There is much focus on health these days. You’ve seen it—many diets, gyms, and health foods. Men and women are trying to get in shape. Complicated programs are everywhere, but I have seen that being healthy is actually quite simple. I don’t mean that using all your willpower to resist that piece of chocolate cake is easy, but the principles behind the whole thing are. I know there are people with special health needs, but for most of us what we eat and what we do determine how fit we are. AC 80.1
I had been a vegetarian for more than three years when I started my first year of college. I also started reading The Ministry of Healing, and discovered it was really interesting. That book sounds just like what the health community is currently publishing! Where I live there is a great focus on health, but it seemed ironic for me to be reading a book about health that had been written more than 100 years ago and yet contains the same basic guidelines as the modern journals. AC 80.2
I started following the vegan lifestyle and increased my exercise, intake of water, and time with God. Within the first semester, I was not only feeling better physically (and minus those excess 25 pounds), but more connected spiritually. When I resisted my appetite, I found that I was stronger against temptation. Also, since my brain was no longer clouded from a high-sugar, high-fat diet I discovered that I could hear the voice of God more clearly. AC 80.3
Ellen White’s counsel made a visible, tangible difference in my health and appearance. More important, practicing that counsel has strengthened my relationship with my Savior AC 81.1
Tara, age 21 AC 81.2