vegan

Recipe – Maple Almond Ice Cream

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Coco Palm

Coconut—is it a fruit? a nut? a seed? Coconut can be a fruit, a nut, and a seed. Scientifically, it is a fibrous, one-seeded drupe. Brown and hairy on the outside, white and creamy on the inside, coconut is a fruit which grows on coconut palm trees and is widely found in the tropics and subtropics.

Coconut is from the Arecaceae family, also known as the palm family. Theories of where the plant originated stretch from the Americas, the Indo-Pacific region, and Australia. The coconut tree grows up to 80 feet tall with large sweeping leaves about 19 feet long, producing the first fruit at about 6-10 years, but not producing its peak crop until 15-20 years old.

The coconut has four layers: the smooth, greenish, thin outermost “skin” of the drupe or the exocarp; the fibrous husk known as the mesocarp; the hard woody layer surrounding the flesh, called the endocarp; and the white, fleshy, edible meat or endosperm, which surrounds the hollow, fluid-filled, central cavity housing a translucent, sweetly flavored fluid.

Depending on the age of the coconut, the texture of the meat will vary. Younger coconuts produce a gelatinous, jelly-like meat with a light flavor that can easily be eaten from its shell with a spoon. More mature coconuts provide firmer, sweeter meat that is rigidly attached to the shell.

Most parts of the tree and fruit can be used for a range of culinary and non-culinary uses, earning it the Malayan title of “the tree of one thousand uses.” The fruit of the coconut yields milk, oil, water, flour and solids, making it an extremely versatile fruit for cooking and baking.

Recipe – Maple Almond Ice Cream

Ingredients

3 cups almond milk, unsweetened

1 can lite or full fat coconut milk (depending on preferred richness)

1 ½ cups cashews

¾ cup maple syrup (less, if desired)

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract, alcohol-free

pinch of salt

Process

  • Put all ingredients into a high-speed blender. Blend until creamy and smooth.
  • Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions.
  • Churn for about 45 minutes or until solid.
  • Or freeze mixture in ice cube trays until solid. Place cubes in blender and blend lightly.
  • Sprinkle with crushed pistachios, roasted pecans or walnuts.
  • Enjoy this creamy, smooth, delectable dairy free dessert.

Recipe – Greens and Olives

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Choose Your Olive Wisely

Olives and olive oil were not only an important component of the ancient Mediterranean diet, but also one of the most successful industries in antiquity. The olive also came to have a wider cultural significance, most famously as a branch of peace and as the victor’s crown in the ancient Olympic Games.

Although oil was a common product, it was not necessarily a cheap one and there were different grades of quality.

“Traditional fermentation is a slow process caused by the action of yeast and bacteria, and it produces a food that is brimming with healthy compounds and active cultures that are good for you. But in today’s ‘faster is better’ world, olives are much more likely to be treated with lye to remove the bitterness, then packed in salt and canned. ‘Processed’ olives are those that have been through a lye bath; the more ‘old-fashioned’ (and way better) method is to cure them in oil, brine, water, or salt. Those are known as ‘oil-cured,’ ‘brine-cured,’ ‘water-cured,’ or ‘dry-salted’ olives. …

“Olives and their oils contain a host of beneficial plant compounds, including tocopherols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, sterols, and polyphenols. Polyphenols are probably what give olives their taste; the polyphenols from olives have anti-inflammatory activity, improve immune function, help prevent damage to DNA, and protect the cardiovascular system. …

“The fat in olives (and olive oil) is largely the mono-unsaturated fat oleic acid, which has been associated with higher levels of protective HDL (“good”) cholesterol. A number of studies have shown that people who get plenty of mono-unsaturated fat are less likely to die of heart disease.” The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., 232.

Recipe – Greens and Olives

Ingredients

4 garlic cloves, sliced or chopped

8-10 cups torn/chopped mixed greens such as chard, kale, turnip greens, etc.

½ cup or more olives, cut in half

2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice, or more

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes, optional

salt, to taste

Process

Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring often, until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add pepper flakes, if using. Cook and stir another minute. Add greens a handful at a time, tossing until wilted between additions; season with salt and cook until all greens are wilted and softened, about 3 or more minutes longer. Add olives and lemon juice and toss to combine; season with more lemon juice or salt, if desired.

