389. At meal-time cast off care and taxing thought. Do not be hurried, but eat slowly and with cheerfulness, your heart filled with gratitude to God for all his blessings.—Gospel Workers, 174.HL 85.3

390. If you are in constant fear that your food will hurt you, it most assuredly will.—Testimonies for the Church 2:530.HL 85.4

391. Some health reformers are constantly worrying for fear their food, however simple and healthful, will hurt them. To these let me say, Do not think that your food is going to hurt you; but when you have eaten according to your best judgment, and have asked the Lord to bless the food, believe that he has heard your prayer, and be at rest.—Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 59.HL 85.5

Eating between Meals

392. You should never let a morsel pass your lips between your regular meals. Eat what you ought, but eat it at one meal, and then wait until the next.—Testimonies for the Church 2:373.HL 85.6

393. Three meals a day and nothing between meals—not even an apple—should be the utmost limit of indulgence. Those who go further violate nature's laws and will suffer the penalty.—The Review and Herald, May 8, 1883.HL 86.1

394. When traveling, some are almost constantly nibbling, if there is anything within their reach. This is a most pernicious practise. Animals that do not have reason, and that know nothing of mental taxation, may do this without injury, but they are no criterion for rational beings, who have mental powers that should be used for God and humanity.—The Review and Herald, July 29, 1884.HL 86.2

395. Food taken into the stomach at untimely seasons leaves an influence on every fiber of the system.—The Health Reformer, June 1, 1878.HL 86.3

Hasty Eating

396. In order to have healthy digestion, food should be eaten slowly. Those who wish to avoid dyspepsia, and those who realize the obligation to keep all their powers in a condition which will enable them to render the best service to God, will do well to remember this. If your time to eat is limited, do not bolt your food, but eat less, and eat slowly.—The Review and Herald, July 29, 1884.HL 86.4

397. Do not be hurried, but eat slowly and with cheerfulness, your heart filled with gratitude to God for all his blessings.—Gospel Workers, 174.HL 86.5

398. Eat slowly, and allow the saliva to mingle with the food. The more liquid there is taken into the stomach with the meals, the more difficult it is for the food to digest.... The benefit you derive from your food does not depend so much on the quantity eaten, as on its thorough digestion, nor the gratification of the taste so much on the amount of food swallowed as on the length of time it remains in the mouth.—The Review and Herald, July 29, 1884.HL 86.6

Overeating

399. If more food is eaten than can be digested and appropriated, a decaying mass accumulates in the stomach, causing an offensive breath, and a bad taste in the mouth. The vital powers are exhausted in an effort to throw off the excess, and the brain is robbed of nerve force.—Special Testimonies On Education, 32.HL 87.1

400. Nearly all the members of the human family eat more than the system requires.... Even so-called health reform needs reforming on this point.... If more food, even of a simple quality, is placed in the stomach than the living machinery requires, this surplus becomes a burden, the system makes a desperate effort to dispose of it, and this extra work causes a weakly feeling. Some who are continually overeating call this all-gone feeling hunger, but it is caused by the overworked condition of the abused digestive organs.—Unpublished Testimonies, August 30, 1896.HL 87.2

401. Some of you feel as though you would like to have somebody tell you how much to eat. This is not the way it should be. We are to act from a moral and religious standpoint. We are to be temperate in all things, because an incorruptible crown, a heavenly treasure, is before us. And now I wish to say to my brethren and sisters, I would have moral courage to take my position and govern myself. You eat too much, and then you are sorry, and so you keep thinking upon what you eat and drink. Just eat that which is for the best, and go right away, feeling clear in the sight of Heaven, and not having remorse of conscience.—Testimonies for the Church 2:374.HL 87.3

402. There is evil in overeating of even healthful food.... If we overeat, the brain power is taxed to take care of a large quantity of food that the system does not demand, the mind is clouded, and the perceptions enfeebled.—Unpublished Testimonies, April 6, 1896.HL 88.1

403. When the brain is constantly taxed, and there is a lack of physical exercise, they should eat sparingly, even of plain food.—Testimonies for the Church 4:515.HL 88.2

404. They closely apply their minds to books, and eat the allowance of a laboring man. Under such habits some grow corpulent, because the system is clogged. Others become lean, feeble, and weak, because their vital powers are exhausted in throwing off the excess of food; the liver becomes burdened, and unable to throw off the impurities in the blood, and sickness is the result.—Testimonies for the Church 3:490.HL 88.3

