MY FAMILY recently purchased a combination flour mill and bread maker and, naturally, I wanted to try it out immediately. My husband assembled it ac cording to the instructions, and it appeared ready to go. No instructions on its use accompanied it but, since we had seen a demonstration of the machine, we decided to operate it as the demonstrator did. When we turned it on the motor hummed beautifully—but it wouldn't grind the grain. Nothing we did seemed to help. Finally we made a telephone call, got some verbal instructions, and were in business! Even then, however, we were limited in what we could do with it until we obtained an instruction book.
To use a piece of equipment most efficiently, we need an instruction manual and the good sense to follow it. Often this is neglected; thus the saying, "When all else fails, read the instructions."
Turning from machines to our bodies, we find a corollary the human machinery also functions best when we follow the "instructions."
The Master Designer
The psalmist states, "Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments" (Psalm 119:73).
The human body is intricately designed with appropriate interaction be tween all its parts. When one part doesn't function properly, it has an effect, maybe undetectable for even long periods of time, on the rest of the body. Who is best qualified to tell us how to keep the body in good working order and to repair it when necessary? The One who designed it, of course.
This includes the care and feeding of the body machine. The original diet, as given by God in Genesis 1:29, included grains, seeds, nuts, and fruits. Undoubtedly, within each group there was a wide variety to appeal to all tastes and appetites. In fact, one of the most enjoyable memories from my teens is that of walking on our farm on Sabbath evenings, picking our supper as we went. Some times it was peaches or pears; other times, apricots or cherries. Apples were available for long periods of time. Except for the trials of trying to extricate them from thorny thickets, wild black berries were favorites. Never did I feel deprived because all I had for supper was fruit!
Man's Diet Changed
The sad story of the fall in Genesis 3 points up the importance of paying attention to even the smallest instruction. After sin came, God included "the herb of the field" (Genesis 3:18) in the diet of Adam and Eve. He banished them from the Garden so they wouldn't have access to the tree of life and thus become eternal sinners (Genesis 3:22-24). Vegetables, or "herbs of the field," were added to help supply the necessary nutrients that earth's first family had obtained from the foods available in the Garden of Eden, including the tree of life.
Some centuries passed and another dietary change was given. When Noah left the ark and stepped out on the flood-ravaged land, little vegetation was avail able for food. The Lord then told man that "every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you." A stipulation was also given. "But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat" (Genesis 9:3, 4). It was later stated in Leviticus 3:17 that not only the blood but also the fat was to be omitted from the diet. Yet today these commands are almost totally ignored.
Through succeeding ages man has adopted various food practices to satisfy his appetite as well as his hunger. Until this century, however, mankind largely has been dependent on what he could find or produce where he lived. Today, particularly in industrial nations, man's diet is limited primarily by his economic status alone, and flesh food is considered a staple in many places. Regardless of the widespread use of meat in the developed world, flesh eating is not a universal practice. More than half of the world's population, either by choice or from necessity, subsists on non-flesh diets. High fertility rates and exploding populations testify to the adequacy of such a diet. Fertility is low, however, and reproduction is greatly reduced if there is not adequate protein or if the protein does not have a proper ratio of amino acids. Nutrient Contributions of Foods Non-flesh diets can be nutritionally adequate. This is borne out as we consider the contributions supplied by various kinds of foods. Fruits and vegetables are a major source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. When we think of vitamin C, citrus fruits and tomatoes immediately come to mind. Good amounts are also found in strawberries, cantaloupe, red or green sweet peppers, broccoli, and kale. An excellent and readily available source of this vitamin, largely over looked until this decade, is obtained from sprouts of legumes and grains. The seeds contain no Vitamin C, but sprouts 1/2 to 1 inch (1-2 cm.) long provide about four times as much as an equal Weight of tomato.
Vitamin A is available in abundance in fruits and vegetables—the dark-green leafy vegetables and deep-red, orange or yellow ones contain the most. Kale, mustard greens, broccoli, asparagus, deep-colored sweet potatoes or yams, dried and fresh apricots, peaches, and pump kin are' just some of the many good sources for this vitamin.
"Nature's plan seems to have been that man should generate most of his supply of vitamin D by sunlight, for it is contained more sparsely in foods than is any other vitamin." l Because vitamin D is not readily available in food, some countries fortify milk, margarine, and dry breakfast cereals with it.
