eating, digestion is hindered. When one is excited, anxious, or hurried, it is better not to eat until rest or relief is found.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 305 par. 3. {MH 305.3}
“Exercise aids the dyspeptic by giving the digestive organs a healthy tone. To engage in deep study or violent exercise immediately after eating, hinders the digestive process; for the vitality of the system, which is needed to carry on the work of digestion, is called away to other parts. But a short walk after a meal, with the head erect and the shoulders back, exercising moderately, is a great benefit. The mind is diverted from self to the beauties of nature. The less the attention is called to the stomach, the better. If you are in constant fear that your food will hurt you, it most assuredly will. Forget your troubles; think of something cheerful.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 103 par. 3. {CD 103.3}
“Neither study nor violent exercise should be engaged in immediately after a full meal; this would be a violation of the laws of the system. Immediately after eating there is a strong draft upon the nervous energy. The brain force is called into active exercise to assist the stomach; therefore, when the mind or body is taxed heavily after eating, the process of digestion is hindered. The vitality of the system, which is needed to carry on the work in one direction, is called away and set to work in another.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 413 par. 1. {2T 413.1}
“Exercise will aid the work of digestion. To walk out after a meal, hold the head erect, put back the shoulders, and exercise moderately, will be a great benefit. The mind will be diverted from self to the beauties of nature. The less the attention is called to the stomach after a meal, the better. If you are in constant fear that your food will hurt you, it most assuredly will. Forget self, and think of something cheerful.” Counsels on Health, p. 53 par. 2. {CH 53.2}
DON’T EAT TOO LATE OR TOO CLOSE TO BED TIME
“In most cases two meals a day are preferable to three. Supper, when taken at an early hour, interferes with the digestion of the previous meal. When taken later, it is not itself digested before bedtime. Thus the stomach fails of securing proper rest. The sleep is disturbed, the brain and nerves are wearied, the appetite for breakfast is impaired, the whole system is unrefreshed and is unready for the day’s duties.” Education, p. 205 par. 3. {Ed 205.3}
“Another pernicious habit is that of eating just before bedtime. The regular meals may have been taken; but because there is a sense of faintness, more food is eaten. By indulgence this wrong practice becomes a habit and often so firmly fixed that it is thought impossible to sleep without food. As a result of eating late suppers, the digestive process is continued through the sleeping hours. But though the stomach works constantly, its work is not properly accomplished. The sleep is often disturbed with unpleasant dreams, and in the morning the person awakes unrefreshed and with little relish for breakfast. When we lie down to rest, the stomach should have its work all done, that it, as well as the other organs of the body, may enjoy rest. For persons of sedentary habits, late suppers are particularly harmful. With them the disturbance created is often the beginning of disease that ends in death.” The Ministry of Healing, p. 303 par. 3. {MH 303.3}
“Many indulge in the pernicious habit of eating just before sleeping hours. They may have taken three regular meals; yet because they feel a sense of faintness, as though hungry, will eat a lunch or fourth meal. By indulging this wrong practice, it has become a habit, and they feel as though they could not sleep without taking a lunch before retiring. In many cases, the cause of this faintness is because the digestive organs have been already too severely taxed through the day in disposing of unwholesome food forced upon the stomach too frequently, and in too great quantities. The digestive organs thus taxed become weary, and need a period of entire rest from labor to recover their exhausted energies. A second meal should never be eaten until the stomach has had time to rest from the labor of digesting the preceding meal. If a third meal be eaten at all, it should be light, and several hours before going to bed.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 174 par. 1. {CD 174.1}
“For persons of sedentary habits, late suppers are particularly harmful. With them the disturbance created is often the beginning of disease that ends in death. {CD 173.3}
“In many cases the faintness that leads to a desire for food is felt because the digestive organs have been too severely taxed during the day. After disposing of one meal, the digestive organs need rest. At least five or six hours should intervene between the meals; and most persons who give the plan a trial, will find that two meals a day are better than three.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 173 par. 4. {CD 173.4}
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