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 TRUE HEALTH REFORM
TRUE HEALTH REFORM–WHAT IS IT?
Question No. 261:
Does not one meet the full demands of “health reform” when he
discards from his table all foodstuffs pronounced unclean by the
Bible? {8SC1-12: 21.2.2}
Answer:
The term “health reform” means more than abstaining from the use
of such foods as the Lord pronounces unclean for human
consumption (Lev. 11; Isa. 66:16). Abstention from forbidden foods
is but the negative phase of the science. It is the forbidden tree in
the garden of today. In its positive and more important phase, it
teaches intelligent selection of foods–the clean or forbidden foods
which are the most nourishing, which agree best with us, and which
will give us the most of the nourishment we need. {8SC1-12:
21.2.3}
No one, however, can prescribe a diet to meet the differing needs of
all; for as the countenances of individuals differ, so do their
constitutions. Hence, what may be beneficial to one, may be
harmful to another, especially so now in this sin-deteriorated
generation: for example, an individual whose system is
hyperhydrochloric should drink some water with his meals to
neutralize somewhat the excessive flow of acid, while, contrariwise,
one whose system is hypohydrochloric, should not drink water with
his meals, lest he further reduce the strength of the acid by dilution.
When, however, one’s condition is normal, water may be drunk
about two hours after meals. {8SC1-12: 21.2.4}
In another case, if one’s metabolism is too rapid, slowly digesting
foods can be used to help establish normalcy, but if one’s
metabolism is sluggish and retarded, slow digesting foods may
aggravate his condition. {8SC1-12: 21.2.5}
Likewise, if a stomach in a weakened condition cannot handle the
coarse whole grain products, they should give place to refined or
semi-refined ones. It should always, however, be remembered that a
refined product is deficient both in nutriment and in roughage, and
that the deficiency must be compensated for in some other way.
One may, for example, make up for the laxative deficiency, caused
by insufficient roughage, by using dates, figs, prunes, and the like,
and he may make up for the nutritional deficiency by drinking the
water from soaked bran or from some other soaked grain, or by
taking vegetable broth and especially juices. These supplemental
nutritives, though not wholly making up for the nutriment in a
proper intake of whole foods, do provide maximum
compensation. {8SC1-12: 21.2.6}
Going further into the remedial side of the subject, some may avoid
the use of the harmful purgative drugs by using whey, some by
using sauerkraut juice, others condensed milk or hot lemonade, still
others the natural hydrogels (such as agar, psyllium seed, and the
like), while the majority may get results by the use of any of
these. {8SC1-12: 22.1.1}
The sum of the whole matter, then, is that a true health reformer
eats, drinks, and clothes himself for better health, “for strength, and
not for drunkenness” (Eccles. 10:17). He constantly studies how to
live for better fitness and thus for more efficient service in the Lord’s
vineyard, and not for self-indulgence and self-serving. {8SC1-12:
22.1.2}
The cause of health reform has been greatly injured, and its
advance almost halted, by faddists on the one hand and gluttons on
the other. And perhaps the former have done the greater harm of
the two. Let us therefore pray for grace and wisdom to strike a
balance between these two extremes. {8SC1-12: 22.1.3}
The need for health reform in its proper perspective becomes doubly
urgent to us when we realize that nowhere does the importance of
the proper use of our time show to greater advantage than at our
meal periods. To bolt our food on any occasion, under pressure of
time-saving, is false economy. And giving way habitually to this
temptation is a sign of uncontrolled appetite, the continued
indulgence of which must eventually wreck the strongest
constitution, physically, mentally, and morally. One simply cannot
save time at the expense of health, and cannot develop high morals
giving way to intemperate eating. When only a few moments are
available for lunching, a few bites of food thoroughly masticated, are
beneficial, whereas a full amount gulped down in a wolfish manner
is not only positively brutish but also positively harmful. {8SC1-12:
22.1.4}
It is likewise nothing short of abuse if we eat while under mental
stress or nervous tension. Only when the mind is free from anxiety
and is surrounded with an atmosphere of cheerfulness, can one
realize the full benefit of a meal and sustain no harmful
effect. {8SC1-12: 22.1.5}
Amazing indeed are the twisted mental processes of the sinful
human mind! For example, when one should be in haste, he is not;
and when he should not be in haste, he is! Ironically, the former evil
is peculiar to the job, and the latter to the table–the heart of health.
It is with this latter evil that we are here concerned. Reform on it will
compel one to attach as much importance to the chewing of his food
as to the digesting of it, and he will accordingly no more deprive his
mouth of the time required for mastication than nature would
deprive the stomach of the time required for digestion. Indeed, it is
imperative that both be properly maintained. How essential, then,
that the mastication as well as the digestion be trouble-free. {8SC1-
12: 22.1.6}
The time spent in masticating should be governed by the flow of the
saliva. Let the food be thoroughly salivated, for as we have seen,
the result of compelling the stomach to handle it unsalivated is
indigestion. So to eat fast at meals is to deprive the stomach of its
proper chemical action. This delicate balance is easily disturbed
when the food does not receive the right amount of saliva to blend
perfectly with the gastric juices. Ignoring this principle will cause a
vicious circle, and a preponderance of hydrochloric acid, and in turn
bring a long train of woeful results: fermentation, irritation,
constipation, abdominal disturbances, belching of gas, bad breath,
ulcers, malnutrition–ill health. {8SC1-12: 22.2.1}
“Meal-time should be a season for social intercourse and
refreshment. Everything that can burden or irritate should be
banished. Let trust and kindliness and gratitude to the Giver of all
good be cherished, and the conversation will be cheerful, a pleasant
flow of thought that will uplift without wearying.”–Education, p.
206. {8SC1-12: 22.2.2}
Again: time spent in catching a few bites here and there,
promiscuously between meals, is worse than wasted. {8SC1-12:
22.2.3}
Some will have to muster more than average will-power, and
summon supernatural assistance, to gain victory on this front, and
all must pray constantly to this end. No one can enjoy perfect health
and experience maximum happiness by living on cooked food
altogether. To get the fullest joy out of life, one must have the
fullest development of the physical powers, and to gain this
desideratum one cannot discount the importance of the daily use of
the raw foods, particularly the leafy and other vegetables. Fruit
cannot take the place of vegetables. {8SC1-12: 22.2.4}
The human family of this present generation are suffering more and
more ill health in direct proportion to their decreasing use of the raw
vegetables. Some have already gone so far in this way of wrong
living, that even if they would now completely reform and start
using all the greens they could eat, they could only with the greatest
difficulty compensate for the nutrition lost. The best they could
possibly do in such a case would be to utilize these neglected
elements in their most concentrated form. This they can do best by
availing themselves of the raw vegetable juices. The Health Page of
the next issue of the Code will include some featured formulas for
the convenient, inexpensive home manufacture of these palatable
and vital liquids. {8SC1-12: 22.2.5}
Watch for them! {8SC1-12: 22.2.6}

The Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church

 Volume 2024 The Symbolic Code Nos. 10-12

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