Based on Ellen White's extensive writings on health and diet, here is her comprehensive guidance: ## Core Dietary Principles **God's Original Plan** Ellen White taught that "God is trying to lead us back, step by step, to his original design,— that man should subsist upon the natural products of the earth" (CTBH 119.1). She emphasized that "fruits, grains, and vegetables, prepared in a simple way, free from spice and grease of all kinds, make, with milk and cream, the most healthful diet" (HL 78.6). ## The Vegetarian Diet **Moving Away from Meat** She strongly advocated for eliminating flesh foods: "Among those who are waiting for the coming of the Lord, meat-eating will eventually be done away; flesh will cease to form a part of their diet" (CTBH 119.1). Her reasoning included both health and moral considerations: - **Health concerns**: "If meat eating was ever healthful, it is not safe now. Cancers, tumors, and pulmonary diseases are largely caused by meat eating" (9T 159) - **Mental effects**: "Those who eat flesh are but eating grains and vegetables at second hand... How much better to get it direct, by eating the food that God provided for our use!" (MH 313) - **Moral impact**: "Flesh food has a tendency to animalize the nature, to rob men and women of that love and sympathy which they should feel for everyone" (9T 159) ## Meal Timing and Regularity **Structured Eating Schedule** "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" (MH 303.2). She recommended: "Should these persons change their practise, and eat but two meals a day, and nothing between meals, not even an apple, a nut, or any kind of fruit, the result would be seen in a good appetite and greatly improved health" (HL 84.2). ## Food Preparation and Cooking **Importance of Proper Preparation** "It is wrong to eat merely to gratify the appetite, but no indifference should be manifested regarding the quality of the food or the manner of its preparation" (MH 300). She emphasized that "there is more religion in good cooking than you have any idea of" (CTBH 157.3). **Practical Cooking Guidance** - Food should be "thoroughly cooked, neatly prepared, and appetizing" (HL 48) - "The meals should be varied. The same dishes, prepared in the same way, should not appear on the table meal after meal and day after day" (MH 300.1) - "All should learn what to eat and how to cook it. Men, as well as women, need to understand the simple, healthful preparation of food" (MH 323.1) ## Balanced Approach to Reform **Avoiding Extremes** While advocating for health reform, she cautioned against extremes: "Some of our people, while conscientiously abstaining from eating improper foods, neglect to supply themselves with the elements necessary for the sustenance of the body" (9T 161). She advised that "food should be prepared in such a way that it will be appetizing as well as nourishing" (9T 161). **Gradual Transition** "Great care should be taken when the change is made from a flesh meat to a vegetarian diet, to supply the table with wisely prepared, well-cooked articles of food" (HL 80.1). ## Foods to Include and Avoid **Recommended Foods** - Fruits, grains, vegetables, nuts - Milk and cream (in moderation) - "Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables, in proper combination, contain all the elements of nutrition" (Ed 204.3) **Foods to Limit or Avoid** - Flesh meats - Tea and coffee - "Fine-flour bread, pickles, coarse vegetables, candies, condiments, and pastries fail of supplying proper nutriment" (Ed 204.3) - Rich, highly seasoned foods ## The Connection Between Diet and Spirituality Ellen White consistently connected physical health with spiritual well-being: "Our habits of eating and drinking show whether we are of the world or among the number whom the Lord by His mighty cleaver of truth has separated from the world" (6T 372). She taught that proper diet supports clear thinking and spiritual discernment, while poor dietary habits "becloud the intellect, and blunt the moral sensibilities" (2T 63.3). This comprehensive approach to health and diet was central to her ministry, emphasizing that caring for our bodies is both a practical necessity and a spiritual responsibility.