The Dangers of Vinegar and Benefits of Olive Oil

While lemon juice is a wonderful choice, you can also use pure olive oil for your salads; however, you must strictly avoid all types of vinegar, including balsamic, as it is harmful to your health2MR 143.3+2.

The Dangers of Vinegar 🚫

Vinegar is a product of fermentation and is not suitable for the human stomachNWAD VINEGAR.2+1. Its use in salads leads to the following health issues:

• Stomach Distress: Vinegar causes fermentation in the stomach, meaning food does not digest properly but instead decays or putrefies2MR 143.3+1.

• Organ Difficulty: This process of decay fills the blood with impurities, leading to liver and kidney difficulties as well as heart disturbances2MR 143.3+1.

• Mental and Moral Impact: Using such condiments irritates the stomach, which in turn excites the nerves and can even enfeeble the intellect and affect the religious life2MR 143.3+2.

• Digestion Interference: Even a small amount of vinegar can prevent the proper digestion of starch in an ordinary dinnerGCB February 8, 1895, page 74.1.

The Lord helps those who seek to overcome these perverted appetites, just as others have successfully resisted the strong desire for vinegar until the inclination to taste it was completely gone25LtMs, Lt 70, 1911, par. 3.

The Benefits of Olive Oil 🫒

Pure olive oil is a highly recommended substitute for animal fats and harmful condimentsTSDF 13.7+1.

• Healing Properties: Olive oil is lenient, balsamic, and can relax the fibers of the bodyNWAD LENIENT.6+1.

• Better than Butter: The advantages many seek from butter can be better obtained by using properly prepared olives or their oilTSDF 13.7+1.

• Medicinal Uses: It helps relieve constipation and is better for those with inflamed or irritated stomachs than any drugTSDF 13.7+1.

• Spiritual Significance: Oil was used throughout scripture for light in the sanctuary, as part of meat-offerings, and for anointing the sick James 5:14CS 102.1+1.

Proper Salad Preparation 🥗

When preparing raw herbs or "salads," the dressing you choose is vital for maintaining your "living sacrifice" to GodNWAD SALAD.2+1.

• Healthful Combinations: Use lemon juice or sterilized cream as appetizing seasonings instead of vinegar or spices17LtMs, Lt 10, 1902, par. 4.

• Simplicity is Key: The best diet consists of fruits, grains, and vegetables prepared in the most natural and simple mannerHOMI September 1894, page 206.10+1.

• Avoid Complications: Mixed and complicated foods, such as salads prepared with oil and vinegar together, are ruinous to digestionCD 113.3+1.

By choosing simple dressings like lemon juice or olive oil, you preserve your physical and mental strength to better serve the LordCTBH 46.3+1. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" 1 Corinthians 10:31.

Yes, substances like soda, saleratus, and leavening agents are highly detrimental to gut health as they inflame and eat the coatings of the stomachHL 81.1+1. While many focus on obvious irritants, several other common habits and foods significantly damage the digestive system and cloud the intellectCH 114.1+1.

Hidden Enemies of Gut Health 🛑

Beyond leavening agents, several common dietary choices create "war in the stomach" and undermine the vital force of the digestive organsTSDF 17.3+1.

• Hot Yeast Bread: Hot or newly raised yeast bread is extremely difficult to digest and should never appear on the tableTSDF 10.2+1. The yeast germs should be destroyed by thorough baking in small loaves, but even then, it is better to eat it when it is not freshTSDF 10.10.

• The Variety of Food at One Meal: Placing too many different kinds of food in the stomach at once causes them to ferment14MR 299.2+1. If you were to take those same dishes and stir them together in a vessel, the sight alone would turn the stomach; yet many force this mass into their systems daily14MR 299.2.

• Combining Fruit and Vegetables: For those with feeble digestion, eating fruit and vegetables at the same meal often causes distress and acidityTSDF 132.8+1.

• Drinking with Meals: The more liquid taken with food, the harder it is for the stomach to digest, as the liquid must be absorbed firstTSDF 127.1+1. Cold water or ice water is particularly harmful because it arrests digestion until the system warms the stomach back upRH July 29, 1884, par. 7.

• Cheese and Animal Fats: Cheese is totally unfit for food and has a deleterious effect on the systemCH 114.1+1. Similarly, grease cooked into food renders it very difficult to digestCH 114.1.

• Tea and Coffee: These are not foods but nerve irritants that produce a temporary excitement followed by a corresponding degree of debilityMH 326.2+1. They are active causes of indigestion and can lead to trembling nerves and heart palpitationsEd 203.1+1.

