Coffee
by Ellen White
Much injury is done to health by the variety of the food which is seen on so many
tables. Take the different dishes that are placed on the table at one meal, and put them
all together in one vessel--stir them up together. Does it make the stomach turn to look
at it? Leave it for a few hours and it will ferment. Yet thousands compel their stomachs
to receive just such a mass as this every day--half masticated meat, condiments, spices,
pies, and sweet puddings are washed down with tea and coffee. The abused stomach is
obliged to take them and do the best it can with them. 10MR 286
Two years ago I came to the conclusion that there was danger in using the flesh of dead
animals, and since then I have not used meat at all. It is never placed on my table. I use
fish when I can get it. We can get beautiful fish from the saltwater lake near here. I use
neither tea nor coffee. As I labour against these things, I cannot but practice that which
I know to be best for health, and my family are all in perfect harmony with me. You see,
my dear niece, that I am telling you matters just as they are. 14MR 330
There are many who spend their money for that which is not bread--for tea, coffee, the
large use of flesh-meats. All of these produce their sure results in painful affliction.
Many animals have been butchered when their blood was in a high state of fever, apparently
boiling with madness. Those who eat of these meats are subject to inflammation and
blood-poisoning. Some have distressing spasms, some have great distress of the bowels.
15MR 283
Never allow Dr. _____ to connect with the institution with the understanding that tea,
coffee, and flesh meat will be served to the patients. . . . 1MR 289
In regard to flesh meat, do not bring it into the [Wahroonga] sanitarium. Neither tea
nor coffee should be served. Caramel cereal, made as nicely as possible, should be served
in the place of these health-destroying beverages. In regard to the third meal, do not
make eating but two meals compulsory. Some do best healthwise when eating three light
meals, and when they are restricted to two, they feel the change severely. 1MR 289
We are not to make rules with the idea that they are never to be changed or modified.
In our sanitariums the seventh-day Sabbath is ever to be kept holy. No tea, coffee, or
flesh meat is to be served, unless it is in some special case, where the patient
particularly desires it, and then, these articles of food should be served to him in his
room. No tests that the Bible does not require are to be brought in. Every effort should
be made to win the confidence of the patients, that their hearts may be reached by the
truth. The workers are to draw as near to them as they can, bringing them into the
sunshine of Christ's love. 1MR 290
Some are indulging lustful appetite which wars against the soul and is a constant
hindrance to their spiritual advancement. They constantly bear an accusing conscience, and
if straight truths are talked they are prepared to be offended. They are self-condemned
and feel that subjects have been purposely selected to touch their case. They feel grieved
and injured, and withdraw themselves from the assemblies of the saints. They forsake the
assembling of themselves together, for then their consciences are not so disturbed. They
soon lose their interest in the meetings and their love for the truth, and, unless they
entirely reform, will go back and take their position with the rebel host who stand under
the black banner of Satan. If these will crucify fleshly lusts which war against the soul,
they will get out of the way, where the arrows of truth will pass harmlessly by them. But
while they indulge lustful appetite, and thus cherish their idols, they make themselves a
mark for the arrows of truth to hit, and if truth is spoken at all, they must be wounded.
