Health

Health – Moderation and the Jewels of Health

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In the early 1900s many were looking to preserve their health or to restore their health but had not an understanding on what to do or where to begin. About this time, Dr. Frederick M. Rossiter, B.S., M.D., wrote the book, The Practical Guide to Health, which was published in 1908 by The Review & Herald Publishing Association. The book was designed for nurses and for home use and must have been quite popular because it was published again in 1910.

The following is a very thought provoking tidbit which I am sure you will find interesting and may even help to stimulate your approach to preserving your own health.

“In the physical as well as the moral world the virtues are all strung upon this same silken thread, moderation. Health is that physical righteousness which results from the practice of the physical virtues. It is the ‘pearl chain.’

“Everybody longs to possess the priceless necklace of health. Many fail to obtain it because they do not realize that it is a treasure of separate jewels, every one of which must be faithfully earned and carefully guarded on the silken string.

“It is true that health is often inherited. But the vast majority of persons neglect this precious heirloom. The string is broken. The pearls are scattered. Some are preserved because their value is recognized, but others are thrown away as being of no intrinsic worth.

“Most of us, however, it seems to me, lose or never win true physical righteousness chiefly because we have sought certain of the physical virtues at the expense of others, and have quite disregarded the shining thread that must run through all.

“Some try to find health by practicing the one virtue of exercise. They think that if they walk far enough and fast enough every day, or manipulate pulleys and Indian clubs, or practice Swedish gymnastics, they may eat what they please and when they please, and sit up till midnight seven times a week—and still be well. Others reverse this theory, and believe that everything depends upon diet—that if a man eats only simple and wholesome fare, he may neglect physical exercise, work all day and half the night at a high tension of nerve and will, and still maintain vigorous and sound health.

“Another class extols the virtue of sleep, or of recreation, or of some particular game or sport.

“Many, alas! seek after false jewels—tonics, medicines, fads of all sorts—thinking with them to fashion the ornament health. But sooner or later these spurious gems crumble or tarnish in their hands; and they are left with worse than nothing for all their trouble.

“The man who magnifies one physical virtue, and fails to give the rest their proper place, is working an evil as wide-spread as his influence. He is really a sinner. …

“The apostle Paul said, ‘Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things’ (1 Corinthians 9:25). It is quite likely that in this great man’s mind the ‘all things’ included working and sleeping as well as eating and drinking. ‘Let your moderation be known unto all men’ (Philippians 4:5).

“Would you have health? Would you carry an atmosphere of health wherever you go? Then gather and cherish every virtue that nature has decreed belongs to that sacred and beautiful whole. Take exercise—not spasmodically or excessively, but in moderation. Eat simple and healthful food—not too much, too little, too often, or too seldom, but in moderation. Take sleep—not fitfully, two or three hours one night and ten the next, but regularly, and in moderation. Wear healthful clothes—not bags, but garments made with sense and moderation. Take recreation—not long, idle vacations, or short, feverish pleasure trips when your health has threatened to give way, but sensible, wholesome outings by which the whole current of your thoughts is changed, and your entire being refreshed. Seek with equal ardor all these shining gems that make for physical righteousness. Preserve their beauty and unity by keeping them always upon that ‘silken string,’ and you will have a possession of worth untold, not only to yourself, but to everyone whose life touches yours.” Pages 547–549.

Dr. Rossiter helped many people back then to be restored to good health. Would you like to preserve your health or be restored to good health? Pray to God to give you strength to do what is right and then push forward in following each of the health laws daily, and not sporadically. We are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) and God wants us to be healthy.

Biblical Lifestyles

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Typically the standard American diet is made up of foods high in fat and lacking in color. It was not that way in the beginning. In Genesis 1:29, God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” In Genesis 2:16 we see the original diet prescribed by God: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.” This did not include any animal products. It was a vegan diet. There was no milk or cheese, or any of the things that western societies tend to eat quite a lot of. When sin entered in, God added the herbs of the field. I call it “The Amended Diet.” This is God’s intended diet for His people in the very last days.