Recipe – Sesame-Flax French Toast

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The Dynamic Sesame Seed

Even though sesame seeds are small, they are a powerhouse of nutrition. These seeds are admired all around the world for their slightly sweet, nutty flavor and aroma. The sesame seed is highly valued for having one of the highest oil contents of any seed (up to 50%) which contains essential fatty acids and is revered in some cultures for its healing properties. Sesame oil is high in vitamin E, a natural fat-soluble antioxidant which protects against heart disease and aging. Vitamin E in particular is a powerful antioxidant that lowers cholesterol, protects against cardiovascular disease, and may prevent cataracts and Alzheimer’s disease.

Sesame seeds are also high in protein and are about 25% protein by weight, as well as a good source of fiber. They also are rich in essential minerals like copper, calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, selenium and zinc.

A well rounded, healthy diet will include sesame seeds because they are incredibly nutrient dense. Sesame seeds are rich in minerals which build and strengthen bones, promote healthy thyroid and hormone function, boost immunity, revitalize skin and are a good source of iron, important for those suffering from iron deficiency anemia.

Sesame seeds can be considered a superfood because they are high in the nutrients our bodies need to maintain an optimal level of health. (Excerpted from www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/supplements/supplement-articles-sesame-seeds/)

Sprinkle on salads, vegetables, use in stir-frys, breads, rice dishes, seasonings, grind for tahini.

Recipe – Sesame-Flax French Toast

Ingredients

1 ½ cups organic soy, cashew, or almond milk

2 Tbsp. ground sesame and/or flax seeds

3-4 dates pitted, cut in half

2 tsp. whole wheat pastry flour, or other whole grain flour, or arrowroot

½ tsp. vanilla or maple flavoring

½ tsp. orange zest

¼ tsp. coriander

½ tsp. lecithin granules (optional)

6 slices whole grain bread

Process

  1. Blend first 4 ingredients until very smooth, adding milk as needed until pancake batter consistency.
  2. Add vanilla or maple flavoring, orange zest, coriander and lecithin granules; blend briefly again. Pour into a shallow dish/bowl.
  3. Dip bread slices into batter, flipping to coat both sides well and allowing it to soak in, about 10-15 seconds.
  4. Brown both sides in an oiled skillet. If baking in oven, preheat at 475˚ F, then place battered bread on a hot baking sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
  5. Bake 5-7 minutes until bottoms are golden brown. Flip for an additional 2-3 minutes.
  6. Pour a warm fruit compote, thickened with cornstarch or arrowroot powder, over toast; top with vegan yogurt, fresh berries and sliced bananas.

Recipe – Walnut Spread

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Walnuts

This little nut that looks a lot like a miniature brain contains a powerhouse of important nutrients for optimal health in just a one-ounce handful.

  • An excellent source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the plant-based omega-3 fatty acid (2.5g) – most ALA of any other tree nut.
  • 4g of protein
  • 2g of fiber
  • A good source of magnesium (45mg)

Walnuts are a versatile nut with a flavor profile that pairs beautifully with a variety of seasonal foods. They can be included in meals any time of year, whatever the season.

For more than 25 years, the California walnut commission has supported scientific research on consumption of walnuts and a variety of health outcomes.

Heart Health—Since 1992, published research has been investigating how eating walnuts affects various heart health biomarkers and risk markers. The subsequent evidence resulted in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of one of the first qualified health claims for a whole food in March 2004: “Supportive, but not conclusive, research shows that eating 1.5 ounces of walnuts per day, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet, and not resulting in increased caloric intake may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.”

Scientific evidence suggests that including walnuts as part of a healthy diet may play a role in helping to maintain and improve physical and cognitive health as people age.

Recipe – Walnut Spread

(A Steps to Life camp meeting favorite)

Ingredients Part 1

1 cup walnuts, finely chopped

1 cup water

6 oz. tomato paste

2 Tbsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. cumin

Blend together.

Ingredients Part 2

Add

2 cups breadcrumbs

¼ cup green onions, chopped

¼ cup black olives, sliced

¼ cup celery, chopped (optional)

Mix well.

Recipe – Zucchini Fritters

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Zucchini

If left to its own accord, the average zucchini would grow as big as a baseball bat. The biggest one recorded was 7 feet 10 inches long!

The zucchini or ayokonetl originated in the Americas, specifically Mesoamerica. Three centuries later, it was in Italy that the modern-day zucchini finally came to be, where it was dubbed zucchino (little squash). The French call it courgette, a name that has been adopted by the English. Britain and Ireland refer to a variety that is slightly larger and plumper as marrow. The colonists of New England adopted the name squash, a word derived from several Native American words which meant “something eaten raw.”

