Loading...
Larger font
Smaller font
Copy
Print
Contents

Messenger of the Lord

 - Contents
  • Results
  • Related
  • Featured
No results found for: "".
  • Weighted Relevancy
  • Content Sequence
  • Relevancy
  • Earliest First
  • Latest First
    Larger font
    Smaller font
    Copy
    Print
    Contents

    Humanity’s Original Diet

    Original Diet. Ellen White’s simple, positive statement regarding the best diet for human beings has stood the test of time and research: “In order to know what are the best foods, we must study God’s original plan for man’s diet.... Grains, fruits, nuts and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator.” 76Counsels on Diet and Foods, 81. The affirming research is voluminous and growing yearly.MOL 324.8

    Nuts. Although the scientific community has long ignored nuts, or thought them too high in fat to be recommended, evidence now substantiates Ellen White’s teachings. She included them in the “diet chosen for us by our Creator.” 77Counsels on Diet and Foods, 363. Further, she said that “some nuts are not as wholesome as others. Almonds are preferable to peanuts.” 78Counsels on Diet and Foods, 364.MOL 324.9

    Aware of some of the dangers of too many nuts in the diet (because of their high fat content), she warned that “too large a quantity of nut food is an injury ... but ... all can eat freely of fruit.” 79Manuscript Releases 21:285 (1901).MOL 324.10

    In the Adventist Health Study men who ate nuts 4-5 times a week had only half as many fatal heart attacks as those who rarely ate nuts. 80G. E. Fraser, J. Sabaté, W. L. Beeson, and T. M. Strahan, Archives of Internal Medicine, July 1992, 152:1416-1424. Walnuts and almonds have been shown to lower serum lipids (reducing risk of atherosclerosis). 81J. Sabaté, et al., New England Journal of Medicine, 1993, 328:603-607; G. A. Spiller, et al., Journal of American College of Nutrition, 1992, 11:126-130; J. Sabaté, G. E. Fraser, “The Probable Role of Nuts in Preventing Coronary Heart Disease,” Primary Cardiology, 1993, 19:65-72.MOL 324.11

    Fruits and vegetables. Recent research has focused on the health benefits of a diet rich in vegetables and fruits. “Vegetables and fruits are complex foods containing more than 100 beneficial vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other substances. Scientists do not yet know which of the nutrients or other substances in fruits and vegetables may be protective against cancer. The principal possibilities include specific vitamins and minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals—carotenoids, flavonoids, terpenes, sterols, indoles, and phenols—that are present in foods of plant origin.... Until more is known about specific food components, the best advice is to eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day.” 82CA /1996, p. 327.MOL 324.12

    The Adventist Health Study indicated that vegetarians consume twice as much vitamin A and four times as much vitamin C as people in the general population. The antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E may lower the risk of cancer and coronary heart disease. Eating four servings of legumes per week decreases risk of pancreatic cancer much more than eating legumes only once a week. 83“Increasing consumption of vegetarian protein products, beans, lentils, and peas as well as dried fruit was associated with highly significant protective relationships to pancreas cancer risk.” P. K. Mills, W. L. Beeson, D. E. Abbey, G. E. Fraser, and R. L. Phillips, Cancer, 1988, 61:2578; “Diets rich in animal fat appear to be associated with increased risk for prostatic cancer.” P. K. Mills, W. L. Beeson, R. L. Phillips, G. E. Fraser, Cancer, 1989, 64:598. “Beans are especially rich in nutrients that may protect against cancer and can be a useful low-fat but high-protein alternative to meat.” CA /1996, p. 329.MOL 325.1