John said, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 1:2). This is God’s will for us, though many tend to reject God’s will. There are people who are not Adventists who are very interested in what God has shown to His people. In fact, many people, including doctors, are designing their research after light that has been given to us through the writings of Ellen G. White.

A man by the name of Clive McKay, PhD., of the Department of Nutrition of Cornell University once said that in spite of the fact that writings of Mrs. White were written long before the advent of modern scientific nutrition, no better overall guide is available today. Time and time again what God has shown us through the writings of Sister White have come to pass as absolute truth.

Nathan Pritikin of the Pritikin Diet said that Ellen White laid the guidelines for health that unfortunately are not being adhered to as strictly as they should be.

“Flesh meats will depreciate the blood. 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 the pickles, which should never find a place in any human stomach, will give a miserable quality of blood. And a poor quality of food, cooked in an improper manner, and insufficient in quantity, cannot make good blood. Flesh meats and rich food, and an impoverished diet, will produce the same results.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 387.

God is showing us that the blood really supplies the nutrition to the body. You are what you eat, and what you put in your body goes into your blood and feeds all the tissues in your body. If you are not eating a proper, healthy diet, you are impoverishing your body and making it unhealthy.

“The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan. But those who are slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian character. The continual transgression of man for six thousand years has brought sickness, pain, and death as its fruits. And as we near the close of time, Satan’s temptation to indulge appetite will be more powerful and more difficult to overcome.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 491, 492.

Since the 1970s, our food supply in this country has become more and more processed and refined and, although often tastier to the human palate, it has become less and less nutritious. We are seeing more and more lifestyle diseases because of this development.

A doctor at Loma Linda, Dr. Lamont Murdoch, taught us that it was faulty genetics that loads the gun, but lifestyle pulls the trigger. The point he was trying to make was that we are all genetically predisposed to different lifestyle diseases, but being afflicted by one or more of them is not a certainty. By following God’s plan there are things we can do that could help prevent us from getting type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure even though they may run in our family. We can change a lot by how we live. The world recognizes this possibility. Not only is research being conducted toward that end, but researchers are looking at Seventh-day Adventists, wondering why we live as long as we do. We are one of the people-groups in the world that produce the most centurions, people that live to be a hundred years or older.

In The National Geographic, November 2005, “The Secrets of Long Life,” there was an article that explored three people groups: Okinowans, Sicilians, and Seventh-day Adventists. Most people would conclude that Sicilians and Okinowans probably have something genetic that makes them live so long. But what do you do with Seventh-day Adventists who are in almost every country of the world, including every ethnicity, every socio-economic class; we have genetics that go far and wide.

The National Geographic article explored some things that were common with these three people-groups. There were four things that stood out.

  1. All three groups believed strongly in some kind of faith.
  2. All three practiced meditation and religious principles.
  3. Most of them lived active lifestyles, which was very important.
  4. They all eat very simple and nearly vegetarian diets.

When we put these together, we start to see four of the eight natural doctors practiced. Putting these things together synergistically, builds a power of health. The more of these natural doctors we obey, the healthier and better off we are.

I have discovered the quickest way to get to the heart of what’s wrong with your health is to ask the Lord for wisdom and insight, and honesty in your heart, and then go through the eight natural doctors one at a time. How’s your diet, your exercise, are you drinking plenty of water, are you getting sunshine and practicing temperance in your life? Are you getting fresh air? Are you resting, especially resting in Christ? And what about your faith in God? These are all important and as we put these eight natural doctors together into our lives, we see miraculous healing.

The Standard American Diet is a sad diet, high in refined foods, high in fat content (40-50%), high in simple carbohydrates, and low in fiber.

Since the 1970s, our diets have really changed in the United States. The Standard American Diet (SAD) leads to:

  • obesity
  • diabetes
  • hypertension
  • coronary artery disease
  • osteoporosis
  • arthritis
  • some forms of cancer such as colon cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, etc.
  • new diseases, which include fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and other assorted ailments that are besetting mankind today that were basically never heard of 20 years ago.

