Go To THE Source

My first reference for my research on what I should be eating is the Handbook on Life so I figured that this really was the only place to start- to get the correct foundation right off the bat. Of course, everything is open to personal interpretation. Here is mine after much pondering and thoughtfulness.


If you don't know already, I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
I believe in a few books of revelation in addition to the Bible, namely The Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants.
The Doctrine and Covenants are modern day revelations given to the prophet, Joseph Smith, who restored the priesthood and gospel back to the earth after the great apostasy. These revelations consist of a wide variety of topics, one of which educates us on how to stay healthy in both body and spirit.
 Here is the original text in its entirety.
This "diet" is called 'The Word of Wisdom'.

{If you click on any of the following hyperlinks, it will take you to the entire original text. From there you can click on an individual hyperlink and it will describe that particular footnote in a popup box without leaving the page. Way cool!} 

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, 27 February 1833 (see History of the Church, 1:327–29). As a consequence of the early brethren using tobacco in their meetings, the Prophet was led to ponder upon the matter; consequently, he inquired of the Lord concerning it. This revelation, known as the Word of Wisdom, was the result. The first three verses were originally written as an inspired introduction and description by the Prophet. 

1–9, The use of wine, strong drinks, tobacco, and hot drinks is proscribed; 10–17, Herbs, fruits, flesh, and grain are ordained for the use of man and of animals; 18–21, Obedience to gospel law, including the Word of Wisdom, brings temporal and spiritual blessings.

 1 A ^aWord of Wisdom, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion—

 2 To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the ^aword of wisdom, showing forth the order and ^bwill of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days—

 3 Given for a principle with ^apromise, adapted to the capacity of the ^bweak and the weakest of all ^csaints, who are or can be called saints.

 4 Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of ^aevils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of ^bconspiring men in the last days, I have ^cwarned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation—

 5 That inasmuch as any man ^adrinketh ^bwine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him.

 6 And, behold, this should be wine, yea, ^apure wine of the grape of the vine, of your own make.

 7 And, again, ^astrong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies.

 8 And again, tobacco is not for the ^abody, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill.

 9 And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.

 10 And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome ^aherbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man—

 11 Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with ^aprudence and ^bthanksgiving.

 12 Yea, ^aflesh also of ^bbeasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used ^csparingly;

 13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be ^aused, only in times of winter, or of cold, or ^bfamine.

 14 All ^agrain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth;

 15 And ^athese hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger.

 16 All grain is good for the ^afood of man; as also the ^bfruit of the vine; that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground—

 17 Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain.

 18 And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, ^ashall receive ^bhealth in their navel and marrow to their bones;

 19 And shall ^afind ^bwisdom and great ^ctreasures of ^dknowledge, even hidden treasures;

 20 And shall ^arun and not be ^bweary, and shall walk and not faint.

 21 And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the ^adestroying angel shall ^bpass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.

This seems pretty self explanatory to me. 

 My interpretation:

God has given us the guidelines to be as healthy as we can. Whether for the temporally practical and physiological reasons or for spiritual reasons by just being blessed with health for following his word, we can gain much from following these principles.

God created the body. I trust that he knows how to run it. I choose God's team.

It appears to me that we are meant to live a "vegetarian" lifestyle consisting of grain, fruit, nuts, seeds, and herbs, etc. However, our merciful God has created for us a backup plan in times of winter and famine or anytime we cannot harvest from the earth. For these times has God reserved for us and granted us permission to eat the beasts of the earth and the fowls of the air. This makes a lot of sense to me because we would not be eating the animals of the Garden of Eden (had we stayed there) and were our bodies not meant to be healthy whether in the Garden or out of it?  We were created in the image of our Father and therefor our bodies are eternal and meant to live under any conditions the Father puts us in. (D&C 29:34)

When God gave us dominion over the beasts of the field, I don't think farming animals for meat is what he had in mind (I could be wrong- this is my interpretation). He is telling us to use them sparingly only when we really need it to survive.

 What an omniscient and loving God to give us the information we crave and need in this day of information overload.

Maybe I am reading into this a little too much, but I don't think so.

If God hands be a textbook and says read this and follow it, I think I'm gonna do it to the best of my abilities.

I only regret that I didn't consider this earlier.

My two cents.

That said, there is a scripture that states as long as you eat "with faith" meaning according to what you believe is correct and not against what you think is correct, you will be blessed for that and not be condemned. Rom. 14:21 (20–23)
So go forth, interpret and eat as you will. :)