Extremes in Diet
161
The Food Should be Made Appetizing
326. Health reformers, above all others, should be careful to shun
extremes. The body must have sufficient nourishment. We cannot
subsist upon air merely; neither can we retain health unless we have
nourishing food. Food should be prepared in good order, so that it is
palatable.—
Testimonies for the Church 2:538, 1867
327. A diet lacking in the proper elements of nutrition, brings
reproach upon the cause of health reform. We are mortal, and must
supply ourselves with food that will give proper nourishment to the
body.
Some of our people, while conscientiously abstaining from eating
improper foods, neglect to supply themselves with the elements neces-
sary for the sustenance of the body. Those who take an extreme view
of health reform are in danger of preparing tasteless dishes, making
them so insipid that they are not satisfying. Food should be prepared
in such a way that it will be appetizing as well as nourishing. It should
not be robbed of that which the system needs. I use some salt, and
always have, because salt, instead of being deleterious, is actually
essential for the blood. Vegetables should be made palatable with a
little milk or cream, or something equivalent.
While warnings have been given regarding the dangers of disease
through butter, and the evil of the free use of eggs by small children,
yet we should not consider it a violation of principle to use eggs from
hens that are well cared for and suitably fed. Eggs contain properties
that are remedial agencies in counteracting certain poisons.
Some, in abstaining from milk, eggs, and butter, have failed to sup-
ply the system with proper nourishment, and as a consequence, have
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become weak and unable to work. Thus health reform is brought into
disrepute. The work that we have tried to build up solidly is confused
with strange things that God has not required, and the energies of the
church are crippled. But God will interfere to prevent the results of
these too strenuous ideas. The gospel is to harmonize the sinful race.
It is to bring rich and poor together at the feet of Jesus.
The time will come when we may have to discard some of the
articles of diet we now use, such as milk and cream and eggs; but it
is not necessary to bring upon ourselves perplexity by premature and