A STUDY GUIDE: COUNSELS ON DIET AND
FOODS
By ELLEN G. WHITE
Study
Guide Index
Prepared
under the auspices of the
ELLEN
G. WHITE ESTATE and the
Department
of Health of the General Conference
Review
and Herald Publishing Association
Silver Spring, MD.
PRINTED IN U.S.A.
Copyright
1976 by
The
Ellen G. White Estate, Inc.
A
WORD FROM THE FOLKS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
The
World Health Organization in its constitution regards good health as "a
state of complete mental, physical, and social well-being." Spiritual
well-being adds wholeness to this definition. This interpretation is contained
in the prayer of John for his friend Gaius and the
church as he declares: "1 wish above all things
that thou mayest prosper and be in health" (3 John 2).
We
are reminded that "one of the greatest aids in perfecting pure and noble
characters... is sound physical health." Therefore, "it is of the
highest importance that men and women be instructed in the science of human
life, and the best means of preserving and acquiring health."--Messages
to Young People, p. 233. During these past one hundred years the church
has had access to a vast fund of knowledge, information dealing with optimal
nutrition and ways of attaining maximal health. More recently scientific research
has confirmed these principles, a development that has brought the Adventist
way of life into international prominence.
It
is believed that this guide to a study of Counsels on Diet and Foods
will fill a need in the church by directing those seeking a better way of
life--a way that will give improved health and freedom from disease--to helpful,
inspired sources of information. Seventh-day Adventists are urged to study
systematically the guiding principles outlined in the Spirit
of Prophecy relative to man's nutritional needs and the best ways of satisfying
them. This is tremendously important, particularly for a people seeking the
best of health, a people called to reflect the image of Christ, and a people
looking forward to translation.
We
are pleased to participate in the preparation of this Study Guide and recommend
it to all church members. We believe that as we consistently apply these precepts
to our lives we will have not only a healthier church but a triumphant church.
May God add His blessing to a study of the blueprint given to His people.
DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH
of the General
Conference of
Seventh-day
Adventists
ABOUT
THIS STUDY GUIDE
Adventist
Advantage
A
number of investigations conducted painstakingly by scientists reveal that
the incidence of several serious diseases is less frequent among Seventh-day
Adventists than among the population as a whole; also that Adventists, on
an average, live longer. "Adventist advantage" is the way Time
magazine designated this phenomenon, as it reported on a five-year survey.
How
different from the beginning days of Adventist history, when members of our
church lived and ate very much as did their neighbors, and suffered likewise.
They shared in the statistics that marked off an average life expectancy of
some thirty-two years. One child in four died before the age of 7. Night air
was considered poisonous. If a person was burning up with fever the attending
physician, concluding that his patient had too much blood, might relieve him
of a pint or two. Germs were unknown. People lived from winter to winter,
fearful lest an epidemic of smallpox, diphtheria, or cholera would decimate
the population. Except for the process of salting and drying, the science
of food preservation was unknown. Meals were heavy with various and sundry
meats, fried foods, and rich pastries. Milk was often supplied by cows poorly
cared for and often tuberculous, for testing was
unknown, and pasteurization was still years away. The farm worker with his
long days of toil was seldom satisfied with three meals a day.
Response
to God's Call for Changed Living Habits
A
few isolated voices were heard calling for reform, but they went almost unheeded.
People were skeptical and slow to change an accepted way of life. But when
the Lord God of heaven called the attention of our spiritual forefathers to
the basic principles of life and health through visions given to Ellen White,
and by this means, as wrote Elder J. H. Waggoner, placed the elements of healthful
living "on a level with the great truths of the third angel's message,"
the people took heed. They saw health reform to be "the means whereby
a weak people may be made strong to overcome, and our diseased bodies cleansed
and fitted for translation." They saw all this as "an essential
part of present truth to be received with the blessing of God, or rejected
at our peril." For an accurate, interesting account of this phase of
Adventist history, we direct you to the book by D. E. Robinson, The Story
of Our Health Message.
Amazingly,
within a few years the denomination changed its living habits. This was most
apparent in dietetic practices. As early Adventists sought to make the simple
elements of nutrition both attractive and easily available, the health-food
industry was born, one segment of which has developed into the cereal-food
industry of America. This has greatly changed the dietetic habits of a nation
and has influenced millions in other lands.
Pitfalls
Right and Left
No
field of reform, however, is fraught with more pitfalls or has suffered more
from its would-be friends and its ardent foes. James White, husband of Ellen
G. White and a church administrator, refers to this in his statement, "The
Spirit of Prophecy and the Cause of Reform," which appears in this pamphlet
on pages 50 to 52, Appendix A.
Eating
habits are deep-seated and tenaciously guarded. Endeavoring to lead the people
steadily forward, Ellen White from time to time published articles and books
stating and restating the basic health principles. Then, as one of a series
of her last addresses before the General Conference session in 1909, she reviewed
and summed up the matter of dietetic reform in a message entitled "Faithfulness
in Health Reform." This statement is preserved in Testimonies for
the Church, volume 9, pages 153 to 166. It should be frequently read and
its counsels heeded.
Published
So the People Might Read
The
counsels in dietetic lines were abundant and reached the people through the
years in various books, articles, and in Ellen G. White correspondence. Not
long after her death it was felt that the church and its institutions would
be well served if the full range of counsels in this field were brought together
in topical order and issued in a single volume. Counsels on Diet and Foods
resulted, and because the topic is a vital one, the book's annual sale is
large.
While
studied primarily by Seventh-day Adventists, the book has reached some research
scientists outside our own ranks. One, Dr. Clive McCay,
long-time instructor of graduate students in nutrition at Cornell University, after discussing The Ministry of Healing and
Counsels on Diet and Foods, declared orally and in print: "In
spite of the fact that the works of Mrs. White were written long before the
advent of modern scientific nutrition, no better overall guide is available
today."
The
heart of Dr. McCay's presentation, with strong acclaim
of the Ellen G. White counsels on nutrition, which was published in 1959 in
three articles he prepared for the Review and Herald, appears in this
pamphlet on pages 59-62 as Appendix C. His confirmation, from a scientific
standpoint, of many points made long before the development of modern nutritional
science is enlightening and reassuring.
Jesus
declared: "And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when
it is come to pass, ye might believe" (John 14:29).
The
Adventist community of a century ago by faith adopted the divine guidelines
so different from the accepted concepts of the times. They soon experienced
the rewards of a better way of life.
Seventh-day
Adventists today have the benefit of the experience of more than a hundred
years.
Vegetarianism
Pays Off
The
position of Adventists in nutritional lines, and especially vegetarianism,
which was long frowned upon by many who were considered well-informed people,
and often ridiculed, is now recognized as sound and advantageous. Appendix
B, appearing on pages 53-58, presents an article from Today's Health,
a publication of the American Medical Association, "What You Should Know
About Vegetarianism." Its uninhibited, scientifically supported declarations
of the adequacy of a nonflesh diet, when proper
pains are taken to supply the body with all the now-known needed nutritional
elements, is gratifying and in full support of what Seventh-day Adventists
have from experience known for many years. It provides verification for Ellen
White's general statement that "the instruction that was given in the
early days of the message is to be held as safe instruction to follow in these
its closing days."--Selected Messages, book 1, p. 41.
It
also points up that to which Ellen White continually called attention, namely,
the need of approaching the diet question intelligently, avoiding extremes,
and making sure there is ample provision to supply all the nutritional needs
of the body. When, as has at times occurred, a dietary program is built on
less than the full array of counsels, malnutrition and impaired strength and
health result, bringing health reform into disrepute.
Many
of the statements in Counsels on Diet and Foods are items touching
the field of nutrition, selected from periodical articles and book chapters
more general in their over-all content. A little time spent with the original
sources, when they are available, will be rewarding. The first Ellen G. White
comprehensive presentation on health lines was published in 1864 in Spiritual
Gifts, volume 4, pages 120 to 151. This volume is available in facsimile
reprint at your Adventist Book Center. The six Ellen G. White articles appearing in 1865 in
the six pamphlets of "Health, or How to Live"
constitute Appendix 1 to Selected Messages, book 2, currently available.
The first one deals with diet. All the E. G. White Review and Herald
articles are available in facsimile reprints.
The
Peril of a Distorted Concept
A
topically arranged source book such as Counsels on Diet and Foods, although
convenient for study, lends itself to certain types of misuse. Students may
focus attention on one point of counsel and neglect others. It is important
to gain the full body of teaching by putting statement with statement, as
advised in Selected Messages, book 1, page 42: "The testimonies
themselves will be the key that will explain the messages given, as scripture
is explained by scripture."
Study
of this guide, which has been produced in cooperation with the Department
of Health of the General Conference, can prove of great benefit in either
individual or group study. Such study can well lead to the adoption of a life-style
that, as declared in Counsels on Diet and Foods, page 23, "will promote
our happiness in this life, and will aid us in a preparation for the life
to come."
THE
TRUSTEES OF THE ELLEN G. WHITE ESTATE September 9, 1976
CONTENTS
Lesson
1
Section
I--Reasons for Reform -- 11
Lesson
2
Section
II--Diet and Spirituality (The Relation of Diet to Morals) -- 14
Section
III--Health Reform and the Third Angel's Message
Lesson
3
Section
IV--The Proper Dietary -- 17
Section
V--Physiology of Digestion
Lesson
4
Section
Vl--lmproper Eating a Cause of Disease -- 20
Section
VII--Overeating
Lesson
5
Section
VIII--Control of Appetite -- 23
Lesson
6
Section
IX--Regularity in Eating -- 26
Section
X--Fasting
Section
Xl--Extremes in Diet
Lesson
7
Section
XII--Diet During Pregnancy -- 29
Section
XIII--Diet in Childhood
Lesson
8
Section
XIV--Healthful Cookery -- 32
Section
XV--Health Foods and Hygienic Restaurants
Section
XVI--Sanitarium Dietary
Lesson
9
Section
XVII--Diet a Rational Remedy -- 35
Section
XVIII--Fruits, Cereals, and Vegetables
Section
XIX--Desserts
Lesson
10
Section
XX—Condiments -- 38
Section
XXI--Fats
Section
XXII--Proteins
Lesson
11--Section XXIII--Flesh Meats -- 41
Lesson
12--Section XXIV—Beverages -- 44
Lesson
13--Section XXV--Teaching Health Principles -- 47
Appendixes
A.