Some think that they cannot reform, that health would be sacrificed should they attempt to
leave the use of tea, tobacco, and flesh meats. This is the suggestion of Satan. It is
these hurtful stimulants that are surely undermining the constitution and preparing the
system for acute diseases by impairing Nature's fine machinery and battering down her
fortifications erected against disease and premature decay. 1T 548
For about two years self and family have tried the two meal per day system,[* SEE
APPENDIX C.] during which time we have not used meats of any kind; neither have we used
tea or coffee, nor any highly seasoned food, and but a very small quantity of fish; we
have used grains, fruits, and vegetables. The results of the system are evenness of
temper, clearness of mind, steadiness of nerve, increased mental power, and a better
subjection of the physical to the moral power. 2BIO 137
[ Borrowed Power Results in Depression. ] --Through the intemperance begun at home, the
digestive organs first become weakened, and soon ordinary food does not satisfy the
appetite. Unhealthy conditions are established, and there is a craving for more
stimulating food. Tea and coffee produce an immediate effect. Under the influence of these
poisons the nervous system is excited; and in some cases, for the time being, the
intellect seems to be invigorated, the imagination more vivid. Because these stimulants
produce such agreeable results, many conclude that they really need them; but there is
always a reaction. 2MCP 484
[ Counsel on the Administration of Drugs ] [ Seldom Needed--Use Them Less and Less. ]
--Drug medication, as it is generally practised, is a curse. Educate away from drugs. Use
them less and less, and depend more upon hygienic agencies; then nature will respond to
God's physicians--pure air, pure water, proper exercise, a clear conscience. Those who
persist in the use of tea, coffee, and flesh meats will feel the need of drugs, but many
might recover without one grain of medicine if they would obey the laws of health. Drugs
need seldom be used.[* IN HARMONY WITH THESE WORDS WAS MRS. WHITE'S COUNSEL WHEN ASKED
CONCERNING THE USE OF QUININE IN THE TREATMENT OF MALARIA. HER SON, WHO TRAVELLED WITH HER
AND ASSISTED HER, REPORTS THE FOLLOWING: "ONE TIME WHILE WE WERE IN AUSTRALIA, A
BROTHER WHO HAD BEEN ACTING AS A MISSIONARY IN THE ISLANDS, TOLD MOTHER OF THE SICKNESS
AND DEATH OF HIS FIRST-BORN SON. HE WAS SERIOUSLY AFFLICTED WITH MALARIA, AND HIS FATHER
WAS ADVISED TO GIVE HIM QUININE, BUT IN VIEW OF THE COUNSEL IN THE TESTIMONIES TO AVOID
THE USE OF QUININE HE REFUSED TO ADMINISTER IT, AND HIS SON DIED. WHEN HE MET SISTER
WHITE, HE ASKED HER THIS QUESTION: 'WOULD I HAVE SINNED TO GIVE THE BOY QUININE WHEN I
KNEW OF NO OTHER WAY TO CHECK MALARIA AND WHEN THE PROSPECT WAS THAT HE WOULD DIE WITHOUT
IT?' IN REPLY SHE SAID, 'NO, WE ARE EXPECTED TO DO THE BEST WE CAN.'" --W. C. WHITE
LETTER, SEPTEMBER 10, 1935.--COMPILERS.]-- p. 261 (1890). 2SM 281
[ "My herb drink." ] --We need not go to China for our tea, or to Java for
our coffee. Some have said: "Sister White uses tea, she keeps it in her house;"
and that she has placed it before them to drink. They have not told the truth because I do
not use it, neither do I keep it in my house. Once when crossing the waters I was sick and
could retain nothing on my stomach and I did take a little weak tea as a medicine, but I
don't want any of you again to make the remark that "Sister White uses tea." If
you will come to my house I will show you the bag that contains my herb drink. I send to
Michigan, across the mountains, and get the red-clover top. In regard to coffee, I never
could drink it, so those who reported that Sister White drinks coffee made a mistake.--
Manuscript 3, 1888 (Sermon, Oakland, California). 2SM 301
[ Tea Used as a Medicine, but Not as a Beverage. ] --I do not use tea, either green or
black. Not a spoonful has passed my lips for many years except when crossing the ocean,
and once since on this side I took it as a medicine when I was sick and vomiting. In such
circumstances it may prove a present relief. 2SM 302
I did not use tea when you were with us. I have always used red-clover top, as I stated
to you. I offered you this, and told you it was a good, simple, and wholesome drink....
2SM 302
I have not bought a penny's worth of tea for years. Knowing its influence I would not
dare to use it, except in cases of severe vomiting when I take it as a medicine, but not
as a beverage.... 2SM 302
[ Coffee as Medicine. ] --I have not knowingly drunk a cup of genuine coffee for twenty
years, only, as I stated, during my sickness--for a medicine--I drank a cup of coffee,
very strong, with a raw egg broken into it.--Letter 20, 1882 (To friends). 2SM 302
I have not knowingly drunk a cup of genuine coffee for twenty years, only, as I stated,
during my sickness--for a medicine--I drank a cup of coffee, very strong, with a raw egg
broken into it.--Letter 20, 1882 (To friends). 2SM 302
The second effect of tea drinking is headache, wakefulness, palpitation of the heart,
indigestion, trembling of the nerves, with many other evils. "I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." God calls
for a living sacrifice, not a dead or dying one. When we realise the requirements of God,
we shall see that He requires us to be temperate in all things. The end of our creation is
to glorify God in our bodies and spirits, which are His. How can we do this when we
indulge the appetite to the injury of the physical and moral powers? God requires that we
present our bodies a living sacrifice. Then the duty is enjoined on us to preserve that
body in the very best condition of health, that we may comply with His requirements.