405. Overeating, even of the simplest food, benumbs the sensitive nerves of the brain, and weakens its vitality. Overeating has a worse effect upon the system than overworking; the energies of the soul are more effectually prostrated by intemperate eating than by intemperate working. The digestive organs should never be burdened with the quantity or quality of food which it will tax the system to appropriate. All that is taken into the stomach, above what the system can use to convert into good blood, clogs the machinery; for it cannot be made into either flesh or blood, and its presence burdens the liver, and produces a morbid condition of the system.—Testimonies for the Church 2:412.HL 88.4

406. Overeating is intemperance just as surely as is liquor drinking.—Unpublished Testimonies, August 30, 1896.HL 89.1

407. And what influence does overeating have upon the stomach?—It becomes debilitated, the digestive organs are weakened, and disease, with all its train of evils, is brought on as the result. If persons were diseased before, they thus increase the difficulties upon them, and lessen their vitality every day they live. They call their vital powers into unnecessary action to take care of the food that they place in their stomachs. What a terrible condition is this to be in!—Testimonies for the Church 2:364.HL 89.2

408. Eating merely to please the appetite is a transgression of nature's laws; often this intemperance is felt at once in the form of indigestion, headache, and colic. A load has been placed upon the stomach that it cannot care for, and a feeling of oppression comes. The head is confused, the stomach is in rebellion. But these results do not always follow overeating. In some cases the stomach is paralyzed. No sensation of pain is felt, but the digestive organs lose their vital force. The foundation of the human machinery is gradually undermined, and life is rendered very unpleasant.—Unpublished Testimonies, August 30, 1896.HL 89.3

Drinking at Meals

409. Taken with meals, water diminishes the flow of the salivary glands; and the colder the water the greater the injury to the stomach. Ice water or iced lemonade, drunk with meals, will arrest digestion until the system has imparted sufficient warmth to the stomach to enable it to take up its work again.—The Review and Herald, July 29, 1884.HL 89.4

410. Food should not be washed down; no drink is needed with meals. Eat slowly, and allow the saliva to mingle with the food. The more liquid there is taken into the stomach with the meals, the more difficult it is for the food to digest; for the liquid must be first absorbed.... Hot drinks are debilitating; and besides, those who indulge in their use become slaves to the habit.... Do not eat largely of salt; give up bottled pickles; keep fiery spiced food out of your stomach; eat fruit with your meals, and the irritation which calls for so much drink will cease to exist. But if anything is needed to quench thirst, pure water, drunk some little time before or after a meal, is all that nature requires.... Water is the best liquid possible to cleanse the tissues.—The Review and Herald, July 29, 1884.HL 90.1

Liquid Foods

411. I am advising the people wherever I go to give up liquid food as much as possible.—Unpublished Testimonies, October 29, 1894.HL 90.2

412. 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.HL 90.3

413. Dry food that requires mastication is far preferable to porridges. The health food preparations are a blessing in this respect.... For those who can use them, good vegetables, prepared in a healthful manner, are better than soft mushes and porridge. Fruits, used with thoroughly cooked bread two or three days old, which is more healthful than fresh bread, slowly and thoroughly masticated, will furnish all that the system requires.—Unpublished Testimonies, January 11, 1897.HL 90.4

Very Hot Foods

414. Very hot food ought not to be taken into the stomach. Soups, puddings, and other articles of the kind, are often eaten too hot, and as a consequence the stomach is debilitated. Let them become partly cooled before they are eaten.—The Review and Herald, July 29, 1884.HL 91.1

Cold Food

415. I do not approve of eating much cold food, for the reason that the vitality must be drawn from the system to warm the food until it becomes of the same temperature as the stomach before the work of digestion can be carried on.—Testimonies for the Church 2:603.HL 91.2

Rich Diet

416. Rich and complicated mixtures of food are health destroying. Highly seasoned meats and rich pastry are wearing out the digestive organs of children.—Unpublished Testimonies, November 5, 1896.HL 91.3

417. At too many tables, when the stomach has received all that it requires to carry on the work of nourishing the system, another course, consisting of pies, puddings, and highly flavored sauces, is placed upon the table.... Many, though they have already eaten enough, will overstep the bounds, and eat the tempting dessert, which, however, proves anything but good to them.... If the extras which are provided for dessert were dispensed with altogether, it would be a blessing.—Unpublished Testimonies, August 30, 1896.HL 91.4

418. Many understand how to make different kinds of cakes, but cake is not the best food to be placed upon the table. Sweet cakes, sweet puddings, and custards will disorder the digestive organs; and why should we tempt those who surround the table by placing such articles before them?—The Youth's Instructor, May 31, 1894.HL 92.1

