Ellen G. White on Various Topics

Grease in the Diet by Ellen G. White

One family in particular have needed all the benefits they could receive from the reform in diet, yet these very ones have been completely backslidden. Meat and butter have been used by them quite freely, and spices have not been entirely discarded. This family could have received great benefit from a nourishing, well-regulated diet. The head of the family needed plain, nutritious food. His habits were sedentary, and his blood moved sluggishly through the system. He could not, like others, have the benefit of healthful exercise; therefore his food should have been of the right quality and quantity. There has not been in this family the right management in regard to diet; there has been irregularity. There should have been a specified time for each meal, and the food should have been prepared in a simple form and free from grease; but pains should have been taken to have it nutritious, healthful, and inviting. In this family, as also in many others, a special parade has been made for visitors, many dishes prepared and frequently made too rich, so that those seated at the table would be tempted to eat to excess. Then in the absence of company there was a great reaction, a falling off in the preparations brought on the table. The diet was spare and lacked nourishment. It was considered not so much matter "just for ourselves." The meals were frequently picked up, and the regular time for eating not regarded. Every member of the family was injured by such management. It is a sin for any of our sisters to make such great preparations for visitors, and wrong their own families by a spare diet which will fail to nourish the system. 2T 485

These things of course, we should not countenance, yet, when I view the matter from another standpoint, I am led to inquire, What better can be done for the feeble sick who have no hope of heaven, no consolation received by the Christian? Their sources of enjoyment must be derived from a different source; while the Christian has the elevating influence of the power of grace, the sinner must draw from another source his enjoyments. If ever I prize Christ and the Christian hope, it is here, while looking upon poor invalids with but little prospect before them of ever recovering their health and having no hope for a better life. Dr. Jackson carries out his principles in regard to diet to the letter. He places no butter or salt upon his table, no meat or any kind of grease. But he sets a liberal table. Waiters are constantly in attendance and if a dish is getting low they remove it and replenish. The food I call liberal and good. All the difficulty is, there is danger of eating too much. All our food is eaten with a keen relish. If anyone requires a little salt they have it supplied for the asking. A little bell sits by their plate, which they use to call the waiter, who provides them what they ask. 5MR 381

This is what we need: simple food prepared in a simple, wholesome, and relishable manner. We have no butter and no meat on our table. We do not think fried potatoes are healthful, for there is more or less grease or butter used in preparing them. Good baked or boiled potatoes served up with cream and a sprinkling of salt are the most healthful. The remnants of Irish and sweet potatoes are prepared with a little cream and salt and rebaked, and not fried; they are excellent. I have had a good appetite and relish my food, and am perfectly satisfied with the portion which I select, which I know does not injure my digestive organs. Others can eat food which I cannot, such as lentils and beans.--Letter 322, 1905. (To Brother and Sister Belden, November 26, 1905.) 5MR 408

God has furnished man with abundant means for the gratification of an unperverted appetite. He has spread before him the products of the earth,--a bountiful variety of food that is palatable to the taste and nutritious to the system. Of these our benevolent heavenly Father says we may freely eat. Fruits, grains, and vegetables, prepared in a simple way, free from spice and grease of all kinds, make, with milk or cream, the most healthful diet. They impart nourishment to the body, and give a power of endurance and a vigor of intellect that are not produced by a stimulating diet. { [C.T.B.H. 47] (1890) } CD 092

It is impossible for those who give the reins to appetite to attain to Christian perfection. The moral sensibilities of your children cannot be easily aroused, unless you are careful in the selection of their food. Many a mother sets a table that is a snare to her family. Flesh meats, butter, cheese, rich pastry, spiced foods, and condiments are freely partaken of by both old and young. These things do their work in deranging the stomach, exciting the nerves, and enfeebling the intellect. The blood-making organs cannot convert such things into good blood. The grease cooked in the food renders it difficult of digestion. The effect of cheese is deleterious. Fine-flour bread does not impart to the system the nourishment that is to be found in unbolted-wheat bread. Its common use will not keep the system in the best condition. Spices at first irritate the tender coating of the stomach, but finally destroy the natural sensitiveness of this delicate membrane. The blood becomes fevered, the animal propensities are aroused, while the moral and intellectual powers are weakened, and become servants to the baser passions. The mother should study to set a simple yet nutritious diet before her family. [CTBH 46, 47 (1890)] CD 236

Our fare is simple and wholesome. We have on our table no butter, no meat, no cheese, no greasy mixtures of food. For some months a young man who was an unbeliever, and who had eaten meat all his life, boarded with us. We made no change in our diet on his account; and while he stayed with us he gained about twenty pounds. The food which we provided for him was far better for him than that to which he had been accustomed. All who sit at my table express themselves as being well satisfied with the food provided. CD 491

God has furnished man with abundant means for the gratification of an unperverted appetite. He has spread before him the products of the earth, -- a bountiful variety of food that is palatable to the taste and nutritious to the system. Of these our benevolent heavenly Father says we may freely eat. Fruits, grains, and vegetables, prepared in a simple way, free from spice and grease of all kinds, make, with milk or cream, the most healthful diet. They impart nourishment to the body, and give a power of endurance and a vigor of intellect that are not produced by a stimulating diet. CTBH 047

This might be correct if the appetite had never been perverted. There is a natural, and a depraved, appetite. Parents who have taught their children to eat unhealthful, stimulating food, all their lives, until the taste is perverted, and they crave clay, slate pencils, burned coffee, tea grounds, cinnamon, cloves, and spices, cannot claim that the appetite demands what the system requires. The appetite has been falsely educated, until it is depraved. The fine organs of the stomach have been stimulated and burned, until they have lost their delicate sensitiveness. Simple, healthful food, seems to them insipid. The abused stomach will not perform the work given it, unless urged to it by the most stimulating substances. If these children had been trained from their infancy to take only healthful food, prepared in the most simple manner, preserving its natural properties as much as possible, and avoiding flesh meats, grease, and all spices, the taste and appetite would be unimpaired. In its natural state, it might indicate, in a great degree, the food best adapted to the wants of the system. HR DEC.01,1870

A nutritious diet does not consist in the eating of flesh-meats, butter, spice, and grease. The fruits, vegetables, and grains, God has caused to grow for the benefit of man. These are indeed the fat of the land; and if these articles of food are prepared in a manner to preserve their natural taste as much as possible, they are all that our wants require. A perverted appetite will not be satisfied with these, but will crave flesh-meats highly seasoned, pastry, and spices. Indigestible condiments cannot be eaten without injuring the tender coats of the stomach. PH123 044

I recommended them to take something warm upon the stomach every morning, at least. They could do this without much labor, they could make graham gruel. If the graham was too coarse they could sift it. While the gruel is hot they could add milk to suit themselves,this will make a most palatable and healthful dish for the camp-ground, and if your bread is dry you can crumb it into your gruel, and it will be enjoyed. I do not approve of eating much cold food for the reason that the vitality must be drawn from the system to warm the food until it becomes of the same temperature as the stomach before the work of digestion can be carried on. Another very simple, yet wholesome dish is beans boiled and baked, and a portion of them may be diluted with water, add more cream and make a broth, the bread can be used the same as in the graham gruel. Dried corn can be easily prepared, left to soak over night, scald it up in the morning, add milk, which is easily obtained, and you have warm, healthful food, free from spice and grease. RH JUL.19,1870