Obesity in the United States has jumped from 23.9% in 2005 to currently 36.4% according to cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). That means that more than one in three Americans in the United States is obese. It’s incredible. Diabetes follows the same pattern, along with hypertension and coronary artery disease. These are all lifestyle diseases. There is an epidemic of obesity and lifestyle diseases and it is on the rise. In a recent study that was done by pathologists, we are now seeing in our children the obesity rate going up and they are beginning to have the same kind of arteriosclerosis as adults.

We did a surveillance study, a study where we look at people over a period of time and watch what they are doing, and then go back and review the results at the end of that study. We surveyed people who had diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, obesity and constipation. These are all similar in nature because they are caused by the food we eat which harden our arteries, slow the digestive track down, and change the chemistry in the body in such a way that affects our bones, and it leaves us constipated. We watched this group of people with these kinds of ailments for a couple of years. They were given standard treatments, i.e., going to their doctor, receiving laxatives, getting diabetic medications, heart pills, cholesterol pills, etc. After a two-year period none of these people got better.

In the alternative, we could do something about these diseases if we followed God’s plan and made changes. I see people getting off their medications all the time when they follow God’s plans completely. The tendency in western medicine is to prescribe more medicine which is not working and then we begin to see side effects and interactions from the medications. We then treat other symptoms with a new medication and so we are treating effects of medication with medication. It’s not working very well.

Many who are very health-minded just want to take a supplement. One of the problems we are finding is that 10, 15, 20 years down the road, these things cause damage to our body. For example, vitamin A can actually damage your bones. Vitamin E increases the risk of dying from all causes. Folic acid can cause heart disease. Beta-carotene increases the risk of cancer.

Almost all people over 30 years old are overweight and a large portion of Americans—over 30%—are obese. Being overweight leads to the increased risk of lifestyle diseases. In our country it begins at birth. We have found as we give babies baby formula that we see:

  • sixty-times increased risk of pneumonia,
  • 2 to 4 times the risk of sudden infant death syndrome,
  • 10-fold increase in hospitalization in the first year of life,
  • lower IQ scores by an average of 10 points,
  • increase in behavior and speech difficulties are increased, and
  • increased risk of infections, eczema, asthma, and type 1 diabetes.

We also know that leukemia is strongly related to the feeding of dairy products to our young people. A notice from Pediatric Allergy and Immunology stated in May 2015: “Compared with infants born to lean mothers, the researchers found that specific immune cells—monocytes and dendritic cells—among the infants born to obese mothers showed much lower responses to bacterial antigens.” That means they have less capacity to fight infection. It goes on in this same article and tells us, “Maternal obesity raises the risk of a number of health conditions for offspring that can persist well into adulthood, including heart disease and asthma. Now, a new study reveals why this may be; maternal obesity weakens an infant’s immune system, at the same time of birth, increasing their susceptibility to illness.”

Time magazine recognized this development in 1998 in an issue entitled, “Our Supersized Kids.” They are examining the lifestyle reasons why our kids may be obese. The obesity rate in the United States last year, among children under 18, was 17%. They examined these lifestyle issues and concluded, it’s not just genetics, but diet.

  • 32% of all American children are overweight.
  • 90% of these children have avoidable risk factors for heart disease.
  • Food consumption in the U.S. averages over 3,800 calories per person per day.

That’s an incredible amount of calories. An adult, estimated by our government, only needs 2,350 calories a day. I would suggest to you that even that amount is too much. You probably can get by just fine on about 1,800 calories a day. When we see this kind of caloric consumption in our society, we see a lot of obesity. The skinniest state in the United States is Colorado, at 20.2% of the population considered obese. The most obese is Louisiana at 36%.

We need to understand the importance of understanding obesity and why it exists, how to avoid it and overcome it.

Society sees obesity as people who live to eat. There are some people that do, but for the most part, obese people are obese for a different reason. There are over 2 million species on earth and only 3 species have a problem with being overweight: dogs, cats, and people. The elephants and giraffes do not think about their weight. The animals in God’s creation eat exactly what they are supposed to, and they have no weight problem. That should be a clue for us. Animals eating to their full satisfaction will, over time, eat neither too much or too little for optimal health.