The Spirit of Prophecy and the Cause of Reform--James White -- 50
B.
What You Should Know About Vegetarianism--Daniel Grotta—Kurska -- 53
C.
A Nutrition Authority Discusses Mrs. E. G. White--Clive McCay
-- 59
LESSON
1--REASONS FOR REFORM
A. READING AND STUDY ASSIGNMENT: Counsels on Diet and Foods,
pp. 15-40
B. STUDY QUESTIONS
(Complete
the quotations by filling in the missing word or words. Answer the questions
by writing your answers in the appropriate blanks. The numbers in parentheses
at the end of each question indicate the pages where the answers are found
in the text.)
1. "Our first duty toward God and our
fellow beings is that of ____________________________.”
(P. 15)
2. What will keep human beings from disease
and premature death?____________________________________________
__________________________________________________ (P. 16)
3. The most wonderful work of God in the
natural world is the ___________________________________________.
(P. 17)
4. What should be a study of our lives? __________________
____________________________________________ (P. 18)
5. "When men and women are truly ______________
they willconscientiously regard the laws of life
that ___________ hasestablished in their being,
thus seeking to avoid __________ _______, ___________ and ____________ feebleness."
(P. 18)
6. What is to be guarded from harmful practices?
__________ ______________________________________________________________
(P.19)
7. "____________ is working with great
power to lead men to _______________________, ________________________, and
spend their days in _____________________________." (P. 22)
8. What saps the energies of both mind and
body? _________ ______________________ (Pp. 22, 23)
9. What is the great object of hygienic reform?
_______________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________
________________________ (P. 23)
11
10. All the laws of nature which are the laws of
God are designed for our good. Obedience to them will promote our _______________
in _____________ and will aid us _______ __________________ for ______________________.
(P. 23)
11. On the subject of temperance, where should
we as a people be? _________________________________________________ (P. 24)
12. God's Israel of today have two duties to
perform, after which He will hear their prayers in behalf of the sick. List
these.
a.
________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________ __________________________________________
(P .25)
13. What must be educated in harmony with the laws
of life and health? ____________________________________________ ______________________ (P .28)
14. What are the certificates of good habits and
nobility?
a. _______________________________________
b. _______________________________________
c. _______________________________________
d. _______________________________________
e. __________________________________ (P .28)
15. "Our danger is not from _______________________,
but from _______________." (P .29)
16. "___________________ might have found
a plausible excuse to depart from his strictly ______________________________;
but the approbation of _________________ was dearer to him than the favor
of the most powerful _____________________ ___________,--dearer even than
life itself." (P. 31)
17. What is part of the third angel's message?
_______________ _______________ (P .32)
18. What makes slaves of men and women, beclouding
their intellects and stupefying their moral
sensibilities so that the truths of God's Word are not appreciated?
________________ ________________ (P. 32)
12
19. "All those who are indifferent and excuse
themselves from this work, waiting for the Lord to do for them that which
He requires them to do for themselves, will be _______________________ ____________________
when the meek of the earth, who have wrought His judgments, are hid in the
day of the ___________ _________________." (P .33)
20. In order to grow to the full stature of men
and women in Christ, what powers must be used aright? ______________________,
_____________, ___________ (P. 36)
21. What is the blessing over which some stumble?
____________ ____________ (P .39)
22. "There are some professed believers who
accept certain portions of the Testimonies as the message of God, while they
________________ those portions that _____________ their ___________________________."
(P .37)
C. THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What lessons can we learn from Israel's failures?
2. In what ways
are modern times like Daniel's?
3. What responsibility rests upon those who
know the truth about health reform?
13
LESSON 2--DIET AND SPIRITUALITY
A. READING AND STUDY ASSIGNMENT: Counsels on Diet and Foods,
pp. 43-77
B. STUDY QUESTIONS
(Complete
the quotations by filling in the missing word or words. Answer the questions
by writing your answers in the appropriate blanks. The numbers in parentheses
at the end of each question indicate the pages where the answers are found
in the text.)
1. "Temperance in _______________________
has more to do with our _____________ to _____________
than men realize." (P. 43)
2. When we are careless and reckless in our
habits and practices that concern our life and health, what are we doing?
_____________________________ (P .43)
3. "The harmonious healthy __________
of all the ___________ of _________ and ________ results in ________________."
(P .44)
4. "A diseased body and disordered intellect,
because of continual indulgence in __________________________________ make
__________________________________________________ _____________ impossible."
(P .44)
5. "A clogged ____________ means a clogged
_____________." (P .46)
6. What is the fruitful source of most church
trials? ___________ ______________________________________(P
.50)
7. "The sin of intemperate eating, eating
too _________________, too __________, and of __________, ___________________
food, destroys the healthy action of the ___________________ organs, affects
the brain, and perverts the __________________ ____________, preventing rational,
calm, healthy thinking and acting." (P. 50)
8. What debars the human agent from witnessing
for the truth? _____________________________ (P .53)
14
9. What is strengthened by the combination
of physical labor with mental exertion?_____________________________________
______________(P. 55)
10. "As the light of truth is _____________
and _____________ ___________ it will work an entire reformation in the life
and __________________ of all those who are
sanctified through it." (P. 57)
11. Sister White states that true sanctification
is a "living, active principle," which "enters into everyday
life." List three life habits that have a direct bearing on this:
a. _______________
b. _______________
c. _______________ (P. 57)
12. When persons search the Scriptures with prayer
to know the will of God, and then do His will from the heart, without one
reservation or self-indulgence, what will they find? __________ (P. 58)
13. "Indulgence of appetite strengthens the
__________________ propensities, giving them the ascendancy over the _________ ________and _____________ powers." (P. 62)
14. What are listed as stimulants and narcotics?
a. __________________
b. __________________
c. __________________
d. __________________
e. __________________ (P. 63)
15. What is it that, strictly carried out, becomes
a safeguard of the soul? _______________________________________ (P. 64)
16. What types of food are of no benefit to us?
______________ and _________________ (P. 64)
17. "Men and women cannot violate ___________________
law by indulging ________________________ and ______________ ___________________and
not violate the law of God.'' (P. 69)
15
18. What is God's design in regard to the great
subject of health reform?___________________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________
(P. 70)
19. What is God's reason for restricting unnatural
appetite? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(P. 72)
20. a. When will
health reform be given its proper place? __________________________________________________________________________________________________
b. Where?
(1) ______________________________________________
_____________________________________________
(2) _____________________________________________
(3) _____________________________________________
(4) ______________________________________________
(5) _____________________________________________
________________________________________
(P. 73)
21. "The work of _____________________________
is the Lord's means for lessening ____________________ in our world and for
___________________ His church." (P. 77)
C. THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Is there a difference between breaking
the laws of health and the law of Ten Commandments?
2. What foods should be served on the Sabbath
day?
3. Is the practice of health reform important
to an understan-ding of the truths of God?
4. Why does God prohibit certain foods?
16
LESSON 3--THE PROPER DIETARY
A. READING AND STUDY ASSIGNMENT: Counsels on Diet and Foods,
pp. 81-113
B. STUDY QUESTIONS
(Complete
the quotations by filling in the missing word or words. Answer the questions
by writing your answers in the appropriate blanks. The numbers in parentheses
at the end of each question indicate the pages where the answers are found
in the text.)
1. "____________, _____________, ____________,
and ______ _______________ constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator."
(P. 81)
2. When proper foods are prepared in a simple
and natural manner what do they impart to us?
a. _____________________________________
b. _____________________________________
c. _______________________________
(P. 81)
3. So far as our diet is concerned what does
God intend to do?_____________________________________________
(Pp. 81, 82)
4. "You should use the most _____________________
prepared in the most __________________ manner, that the fine nerves of the
_________________ be not weakened, ______________ ______________, or paralyzed."
(P. 83)
5. What is it that breaks down the organs
of body and mind? _________________ (P. 84)
6. What four things will do much to keep
sickness from camp meetings?
a. _______________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________
d. _______________________________________________ (P. 85)
7. Two paragraphs on page 88 are devoted
to a discussion of time wasted in long hours required to prepare dainty and
17
often unwholesome
dishes. How could this time be more profitably spent?
a. ________________________________________________ __________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________ ____________________________________________
(P. 88)
8. "A diet lacking in the _________________________________
of nutrition brings _____________________ upon the cause of health reform."
(P. 92)
9. "Fruits, grains, and vegetables,
prepared in a _____________ way, free from ______________ and ___________
of all kinds, make, with ____________ or ___________, the most healthful diet."
(P. 92)
10. What three aspects of life should be taken
into account in the choice of diet?
a. _______________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
c. _________________________________________ (P. 94)
11. "Respect paid to the proper treatment
of the ______________ will be rewarded in _________________________________
and _______________________________________" (P. 101)
12. What results does overeating bring upon the
stomach?
a.
____________________________________
b. ____________________________________
c. ______________________________ (P. 101)
13. "Overeating, even of the simplest food,
________________ the sensitive nerves of the brain,
and _____________ its vitality." (P. 102)
14. What activities hinder the digestive processes
if they are engaged in immediately after eating?
a.
_______________________________
b.
________________________ (P. 103)
18
15. What excites the appetite, renders digestion
of food more perfect, and induces sound and sweet sleep? ____________________
___________ (P. 104)
16. "Taken in a ______________________, your
food would not give healthful vigor or tone to the system." (P. 105)
17. When is the stomach best able to care for a
substantial meal? __________________________________________ (P. 105)
18. Food should not be eaten very _________ or
very _________. (P. 106)
19. "Food should be eaten slowly, and should
be thoroughly masticated" so "that the __________________ may be
properly mixed with the ______________, and the digestive _________ be called
into action." (P. 107)
20. What are the results when many varieties are
introduced into the stomach?
a. ____________________
b. ____________________ (P.