Mexico’s zucchini origins were an integral part of the ancient diet of maize, beans, and squashes. That pre-Columbian food trio is still the mainstay of Mexican cuisine and is known today as the “three sisters.” In Mexico, the zucchini flowers are often preferred over the fruit and are frequently cooked in soups or used for quesadillas.

While pumpkins and winter squash have been popular in the United States since the time of the Pilgrims, the most common squash grown today has only been popular in the US for the last 50 years. It is now grown by more gardeners than any other squash.

Zucchini squash is the favored jewel of all the summer squashes. Its flavor is light and sweet with flesh as delicate as a flower and texture that melts in the mouth. Zucchini’s many varieties offer countless opportunities in preparing a varied menu of colorful summer and fall dishes.

Recipe – Zucchini Fritters

Ingredients

3 cups unpeeled zucchini, yellow or green, grated (use large holes of food grater)

¾ cup chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. tahini

¼ cup green onions (include green portion), sliced

½ tsp. Himalayan salt

½ tsp. dill seed (not weed)

Process

Whisk together lemon juice and tahini. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients including lemon juice/tahini combination. Allow mixture to sit for 15-20 minutes. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Spoon mixture into skillet, using a spatula to flatten into a fritter shape. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until golden. Flip with a spatula, and cook another 2-4 minutes. If fritters are getting too brown, reduce heat to allow centers to cook more fully. Once golden brown and set, remove and serve immediately. Serve with a dollop of vegan sour cream. Delish!

Recipe – Mushroom Gravy

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Mushrooms

While enjoying a plant-based diet, some people are reluctant to place a fungus on the menu but let me encourage you to take a second look at the benefits of including this “ill repute.”

Although it is impossible to discuss every kind of mushroom that there is, after all, there are 10,000 varieties, but here we will consider the most common ones: Portabella (the oldest variety and has a hearty flavor), Cremini, Maitake (fan shaped), Button, Hedgehog, Morel, Shiitake, Porcini, Lobster, Enoki, Chanterelle and Clamshell.

Mushrooms are low in calories, fat and sodium, free from cholesterol, full of vitamins, protein, minerals and antioxidants. Each variety of mushroom is used in a different cultural cuisine, from Italian, Chinese, Thai, Russian, Haitian, Romanian, United Kingdom, Macedonian and many more.

Mushrooms are hearty and filling. Increasing your consumption of mushrooms, which are a low-energy-dense food, will keep the calorie count down, not to mention the load of nutrients that pack a punch:

  • Riboflavin, B-2: Aids in hormone production and proper nervous system function
  • Niacin, B-3: Helps maintain healthy red blood cells
  • Pantothenic Acid, B-5: Promotes healthy skin, digestive and nervous system function
  • Folate, B-9: Produces DNA and RNA: produces red and white blood cells in the bone marrow
  • Thiamin, B-1: Produces energy and the growth and development of cells
  • Selenium: Protects the body cells from damage
  • Copper: Produces red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body and keeps the bones and nerves healthy
  • Potassium: Maintains normal fluid and mineral balance, stabilizes blood pressure, maintains the proper function of muscles including the heart muscle.

The benefits are enormous.

Favorite Mushroom Gravy

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 dry pint shitake mushrooms – any mushroom will work

2 Tbsp. olive oil or avocado oil

2 Tbsp. unbleached flour

1 carton vegetable stock or broth

1 Tbsp. “chicken” seasoning, or more to taste

1 tsp. each – sage, basil, parsley

Process

Sauté the onion and garlic in a little oil until light brown, then set aside. Sauté the mushrooms until light brown and set aside. Place the flour and the rest of the oil in the pan to brown the flour. Add the broth or stock, seasoning and herbs on medium heat until the gravy starts to thicken. Then add the cooked onion, garlic and mushrooms; simmer for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Recipe – Roasted Kohlrabi

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Kohlrabi

Yummy!

“Kohlrabi is a member of the cabbage family and looks like a cross between an octopus and a space capsule. The name comes from the German Kohl (cabbage) plus rabi (turnip) because of the resemblance of the cabbage-like stem to the turnip. The stem can be crisp and juicy, almost as sweet as an apple, and similar to a turnip in taste. You can eat it raw (it makes a great crudité) or cooked. It comes in two “flavors,” green and purple, with the purple kind tending to be somewhat spicier. Both the leaves and the stem are edible.

