The Matter of Man's Original Diet

As announced in these columns last month, it is our plan to provide statements and discussion from a scientific point of view that will parallel and am­plify the various subjects found in the Spirit of prophecy, as compiled in the book "Counsels on Diet and Foods." Several writers have been requested to prepare the articles to be printed in these columns month by month, and these are to be read in con­junction with the related chapters in the book re­ferred to. The first article in the series appears herewith from the pen of Doctor Abbott, well-known author and medical leader in our ranks. This article covers Section IV, on "The Proper Dietary," in the book, "Counsels on Diet and Foods."--H. M. W.

We find this important statement on page 81 in "Counsels on Diet and Foods :" "In order to know what are the best foods, we must study God's original plan for man's diet." Throughout the history of the world, the study of "God's original plan" and conformity to it would have revealed many things that men should know. In the matter of diet, study of the plan would have clearly shown the best foods for the nourish­ment of the body, and so have saved Christians from making many serious blunders. To some extent it might have held back the steadily in­creasing weight of disease which has settled upon the church and mankind in general, as men have departed farther and farther from the original diet.

Digressions in Diet.—The first digression was the use of flesh as food, and doubtless the failure to make full use of the vegetables (herbs of the field) which were added to man's diet after he lost his Eden home. Following the flood, there were widespread hindrances—because of climate, soil, etc.—to securing fruits which evidently constituted such a large pro­portion of the Edenic diet. There was also a tendency to too great dependence upon dry, mature grains as food, because these were more easily kept over winter seasons and readily transported without quick deteriora­tion. The use of fermented wine was an early departure from food in its "natural state," as the first Biblical account of alcoholic intoxica­tion reveals. The use of spices and condiments to alter the natural flavors of food was like­wise a very ancient custom.

Life Shortening.—The greatest shortening of man's life came with the flood and the well-nigh universal use of the flesh of animals as food. But the divine edict, "Surely your blood of your lives will I require," was no arbitrary pronouncement, as is unmistakably evidenced by extensive food researches of the last thirty-five years. The facts regarding the life-short­ening effects of muscle meats, fat meats, in­ternal organs (brain, liver, sweetbreads, etc.), excessive grain ration, and beverage stimu­lants, with their preponderance of nitrogenous and acid-ash wastes, will be given later in connection with the various classes of food.

Disease Producing.—"He who created man and who understands his needs appointed Adam his food." This is a most comprehen­sive statement. Its depth and breadth have come to light only since the research on vita­mins and minerals began in the early years of this century. But the greatest need for such information came in." the past century when the production of white flour and the refining of sugar reached large proportions and the use of these products became extensive. The ex­pression "natural state" certainly marks such denatured foods as unhealthful. They were not provided for man by his Creator, but man, who does not understand his own needs, has sought out many inventions.

Foods Provided by the Creator.—Taking several statements which are given in Parts I and III of the section on "The Proper Dietary," we find the classes of food which in their natural state "are the most healthful and nourishing," and in which "are to be found all the food elements that we need.' These classes of food which "constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator,' are fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts, together with milk or cream. (Pars. III, 112, 113, 114, 137, IA) When these foods are eaten in their unrefined state, "prepared in as simple and natural a manner as possible," every food element needed by the human body is amply provided for. Grinding the ripe grain, preserving the whole kernel with its germ and bran, is one of these "simple and natural" means of preparation. Food prepared and served, "free from spice and grease of all kinds," is "sim­ple and natural."

Natural foods, simply prepared, is unques­tionably the most important single health pro­nouncement of modern scientific research. The practical key to this , health secret was given to the Adventist people through the Spirit of prophecy in 1864, 1890, 1902, 1905, and 1906. (See dates of writing on para­graphs just cited.) Scientific research which began to explain the functions of these ele­ments found in foods in their "natural state," and the diseases which follow when these foods are denatured, began in the eighties of the nineteenth century.

From 1882 to 1885 Baron Takaki experi­mented with diet to prevent beriberi in the Japanese navy. He succeeded in preventing the disease among the sailors, but wrongly at­tributed his success to a higher protein con­tent of food provided. In 1897 C. Eijkman, director of the hygienic laboratory at Batavia, Java, reported beriberi as due to the lack of some substance essential to normal nutrition not present in polished rice, but obtainable from the rice polishings.

