Chapter 43—Water Drinking
The Review and Herald, July 29, 1884 No. 31 (Healthful Living,
89)
Food should not be washed down; no drink is needed with meals.
Eat slowly, and allow the saliva to mingle with the food. The more
liquid there is taken into the stomach with the meals, the more difficult
it is for the food to digest; for the liquid must be first absorbed.... Many
make a mistake in drinking cold water with their meals. Taken with
meals, water diminishes the flow of the salivary glands; and the colder
the water, the greater the injury to the stomach. Ice water or iced
lemonade, drunk with meals, will arrest digestion until the system has
imparted sufficient warmth to the stomach to enable it to take up its
work again. Hot drinks are debilitating; and besides those who indulge
in their use become slaves to habit.... Do not eat largely of salt; give up
bottled pickles; keep fiery spiced food out of your stomach; eat fruit
with your meals, and the irritation which calls for so much drink will
cease to exist. But if anything is needed to quench thirst, pure water,
drunk some little time before or after a meal, is all that nature requires.
Water is the best liquid possible to cleanse the tissues.... Drink some
little time before or after the meal.
The Ministry of Healing, 237
In health and in sickness, pure water is one of Heaven’s choicest
blessings. Its proper use promotes health. It is the beverage which
God provided to quench the thirst of animals and man. Drank freely,
it helps to supply the necessities of the system, and assists nature to
resist disease.
The Ministry of Healing, 305
Food should not be eaten very hot or very cold. If food is cold, the
vital force of the stomach is drawn upon in order to warm it before
digestion can take place. Cold drinks are injurious for the same reason;
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