Does God want us to eat plant food? . . . part 2 of 4
Words of modern prophets confirm what I said yesterday, that God put plant foods on the planet to but nourish us and prevent disease. Ezra Taft Benson was not only the leader of the 8-million strong LDS (Mormon) Church in the 1980s, but he was also a former head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. My grandmother told me when I was very young that he said that any time we alter our food source, we do it to our detriment.
As an adult, I tracked this precise Benson quote down from a Brigham Young University devotional: “In general, the more food we eat in its natural state and the less it is refined without additives, the healthier it will be for us.” I watched my grandmother put this promise to the test, curing herself completely and permanently of third-stage cancer with an all-raw plant diet, in the 1970s when everyone around her, family included, thought she was crazy.
I imagine Ezra Taft Benson would be appalled by the genetic modification, chemical fertilization and pesticide program advancement, and continuing refinement of the wholesome grains and plant foods he safeguarded in his career.
After all, as God created the world, in Genesis 1:29, “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon all the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.”
The Biblical prophet Ezekiel, as documented in Ezekiel 4:9, once lived on a combination of 4 grains and 4 legumes for over a year—with robust health. Some companies now sell Ezekiel Bread or grain mix based on this formula of excellent proteins, complex carbohydrates, and fats. Every nutritional component needed by humans, except sunlight, is contained in that combination of grains and legumes.
Steff said,
June 17, 2008 @ 7:10 am
Where can I get the full text of that Benson devotional?
Thanks!
Kristen said,
June 17, 2008 @ 3:25 pm
I’d like to know more about your grandmother’s raw cancer cure. How long did she go raw, and did she eat sprouted grain with her diet? I have been very interested in a raw diet since my husband has been battling a rare form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Robyn said,
June 17, 2008 @ 4:42 pm
She did a lot of juicing (she turned orange from all the beta carotene from carrots). I think that blended stuff (green smoothie) is better, but she did what she knew how to do in the 1970′s. She ate laetrile (apricot pits), banned by the FDA (she had to go to Mexico to get them). She did a lot of sprouting, yes. And she ate NO meat or processed foods–absolutely nothing from boxes and cans, for a couple of years, and then stayed a very healthy eater for many years after that.
When her cancer returned in another form about 20+ years later, she’d developed about 15 lbs. extra weight on her stomach (you have likely read how that, more than weight anywhere else, predisposes us to cancer and heart disease). She’d slid somewhat, and while she still ate lots of healthy food, she ate some meat and processed food too. When the cancer came back, she was very sad, recently widowed, and didn’t choose to fight it with all her energy like she had before. She passed away about 7 years ago from multiple myeloma. My grandfather had cancer behind his eye that the dr. said he’d had for 30 years, and only his good diet had kept it from becoming a problem until he was in his 70′s. When he passed away, she lost all her fight.
Robyn said,
June 18, 2008 @ 5:30 pm
Steff, email me and I’ll send you a really long list of quotes/sources on health/nutrition by LDS prophets from the past 150 years.
Robyn said,
June 18, 2008 @ 9:19 pm
Oh, and the answer to that is Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 476-7, from “In His Steps,” BYU Devotional 1979.
Molly said,
June 22, 2008 @ 1:27 pm
He also said it in his talk “Do Not Despair” Nov 1974 Ensign, which you can find on http://www.lds.org.