Health

Health – Blood Vessel Health and Cruciferous Vegetables

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You probably still hear echoes of your mother in your head: “Eat your vegetables.” It turns out that your mom knew what she was talking about. Studies continue to prove our mothers right – vegetables offer excellent health benefits. In fact, some of the vegetables we like the least might actually be extremely beneficial in preventing blood vessel disease, lowering the risk of heart events, and boosting liver health.

One new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition discovered that eating more cruciferous vegetables like Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli is associated with blood vessel disease that’s less extensive in aging women. Their discovery has some serious implications for the health benefits of getting those cruciferous veggies daily, particularly since blood vessel disease results in risks for other serious health problems.

Cruciferous vegetables linked to blood vessel health and lower risk of stroke and heart attack

Blood vessel disease – a problem that affects the veins and arteries – has the potential to reduce blood flow throughout your body. This may be because of the buildup of calcium or fatty deposits on the interior walls of blood vessels, and that buildup may result in adverse heart events like stroke and heart attack.

In previous studies, researchers discovered that a higher intake of cruciferous vegetables was linked to a lower risk of having cardiovascular disease events like stroke and heart attack. However, they weren’t sure why. Now, this new study showing how these vegetables are linked to blood vessel health explains those earlier findings.

Researchers looked at a group of 684 older women in Western Australia. Those who consumed a minimum of 45 grams of cruciferous vegetables daily – which equals about ½ cup of raw cabbage or a ¼ cup of steamed broccoli) were 46 percent less likely to deal with extensive calcium buildup in the aorta compared to women eating few to no cruciferous vegetables.

While cruciferous vegetables were the highlight of this study, they’re not the only vegetables we should focus on. According to lead researchers, it’s essential to eat a wide variety of vegetables daily to enjoy better health.

Protect your liver health by eating the right veggies

Beyond improving blood vessel health and lowering the risk of heart attack and stroke, studies also show that eating cruciferous veggies can offer significant liver benefits. A study published in the journal Hepatology earlier this year found that indole – found in veggies like broccoli and cauliflower – may help control nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Previous research had found that eating broccoli sprouts helped improve overall liver function.

No doubt: from improving blood vessel health to lowering the risk of heart attack to offering liver benefits, cruciferous veggies will provide many health benefits. Along with broccoli, additional cruciferous vegetables you can add to your diet include cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, organic kale, and cabbage.

www.naturalhealth365.com/cruciferous-vegetables-blood-vessel-3553.html

Health Nugget – It’s Not “Slaughter”

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“To slaughter or process meat? That was the question put to New South Wales (Australia) Farmers’ delegates at its annual conference when they made the decision to change the use of the word slaughter when referring to the livestock industry.

“In the interest of community engagement and public image, farmers passed the motion that all relevant parties in livestock industries use the term processing in lieu of, and to the complete exclusion of the term slaughter.

“The word slaughter is not appropriate for our industry as we are processing animals through the various stages that end up for food. It’s not a mass murder,”1 states the livestock industry.

Large animals in the United States are also no longer slaughtered. They’re now disassembled. And chickens are harvested.

While Adventist Christians have focused on the health benefits of the vegetarian diet, the young generation of today has focused on a far worse problem with meat consumption – animal cruelty on a scale unimaginable to previous generations.

The science has demonstrated in the past few decades that animals have emotional lives. They feel not only physical, but also emotional pain. They have social behaviors and community structures. For example, cows and many other animals are known to babysit for each other. Animals mourn the loss of their loved ones.

The paradox of the situation is that while we know more than ever about the emotional lives of animals, we treat them worse than at any previous time in history.

Someone could say that this is not true. Our pets are treated better than ever. We spend jaw-dropping amounts of money on their toys, organic food, cosmetics, healthcare, to name a few. What about farm animals? Not only are they not afforded the same luxuries as our pets, but they are not even treated as living beings. They are just industrial objects destined for later “disassembly.” They’re kept in such appalling conditions that they have to be fed antibiotics their whole lives to prevent the spread of disease. Male piglets have their testicles ripped out without anesthetics. Calves are removed from their mothers almost immediately because we need the cow’s milk. Male calves are killed within a few days, as the dairy industry has no need for them and they’re not the right breed for meat. Cows mourn the loss of their babies with tears in their eyes for weeks until many are driven to insanity. One would wonder what effect this milk has on the health of those consuming dairy products.

So what’s the difference between a dog that we treat as a family member and a cow or sheep which we don’t even treat as a living being? The science now has a term for it – carnism. It is a belief system supported by cultural conditioning where one animal can be afforded a human-like status, while another is a worthless object that can be tortured for profit. Dogs, for example, are animals destined for human consumption in some countries, while cows are treated as divine, afforded the best welfare, and hurting one bears a prison sentence in other countries. We all know which animals fit each category in the western world. The western society is guilty of carnism more than any other culture.

It is now not socially acceptable to raise certain animals for fur. According to some activists, it’s not okay to train animals for circus performances, while the most massive abuse and torture of animals destined for meat production goes unnoticed.

We have to acknowledge that we have consumed meat for thousands of years. Often it was a matter of survival of the human race. The Biblical story of Noah tells us that when Noah’s ark landed on dry land, there were no edible plants after the flood, therefore God permitted people to consume animals. One of the consequences was a sharp decline in human longevity.

Today, we no longer have any justification for meat consumption, especially if the science has proven that meat consumption causes diseases and shortens our lifespan. Yet, so many are unwilling to give up this practice.

It is also true that generations as recent as our parents and grandparents considered meat eating normal. Yet, farm animals were still treated as living beings with respect, care, and love during those times. Animals were given happy lives in their natural outdoor surroundings. Their meat was not tainted by the excessive use of drugs and hormones. Perhaps the following quote wasn’t clear to our parents, but this prediction has been fulfilled in our generation and secular sources confirm it: “There is no safety in eating of the flesh of dead animals, and in a short time the milk of the cows will also be excluded from the diet of God’s commandment-keeping people. In a short time it will not be safe to use anything that comes from the animal creation.” Unpublished Testimony, July 26, 1898. {PUR November 7, 1901, Art. B, par. 1}

Jesus said: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12 NIV). How can we possibly extend love to each other and treat animals with the harshest cruelty? It is not a coincidence that people who are cruel to animals have often experienced violence as children and also are not kind to others.

We have animal welfare laws designed to protect animals, but get this: farm animals are exempt! “It is estimated that nine billion land animals are raised and killed for food every year in the U.S. We don’t even have an estimate for how many aquatic animals are killed in the U.S. every year, because the statistics kept are in tonnages, not individual beings. Many of these animals are subjected to near-unimaginable cruelty – much of which is perfectly legal, under current law.”2

Abuses on commercial farms and in slaughterhouses are so horrific, most of us couldn’t bear to witness them. “Animals can have their testicles, tails, horns, beaks, or toes removed without anesthesia. Male chicks are ground up alive, and piglets are killed by slamming their heads on the ground.”3 Yet, we feel completely comfortable to purchase parts of these animals in the grocery store. Every consumer partaking in the system is guilty of cruelty. Farmed animals are every bit as capable of feeling pain and pleasure as the animals who live with us as family members.

