Food and Exercise-The secrets to better health(shocking right?)

 

    We often take our good health for granted until we get sick, but as in all things, prevention is a lot easier, cheaper, and more pleasant than recovery. One of the most valuable things to know is that when and how we eat is every bit as important as what we eat. Eating the freshest organic food, prepared in the most natural, delicious way, can actually be harmful if it’s not eaten in an intelligent way at an intelligent time! And conversely, if we eat intelligently, health will follow.

    The Bible counsels us regarding what to eat or not eat. Only rarely does it mention or allude to the why of it. One instance is Paul’s advice for Timothy: “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.” 1 Tim 5:23. Apparently, Timothy’s health—in this case, his stomach—was problematic.

    It’s possible Timothy’s stomach was the primary cause of his “often infirmities.” Digestion is so often the key to our health; at least 80% of a person’s immune system originates in the digestive system.

    Digestion is a frequent focus in the inspired health writings of Ellen White. Food must be properly masticated (chewed) and digested by multiple digestive enzymes in order to make its nutrients available for assimilation through intestinal walls. And by following the divine counsel for the when and how of proper eating, while not neglecting the what, we can be greatly benefited.

 

Chew, Chew, Chew

 

    Digestion—and thus, to a great extent, our health—begins in the mouth. “Food should be eaten slowly and should be thoroughly masticated. This is necessary in order that the saliva may be properly mixed with the food and the digestive fluids be called into action.” Counsels on Diet, 107.

   The entire digestive process is so fundamental to health that when we eat, we should “chew” soft foods long enough to get salivary enzymes stimulated, and chew our solid foods till “juicy” for the same reason. The digestive fluids of the mouth are as important to digestion and assimilation as those of the stomach. They are designed by God to work in tandem.

    That principle is also why a diet of mostly soft foods (soups, stews, well-cooked, mashed) is not as good for us as one which includes foods which we must chew thoroughly. “So much porridge eating is a mistake. The dry food that requires mastication is far preferable.” Ibid., 108. When soft foods are to be eaten, eat bread or crackers or something raw with them—anything suitable that requires chewing. And if health or teeth issues prevent one from eating foods which require biting and chewing, then time and care must be taken to “chew” thoroughly whatever is taken into the mouth.

 

Chew, but Don’t Drink

 

     Nor should liquids be drunk with the meal, as they negatively impact digestion. “Many make a mistake in drinking cold water with their meals. Taken with meals, water diminishes the flow of the salivary glands; and the colder the water, the greater the injury to the stomach. Ice water or ice lemonade, drunk with meals, will arrest digestion until the system has imparted sufficient warmth to the stomach to enable it to take up its work again. Hot drinks are debilitating. . . . Eat slowly, and allow the saliva to mingle with the food. The more liquid there is taken into the stomach with the meals, the more difficult it is for the food to digest; for the liquid must first be absorbed. . . . But if anything is needed to quench thirst, pure water, drunk some little time before or after the meal, is all that nature requires. . . . Water is the best liquid possible to cleanse the tissues.”                                     Review and Herald, July 29, 1884.

 

An Attitude of Gratitude

Yields Peace—and Health

 

    The psalmist wrote, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” Our state of mind affects our bodies in many ways, one of which is our bodies’ ability to utilize the food we eat. Our mental/emotional state makes digestion, and therefore assimilation of nutrients, possible or impossible. If, for some reason, we can’t digest our food and then absorb the nutrition from it, why eat it? Why waste the money and time? The Holy Spirit’s counsel on that topic follows:

    “In order to have healthy digestion, food should be eaten slowly. Those who wish to avoid dyspepsia, and those who realize their obligation to keep all their powers in the condition which will enable them to render the best service to God, will do well to remember this. If your time to eat is limited, do not bolt your food, but eat less, and eat slowly. The benefit you derive from your food does not depend so much on the quantity eaten as on its thorough digestion, nor the gratification of the taste so much on the amount of food swallowed as on the length of time it remains in the mouth. Those who are excited, anxious, or in a great hurry, would do well not to eat until they have found rest or relief; for the vital powers, already severely taxed, cannot supply the necessary gastric juice.” Ibid.

