God planned the diet of our first parents. He who created man and who understands his needs has appointed his food. Sin has caused man to depart from God's original plan, and many harmful things have been added to his diet. It is God's design to bring His people back again to His original plan.
"In order to know what are the best foods, we must study God's original plan for man's diet." He has spread before us the bountiful variety of food that is palatable to the taste and nutritious to the system. Of these, our benevolent heavenly Father says we may freely eat.
"Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables, . . . prepared in as simple and natural a manner as possible, are the most healthful and nourishing. They impart a strength, a power of endurance and vigor of intellect, that are not afforded by a more complex and stimulating diet."—"Coimsels on Diet and Foods," p. 81.
What is God's purpose in bringing His people back to these simple habits of eating and drinking? It is to prepare a people for translation into the kingdom of heaven. This means perfection of character. Does our eating and drinking have any influence on our progress in perfection of character ? "It is impossible for those who indulge the appetite to attain to Christian perfection." Obedience to the laws that govern our bodies will not only promote our happiness in this life, but aid us in a preparation for the life to come. Unless we use the agencies which God has given us in the perfection of character, we cannot expect to attain it.
Let us consider the instruction which has been given concerning some so-called "foods," and the harmful effects produced by them. Against the use of some of these, strict testimony has been given; warning is given against excessive use of others ; the use of still others is governed by individual conditions.
1. Stimulating Foods.—This class will include tea, coffee, Coca-Cola, putrefactive cheeses, and flesh foods. Very definite instruction is given concerning the stimulants, tea and coffee. "All should bear a clear testimony against tea and coffee." They are narcotics, injurious alike to the brain and to the other organs of the body.
"Every penny expended for tea, coffee, and flesh meat is worse than wasted ; for these things hinder the best development of the physical, mental, and spiritual powers."—Id., p. 430. "Tea and coffee drinking is a sin, an injurious indulgence, which, like other evils, injures the soul."—Id., p. 425.
Some may have questions regarding the use of cocoa as a beverage. So far as I know we have no testimony against the use of cocoa; yet we know that it contains a small amount of caffeine, and a larger amount of theobromine, a drug which mildly stimulates the heart and the kidneys. Though the stimulating effect of cocoa does not equal that of tea or coffee, certainly its habitual use in large quantities would not be desirable. Authorities on child nutrition do not recommend giving cocoa to small children. Quoting from the Journal of the American Medical Association, January 21. 1636, page 263: "In considering cocoa as a beverage for children, it should be regarded as a stimulant, similar to coffee." Coca-Cola contains the stimulant caffeine, the same harmful substance that is found in coffee and tea, and is therefore definitely objectionable.
Concerning cheese we have this statement, "Cheese should never be introduced into the stomach."—"Counsels on Diet and Foods," p. 368. This undoubtedly refers to cheese ripened by putrefactive bacteria, the type of bacteria that produce spoilage in protein foods, and are akin to those found in the colons of animals and human beings. The question often arises, "Is not the cheese we have today a much better product than was produced at the time this statement was made?" This is undoubtedly true of some kinds of cheese. But any cheese which develops a strong flavor during the process of curing is to be looked upon with suspicion.
On page 48 of "Counsels on Diet and Foods," we read, "Butter and meat stimulate." This does not mean that butter and flesh foods, tea and coffee, are stimulating to the same extent. Yet we are cautioned not to use butter excessively. On the other hand, we are warned not to abstain from milk, eggs, and butter to the extent that our diet becomes impoverished. There are many vegetable margarines on the market today that are palatable and inexpensive, and make wholesome substitutes for but- , ter. Their food value is the same as butter. with the exception of vitamin A, of which butter is a ',mod source. Other vitamin A foods in the form of green leaves should be more widely used if butter is omitted.
Caution against the too-liberal feeding of eggs to young children is also a part of the instruction given, but it would be inadvisable to omit eggs entirely from the diet because of their exciting qualities, when they can be procured from healthy hens properly fed, "Eggs contain properties which are remedial agencies in counteracting poisons."—Id., p. 204. We know that much of the commercial chicken feed on the market is made from the refuse and waste from slaughterhouses, which is likely to contain diseased tissue. Eggs produced by hens fed on such a diet would not be most desirable.
2. Irritating Foods.—In the next group we have put the irritating foods, though they are not as easily classified. Some of them are both irritating and stimulating. Heading this list are spices and condiments, such as mustard, pepper, vinegar ; then follow all highly seasoned foods, rich gravies, pickles, concentrated sweets, excessive salt, rich pastries, and desserts.
"Spices at first irritate the tender coating of the stomach, but finally destroy the natural sensitiveness of this delicate membrane."—Id., p. 236.
"Taste is so perverted that they have no appetite for a wholesome diet of fruits, plain bread, and vegetables."—Id., p. 158.
If one could look into a stomach which has had food of this type introduced into it, and see the irritation and mucus formed in an effort by nature to protect the delicate membrane, one might be far more careful not to subject the stomach to such dietary abuse.
I am sure that many a mother does not realize the injury she is doing her family when she places such articles of diet upon her table.
"Someone has ventured the assertion that if parents would begin a crusade against intern.. perance in their own homes, there would be less need for national temperance crusades. When highly seasoned, stimulating foods are served, the desire for something more stimulating than water to quench the thirst results. The fact that certain foods create a thirst for something more than water was observed by the old-time saloonkeepers when they set up free lunch counters for their patrons. Upon these lunch counters were served highly seasoned foods, pickled pig's feet, smoked ham, sausages, pepper, mustard, and other irritating foods. The saloonkeepers well knew that such foods created a thirst that would lead the men to the bar to drink. How thankful we should be for the instruction which has been given us to avoid these harmful things.
