Monday, September 20, 2010

Our challenge for Week #2 is to eat meat sparingly. You can prayerfully decide for yourself what "sparingly" means to you but I would hope that each day you award yourself the bonus points you have eaten less meat than is your habit.

Please be creative with this challenge and if you find any new and wonderful meatless dishes send the recipe and I will forward it to the group!

(If you already abstain from meat you can get your bonus points by tracking protein grams and making sure you are getting a sufficient amount of daily protein)


Doctrine and Covenants 89 has this to say about our consumption of meat
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.

Just a review of a few definitions (I always use Webster's 1828 Dictionary because it was printed near the time that Joseph prepared our scriptures so I think the meanings given here should be as close to accurate as we can obtain):

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SPA'RINGLY, adv.
1. Not abundantly.
2. Frugally; parsimoniously; not lavishly.
3. Abstinently; moderately.
4. Seldom; not frequently.
5. Cautiously; tenderly.
Hmmmmmm... doesn't sound like sparingly means a moderate portion at every meal, or meat every night for dinner or even several times a week. It actually even mentions abstinence. And the scripture itself tells us that it is pleasing to the Lord that meat not be used.
But we are told it is OK to eat meat during times of famine or winter. Hmmm
FAM'INE, n. [L. fames.]
1. Scarcity of food; dearth; a general want of provisions sufficient for the inhabitants of a country or besieged place.
2. Want; destitution; as a famine of the word of life.
Sounds like we are not now in a famine. But winter is coming!!
WINTER, n.
1. The cold
season of the year. In tropical climates, it cannot be said to be cold.
I'm not trying to get super extreme on you but I'd like you to really think about this topic. Do you that eating meat is bad for your health?

The list of diseases known to be associated with meat, which are commoner among meat eaters, looks like the index of a medical textbook.

Anaemia, appendicitis, arthritis, breast cancer, cancer of the colon, cancer of the prostate, constipation, diabetes, gall stones, gout, high blood pressure, indigestion, obesity, piles, strokes and varicose veins are just some of the well known disorders which are more likely to affect meat eaters than vegetarians.

Avoiding meat is one of the best and simplest ways to cut down your fat consumption.

Add to those hazards the fact that if you eat meat you may be consuming hormones, drugs and other chemicals that have been fed to the animals before they were killed and you can see the extent of the danger. No one knows precisely what effect eating the hormones in meat is likely to have on your health. But the risk is there and I think it's a big one. Some farmers use tranquillisers to keep animals calm in overcrowded conditions. Others routinely use antibiotics so that their animals do not develop infections. When you eat meat you are, inevitably, eating those drugs. In America, over half of all antibiotics are fed to animals and I don't think it is any coincidence that the percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin went up from 13% in 1960 to 91% in 1988.

The healthiness of a vegetarian diet is perhaps shown most dramatically by the fact that lifelong vegetarians visit hospitals 22% less often than meat eaters - and for shorter stays! Vegetarians tend to be fitter than meat eaters - as well as healthier - and many of the world's most successful athletes (particularly those who specialise in endurance events) follow a strictly vegetarian diet.

It is the fat in meat that does most harm - and which makes meat eating an even bigger health hazard than smoking.

Here's some LDS Quotes

"It is an unusual circumstance to see a man a hundred years old, or a woman ninety. The people have laid the foundation of short life through their diet." (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 187)

President Hinckley had stated, "I regret that we as a people do not live [the Word of Wisdom] more fully." (Ensign, May 1990, p. 51)

Concerning the Word of Wisdom, Lorenzo Snow is reported to have paid "special attention to that part which relates to the use of meat, which he considered just as strong as that which related to the use of liquors and hot drinks." Elder Snow "was convinced that the killing of animals when unnecessary was wrong and sinful, and that it was not right to neglect one part of the Word of Wisdom and be too strenuous in regard to other parts." (Journal History, 5 May 1893, pp. 2-3)

One hundred years ago, in a meeting of the church leadership, then-Apostle Lorenzo Snow "introduced the subject of the Word of Wisdom, expressing the opinion that it was violated as much or more in the improper use of meat as in other things, and thought the time was near at hand when the Latter-day Saints should be taught to refrain from meat eating and the shedding of animal blood." (Journal History, 11 March 1897 p. 2)

President Heber J. Grant stated, "I think that another reason I have very splendid strength for an old man is that during the years we have had a cafeteria... I have not, with exception of not more than a dozen times, ordered meat of any kind. ...I have endeavored to live the Word of Wisdom and that, in my opinion, is one reason for my good health." (Conference Report, April 1937, p. 15)

John A. Widtsoe of the quorum of the twelve apostles said in his book on the Word of Wisdom, "It was shown in the history of plant science that plants contain all the necessary food substances: proteins, fats, starches and the carbohydrates, minerals...water [and] vitamins. The Great builder of the earth provided well for the physical needs of His children. Countless varieties of edible plants, vegetables, cereals, fruits and nuts are yielded by Mother Nature for man's daily food. If one uses meat it must be used sparingly and in winter or famine only.... They who wish to be well and gain the promised reward stated in the Word of Wisdom must obey all of the law, not just part of it as suits their whim or their appetite, or their notion of its meaning." (The Word of Wisdom, a Modern Interpretation, 1950)

President Joseph Fielding Smith's wife, Jesse Evans Smith, said, "my husband doesn't eat meat" and he felt a "disdain of meat and (a) love of vegetables." (Brigham Young University Daily Universe, May 6, 1971, p. 1)


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