If such treatment of animals is the industry standard, why are not people protesting in the streets? The reason is simple: The meat industry has developed a system concealing the reality from the public eye. Commercial farms have heavy security; no one can come near them. If a private vehicle pulls on a side of a public road anywhere within sight of these farms, security personnel will arrive within minutes. No photos are allowed even from a distance. Where are the 9 billion animals slaughtered annually in the United States? Why is it we never see them? They’re transported to their deaths on the interstates while we sleep. Transport of animals to slaughterhouses is often seen after dark.

Most of these crimes against animals are happening in the so-called civilized west. It is very easy for the media in non-Christian countries to portray western Christians as barbaric, cruel, and evil. And it is only our own fault.

As the meat industry pushes to exclude the term slaughter, we have further redefined living beings into just “things.” Unlike our previous generations, we are not even willing to acknowledge that death is a part of our diet. Unlike our supposedly barbaric ancestors, we don’t even want to acknowledge that animals are living beings. We have lost compassion. Unlike our parents and grandparents, we teach our children we are not slaughtering animals, we are just processing them. No! It is slaughter! More barbaric than the world has ever seen. As Christians, we can’t look the other way.

1   www.theland.com.au/story/6291345/farmers-ditch-slaughter-for-public-image/

2, 3 https://aldf.org/article/student-animal-legal-defense-fund-saldf-program-guides/2018-2020-farmed-animals-the-law/

Health Nugget – Eat for the Cure

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All of us have cancer cells in our bodies throughout our lives. All of us. But only about 2 to 3 percent of all cancers are purely genetic. What determines whether those cancer cells continue to grow or not has less to do with our genes and more to do with our body’s environment. And what does determine our body’s environment? Primarily, our food choices. Cancer is the result of a faulty replication of our genes, mutating and replicating quickly when fertilized by carcinogens. Much growing evidence shows nutritional factors influence not only cancer onset, but also risk of recurrence and progression. Dr. Andrea Lusser, a Swiss tumor therapy expert, says the correlation between damaged cell membrane function in cancer diseases and the use of unhealthy fats and meat-heavy diets is well established.

The Effects of Animal-based Diets on Cancer Cells

In order to replicate quickly, cancer cells need direct blood flow to feed their division and growth. These cells, like healthy cells, attract and develop new blood vessels with an amino acid protein called methionine. Methionine is so integral to cancer cell growth that drug companies are spending millions of dollars to identify methionine blockers to slow the progression of cancers.

In laboratory studies, dripping methionine onto cancer cells caused them to aggressively multiply. The highest methionine levels are found in egg whites and fish.

Dairy foods also cause abnormal cell growth. Doctors Michael Greger, Amy Lanou, Justine Butler and Samuel Epstein allow that dairy is the perfect food for newborns within their species, but can be disastrous in the human body. Consider the baby calf. Cow’s milk, with just the right amount of protein and fat, nourishes the baby. And the insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), a natural growth hormone found in dairy products, aggressively grows a calf.

IGF-1 is present in all forms of dairy—from a glass of milk to a piece of cheese. Using organic dairy does not keep you from ingesting hormones in your milk. Cow’s milk is rich in hormones intended to stimulate rapid growth in baby calves. Period.

So now consider the adult human. Strong evidence shows that IGF-1 stimulates the growth of both normal and cancer cells. When IGF-1 is dripped onto cancer cells in the lab, it is like fertilizing a lawn. The cancer cells grow much more rapidly.

In addition to the negative effect of hormones, the proteins found in milk are also problematic for humans. Both casein and whey can cause allergies, intestinal bleeding, severe inflammation and a highly acidic blood environment. Simply put, animal protein and hormones can alter our human hormones and cell proliferation, and can provide the ideal environment for cancers to grow.

And dairy is just one of the main culprits. Studies from Harvard, Cornell, and numerous other studies show consumption of dairy products, red meat and white meat have all been associated with increased risk of metastatic (multiplying and spreading) cancer.

One explanation is that meat and dairy both contain arachidonic acid (AA). AA has been shown to stimulate the growth of both hormone-sensitive and hormone-insensitive cell linings and can stimulate cancer cell production.

The Effects of Plant-based Diets on Cancer Cells

And now for the good news. Leading oncologists are providing evidence on how breast, colon, ovarian and cervical cancers can be prevented, as well as slowed and often reversed: Eliminate meat and dairy and other proinflammatory AA sources. Eat healthy, plant-based foods. In contrast with foods of animal origin, plant-based foods are rich in an array of potentially beneficial phytonutrients that appear to be protective.

Dr. Lusser explains that a whole-food, plant-based diet is loaded with cancer-fighting nutrients. Abundant nutrients, such as polyphenols, terpenes, sulfur compounds and saponines, have been empirically demonstrated to be high in cancer-fighting properties. Eat any and all fruits, veggies, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. According to Lusser, the same mechanisms plants developed to fight damage caused by microorganisms, insects, and other parasites also play a role in our own defense mechanisms against cancer.

The strongest protective effects are seen in legumes, nuts, carrots, leafy greens, cruciferous (cabbage family) vegetables and tomatoes. Other promising anti-cancer foods include sea vegetables, allium and brassica vegetables and turmeric.

What allows these foods to prevent and attack abnormal cells? Two population-based studies on cruciferous foods suggest their cancer-fighting power comes from indole-3-carbinol. Carotenoids, also found primarily in vegetables and fruits, may impact cancer risk through antioxidant protection against free radical damage to DNA.

Cohort and case-control studies show that lycopene, too, has inhibitory and protective effects on cancer. Huge lycopene quantities are found in all tomatoes, lower amounts in watermelon, papaya and grapefruit, guava, red bell peppers, persimmon, asparagus, red cabbage and mangoes.

A plant-based diet is also high in chlorophyll and offers large amounts of alkalinizing phytochemicals and enzymes. Why is this important? Cancer cells develop in acidic conditions, and restoring the acid-alkaline equilibrium is instrumental in reducing the divisions and growth of their cells.

To those who are concerned that we can’t live without animal protein, take heart. According to Dr. Jacqueline Maier, all proteins are made up of 20 different amino acids. The exact same amino acids make up animal and plant proteins. By eating a varied plant-based diet, one can get all the essential and non-essential amino acids necessary for proper growth, development and maintenance. Even naturally-born carnivores can survive on a completely plant-based diet.

Armed with this knowledge, it’s time to eat for the cure.

Breast Cancer

In the United States, one in eight women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer—the most common cancer in women, except for skin cancer, which attacks men and women. Compare this statistic with the rate of breast cancer in Kenya, where the population has a vegetable and rice-based diet: one in every 82 women. Or consider populations such as the Hunza in the Middle East and the Okinawans in Japan—populations who eat little or no meat, dairy and fish—who have no cancer.

What do these healthy populations have in common? They ingest copious amounts of phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens, found only in plants, play a key role in helping to protect the breasts against tumor growth.

Noted oncologists attest that we have dietary cures for as many as 90 percent of breast cancer cases. Imagine how many mothers’ and daughters’ lives could be saved by the adoption of a plant-based diet.