110)
21. " ______________ mixed and _____________________
foods are injurious to the health of human beings." (P. 113)
22. "Food should be prepared with ____________________,
yet with a _____________ which will invite the appetite." (P. 110)
C. THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What foods should one serve to guests?
2. What should we do about foods that don't
agree with us?
3. Should the nature of a man's work affect
his eating habits?
4. What combination of foods should be avoided?
19
LESSON 4--IMPROPER EATING A CAUSE
OF DISEASE
A. READING AND STUDY ASSIGNMENT: Counsels on Diet and Foods,
pp. 117-142
B. STUDY QUESTIONS
(Complete
the quotations by filling in the missing word or words. Answer the questions
by writing your answers in the appropriate blanks. The numbers in parentheses
at the end of each question indicate the pages where the answers are found
in the text.)
1. Man has for over six thousand years withstood
an ever-increasing weight of disease and crime. Of what is this proof? ___________________________________________________________________________________________
(P. 117)
2. The present feeble condition of the race
is not the work of _________________ but of __________. (P. 118)
3. When men take any course that needlessly
expends their vitality or beclouds their intellect, what are they doing? ______________________________________(P.
118)
4. "It is ______________ for a man to
present his ____________ a _______________________, holy, acceptable to God,
while continuing to ____________________ that are depriving him of ___________,
___________, and _____________________ vigor." (P. 119)
5. "__________________ bequeath to their
offspring their own __________________, and loathsome
___________________ corrupt the blood and enervate the brain." (P. 119)
6. Disease
results from violating what laws?
a. _________________
b. _________________ (P. 120)
7. When Israel followed God's laws and their conditions, the Bible
states that "________________________________________
_________________________________________." (P. 121)
8. What are the main causes of the breakdown
of the mental powers?
20
a. ________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________
c. ________________________________________________
d. ____________________________________ (Pp. 122, 123)
9. What prepares the way for drunkenness?
_________________ ________________________________ (P. 123)
10. What wonderful experience will gluttons never
be able to enjoy? __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________
________________________ (P. 126)
11. "Many spoil their ________________by ____________
improperly. We should be just as careful to learn the lessons of ______________________________
as we are to have our studies ______________ prepared; for the ______________
that we adopt in this direction are helping to form our _______________ for
the ____________________." (P. 126)
12. Those who after seeing their mistakes, have
the courage to change their dietary habits for the better, will find two things
are required. List them.
a. ________________________________________________
b. _________________________________________ (P. 127)
13. "We need to learn that _______________________________
is the greatest hindrance to _________________ improvement and ______________________________________."
(P. 127)
14. Taking too much food (overeating) results in
three evils. These are:
a. ________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
c. __________________________________________ (P. 131)
15. What is one great cause of forgetfulness and
loss of memory? __________________________________________________ _____________
(P. 138)
16. " __________________ is especially harmful
to those who are _____________________________ in temperament." (P. 138)
21
17. What is caused by a disordered stomach?
a. _________________
b. _________________
c. _________________ (P. 139)
18. "By intemperance in eating, you _______________
yourselves for seeing clearly the difference between ______________ and ________________
fire." (P. 140)
19. "Shall we not draw near to the Lord, that
He may save us from all ____________________ in _______________________ and
_________________, from all ______________, __________ _______ passions, all
________________________?" (P. 140)
C. THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What are the social results of uncontrolled
appetite?
2. How do we compare in vigor and health
with original man?
3. How does improper diet cause death?
4. When can even healthful foods be harmful?
22
LESSON 5--CONTROL OF APPETITE
A. READING AND STUDY ASSIGNMENT: Counsels on Diet and Foods,
pp. 145-170
B. STUDY QUESTIONS
(Complete
the quotations by filling in the missing word or words. Answer the questions
by writing your answers in the appropriate blanks. The numbers in parentheses
at the end of each question indicate the pages where the answers are found
in the text.)
1. "Christ has here left us a most important
lesson. He would lay before us the danger of making our ___________________
and ___________________ paramount." (P. 146)
2. What is the result of excessive eating
and drinking?
a. _______________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________
d. _________________________________________ (P. 146)
3. What is one of the strongest temptations
man has to meet? ________________ (P. 147)
4. "The gratification of ________________________________
led to the sins that caused the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah." (P. 147)
5. What has increased with every succeeding
generation? ________________________________ (P. 149)
6. "The first great evil was __________________
in _________ ________ and ____________." (P. 149)
7. How does Satan secure his strongest hold
on man?______ _________________ (P. 150)
8. What results follow the disregard of nature's
laws?
a. _________________________________________
b. _________________________________________
c. ___________________________________ (P. 151)
9. "And by passing over the ground which
_________ must travel, our Lord has __________________________________ for
us to ____________." (P. 152)
23
10. "Not even by a ________________ did He
yield to temptation." (P. 153)
11. What are we to be constantly doing during this
probation period? _________________________________________________ __________________________
(P. 156)
12. "Temperance in __________ , ___________ , ___________, and __________________ is one
of the grand principles of the religious life." (P. 157)
13. Our eternal welfare depends upon the use we
make of what three things?
a. _____________________
b. _____________________
c. _____________________ (P. 157)
14. "A ______________ meal should never be
eaten until the stomach has had time to ____________ from the __________ of
digesting the preceding meal. If a _________________ meal be eaten at all,
it should be ________________, and several __________ before going to bed."
(P. 158)
15. "Perseverance in a self-denying course
of ________________ and _____________ will soon make
________________, ______________________ food palatable, and it will soon
be eaten with greater _____________________ than the epicure enjoys over his
_______________________." (P. 159)
16. "If those who profess to be Christians
desire to solve the questions so perplexing to them, why their _____________
are so ___________, why their __________ aspirations are so ___________, they
need not, in many instances, go farther than the ___________________; here
is cause enough, if there were no other." (P. 159)
17. How are many incapacitated for labor?
a. ________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
_________________ (P. 160)
18. "There are men of excellent natural ability
whose labor does not accomplish ___________ what it might if they were temperate
in all thigs." (P. 163)
24
19. Why have thousands gone to the grave, physical,
mental, and moral wrecks? ______________________________________ _________________________________________________
_______________ (P. 167)
20. What is said about our association with unbelievers?
__________________________________________ (P. 168)
21. "A _________ and ___________ life, a life
of ____________ over _________ and ___________ is possible to everyone who
will unite his ______________, ______________ human will to the omnipotent,
_________________ will of God." (P. 170)
C. THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What important lessons should we learn
from Noah's day and from ancient Sodom?
2. Why did God allow Israel to eat flesh?
3. Is sickness always an act of God?
4. In what way were Christ's temptations
similar to ours?
25
LESSON 6--REGULARITY IN EATING;
FASTING; EXTREMES
A. READING AND STUDY ASSIGNMENT: Counsels on
Diet and Foods, pp. 173-213
B. STUDY QUESTIONS
(Complete
the quotations by filling in the missing word or words. Answer the questions
by writing your answers in the appropriate blanks. The numbers in parentheses
at the end of each question indicate the pages where the answers are found
in the text.)
1. "At ________________ time the stomach
is in better condition to take care of more food than at the __________________
or ____________ meal of the day." (P. 173)
2. Having eaten three meals, many feel that
they must have a snack at bedtime. They complain of a feeling of faintness.
What is often the reason for this? _________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________
(P. 174)
3. "The _______________ when we lie
down to rest, should have its work all done, that it may enjoy ________________,
as well as other portions of the body." (P. 175)
4. What should be considered as pernicious
violations of the laws of health?
a. _______________________________
b. ___________________________________ (P. 175)
5. What particular foods are recommended
as being most easily digested, if a third, evening meal is necessary? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(P. 176)
6. Why do children come to the table unable
to relish good food? __________________________________________ (P. 180)
7. What is the result of eating at all hours?
_____________ ____________________________________ (P. 182)
8. How did man become debased and diseased?
____________ ___________________________________________ (P. 185)
26
9. "For certain things, ________________
and ____________ are recommended and appropriate. In the hand of God they
are a means of ____________________ the heart and promoting a __________________
frame of mind." (Pp. 187, 188)
10. "The true fasting which should be recommended
to all, is __________________ from every ________________ kind of food, and
the proper use of ___________________________, ____________ food, which God
has provided in abun- dance." (P. 188)
11. "In many cases of sickness, the very best
remedy is for the patient to ______________ for a _____________________ that
the overworked organs of digestion may have an opportunity to ______________."
(P. 189)
12. Ellen G. White counsels against a prolonged
fast. Why? _________________________________________________ (P. 190)
13. "When those who advocate _____________________
carry the matter to extremes, people are not to _______________, if they become
disgusted." (P. 195)
14. What kind of diet is not recommended? ______________
________________(P. 196)
15. "Those who understand the laws of health,
and who are governed by ______________________, will shun the extremes, both
of ________________ and of _________________." (P. 198)
16. Explain why no one person can make himself
a criterion for all in regard to health reform. ______________________________
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________
_________________ (P. 198)
17. Will depriving ourselves of nourishing food
make us more holy? ___________ (P. 201)
18. "_________ reform becomes _____________
deform, a health destroyer, when it is carried to ___________." (P. 202)
19. In presenting the gospel, whose opinions should
be excluded? ______________ (P. 209)
27
20. "The great backsliding upon health reform
is because ____________ minds have handled it and carried it to such _________________
that it has _____________ in place of _________________ people to it."
(P. 212)
C. THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why was it necessary for Christ to fast
nearly six weeks?
2. What are the dangers of extremes in diet?
3. Name some mistaken ideas of reform.
28
LESSON 7--DIET DURING PREGNANCY AND
DIET IN CHILDHOOD
A. READING AND STUDY ASSIGNMENT: Counsels on
Diet and Foods, pp. 217-247
B. STUDY QUESTIONS
(Complete
the quotations by filling in the missing word or words. Answer the questions
by writing your answers in the appropriate blanks. The numbers in parentheses
at the end of each question indicate the pages where the answers are found
in the text.)