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of
God." 2T 065
A man and his sister lived in the house joined to this barn--for universally the barn
is one-half of the house. The smallest half is the dwelling part for the family. These
two, brother and sister, are strong Catholics and they are devoted to the Catholic
religion, but they treated us with the greatest courtesy. They wanted to make us a dish of
coffee or tea, or serve us with cake and wine, but all this was declined. They urged us to
come into the family rooms, but I could sit in the carriage and look out through the large
open doors and see the showers of hail and I did not wish to go into the house where I
would be deprived of this sight. . . . We gathered up handfuls of the hail and ate them.
3MR 374
Above all things, we should not with our pens advocate positions that we do not put to
a practical test in our own families, upon our own tables. This is dissimulation, a
species of hypocrisy. In Michigan we can get along better without salt, sugar, and milk
than can many who are situated in the Far West or in the far East, where there is a
scarcity of fruit. But there are very few families in Battle Creek who do not use these
articles upon their tables. We know that a free use of these things is positively
injurious to health, and, in many cases, we think that if they were not used at all, a
much better state of health would be enjoyed. But at present our burden is not upon these
things. The people are so far behind that we see it is all they can bear to have us draw
the line upon their injurious indulgences and stimulating narcotics. We bear positive
testimony against tobacco, spirituous liquors, snuff, tea, coffee, flesh meats, butter,
spices, rich cakes, mince pies, a large amount of salt, and all exciting substances used
as articles of food. 3T 021
Intemperance commences at our tables in the use of unhealthful food. After a time,
through continued indulgence, the digestive organs become weakened, and the food taken
does not satisfy the appetite. Unhealthy conditions are established, and there is a
craving for more stimulating food. Tea, coffee, and flesh meats produce an immediate
effect. Under the influence of these poisons the nervous system is excited, and, in some
cases, for the time being, the intellect seems to be invigorated and the imagination to be
more vivid. Because these stimulants produce for the time being such agreeable results,
many conclude that they really need them and continue their use. But there is always a
reaction. The nervous system, having been unduly excited, borrowed power for present use
from its future resources of strength. All this temporary invigoration of the system is
followed by depression. In proportion as these stimulants temporarily invigorate the
system will be the letting down of the power of the excited organs after the stimulus has
lost its force. The appetite is educated to crave something stronger which will have a
tendency to keep up and increase the agreeable excitement, until indulgence becomes habit,
and there is a continual craving for stronger stimulus, as tobacco, wines, and liquors.
The more the appetite is indulged, the more frequent will be its demands and the more
difficult of control. The more debilitated the system becomes and the less able to do
without unnatural stimulus, the more the passion for these things increases, until the
will is overborne, and there seems to be no power to deny the unnatural craving for these
indulgences. 3T 487
Intemperance commences at our tables in the use of unhealthful food. After a time,
through continued indulgence, the digestive organs become weakened, and the food taken
does not satisfy the appetite. Unhealthy conditions are established, and there is a
craving for more stimulating food. Tea, coffee, and flesh meats produce an immediate
effect. Under the influence of these poisons the nervous system is excited, and, in some
cases, for the time being, the intellect seems to be invigorated and the imagination to be
more vivid. Because these stimulants produce for the time being such agreeable results,
many conclude that they really need them and continue their use. But there is always a
reaction. The nervous system, having been unduly excited, borrowed power for present use
from its future resources of strength. All this temporary invigoration of the system is
followed by depression. In proportion as these stimulants temporarily invigorate the
system will be the letting down of the power of the excited organs after the stimulus has
lost its force. The appetite is educated to crave something stronger which will have a
tendency to keep up and increase the agreeable excitement, until indulgence becomes habit,
and there is a continual craving for stronger stimulus, as tobacco, wines, and liquors.
The more the appetite is indulged, the more frequent will be its demands and the more
difficult of control. The more debilitated the system becomes and the less able to do
without unnatural stimulus, the more the passion for these things increases, until the
will is overborne, and there seems to be no power to deny the unnatural craving for these
indulgences. 3T 487
Tobacco is a slow, insidious poison, and its effects are more difficult to cleanse from
the system than those of liquor. What power can the tobacco devotee have to stay the
progress of intemperance? There must be a revolution in our world upon the subject of
tobacco before the axe is laid at the root of the tree. We press the subject still closer.
