84
Counsels on Diet and Foods
least disturbance from it. But this was not a correct experience. Your
stomach was not receiving that vigor that it should from your food.
Taken in a liquid state, your food would not give healthful vigor or tone
to the system. But when you change this habit, and eat more solids
and less liquids, your stomach will feel disturbed. Notwithstanding
this, you should not yield the point; you should educate your stomach
to bear a more solid diet.—
Testimonies for the Church 3:74, 1872
162. I told them that the preparation of their food was wrong, and
that living principally on soups and coffee and bread was not health
reform; that so much liquid taken into the stomach was not healthful,
and that all who subsisted on such a diet placed a great tax upon the
kidneys, and so much watery substance debilitated the stomach.
I was thoroughly convinced that many in the establishment were
suffering with indigestion because of eating this kind of food. The
digestive organs were enfeebled and the blood impoverished. Their
breakfast consisted of coffee and bread with the addition of prune
sauce. This was not healthful. The stomach, after rest and sleep, was
better able to take care of a substantial meal than when wearied with
[106]
work. Then the noon meal was generally soup, sometimes meat. The
stomach is small, but the appetite, unsatisfied, partakes largely of this
liquid food; so it is burdened.—
Letter 9, 1887
[
Fruit Will Allay the Irritation That Calls for So Much Drink at
Meals—475
]
Food to Be Warm, but Not Hot
163. I would advise all to take something warm into the stom-
ach, every morning at least. You can do this without much labor.—
Testimonies for the Church 2:603, 1870
164. Hot drinks are not required, except as a medicine. The
stomach is greatly injured by a large quantity of hot food and hot
drink. Thus the throat and digestive organs, and through them the
other organs of the body, are enfeebled.—
Letter 14, 1901
Vital Force Depleted by Cold Food
165. Food should not be eaten very hot or very cold. If food is
cold, the vital force of the stomach is drawn upon in order to warm it
before digestion can take place. Cold drinks are injurious for the same