Prostate Cancer

In the United States, one in nine men will be stricken with prostate cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. It doesn’t have to be that way. Dr. Ron Allison, an expert in prostate cancer, says diet is at the forefront, both in the creation and control of prostate cancer. According to Dr. Allison, most men do not think about their prostate in terms of health until they have a problem. They see a doctor when they experience prostate growth and pressure on the urethra or rectum. There is a connection, he says, between what is stimulating the prostate to grow and stimulating cancer cells to grow: Hormones—hormones from fats, meat-based diets and dairy products. For men with advanced prostate cancer, he promotes the adoption of plant-based diets to help prolong survival and increase chances of remission.

Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer is the second-most common cancer diagnosed in men and women in the United States. Only 40 percent of those diagnosed with colon cancer survive after five years. Studies from Harvard University show that your risk of colon cancer drops by two-thirds if you stop eating meat and dairy products. This is primarily due to the high fiber content of a plant-based diet.  Why? Meat and cow’s milk contain a heavy protein load and no fiber. Because of our long intestinal tracks and our relatively low amount of stomach acid, the undigested protein turns into carcinogens and toxins in our bodies. The lack of fiber in meat contributes to constipation, which allows carcinogens time to affect the surrounding tissue.

Fiber from plants, on the other hand, has anti-carcinogenic mechanisms and plays a major role in regulating intestinal function. It also fights cancer by forming short-chain fatty acids from fermentation by bacteria, and it tends to reduce bile acids, thereby reducing chances of cancer-producing bacteria. What you eat makes a major difference.

Thrive Magazine, October/November 2019, vol. 24, “Eat for the Cure,” Shushana Castle, Co-Executive Producer of What the Health & Eating Our Way to Extinction, Co-Author, Rethink Food & The Meaty Truth, 16, 17.

In 1896, Ellen White counseled, “Cancer, tumors, and all inflammatory diseases are largely caused by meat-eating. From the light which God has given me, the prevalence of cancers, and tumors is due to gross living on dead flesh.” Spalding and Magan Collection, 48. “Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator.” Child Guidance, 380.

Health Nugget – Let Your Skin Breathe!

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Much of the fabric used today for making garments is made from synthetic materials. It is always good to know what fabric your clothes are made of and how they will affect the health of your body. We all need to take care of our skin. It is beneficial to your health when wearing clothes that allow the skin to breathe. A person dressed in a satin shirt would be much less comfortable than the person who chose to wear a cotton shirt. This is because of the breathability of the fabric. The following article will help you to understand the different fabrics and how they affect your skin and eventually your health.

“Breathability can be defined as the fabric’s ability to allow air and moisture to pass through it. This is determined by the composition of fibers and how tightly they are woven together. Wearing breathable fabric helps your skin breathe by allowing sweat to evaporate rather than block skin pores. This also helps regulate your body’s temperature. So, when you go shopping for your summer wardrobe, look out for these fabrics.

  1. Cotton: Cotton is a natural fiber that can be found in a number of varieties. However, not all of them are breathable. For your skin to breathe, avoid cotton blends and stick to 100% cotton fabric. Seersucker and madras cotton are great for summer. Cotton clothes are ideal for dry summers as well as humid conditions.
  2. Linen: The light weight nature of linen makes it an extremely breathable fabric. This natural fiber also absorbs moisture very well.
  3. Light Silk: Silk is often termed as a winter material but light silks are ideal for any weather. Silk is highly absorbent and dries quickly thus allowing your skin to breathe. It also has natural climate regulating properties that allow it to stay cool in summers and warm in winters. Silk is also the most hypoallergenic fabric available.
  4. Chambray: Chambray is a breathable alternative to denims. While heavy weight chambray has a rugged appeal, light weight chambray can have a casual as well as dressy appeal.

On that note, here are a few fabrics to avoid

  1. Nylon: Nylon is a completely synthetic material with low absorption and a water repellant nature. Thus not only will it not allow sweat to evaporate, it will trap your sweat within your clothes. This is both uncomfortable and unhealthy.
  2. Polyester and Polyester blends: Like nylon, polyester is water repellent and thus allows perspiration between your clothes and your skin causing the garment to stick to the body. Don’t assume a polyester cotton blend to be any better as even a 40% synthetic presence can keep the fabric from absorbing sweat.
  3. Viscose or Rayon: Both these fabrics are often passed off as cotton. However they do not have the absorption or breathability nature of cotton. While it will not trap heat like nylon and polyester, rayon also repels water thus leading to a perspiration build up.
  4. Satin: Satin is produced by weaving nylon and polyester together and hence is synthetic and does not allow the skin to breathe. Also satin is thick and heavy.

www.lybrate.com/topic/which-kind-of-clothing-lets-your-skin-breathe/261ae16edde88edf9cad0f3d59393789

Not One in One Thousand

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After working in the health field and observing people over many years, I have come to the conclusion that not one in one thousand Seventh-day Adventists are following the complete health reform information that has been given to us as a people in the Scriptures and the writings of Ellen White. We are counseled in Ephesians 6 to put on the whole armor of God so we can resist the devil (verse 13). Numerous times throughout the writings of Ellen White we have been told that the health reform message is the right arm of the gospel. My question for many years has been, How does one put on a suit of armor with one arm? IMPOSSIBLE! Yet that is the condition of the vast majority of Seventh-day Adventists. Since not one in one thousand carefully and prayerfully observe the total health message, not one in one thousand has both arms available to put on the “whole armor of God”.

Although we have more than 2,500 pages written by God’s last day prophet on health and lifestyle, the majority continue to seek guidance from secular sources.

We are told in the book, Medical Ministry, on page “x” in the preface to the second edition that “The promulgation of the health message was for fifty years a topic of major concern to Ellen White. She wrote more in the field of health than on any other single topic of counsel.” Yet still the vast majority of Adventists, especially pastors, continue to believe that diet and lifestyle have nothing to do with one’s salvation. The question was posed by the pastor of my local church to the congregation, “Is diet and lifestyle a salvational issue?” The overwhelming response from the congregation was a resounding, NO!

How blind, deceived and ignorant can we as a people be? We have all heard or read the statement from Christ’s Object Lessons, page 69, “When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.” Then there is the statement in Counsels on Diet and Foods, page 22, “It is impossible for those who indulge the appetite to attain to Christian perfection.” So I ask the question, “If we must have Christ’s perfect character before He can come to receive us to Himself at the second coming and it is impossible to have that character when we are not fully practicing the total health reform message, then how do we expect to be ready for His coming?” IMPOSSIBLE!

We need to take a long hard look at just exactly what comprises the total health message. Top of the list is the consumption of the flesh of animals. Notice this quote:

“Meat should not be placed before our children. Its influence is to excite and strengthen the lower passions, and has a tendency to deaden the moral powers. Grains and fruits prepared free from grease, and in as natural a condition as possible, should be the food for the tables of all who claim to be preparing for translation to heaven.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 352.

Many Adventists look at Leviticus, chapter 11, which discusses clean and unclean meats when it comes to what is acceptable to eat. However, there is much more recorded in the rest of the book regarding meat consumption.