1. "If before
the birth of her child she is ___________________, if she is _______________,
__________ and ___________ these traits will be reflected in the ______________________
of the child." (P. 217)
2. Why is it important that an expectant
mother cultivate such positive aspects of character
as kindness, gentleness, unselfishness? ______________________________________
__________________________________________________ ___________________ (P.
217)
3. Who will bring temptations on the expectant
mother so as to affect the character of her child? ________________________
______________ (P. 219)
4. "Unless she has an
____________ supply of ____________ _______________, she cannot retain her
physical strength, and her offspring is ________________ of _________________."
(P. 219)
5. Upon what two things do
the prosperity of mother andchild depend?
a. ________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________ (Pp. 219, 220)
6. "The ___________ organs cannot convert
________, _________________, ______________ and ______________ ____________________________
into good blood." (P. 220)
7. "The best food for the infant is
the food that ______________ provides."
(P. 226)
29
8. In cases where mothers are unable to nurse
their children, why are nine out of ten unable to do so? ____________________
_________________________________________________ _____________________ (P.
227)
9. Can a child be poisoned by the unhealthful
condition of its mother's blood? ____________ (P. 228)
10. In what subject should a mother first educate
her children? ___________________________________ (P. 228)
11. "Your children should not be allowed to
eat _______________, _____________, ____________, or ___________ in the line
of ______________, between their meals." (P. 229)
12. "The importance of training children to
right _____________ habits can hardly be overestimated. The little ones need
to learn that they ___________ to ___________, not _____________ to __________."
(Pp 229, 230)
13. What two things should not be required of our
children?
a.
_______________________________________________
b.
________________________________________ (P. 230)
14. "Let the table be made ___________________
and __________ ______________, as it is supplied with the good things which
God has so bountifully bestowed." (P. 231)
15. What evil results are seen in the glutton,
the tobacco dev-otee, the winebibber, and the inebriate?
_________________________ _______________________________ (P. 231)
16. "____________ meats
constitute the principal article of food upon the tables of some families,
until their _______________ is filled with ______________ and _____________
humors." (P. 233)
17. How can our sisters cooperate in the great
work of saving others? __________________________________________________
___________________________________ (P. 234)
18. What four types of food, placed before children,
irritate the stomach and cause "a craving for still stronger stimulants"?
30
a.
___________________
b.
___________________
c.
___________________
d.
___________________ (P. 235)
19. "When ______________ and _____________
meet at the final reckoning, what a scene will be presented. Thousands of
___________ who have been slaves to appetite and debasing vice, whose lives
are _____________________________, will stand face to face with the _____________
who made them what they are." (P. 238)
20. "___________ and
_________________ food fevers the blood, excites the ___________________ system,
and too often dulls the ______________________ perceptions, so that reason
and conscience are overborne by the ________________________ _____________."
(P. 243)
21. What should children be taught from the earliest
years of childhood? _________________________________________ _______________
(P. 246)
C. THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What lessons can we learn from God's instructions
to Manoah?
2. What is the best diet for an expectant
mother?
3. Why should a mother care for her own child?
4. What foods are especially injurious to
children? Why?
31
LESSON 8--HEALTHFUL COOKERY, HEALTH FOODS
AND HYGIENIC RESTAURANTS, SANITARIUM
DIETARY
A. READING AND STUDY ASSIGNMENT: Counsels on
Diet and Foods, pp. 251-298
B. STUDY QUESTIONS
(Complete
the quotations by filling in the missing word or words. Answer the questions
by writing your answers in the appropriate blanks. The numbers in parentheses
at the end of each question indicate the pages where the answers are found
in the text.)
1. "It is a _____________ to place poorly
prepared food on the table, because the matter of _____________ concerns the
__________ of the entire system." (P. 251)
2. How does cooking as a science compare
with other sciences? _____________________________________ (P. 251)
3. "It is your duty to know how to ___________,
and it is your duty to teach your _____________ to _______________."
(P. 253)
4. "Something must be prepared to take
the place of
meat, and these _________________ for meat must be ______________ _____________,
so that meat willnot be ________________."
(P. 256)
5. What does poor cooking produce?
a. ________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________
d. ___________________________________________________________________ (P. 256)
6. "It may be fashionable to have half
a _________________ ____________ at a meal, but the custom is ______________
____________ to health." (P. 258)
7. "It is a ____________________________
for those who cook to learn how to prepare healthful food in different ways,
so that it may be eaten with _________________________________." (P.
260)
32
8. Instruction of a daughter in the mysteries
of cooking should be given by the mother, and in what spirit?
a.
_______________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
c.
_______________________________________________
d.
_________________________________________ (P. 262)
9. "The heavenly Provider of all ______________
will not leave His _______________ in ignorance in regard to the ________
___________ of the ______________ for all ____________ and occasions."
(P. 267)
10. Who will teach those in all parts of the world
to combine fruits, grains, and vegetables into foods that will sustain life
and not bring disease? _______________________________ (P. 267)
11. "It is His design that the ________________
of each country shall be so prepared that they can be used in the countries
for which they are suited." (Pp. 267, 268)
12. As overpopulation, crop failures, and famine
result in want and distress, there will be an increasing need to know how
to
a. _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
________________________________________ (P. 271)
13. "If we would work for the restoration
of health, it is necessary to _____________________________________, to __________
__________________, and only a limited ____________ at one time." (Pp.
275, 276)
14. With what should every patient in our sanitariums
be provided? __________________________________________________ ________________
(P. 287)
15. "I have been plainly instructed by the
Lord that __________ __________ should not be placed before the patients in
our sanitarium dining rooms. Light was given me that the patients could have
____________________, if, after hearing the parlor lectures, they still urged
us to give it to them; but that, in such cases, it must be eaten in ___________________________
____________." (P. 290)
33
16. What should be placed on the table in abundance?
___________ ________________ (P. 296)
17. "The cook in a sanitarium should be a
_________________ _______________________________." (P. 297)
18. What foods should be served the helpers in
our sanitariums? __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________
(P. 297)
C. THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What position of importance is held by
the cook?
2. Why are so many mothers weary and overburdened?
3. Will general knowledge substitute for
the knowledge of cooking?
4. How best can we get our health message
before the world?
34
LESSON 9--DIET A RATIONAL REMEDY;
FRUITS, CEREALS, AND VEGETABLES; DESSERTS
READING
AND STUDY ASSIGNMENT: Counsels on Diet and Foods, pp. 301-335
STUDY
QUESTIONS
(Complete
the quotations by filling in the missing word or words. Answer the questions
by writing your answers in the appropriate blanks. The numbers in parentheses
at the end of each question indicate the pages where the answers are found
in the text.)
1. "It is ________________________ to
become familiar with the benefit of___________________ in case of sickness."
(P. 301)
2. What are the true remedies?
a. _______________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________
d. _______________________________________________
e. _______________________________________________
f. _______________________________________________
g. _______________________________________________
h. ________________________________________
(P. 301)
3. When illness strikes many can do for themselves what others cannot do so well for them. What stands
in the way of many in applying the three simple rules, including giving "the
stomach a chance for rest"?
a. _______________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
c. _________________________________________
(P. 304)
4. What is often the cause of sickness? ____________________
____________________
(P. 305)
5. "___________________ we would especially recommend as a ___________________________
agency." (P. 309)
6. "Nicely prepared _______________
and ______________ in their season will be _____________________, if they
are of the best _________________, not showing the slightest sign of
_____________." (P. 309)
35
7. What constitutes the diet chosen for us
by the Creator?
a. ___________________
b. ___________________
c. ___________________
d. ___________________ (P. 313)
8. "Those who eat ____________ are but
eating ____________ and ________________ at second hand; for the _________
____________ receives from these things the nutrition that produces growth."
(P. 313)
9. "Fruits, grains, and vegetables,
prepared in a ____________ way, free from ___________ and ______________ of
all kinds, make, with ___________ or ___________, the most healthful diet."
(P. 314)
10. "_____________ is the real staff of life,
and therefore every ____________ should ______________ in making it."
(P. 315)
11. In the chapter on breadmaking,
we learn that _____________ and ____________ should not be used. The "bread
should be ____________ and ____________." "The loaves should be
________________, and so thoroughly baked that, as far as possible, the _______________________
shall be destroyed." (P. 316)
12. When one article of diet is condemned, another
is recommended to take its place. What can we use in place of hot biscuits
raised with soda or baking powder?
a. ___________________
b. ________ (Pp. 319, 320)
13. What is more nutritious than plain wheat flour?
_________ _________________________________________________ (P. 321)
14. "All should be acquainted with the ______________________
of fruits and _______________________ from the orchard and ________________."
(P. 321)
15. How may vegetables be made palatable? ________________
__________________________________(P. 322)
16. What food is not good for the stomach and clogs
the system? _______________ (p 327)
36
17. What are active causes of indigestion?
a. __________________________
b. __________________________
c. __________________________
d. __________________________
e. ___________________ (P. 327)
18. Mrs. White avoided extremes in the matter of
the use of sugar and also milk. How did she support this?
a. _____________________________________________
________________________________________________
b. _________________________________________________
_____________________________________ (P . 330)
19. "The free use of _____________ and _________
taken together should be avoided." (P. 331)
20. Ellen White makes it plain that a moderate
use of simple desserts is not a violation of principle. List four items she
cites as examples:
a. _______________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________
d. ___________________________________ (Pp. 333, 334)
21. When should dessert be served? ________________________
__________________________________________ (P. 334)
C. THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What is one of the most effective and
least expensive ways of gaining good health?
2. How should fruit be prepared for winter?
3. What kind of bread should we serve on
our tables?
4. Rich foods, what are they? Why is their
free use discouraged?
37
LESSON 10--CONDIMENTS, FATS, PROTEINS
A. READING AND STUDY ASSIGNMENT: Counsels on
Diet and Foods, pp. 339-370
B. STUDY QUESTIONS
(Complete the quotations by filling in the missing
word or words. Answer the questions by writing your answers in the appropriate
blanks. The numbers in parentheses at the end of each question indicate the
pages where the answers are found in the text.)