The Impact of Habits on Digestion ⏳

How and when you eat is just as important as what you eat for maintaining a "sweet stomach"RH January 7, 1902, par. 10+1.

• Eating Too Fast: Food must be eaten slowly to allow saliva to mingle with itHL 86.4+1. Bolting food or eating while excited and anxious prevents the system from supplying necessary digestive fluidsCH 120.2+1.

• Late Suppers and Frequent Eating: The stomach needs regular periods of total restTSDF 126.3+1. Eating just before retiring or eating a second meal before the first is digested causes the organs to become exhausted and diseasedCD 157.2+1.

• Lack of Physical Exercise: Inactive habits lead to sallow skin and sluggish digestion6LtMs, Ms 58, 1890, par. 32. A short, cheerful walk after a meal, with the head erect and shoulders back, greatly aids the digestive organsRY 132.3+1.

• Mental State and Overwork: A "blue" or discouraging outlook often stems from a taxed mind and an overburdened stomach2LtMs, Lt 61, 1874, par. 11. Severe study or heavy labor immediately after eating calls the vital force away from the stomach, hindering the work of digestionHL 196.1+1.

The Spiritual Connection ✨

Maintaining a healthy digestive system is a religious duty because the brain cannot do its best work for God when the stomach is abusedGW92 174.2+1. When the stomach is in rebellion, the mind becomes gloomy, and it is difficult to speak or act calmlyCH 118.3+1. We are called to "keep under the body" and bring it into subjection to ensure our moral and intellectual powers remain strong 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. As you seek to reform your habits, remember that "the truth will work like leaven" to purify the life and character1LtMs, Ms 1, 1854, par. 7+1.

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" 1 Corinthians 10:31.

While many attribute benefits to apple cider vinegar, it is actually a product of decay that is worse for the stomach than alcohol when the same quantities are usedMMM 385.19. Vinegar is essentially decayed juice, and its presence in the digestive system causes the food to putrefy rather than digest, leading to contaminated blood and various organ difficultiesCD 345.6+1.

The Reality of Vinegar and Fermentation 🍎

The process of fermentation, which produces vinegar, is a symbol of sin and death and should not be introduced into the human templeDA 653.2.

• Destruction of the Stomach Lining: Vinegar is an irritant that is highly deleterious to the human system20MR 2.4+1. It acts so aggressively that it is even more damaging to the stomach than alcoholMMM 385.19.

• Contamination of the Blood: When vinegar is used, especially in salads prepared with oil, fermentation takes place in the stomach2MR 143.3+1. Consequently, the food does not provide nourishment but instead decays, filling the blood with impurities that lead to liver and kidney difficultiesCD 345.6+1.

• Presence of Parasites: In homemade apple vinegar, the microscope reveals the presence of "vinegar eels," making it the most objectionable variety to consumeMMM 385.19.

Mental and Physical Consequences 🧠

The condition of the stomach directly impacts the health of the mind and the character.

• Clouding of Reason: The use of stimulants and products of fermentation, like vinegar, clouds the brain and perverts the noble powers of the mindCTBH 32.2+1. It causes a disagreeable feeling of dullness, making the mind slow to actPM 263.3+1.

• Impact on Disposition: Fermentation in the stomach caused by improper substances like vinegar can bring peevishness into the disposition and affect the religious life2MCP 391.3+2.

• Permanent Disease: Habitual use of sour cider products results in a tendency toward disease of the liver, trembling nerves, and a determination of blood to the head5T 357.2+2.

A Pattern of Total Abstinence 🛡️

For those seeking to maintain clear mental faculties and a healthy body, the only safe path is to avoid these substances entirely.

• Overcoming the Appetite: It is possible to have a strong craving for vinegar, but this is a perverted appetite that must be overcome through prayer and firm resolution25LtMs, Lt 70, 1911, par. 2+1. One can obtain a complete victory so that the inclination to taste it is entirely gone25LtMs, Lt 70, 1911, par. 2.

• Choosing Life-Giving Alternatives: Instead of fermented products, we should use the pure, fresh juice of the grape or apple, which are God's healthful gifts when used in an unfermented stateCD 432.3+2.

• The Example of Christ: When Jesus was in His greatest agony on the cross, He was offered vinegar mixed with gall; however, after tasting it, He refused to drink itSH 72.1+2. He would receive nothing that could becloud His mind or give Satan an advantage, even to dull His intense painHLv 499.1+1.

"Reproach has broken My heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave Me also gall for My food, and for My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink" Psalms 69:20-21. Seeking a healthful diet is a matter of loving God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves5T 357.2+1.