"Several independent investigators within less than a year (December, 1911-July, 1912) succeeded almost simultaneously in separating from rice bran and from yeast a substance which would cure the disease when induced in pigeons by feeding polished rice. Of these, Casimir Funk was the first to announce publicly that he had been able to cure, in a few hours, pigeons paralyzed by polyneuritis, by a few milligrams of the crystals which he had pre­pared from rice bran (December, 1911). He sug­gested for this substance the name 'beriberi vita­min.' "—"The Foundations of Nutrition," by Rose, p. 245, 1938.

There is in this first identification of a vitamin a very important lesson for vege­tarians. As late as 1906, when I met Baron Takaki at the Mayo Clinic, he still believed that a higher protein ration was the secret of the prevention of beriberi, because he had prevented the disease by the addition of fish to the diet of the sailors. This delusion regard­ing protein, honest though it may be, still exists concerning various other diseases and disabilities in which science has amply proved a deficiency of vitamins or minerals as a dietary cause. War edema (dropsy), which is similar to the "wet" form of beriberi, is still often claimed to be due to protein shortage. As late as 1938 a trained dietitian made a similar claim regarding the danger of protein shortage in an article entitled, "A Warning to Vegetarians."

In this case a quotation from Sherman was used to support such an idea. But Sherman's definite statement regarding the research in question, printed in at least three different publications, was that the great health, ef­ficiency, and longevity benefits, designated by him as "a whole series of criteria," were due to a more liberal supply of calcium and vita­min G, and could be obtained by the addition of protein-free milk. In the recital of another experiment by Sherman and Campbell, Mary Swartz Rose gives practically the same notable benefits by two contrasted but ample diets, dif­fering only in the addition of pure calcium carbonate to make the calcium intake of the second diet equal to that in a quart of milk; instead of a pint as in the first.

"On the calcium-enriched diet, growth was some­what more rapid, and average size at a given age somewhat greater, as shown by growth curves for i each sex n Figure 47. The appearance and be­havior of the adult animals indicated that the more liberal calcium intake resulted in a higher vitality and its maintenance over a longer time. The fe­males matured somewhat earlier, showed a longer period of ability to bear young, and reared a higher percentage of them. The males, not having the strains of maternity, manifested their greater vigor by longer life and a longer period between the attainment of maturity and the onset of senility.. Thus improved growth, greater adult vitality, low­ered death rates, and increased length of life show that the increased calcium improved the nutritive value of a diet which by all ordinary signs would be adjudged adequate."—Id., p. 172.

Let us not be deceived by misunderstood or misapplied facts into concluding that vege­tarians are in any danger whatever of getting a deficiency of protein, or that they must eat more eggs, nut foods, beans, etc., because they do not eat meat. Complete and incomplete proteins which supplement each other are found in abundance in a vegetarian diet. These fundamental facts are stated in plain, understandable terms by Sherman in his book "Food and Health" (1935, chapter VIII, pp. 69-77), which all should read who have any question regarding this matter.

Food Control of Body.—Since the first steps in the identification and chemical isolation of vitamin B, the science of whole, natural foods has been expanded to an almost unlimited ex­tent and importance, with respect to those subtle elements—vitamins and minerals. Here are a few conclusions:

(I) Proper nourishment of the human fetus in the maternal organism prenatally, and even proper development of the fetus, is to quite an extent dependent upon the diet of the mother, which should be made up largely of the protective foods—fruit, vegetables, and milk. (2) Normal growth and development of all the tissues of the body in the infant and child—bones, teeth, epithelial tissues, diges­tive glands, the blood, and even the ductless glands with their own influences in the de­velopment of these parts—are likewise de­pendent upon vitamins, amino acids, and min­erals. (3) Prevention of the entrance of germs into the body by maintenance of normal structure and function of the skin and mucous membranes is dependent upon the action of vitamin A. (4) Vitamin C has recently been discovered to have a significant relation to blood and tissue factors of internal protection against infections, transcending the accepted mechanisms of immunity. (5) Vitamin Be exerts a most important influence on oxida­tion, appetite, and normal peristalsis of the stomach and intestines.