174. Some are continually anxious lest their food, however simple and healthful, may hurt them. To these let me say: Do not think that your food will injure you; do not think about it at all. Eat according to your best judgment; and when you have asked the Lord to bless the food for the strengthening of your body, believe that He hears your prayer, and be at rest.—The Ministry of Healing, 321, 1905
(CD 109.1)
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[Extremes in Prescribing Exact Number and Quantity of Foods—317]
(CD 109)
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175. Another serious evil is eating at improper times, as after violent or excessive exercise, when one is much exhausted or heated. Immediately after eating there is a strong draft upon the nervous energies; and when mind or body is heavily taxed just before or just after eating, digestion is hindered. When one is excited, anxious, or hurried, it is better not to eat until rest or relief is found.
(CD 109.2)
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The stomach is closely related to the brain; and when the stomach is diseased, the nerve power is called from the brain to the aid of the weakened digestive organs. When these demands are too frequent, the brain becomes congested. When the brain is constantly taxed, and there is lack of physical exercise, even plain food should be eaten sparingly. At mealtime cast off care and anxious thought; do not feel hurried, but eat slowly and with cheerfulness, with your heart filled with gratitude to God for all His blessings.—The Ministry of Healing, 306, 1905
(CD 109.3)
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176. Knowledge in regard to proper food combinations is of great worth, and is to be received as wisdom from God.—Letter 213, 1902
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177. Do not have too great a variety at a meal; three or four dishes are a plenty. At the next meal you can have a change. The cook should tax her inventive powers to vary the dishes she prepares for the table, and the stomach should not be compelled to take the same kinds of food meal after meal.—The Review and Herald, July 29, 1884
(CD 109.5)
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178. There should not be many kinds at any one meal, but all meals should not be composed of the same kinds of food without variation. Food should be prepared with simplicity, yet with a nicety which will invite the appetite.—Testimonies for the Church 2:63, 1868
(CD 110.1)
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179. It would be much better to eat only two or three different kinds of food at a meal than to load the stomach with many varieties.—Letter 73a, 1896
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180. Many are made sick by the indulgence of their appetite.... So many varieties are introduced into the stomach that fermentation is the result. This condition brings on acute disease, and death frequently follows.—Manuscript 86, 1897
(CD 110.3)
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181. The variety of food at one meal causes unpleasantness, and destroys the good which each article, if taken alone, would do the system. This practice causes constant suffering, and often death.—Letter 54, 1896
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182. If your work is sedentary, take exercise every day, and at each meal eat only two or three kinds of simple food, taking no more of these than will satisfy the demands of hunger.—Letter 73a, 1896
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[Further Suggestions to Sedentary Workers—225]
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183. Disturbance is created by improper combinations of food; fermentation sets in; the blood is contaminated and the brain confused.
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The habit of overeating, or of eating too many kinds of food at one meal, frequently causes dyspepsia. Serious injury is thus done to the delicate digestive organs. In vain the stomach protests, and appeals to the brain to reason from cause to effect. The excessive amount of food eaten, or the improper combination, does its injurious work. In vain do disagreeable premonitions give warning. Suffering is the consequence. Disease takes the place of health.—Testimonies for the Church 7:257, 1902
(CD 110.7)
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The principal objection with physicians and helpers at the Health Retreat to discarding a meat diet is that they want meat, and then plead they must have meat. Therefore, they encourage its use. But God does not want those who come to the Health Retreat educated to live on a flesh diet. By parlor talks and by example, educate in the other direction. This will call for great skill in the preparation of wholesome food. More labor will be required, but nevertheless, it must gradually be done. Use less meat. Let those who do the cooking and those who bear the responsibility educate their own tastes and habits of eating in accordance with the laws of health.
(CD 408.1)
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We have been going back to Egypt rather than on to Canaan. Shall we not reverse the order of things? Shall we not have plain, wholesome food on our tables? Shall we not dispense with hot biscuits, which only cause dyspepsia? Those who elevate the standard as nearly as they can to the order of God, according to the light God has given them through His word and the testimonies of His Spirit, will not change their course of action to meet the wishes of their friends or relatives, be they one or two or a host, who are living contrary to God’s wise arrangement. If we move from principle in these things, if we observe strict rules of diet, if as Christians we educate our tastes after God’s plan, we shall exert an influence which will meet the mind of God. The question is, “Are we willing to be true health reformers?”
(CD 408.2)
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It is essential that continuous sameness in diet be avoided. The appetite will be much better if changes in the food are made. Be uniform. Do not have several kinds of food on the table at one meal, and no variety the next. Study economy in this line. Let people complain if they will. Let them find fault if there is not enough to suit them. The Israelites always complained of Moses and of God. It is your duty to maintain the standard of health reform. More can be accomplished for sick people by regulating their diet than by all the baths that can be given them.
(CD 408.3)
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Let the same amount of money expended for meat be used to purchase fruit. Show the people a right way of living. Had this been done from the first at the institution at _____, the Lord would have been pleased, and would have approved the effort....
(CD 408.4)
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