Tea and coffee are fostering the appetite which is developing for stronger stimulants, as
tobacco and liquor. And we come still closer home, to the daily meals, the tables spread
in Christian households. Is temperance practised in all things? Are the reforms which are
essential to health and happiness carried out there? Every true Christian will have
control of his appetite and passions. Unless he is free from the bondage and slavery of
appetite he cannot be a true, obedient servant of Christ. It is the indulgence of appetite
and passion which makes the truth of none effect upon the heart. It is impossible for the
spirit and power of the truth to sanctify a man, soul, body, and spirit, when he is
controlled by appetite and passion. - 3T 569
I saw that Brother Morrell was a nervous dyspeptic. Should he adopt the health reform,
his health would improve. Everything of a stimulating nature as tea, coffee, or flesh
meats, he should avoid. These are all too stimulating, too great a tax to the nervous
system. They do not impart strength as he supposes to the nerves, but take the strength
from the nerves and use his reserve force, vital force. They have an exhilarating
influence at first, but in the end [leave] him just as much below the medium, as through
their influence he was raised above the medium. These things are an injury, and he should
by degrees leave all stimulating, irritating causes and eat food that will not simulate
and draw upon the strength of the nerves, thus having an influence to debilitate the
nervous system. He will for a time feel the need of these hurtful brain- and
nerve-weakening indulgences, but in time he will recover as much by their disuse as he has
lost through their use. Then can the brain think more calmly, sleep will not be so
uncertain. . . . 5MR 298
I have had the situation opened to me, my brother, and the results for which a
sanitarium should be conducted. The Boulder Sanitarium had, in the fear of God, taken the
ground that our leading sanitariums have taken--to discard meat, tea, coffee, spirituous
liquor, and the drug medications. Temperance principles had been taught in parlour
lectures, and in other ways. Wholesome foods were served, and genuine health reform was
taught. This institution should have had the right of way. But by the location of another
sanitarium so nearby, the principles of which are in some respects quite different from
those of the Boulder Sanitarium, difficulties will be presented which should not
exist.--Letter 196, 1906. 6BIO 036
Wherever the last message of warning is given combined with medical missionary work and
lessons on the right principles of living, wonderful results are seen. Our sanitariums are
to be the means of enlightening those who come to them for treatment. The patients are to
be shown how they can live upon a diet of grains, fruits, nuts, and other products of the
soil. I have been instructed that lectures should be regularly given in our sanitariums on
health topics. People are to be taught to discard those articles of food that weaken the
health and strength of the beings for whom Christ gave His life. The injurious effects of
tea and coffee are to be shown. The patients are to be taught how they can dispense with
those articles of diet that injure the digestive organs. These things are to be treated
from a health standpoint.--Letter 233, 1905, pp. 7, 9. (To Dr. and Mrs. D. H. Kress,
August 9, 1905.) 7MR 380
Concerning flesh meat, we should educate the people to let it alone. Its use is
contrary to the best development of the physical, mental, and moral powers. And we should
bear a clear testimony against the use of tea and coffee. It is also well to discard rich
desserts. Milk, eggs, and butter should not be classed with flesh meat. In some cases the
use of eggs is beneficial. The time has not come to say that the use of milk and eggs
should be wholly discarded. There are poor families whose diet consists largely of bread
and milk. They have little fruit and cannot afford to purchase the nut foods. In teaching
health reform, as in all other gospel work, we are to meet the people where they are.
Until we can teach them how to prepare health reform foods that are palatable, nourishing,
and yet inexpensive, we are not at liberty to present the most advanced propositions
regarding health reform diet. 7T 134
I think that healthy, growing youth need a nourishing diet, especially when dispensing
with meat, which has an immediate stimulating influence, to be followed by depression.
Meat eating cannot be tolerated in the school. Tea or coffee should not be allowed. And if
the students are allowed to have lunches in their rooms, unwholesome food will be eaten,
which will be deleterious to health.--Letter 141, 1899, pp. 1, 2. (To A. G. Daniells, W.
C. White and E. R. Palmer, September 15, 1899.) Released June 21, 1978. 8MR 372
Light has been given showing the injurious effects of tea, coffee, and flesh meats; but
this light has been disregarded, even by those who profess to believe the testimonies.