1. "Condiments, so frequently used by
those of the world, are ___________ to the _______________." (P 339)
2. "The use of unnatural _________ always
tends to excess, and it is an active agent in promoting _______________________
_________________and _____________." (P. 339)
3. What causes teen-agers to become dyspeptics?
a. _______________________________________________
b. ________________________________________
(P. 340)
4. "Spices at first irritate the ___________________________
of the __________________, but finally destroy the _________ __________________of
this __________________________ _________________." (P. 341)
5. "The use of ___________ or __________________________
in breadmaking is harmful and unnecessary."
(P. 342)
6. Mrs. White made two basic statements about
the use of salt. She wrote: "Do not _____________________________________
of salt." She also declared, "I use ________________ salt and always
have, because from the ______________ given me by ___________, this article,
in the place of being deleterious, is actually __________________ for the_________________."
Scientifically confirmed today, Mrs. White, concerning the reasons for this
point, declared at the time:____________ _______________________________________________
__________________________________________ (P. 344)
7. What foods cannot be converted into good
blood by the blood-making organs?
a. __________________
b. __________________
c. __________________
d. __________________
(P. 345)
8. How can the cook ruin an otherwise healthful
salad? What then happens in the stomach?
a.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________
(P. 345)
9. What will be the reason for the discontinuance
of the use of eggs, milk, cream, and butter? ______________________________
_________________________________________________ (P. 349)
10. What should not be classed with flesh meats?
a. ________________
b. ________________
c. ________________
(P. 351)
11. In a significant statement Mrs. White declared:
"As for myself, I have settled the butter question. I _____________________
use it. This question should easily be settled in _____________
___________ where the _____________________ cannot be obtained. . .
. We use _____________ and all are satisfied with this." (P. 351)
12. What was Mrs. White's attitude toward members
of her family who chose to eat butter occasionally? ____________________ __________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________ (Pp. 351, 352)
13. _____________ and cream are a part of a healthful,
nourishing diet of which "our benevolent heavenly Father says we may
____________________." (P. 355)
14. "Health reform must ______________ be
urged in a _______ __________ manner." (P. 352)
39
15. "Some, in abstaining from ____________,
___________, and ___________, have failed to supply the system with proper ________________, and as a consequence have become weak
and unable to work." (P. 353)
16. Will God reveal to us when certain foods should
be discontinued? ___________ (P. 353)
17. "__________ and
________________ are coming largely into use to take the place of flesh meats."
(P. 363)
18. Three other foods can be combined with nuts.
They are ___________, _____________, and ____________________. (P. 363)
19. What did Sister White say concerning the proportion
of nuts in the preparation of nut foods? ________________________ __________________________________________
(P. 364)
20. "Great care should be taken, however,
to obtain ___________ from ________________________, and _____________ from
__________________________, that are well fed and well cared for; and the
_________________ should be so cooked as to be most easily digested."
(P. 365)
21. What is it that should be progressive? ___________________
(P. 365)
22. Sister White used cottage cheese. What was
her attitude toward the ripened cheese sold in the stores at that time?
__________________________________________________
_________________________________________________ _____________________
(P. 370)
C. THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What is a radical in health reform?
2. Why does the use of condiments cause a faintness?
3. How can we follow the instruction of the
Lord in moderation?
4. How will we know when the time has come
to discontinue the use of dairy and poultry products?
40
LESSON 11--FLESH MEATS
A. READING AND STUDY ASSIGNMENT: Counsels on
Diet and Foods, pp. 373-416
B. STUDY QUESTIONS
(Complete
the quotations by filling in the missing word or words. Answer the questions
by writing your answers in the appropriate blanks.
The numbers in parentheses at the end of each question
indicate the pages where the answers are found in the text.)
1. The diet designed originally by God for
our first parents consisted of _______________________________________
_____________________________ (P. 373)
2. What was God's reason, after the Flood,
for permitting that long-lived race to eat animal food? ______________________ ___________________________________________ (P. 373)
3. "As a general thing, the Lord did
not provide His people with flesh meats in the desert, because He knew that
the use of this diet would create __________________ and ______________ _____________________."
(P. 375)
4. "Our habits of eating and drinking
show whether we are of the __________ or among the number whom the ______________
by His mighty cleaver of truth has separated from the world." (P. 379)
5. "Again and again ______________________________
that God is trying to lead us _______________step by step to His ____________________________,--that
man should subsist upon the natural ________________
of the ______________." (P. 380)
6. "How can those who are seeking to
become ______________, ______________and ____________, that they may have
the companionship of heavenly angels, continue to use as
food anything that has so harmful an effect on ___________ and ___________."
(P. 380)
7. Among those who are waiting for the coming
of the Lord, what will cease to form a part of their diet? __________________
(Pp. 380, 381)
41
8. What work will have to be done before
God's people can "stand before Him a perfected people"? _______________________
_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _____________________ (P. 381)
9. What areas of health are endangered by
eating the flesh of animals?
a. ________________
b. ________________
c. ________________ (P. 382)
10. "Those who eat flesh meat disregard ___________________
_________________________________________________ ________________."(P.
383)
11. "______________, _______________, and
______________ ________________are largely caused by _______________ ___________."(P.
383)
12. "Animals are becoming more and more_________________,
and it will not be long until _________________________ will be ______________
by many besides Seventh-day Ad ventists." (P.
384)
13. The liability to disease is increased how many
times by the eating of meat? ______________ (P. 386)
14. "It is _____________for those who make
free use of flesh meats to have an _______________________brain
and an _______ _______________ intellect." (P. 389)
15. "The mortality caused by meat eating is
not discerned; if it were, we would hear no more arguments and excuses in
favor of the indulgence of the appetite for ________________________ ______________. " (P. 391)
16. "It is a _______________ to suppose that
________________ ________________ depends on the use of _________________
_____________." (P. 396)
17. When flesh is discarded, with what should it
be replaced? _________________________________________________ ___________________________________________ (P. 397)
18. "Let not any of our _____________ set
an evil example
42
in the eating
of _____________________________." (P. 399)
19. Is the use of flesh foods a test of fellowship?
______________ (P. 401)
20. Are students in our schools to be served flesh
meats? ___________ (P. 403)
21. "I have been shown that the __________
that were given us in the early days of the message are to be regarded as
just as __________________ by our people ______________ as they were then."
(P. 416)
C. THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What caused much of the wickedness of
the antediluvian world?
2. Why did the Lord give flesh food to Israel in the wilderness?
3. What are some of the results caused by
eating flesh meats?
4. How does meat eating affect the mind?
5. Have you carefully and prayerfully sought
to understand the will of God in these matters?
43
LESSON 12--BEVERAGES
A. READING AND STUDY ASSIGNMENT: Counsels on Diet and Foods,
pp. 419-437
B. STUDY QUESTIONS
(Complete
the quotations by filling in the missing word or words Answer
the questions by writing your answers in the appropriate blanks. The numbers
in parentheses at the end of each question indicate the pages where the answers
are found in the text.)
1. "In health and in sickness, ___________is
one of Heaven's choicest blessings." (P. 419)
2. Cold liquids, especially ice water and
lemonade, "drunk with ___________, will arrest _________________ until
the system has imparted sufficient _____________ to the ___________ _________
to enable it to take up its ______________ again." (P. 420)
3. "Food should not be _____________
down; no ____________ is needed with meals." (P. 420)
4. "The more ______________ there is
taken into the stomach with the meals, the more difficult it is for the food
to digest; for the __________ must first be absorbed." (P. 420)
5. "If anything is needed to quench
thirst, pure ____________, drunk some little time ______________ or _____________
the meal, is all that nature requires. . . . Water is the best ___________
possible to cleanse the tissues." (P. 420)
6. "Those who resort to ____________
and ___________ for stimulation to labor, will feel
the evil effects of this course in _______________________ and lack of ________________
____________."(P. 422)
7. How does the system suffer through the
use of stimulants?
a. _______________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
44
d. _______________________________________________
(P. 422)
8. "All partake freely of the favorite
_______________, and as the stimulating influence is felt, their __________________
are loosened, and they begin the wicked work of ___________ against ____________."
(P. 423)
9. What do tired nerves need in place of
stimulation and over work? _________________________________________."
(P. 424)
10. What is the immediate reaction from the use
of tea and coffee? _________________________________________________
__________________________________________________ __________________________.
Then "when their immediate influence has gone," what is the secondary
reaction? _________________________________________________ ____________ (P.
425)
11. "__________ and
__________drinking is a __________, an injurious indulgence, which, like other
___________, injures the soul." (P. 425)
12. What should every true Christian control? _____________
_____________ (P. 427)
13. The greatest danger following the indulgence
of perverted appetite is that through such indulgence _________________ _________________________________________________ (P.
429)
14. What is Satan's suggestion in regard to the
message of health reform? ___________________________________________ _________________________________________________
___________________________________________ (P. 431)
15. In the light of the law of God, can Christians
conscientiously engage in the raising of hops or in the manufacture of wine
or cider for the market? _____________ (Pp. 432, 433)
16. "___________ and
___________ may be canned when fresh, and kept sweet a long time; and if used
in an unfermented state, they will not dethrone reason. (p 433)
45
7. Mrs. White calls moderate drinking a school.
What kind of education is here received? __________________________ __________________________________________ (P. 433)
18. "We must ________________ from any practice
which will _______________ the ____________________or encourage ________________."
(P. 435)
19. To whose day is our
day likened? ________________ (P. 435)
20. "The pure juice of the _____________,
free from fermentation, is a wholesome drink." (P. 436)
21. For what should we thank the Lord? __________________
_____________________________ (P. 437)
C. THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What are some of the ways water can be
beneficial to the sick?
2. What are the results of drinking tea and
coffee?
3. How do stimulants affect spiritual perception?
4. What are the results of whipping tired
and flagging nerves?
46
LESSON 13--TEACHING HEALTH PRINCIPLES
A. READING AND STUDY ASSIGNMENT: Counsels on
Diet and Foods, pp. 441-477
B. STUDY QUESTIONS
(Complete
the quotations by filling in the missing word or words. Answer the questions
by writing your answers in the appropriate blanks. The numbers in parentheses
at the end of each question indicate the pages where the answers are found
in the text.)
