Word of Wisdom: The Hearts of Conspiring Men

 Most people think of the tobacco, drug, and alcohol industry when they hear “In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you."   However, after becoming a dietitian I looked at this verse a little differently.

I do not think that drugs and alcohol are the only “evils and designs” referenced here. I believe this verse is warning of a far more subtle danger; the dangers that exist in the food, health, and diet industry. I’m not speaking of food additives or lack of good nutrition so prevalent in the standard American diet, as problematic as they can be. No, that would still be far too obvious for the Adversary.

After speaking with countless people about their nutrition concerns and beliefs I’ve come to believe that the “evils and designs” of the last day were designed by Satan and are part of his most stealth and subtle tactics.  Alcohol and drug addictions are too obvious for such a cunning devil and only so many fall into that trap. Lets be honest, everyone knows its bad, but some do it anyway. Where is the deception in that? But what about nutrition and diet?  I think you would agree that everyone eats and most people have some concern about eating healthy. It seems completely harmless, even beneficial to be concerned about healthy, right? In that lies the secret of Satan’s plan.

The diet and nutrition industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and each year millions of diet conscious people buy into the books, supplements, products, foods, and programs designed to help you and your family be healthy. Many obsess over their diet all in the name of health, depriving themselves of all “unhealthy” foods, agonizing when they slip up. This becomes a viscous, though subtle cycle, which consumes people on the inside.  In fact, I don’t believe most people even realize how much they obsess about food. Others become so overwhelmed by this craze they give up all together and don’t worry about health at all.

During my time as a dietetic student and now as a registered dietitian I am constantly getting asked questions or told opinions about food. It doesn’t mater where I go be it a homeless shelter in Provo serving meals or the doctor’s office for a physical, every day I get at least one question or comment on nutrition. Being asked questions doesn’t bother me. What concerns me is the type of questions I’m being asked. Questions about fad diets, quick fixes, good and bad foods, and dangerous nutrition practices. Questions that often indicate a person has unhealthy attitudes about diet and nutrition.

Most people do not recognize the damage this cycle of trying to “eat healthy” and then “slipping up” causes.  It is so subtle and simple and, quite frankly, universal. There are very few people I have met who do not talk about food in terms of “good” and “bad.” Most everyone does which makes it seem acceptable, normal, even desirable. However, this destructive cycle is anything but healthy, which is why it called for scriptural warning.

This cycle distracts many Latter-day Saints from the greater things of life. Rather than focusing on Christ, women agonize over their weight. Rather than waking up early to study the scriptures, saints devote that morning time to exercise.  Rather than studying the gospel, saints devote their time to studying health and diet.  Rather than focusing and healing and improving through the Atonement, saints hold themselves in contempt over diet woes.

You may think this seems extreme or a little ridiculous. You are probably asking yourself, “How could trying to be healthy be falling for a trap set by the Adversary?” Let me tell you, as a health and nutrition professional, today’s attitudes and ideas about food are often anything but healthy. They are extreme and excessive to the point they are subtly taking over people’s lives in ways they don’t even recognize and taking their focus away from where the Lord would have it.  I would submit to you that this is the evil design that  “exist in the hearts of conspiring men” which warranted the laying out of a Word of Wisdom for the Saints over 150 years ago.  

Tad R. Callister said that “Like a skilled magician, Satan’s every move is to divert our attention and dilute our focus from the primary objective at hand...in hopes we will turn exclusively to doctrines of secondary and far lesser import” (The Infinite Atonement). I think unhealthy obsessions over diet and health are one of the secondary doctrines he is referring to. Does this mean you should stop exercising or learning about nutrition. No, absolutely not. But I do think they need to be kept in their proper place and be used as a tool to help your spirit rather than detract from its growth.

So why did I study the Word of Wisdom as part of my scripture study and why did I feel compelled to write it down? Because, as a dietitian, people come to me for answers about nutrition and not all answers come from scientific journals. Health and nutrition is a temporal law which impacts our spirits and prophets have told us (even as recent as October General Conference) that it is important. However, both extremes, either ignoring health and diet or overly obsessing about healthy and diet, are dangerous to the body and the spirit. I feel compelled to share what I have learned to help people navigate the conflicting information in the world today about diet and nutrition, and to help bring them back to the essential basics of the Word of Wisdom. I love to answer people’s questions when they really want an answer and I love the challenge of nutrition as it relates to disease. But more often than not the answer to good health and nutrition is extremely simple, but produces powerful results, and involves simply following the Word of Wisdom.

Word of Wisdom-The Don'ts and Sugar and Meat

** If you want to get to the cool stuff skip to the section of vs 10 on.

So I know this is skipping over a couple verses, but it is on my mind right now so I’m going to write it down. This is the part of my studying that was most awesome to me; the part where the science of my career collided with scripture study and blew my mind at how perfectly God plans things.

vs 5-7 God tells us not to drink alcohol. I’m not going to go too much into this because this is one part of the Word of Wisdom that I feel is pretty self explanatory at this time. We all know alcohol has some major negative consequences. Sure, there were those studies about how wine helps prevent heart disease, but for the most part everything in the scientific community points to alcohol in major moderation if not at all. But God through his prophets has told us not to drink any alcohol, so we don’t. Not even a little. Is God’s reason for this that alcohol is poison to the body? Partialy, but I think even more so, especially in this day and age, the reason for such strict abstinence from alcohol is as a benefit for our spirit. In a day and age where binge drinking is considered a normal part of the college experience and alcoholism is so rampantly destructive I  think God knew alcohol and the images portrayed by that industry were something the saints of God needed to stay far away from. I could write a whole page on this, but I’ll stop here. **Isn’t it so neat that the Word of Wisdom mentions strong drinks for washing the body? I don’t know if they knew about alcohols disinfectant properties in the 1830s, but none the less I think this is so neat.

vs 8-9 “Tobacco is not for the belly or for man”.  Once again, we all know tobacco is harmful to our bodies. However, did you know that tobacco is extremely high in vitamin K, a vitamin essential for clotting? And applying it to bruises helps bring vitamin K to that exact spot to help with clotting?