    Where does one find these antioxidants? In carrots, squash, tomatoes, leafy vegetables, dried fruits, fresh strawberries, melons, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussell sprouts, etc. In a study of elderly people, high consumers of these foods had only 30 percent of the cancer mortality as that of low consumers. 84Colditz, et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1985, 41:32-36. In the 1996 American Cancer Society’s Report, reference was made to the “oxygen-induced damage to tissues that occurs constantly as a result of normal metabolism. Because such damage is associated with increased cancer risk, antioxidant nutrients are thought to protect against cancer. Antioxidant nutrients include vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, and carotenoids. Studies suggest that people who eat more fruits and vegetables containing these antioxidants have a lower risk for cancer.” 85CA /1996, p. 333.MOL 325.2

    Those eating cabbage once a week had only one-third the risk of colon cancer compared to those who ate it once a month. 86S. Graham and C. Mettlin in G. R. Newell, N. H. Ellison, editors, Progress in Cancer Research and Therapy, vol. 17, Nutrition and Cancer Etiology and Treatment (New York: Raven Press, 1981), pp. 189-215; “Of the many scientific studies on this subject, the great majority show that eating fruits and vegetables (especially green and dark yellow vegetables and those in the cabbage family, soy products, and legumes) protects against colon cancer.” CA /1996, p. 326. Those getting adequate vitamin A had only one-third the risk of lung cancer compared to those with low intake of vitamin A. 87E. Bjelke, International Journal of Cancer, 15:561-565, 1975. Oral and pharyngeal cancer were reduced by half in those consuming high quantities of fruits and vegetables. 88D. M. Winn, R. G. Ziegler, L. W. Pickle, et al., Cancer Research, 44:1216-1222, 1984.MOL 325.3

    Adequate amounts of the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E have been shown to reduce the risk of cataracts. Those who consumed fewer than 3.5 servings of fruit or vegetables daily had a five to ten times increased risk of cataracts! 89P. F. Jacques and L. T. Chylack, Jr., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 53:335S-355S, 1991.MOL 325.4

    Foods high in potassium ... like oranges, bananas, potatoes, and milk ... reduce risk of stroke by as much as 40 percent. 90New England Journal of Medicine, 1987, vol. 316, 5:235-240.MOL 325.5

    Fruits and vegetables at the same meal. Ellen White counseled that “we should avoid eating vegetables and fruit at the same meal.” 91The Youth’s Instructor, May 31, 1894; Counsels on Diet and Foods, 112; The Ministry of Healing, 299, 300. “At one meal use bread and fruit, at the next bread and vegetables.” 92The Signs of the Times, September 23, 1897.MOL 325.6

    Whenever possible, Mrs. White followed this practice: “I eat the most simple foods, prepared in the most simple way. For months my principal diet has been vermicelli and canned tomatoes, cooked together. This I eat with zwieback. Then I have also stewed fruit of some kind and sometimes lemon pie. Dried corn, cooked with milk or a little cream, is another dish that I sometimes use.” 93Counsels on Diet and Foods, 491.MOL 325.7

    What are the problems when fruit and vegetables are combined? For many with a “feeble” digestion, the mix will cause “distress,” and “inability to put forth mental effort.” 94Counsels on Diet and Foods, 112; The Ministry of Healing, 299, 300. Some children “become fretful and peevish.” 95Manuscript Releases 18:84.MOL 325.8

    Ellen White saw in vision the cause of a minister’s sickness: “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.” 96Counsels on Diet and Foods, 112, 113.MOL 325.9

    Mrs. White advised students to eat fruit and grains rather than vegetables for supper: “Let the students have the third meal prepared without vegetables, but with simple, wholesome food, such as fruit and bread.” 97Counsels on Diet and Foods, 178.MOL 325.10

    The White family considered vegetables to include peas, beans, potatoes, turnips, parsnips, onions, cabbages, and squashes (although some of these would be classified as fruits botanically). Fruits included tomatoes, apples, pears, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, huckleberries, grapes, cranberries, and raisins. Grains (or seeds) included wheat, corn, rye, barley, oatmeal, rice, farina, cornstarch, “and the like.” 98Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 218, 219; Counsels on Diet and Foods, 94, 95, 309; The Ministry of Healing, 299; Manuscript Releases 3:408.MOL 326.1