1. "Education in __________ principles
was never more needed than _____________." (P. 441)
2. To elevate the moral standards in any
country we must begin by doing what? _______________________________________ ___________________ (P. 441)
3. "The ____________ is to be bound
up with the principles of ______________________________." (P. 442)
4. What two places are suggested as places
to demonstrate healthful cooking?
a. ______________________________________________
b. _______________________________________ (P. 443)
5. We must strive continually to educate
the people, not only by our words, but _________________________________.
(P. 443)
6. "In this institution people were
to be taught how to ______________, ______________, and ______________,
--how to _________________________ by proper habits of
living." (P. 444)
7. "Our __________________________ are
to be the means of enlightening those who come to them for ________________
____________." (P. 444)
8. "The ________________ in the school
are to be taught to be strict _____________________________________."
(P. 450)
9. When the ministers "obey the laws
of life, practicing right principles and living
healthfully" they will be able to lead __________________________________________________________________________________________.
(P. 452)
47
10. "No man should be set apart as a teacher
of the people while his own teaching or example __________________________
the testimony God has given His servants to bear in regard to ______________,
for this will bring ___________." (Pp. 453, 454)
11. What should the members of poor households
be taught?
a. _______________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________
d. _______________________________________________ (P.
456)
12. "He who is thoroughly ______________ will
abandon every injurious ______________ and ________________." (P. 457)
13. What is the great object and purpose of health
reform? _________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ __
(P. 457)
14. "The requirements of God must be brought
home to the ___________________. Men and women must be awakened to the duty
of _____________________________, the need of _______________, freedom from
every ________________ ____________ and defiling _____________." (P.
458)
15. "As you seek to draw others within the
circle of His love, let the ________________________, the _____________________ ______________________, the _______________________
_____________________________bear witness to the power of His grace."
(P. 459)
16. Why should we not attack the wrong habits of
others? __________________________________________ (P. 459)
17. In what way does God desire to use Adventist
health books and journals? __________________________________________ _________________________________________________
__________________________________________ (P. 461)
18. "There is a time to ________________,
and a time to keep _________________." (P. 463)
48
19. What is the danger in presenting "our
strongest position" in health reform to people who are just beginning
to learn what it is? _________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________
___________________________________________ (P. 469)
20. "Wherever the truth is presented, the
people are to be taught how to prepare __________________ in a __________________,
yet ___________ way." (P. 474)
21. Where should classes of instruction be held in proper cooking? __________________________________________
(P. 474)
22. "To the
_____________ and _______________ of the whole family
nothing is more vital than __________ and ______ ________________ on the part
of the cook." (P. 476)
C. THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How can our sanitariums best instruct
patients on health reform?
2. Can a Christian worker live unto
himself?
3. Can the Lord bless a church with large
increases in membership when it is not living up to right principles?
4. What does it mean to "meet people
where they are"?
5. What are some of the opportunities and
also dangers of health food restaurants?
49
APPENDIX A
THE
SPIRIT OF PROPHECY AND THE CAUSE OF REFORM
By James White *
Review and Herald, March 17, 1868
Probably there has not been an important movement or reform for the benefit
of fallen man, which would, if properly conducted, result in his own spiritual
advancement, that has been free from extremes. There are always many who move
too slowly, and that testimony necessary to urge them to duty, is always sure
to be taken advantage of by some who have more zeal than caution. While Satan
tempts the many to be too slow, he always tempts these to be too fast. Mrs.
White's labors are made very hard, and, sometimes perplexing, by reason of
the course of extremists, who think the only safe position is to take the
extreme view of every expression she has written or spoken upon points where
different views may be taken. . . . She works to this disadvantage, namely:
she makes strong appeals to the people, which a few feel deeply, and take
strong positions, and go to extremes. Then to save the cause from ruin in
consequence of these extremes, she is obliged to come out with reproofs for
extremists in a public manner. This is better than to have things go to pieces;
but the influence of both the extremes and the reproofs are terrible on the
cause, and brings upon Mrs. White a three-fold burden. Here is the difficulty:
What she may say to urge the tardy, is taken by the
prompt to urge them over the mark. And what she may say to caution the prompt,
zealous, incautious ones, is taken by the tardy as
an excuse to remain too far behind.
With the People, Tugging Away
We say to those who wish to help Mrs. White in her work, you will not find
her far ahead of the people, with a few extremists. No, she is back with the
people, tugging away at the wheel of reform, and has to lift all the harder
because of your extreme advance. Come back, good, whole-hearted souls, and
stand by her side, and lift where she lifts. What can you do there at such
a distance from the people? Come back. You must meet the people where they
are.
By this, dear brother, we do not mean that any are to come back to the wrong
habits of the people. No, indeed. Their habits should
be right. In this respect we say to them, Go on.
But those who have run ahead of the work should come back from their heated
zeal, and want of Christian patience, and labor for their brethren in the
_____
* Portion of a James White letter initiated
by questions from an earnest lay member, but written "for the benefit
of the readers of the Review" generally.
50
cause of
reform as they can bear it. In this way they can help Mrs. White, who is tugging
along with a double burden of the work. There may be those, whom others cannot
reach, that she can, if rashness on the part of others does not place them
out of her reach. If one cannot mend a vase, he need not break it into fragments.
It is possible that another can mend it.
We protest against the plan practically taught by some, "Cure or Kill,"
and give a dose accordingly. Some sores need help in their cure, others will work their own cure best. It takes time to
reform a poor, sinful, intemperate, blind, stubborn piece of humanity. It
is a large job. And those who come a good way short of the faith of Abraham,
and the patience of Job, had better lay out a little more time and toil on
their own case, before going to work for others. He
who deals with the mind, engages in the nicest piece of business ever undertaken
by mortal man. And the greater the reform, and the closer the work, the more
difficult and responsible it is.
Counsel to Those Who Teach
Some persons can be converted in a day, others in a week, and still others
in a month, while it takes from one to two years to convert and thoroughly
reform some. Those who have a work laid upon them for others, will patiently
set before the people plain principles, and clear facts, and then leave them
to answer for the use they make of them. Those called to teach, are responsible
for what they teach, and how they live their own teachings. And it should
be a matter of great relief to them, that they are not responsible for the
manner the people dispose of their teachings, providing they do their duty,
both by precept, and example. Let him who teaches make haste to do his duty,
then patiently wait the result. Don't drive. "My sheep
hear my voice, and they follow me."
God has called some to teach the truth, and has called all to live it, teachers,
and all. Some leave off living out the sweet principles of the truth, and
go to battling for it. Now if they cannot do both, they had better live out
the truth, and leave the teaching of it to those who can both patiently live
and preach the truth. In fact, those not especially called of God, and qualified
for the work, will be safest for themselves and others in the position of
learners.
Satan stands ready to tempt unconsecrated persons, and prejudice them against
the truth. And those who practice it, and especially
those who teach it should be exceedingly careful not to give Satan good grounds
to tempt people concerning their course. The day of the Lord is the great
event before us. The keeping of the commandments of God,
and the faith of Jesus is the great duty of God's people. And that they may
do this acceptably, they must reform in life, and cleanse themselves from
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of
God. Those who drop all other points, and run their own testimony all on the
health, and dress reform, will disgust the people, and before they are aware
51
of it, they
will introduce a spirit of discussion, and contention into their meetings.
Relation to Third Angel's Message
The health reform has not taken the place in any respect whatever, of the
third angel's message. It is a work designed to follow in its wake.
Let the work go on, saith my soul, in all its branches.
Not a piece at a time, lest it go all to pieces; but let it move on as a complete
whole. Not fluttering and trembling in the wind, but like an old seventy-four
gun ship, let all the friends of truth and reform get on board and work together.
Yet let all the friends of Jesus, His coming, and the future glory of the
kingdom, patiently, cheerfully, joyfully unite and stand together in the work
of preparation.
52
APPENDIX B
WHAT
YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT VEGETARIANISM
Is it healthy to live on a meatless diet? Nutritionists say yes--as long as
you follow a few simple rules.
_______
By Daniel Grotta-Kurska
To the meat eater, the first, and very puzzling, question is why. Why give
up the steak, the barbecued spareribs, the pork roast, the Thanksgiving turkey,
the hamburger, and the hot dog? There is a myriad of reasons why people do
so:
! Most vegetarians live below the poverty level. They
simply cannot afford the high price of meat;
! Followers of certain religions and philosophies exclude
flesh foods from their diets because they believe eating meat hinders their
spiritual development, or because it is contrary to their religious edicts;
! Health faddists think that meat, as well as all processed
or refined "supermarket" foods, are harmful to the body;
! Some pacifists believe that killing and eating animals
is inconsistent with their ethical or social consciences;
! Recent emphasis on ecology has convinced many that using meat as a primary protein source is an arrogant
exploitation of the earth's finite resources.
The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that less than 5 percent
of the country's population is predominantly vegetarian; even so, that figure
represents more than 10 million people. A second question comes naturally:
Is a vegetarian diet nutritionally sound?
Demonstrated in War Crisis
It certainly didn't hurt the Danes during World War I, when Denmark virtually
became a meatless country because of the British naval blockade. Nutritionists
who studied the people during the war concluded that general health had significantly
improved. Similarly, Norway had to adopt a vegetarian diet during World War
II, and there was a significant drop in heart disease. Both nations, however,
reverted to meat diets as soon as the crises passed and subsequent studies
showed that the temporary health advantages apparently subsided.
We Americans, too, have been conditioned to believe that only a meat-based
diet can provide the adequate nutrition necessary for good health. Traditionally,
we have been a nation of carnivores, consuming an average of one-half pound
of meat per person every
53
day (the
Japanese eat an average of only one-half pound of meat per month, per person).
In 1973, Americans devoured 176 pounds of meat per person--66 times more than
in the average Indian diet. In fact, McDonald's--the fast-food hamburger franchise--uses
more beef per year than is consumed by the entire populations of countries
such as Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
Protein Quality
Until recently, even many scientists were accustomed to classify meats as
"first-class" proteins and vegetables as "second-class"
proteins, thereby implying that nonanimal sources
of protein were somehow inferior in quality. The most current medical and
scientific evidence, however, points to other considerations:
! Man can subsist perfectly well on a proper nonflesh diet;
! Statistically, vegetarians in the United States are
thinner, healthier, and may live longer than meat eaters;
! Meat, especially in the large quantities Americans are
accustomed to eating, may be harmful to the body;
! Protein from nonflesh foods
can be an adequate nutritional substitute for meat protein.
