Fossils of plants in vast coal and other deposits found all over the globe attest to the luxuriant vegetation prevalent in prediluvian times, a fauna that grows only in extraordinarily fertile soil. This was the kind of soil of which God made the first man: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen. 2:7).
Whatever additional elements there might be in fertile soil, we know it has sixteen basic elements plus some trace elements, such as cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, copper, and zinc. The sixteen elements are hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorine, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, fluorine, iron, manganese, sulphur, iodine, and silicon. These basic elements are absorbed from the soil by the plants. The plants manufacture, by photosynthesis and other mysterious processes, the proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins that constituted the original food of man and animals—nuts, grains, fruits, and vegetables.
The constancy with which these basic elements are found in fertile soil, in the tissues of healthy plants, and in the tissues of animals and man reveals the operation of a law as majestic as it is divine—the basic law of the physiology of nutrition. This law may be stated as follows: For optimum health man must obtain these elements in right proportions from nuts, grains, fruits, and vegetables derived from healthy plants grown in fertile soil. From the beginning of time the Lord pronounced this diet "very good."
Man has wandered far from this original diet. He has unbalanced, adulterated, loaded with foodless substances, demineralized, devitaminized, refined, made deficient, fermented, and even poisoned his food supply. He has polluted the air he breathes, which also is an important factor in nutrition. The addition of animal food (especially fats with their high cholesterol and cholesterol-producing contents) has likewise contributed to shorten his life span. As a result he is suffering from nutritional (vitamin and protein) deficiencies, growth failure, metabolic anomalies, gout, obesity, diabetes mellitus; and disorders that affect the teeth, the mouth, the gastrointestinal tract, and many other organs of his body.
For ages man has been ignorant of even the bare rudiments of this divine law and consequently he has transgressed. He has conceived strange philosophies and religious practices, be it asceticism or epicureanism; be it gnosticism, with its teaching that the physical body is evil; be it any religion which teaches that the soul is an immortal entity imprisoned in a defiling shell, the mortal body. Such a belief tends to disregard this divine law of health by living a life of deprivation or gluttony, of abandon and licentiousness, thus hastening premature death, instead of enjoying a more abundant life, which is truly the function of the "living soul."