They even feel that to deny themselves of these health-destroying indulgences would be a
restriction of their liberties. If deprived of their use for a time, they feel the loss,
because of former indulgences, and are always pleading to be allowed to use them in some
form. Care should be exercised in the case of self-indulgent worldlings who have been
accustomed to the use of these stimulants. Enlighten their minds by the means of the talks
and the lectures, in regard to the effects of tea, coffee, and flesh meats, and thus lead
them to a voluntary correction of their habits. 8MR 382
The question of how to preserve the health is one of primary importance. When we study
this question in the fear of God, we shall learn that it is best, for both our physical
and our spiritual advancement, to observe simplicity in diet. Let us patiently study this
question. We need knowledge and judgement in order to move wisely in this matter. Nature's
laws are not to be resisted, but obeyed.
Those who have received instruction regarding the evils of the use of flesh foods, tea
and coffee, and rich and unhealthful food preparations, and who are determined to make a
covenant with God by sacrifice, will not continue to indulge their appetite for food that
they know to be unhealthful. God demands that the appetites be cleansed, and that
self-denial be practised in regard to those things which are not good. This is a work that
will have to be done before His people can stand before Him a perfected people. . . .
There are some professed believers who accept certain portions of the Testimonies as
the message of God, while they reject those portions that condemn their favourite
indulgences. Such persons are working contrary to their own welfare, and the welfare of
the church. It is essential that we walk in the light while we have the light. Those who
claim to believe in health reform, and yet work counter to its principles in the daily
life practice, are hurting their own souls and are leaving wrong impressions upon the
minds of believers and unbelievers. . . .
9T 153,154
As we face these things, and see the terrible consequences of liquor-drinking, shall we
not do all in our power to rally to the help of God in fighting against this great evil?
At the foundation of liquor-drinking lie wrong habits of eating. Those who believe present
truth should refuse to drink tea or coffee; for these excite a desire for stronger
stimulants. They should refuse to eat flesh-meat; for this, too excites a desire for
strong drink. Wholesome food, prepared with taste and skill, should be our diet now. BTS
JUL.01,1902
I was thoroughly convinced that many in the establishment were suffering with
indigestion because of eating this kind of food. The digestive organs were enfeebled, and
the blood impoverished. Their breakfast consisted of coffee and bread with the addition of
prune sauce. This was not healthful. The stomach, after rest and sleep, was better able to
take care of a substantial meal than when wearied with work. Then the noon meal was
generally soup, sometimes meat. The stomach is small, but the appetite, unsatisfied,
partakes largely of this liquid food, so it is burdened. CD 105
[ Letter 213, 1902 ] In our sanitariums . . . no tea, coffee, or flesh meat is to be
served, unless it is in some special case, where the patient particularly desires it, and
then, these articles of food should be served to him in his room. CD 294
Condiments and spices used in the preparation of food for the table aid in digestion in
the same way that tea, coffee, and liquor are supposed to help the labouring man perform
his tasks. After the immediate effects are gone, they drop as correspondingly below par as
they were elevated above par by these stimulating substances. The system is weakened. The
blood is contaminated, and inflammation is the sure result. CD 339
We are to be brought into connection with the masses. Should health reform be taught
them in its most extreme form, harm would be done. We ask them to leave off eating meat
and drinking tea and coffee. That is well. But some say that milk also should be given up.
This is a subject that needs to be carefully handled. There are poor families whose diet
consists of bread and milk, and, if they can get it, a little fruit. All flesh food should
be discarded, but vegetables should be made palatable with a little milk or cream or
something equivalent. The poor say, when health reform is presented to them, "What
shall we eat? We cannot afford to buy the nut foods." As I preach the gospel to the
poor, I am instructed to tell them to eat that food which is most nourishing. I cannot say
to them, "You must not eat eggs or milk or cream. You must use no butter in the
preparation of food." The gospel must be preached to the poor, and the time has not
yet come to prescribe the strictest diet. [ Letter 37, 1901 ] CD 358
For thirty years the light on health reform has been coming to the people of God, but
many have made it a subject of jest. They have continued to use tea, coffee, spices, and
flesh meat. Their bodies are full of disease. How can we, I ask, present such ones to the
Lord for healing? [ (Written 1884) E. from U.T. 2 ] CD 400
717. Let our ministers and canvassers step under the banners of strict temperance.
Never be ashamed to say, "No, thank you; I do not eat meat. I have conscientious
scruples against eating the flesh of dead animals." If tea is offered, refuse it,
giving your reason for so doing. Explain that it is harmful, and though stimulating for a
time, the stimulus soon wears off, and a corresponding depression is felt. [ Letter 135,
1902 ] CD 402
[ Meeting the Issue Squarely Letter 59, 1898 ] 722. The sanitarium is doing good work.