“Kohlrabi’s membership in the cabbage family of cruciferous vegetables gains it an automatic place among the world’s healthiest foods. Like its relatives (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage), kohlrabi contains important phytochemicals such as cancer-fighting indoles, sulforaphane and isothicynates. It’s also a good source of vitamin C (83 mg per cup) and an excellent source of potassium (472 mg). And for a measly 36 calories per cup, you get a whopping 5 g of fiber.”

The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., page 47.

Recipe – Simple Roasted Kohlrabi 

Ingredients

4 whole kohlrabi, medium to large

Olive oil for pan

Sea salt, to taste

Process

  • Preheat oven to 450 degrees; adjust rack to top third.
  • Cut off stems and greens, peel.
  • Cut about ½ inch off each end; then cut into ½ inch slices, horizontally.
  • Coat well each side with olive oil; season both sides with salt.
  • Arrange on pan leaving an inch between.
  • Bake about 8-10 minutes on first side; turn and bake 4-6 minutes on second side.
  • Ready when fork slides out easily.

Recipe – Butter Bean Mashed Potatoes

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Velvety Buttery Butter Bean

The Lima bean, Phaseolus lunatus, is commonly known as the lima bean or butter bean. These beans have a buttery, sweet, starchy taste and a smooth texture. The term butter bean is widely used for a large, flat and white variety of lima bean (P. lunatus var. macrocarpus).

Lima beans, named after its place of origin, Lima, Peru, are native to South America and are popular in Andean foods. They’re also used widely in regional southern U.S. cuisine. In the southern United States the Sieva type are traditionally called butter beans, also otherwise known as the Dixie or Henderson type. In that area, lima beans and butter beans are seen as two distinct types of beans. In the United Kingdom, “butter beans” refers to either dried beans, which can be purchased to re-hydrate or the canned variety, which is ready to use. These distinctions do not change the scientific terminology, and the two common terms used for the lima bean are often interchangeable regardless of regional or culinary preferences.

In culinary use, lima beans and butter beans are distinctly different, the former being small and green, the latter large and yellow. In areas where both are considered to be lima beans, the green variety may be labeled as “baby” limas.

Lima beans and butter beans add a protein-packing punch to soups, stews and even summer salads. Although slightly bland in taste, there is nothing unremarkable about the beans’ linguistic impact. Plump and creamy when fully cooked, they do in fact have a butter-like texture that is most appealing.
https://sites.google.com/site/knowyourvegetables/know-your-beans/know-your-lima-bean

Recipe – Butter Bean Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

4 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into equal size chunks

2 15-ounce cans, drained, or cook from scratch – Butter Beans

½-1 cup vegetable broth

1 onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup unsweetened plant milk

salt, to taste

Process

Place potatoes in a pot; cover with water; add a little salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce to medium-low; boil uncovered for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork. Saute onions and garlic in a little water or oil until golden. In a small pan, heat butter beans through (an important step). Drain potatoes and return to pot. Add hot butter beans to potatoes. Add vegetable broth, onion and garlic, and mash with a potato masher. Add unsweetened plant milk; continue mashing until smooth. Season with salt. Serve with your favorite gravy.

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.

Recipe – Creamy Cantaloupe Ice Cream

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Cantaloupe!

What a yummy summer fruit! “Cantaloupe is truly a high-volume food. An entire large melon has only 277 calories, way less than most desserts, and more than most people can eat at one sitting. About 90 percent of the melon is water. But that water in the melon goes a long way toward filling you up. Water in foods seems to do this more than water that you drink alongside foods. Hence melons and soups do a better job of appetite control than solid food plus a glass of water. No one really knows why.

“But cantaloupe is not a great food just because it’s high-volume and low-calorie. It is also a potassium and vitamin A heavyweight. One cup of melon cubes gives you a whopping 427 mg of potassium (not to mention a little calcium and magnesium).

“Many studies show that people who eat potassium-rich foods have lower rates of heart disease and stroke. Potassium is also a key component in maintaining healthy blood pressure. … There is vitamin A and beta-carotene, both of which are plentiful in cantaloupe. Though a lot of people know about the role of vitamin A in vision and growth and bone development, what is not as well known is how terrific it is for the immune system. I consider it one of the best immune-system boosters around.” Excerpts from The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, 103, Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.

Recipe – Creamy Cantaloupe Ice Cream

Ingredients

¼ of a whole cantaloupe

1 banana

Process

Cut the banana and the cantaloupe (remove the skin and seeds) in pieces and freeze overnight.

Pulse or blend frozen banana and cantaloupe pieces until completely smooth.

Enjoy the ice cream!