If someone in the camp of Israel ate something that was unclean he was to leave the camp, wash his clothes and himself, wait until sundown, and only then could he return to the camp and to his family. (See Leviticus chapter 22.)

But if someone ate some meat, even clean meat that contained the fat and/or the blood, it says in at least three places in Leviticus, in chapters 7, 17, and 18, that such an individual would be “cut off’ from among his people.

The Hebrew word for cut off used here is karath, the same word that is used in Daniel 9:26, where it says that in the middle of the week Messiah would be “cut off.” We all know what happened to Jesus in the middle of the 70th prophetic week of Daniel 9. He was crucified and suffered the second death. I am pretty sure that a McDonald’s hamburger has not had the fat and blood removed nor has the steak that you buy at the local meat market been ritually slaughtered so as to remove all fat and blood.

When God gave Noah and his family permission to eat animal flesh, it was due to the fact that all plant life had been destroyed in the great flood. The use of animal flesh for food was to only have been for one, maybe two years, until the plant kingdom had reestablished itself on this earth. I would also surmise that as intelligent as the antediluvians were, Noah took quite a large quantity as well as selection of seeds onto the ark so that he could reestablish his vegetable garden after the flood. After that, mankind was supposed to return to the original diet given by God to man.

Let’s consider next animal products other than meat. Top of the list is dairy.

True, dairy in the form of milk and soft cheeses are mentioned in the Scriptures. However, animals were kept by the owners and ate natural foods which had been designated for them from the beginning. As we near the end of time we are told that animals will become more and more diseased as sin increases and that the time will come that it will be unsafe for health to use these products.

“Let the diet reform be progressive. Let the people be taught how to prepare food without the use of milk or butter. Tell them that the time will come when there will be no safety in using eggs, milk, cream, or butter, because disease in animals is increasing in proportion to the increase of wickedness among men.” Testimonies, vol. 7, 135.

I was a child during the Second World War. During that time, if my mother needed something from the grocery store, we would walk a few blocks to a local “mom & pop” store. There was no such thing then as Walmart or any other supermarket. Milk was delivered by a local dairy to your doorstep in glass bottles. Eggs were produced by a local egg farmer. All vegetables and fruits were grown by local farmers, mostly without pesticides.

Shortly after the war ended in 1945, the first supermarket that I ever saw opened in Denver. The big food conglomerates began to appear, which for most people saw the end of pure food grown locally. Now only 4 or 5 mega-conglomerates control the production of almost all foods, animal and plant.

From the very beginning all the way through to your table every aspect of whatever food is being produced is controlled, and most of the time not for your health benefits. The food is to be produced as rapidly and as cheaply as possible—the dollar is paramount, not your health. That is why foods, for the most part, particularly foods of animal origin, are now unsafe for human consumption.

Milk contains at least 57 bioactive hormones. These hormones are mostly female hormones since a cow is female. During the last 100 years, the age when a girl reaches the menarche has dropped from an average of 17 years to 9.5 years, all due to female hormones that cause little girls to develop years before they should. Boys don’t fare much better since one of the most active of these hormones has the designation of IGF-1. This hormone is a growth hormone that is 200 times more potent than natural human growth hormone.

When I was in high school in the 1950s, a big boy might be 6’ tall and weigh 180 pounds. Today it is not unusual to find high school boys that are 6’4” and weigh in excess of 250 pounds, all due to this growth hormone. This is not natural and has proven to be very harmful. In fact, this hormone has been found in the tissue of every one of the nearly 200 different kinds of malignancies known to affect humans. After all, it makes tumors grow fast as well.

Saturated fat and only cholesterol are found in animal products. These substances lead to the most common diseases that affect humans: cancer, heart attacks, strokes, osteoarthritis, diabetes, hypertension, macular degeneration, hearing loss, and a host of others.

These fatty substances not only promote these diseases, but are primary in the need for hearing aids and joint replacement. How? In the eye, ear and joints of one’s body are very tiny capillaries that provide the nourishment for these structures. When they get plugged up with these fatty substances, they cease to work. In every joint of one’s body there is cartilage that makes the joint work smoothly. Surrounding the joint is a sack known as a bursa, composed of a tough sack lined with a synovial membrane that secretes synovial fluid which provides nourishment, oxygen and removes metabolic wastes. The cartilage in the joint has no blood vessels, but is living tissue supplied by the synovial membrane. When the capillaries in the synovial membrane become plugged by fats, the cartilage dies and gradually wears away until one has nothing but bone on bone. That is painful and requires a joint replacement.

Many people think that because they use unsaturated oils that they are safe. Sorry! There have been at least 6 recent studies on the use of olive oil which show that cardiovascular disease (the plugging up of capillaries with fat) progresses at the same rate as it would with the use of solid animal fat. Many have swallowed the advertising campaign of the food companies instead of looking to inspired writings and/or scientific studies. Popular in recent years has been what is called “The Mediterranean Diet,” which is supposed to prevent cardiovascular disease.

Just what is a Mediterranean Diet? Let’s take a little trip around the Mediterranean Sea, starting with Morocco in North Africa. We will travel around the sea in a counter clockwise direction. Next we come to Algeria, then Tunisia, then Libya, then Egypt, then Israel, then Lebanon, then Syria, then Turkey, then Greece, then Albania, then Bosnia/Herzegovina, then Croatia, then Trieste, then Italy, then France, then Spain. Within the Sea we find Cyprus, then Crete, then Sicily, then Malta, then Sardinia, then Corsica, then the Balearic Islands. Now the diet of which of these countries are you going to choose? All are Mediterranean.

In the writings of Ellen White on health and diet, you will find the following statement with slight variations 114 times. It is basically this: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts (sparingly) prepared in as simple a manner as possible, free from grease of all kinds, constitute the best diet for mankind.

Notice that this diet is not a fat free diet, as some who obviously can’t read and correctly assimilate what has been written assume. It is the preparation of the food that is to be grease and oil free. After all nuts, seeds, and many vegetables and fruits have oils and fats in them—for example: avocados, olives, as well as seeds and nuts. Ellen White mentions the benefits of olive oil three times, each time she states that olive oil as taken in the olive is beneficial to the digestive tract—not poured out of a bottle.

Now to the two items of diet that are killing more Seventh-day Adventists than any other thing—cheese and ice cream. It takes about 10 pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese or ice cream. All of the harmful substances found in dairy are now concentrated by a factor of 10 times. It was no wonder Ellen White said: “Cheese should never enter the stomach” and “Cheese is wholly unfit for food.” These statements are found in The Ministry of Healing, 302, and in Counsels on Diet and Foods, 368. I now ask the question, “What part of never don’t you understand?” Cheese also has three times the acid producing properties of a steak and is a main cause of osteoporosis, since the body has to pull calcium from the bones to neutralize the acid produced. Eggs are also very high on the list to cause acid production in the body and they are loaded with cholesterol.

The dessert table at an Adventist gathering is next. George Vandeman, of “It Is Written,” wrote me a letter years ago which I still have. In it he said that the dessert table at most Adventist potlucks would put to shame the table of ‘delicacies’ set before Daniel and his friends by Nebuchadnezzar.