Physiology studies show that a person 50 years of age will eat about 50,000 pounds of food, about 1,000 pounds a year. If he ate 1% short over his lifetime of 50 years, he would be seriously malnourished. If he ate 1% too much, he would be about 50 pounds overweight. That means we’re working in a physiologic window of plus or minus 1%. These are the natural mechanisms God has built into our hard-wiring. The Bible says in Psalms 139:14, “I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” God has made this machine to work within this physiologic window of plus or minus 1%.

God gave us a diet in the beginning that consisted of what we are supposed to eat and we need to follow the recommendations to expect good health.

Physiologically, the body weighs the amount of the food in the gut with things called “stretch receptors” and “nutrient receptors.” They line the inside of the gut and weigh the amount of food in there and the nutrients that are contained in it. If we get enough food, enough volume, those stretch receptors send signals back to the brain that say, “You’ve eaten enough food. You don’t need to eat anymore.” If you’re getting enough nutrition, the same thing happens. The nutrition receptors send messages to the brain to tell us, “You’ve eaten good food. You don’t need to eat anymore.” These receptors send messages to our brain and tell us, if we’re full or not, if we need more food. They perform a gut content, weighing, and calorie analysis. For example, an apple is 5/6 fiber and water, 1/6 carbohydrates, at 300 calories per pound of apples, based on the fact that carbohydrates are 1,800 calories per pound. If you eat a half an apple which weighs about half a pound, you would put about a 150 calories in your body. Your stomach is going to weigh that out and if that is all you have eaten, your body will tell you that you are not done. You need about 350 more calories, healthy nutrients, to be satiated.

Among the 36.4% of Americans that are obese, and almost all Americans that are overweight, only 1% of those people actually have thyroid problems; so you can’t blame your thyroid for your condition.

Dr. Murdock said, “Genetics loads the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.” One person may have a normal amount of stretch receptors and nutrient receptors, while another person may be lacking nutrient receptors and stretch receptors. When people put 500 calories in their bodies, their brains tell them they have enough and do not need to eat any more. But those 500 calories in another person may measure the 500 calories as being only 400 calories, and it says, “I need more nutrition. I need more food.”

Remember in the 1970s our government told us that the average four ounces of red meat was bad for us and that fish and chicken was so much better. So, instead of eating four ounces of red meat, which, by the way has the same caloric density and content as does fish and chicken, we started eating about ten ounces on average of fish and chicken every day.

Our caloric intake went up two and a half times just from the amount of meat that we started using. You can trace our obesity epidemic all the way back to the 1970s when the government told us that.

There are other factors involved, like exercise, and some people do have a thyroid problem, but we need to understand that processed foods under-stretch the gut and fool the gut receptors. Processed food lacks proper nutrition and fiber while supplying the same amount of calories, squeezed down into a smaller amount of food. We think we need more food, even though we are consuming the same amount of calories. We are still hungry. So we eat two or three times more than what we were eating before, fooling our bodies with a lousy food system.

Salad, vegetables, and fruits average one to three hundred calories per pound, which means that if you eat a pound of salad, you will get about a hundred calories. However, your stomach is not going to accept a whole pound of salad. You can trick your own stomach into eating fewer calories and be full. You could eat about a quarter to half a pound of salad if you are really famished and that is only 25-50 calories at most and your stomach will be full. We can have the reverse effect when we eat the right way.

Oil contains 4,000 calories per pound. It is the densest food on the planet. As foods have more oil in it, they approach the oil content of 4,000 calories per pound. Puddings and custards for example have 3,200 calories per pound. Chips, cookies, and nuts, are in the 2,500 to 3,200 range; sugars and cheese, 1,800 calories per pound. Meats, bread, and flour, 1,200 to 1,600. Analog meats are in the 700 to 1,200 calories per pound range. Think of your stomach as a ball. We can put all lettuce in there and maybe jam in 25 calories, or we could fill it with oil and put 4,000 calories in there. It matters what you eat at each meal as to whether or not you will gain weight, lose weight, or stay the same.

