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Sabbath Bible Lessons

Healthful Living

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Lesson 5 Sabbath, October 30, 2010

Diet, Health, and Temperance

“Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” (Luke 21:34).

“There are few who realize as they should how much their habits of diet have to do with their health, their character, their usefulness in this world, and their eternal destiny. . . . The body should be servant to the mind and not the mind to the body.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 562.

Suggested Reading:   Healthful Living, pp. 68-70

Sunday October 24

1. THE BEST FOODS

a. What are the best foods for humanity? Genesis 1:29.

“In order to know what are the best foods, we must study God’s original plan for man’s diet. He who created man and who understands his needs appointed Adam his food. [Genesis 1:29 quoted.] Upon leaving Eden to gain his livelihood by tilling the earth under the curse of sin, man received permission to eat also ‘the herb of the field’ (Genesis 3:18).

“Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator. These foods, prepared in as simple and natural a manner as possible, are the most healthful and nourishing. They impart a strength, a power of endurance, and a vigor of intellect, that are not afforded by a more complex and stimulating diet.”—Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 81.

b. What type of foods can be eaten liberally? Song of Solomon 7:13.

“While we would recommend simplicity in diet, let it be understood that we do not recommend a meager diet. Let there be a plentiful supply of fruits and vegetables that are in a good condition.”—The Signs of the Times, September 30, 1897.


Monday October 25

2. QUALITY AND QUANTITY

a. What types of foods should be chosen for a healthy diet? Proverbs 23:1.

“The first education children should receive from the mother in infancy should be in regard to their physical health. They should be allowed only plain food, of that quality that would preserve to them the best condition of health.”—Counsels on Diet and Foods, pp. 228, 229.

“Our bodies are constructed from what we eat; and in order to make tissues of good quality, we must have the right kind of food.”—Child Guidance, p. 373.

b. What dietary habits contribute to good health, and what counsels should be included in the educational work? Ecclesiastes 3:2; 10:17.

“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.”—Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 175.

“After the regular meal is eaten, the stomach should be allowed to rest for five hours. Not a particle of food should be introduced into the stomach till the next meal.”—Child Guidance, p. 389.

“Supper, when taken at an early hour, interferes with the digestion of the previous meal. When taken later, it is not itself digested before bedtime. Thus the stomach fails of securing proper rest. The sleep is disturbed, the brain and nerves are wearied, the appetite for breakfast is impaired, the whole system is unrefreshed, and is unready for the day’s duties.”—Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 176.

c. What principle should be remembered in choosing what we eat? James 4:17.

“Those who will not, after the light has come to them, eat and drink from principle, instead of being controlled by appetite, will not be tenacious in regard to being governed by principle in other things.”—Counsels on Health, p. 39.


Tuesday October 26

3. DANGEROUS FOODS

a. What warning is given in choosing fruits and vegetables for food? Ecclesiastes 3:1.

“Overripe fruit or wilted vegetables ought not to be used. Vegeta­bles and fruit should not be eaten at the same meal.”—The Signs of the Times, Sept. 30, 1897.

b. What does the Bible say about those who cannot control their appetite? Proverbs 23:21; Philippians 3:19.

“Often the different kinds of food placed in the stomach do not agree, and fermentation is the result. . . . Do not place in the stomach too great a variety of food at one meal.”—This Day With God, p. 340.

c. What risks are related to meat eating?

“Cancers, tumors, and all inflammatory diseases are largely caused by meat eating.”—Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 388.

d. What two things are forbidden to be eaten? Leviticus 3:17. What should we realize about refined flour, sugar, pastries, sweet puddings, and so forth?

“We do not think fried potatoes are healthful. . . . Eat only food that is free from grease.”—Ibid., p. 354.

“Flesh meats, butter, cheese, rich pastry, spiced foods, and condiments are freely partaken. . . . These things do their work in deranging the stomach, exciting the nerves, and enfeebling the intellect.”—Ibid., p. 236.

“Fine-flour bread is lacking in nutritive elements to be found in bread made from the whole wheat. It is a frequent cause of constipation and other unhealthful conditions.”—Ibid., p. 320.

“Far too much sugar is ordinarily used in food. Cakes, sweet puddings, pastries, jellies, jams, are active causes of indigestion. Especially harmful are the custards and puddings in which milk, eggs, and sugar are the chief ingredients.”—Ibid., p. 113.

“Sugar is not good for the stomach. It causes fermentation, and this clouds the brain and brings peevishness into the disposition.”—Ibid., p. 327.


Wednesday October 27

4. GENERAL TEMPERANCE OR SELF-CONTROL

a. What trait—relating to health—is one of the fruits of the Spirit? Galatians 5:22, 23. How is it defined? 1 Corinthians 9:25.

“True temperance teaches us to dispense entirely with everything hurtful and to use judiciously that which is healthful.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 562.

“Abstinence from all hurtful food and drink is the fruit of true religion. He who is thoroughly converted will abandon every injurious habit and appetite. By total abstinence he will overcome his desire for health-destroying indulgences.”—Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 457.

b. What damages are done by being intemperate? Proverbs 25:28.

“The sin of intemperate eating—eating too frequently, too much, and of rich, unwholesome food—destroys the healthy action of the digestive organs, affects the brain, and perverts the judgment, preventing rational, calm, healthy thinking and acting.”—Child Guidance, p. 398.

“Intemperance in eating and drinking, intemperance in labor, intemperance in almost everything, exists on every hand. Those who make great exertions to accomplish just so much work in a given time, and continue to labor when their judgment tells them that they ought to rest, are never gainers. They are living on borrowed capital. They are expending the vital force which they will need at a future time. When the energy they have so recklessly used is demanded, they fail for want of it. . . . Those who violate the laws of health will sometime have to pay the penalty. God has provided us with constitutional force, and if we recklessly exhaust this force by continual overtaxation, our usefulness will be lessened, and our lives end prematurely.”—The Signs of the Times, September 30, 1897.

“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.”—Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 175.


Thursday October 28

5. THE CULINARY ART

a. What science should be learned at an early age, and why?

“Cooking may be regarded as less desirable than some other lines of work, but in reality it is a science in value above all other sciences. Thus God regards the preparation of healthful food. He places a high estimate on those who do faithful service in preparing wholesome, palatable food.”—Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 251.

“It is highly essential that the art of cookery be considered one of the most important branches of education.”—Ibid., p. 260.

“Mothers should take their daughters into the kitchen with them when very young, and teach them the art of cooking.”—Ibid., p. 262.

“It is a religious duty for those who cook, to learn how to prepare healthful food in a variety of ways, so that it may be both palatable and healthful.”—Counsels on Health, p. 116.

b. What kinds of bread are most nutritious and healthful?

“All wheat flour is not best for a continuous diet. A mixture of wheat, oatmeal, and rye would be more nutritious than the wheat with the nutrifying properties separated from it.”—Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 321.

c. What did Jesus say about the two kinds of bread that humanity needs? Matthew 4:4; John 6:33–35; 5:39.

“The Word of God is the bread of life.”—The Upward Look, p. 125.


Friday October 29

REVIEW AND THOUGHT QUESTIONS

a. What blessings are derived from partaking of plant-based foods?

b. Why is it so important that we learn to control our appetite?

c. Name some foods of which many may not realize their dangers.

d. Name two poor, intemperate choices that are often made after sunset.

e. Contrast the way the world views the art of cooking with God’s way.

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