The best sources of vitamin E are seeds and their oils. Again, green leafy vegetables provide a good source of this vitamin.
These green leafy vegetables also are rich sources of riboflavin, and although other fruits and vegetables contribute less, they still contain appreciable amounts.
Calcium is in good supply in dark green leafy vegetables, as shown in Table I. Sesame seeds, artichokes, mo lasses, soybeans, and almonds contain significant amounts of this mineral.
Nutritional iron is almost synonymous with molasses, raisins, and dried apricots in the United States. But green leafy vegetables (Table I), sweet potatoes, and broccoli are also rich sources.
Grains and cereals are especially important for their content of carbohydrate, niacin, and iron. Because so much of these foods is often eaten, cereals add significantly to the daily protein requirement, as well. Developing countries not uncommonly consume up to 80 per cent of their total food intake as cereal. Included in this group are maize, wheat, barley, rye, millet, oats, and rice. To get their maximum value, use them unrefined, for B vitamins, iron, and other nutrients are almost entirely lost during the refining process, and "enrichment" restores only niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, and iron.
Protein foods come in wide variety. Since all living things have protein as part of their cells, it is present in varying amounts in all unrefined foods. Major plant sources are legumes, nuts, and seeds. Milk, milk products, and eggs also are well known for their high protein content.
People who consume little or no flesh foods can easily get adequate amounts "of good quality protein by combining legumes and cereals. Popular combinations common to various cultures are lentils with rice, dried peas with rice, soy beans with rice or corn, and beans with tortillas.
In addition to providing protein, legumes, seeds, and nuts are valuable sources of niacin, iron, and vitamin Be.
Among protein foods, milk and milk products easily ensure an adequate sup ply of calcium, riboflavin, and vitamin 812. This last-mentioned vitamin is very important, but it is not known to be present in plant foods, except for trace amounts absorbed from the soil as a result of its high bacterial content.
Advantages of the Original Diet
The kind of diet that is so common today among the industrial nations involves large quantities of rich, highly refined foods. The diseases that apparently accompany the use of this kind of a diet, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity, to name only a few, dramatically point us back to the Creator's original provisions.
It isn't too late for us to do what we can to return, as much as possible, to the original diet. Immediate health advantages of a diet of plant foods, mostly unrefined, would be: (1) increased fiber; (2) lower fat content and better quality than that of animal products; (3) no cholesterol; and (4) presence of trace elements that are usually lost in refining.
Table II gives the recommendations of the Chinese Medical Association for an adequate diet for an average man. Their diet is about 76 per cent carbohydrate, 13 per cent protein, and 11 per cent fat, and provides adequate amounts of iron, phosphorus, and other essential nutrients.
Milk is not an absolute essential, as all the nutrients it contains can be obtained from plant sources, except for vitamin 612. A number of foods, however, are fortified with this vitamin, and supplements are available. Planning an adequate diet is simple if some milk or its products are included. "Fruits, grains, and vegetables, prepared in a simple way, free from spice and grease of all kinds, make, with milk and cream, the most healthful diet. They impart nourishment to the body, and give a power of endurance and vigor of intellect that are not produced by a stimulating diet." 2
Basic Principles to Be Kept in Mind
Some basic principles to keep in mind in planning an adequate lacto-vegetarian diet are:
1. Reduce substantially intake of "empty calories."
2. Eat enough fruits, vegetables, whole-grain breads, cereals, and protein foods to supply adequate calories.
3. Use plenty of legumes, nuts (especially peanuts, almonds, and cashews), and seeds. Commercially prepared plant-protein foods are also helpful.
4. Include a supplement of Bi2 or foods with added Bia if not using milk or its products. Use fortified soybean milk, plenty of green leafy vegetables, legumes (particularly soybeans), nuts (particularly almonds), and dried fruit to replace calcium and riboflavin.
A condensed statement of these principles is: Eat a wide variety of unrefined foods in sufficient quantity to maintain ideal weight. But remember that too great a variety at one meal tempts one to overeat.
Of great concern today is the question of how the increasing population in the world is to be fed. Dr. James Bonner, of the California Institute of Technology, recently stated that if present population trends continue, 16 billion people will be living on this earth by A.D. 2050, and all of them will be vegetarians.
If people today were to adopt simplicity in their habits, living in harmony with nature's laws, would there not be an abundant supply for the needs of the human family?