Sugar is one of the most detrimental items in anyone’s diet. Numerous studies have been done which show that even a small amount of sugar inactivates one’s white cells, the body’s first line of defense against invading organisms. How much does it take to damage one’s immune system?

An average adult has about 5 liters (5000 ml) of blood. A normal blood sugar has 1 mg of sugar in each ml of blood. So one’s total blood sugar in 5000 ml would be 5000 mg of sugar which amounts to one rounded teaspoon. That is all. A single glazed donut has 6 teaspoons of sugar. A serving of chocolate cake with a scoop of ice cream has 12-15 teaspoons of sugar. A banana split has 25 teaspoons of sugar. Now you can see how sugar has the potential to do damage to one’s immune system. And people wonder why they catch a cold or the flu. It is because they pursued it until they caught it.

Chocolate is actually worse for one than coffee. I have had many ask me, “If it is worse than coffee, then why didn’t Ellen White write about it”? She very clearly states that coffee, tea, alcohol, and tobacco use is a sin. There are many things she never mentioned such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, as well as many other harmful substances. There is a very logical reason why she said nothing about chocolate. It wasn’t until 1904 that Hershey started making chocolate products in Hershey, Pennsylvania. By the time of her death in 1915 chocolate still was not as common as it is today.

Chocolate contains at least 10 substances that are harmful. They are: Sugar (chocolate in its natural state is very bitter and requires a lot of sugar to make it palatable), Caffeine (chocolate has about 1/3 the amount of caffeine that coffee contains), Theobromine (theobromine is a methylxanthine and is a first cousin to caffeine. Chocolate contains more of this substance than any other source), Cocoa Butter (this is a saturated fat which plugs arteries), Phenylethylamine (this chemical is a neuro-excitotoxin and has the same effect as an antidepressant that a psychiatrist might prescribe for a depressed patient), Oxalic Acid (this substance binds calcium and forms calcium oxalate which is insoluble and precipitates out in the kidneys, contributing to kidney failure), Purines (these substances are also found in red meats and are the excitotoxins and stimulants), Tyramine (this is also an excitotoxin that has, in some people, been known to cause dramatic rises in blood pressure), Tannic Acid (this harmful substance is what is used to tan leather. It is very irritating to the stomach lining), Bugs (due to the way that chocolate is harvested, all chocolate averages from 10%-15% insect parts, rat and mouse droppings, bird droppings, dead bugs and worms).

The principle that should govern our lives is not whether the Scriptures or the Spirit of Prophecy say anything about something, but whether or not it is harmful. Also remember the verse in 1 Corinthians 10:31 which says, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” Notice that specifically mentioned here is “eating and drinking” and then everything else that one might do in his life is listed under “whatsoever.” Only “eating and drinking” are specifically mentioned; so this must have been important to God.

Most people are very lax when it comes to the time for eating, with many who are constantly snacking. I have often asked people to name a healthful snack. The correct response is that there are NONE. Anything eaten between meals as a snack is harmful though many think nothing of having some “light refreshments’’ at any number of gatherings and at any time of the day or night. There are dozens of statements by Ellen White as to the harmfulness of eating between meals, after meals, or before going to bed. She says that not even an apple should be eaten between meals. Eating between meals is particularly harmful to growing children.

All meals should be at a specific time and this time should vary by no more than one-half hour. The human body functions best when it has developed certain rhythms known as circadian rhythms. When these activities vary by more than one­-half hour the body suffers to the point that the immune system is affected.

Studies have been done in this area and have shown that when someone eats breakfast and then snacks an hour or two later that digestion stops completely until the new item eaten has been assimilated by what is already in the stomach. Then and only then does digestion begin again. Most have put something else into their stomach before that can occur and thus endoscopically identifiable foods are still in the stomach as much as 14 hours after ingestion. This leads to putrification and fermentation.  Sleep is also disturbed when there is digestion going on during the nighttime hours.

All of the above reasons and more are why I say that not 1 in 1000 Seventh-day Adventists observe the counsel that we have been given on health reform. That is also why, when we have availability to this information in the volumes written under inspiration, that most Adventists will not be ready for the second coming. Remember, “it is impossible to develop a Christ-like character while indulging in unhealthful practices.”

‘’Sanctification—how many understand its full meaning? The mind is befogged by sensual malaria. The thoughts need purifying. What might not men and women have been had they realized that the treatment of the body has everything to do with the vigor and purity of mind and heart.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 909.

Gene Swanson was an Adventist pediatric anesthesiologist in a large pediatric hospital. He retired in Montrose, Colorado, before he passed away.

Health Nugget – Operation Whitecoat

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We impatiently watch as scientists race to find vaccines for new viruses endangering our lives today. Our world is not in this situation for the first time. Most people today are unaware that lots of the antibiotics and vaccines that we use today required a great sacrifice of young Seventh-day Adventists. Many effective medical drugs bear a significant Adventist footprint. But first, a little history.

In 1945, the U.S. Army and the Soviet Red Army raced to reach Germany. In addition to the goal of liberating Europe from Nazi occupation, there was one more goal: find and capture German scientists who were the world’s best at the time. Many of these scientists worked for the Nazi war machine, designing rockets and biological weapons. Many of them later stood trial for their war crimes. But the United States intervened in their favor in Operation Paperclip and whisked over 1,500 German scientists to the United States. Many of them found new high-ranking positions, eventually employed at NASA or in the U.S. biological weapon research where they could continue their research with no questions asked about their past.

One of those German scientists consulted by U.S. chemical warfare experts was Kurt Blome who tested chemicals on human prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. He was tried for his war crimes at the Nuremberg tribunal, but the United States intervened and acquitted him of his crimes in exchange for contributions to U.S. scientific research.

At the time, world leaders didn’t envision lasting peace. Many countries advanced significantly in the development of biological weapons and the United States couldn’t stay behind. The cold war was starting, and an armed conflict seemed often imminent.

The United States set up a biological warfare research facility in Fort Detrick, Maryland, in 1943. Aforementioned German scientist Kurt Blome was consulted for this camp research after the war. This facility’s mission was top secret and no one in the military really knew what went on behind its walls. Officially, it was used by weapons storage.

Many ex-Nazi German researchers claimed that testing biological agents on animals wasn’t adequate. No animal can substitute for testing on humans. Here the Seventh-day Adventist Church comes into place. Many young Adventists were conscientious objectors and were refusing to bear arms in the U.S. armed forces. So the U.S. military made an offer to the Seventh-day Adventist Church: Your young men can serve their country without bearing arms. They can help in biodefense of the United States. The Seventh-day Adventist Church accepted and signed an agreement.

Thousands of young Adventists started to enlist with the blessing of their church. Many of them ended up at Fort Detrick, Maryland, participating in the top-secret Operation Whitecoat, which ran from 1954 to 1973.

These Adventist young men were patriots. They were not indifferent to the accusations of being cowards, while their non-Adventist compatriots were sacrificing their lives in the U.S. military. These men were also the perfect bioresearch subjects. They were young, often vegetarian, in perfect health, their bodies unharmed by drinking or smoking. They were exactly what the U.S. military wanted.

