Faith and Tradition

No. 1Kosher Diet

Jewish dietary law (kashrut)FaithHoliness, discipline and care in eating

Kashrut is the body of Jewish law, rooted in the Torah (especially Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14) and explained in the Talmud, that governs which foods may be eaten and how they are prepared. The rules are short to state and a lifetime to keep. Land animals must chew the cud and have split hooves (cattle, sheep, goats, deer; not pigs or rabbits). Fish need fins and scales (salmon, cod, tuna; not shellfish, catfish or eels). Birds are the traditionally accepted ones, such as chicken, turkey, duck and goose. On packaged food, observant Jews look for a reliable hechsher (certification symbol). Kashrut is kept as a commandment, not as a health plan (nobody at Sinai was counting carbs), but it shapes a disciplined, mindful way of eating.

Shechitah: kosher slaughter

• Kosher meat comes only from a healthy animal slaughtered by shechitah, performed by a trained, observant shochet or shochetet. The animal is killed with a single, swift, uninterrupted cut across the throat, using a chalaf, a long knife kept perfectly sharp and smooth and checked for the smallest nick before and after each use.
• The cut severs the windpipe, the esophagus and the major blood vessels of the neck, so blood pressure to the brain drops at once and the animal quickly loses consciousness. The law forbids pausing, pressing, burying the knife, cutting outside the proper zone, or tearing; any one of these makes the meat unfit.
• After slaughter, the animal is inspected (bedikah), especially the lungs. Animals with adhesions or signs of disease or injury are treif and not sold as kosher. Glatt ("smooth") means the lungs were free of adhesions, a stricter standard.
• Then the blood comes out. Meat is soaked, salted (melichah) and rinsed, or liver is broiled. Certain fats (chelev) and the sciatic nerve are removed (nikkur); outside Israel, many communities don't sell the hindquarters for this reason.

Strengths

• Done properly, with calm handling and a skilled shochet, shechitah is a quick, humane death, carried out with a long tradition of reverence and responsibility toward the animal. Animal-welfare scientist Dr. Temple Grandin designed upright restraint systems used in kosher plants and has written that a correct cut with a sharp knife causes little reaction from the animal.
• The inspection rules exclude sick and injured animals, an extra layer of selection beyond government inspection.
• Draining the blood builds careful kitchen habits. Certification also makes ingredients more transparent: a pareve (dairy-free) label is a gift to anyone avoiding dairy.
• Shabbat and holiday meals built around family, rest and gratitude are mindful eating with a tablecloth on.

Watch out for

• Kosher does not mean healthy. Soda, candy, chips, white bread and deli meats can all be certified kosher. The hechsher tells you a food meets religious law. It does not tell you the food is good for you.
• Sodium. Salting draws out the blood but leaves koshered meat and poultry higher in sodium, and kosher deli meats, pickles and soups pile on more. People with high blood pressure or kidney disease should count it.
• Pareve substitutes. For dairy-free desserts and "creamy" dishes, many kosher kitchens reach for margarine, non-dairy creamers and whipped toppings made of hydrogenated or refined oils, corn syrup and additives. That is a lot of chemistry for one slice of cake.
• Heavy holiday eating. Challah, kugels, cholent, fried latkes and sufganiyot, honey cake and rich desserts are wonderful in season; every week, they add up. And Passover matzah with few vegetables is a well-known recipe for constipation.
• "Kosher-style" is not kosher, and certification says nothing about antibiotics, organic farming or how the animals were raised.

Eating well within it

• Choose meat from kosher suppliers who also raise animals on pasture or without routine antibiotics, where you can find them, and soak or rinse koshered meat if sodium is a concern.
• Build Shabbat and holiday meals around fish, vegetables, salads and soups, with the traditional sweets as a treat. Try whole-grain challah, and roast instead of fry.
• Trade pareve margarine and creamers for olive oil, coconut milk or a simple fruit dessert.
• Read the ingredients, not just the hechsher.

