Chapter 40—The Food We Eat
Our bodies are built up from the food we eat. There is a constant
breaking down of the tissues of the body; every movement of every
organ involves waste, and this waste is repaired from our food. Each
organ of the body requires its share of nutrition. The brain must be
supplied with its portion; the bones, muscles, and nerves demand
theirs. It is a wonderful process that transforms the food into blood
and uses this blood to build up the varied parts of the body; but this
process is going on continually, supplying with life and strength each
nerve, muscle, and tissue.
Those foods should be chosen that best supply the elements needed
for building up the body. In this choice, appetite is not a safe guide.
Through wrong habits of eating, the appetite has become perverted.
Often it demands food that impairs health and causes weakness instead
of strength. We cannot safely be guided by the customs of society.
The disease and suffering that everywhere prevail are largely due to
popular errors in regard to diet.
But not all foods wholesome in themselves are equally suited to our
needs under all circumstances. Care should be taken in the selection
of food. Our diet should be suited to the season, to the climate in
which we live, and to the occupation we follow. Some foods that
are adapted for use at one season or in one climate are not suited to
another. So there are different foods best suited for persons in different
occupations. Often food that can be used with benefit by those engaged
in hard physical labor is unsuitable for persons of sedentary pursuits
or intense mental application. God has given us an ample variety of
healthful foods, and each person should choose from it the things that
experience and sound judgment prove to be best suited to his own
necessities
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The Ministry of Healing, 295-297
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