Often, people who are trying to lose weight decide to go on the salad diet. They go down the salad bar line, build a plate full of wonderful vegetables, even lettuce and good things like that. Then they get to the dressings. They decide not to eat the dressing, but just take some olive oil and drizzle that on and maybe squeeze a little lemon on it and think they have a wonderfully healthy salad. Now a 25 or 50 calorie salad has jumped to 400 or 500 calories because of the olive oil.

To maintain a low body weight with average genes, you would have to eat a low calorically dense diet, that is, a diet that is high in volume but low in calories. Those persons who have the obese genes and want a low body weight are going to have to eat a diet that is low calorie dense. There are things we can do. We can modify our lifestyle, even with obese genes in the family, to live a skinny life. To do that you have to understand these principles.

The solution to this problem is dilution:

  • dilution with salad,
  • dilution with vegetables,
  • dilution with fruit.

These are the kinds of foods you want to eat first when you sit down.

First of all, make sure you have a colorful meal. Eat your salad veggies and those low calorically dense foods first. Fill the stomach up with those, and then look at your more calorically dense foods in very small amounts. So, the solution to caloric pollution is dilution.

There is a difference between the western diet and the vegan diet: the western diet is more than 40% fat coming from mostly animal products. The vegan diet on the other hand is 10 to 20% fat with no animal products whatsoever. Our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made and actually designed to be vegetarian. The average cholesterol level in those eating the Standard American Diet is about 200 compared to 130 or even less in those eating a vegan diet. The people on the standard American diet are predisposed to diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and auto-immune disease, whereas vegans live 12% longer than the average American and live healthier lives.

While at Weimar, we took people with high cholesterol and put them on vegan diets except for one difference; we added animal protein instead of soy protein in the form of skim milk to the animal protein group, and we gave vegetable protein, mostly soy, to the other group. We were trying to find out what effect animal protein, not cholesterol, had on cholesterol levels.

After three weeks, the cholesterol lowered in the animal protein group 30 to 40 points. That is good, but it was not as good as the vegan group who lost about 70 points in the same three weeks, which is an incredible loss of cholesterol.

Thinking that one group had a genetic advantage over the group, they switched the diet. After three more weeks we found out that the cholesterol that was down 60–70 points before was now at that same 30–40 point level. What we saw was the group on the animal protein, then vegetable protein, after six weeks on a great diet, and then the last three weeks on the best diet, had a 110 point average drop. No medication was taken, just a straight vegan diet. I have seen the same result in my own practice. We put patients on God’s plan, get all animal protein out of their diet, and we see on average a 110 point drop in total cholesterol.

We are having a big political fight in our country about healthcare. We don’t need to have that fight. We can go vegan. It is estimated that we would have 3% to 7% the rate of lifestyle disease that we now have if every American went vegan. That’s incredible. We wouldn’t need the health care system we have now. We wouldn’t need the health insurance. There would be no fight.

The most common question I get asked is, “Where do you get your protein?” Elephants eat grass and leaves and do not worry about getting enough protein or eating too much or too little. There is protein in grass. The grass is green—it has chlorophyll. Proteins produce the chlorophyll through a process of photosynthesis. Grass is filled with protein and we get all of our essential amino acids from plant foods. By eating a wide variety of food you will get all the essential amino acids and proteins that you need.

The Biblical diet, which is very colorful is based on fruits, nuts, and vegetables. It is wonderfully healthy. These are just some examples of anti-oxidant-rich fruits with rich colors: strawberries, blueberries, plums. The same characteristic is shared with the rich anti-oxidant veggies with wonderful colors.

God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat” (Genesis 1:29). He said, eat of them freely.

Michael Snyder is a Family Practice physician practicing in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, where he lives with his wife and four of their six children. He graduated from Loma Linda University School of Medicine and is board certified in Family Medicine. He was a speaker at Steps to Life Camp Meeting 2015. This article is one of his presentations at that camp meeting.

Health – Cold Water

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In the early 1800s, Priessnitz, while watching his grazing flock, noticed a wounded doe, injured by hunters, wade into the calm backflow waters of a mountain brook. The following gives us a history of how his curiosity changed his life.