Possible supplement needs

Usually none beyond what any person needs. Look for kosher-certified supplements: many capsules are made of gelatin, and fish oils need certification too. Vitamin D and omega-3 are worth a look if fish and sunshine are scarce.

Who should be careful

People with high blood pressure, heart failure or kidney disease (sodium from koshered meat and deli foods). Anyone fasting on Yom Kippur or Tisha B'Av who has diabetes, takes medication or is pregnant needs a plan for the fast (insulin and some other drugs need adjusting), and Jewish law exempts those whose health would be endangered by fasting.

No. 2The Maker's Diet

Jordan Rubin, based on biblical food lawsFaithWhole-body health, digestion, weight

What happens when you read Leviticus as a grocery list? In The Maker's Diet (2004; updated 2020), Jordan Rubin presents a 40-day plan built on the foods and health practices of the Bible, which he credits with his own recovery from Crohn's disease. It follows the clean and unclean food laws of Leviticus 11: clean meats, fish with fins and scales, no pork or shellfish. Within those laws it leans hard on whole and traditional foods: grass-fed meats, wild fish, eggs, cultured dairy such as goat's-milk kefir and yogurt, fermented vegetables, sprouted or sourdough grains, raw honey, vegetables, fruit, and healthy fats such as olive oil, coconut oil and butter. The plan starts strict and gradually brings back more grains and fruit, and it adds a weekly partial fast, prayer, rest and attention to emotional health.

Strengths

• A whole-food, traditional diet with no refined sugar, white flour, seed oils or ultra-processed food, very much in line with the traditional diets Weston A. Price observed.
• Strong on gut health: cultured dairy, fermented vegetables and broth, the same tools Rubin teaches in Restoring Your Digestive Health.
• For people of faith, it connects eating with belief, which can make healthy changes more meaningful and much easier to keep.
• It counts rest, stress, relationships and spiritual life as part of health, not as extras.

Watch out for

• It is a religious framework; people who don't share that faith may prefer a similar whole-food plan without it.
• The book recommends specific supplements, including products from companies Rubin founded. Supplements are optional; the food does the heavy lifting.
• The early phases are restrictive and can be hard to follow, and the plan leans on specialty foods with specialty price tags.
• There are no clinical trials of the Maker's Diet itself; its strengths come from the whole-food principles it shares with other traditional diets.
• Raw and unpasteurized dairy, if used, carries a risk of infection.

Eating well within it

• Focus on the core: clean meats and fish, cultured dairy, vegetables, sprouted or sourdough grains and traditional fats. The specialty products are optional.
• Use pasteurized cultured dairy (kefir, yogurt) if raw dairy isn't safe for your household.
• Keep the weekly partial fast gentle, and skip it if it isn't safe for you (see Who should be careful).

Possible supplement needs

Usually few on the whole-food plan. Vitamin D if sunshine is limited. Cod liver oil and probiotics, which Rubin suggests, are good additions for most adults.

Who should be careful

Before fasting: people who are pregnant, diabetic, underweight or on medications that must be taken with food. People with dairy allergies. And anyone with Crohn's or colitis, who should follow the plan alongside their gastroenterologist.

No. 3The Daniel Fast

From the Book of Daniel; Christian churches worldwideFaithPrayer, spiritual focus, a short-term reset

A partial fast based on two Bible passages. In Daniel 1, Daniel ate only vegetables and water for ten days instead of the king's rich food. In Daniel 10, he ate no "pleasant bread," meat or wine for three weeks while he prayed. Today the fast usually lasts 21 days and allows vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and water, with no meat, dairy, eggs, sugar, yeast bread, fried or processed food, caffeine or alcohol. Many Protestant churches hold a church-wide Daniel Fast in January, and the exact rules vary a little from church to church.