We have just come to the point of the vexed meat question. Should not those who come to
the sanitarium have meat on their tables, and be instructed to leave it off gradually? . .
. Years ago the light was given me that the position should not be taken positively to
discard all meat, because in some cases it was better than the desserts, and dishes
composed of sweets. These are sure to create disturbances. It is the variety and mixture
of meat, vegetables, fruit, wines, tea, coffee, sweet cakes, and rich pies that ruin the
stomach, and place human beings in a position where they become invalids with all the
disagreeable effects of sickness upon the disposition. . . . CD 410
Now no tea, coffee, or flesh meat is served in the institution. We are determined to
live out the principles of health reform, to walk in the way of truth and righteousness.
We shall not, for fear of losing patronage, be half-and-half reformers. We have taken our
position, and by God's help we shall stand by it. The food provided for the patients is
wholesome and palatable. The diet is composed of fruits and grains and nuts. Here in
California there is an abundance of fruit of all kinds. CD 414
Many make a mistake in drinking cold water with their meals. Taken with meals, water
diminishes the flow of the salivary glands; and the colder the water, the greater the
injury to the stomach. Ice water or ice lemonade, drunk with meals, will arrest digestion
until the system has imparted sufficient warmth to the stomach to enable it to take up its
work again. Hot drinks are debilitating; and besides, those who indulge in their use
become slaves to the habit. Food should not be washed down; no drink is needed with meals.
Eat slowly, and allow the saliva to mingle with the food. The more liquid there is taken
into the stomach with the meals, the more difficult it is for the food to digest; for the
liquid must first be absorbed. Do not eat largely of salt; give up bottled pickles; keep
fiery spiced food out of your stomach; eat fruit with your meals, and the irritation which
calls for so much drink will cease to exist. But if anything is needed to quench thirst,
pure water, drunk some little time before of after meal, is all that nature requires.
Never take tea, coffee, beer, wine, or any spirituous liquors. Water is the best liquid
possible to cleanse the tissues. CD 420
Coffee is a hurtful indulgence. It temporarily excites the mind to unwonted action, but
the after-effect is exhaustion, prostration, paralysis of the mental, moral, and physical
powers. The mind becomes enervated, and unless through determined effort the habit is
overcome, the activity of the brain is permanently lessened. All these nerve irritants are
wearing away the life forces, and the restlessness caused by shattered nerves, the
impatience, the mental feebleness, become a warring element, antagonising to spiritual
progress. Then should not those who advocate temperance and reform be awake to counteract
the evils of these injurious drinks? In some cases it is as difficult to break up the
tea-and-coffee habit as it is for the inebriate to discontinue the use of liquor. The
money expended for tea and coffee is worse than wasted. They do the user only harm, and
that continually. Those who use tea, coffee, opium, and alcohol, may sometimes live to an
old age, but this fact is no argument in favour of the use of these stimulants. What these
persons might have accomplished, but failed to do because of their intemperate habits, the
great day of God alone will reveal. CD 421
The effect of tea and coffee, as heretofore shown, tends in the same direction as that
of wine and cider, liquor and tobacco. . . . CD 421
Tea, coffee, and tobacco, as well as alcoholic drinks, are different degrees in the
scale of artificial stimulants. CD 421
Those who resort to tea and coffee for stimulation to labour, will feel the evil
effects of this course in trembling nerves and lack of self-control. Tired nerves need
rest and quiet. Nature needs time to recuperate her exhausted energies. But if her forces
are goaded on by use of stimulants, there is, whenever this process is repeated, a
lessening of real force. For a time more may be accomplished under the unnatural stimulus,
but gradually it becomes more difficult to rouse the energies to the desired point, and at
last exhausted nature can no longer respond. CD 422
Because of these results, many suppose that their tea or coffee is doing them great
good. But this is a mistake. Tea and coffee do not nourish the system. Their effect is
produced before there has been time for digestion and assimilation, and what seems to be
strength is only nervous excitement. When the influence of the stimulant is gone, the
unnatural force abates, and the result is a corresponding degree of languor and debility.
CD 424
The continued use of these nerve irritants is followed by headache, wakefulness,
palpitation of the heart, indigestion, trembling, and many other evils, for they wear away
the life forces. Tired nerves need rest and quiet instead of stimulation and overwork.