    Physical science bears out that counsel. In one experiment on digestion, a tube was run from a cat’s stomach to a bottle. When food was placed before the hungry cat, gastric juices started flowing into the bottle. When a dog was brought too near the cat’s cage,  the flow of digestive juices ceased.

 

    Our mental/emotional state makes digestion, and therefore assimilation of nutrients, possible or impossible.

 

    Fear, worry, hurry, anger, frustration, resentment—all the negative emotions that war against the “peace that passeth understanding”—literally stop the digestive juices from flowing. Emotional stress can cause the sphincter muscles of organs like the liver, pancreas, and gall bladder to contract, stopping the release of necessary fluids into the digestive system and thus preventing the digestion of the food so it can be assimilated through the walls of the small intestine. It is a clear-cut example of the mind’s direct influence on the health of the body.

    The body is then burdened as it attempts to deal with undigested food, which effort depletes vital energy, and if the food remains in the system too long, fermentation and putrefaction follow, which poison the body. (It takes about an hour after the emotion or attitude is rectified for the sphincters to react as they should.)

 

Eating for the Wrong Reasons

 

    Some of us, when stressed or depressed, tend to eat too much, even though we see the results in unwanted weight gain. Others happily indulge at potlucks, holiday feasts, social get-togethers, and the like. The positive or negative interplay of food, family and friends is a potent one. Again the counsel stresses digestion and its profound effect on health. “The stomach suffers when so many kinds of food are placed in it at one meal.” Counsels on Diet, 275.

    “What influence does overeating have upon the stomach? It becomes debilitated, the digestive organs are weakened, and disease, with all its train of evils, is brought on as the result. If persons were diseased before, they thus increase the difficulties upon them, and lessen their vitality every day they live. They call their vital powers into unnecessary action to take care of the food that they place in their stomachs.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 112.

    Furthermore, “the system receives less nourishment from too great a quantity of food, even of the right quality, than from a moderate quantity taken at regular periods.” Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 2, 412.

 

Timing our Tasting

 

    When we eat greatly affects our bodies’ ability to benefit from what we eat, even if we chew thoroughly, peacefully and temperately. “Regularity in eating is of vital importance. There should be a specified time for each meal. At this time let everyone eat what the system requires and then take nothing more until the next meal. . . .” Ministry of Healing, 303, emphasis added.

 

    When we eat greatly affects our bodies’ ability to benefit from what we eat, even if we chew thoroughly, peacefully and temperately.

 

    “The practice of eating but two meals a day is generally found a benefit to health; yet under some circumstances, persons may require a third meal. This should, however, if taken at all, be very light, and of food most easily digested. Crackers—the English biscuit—or zwieback, and fruit, or cereal coffee, are the foods best suited for the evening meal.” Counsels on Diet, 176.

    “. . . At least five or six hours should intervene between the meals, and most persons who give the plan a trial will find that two meals a day are better than three.” Ministry of Healing, 304.   

    “Those who are changing from three meals a day, to two, will at first be troubled more or less with faintness, especially about the time they have been in the habit of eating their third meal. But if they persevere for a short time, this faintness will disappear. Counsels on Diet, 175.

     The digestive organs need as much intelligent consideration as any other organ. “The stomach, when we lie down to rest, should have its work all done, that it may enjoy rest, as well as other portions of the body. The work of digestion should not be carried on through any period of the sleeping hours. After the stomach, which has been overtaxed, has performed its task, it becomes exhausted, which causes faintness. Here many are deceived, and think that it is the want of food which produces such feelings, and without giving the stomach time to rest, they take more food, which for the time removes the faintness. And the more the appetite is indulged, the more will be its clamors for gratification. This faintness is generally the result of meat eating, and eating frequently, and too much. The stomach becomes weary by being kept constantly at work, disposing of food not the most healthful. Having no time for rest, the digestive organs become enfeebled, hence the sense of “goneness,” and desire for frequent eating. The remedy such require is to eat less frequently and less liberally, and be satisfied with plain, simple food, eating twice, or, at most, three times a day. The stomach must have its regular periods for labor and rest; hence eating irregularly and between meals, is a most pernicious violation of the laws of health. With regular habits, and proper food, the stomach will gradually recover.” Ibid.