“He wondered as the doe limped away and disappeared in the forest. That night he decided there must be a reason for a wounded animal to seek water to lave [wash, bathe] its wounds. Perhaps instinct was stronger than reason. He would return the next day. He did.

“Sure enough the doe returned to the eddying water at about the same time. It stood silently, without a move, and then after awhile limped to the bank and disappeared in the deep foliage of the forest once more. For two weeks the lad Vincent Priessnitz returned daily to his vantage point and watched. For two weeks the wounded doe returned and bathed its injured leg in the brook. Each day the deer walked better and finally scampered out of the water on the last day to return no more.

“Before his very eyes he had seen a badly injured deer healed with cool sparkling brook water. Vincent Priessnitz never forgot that experience.

“Some years later Priessnitz was injured severely hauling cord wood. Night stole upon him, as did a heavy snow storm. His team bolted through a gulch. The load slipped and his ribs were crushed.

“But while he lay there he had time to reflect on what to do. A doctor was out of the question on a night like that. No help was forthcoming. Somehow he managed to get home.

“No, he could not soak his injured ribs in water as the deer had done with its leg. He conceived the idea of wrapping the injured ribs with pieces of his torn shirt soaked in cold water. This relieved him. He continued to apply cold wet wrappings and in due course his ribs were free from pain and healed.

“The news of his accomplishment spread. When a neighbor became injured he called for the young man who healed with water. Requests for aid became more frequent and further from home, and his experience grew apace.

“He gave the matter of his discovery, which had meant so much to himself and others much thought. He tried various applications with varying degrees of success. Empirically by trial and error he evolved a method or system of cold water treatment that brought help to thousands.

“He opened a modest place where people could stay. In a matter of months it became the haven of the sick. His fame spread to every corner of the globe. He treated prince and pauper alike. The medical big wigs of the day protested and closed his doors. To his patients, called to the center of the square, he said, ‘be undismayed. If they will not let me use water we shall find a cure in air.’

“He was persecuted and prosecuted. By trickery and scheming the medical fraternity sought to discredit him. The people who had been healed were evidence against any wrong doing he was accused of. The final gesture was the claim that the water was drugged. The State found he used only pure mountain water.

“To end all persecution the State decreed that no one should ever molest him, that he be permitted to heal the sick as he had been doing.

“Grafenberg became a shrine for the ill. People traveled to it from all over the world. Some of the best records we have came from the pen of Americans who crossed the ocean to take the ‘cure.’

“In 1842, twelve hundred patients from all over the world visited and were cared for at his institution at Grafenberg. During the years 1849, 1850 and 1851, the number of patients rose to as high as fourteen hundred, and came from as many as thirty different countries, such was his fame. …

“Priessnitz’s work was absorbed by other systems which followed as the Kneipp and Bilz system and so on, until we find at the turn of the twentieth century an American Hydro-therapy fostered by the genius of the late John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek Sanitarium fame. …” The Cold Water Cure, pg i, ii, by Vincent Priessnitz, 1843.  Reprinted by Kessinger Publishing’s Rare Reprints.

There are instances in the Spirit of Prophecy where water treatments were used. Here are several:

“I am generally up hours before any other member of my family. On rising I build my fire, take a bath in cold water before the fire, and then, after my praying season, take my pen in hand and, from two o’clock until seven, write many pages. We have family prayers just before breakfast, which is at half past seven. I generally retire at seven o’clock in the evening.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, 259.

“If you feel that you must eat at night, take a drink of cold water, and in the morning you will feel much better for not having eaten.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 177.

“Do not sit in a meeting with cold feet. If the feet are cold, wash them in cold water, and then dry them thoroughly. You will find that the blood will thus be called from the head to the limbs.” Sermons and Talks, vol. 2, 142.

Amazing what a little water can do. Praise God for all of His blessings!

