This blog began as a way to compile healthy recipes to pass on to my children sort of as a family legacy of good health and nutrition.
In the past few years I have become increasingly interested in the far reaching affects of the choices that we make in regards to how we nourish ourselves and our families. The relationship between nutrition and the incidence of a myriad of diseases, including heart disease, diabeties, obesity, various forms of cancer and auto-immune diseases, when understood, is compelling. If there is anything that is hard for me to bear, it is unnecessary suffering. Naomi's Family Kitchen now represents my own grass roots effort to help those I love and care about, in hopes that future suffering and sorrows resulting from nutrition related illnesses and premature deaths may be avoided.
My own personal journey into the realm of caring about nutrition began with the reading of T. Colin Campbells, The China Study: Startling Implications for Diet, Weight loss and Long-term Health. The China Study, includes results from "the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted".
As a practicing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I proceeded to read The China Study with the thought in the forefront of my mind that the book would discredit itself to the degree that it disagreed with the Word of Wisdom revelation given to Joseph Smith, the prophet, in February of 1833. This revelation is for me a code of health, a handbook so to speak, sent from God himself for the protection and wellbeing of the bodies which he himself created.
Rather than finding any contradiction in The China Study, I was overwhelmed with the sense that science was now somehow shedding light on my understanding of the Word of Wisdom. The China Study emphasizes the health benefits a Whole Grain, Plant Based Diet. I didn't actually refer to the Word of Wisdom revelation while reading The China Study. I remembered that part of the revelation states that animals in our diet "are to be used sparingly."(Verse 12) I thought about this statement often as I read the book. As The China Study has shown as strong relationship between the amount of animal products in a persons diet and the likelihood of disease, I believed that Dr. Campbell's findings were right on.
I have found that most people of my faith if asked about what amount of "meat" in their diet would be in compliance with the word of wisdom will reply that we believe that it is alright to eat meat, as long as it is "sparingly". Since reading the book, I have read through the Word of Wisdom revelation numerous times and I cannot ignore the fact that, in reference to the flesh of beasts and of the fowls of the air, verse 13 of the Word of Wisdom reads as follows:
"And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine."
And again in reference made in verse 14 to "the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth;" in verse 15 it states:
"And these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger."
Traditions with which we have been raised and the general beliefs of the society in which we live may make what is plainly stated in the Word of Wisdom and what is now being explored by science difficult to accept and even comprehend. We can each humbly pray for the gift of discernment to determine what is right for ourselves and our families. For me, careful study of the Word of Wisdom and a number of wonderful books, all in the same category as The China Study, has proven very valuable in helping me have the courage and determination to make changes in how I choose to nourish myself and my family.