Strengths

• As churches teach it, the purpose is prayer and drawing closer to God; giving up comforts makes room for that, and fasting together can be encouraging.
• All whole plant foods, so it's high in fiber and very low in sugar and ultra-processed food.
• A few small, short studies of the 21-day fast found lower blood pressure and cholesterol by the end.

Watch out for

• It is a partial fast, not a total one: meals are expected. Protein can run low if meals are mostly fruit, salad and rice.
• The weight lost comes mostly from eating less, and it tends to find its way home with the old habits.
• Packaged "Daniel Fast" or vegan products can still be highly processed. Daniel did not have a snack aisle.
• Caffeine withdrawal headaches are common in the first days.

Eating well within it

• Build every meal around beans, lentils, chickpeas, brown rice or oats, plenty of vegetables, and nuts or seeds.
• Use unleavened whole-grain flatbreads (made without yeast) in place of bread.
• Taper your coffee the week before, so the fast starts with prayer instead of a pounding head.

Possible supplement needs

For 21 days, usually none. If you keep eating this way for months, vitamin B12 is essential.

Who should be careful

People with diabetes (especially on insulin or blood sugar medicines), kidney disease or a history of eating disorders, and pregnant or nursing women. On insulin or blood sugar medicines, blood sugar can drop during the fast, and doses may need lowering.

No. 4Seventh-day Adventist Diet

Seventh-day Adventist Church; Loma Linda, CaliforniaFaithLongevity, heart health

The Seventh-day Adventist Church, formed in the United States in the 1860s, teaches that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and that caring for your health is part of your faith. Inspired by early leader Ellen G. White's writings, the church recommends, but does not require, a vegetarian diet, and many members are vegetarian or vegan. Those who eat meat follow the "clean" animals of Leviticus 11 (such as beef, chicken, and fish with fins and scales) and avoid "unclean" ones such as pork and shellfish. Members avoid alcohol and tobacco, and many skip caffeine too.

Strengths

• The Adventist Health Studies at Loma Linda University, following tens of thousands of members, have linked vegetarian diets, nuts and whole grains with less heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. California Adventists live several years longer than their neighbors on average.
• Loma Linda is the only Blue Zone in the United States, one of the long-lived places identified by writer Dan Buettner.
• Flexible: members can be vegan, vegetarian or eat clean meats.

Watch out for

• The studies are observational. Adventists also tend not to smoke, stay active, rest on the weekly Sabbath and share a close community, so the menu can't take all the credit.
• Processed meat substitutes (veggie "meats," canned gluten roasts) are popular but often high in salt, additives and refined oils. A hot dog made of wheat is still a hot dog.
• A vegetarian plate can still be piled with white bread, pasta and dessert.
• Vegans need a reliable source of vitamin B12.

Eating well within it

• Choose beans, lentils, tofu, eggs (if eaten) and nuts over packaged meat substitutes most days.
• Borrow the Loma Linda habit: a handful of nuts a day.
• Make potluck haystacks with home-cooked beans, extra vegetables and baked chips.

Possible supplement needs

Vitamin B12 is essential for vegans. Vitamin D and an algae-based omega-3 are wise additions.

Who should be careful

Vegans who are pregnant, nursing or feeding young children should plan for B12, iron, iodine and omega-3. People with high blood pressure should check the sodium in meat substitutes.

No. 5Halal

Islam, worldwideFaithReligious observance

Halal means "permitted" in Arabic. Muslim dietary law, from the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, forbids pork, blood, animals that died before slaughter, and alcohol and other intoxicants, and asks that meat be zabiha: slaughtered with a quick cut to the throat while God's name is said, with the blood drained. Muslims follow these rules as obedience to God and are called to eat food that is halal and tayyib ("good and wholesome"); schools of Islamic law differ on some details, such as certain seafood. In the month of Ramadan, healthy adults fast from dawn to sunset with no food or drink, eating suhoor before dawn and breaking the fast at iftar, traditionally with dates and water.