    Some have wondered about Ellen White’s inclusion of tomatoes within the fruit group, but that she did, according to common usage. 99Manuscript Releases 8:252, 253; Manuscript Releases 14:332, Bio., vol. 2, pp. 298, 299, 357; vol. 4, p. 271.MOL 326.2

    Olives were an item that could be safely eaten at any meal. 100Counsels on Diet and Foods, 349.MOL 326.3

    Milk. Ellen White’s counsel regarding milk has often been misunderstood both by those who freely use it and those who avoid it. On one hand, she clearly says that the time will come when “milk of the cows will also be excluded from the diet of God’s commandment-keeping people.” 101Counsels on Diet and Foods, 411 (1898); Counsels on Diet and Foods, 357; Counsels on Diet and Foods, 356; Manuscript Releases 21:286 (1901).MOL 326.4

    However, again demonstrating Ellen White’s common sense as well as enlightened counsel, she also said that, in her day, “as the situation now is,” 102Counsels on Diet and Foods, 352 (1901). the time to “discard” or “exclude” milk had not come. She gave two reasons: (1) The poor were not able to make the dietary adjustment immediately: “I cannot say to them, ‘You must not eat eggs or milk or cream. You must use no butter in the preparation of food.’ The gospel must be preached to the poor, and the time has not yet come to prescribe the strictest diet.” 103Counsels on Diet and Foods, 358 (1901). Common sense indicated that “until we can teach them how to prepare health reform foods that are palatable, nourishing, and yet inexpensive, we are not at liberty to present the most advanced propositions regarding health reform diet.” 104Counsels on Diet and Foods, 351 (1902); Counsels on Diet and Foods, 470 (1905).MOL 326.5

    (2) Disease in animals was increasing, and for “safety” reasons it would be wise to discard milk from the diet. 105Counsels on Diet and Foods, 411 (1898); Counsels on Diet and Foods, 210 (1901); Counsels on Diet and Foods, 359 (1901); Counsels on Diet and Foods, 356 (1902).MOL 326.6

    But while counseling that we should prepare for the day when milk will not be “safe,” she emphasized that milk, or its “equivalent,” 106Counsels on Diet and Foods, 207 (1909). is still part of “the most healthful diet.” 107Counsels on Diet and Foods, 92 (1890). Milk seems to be the most available source of Vitamin B-12; without milk, for most people, supplements of B-12 may be necessary.MOL 326.7

    Ellen White’s common sense also warns against extreme positions. For some, prematurely discarding milk without providing its equivalent may cause sickness, even death. 108Counsels on Diet and Foods, 358 (1901); Counsels on Diet and Foods, 204 (1901). See also Counsels on Diet and Foods, 95-97, 306. For others, it would be an unwarranted financial hardship to find an equivalent for milk. 109Counsels on Diet and Foods, 351 (1902); Counsels on Diet and Foods, 358 (1901).MOL 326.8

    Her common sense urged her to warn against premature proscriptions that would make some people the arbiters as to what others should be putting on their tables, thus “creating a time of trouble beforehand.” 110Counsels on Diet and Foods, 359 (1901); Counsels on Diet and Foods, 210 (1901). Above all, “we should not allow differences of opinion to create disunion.” 111Counsels on Diet and Foods, 352 (1904).MOL 326.9

    So, the question remains: When should we “discard” milk from the diet? In 1901 the time had “not yet come.” 112Counsels on Diet and Foods, 358. When the time does come, “God will reveal it.” 113Counsels on Diet and Foods, 359 (1901). We should wait, using our best judgment, always with the principle of “known duty” 114See pp. 274, 295, 304, 310. leading us individually, “waiting until the circumstances demand it, and the Lord prepares the way for it.” 115Counsels on Diet and Foods, 355, 356 (1909).MOL 326.10