These young men signed an agreement informing them that they would be exposed to harmful pathogens and chemicals. What will happen to them exactly? Will their health or life be endangered? No one had answers to these questions. While the research subjects were classified as “volunteers,” any kind of volunteerism is in doubt if the choices are violating one’s conscience or benefiting humanity as a human guinea pig. Get dangerously sick or get drafted to war? Many took the first option.

What happened at this secret facility? The campus had a metal sphere with windows that were airtight. It was called the Eight Ball. The army volunteers were locked into this ball and aerosolized bioagents were released into it. Researchers then monitored the subjects’ reactions. All subjects eagerly cooperated, which was a new experience for the German research team members. Afterward, these Adventist volunteers were quarantined and treated for any symptoms.

What were the experiments? The subjects were infected with Q-fever. The military was concerned that the disease, if weaponized, could incapacitate thousands of soldiers. The antidote tried was the antibiotic tetracycline. Another trial was yellow fever, which is a severe viral disease that kills the inhabitants of tropical areas. A vaccine was discovered at Fort Detrick for this infection. The portfolio of infections also included Rift Valley Fever (RVF) which is zoonotic, i.e., transferred from animals. We still have no cure, but an effective vaccine was discovered at Fort Detrick. Other examples are tularemia, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, sand-fly fever – all in the name of protecting the United States from the growing Soviet arsenal of biological weapons.

At other times the volunteers were accompanied by guinea pigs and macaques in their tents, waiting until a virus jumped from the animals to the young men. “Then came fevers, convulsions, chills, absolute numbness alternating with the feeling that the skeleton jumps out of my body. Two or three days were really hard for me. I really have never been any sicker than that,” recalls Merlin Neff, who was 23 at the time.

There were reportedly hundreds of substances and drugs tested. Sometimes the subjects had to be bitten by mosquitoes. Other times, they were locked in a shipping container, bus, or wagon. Then it was monitored how many of them would passively become infected. With what? They usually didn’t know.*

Many of the participants became violently ill. How did these young men feel about these experiments? “Some of the guys said that first they were afraid to die, and then some of them were afraid they wouldn’t die,” said Richard O. Stenbakken, director of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries.*

President Richard Nixon finally ended these experiments in 1973. And what happened to the Eight Ball? It still sits largely forgotten on the Fort Detrick campus, today owned by the National Cancer Institute. It has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977.

Whitecoat volunteers made up one of the largest human testing programs in the nation’s history. Many of these volunteers’ health was severely impacted for the rest of their lives. Yet, they were bound by military oath to remain silent until 1994 when this program was declassified. Sadly, these Adventist military members were unsuccessful in their petition for veteran benefits.

Every year, there are fewer and fewer of these volunteers alive.

* www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/Bioter/frontlinesbiowarfare.html

Martin Bernar is a graphic designer and writes from Dallas, Texas.

Health Nugget – Short on Protein?

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On becoming a vegan, I was convinced that processed foods and meats were not the best for the body. I was challenged by family members who consistently said I would die if I did not eat meat. But, after much research and realizing that the meat industry had convinced many that a meatless diet would be devastating to health, I was quite satisfied with my decision and have been much blessed ever since.

I share the following excerpt to help those who may still have fears of not getting enough protein. This answers the question: Where do I get protein?

Body’s Protein Needs

“In sickness and in health one of the most important functions of our body is to rid itself of poisons constantly building up from the breakdown of food being digested. There are four ways the body has to get rid of these poisons: the lungs, the skin, the bowels, and the kidneys. At each of these exit stations the body uses water as the doorman. Even the lungs use water to rid the body of the gaseous waste, carbon dioxide. You can tell that it is so by breathing on your glasses or mirror and you will see the drops of water. What does water and the body’s need for it have to do with protein?

“In the breakdown of protein the body produces urea, which is moved out of the blood by the kidneys. The more protein consumed the greater the need the body has for water to remove the urea produced as a result. Dr. Nathan Smith, professor of Athletic Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, likes to talk school athletes out of their protein habits. Energy can be more efficiently handled when it comes from complex carbohydrates like whole grains than from protein sources found in products of animal origin.

“A number of years ago in Haiti thousands of children were suffering from a protein deficiency disease called Kwashiorkor. After being weaned, the babies were given starchy diets poor in protein and the mortality rate for children under four years of age was 50%. To meet the crisis they initiated an instruction program of three handfuls of grain to one handful of beans. As a result the protein deficiency was halted and eradicated from the island. Thanks to the understanding of medical science, a crisis was halted and lives were saved. But now we are faced by another dangerous problem of too much protein.

“The fear of not having enough protein has led us to the opposite problem of too much protein. Even the false idea is presented that we need a certain kind of protein that can be obtained only from animal sources and that vegetable proteins are incomplete. There are populations around the world that eat 4% of their total calories as protein and these proteins are plant proteins.

“Science indicates that the 100-plus grams a day protein intake of the average non-vegetarian American puts a tax on the liver and kidneys, triggers a loss of calcium from the bones, and also leaves behind a toxic residue which before being eliminated often damages the body and thus makes it more susceptible to a variety of diseases, including cancer and arthritis.

“The question of how much protein the body needs varies from person to person, but the recommendation from the National Research Council is 46 grams for the ladies and 56 grams or 2 ounces for the men. These figures have been inflated by 30–50% because of allowing a margin of safety.

“Adequate protein is easily available from a vegetarian diet. Here is a list of a few foods and the amount of protein they contain:

1 cup pinto beans – 15 grams

1 baked potato – 5 grams

1 cup asparagus – 5 grams

2 slices of bread – 6 grams

1 cup broccoli – 6 grams

1 cup of green peas – 8 grams”

 Country Kitchen Collection, 44, 45, Family Health Publications, 1992.

By looking at the few items listed above, it would be very hard to have a protein deficiency.

Health – Are World Pandemics Inevitable?

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The year 2020 will be recorded in history books as the year of the global Coronavirus pandemic. It is not the first pandemic the world has experienced, but consequences of pandemics are more disastrous today because of easy global travel.

Are such pandemics inevitable? While we may never find the exact origin of the 2020 pandemic, most pandemics in recent decades, if not centuries, seem to have a common denominator – they are zoonotic infections, i.e., viruses transmitted from animals to humans. The origins are not from just any animals, they are from the kind that we shouldn’t handle in the first place, let alone kill them for food. These pandemics happen as a result of direct violation of dietary and hygienic principles laid out in Leviticus 11.

When reading the book of Leviticus, one is in awe of the knowledge people had thousands of years ago. Yet here we are in the 21st century and we violate the basic rules of health left and right.

People point to some Asian countries with wet markets, which are breeding grounds for diseases of all kinds. True, the torture and slaughter of animals we shouldn’t even touch are happening there on a large scale. May these horrific places be a warning for our own violations of biblical health principles.

The Bible is very specific on how to avoid animal-borne diseases:

Land Animals

The beginning of Leviticus 11 clearly states which animals God allowed to be consumed: “You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud” (Leviticus 11:3 NIV). The following verses clarify that both of these requirements are to be met, not just one. There are animals that have split hooves such as the pig, but it does not chew cud. And vice versa; there are animals that do chew cud, but do not have split hooves such as rabbit. Animals who do not meet these two requirements are declared unclean and unfit for human consumption. Their carcasses are not to be touched.