Health – Breathe Through the Nose

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The nostrils are the proper channels for the breath of life. The mouth is designed for other important purposes; and when it is not opened for some good purpose, it were better that it remain closed. Some fifteen or twenty years ago I read an article on this subject, and since then have been trying to reduce to practice the advice to keep the mouth shut, with some progress, I think, and certainly with some benefit. Many a cold, sore throat, toothache, etc., can be prevented by keeping the mouth closed, when going out in cold weather. I have held evening meetings in stormy, winter weather, where the good people were afraid to have the house properly ventilated, and as the result, the close of the meeting would find me in perspiration. When obliged to go out, I would keep my mouth so strictly closed till I reached my quarters that I feared I should give the impression that I was unsociable; and in this way, I would escape colds almost entirely while almost all others would be very much afflicted with them. But this is not the sole cause of the difference; something must be credited to my different manner of living in other respects. Hygienic living in general is the best preventive of this difficulty, as well as of others.

Think of the cases of those of your acquaintance who, attending singing school, have ruined their voices, contracting a bronchial affection for life. After singing two hours in a heated and unventilated house, they would get into sleighs and go singing on their way home. The throat, irritated and inflamed, suddenly exposed to the frosty air of a northern winter! It was a wonder that any could live through such an ordeal. Think of it, friends. When going out, especially after having been using your voice, keep your mouth shut. On going to bed, shut your mouth carefully, and thus go to sleep, being covered well and not fearing to have your room well ventilated.

The Health Reformer, February 1876.

Health – The Back Closet

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Many times we hear or read something and as time goes on we tend to put it in the back closet of our minds. And of course, anything stored in the back closet usually stays there, well hidden, from our daily thoughts. This is what has happened to a considerable amount of the health message given by the Spirit of Prophecy. Much instruction has been heard by many. However, it has not been implemented but placed there for later use.

I can just now hear, as many are reading this article, the sighing and the words being spoken: “Here we go again.” Before you get too carried away on the sighing, you must read the following interesting information on oxidized cholesterol and where it is found from Neil Nedley, M.D.

The Problem with Oxidized Cholesterol

“Cholesterol exposed to the atmosphere for a period of time tends to combine with oxygen in the air, producing what is called “oxidized cholesterol.” … In fact, this compound may turn out to be the most important dietary factor that influences heart disease risk.

“As early as the 1940s it was discovered that not all cholesterol was the same in its likelihood of causing atherosclerosis. Dr. Chaikoff and associates found that chickens that were fed large amounts of cholesterol developed high blood cholesterol levels and a considerable amount of atherosclerosis. On the other hand, chickens that were given hormones to raise their cholesterol to similar levels had virtually no fatty buildup in their arteries. Drs. Peng and Taylor in Albany, New York, carried on further experiments looking for something in dietary cholesterol that was particularly damaging to blood vessels. …

“Some of the chemicals called ‘oxidation products,’ were so toxic that they destroyed cells that line the arteries in less than 24 hours. Furthermore, it took only a small amount of these toxic chemicals to cause irreversible damage. In Peng and Taylor’s work, the deadly effects on blood vessels occurred when as little as one half of one percent of the blood cholesterol was oxidized. Their research is particularly important because destruction of artery-lining cells is one of the main factors that begins or accelerates the buildup of cholesterol in atherosclerosis. …

“Foods containing harmful cholesterol by-products …:

  • Custard mixes
  • Pancakes mixes
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Lard

“The most harmful combination of cholesterol oxidation products was found in custard mix where sugar, milk, and eggs were combined. The dried mix was apparently exposed to air for a considerable period of time due to its long shelf life.

“Over 100 years ago the danger of custards and puddings were recognized by Ellen White in Ministry of Healing, 301, 302.” [Emphasis author’s.] Proof Positive, by Neil Nedley, M.D., pages 73, 74. Copyright 1998, 1999 by Neil Nedley, M.D.

Wonderful warnings have been given to us through the Spirit of Prophecy. Pull them out of the back closet and return them to active service. We truly are fearfully and wonderfully made and our enemy, the devil, is trying to destroy these wonderful bodies that God has given to us. The seeds are sown—let’s pull the weeds out and live to God’s glory.

Health – Using Our Senses Wisely

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Our five senses are very valuable. We take them for granted and many times our senses become perverted. The use of these senses shapes our character and determines our destiny.