 

    Digestion—and thus, to a great extent, our health—begins in the mouth.

 

    From that last sentence we learn another benefit of eating wisely: “If nature’s laws have not been too long abused, she will carry on her restoring process, although it may not be immediately realized. But some have so long abused nature that she cannot recover entirely. . . .” An Appeal to Mothers, 22. All praise to our Creator, in that obedience to His generously-provided wisdom will allow us to recover our health to a greater or lesser degree!

 

That Mid-Morning

or Bedtime Snack

 

    Inspired counsel about snacking provides the digestive reasoning behind it: “Regularity in eating should be carefully observed. Nothing should be eaten between meals, no confectionery [sweets], nuts, fruits, or food of any kind. Irregularities in eating destroy the healthful tone of the digestive organs, to the detriment of health and cheerfulness. . . .” Counsels on Diet, 180.   

    Giving up tasty between-meal snacks is a hard one for many, but as we begin to pay the price for poor eating habits of earlier years, we hopefully will want to ensure our future years are not made worse by our failure to correct our current eating patterns. Younger people not yet suffering the cumulative effects of poor eating habits can learn from the mistakes and good examples of others.

 

After the Meal

 

    “Exercise . . . [gives] the digestive organs a healthy tone. To engage in deep study or violent exercise immediately after eating, hinders the digestive process; for the vitality of the system, which is needed to carry on the work of digestion, is called away to other parts. But a short walk after a meal, with the head erect and the shoulders back, exercising moderately, is a great benefit.” Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 101.

   Exercise “gives a healthful stimulus to the appetite, renders the digestion of food more perfect. . . .” Ibid., 104. It will “work off the waste matter which accumulates in the system.” Pastoral Ministry, 71.

    Sometimes we can’t walk right after meals, yet we would benefit from walking at any time. Especially should those in sedentary occupations, weather permitting, “walk out in the open air every day, summer and winter. . . . Walking is often more beneficial to health than all the medicine that can be prescribed.” Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 100.

    Ellen White wrote of her own experience, “We have crossed the plains fifteen times, and we would recommend to those contemplating such a journey strict temperance in all things. Take your lunch-baskets with you, well filled with fruits and plainly cooked bread. Eat at regular hours, and nothing between meals; and whenever the train stops for any length of time, improve the opportunity by taking a brisk walk in the open air. By so doing, the journey will not only be more enjoyable, but far more beneficial healthwise.” Review and Herald, Nov. 1, 1880.                                                            

 

Easier Said Than Done

 

    Some of these changes, such as chewing thoroughly and not snacking between meals, may be relatively easy to accomplish. Fortunately, right habits don’t take long to establish. Other changes, however, might appear daunting. Few present-day work situations or family schedules are conducive to good digestive habits. On a previous job (in my “past life”), we were assigned lunch shifts, anywhere from “too early; not even hungry yet” to “so late I’ll eat anything; just give me food—now!” Not only that, our “lunch hour,” originally only forty-five minutes, was reduced to half an hour, allowing time only for a quick bathroom stop and a hasty meal.

    So despite willing hearts, implementing what we know would be wise changes for optimal digestion and health may be the most challenging part. For some, two meals a day will be the answer. Exercise may simply have to be taken when possible. But I speak from experience that if you are truly wanting the changes, the Lord will give you wisdom and understanding as to how to overcome obstacles to healthy digestion.

    Be like Abraham. “Stagger not with unbelief.” Let your heart say with confidence, “The Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” Isaiah 50:7.

 

 

    Jean writes from Wilmington, Delaware.