Water Animals

“Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales” (Leviticus 11:9 NIV). The same rules apply as in land animals: creatures that do not meet both requirements are not to be consumed and their carcasses not to be handled.

Birds

Consumption of all vulture birds is forbidden. Eagles, kites, gulls, ravens, owls, bats – all these are specifically named in the Bible as unclean (verses 13–19).

Insects

We are forbidden to consume all flying and crawling insects. Some may be surprised that consumption of some insects is permitted. The rule: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground, such as the grasshopper (verses 20–23).

Biblical Rules on Handling Animals
There may be situations when people have to remove or handle a carcass of a dead animal. Whether the animal meets the definition of clean or unclean, in such case the person is to wash himself and his clothes and should quarantine himself for the rest of the day. This hygienic rule is not taken from any modern brochure on hygiene. It was recorded thousands of years ago in Leviticus 11:24.
Should any live animal categorized as unclean touch any object that people use, such object is to be thoroughly washed and is not to be used until the next day. The book of Leviticus specifically mentions rats and snakes. The biblical counsel goes to such details as clay pots. These can’t be properly cleaned because of their porous nature. Such pots are to be destroyed if any unclean animal touches them. Any food that has come into contact with such a pot or animal is to be discarded (verses 29–35).

What more to add? These rules are so simple, yet most world inhabitants ignore them despite the fact that we have had this knowledge for millennia. We could have avoided the majority of diseases and pandemics if we stuck to these principles. Further chapters of Leviticus 12–15 provide simple principles on how to prevent contamination and infecting others if someone does get sick. These are very simple rules, yet we prefer to ignore them as well.

Most Christians eat creatures that the Bible explicitly forbids to consume. Just to name a few: pigs, shellfish, rabbits, lobsters, crabs, and all kinds of unclean fish (Leviticus 11;5–11). Nothing is off limit, depending on the particular culture of a country.

Christendom had to invent excuses why these principles are no longer binding. A common excuse is that these rules were only for the Jews. If these rules are for our health protection, does the Jewish population have a weaker immune system or perhaps some superior digestive system? It’s simple biology, not religion. All races of people are biologically prone to the same infections and diseases.

These unclean animals have a very important role in nature. They keep the environment clean, which prevents the spread of infections and viruses. While doing this dirty job, these animals carry all kinds of viruses for which they’re equipped. Subsequently these viruses don’t hurt them. By God’s design, these animals are not to come into direct contact with humans, let alone butchered and consumed! Once we violate this God-given principle, we can expect to be afflicted with diseases that our body is not designed to handle.

On land we often think of vultures as the cleaning crew. Think also about the seas. How does the ocean maintain its sparkling-clean water if large animals die and pollute it with digestive waste? Most oceans aren’t sparking clean anymore because we humans have dumped thousands of tons of garbage there. But the ocean is equipped with a self-cleaning mechanism to clean up its own carcasses and animal waste. There are creatures on the bottom of the ocean floor cleaning up everything that falls down. These cleaning crews can be animals as large as sharks or as tiny as shellfish. These animals are not to be consumed because they’re toxic. Shellfish are particularly very toxic. Even people who are used to consuming them often get sick. All restaurants in the United States have a mandatory warning on their menus: “Consuming raw seafood may increase the risk of food-borne illness.” These animals are clearly categorized as unclean in the Bible and unfit for human consumption. If we violate these Biblical dietary guidelines, disease will prevail.

Many people have in-home pets such as dogs or cats. These animals are categorized as unclean in the Bible. Despite thousands of years of domestication, they maintain their original nature and can carry dangerous pathogens. Therefore, we immunize and treat them for all kinds of infestations. We also don’t consume them in the western culture. Yet still, not everyone can keep a cat or dog at home. Some people develop health complications if in close proximity to them.

Especially in third world countries, large populations have parasites. How does it happen? They consume home-grown pigs who have been raised without drugs. The locals proudly say that their pork is better because it’s organic. Little do they know that such meat is far more dangerous for human consumption than pork from commercial farms. These naturally grown pigs are full of pathogens and parasites that easily transfer to humans via pork consumption. Entire villages are malnourished, not for lack of food, but because of the presence of parasites in their systems. Many people die once these parasites get into their brain. Entire populations in many sophisticated Latin-American cities are encouraged to de-parasite themselves on a regular basis. These are often wealthy, educated people, yet somehow consuming pork seems natural to them, even while being aware of the risks and being prescribed regular de-parasitation.

Despite being chemically treated, the domesticated pig still maintains its nature and easily consumes its own waste! No matter the chemical treatment, pork has to be cooked at high temperature to prevent health problems in humans. It is dangerous to consume pork, especially when undercooked. Yet most people think nothing of consuming pork chops, pork loin, bacon, or pork ribs.

It should be obvious that God gave these health laws to His people to keep them healthy, not just in their wilderness wanderings, but for all time. Note that these laws were given long before God’s people were called Jews. They were simply His chosen people.

Those who claim to be modern Israel today are “His people” in a special sense. As such, these health laws apply to them as well.

The question is, Are we observing them as God intended? If not, we must suffer the consequences.

Health – The Rise of Veganism

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Browsing the grocery store aisles, one can’t help but notice the rise of veganism in the United States. There are more vegan products on the shelves by the week. Multiple documentaries have been released on Netflix, such as The Game Changers in 2019, or HOPE – What You Eat Matters in 2018 on YouTube. People are turning to the vegan lifestyle because the future of our planet is at stake.

Meat and dairy production is the single largest contributor to global warming. Rainforests, the lungs of our planet, are being cleared to graze cattle or cultivate cattle feed, such as soybeans. Only 2% of soy produced worldwide is consumed by humans. Seventy percent is cattle feed, 28% biofuel.1 Animal agriculture consumes more precious water than all the other world’s industries combined.

 

NETFLIX YOUTUBE
What the Health H.O.P.E. What You Eat Matters
The Game Changers Food Choices
Cowspiracy Super Size Me
Vegucated Diet Fiction
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead Forks over Knives
Food, Inc. Eating You Alive
Plant Pure Nation
Let us be Heroes

 

Environmental agencies had traditionally focused on plastic waste and car pollution, but the largest threat to our planet was a taboo. Why? Food is a sensitive issue. People react with anger when someone tells them what to eat or not to eat, especially when we’re talking about meat. As a society, we have been fed the meat industry lie that meat and dairy are essential for our nutrition. Only recently, these taboo questions are being answered and the public is learning the truth.

As Seventh-day Adventists, we have known this truth for 150 years. Yet, we have been unable to convince the public with our health message. Not only that, we have been abandoning these truths in order to be more “mainstream.” According to the PBS research, only 30% of Seventh-day Adventists practice some form of vegetarianism.2 Even with just 30%, we achieve better health and longevity than the general population. Imagine the difference if all church members adhered to the health message. The results would be worth bold letters in every news outlet.