Nature needs time to recuperate her exhausted energies. When her forces are goaded on by
the use of stimulants, more will be accomplished for a time; but as the system becomes
debilitated by their constant use, it gradually becomes more difficult to rouse the
energies to the desired point. The demand for stimulants becomes more difficult to
control, until the will is overborne, and there seems to be no power to deny the unnatural
craving. Stronger and still stronger stimulants are called for, until exhausted nature can
no longer respond. CD 424
Tea and coffee drinking is a sin, an injurious indulgence, which, like other evils,
injures the soul. These darling idols create an excitement, a morbid action of the nervous
system; and after the immediate influence of the stimulants is gone, it lets down below
par just to that degree that its stimulating properties elevated above par. (1861) CD 425
Those who are in the habit of using tea, coffee, tobacco, opium, or spirituous liquors,
cannot worship God when they are deprived of the accustomed indulgence. Let them, while
deprived of these stimulants, engage in the worship of God, and divine grace would be
powerless to animate, enliven, or spiritualise their prayers or their testimonies. These
professed Christians should consider the means of their enjoyment. Is it from above, or
from beneath? CD 426
[ A Losing Battle With Appetite (1875) 3T 487, 488 ] 745. Intemperance commences at our
tables, in the use of unhealthful food. After a time, through continued indulgence, the
digestive organs become weakened, and the food taken does not satisfy the appetite.
Unhealthy conditions are established, and there is a craving for more stimulating food.
Tea, coffee, and flesh meats produce an immediate effect. Under the influence of these
poisons, the nervous system is excited, and, in some cases, for the time being, the
intellect seems to be invigorated and the imagination to be more vivid. Because these
stimulants produce for the time being such agreeable results, many conclude that they
really need them, and continue their use. But there is always a reaction. The nervous
system, having been unduly excited, borrowed power for present use from its future
resources of strength. All this temporary invigoration of the system is followed by
depression. In proportion as these stimulants temporarily invigorate the system, will be
the letting down of the power of the excited organs after the stimulus has lost its force.
The appetite is educated to crave something stronger, which will have a tendency to keep
up and increase the agreeable excitement, until indulgence becomes habit, and there is a
continual craving for stronger stimulus, as tobacco, wines, and liquors. The more the
appetite is indulge, the more frequent will be its demands, and the more difficult of
control. The more debilitated the system becomes, and the less able to do without
unnatural stimulus, the more the passion for these things increases, until the will is
overborne, and there seems to be no power to deny the unnatural craving for these
indulgences. CD 427
[ Persevere, and Nature Will Rally ] In relation to tea, coffee, tobacco, and alcoholic
drinks, the only safe course is to touch not, taste not, handle not. The tendency of tea,
coffee, and similar drinks is in the same direction as that of alcoholic liquor and
tobacco, and in some cases the habit is as difficult to break as it is for the drunkard to
give up intoxicants. Those who attempt to leave off these stimulants will for a time feel
a loss, and will suffer without them. But by persistence they will overcome the craving,
and cease to feel the lack. Nature may require a little time to recover from the abuse she
has suffered; but give her a chance, and she will again rally, and perform her work nobly
and well. [ (1875) 3T 569 ] CD 430
749. Concerning flesh meat we can all say, Let it alone. And all should bear a clear
testimony against tea and coffee, never using them. They are narcotics, injurious alike to
the brain and to the other organs of the body.... CD 430
It is many years since I have had meat on my table at home. We never use tea or coffee.
Occasionally I have used red-clover-blossom tea for a warm drink, but few of my family
drink any fluid at our meals. The table is provided with cream instead of butter, even
though we have company present. I have not used butter for many years. CD 492
[ tea and coffee Are Contributing Factors. ] -- Through the intemperance begun at home,
the digestive organs first become weakened, and soon ordinary food does not satisfy the
appetite. Unhealthy conditions are established, and there is a craving for more
stimulating food. Tea and coffee produce an immediate effect. Under the influence of these
poisons the nervous system is excited; and in some cases, for the time being, the
intellect seems to be invigorated, the imagination more vivid. Because these stimulants
produce such agreeable results, many conclude that they really need them; but there is
always a reaction. The nervous system has borrowed power from its future resources for
present use, and all this temporary invigoration is followed by a corresponding
depression. The suddenness of the relief obtained from tea and coffee is an evidence that
what seems to be strength is only nervous excitement, and consequently must be an injury
to the system. CG 403
Tea and coffee do not nourish the system. The relief obtained from them is sudden,
before the stomach has time to digest them. This shows that what the users of these
stimulants call strength, is only received by exciting the nerves of the stomach, which
convey the irritation to the brain, and this in turn is aroused to impart increased action
to the heart, and short-lived energy to the entire system. All this is false strength,
that we are the worse for having. They do not give a particle of natural strength. The
second effect of tea drinking is headache, wakefulness, palpitation of the heart,
indigestion, trembling of the nerves, with many other evils. CH 087
Tea and coffee, condiments, confectionery, and pastries are all active causes of
indigestion. Flesh food also is harmful. Its naturally stimulating effect should be a
sufficient argument against its use; and the almost universally diseased condition of
animals makes it doubly objectionable. It tends to irritate the nerves and to excite the
passions, thus giving the balance of power to the lower propensities. ED 203
In the study of hygiene, students should be taught the nutrient value of different
foods. The effect of a concentrated and stimulating diet, also of foods deficient in the
elements of nutrition, should be made plain. Tea and coffee, fine-flour bread, pickles,
coarse vegetables, candies, condiments, and pastries fail of supplying proper nutriment.
