202. Many are suffering, and many are going into the grave, because of the indulgence of appetite. They eat what suits their perverted taste, thus weakening the digestive organs and injuring their power to assimilate the food that is to sustain life. This brings on acute disease, and too often death follows. The delicate organism of the body is worn out by the suicidal practices of those who ought to know better.
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The churches should be stanch and true to the light which God has given. Each member should work intelligently to put away from his life practice every perverted appetite.—Testimonies for the Church 6:372, 373, 1900
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[Diseases from Poverty-Stricken Diet Difficult to Cure—315] [Effect of Improper Eating on Temper and Home Atmosphere—234] [Effects of Mistaken Reform—316]
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203. Often intemperance begins in the home. By the use of rich, unhealthful food the digestive organs are weakened and a desire is created for food that is still more stimulating. Thus the appetite is educated to crave continually something stronger. The demand for stimulants becomes more frequent and more difficult to resist. The system becomes more or less filled with poison, and the more debilitated it becomes, the greater is the desire for these things. One step in the wrong direction prepares the way for another. Many who would not be guilty of placing on their table wine or liquor of any kind will load their table with food which creates such a thirst for strong drink that to resist the temptation is almost impossible. Wrong habits of eating and drinking destroy the health and prepare the way for drunkenness.—The Ministry of Healing, 334, 1905
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204. Last Sabbath, as I was speaking your pale faces rose distinctly before me, as I had been shown them. I saw your condition of health, and the ailments you have suffered under so long. I was shown that you have not lived healthfully. Your appetites have been unhealthy, and you have gratified the taste at the expense of the stomach. You have taken into your stomachs articles which it is impossible to convert into good blood. This has laid a heavy tax on the liver, for the reason that the digestive organs are deranged. You both have diseased livers. The health reform would be a great benefit to you both, if you would strictly carry it out. This you have failed to do. Your appetites are morbid, and because you do not relish a plain, simple diet, composed of unbolted wheat flour, vegetables and fruits prepared without spices or grease, you are continually transgressing the laws which God has established in your system. While you do this, you must suffer the penalty; for to every transgression is affixed a penalty. Yet you wonder at your continued poor health. Be assured that God will not work a miracle to save you from the result of your own course of action....—Testimonies for the Church 2:67-70, 1868
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Sweet cakes, sweet puddings, and custards will disorder the digestive organs; and why should we tempt those who surround the table by placing such articles before them? The more largely flesh composes the diet of teachers and pupils, the less susceptible will be the mind to comprehend spiritual things. The animal propensities are strengthened, and the fine sensibilities of the mind are blunted. Diligent study is not the principal cause of the breaking down of the mental powers. The main cause is improper diet, irregular meals, and a lack of physical exercise. Irregular hours for eating and sleeping sap the brain forces.—The Youth’s Instructor, May 31, 1894
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[Not Prepared in 1884 to Do away Entirely with Meat Eating in Our Institutions, Although the Step Would Be Eventually Taken—720] [Undiseased Flesh Meat Preferable to Free Use of Milk and Sugar—527, 533] [Physicians to Educate away from, But Not to Make Prescriptions Forbidding Use of Flesh Meat—434, 438] [Possible Unwise Changes from Flesh Diet of Those Dying of Consumption—435] [Flesh Foods Not to Be Condemned When Adequate Nonflesh Diet Is Not Available—796] [Flesh Food Not the Right Food for God’s People in Countries Where Fruits, Grains, and Nuts Are Available in Abundance—719] [Flesh Served to Patients in Sanitariums in Their Rooms—437]
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701. Meat is not essential for health or strength, else the Lord made a mistake when He provided food for Adam and Eve before their fall. All the elements of nutrition are contained in the fruits, vegetables, and grains.—The Review and Herald, May 8, 1883
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