Hot drinks, which have been defined as tea and coffee by prophets, are not for the body or the belly. Some interesting things to note nutritionally about tea and coffee is that they contain substances that bind to minerals and prevent them form being absorbed.  They are also known for being addictive. 

vs 10-11 “All wholesome herbs hath God ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man”.  Okay guys, God wants you to eat your veggies and whole grains (and fruit to, but most of us don’t have a problem with that). Seriously. I could probably write 10 pages on this subject alone, but I’ll try and keep this short. Our bodies have a complex relationship with bacteria, trillions of bacteria, that live in and on us. This relationship is definitely symbiotic. We feed the bacteria and they in turn do astounding this for us.  The majority of these bacteria live in our intestines (almost enough to fill a quart sized jar).  They eat the remnants of our food that we don’t digest and absorb. Sounds simple, but what is so mind-blowingly incredible is what they do for us.

They impact our immunes system, helping it keep not only keep germs at bay but also keeping our immune system at bay, helping prevent against autoimmune diseases and allergies. The good bacteria also help keep bad bacteria in check, preventing them from causing harmful infections and diarrhea. They produce short chain fatty acids which helps feed the cells of our colon, keeping it healthy. They help keep inflammation in check which has a whole host of benefits in and of its self. They are even starting to see evidence that having good intestinal bacteria helps keep our weight in check. 

All these amazing bacteria ask of us is that we feed them. And not any old non-digested particles of food will do. They need fiber. Lots of fiber. Most Americans get an average of 14 grams of fiber a day. That is just less than half of what most Americans need.  HALF. FIFTY PERCENT. How would you be feeling if you got 50% of the food you need? Not only are we not feeding the good bacteria, but the standard western diet is high in something that bad bacteria thrive on: Sugar.

For the record I do not advocate giving up sugar or think it is of the devil. I like sugar. However, it does feed bacteria that harm us. Most commonly known to us are the bacteria that live in our mouths and create cavities. They thrive on sugar and starches. There are other bacteria in your intestines that also thrive on sugar, and when they get over fed we feel the negative effects of having our intestinal flora (as those bacteria are often called) out of balance. Why am I not against sugar? Once again, I could write at least 5 pages on that subject, but to keep it simple let me just say this.

Molecularly the sugar that gets a bad wrap (white sugar) is the same as all other sugars when you brake them down into their simplest form. Breaking things down to their simplest form is what our body does when it is digesting things, therefore, molecularly all sugar and starches are the same. What is different is what comes with the sugars/starches (they are the same thing guys, one is in a short chain and the other is in a long chain, but they are made of the same things)? This difference between sugary foods (feeds the bad bacteria) and whole grains (feeds the good bacteria) is FIBER. So do I eat sugar sparingly? Yes, and when I do I try and make sure I eat extra fiber or extra probiotics (good bacteria). But I do eat it because “ the good things which come of the earth…in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart…for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and enliven the soul” (D&C 59:17-19). A little sugar now and then definitely gladdens the heart and enlivens the soul, but don’t go crazy. And eat your vegetables and whole grains.

vs 12-13  “It is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.” This is a touchy subject, I know. I’ll try not to step on toes. But, I do think it is very interesting to learn that eating lots of meat is associated with an increased risk of cancer and IBD.  I know many people who say “Well, I don’t eat meat at every meal” or “Its not like I have a 10 oz stake for dinner every night” or “I just use a little bit of meat with dinner every night” and feel that they are eating meat sparingly. These are all good things to do, but my personal opinion is that sparingly indicates eating meat even less than that.

Once again, going to the 1828 dictionary sparingly is defined as “not abundantly, frugally, abstinently, seldom, not frequently, cautiously and tenderly” (italics added for emphasis). The revelation states that it should “not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.” Does that mean vegan or 100% vegetarian? No. D&C 49: 18 says that “whoso forbiddeth to abstain from meats, that man should not eat the same, is not ordained of God.” However, in our western culture today meat is abundant. It is the main food meals are usually built around. I am going to submit to you that we should eat far less meat. I personally only make meals with meat at home 1-3 times a month. I’m working on making it even less. I don’t refuse to eat meat if I am at someone’s house, and I don’t advertise myself as “vegetarian” (the Screwtape Letters had some interesting insights into people who follow special “simple” diets) but I think if you sat down and considered how many chickens and cows you are eating yearly you might see the wisdom in eating fewer of them. Interesting modern day side note: Today’s meats are often contaminated with antibiotics which can kill the bacteria in your intestines.

Well, Ella's nap time is over so that is all I have time to share from my study of the Word of Wisdom today. Please don’t be offended that I told you to eat your veggies, that I’m okay with eating sugar, and that I suggested eating less meat.