419. Cook meat with spices, and eat it with rich cakes and pies, and you have a bad quality of blood. The system is too heavily taxed in disposing of this kind of food. The mince pies and pickles, which should never find a place in any human stomach, will give a miserable quality of blood.... Flesh meat and rich food and an impoverished diet will produce the same results.—Testimonies for the Church 2:368.HL 92.2

Condiments

420. Condiments and spices, used in the preparation of food for the table, aid digestion in the same way that tea, coffee, and liquor are supposed to help the laboring man to perform his task. After the immediate effects are gone, those who use them drop as far below par as they were elevated above par by these stimulating substances. The system is weakened, the blood contaminated, and inflammation is the sure result. The less frequently condiments and desserts are placed on our tables, the better it will be for all who partake of the food.—Unpublished Testimonies, November 5, 1896.HL 92.3

421. Our tables should bear only the most wholesome food, free from every irritating substance. The appetite for liquor is encouraged by the preparation of food with condiments and spices. These cause a feverish state of the system, and drink is demanded to allay the irritation. On my frequent journeys across the continent, I do not patronize restaurants, dining-cars, or hotels, for the simple reason that I cannot eat the food there provided. The dishes are highly seasoned with salt and pepper, creating an almost intolerable thirst.... They irritate and inflame the delicate coating of the stomach.... Such is the food that is commonly served upon fashionable tables, and given to the children. Its effect is to cause nervousness, and to create thirst which water does not quench.... Food should be prepared in as simple a manner as possible, free from condiments and spices, and even from an undue amount of salt.—The Review and Herald, November 6, 1883.HL 92.4

Spices

422. Spices at first irritate the tender coating of the stomach, but finally destroy the natural sensitiveness of this delicate membrane. The blood becomes fevered, the animal propensities are aroused, while the moral and intellectual powers are weakened, and become servants to the baser passions.—Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 47.HL 93.1

423. Persons who have indulged their appetite to eat freely of meat, highly seasoned gravies, and various kinds of rich cakes and preserves, cannot immediately relish a plain, wholesome, nutritious diet. Their taste is so perverted they have no appetite for a wholesome diet of fruits, plain bread, and vegetables. They need not expect to relish at first food so different from that in which they have been indulging. If they cannot at first enjoy plain food, they should fast until they can. That fast will prove to them of greater benefit than medicine, for the abused stomach will find the rest which it has long needed, and real hunger can be satisfied with a plain diet. It will take time for the taste to recover from the abuses it has received, and to gain its natural tone. But perseverance in a self-denying course of eating and drinking will soon make plain, wholesome food palatable, and it will be eaten with greater satisfaction than the epicure enjoys over his rich dainties.—Spiritual Gifts Volume 4a, 130.HL 93.2

Cheese

424. The effect of cheese is deleterious.—Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 47.HL 94.1

425. Cheese should never be introduced into the stomach.—Testimonies for the Church 2:68.HL 94.2

Grease, fats, etc

426. Meat is served reeking with fat, because it suits the perverted taste. Both the blood and the fat of animals is consumed as a luxury. But the Lord has given special directions that these should not be eaten. Why?—Because their use would make a diseased current of blood in the human system. Disregard of the Lord's special directions has brought many diseases upon human beings.—Unpublished Testimonies, March, 1896.HL 94.3

427. Jesus, speaking of the cloudy pillar, gave special direction to the children of Israel, saying: “It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.” “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, of sheep, or of goat.” “For whosoever eateth the fat of the beasts, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from among his people.”—Unpublished Testimonies, March, 1896.HL 94.4

428. You should keep grease out of your food. It defiles any preparation of food you may make.—Testimonies for the Church 2:63.HL 95.1

429. Grease cooked in the food renders it difficult of digestion.—Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 47.HL 95.2

430. Some fall into the error that because they discard meat, they have no need to supply its place with the best fruits and vegetables, prepared in their most natural state, free from grease and spices.—Testimonies for the Church 2:486.HL 95.3

431. Butter and meat stimulate. They have injured the stomach and perverted the taste.—Testimonies for the Church 2:486.HL 95.4

432. You place upon your tables butter, eggs, and meat, and your children partake of them. They are fed with the very things that will excite their animal passions, and then you come to meeting and ask God to bless and save your children.—Testimonies for the Church 2:362.HL 95.5

Saleratus and Soda

433. Saleratus in any form should not be introduced into the stomach; for the effect is fearful. It eats the coatings of the stomach, causes inflammation, and frequently poisons the entire system.—Testimonies for the Church 2:537.HL 95.6

434. Hot soda biscuit are often spread with butter, and eaten as a choice diet; but the feeble digestive organs cannot but feel the abuse placed upon them.—Unpublished Testimonies, November 5, 1896.HL 95.7

Preparation of Food

Chapter 19—Flesh Foods