Strengths

• It encourages moderation. A well-known saying of the Prophet advises filling the stomach one-third with food, one-third with drink and leaving one-third for air, which may be the best portion-control advice ever given.
• No alcohol.
• Ramadan builds discipline, gratitude and community, and Islam exempts those whom fasting would harm, such as the sick.

Watch out for

• Halal describes how food is sourced, not how healthy it is. Halal fried chicken is still fried chicken.
• Iftar often turns into a feast of fried samosas and pakoras, sweets like kunafa, baklava or jalebi, and sugary drinks, and many people gain weight during the month of fasting. Yes, during the fast.
• Long summer fasts can bring dehydration and headaches, especially if suhoor is skipped.
• Pork gelatin and alcohol-based flavorings hide in processed food.

Eating well within it

• Break the fast with dates and water, then soup or salad, then a balanced plate; keep the sweets small.
• At suhoor, choose slow-digesting foods that last until sunset: oats, eggs, ful (fava beans), whole-grain bread, yogurt and fruit.
• Sip water steadily through the evening, and bake the samosas instead of frying them.

Possible supplement needs

Vitamin D is worth checking, especially if you cover most of your skin. Choose halal-certified or plant-based capsules.

Who should be careful

People with diabetes or kidney disease, anyone on medication, and pregnant or nursing women need a plan before Ramadan, since medicine timing and doses may need to change, and can ask an imam about exemptions.

No. 6Hindu Vegetarian Diet

India and the Hindu diasporaFaithReligious observance, nonviolence

Hinduism has no single food law, but many Hindus are lacto-vegetarian (milk, yogurt and ghee, but no meat, fish or eggs) out of ahimsa, nonviolence toward living beings. The cow is sacred, so most Hindus, even many who eat meat, avoid beef, and ghee (clarified butter) is prized in cooking and worship. Many value sattvic foods (fresh fruit, vegetables, grains, milk, nuts) as pure and calming, and some avoid onion and garlic. Practice varies by region, community and family: many Hindus in Bengal, Kerala and Goa, for example, eat fish or meat.

Strengths

• Regional cuisines are a feast of plant foods: dal, sambar, chana masala, rajma, sabzi with roti, and fermented foods like yogurt, idli and dosa.
• Lentils, beans and yogurt supply protein and fiber.
• Fasting days, such as Ekadashi (twice a month, when many skip grains and beans) and the nine nights of Navratri, build discipline and devotion.

Watch out for

• Modern diets lean on white rice, maida (refined flour), fried snacks (samosas, namkeen), sweets (jalebi, gulab jamun), sugary chai and refined oils. Grandmother's kitchen had none of that on repeat.
• South Asians have high rates of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, often at a lower body weight than other groups.
• Fasting foods are often fried or starchy, such as sabudana vada and fried potatoes, which rather defeats the purpose.
• Vegetarian meals can be heavy on carbohydrates and short on protein, vitamin B12, iron and vitamin D.

Eating well within it

• Fill half the plate with vegetables, a quarter with dal, beans or paneer, and a quarter with grains such as ragi, jowar or bajra.
• Cook with ghee or cold-pressed mustard or peanut oil, in modest amounts, instead of refined oils.
• On fast days, choose roasted makhana (fox nuts), fruit, yogurt and kuttu (buckwheat) roti over fried snacks.

Possible supplement needs

Vitamin B12 is important for lacto-vegetarians. Vitamin D and iron are worth testing.

Who should be careful

People with diabetes and pregnant women should keep fasts gentle, and anyone with a family history of diabetes or heart disease should be screened early.

No. 7Buddhist Diet

Buddhist traditions across Asia and worldwideFaithReligious observance, compassion, mindfulness

There is no single Buddhist diet. The first precept asks followers not to take life and the fifth to avoid intoxicants such as alcohol, but traditions apply these differently. Many Mahayana monastics in China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Korea are fully vegetarian, and many avoid the "five pungent vegetables" (lists vary, but usually include garlic, onion, leeks and chives), believed to stir up anger and desire. In Theravada countries such as Thailand and Sri Lanka, monks eat what is offered in their alms bowls, including meat unless it was killed for them, and eat no solid food after midday.

