Do they have any other dietary restrictions?
2007-02-26 17:00:59 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The Word of Wisdom in Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants explains in more detail the health code that we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are supposed to adhere to. It actually started out in the 19th Century, that Emma Smith, wife of Joseph Smith, had lost patience with cleaning up chewing tobacco stains on the floor after meetings in their home, etc. When Joseph Smith prayed about it, he got a lot more information than he expected. We are supposed to avoid alcohol, strong tea and coffee (hot drinks), and tobacco, due to the evils that "designing men" would have. If you study the chemicals that go into anything containing tobacco, you can see how inspired this counsel was, because cigarettes have been shown to have up to 3,000 carcinogenic compounds. Alcoholism and drunkenness leads to all kinds of problems, which you can see in the news all the time. Coffee not only contains caffeine, but also tannin, which irritates the stomach considerably with repeated use (it's what you use to tan leather, for example). Herbal tea is different from black tea - so you can use herbal tea for illnesses. It is also part of the health code to emphasize fresh fruits and vegetables in their season, to reduce the amount of meat we eat, and emphasize whole grains when possible. I once knew a girl who lost about 30 pounds by living by this Word of Wisdom. Caffeine makes babies nervous if the mothers drink caffeine while they are expecting. Addictions to caffeine can interfere with receiving quiet inspiration, and sometimes the financial cost of high-priced drinks can interfere with reasonable budgeting as well. Sometimes people mention that chocolate has a lot of caffeine. Well, I would say to use moderation in all things. You wouldn't live on chocolate, but a little bit is fine.
2007-02-26 19:13:16 · answer #1 · answered by Cookie777 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Cookie gave a really good answer...
I would say that if you want to know the other dietary restrictions, you can look in the Word of Wisdom (I believe Cookie gave the link, if not go to scriptures.lds.org, click Doctrine and Covenants, and section 89 is the WoW).
Mormons do drink soda. Coffee is considered a "hot drink" with dangerous chemicals in it. Many Mormons avoid high amounts of caffeine, because it is a potentially dangerous vasodilator (which means it increases the size of your blood vessels, and then they constrict smaller than before, and you become addicted to the caffeine because you must re-enlarge your blood vessels). However, caffeine is never specifically mentioned as being avoided. I personally do not drink anything with caffeine (although I do eat chocolate...), but I believe that specifically coffee is prohibited because of large amounts of other particularly dangerous chemicals as well as the caffeine.
2007-03-01 16:06:03 · answer #2 · answered by Beast8981 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mormons DO drink soda, what we avoid is caffeine. The reason for this is caffeine's addictive quality. Ever know someone who couldn't function without their cup o Joe? Everyone knows someone like that and that addiction and dependence is what we want to avoid. There are no other dietary restrictions, but we abstain from alcohol, smoking, drugs--unless prescribed by a doctor- and pre marital sex. Our bodies are sacred ( as is yours) and we want to take care of them out of respect. Most health nuts and dietitians will tell the same thing whether they are Mormon or not. I hope this answers your question.
2007-02-27 01:10:13 · answer #3 · answered by Matticus Kole 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
That's wrong about the soda. They used to not drink soda because of the caffeine, but Coca Cola refused to buy the sugar beets the Mormons farmed (for sugar for the cola) because the Mormons were banning their members from drinking the soda. So the Mormons changed the rule to allow drinking soda and Coca Cola continued to buy their sugar beets.
2007-02-27 01:09:50 · answer #4 · answered by marklemoore 6 · 1⤊ 3⤋
I have a lot of Mormon friends who drink both coffee and soda, so I don't know what you're talking about.
2007-02-27 01:04:55 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
matticuskole gave you the right answer. I just wanted to point out to the bigots among you that coca coa is made with corn syrup, not sugar beets. And we won't start to discuss where sugar comes from (sugar cane) these days.
2007-02-27 01:54:06 · answer #6 · answered by mourning my dad 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because they bought into a religion founded by a 15 yo that found the missing scriptures on his trek to Utah, and had to translate them with magic goggles. So if you believe that then you have to give up soda and coffee.
2007-02-27 01:04:49 · answer #7 · answered by thomas_knight7 2 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Because of the caffeine. They feel it controls them instead of the Holy Spirit.
2007-02-27 01:09:51 · answer #8 · answered by blesshisname2005 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The caffeine.
They believe that they are putting themselves under the control of something other than the holy spirit.
2007-02-27 01:04:29 · answer #9 · answered by 10 Point Shoe-In 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Some would say they are stimulants. I find having three wives would be much more stimulating than a cup of coffee.
I you don't agree with me you better tell be quick what brand of coffee you drink!
2007-02-27 01:05:07 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