As Adventists, we should be on the cutting edge of nutritional science, plant-based culinary arts, and exemplary lifestyle. Yet, quite the opposite has been the case. Those of us who adhere to some form of vegetarianism have earned the reputation for bland food preparation. I often get inspired by one of my favorite cuisines – Indian food, which is considered one of the world’s best ethnic kitchens. Why? The Hindu people of India have been on the vegetarian diet for thousands of years. They have had all these years to perfect their recipes to the gourmet level of today. Various vegan movements turn to Hinduism as the poster child for humane treatment of animals and saving our planet.

Shouldn’t it be the Seventh-day Adventists that the world is turning to? At one point in history, Seventh-day Adventists changed the way America eats breakfast. How did it happen that we are so behind modern food trends? Sadly, we have abandoned our health message.

If we had upheld the health message that was given to us in the 1800s, the world today would be at our feet asking for help and expertise. What a tremendous evangelism opportunity lost! I can’t think of a greater opportunity lost in the entire history of Adventism. The entire world would learn of Seventh-day Adventists and their message via mainstream media. For free! Instead, it’s the Hollywood stars who are spreading the health message. Every week I hear of a new Hollywood star going vegan.

When watching the various documentaries on veganism that have become popular in recent years, I see the Adventist health message being preached. I can’t help but notice that many of the nutritional experts take their knowledge directly out of Spirit of Prophecy, down to the last letter. The history is being repeated as in biblical times. If God’s people abandon the message that God gave them, He can raise someone else to do the work—in this case, saving our planet from an ecological collapse. This could have been our role that God had in store for us, but we turned it down. God gave us decades of preparation time for this moment in history. We have had over 100 years to perfect our nutritional science, culinary arts, and natural medical treatments. Yet, we have lost the opportunity. As today’s vegan movement is gaining momentum, no one knows that this message has existed for over 100 years, gathering dust on the bookshelves of Adventist households.

Is it too late? As the saying goes, better late than never. Although the health food world is light years ahead of us, we can still come to the forefront and say: “Hey, we have known all this for 150 years! But nobody paid attention.”

There are various diet trends such as the Atkins diet, gluten free diet, ketogenic diet, etc. But veganism is not a temporary fashion. It is here to stay. Let’s dust off our treasured publications such as The Ministry of Healing, Counsels on Diet and Foods, and Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene. People will be astounded to find out that this information has been available for over 100 years. Although the majority of Seventh-day Adventists are indifferent to the health message, there are a few who adhere to it. Let’s talk to people, let’s share the newest documentaries available (see table for list) as a conversation starter. No one will say that this is extreme anymore. People accept this message because the very existence of our planet is at stake. Let’s share our recipes with people. Let’s forge strong friendships. Relationships are created around food in all of the world’s cultures. We have forgotten this reality in our country. Let’s start cooking at home and share with friends and neighbors. You can make a difference.

I live in a condominium unit in a large city and have made friends with my neighbors. Lately I had overseas visitors staying in my home. I enjoyed cooking for them and one night we just had too much food left over. I called one of my neighbors, explained the situation, and asked if I could bring her a take-out box of food. She happily accepted and said that she hadn’t had her dinner yet and was thinking what to eat, but her fridge is empty. I delivered the box promptly; she said a big thank you. The next day, I received a phone call. The lovely lady asked from what restaurant I ordered the meal. Hah! It was made from scratch in my kitchen! Ravioli garnished with fresh basil pesto (see a pesto recipe on page 49). Fresh herbs make a big difference and give your dish a gourmet touch.

My neighbor requested a visit in my home for a basil pesto demonstration. She is a successful woman in her ‘70s who operates her own business. She suggested a Saturday morning as it’s the best time for her new boyfriend to come as well, whom she’d love for me to meet. I assured her that her boyfriend is welcome as well and explained that Saturday mornings are not suitable for me because I attend a church at these hours. “On Saturday?” she asked. “Come on Sunday morning and I’ll explain why my day of worship is Saturday,” I replied. She happily agreed. Talking about outreach opportunities! They come themselves if we are friendly to our neighbors!

Large cities also have vegan support groups. Many people want to start this lifestyle, but don’t know how and search for like-minded individuals. These places are great to get involved. You can make friends there, organize potluck lunches, or the like.

But first, we have to return to our roots, to our health message. Once people find out what a treasure we have, they will request visits to our homes. May God bless you and keep you as you live His health message.

1 H.O.P.E. What You Eat Matters

2 www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2012/03/23/march-23-2012-seventh-day-adventists-and-health/10575/

Health – Mood Food

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Growing up, if a person was in a sour mood or being difficult, they were often asked jokingly, “What did you have to eat today?” Back then the connection between food and mood wasn’t really connected but today it is a different matter.

“Researchers from New Zealand wondered if the mental health benefits of fruits and vegetables were greater when eaten raw, compared to canned, cooked or processed. The following is an interesting study that took place. 422 Americans and New Zealanders were enrolled aged 18 to 25. The researchers chose people in this age group because they have a higher risk of mental health disorders and tend to consume low levels of fruits and vegetables. The participants completed a survey to assess diet and lifestyle, and there were questions relating to depression, anxiety and mood states.

“In addition, the researchers asked them about factors that could influence the outcome of the study. These included gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, physical activity, smoking, alcohol use and sleep.

“After taking all these into consideration, the research team found a significant association between consuming raw fruits and vegetables and better mental health outcomes. More raw meant a better mood, life satisfaction and overall psychological well-being compared to eating cooked, canned or processed.

“According to psychologist Tamlin Conner from the University of Otago, who led the study, ‘We used to think about what we ate in relation to our physical health, but now there is more evidence suggesting it also impacts on how we feel.

“ ‘This research is increasingly vital as lifestyle approaches such as dietary change may provide an accessible, safe, and adjuvant approach to improving mental health.’

Raw Contains More Brain-Healthy Micronutrients

“This is the first study to look specifically at this issue, although three previous studies found raw fruit and vegetable intake was associated with lowered feelings of depression and stress.

“Cooking, canning and processing are known to decrease the nutrient content of some produce, so while the mechanisms that would explain the results of the study were not tested, the authors believe foods in their raw state deliver more micronutrients.

“They write, ‘Cooking fruits and vegetables can alter the bioavailability of nutrients which may … play an influential role in the neurotransmission systems involved in mood and well-being.’

“Cooking and processing also diminish the quantity and activity of antioxidants. This too can negatively affect mental functioning.

“But cooking does have some benefits. It sometimes enhances bioavailability – it has this effect on lycopene in tomatoes, for example – so the situation isn’t clear-cut.

“Nevertheless, the authors continue, ‘for key micronutrients that have been linked to mental health such as vitamin C and carotenoids, cooking and canning would most likely lead to a degradation in nutrients, thereby limiting their beneficial impact on mental health.’

“These were the top 10 raw foods tied to better mental health in the study: carrots, bananas, apples, dark leafy greens like spinach, grapefruit, lettuce, citrus fruits, fresh berries, cucumber and kiwifruit.” www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180416101403.htm

So, what did you eat today? Was your mental stability a consideration or are you walking around biting and chewing on anybody around you?