Strengths

• Mindful eating (slowly, with gratitude, reflecting on where your food came from) helps you notice hunger and fullness. It is the opposite of eating lunch over the keyboard.
• Temple cooking, such as Chinese Buddhist vegetarian cuisine and Japanese shojin ryori, is rich in vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, seaweed and grains.
• Little or no alcohol.

Watch out for

• A common misconception is that all Buddhists are vegetarian. Lay practice varies: some are vegetarian always, some on certain days such as new and full moons, and many eat meat. Tibetan Buddhists have traditionally eaten meat where few crops grow.
• Mock meats made from soy or wheat gluten are often fried, salty and highly processed.
• White rice and noodles can crowd everything else off the plate.
• Strict vegetarians who avoid dairy can run short of vitamin B12, calcium and iron.

Eating well within it

• Build meals on tofu, tempeh, beans, mushrooms, greens, seaweed and brown or mixed rice.
• Bring the flavor without the pungent vegetables: ginger, sesame, miso and fresh herbs.
• If the last meal is at midday, include protein and healthy fats so it carries you through.

Possible supplement needs

Vitamin B12 is essential for anyone eating no animal foods. Calcium and vitamin D if dairy is avoided.

Who should be careful

People with diabetes or low blood sugar, pregnant women and growing children should not skip evening meals.

No. 8Sikh Diet

Sikhs of Punjab and the diasporaFaithReligious observance, community

Sikh food practice centers on equality and service. Every gurdwara runs a langar, a free community kitchen where people of any faith sit together and share a vegetarian meal (often dal, roti, sabzi, rice and kheer), so that no one's food rules are broken. It may be the most welcoming table in the world. Under the Sikh code of conduct (Rehat Maryada), Amritdhari (initiated) Sikhs must not eat kutha meat, meaning meat from ritual slaughter such as halal, and Sikhs are taught to avoid alcohol, tobacco and other intoxicants. Views on meat otherwise differ: many Sikhs are vegetarian, while others eat jhatka meat, killed with a single blow.

Strengths

• Punjabi staples are hearty whole foods: whole wheat roti, dal, rajma, chole, sarson da saag (mustard greens) with makki di roti (corn flatbread), yogurt and lassi.
• Langar models sharing, gratitude and simple vegetarian meals.
• No alcohol or tobacco.

Watch out for

• Many dishes are generous with ghee, butter and cream (dal makhani, buttered parathas), and modern cooking adds refined oils and fried pakoras, samosas and bhature.
• Sweets such as jalebi and pinni, sweet chai and sugary drinks are everywhere, especially at weddings and festivals.
• South Asians have high rates of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
• Meals built mostly on roti can be short on protein, and vegetarians may lack vitamin B12, iron and vitamin D.

Eating well within it

• Keep ghee as the traditional fat, but in modest amounts, and skip the extra pat of butter on top.
• Add kachumber (chopped salad), extra sabzi, and more dal than roti.
• Choose tandoori roti over bhature and puri, and plain or salted lassi over sweet.

Possible supplement needs

Vitamin B12 for vegetarians. Vitamin D and iron are worth testing, especially for women and people in northern climates.

Who should be careful

People with diabetes, high blood pressure or a family history of heart disease should be screened early and go easy on fried foods and sweets.

No. 9Jain Diet

The Jain community of India and the diasporaFaithNonviolence (ahimsa)

Jainism, an ancient faith of India, places ahimsa (nonviolence toward every living being) at the center of daily life, right down to the dinner plate. Jains eat no meat, fish or eggs, and many avoid root vegetables such as onion, garlic, potatoes and carrots, because uprooting them kills the whole plant and many tiny organisms in the soil. Observant Jains also avoid honey, since collecting it harms bees, and many eat only between sunrise and sunset so as not to harm insects at night. Dairy is traditionally eaten, though some modern Jains are vegan, and observance varies from family to family.