The excessive use of sugar is one of the common causes of irritation and inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. The harmful effects of the free use of milk and sugar taken together is especially emphasized. I quote:
"They [some] use a great amount of milk and sugar. These clog the system, irritate the digestive organs, and affect the brain.... From the light given me, sugar, when largely used, is more injurious than meat."—Id., p. 328.
3. Foods Difficult to Digest.—Indigestibility is frequently the result of improper methods of cooking. Proper methods of cooking and combining of foods have a great deal to do with their digestibility as well as their palatability and nutritional value. "Lack of knowledge and skill, or carelessness in this duty, has an important part in impairing the digestive organs and producing disease and even death."
a. Rich and complicated mixtures. "There should not be many kinds [of food] at any one meal, but all meals should not be composed of the same kinds of food without variation. . . . It would be much better to eat only two or three different kinds of food at a meal than to load the stomach with many varieties."—/d., p. 110.
b. Another source of indigestible mixtures results from efforts to prepare entrees from substitutes for meat. These can usually be taken care of by those who have good digestive powers, particularly those doing hard physical labor, but as a main part of the Sabbath dinner, they often succeed in causing discomfort for the rest of the afternoon.
c. "Hot biscuit raised with soda or baking powder should never appear upon our tables. Such compounds are unfit to enter the stomach."—Id., p. 319.
d. Too much fat, particularly in cooking, hinders digestion. Protein foods, intimately mixed with fat, hinder digestion in the stomach. The digestive juices cannot reach the protein because of the coating of fat, for which there is no enzyme in the stomach, and consequently digestion is delayed until the intestine is reached.
4. Devitalized Foods.—These include foods that have been highly milled and processed, so that some of the most essential elements are removed. Grains are most generally subjected to this treatment. They are thus robbed of their best quality of protein, most of their iron, and practically all of their vitamin B. The outer coating and the germ of grains are our richest sources of vitamin B.
A moderate lack of this is thought to be one of the most serious dietary deficiencies among American people. The important function of vitamin B is to maintain the normal functioning of the stomach and the intestines, and to keep up the appetite. The prevalence of constipation, colitis, stomach and intestinal disturbance, and poor appetite, in part at least, are the result of widespread use of foods lacking in this factor, as well as in bulk and minerals. The use of so much sugar—a highly. refined product devoid of a single vitamin or mineral—is crowding out the use of milk, fruit, and vegetables which contain the elements for which people are starving.
Foods may be devitalized by processes of cooking. Overcooking destroys vitamins. Discarding water in which vegetables are cooked removes the minerals and some vitamins. Adding alkalies, such as soda, destroys vitamins, and should be avoided. While some foods require cooking, others are better eaten raw. Vitamin C is easily destroyed by cooking, and some raw fruits and vegetables need to be taken each day to ensure enough of this important vitamin.
One who builds his diet chiefly on such devitalized foods as white bread and other refined cereal products, and large amounts of sugar, is exposing himself to serious deficiency of which he may be totally unaware. He is constantly living below the plane of health and vigor he might enjoy if his body were being supplied with the necessary elements.
Leading nutritionists are recommending and urging the people to eat more fruits and vegetables and whole-grain products. These are the principles upon which the campaign for national defense through better health is beinoadvocated today. This is but an echo of the instructioninstruction given God's people many years ago by the pen of inspiration.
5. Infected Food.—Infections may be transmitted by some foods, particularly the flesh of animals. This is the reason why definite testimony is given against their use. Milk also is a food through which infections are most easily transmitted. "Milk . . . should be thoroughly sterilized; with this precaution, there is less danger of contracting disease from its use." Malta fever, which is transmitted almost entirely through raw milk, has become a serious problem in public health. Many of our own people are suffering from this prolonged and relapsing fever.
6. Too Much Food.—There are two classes of people who overeat—those who do so occasionally when they have opportunity to eat food that pleases the appetite, and those who habitually eat more than the system requires and are overweight. The first class damage the stomach by overdistending it or stretching it, besides placing upon the stomach the work of secreting more digestive juices to take care of the extra load. Drinking large amounts of liquids at meals will also cause the stomach to become distended. Some people who are thin and need all the stomach space they have for food, will swallow a glass or two of water as they come to the table, and there is little room left for food. The water should have been drunk between meals.
A large number belong to the second, or overweight, group. Many attribute their overweight to some mysterious cause, probably glandular disturbance, which sometimes obtains. But the rule still holds that one who is overweight is eating more food than the body is utilizing. If he has a low thyroid secretion, it simply means that the body fires are burning slowly and less food is being used. Much overweight is a serious handicap. It predisposes to diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure, as well as a shortened life span.
People generally are becoming more and more food-conscious. A regular avalanche of information concerning foods is being given out, some of which is unsound and unreliable. One who is not intelligent on the subject may become lost in a maze of bewilderment, not knowing which doctrine to choose. Many are looking to us to help them. This is our duty and privilege. As surely as we have a gospel message to give to the world, so we have a message of health which we should present.
"The Lord has let his light shine upon us in these last days that the gloom and darkness which have been gathering in the past generations because of sinful indulgence might in some degree be dispelled, and that the train of evil which has resulted because of intemperate eating and drinking might be lessened."
We should study carefully and prayerfully the basic health principles presented in the writings of the Spirit of prophecy, and supplement these with sound scientific information, on which there is an abundance of literature. When we put these principles into practice in our daily lives, God will be able to do for us the things He promised to ancient Israel if they would obey Him in these respects. But they failed. If they had lived according to God's plan, they would have been preserved from diseases that afflicted other nations. They would have been the world's object lesson in health and prosperity. Above any other people they would have possessed physical strength and vigor of intellect.
*Full information appears in the ad on page 40.--Editor.