Protein is essential to life: It is the substance that the body uses to build
and replenish its organs, skin, cartilage, nails, hair, muscles, and the organic
framework of bones. The proteins that our bodies use are composed of 22 amino
acids, not all of which must come from the diet. The human metabolic system
can synthesize (produce by uniting chemical elements) 14 of these 22 amino
acids, but the remaining 8 must be obtained from food sources outside the
body. Hence their name--the essential amino acids.
Complete Proteins
To be useful to a person, the totality of food proteins must be "complete"--that
is, all eight essential amino acids must be ingested simultaneously, and in
the right proportion. Incomplete proteins cannot be used to build muscle and
tissue; they often end up as stored fat or are utilized for energy.
Meat is a complete protein because all eight essential amino acids are present
in the proper proportion. Vegetable foods, however, may be incomplete proteins,
lacking the minimum requirement of one or more of these eight amino acids.
But it is possible to satisfy your protein needs by a proper intermixing of
vegetable proteins, according to Elwood Speckmann,
Ph.D., director of the nutrition research program for the National Dairy Council.
"You have to be careful and make sure you use the right combinations,"
explains Dr. Speckmann. "It's simply easier
to meet your protein needs with animal foods, such as meat, milk, and eggs."
In Diet for a Small Planet, Francis Moore Lappe
offers some suggestions for combining vegetables to good advantage. Wheat,
which has a deficiency in the amino acid lysine but an abundance
54
of sulfur-containing
amino acids, can be combined with beans, which have the opposite enrichment
combination. Taken together, they complement each other to form a "complete"
protein.
"Certainly some vegetable proteins, if fed as the sole source of protein,
are of relatively low value for promoting growth," the editors of the
British medical journal Lancet wrote in 1959. "But many field
trials have shown that proteins provided by suitable mixtures of vegetable
origin enable children to grow as well as children provided with milk and
other animal protein."
Quality and Quantity
Nutritionists use two criteria in evaluating protein sources: quality and
quantity. Quality refers to the useability
of protein by the body (not all of them can be used). This factor is expressed
on a scale of 0 to 100. Quantity is the proportion of useable protein to total
weight and is expressed as a percentage. The United Nations World Health Organization
(WHO) gives meat a protein quality rating of 67--higher than that of most
plant proteins, with the exception of whole rice (70), but below that of cheese
(70), fish (80), milk (82), and eggs (95). In terms of quantity, 20 to 30
percent of the total weight of flesh food is useable protein--lamb rates the
lower figure and turkey the higher one--the rest is water,
fat, and trace minerals. On the other hand, soybean flour is 40 percent
protein; Parmesan cheese, 36 percent; many nuts and seeds between 20 and 30
percent; and peas, lentils, and dried beans, between 20 and 25 percent. Grains
are fairly low in quantity but, surprisingly, so are milk (4 percent) and
eggs (13 percent).
(There are other rating systems for food protein, also. The Food and Drug
Administration uses a protein efficiency ratio [PER] as a quality standard
for protein in nutritional labeling. Foods, such as meat and eggs, which are
above a 2.5 PER, are considered excellent sources of protein; those, such
as vegetables, which are below a 2.5 PER, are considered poor sources. The
National Livestock Meat Board rates meats, both raw and cooked, on the basis
of protein quantity. A serving of broiled, lean round steak is 31 percent
protein; raw, the same piece of meat contains 22 percent. Choice-grade leg
of lamb, cooked, is 25 percent protein; raw 18 percent.)
What all this means is that, in general, one has to eat proportionately less
meat in order to obtain the same amount of useable protein than if relying
on vegetable sources, but that nonflesh alternatives
are perfectly adequate. Balanced against this, however, are the disadvantages
of a heavily meat-laced diet.
The first problem most American meat eaters face
is not a deficiency of proteins, but an excess. Nutritionists have established
that a 154-pound man needs 43.1 grams of useable proteins, and 2,800 calories
per day for adequate nutrition; a 128-pound woman also needs 43.1 grams of
protein, but only 2,000 calories.
55
Lacto-Ovo Vegetarianism
A number of nutritional studies have concluded that facto, lacto-ovo-, and pure vegetarians * who eat a proper diet consistently
meet their protein and caloric needs but do not significantly
exceed them. Most meat eaters, however, consistently exceed their limits
and, as a consequence, tend to weigh more.
"Forty percent of the fat in our diets comes from meat," says Frederick
Stare, M.D., chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School
of Public Health.
Meat is about 4 percent saturated fat, or cholesterol. With the exception
of eggs, nonflesh foods have no cholesterol. The
consequences of meat and nonmeat diets were measured
in a study conducted by Dr. Stare and Mervyn Hardinge, M.D., dean of the Loma Linda School of Health, Loma
Linda, California. The results showed that vegetarians had consistently lower
levels of serum cholesterol than did meat eaters.
Some Drawbacks of a Meat Diet
The effect of meat additives on human health also is a point of contention
among scientists. In 1971, for example, Charles Edwards, M.D., former commissioner
of the Food and Drug Administration, testified before a House committee on
nutrition that sodium nitrite--a meat preservative--is potentially dangerous
to small children, can deform the fetus in pregnant women, and can cause serious
damage in anemic persons. Dr. Edwards, currently secretary of health in the
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, also said the additive may be
carcinogenic, or cancer causing.
But Harvard's Dr. Stare says no carcinogenic agents are used in preserving
meat. "Sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate have probably been used longer
than any other type of preservatives," he explains. "And there is
no evidence, which I know of, that they are carcinogenic."
Some studies, however, indicate a strong correlation between a meat diet and
cancer of the colon. "Animal protein tends to create anaerobic bacteria
in the intestinal tract, and these anaerobic bacteria tend to convert bile
acids into carcinogenic compounds," explains U. D. Register, Ph.D., chairman
of the nutrition department at the Loma Linda School of Health.
And there are some indications that meat is highly susceptible to bacteria
growth and food spoilage.
Meat eaters also may be bothered by poor absorption and elimination. Food
with a low fiber-content, such as meat, moves sluggishly through the digestive
tract, making stools dry and hard to pass. But vegetables retain moisture
and bind waste bulk for easy passage.
________
* Lacto-vegetarians do not use meat but use dairy products as milk, cheese,
butter. Lacto-ovo-vegetarians add eggs to the above
diet. Pure vegetarians do not use any animal products. Some will use honey,
however.
56
Which Diet Is Superior?
But still the question remains: Is a vegetarian diet better than a meat diet?
Nutritionists have yet to agree on an answer. Advocates of vegetarianism frequently
cite unsubstantiated evidence and present "testimonials" about the
relative superiority of a non-meat diet, often claiming "miraculous"
cures for asthma, poor eyesight, and even cancer. While such claims may be
sincere, they have not been proved.
Scientific evidence suggesting the superiority of a vegetarian diet is offered,
not by nutritionists, but by anthropologists. Field investigations of certain
nonmeat cultures have documented the excellent health and
longevity enjoyed by people such as the Hunzas of
Northern Pakistan and the Otomi Indians of Central
Mexico. Heart diseases and many forms of cancer appear to be Western diseases
in that they are practically unknown in some underdeveloped countries where
meat is not part of the diet. That lower incidence, however, may result from
the very different life-style.
[In 1973] . . . the National Institutes of Health (NIH) began a $1 million, five-year study to determine what role vegetarianism
plays in health. The subject: 100,000 Seventh-day Adventists who neither drink,
smoke, nor eat meat, and use limited amounts of coffee and tea.
"Our studies have revealed that the Seventh-day Adventist vegetarians
are healthier than the average Californian," says Dr. Mervyn
Hardinge. "There is virtually no lung cancer--in
fact, a lower incidence of all forms of cancer. Heart disease is significantly
less and, when it does occur, it is an average of 10 years later than in other
Californians. Adventist males live 6.2 years longer than the average California
male, and women 3.5 years longer."
The differences have been substantiated, says Dr. Hardinge.
The purpose of the NIH study is to see if they are linked, in any way, to
a meatless diet…
Some Warnings
Unfortunately, certain vegetarian diets can lead to serious nutritional problems.
A strict macrobiotic diet, for example, can induce scurvy, hypoproteinemia, anemia, hypocalcemia,
emaciation, and loss of kidney function.
Other equally ill-advised exotic vegetarian diets have resulted in kwashiorkor
(a rare protein deficiency that became endemic with children who were victims
of starvation during the Biafran-Nigerian war),
marasmus, beriberi, rickets, pellagra, and severe vitamin
deficiencies.
There are a few basic guidelines that nutritionists recommend for people who
are following, or plan to adopt, a vegetarian diet. For those who wish to
include dairy products and/or eggs:
! Cut "empty" (sugar, fats, oils) calories in half;
! Replace meat with increased intake of legumes, nuts,
or
57
meat analogs
(textured vegetable protein [TVPs] such as soy-burgers);
! Give up as many refined or processed foods as possible--whole
foods have greater nutritional value;
! Eat more grains and cereals;
! Eat a salad every day, adding such things as raw carrots,
beet roots, and dried fruits;
! Include cottage cheese and low-fat milk in your daily
diet, and restrict eggs to no more than four per week;
! To retain vitamins and minerals, cook vegetables for
the shortest time and in as little water as possible.
Pure vegetarians should make a special effort to:
! Increase their intake of leafy green vegetables;
! Increase general caloric intake, eating more of everything;
!Use either
fortified soy milk preparations or take some form of vitamin B12
supplement.
Perhaps it is good to remember that the word vegetarian is not, as one might
think, derived from the word vegetable, but from the Latin vegetus,
which means "whole, sound, fresh, lively."
--Reprinted with permission.
Today's Health Magazine © October, 1974
--All rights reserved.
58
APPENDIX C
A
NUTRITION AUTHORITY DISCUSSES MRS. E. G. WHITE
By Clive M. McCay, Ph.D.