Strengths

• Traditional meals are built on grains, lentils, vegetables, fruit, nuts and dairy, mostly cooked at home.
• Eating before sunset means early dinners and a long overnight fast; supporters say it helps digestion and sleep. (Midnight snacking is simply off the table.)
• Fasting, especially during Paryushan, a yearly festival of fasting and forgiveness, builds self-discipline. Fasts range from upvas (no food, sometimes boiled water only) to ayambil (one plain meal a day without oil, dairy or spices).

Watch out for

• Protein can run low when meals are mostly grains.
• Vitamin B12 and vitamin D are common gaps, especially for vegan Jains.
• Fried snacks (farsan, sev) and sweets rich in ghee and sugar are popular.
• Long or repeated fasts can bring dizziness, low blood sugar and dehydration, especially in older adults.

Eating well within it

• Put protein in every meal: moong or toor dal, chana, paneer, yogurt, nuts and seeds.
• Use above-ground vegetables like cabbage, bottle gourd, green beans and greens, and raw banana in place of potato.
• Choose whole wheat and millets such as bajra and jowar over refined flour.

Possible supplement needs

Vitamin B12 is important, and essential for vegan Jains. Vitamin D is worth testing; plant-based capsules avoid gelatin.

Who should be careful

People with diabetes or on medication, pregnant or nursing women and older adults should keep fasts short: long fasts can drop blood sugar, and medicine doses may need adjusting.

No. 10Rastafarian Ital Diet

Rastafari, Jamaica and the CaribbeanFaithNatural living, spiritual and physical purity

Ital (from "vital," in the Rastafari way of speaking) is the way of eating followed by many Rastafari, a faith that arose in Jamaica in the 1930s. The idea is to eat natural, clean food from the earth; many see the body as a temple and Ital food as part of "livity," a righteous way of life in harmony with nature. Many Rastafari are vegetarian or vegan and most avoid pork; many also avoid shellfish, salt, alcohol, additives, and canned or processed food. There is no single rulebook, and practice varies: some eat small fish, for example.

Strengths

• Built on Caribbean produce: callaloo, breadfruit, plantain, yam, pumpkin, okra, ackee, gungo (pigeon) peas, red beans, coconut and fresh fruit.
• Very little processed food, sugar or alcohol, with thyme, scallion, scotch bonnet and pimento (allspice) bringing the flavor that salt brings elsewhere. Nobody has ever called Ital food bland.
• There is very little research on Ital eating itself, but whole-food, mostly plant diets are generally linked with good heart health.

Watch out for

• Vegans need a reliable source of vitamin B12, and iron and omega-3 fats can run low.
• Avoiding salt entirely can mean low iodine, since iodized salt is a main source for many people.
• Coconut-rich stews, fried dumplings and fried plantain add up in calories.
• Ackee must be eaten only when ripe and naturally opened; unripe ackee is poisonous. This is one fruit you do not rush.

Eating well within it

• Make Ital stew with pumpkin, callaloo and gungo peas in a modest amount of coconut milk, served with brown rice or roasted breadfruit.
• Get protein from beans, peas, nuts and seeds at every meal.
• Roast or boil plantain and dumplings instead of frying, and eat whole fruit more often than juice.

Possible supplement needs

Vitamin B12 is essential for vegans. Iodine (sea vegetables are one source) and vitamin D, especially outside the tropics.

Who should be careful

Pregnant women and children on vegan Ital diets need careful planning for B12, iodine and iron, and anyone using herbal remedies alongside medicines should check them for interactions.