    Grains. Ellen White’s emphasis on grains as an essential component of an adequate diet has been unequivocally validated in recent research. “Grains such as wheat, rice, oats, barley, and the foods made from them constitute the base of healthful diets as illustrated in the Food Guide Pyramid. Healthful diets contain six to 11 standard servings of foods from this group each day.... Grains are an important source of many vitamins and minerals such as folate, calcium, and selenium, all of which have been associated with a lower risk of colon cancer.” 116CA /1996, p. 328.MOL 326.11

    Alcohol affects brain cells. When Ellen White wrote in 1885 that alcoholic beverages destroy “reason and life,” and in 1905 that such drinking “destroys the sensitive nerves of the brain,” she sounded like an overzealous temperance orator. 117Testimonies for the Church 5:441; Temperance, 59; see also The Ministry of Healing, 344. But in 1970 research indicated that “even the moderate imbiber may incur some loss of irreplaceable brain cells—every time he drinks.... The only real difference between his loss of brain tissue and that of the heavy drinker is one of degree.” 118Albert Q. Maisel, “Alcohol and Your Brain,” Reader’s Digest, June, 1970; “Alcohol impairs mental and physical functions. Even at the lowest measurable level, alcohol affects perception, information processing, learning, judgment, reaction time, sound processing, and peripheral vision. Most seriously, it reduces the individual’s awareness of being impaired.” Herbert Moskowitz, Alcohol Health and Resource World, Summer, 1995, 9:4, pp. 11-15; CAT indicated that there is shrinkage of the brain even in light to moderate drinkers.—Recent Developments in Alcoholism, vol. 3, pp. 253-264 (1985). “Another important chronic effect of alcohol consumption is brain damage, entailing mood disorder.... alcohol appears to accelerate aging processes that interfere with the ability to reason and solve the problems of everyday living.” World Health Organization Technical Series 797: Diet, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Chronic Disease, Report of a WHO Study Group, Geneva, 1990, pp. 62-65, 83-84, 101, 111. The ability to make decisions concerning moral issues begins to slip at very low alcohol intake levels (much below what is considered adequate to lower heart attack risk). 119Journal of Genetic Psychology, 1979, 31:540-543.MOL 326.12

    Caffeine affects spirituality. Ellen White may not have known that she was many decades ahead of scientific confirmation when she warned that “all such stimulants and narcotics as tea, coffee, tobacco, alcohol, and morphine ... exert a pernicious influence upon moral character. The earlier these hurtful habits are formed, the more firmly will they hold their victim in slavery to lust, and the more certainly will they lower the standard of spirituality.” 120The Sanctified Life, 28. But this truth is reflected in current studies. Researchers, among other findings, note that as coffee drinkers grow older, their coffee consumption increases. On a spiritual plane, this increase in consumption accompanies a decrease in religious involvement. 121As cited in Galen C. Bosley, “Is Adventist Health Reform Scientific?” Ministry, April, 1987: J. F. Greden, R. Fontaine, M. Lubetsky, and K. Chamberlin, “Anxiety and Depression Associated with Caffeinism Among Psychiatric Patients,” American Journal of Psychiatry 135, No. 8 (1978), pp. 963-966; B. S. Victor, M. Lubetsky, and F. Greden, “Somatic Manifestations of Caffeinism,” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 42, No. 5 (1981), pp. 185-188.MOL 327.1

    Faulty diet and poor scholarship. In 1884 Ellen White stated that “nine tenths of the wickedness among the children of today is caused by intemperance in eating and drinking.” Six years later she wrote that “the diet materially affects the mind and disposition.” 122The Adventist Home, 252. Today widespread evidence indicates that there is a correlation between poor diet habits and poor scholarship. Better-fed children get better grades in school. When students with poor grades and poor diets are given nutritionally enriched meals, their grades and other scholastic indicators improve. 123“The Link Between Nutrition and Cognitive Development in Children,” Center on Hunger, Poverty, and Nutrition Policy, Tufts University School of Nutrition, Medford, Mass., 1995.MOL 327.2

    Larger font
    Smaller font
    Copy
    Print
    Contents