Life

“Life consists of experiences secured through the combined exercise of the physical, mental, and spiritual powers—the body, mind, and spirit. The harmonious development of these three prepares one for this life and for eternity.

“The physical powers find their expression largely through the five senses—seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling, under the direction of, and through coordination with the mind.

The Senses

“The greatest satisfactions of life are not obtained from the exercise of more physical strength, but through the proper use of the five senses.

“The highest and noblest aspirations of life are gained through the enjoyment of the senses under the direction of the mind, which in turn is guided by the eternal principles of right.

Choosing the Character

“The mere possession of the five senses does not constitute character, but the daily proper use of them develops character. This is the field where man’s priceless endowment, the power of choice, is exercised for weal or woe. The daily decisions made by the mind concerning the use of these senses shape the character and determine the destiny. Habits are formed through their exercise, and the sort of habits formed depends upon the kinds of experiences chosen by the mind for the five senses to enjoy, and therefore, the use or misuse of these senses will largely determine the nature of the character being developed.

Self-Control

“To make the right choice in the use of the senses, two things are indispensable. The first is knowledge of their proper use; the second is self-control. …

“The world needs men today who are masters of, not slaves to, circumstances; and the master of self is fundamental to the mastery of life’s problems.

“Self-control is exercised and habits are formed through the use of the five senses, and the habits that are formed where the sense of taste is involved are very strong and some of them are very destructive. The reason follows.

The King of Senses

“Man’s physical life is maintained by food, and he was given the sense of taste that he might receive pleasure from the experience of putting into his body the things which would prolong his existence.

“It being more important that he eat and sustain life, than that he see, or hear, or smell, or touch, these senses become servants to the sense of taste, and are largely engaged in occupations which will produce the chief necessity of life—food.

“Because the satisfaction of the appetite in the proper use of food to sustain life is a first necessity to existence, it affords the greatest opportunity for perversion; and therefore, from the dawn of human history it has been man’s great weakness, and the source of the most subtle temptations, which work for his greatest degradation; it is the most vulnerable point at which to attack him.

“And, like as the other senses contribute of their powers in securing food to sustain life, so, when the taste becomes perverted, these other four senses are likewise diverted from their natural uses and become slaves to the appetite to provide the indulgences it craves.

“The sense of taste can be satisfied with things which will up-build body, mind, and soul, or it can be indulged with things which will destroy them all.

The Mind

“The use or abuse of the sense of taste, in conjunction with the other senses as helpers, will build up or undermine the mental powers with the reasoning faculties, the power of choice, and the will.

The Spiritual Life

“When the mental powers are weakened, it becomes difficult or impossible for the mind to perform its highest function in the contemplation and acceptance of spiritual ideals and opportunities.

“The mind allies the finite with the infinite. Therefore, anything that dulls its perceptions or disturbs its normal action, to some extent lessens man’s ability to comprehend divine ideals and objectives, or to lay hold of infinite power to achieve them.

“For these reasons a full spiritual experience cannot be found unless by self-control the use of the five senses is yielded to the wishes of their Author. This is one of the requisites of spiritual growth, and a most vital one.

“One author of note has said, ‘The body is the only medium through which the mind and the soul are developed for the up-building of character. Hence it is that the adversary of souls directs his temptations to the enfeebling and degrading of the physical powers. His success here means the surrender to evil of the whole being.’ [The Ministry of Healing, 130].

“Therefore, the most vital spot in human experience and existence is the proper use of the sense of taste in maintaining health, in the preservation of strong mental powers, and in laying the foundation for the character, which finds its highest exercise in a spiritual experience. The use or abuse of the appetite can aid in up-building or in destroying all.

“Furthermore, not only can the mental powers be weakened, the character undermined, and the spiritual powers prostituted, but the persistent violation of the laws of life through the misuse of the senses, the leader of which is the taste, places one in open antagonism to the Author thereof and so enters the realm of loyalty; for how can a person claim to be loyal to his Maker when he persists in any indulgence which is contrary to his Maker’s will as expressed in the laws of life which he has established within the body? …” Abundant Health, Julius Gilbert White, 1951, 327–330.

We truly are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).