Former Professor of Nutrition, Cornell University
Among the thousand historical acquaintances in my files, one of the most worth-while
is Ellen G. White. As near as one can judge by the evidence of modern nutritional
science, her extensive writings on the subject of nutrition, and health in
general, are correct in their conclusions. This is doubly remarkable: Not
only was most of her writing done at a time when a bewildering array of new
health views--good and bad--were being promoted but the modern science of
nutrition, which helps us to check on views and theories, had not yet been
born. . . .
While the selection and preparation of food plays a key role in the maintenance
of health, few people select food on the basis of its nutritive value. Most
select it on the basis of its taste, the way the product is packaged, the
pressure of advertising, or the ease of preparation. Hence, the large food
processors orient their research programs toward packaging, taste, and convenience
rather than toward nutritive value.
A Sound Nutrition Program
A sound nutrition program takes account of more than just the purchase of
food. A healthy body, a satisfactory program of living,
and a tranquil mind are all part of the essentials for sound nutrition, since
the glands that insure digestion and assimilation of food cannot function
when under the influence of a disturbed mind.
I have given this brief summary to provide the setting for my comments on
the teachings of Ellen G. White, particularly in terms of the usefulness of
her teaching today for the population of America. Whatever may be the reader's religion, he can gain
much in the midst of this confused world in which we live, by a study of the
writings of Mrs. White. Also, every thoughtful modern nutritionist must be
impressed by the soundness of Mrs. White's teachings in spite of the fact
that she began to write nearly a century ago. . . .
When one reads such works by Mrs. White as Ministry of Healing or Counsels
on Diet and Foods he is impressed by the correctness of her teachings
in the light of modern nutritional science. One can only speculate how much
better health the average American might enjoy, even though he knew almost
nothing of modern science, if he but followed the teachings of Mrs. White.
To understand better the remarkable nature of her teachings, we should study
them in the setting of the intellectual climate that
59
prevailed
during the earlier years of her life. This climate provided her with the problems
that needed answers. Some of the problems press for solution even more today,
because of the greater complexity of living and the increase in the world
populations. . . .
Specific Illustrations
I earlier stated that Mrs. White was a remarkable woman, particularly in terms
of her health views. I wish, now, to be specific, in support of this statement,
by comparing certain of her teachings with present-day well-established facts
on nutrition. Though, for convenience, I shall quote, in part, from her book
The Ministry of Healing, first published in 1905, most of what she
there sets forth was presented in various of her
writings of much earlier days.
Today there is a widespread movement to reduce the intake of fats, especially
animal fats, in order to reduce the blood cholesterol and the dangers of atherosclerosis.
Mrs. White wrote, "Nut foods are coming largely into use to take the
place of flesh meats. . . . When properly prepared, olives, like nuts, supply
the place of butter and flesh meats. The oil, as eaten in the olive, is far
preferable to animal oil or fat."--The Ministry of Healing, p.
298.
Near the end of Mrs. White's life in 1915 men began to appreciate that the
milling of white flour removed most of the vitamins, part of the protein,
and the important trace minerals such as iron. However, even nutritional authorities
were very slow to inveigh against white bread. Today nutritionists know that
these vital constituents are lost when the bran and germ are taken from the
wheat. Mrs. White wrote, "For use in breadmaking,
the superfine white flour is not the best. Its use is neither healthful nor
economical. Fine-flour bread is lacking in nutritive elements to be found
in bread made from the whole wheat."--Ibid., p. 300.
In spite of her emphasis upon a given type of diet, Mrs. White appreciated
that there were some people who could not tolerate foods that were well suited
to the majority. . . .
Mrs. White wrote, "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. . . . For some the coarser grain preparations are good
food, while others cannot use them."--Ibid., p. 320.
Danger of Overeating
Today it is well recognized that overeating and overweight produce much ill
health. This is one of the few areas in which all professional nutritionists
agree. Mrs. White wrote, "There should not be a great variety at any
one meal, for this encourages overeating and causes indigestion."--Ibid.,
p. 299. "Abstemiousness in diet is rewarded with mental and moral vigor."
"At each meal take only two or three kinds of simple food, and eat no
more than is required to satisfy hunger."--Ibid., pp. 308, 310.
. . .
Today many people are restricting their use of salt in order to
60
lower their
blood pressure or in the hope of preventing high blood pressure. Attempts
are made to keep the sodium intake low by using baked products made with yeast
instead of baking powder. Mrs. White wrote, "Do not eat largely of salt."
"The use of soda or baking powder in breadmaking
is harmful and unnecessary."--Ibid., pp. 305, 300. . . .
Further Miscellaneous Counsels
Every thinking person today would agree with such wise statements of Mrs.
White as, "Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper
diet, the use of water, trust in divine power--these are the true remedies."--Ibid.,
p. 127. . . .
Or take these statements: "The best food for the infant is the food that
nature provides. Of this it should not be needlessly deprived."--Ibid.,
p. 383. "In the entertainment of guests there should be greater simplicity."--Ibid.,
p. 322. "Where wrong habits of diet have been indulged, there should
be no delay in reform."--Ibid., p 308. "Take active exercise
every day, and see if you do not receive benefit."--Ibid., p.
310. "One of the surest hindrances to the recovery of the sick is the
centering of attention upon themselves."--Ibid., p. 256. . . .
Mrs. White recognized the value of mixing a variety of grains. She wrote:
"All wheat flour is not best for a continuous diet. A mixture of wheat,
oatmeal, and rye would be more nutritious than the wheat with the nutrifying properties separated from it."--Counsels
on Diet and Foods, p. 321. She recognized the truth from Ezekiel, "Take
thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet,
and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof"
(Ezekiel 4:9) These additions supplement the proteins of wheat bread, as well
as increase such essential elements as calcium.
Food Value Lost in Meat
Among nutritionists there is an acute awareness of the problem of feeding
the ever-increasing population of the world. . . . If this population grows
at the present rate basic changes are inevitable. When man feeds an animal
such as a pig or a turkey upon the grains that he can eat, at least three
fourths of the food value is lost. In other words four men can live upon plant
foods directly, in comparison with the one man that can be fed if the food
is first converted into meat and then consumed by man.
Mrs. White well stated that, "the life that was in the grains and vegetables
passes into the eater. We receive it by eating the flesh of the animal. How
much better to get it direct, by eating the food that God provided for our
use!"--The Ministry of Healing, p. 313. . . .
Areas of Seeming Disagreement
In some respects it might be easier to write about the areas in which nutrition
specialists and the writings of Mrs. White may seem
61
to disagree,
because the area is so much smaller. These areas are probably owing to changes
in food technology. The raw milk in the days of Mrs. White was a carrier for
many contagious diseases, such as tuberculosis, dysentery, and typhoid fever.
This may explain, in turn, why she declared that cheese was not a satisfactory
food. Perhaps on the same basis we should understand her further statement:
"The use of milk [in bread] is an additional expense, and it makes the
bread much less wholesome."--Ibid., p 301. Products like dry skim
milk, now used in bread making, were unknown in the lifetime of Mrs. White.
Skim milk was fed to the pigs in her day. It contains the most important nutrients
of the milk in terms of calcium, protein, and vitamins. . . .
Discussion Summed Up
To sum up the discussion: Every modern specialist in nutrition whose life
is dedicated to human welfare must be impressed in four respects by the writings
and leadership of Ellen G. White.
In the first place, her basic concepts about the relation between diet and
health have been verified to an unusual degree by scientific advances of the
past decades. Someone may attempt to explain this remarkable fact by saying:
"Mrs. White simply borrowed her ideas from others." But how would
she know which ideas to borrow and which to reject out of the bewildering
array of theories and health teachings current in the nineteenth century?
She would have had to be a most amazing person, with knowledge beyond her
times, in order to do this successfully!
In the second place, everyone who attempts to teach nutrition can hardly conceive
of a leadership such as that of Mrs. White that was able to induce a substantial
number of people to improve their diets.
In the third place, one can only speculate about the large number of sufferers
during the past century who could have had improved
health if they had accepted the teachings of Mrs. White.
Finally, one can wonder how to make her teachings more widely known in order
to benefit the overcrowded earth that seems inevitable tomorrow with the present
rate of increase of the world's population. . . .
In spite of the fact that the works of Mrs. White were written long before
the advent of modern scientific nutrition, no better over-all guide is available
today.--Review and Herald, Feb. 12, 19, 26, 1959.
62
HEALTH CLASSICS
THE
MINISTRY OF HEALING, by Ellen G. White
Her crowning health volume declared by her to "contain
the wisdom of the Great Physician." Healthful living is here portrayed
as a balanced, reasonable, sensible kind of program involving both the mind
and the body. It maintains health, or aids recovery from illness. The Creator's
plan for a healthful, abundant life is outlined in a practical way that all
can use.
THE
STORY OF OUR HEALTH MESSAGE, by D. E. Robinson
In this volume are presented the early history and pertinent facts relating
to the rise and progress of the medical features of the denominational health
program.
COUNSELS
ON HEALTH, by Ellen G. White
Seventh-day Adventists not only believe in healthful living, but they teach
its principles to many others. These essentials of health, and how, they may
be practiced and spread by institutions, nurses, physicians, and, laymen,
form the theme of this book.
COUNSELS
ON DIET AND FOODS, by Ellen G. White
Science has only recently discovered many of the dietetic principles regarding
which the Lord instructed us years ago. This volume contains a complete presentation
of the counsels on the subject, and the whole should be carefully studied
to gain a balanced view.
MEDICAL
MINISTRY, by Ellen G. White
While prepared especially for medical workers of all types, Medical Ministry
is in nontechnical language and will benefit all.
It deals primarily with the work of the physician, nurse, and institutional
worker.
TEMPERANCE,
by Ellen G. White
This is a thorough discussion of the problems related to the use of alcoholic
beverages. Total abstinence is urged as the Christian's position. The work
of the church in fostering the cause of temperance is made plain and is strongly
emphasized.
A
CALL TO MEDICAL EVANGELISM, by Ellen G. White
A compact compilation from books, periodical articles and
manuscripts sounding a clarion call to effective medical evangelism.
Complete
Your Library of the Writings of Mrs. E. G. White.
63
Study
Guide Index