No. 11Eastern Orthodox Fasting

Greek, Russian and other Orthodox churchesFaithSpiritual discipline

Eastern Orthodox churches keep one of the fullest fasting calendars in Christianity: about 180 to 200 fast days a year. That is most Wednesdays and Fridays, Great Lent (about seven weeks before Pascha, or Easter), the Nativity Fast before Christmas, the Apostles' Fast and the Dormition Fast in August. On strict fast days the faithful avoid meat, dairy, eggs, fish with backbones, olive oil (often all oil) and wine, while shellfish, octopus and squid are permitted, and some feast days within a fast allow fish, oil or wine. The church teaches fasting as a spiritual discipline joined with prayer and almsgiving, and laypeople usually follow it with guidance from their priest, who may relax it for illness, pregnancy or age.

Strengths

• Fast days are built on beans, lentils, vegetables, greens, olives, nuts and bread: Greek fasolada (bean soup), fakes (lentil soup) and gigantes (baked giant beans), or Russian buckwheat kasha, mushroom soups and sauerkraut. Half the year of fasting, and the food is still delicious.
• Studies of Greek Orthodox fasters on Crete found lower total and LDL cholesterol in those who kept the fasts.
• The rhythm of fast and feast saves the rich foods for celebrations, which is where they belong.

Watch out for

• On oil-free days, meals can lean on bread, pasta and potatoes, with little protein.
• Packaged Lenten cookies and snacks are still processed food. A packaged cookie is still a packaged cookie, butter or no butter.
• Long fasts without dairy can leave calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B12 low.
• The Paschal feast (lamb, eggs, sweet breads like tsoureki or kulich) can be hard on digestion after weeks of fasting.

Eating well within it

• Get protein and calcium from beans, lentils, almonds, leafy greens and tahini, and from fish on days it is allowed.
• Use olive oil generously on days it is allowed.
• Ease back into rich foods after Pascha. The lamb will wait for you.

Possible supplement needs

Vitamin D and calcium during long fasts, and vitamin B12 for those who fast strictly most of the year.

Who should be careful

People with diabetes or kidney disease, pregnant or nursing women and older adults can ask their priest about a gentler fast; the church relaxes it for illness, pregnancy and age.

No. 12Latter-day Saint Word of Wisdom

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsFaithHealth and religious observance

The Word of Wisdom is a health code that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe Joseph Smith received as a revelation in 1833 (Doctrine and Covenants, Section 89). It forbids alcohol, tobacco and "hot drinks," which church leaders define as coffee and tea (herbal teas are fine), and encourages "wholesome herbs," fruit in season, grain as "the staff of life," and meat "used sparingly." Members see the body as a gift from God, and keeping the code is required to enter the church's temples; leaders have also counseled against illegal drugs and vaping.

Strengths

• Studies of active church members in California and Utah have found lower rates of cancer and heart disease and longer lives than average, much of it credited to avoiding tobacco and alcohol.
• The emphasis on grains, fruit, vegetables and little meat fits nicely with whole-food eating.
• Clear rules, supported by family and congregation, make the code easier to keep. It's hard to fall off a wagon when the whole ward is riding in it.

Watch out for

• The code is often remembered for what it forbids, while its positive guidance (plants, grains, little meat) gets less airtime.
• Energy drinks and giant sugary sodas are not specifically forbidden, and members' views on them differ, but they bring a lot of sugar and caffeine. Trading coffee for a giant soda is not quite what the code had in mind.
• Today "the staff of life" often means white bread, and gatherings feature casseroles, Jell-O salads and desserts.
• Home food storage, which the church encourages, can lean on shelf-stable processed food.

Eating well within it

• Make whole grains (whole wheat, oats, brown rice, barley) the real staff of life; stored wheat can be ground for whole-wheat bread.
• Swap soda for sparkling water with fruit or herbal tea, and keep meat a side dish.
• Stock food storage with dry beans, oats, rice and canned fish, and rotate it.

Possible supplement needs

Usually few. Vitamin D if sunshine is limited.

Who should be careful

People with heart rhythm problems, high blood pressure or diabetes who drink many energy drinks or sodas, and people with celiac disease if meals are wheat-heavy.