Many a student has broken down as the result of using such foods. Many a puny child,
incapable of vigorous effort of mind or body, is the victim of an impoverished diet.
Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables, in proper combination, contain all the elements of
nutrition; and when properly prepared, they constitute the diet that best promotes both
physical and mental strength. ED 204
To a certain extent, tea produces intoxication. It enters into the circulation, and
gradually impairs the energy of body and mind. It stimulates, excites, and quickens the
motion of the living machinery, forcing it to unnatural action, and thus gives the tea
drinker the impression that it is doing him great service, imparting to him strength. This
is a mistake. Tea draws upon the strength of the nerves, and leaves them greatly weakened.
When its influence is gone and the increased action caused by its use is abated, then what
is the result?--Languor and debility corresponding to the artificial vivacity the tea
imparted. When the system is already overtaxed and needs rest, the use of tea spurs up
nature by stimulation to perform unwonted, unnatural action, and thereby lessens her power
to perform, and her ability to endure; and her powers give out long before Heaven designed
they should. Tea is poisonous to the system. Christians should let it alone. . . . The
second effect of tea drinking is headache, wakefulness, palpitation of the heart,
indigestion, trembling of the nerves, and many other evils.-- HL 107
860. The influence of coffee is in a degree the same as tea, but the effect upon the
system is still worse. Its influence is exciting, and just in the degree that it elevates
above par, it will exhaust and bring prostration below par. . . . The relief obtained from
them [tea and coffee] is sudden, before the stomach has had time to digest them. This
shows that what the users of these stimulants call strength is only received by exciting
the nerves of the stomach, which convey the irritation to the brain, and this in turn is
aroused to impart increased action to the heart, and short-lived energy to the entire
system. All this is false strength, that we are the worse for having.-- . HL 201
1055. To use drugs while continuing evil habits is certainly inconsistent, and greatly
dishonours God by dishonouring the body which he has made. Yet for all this, stimulants
and drugs continue to be prescribed and freely used; while the hurtful indulgences that
produce the disease are not discarded. The use of tea, coffee, tobacco, opium, wine, beer,
and other stimulants gives nature a false support. Physicians should understand how to
treat the sick through the use of nature's remedies. Pure air, pure water, and healthful
exercise should be employed in the treatment of the sick.-- . HL 247
This might be correct if the appetite had never been perverted. There is a natural, and
a depraved, appetite. Parents who have taught their children to eat unhealthful,
stimulating food, all their lives, until the taste is perverted, and they crave clay,
slate pencils, burned coffee, tea grounds, cinnamon, cloves, and spices, cannot claim that
the appetite demands what the system requires. The appetite has been falsely educated,
until it is depraved. The fine organs of the stomach have been stimulated and burned,
until they have lost their delicate sensitiveness. Simple, healthful food, seems to them
insipid. The abused stomach will not perform the work given it, unless urged to it by the
most stimulating substances. If these children had been trained from their infancy to take
only healthful food, prepared in the most simple manner, preserving its natural properties
as much as possible, and avoiding flesh meats, grease, and all spices, the taste and
appetite would be unimpaired. In its natural state, it might indicate, in a great degree,
the food best adapted to the wants of the system. HR DEC.01,1870
We passed into another room, and spent some time in conversation. Eld. Matteson read
and explained portions of Scripture, and we had a season of prayer. An hour or two after
dinner it is customary to serve cakes and coffee; our friends, knowing that we did not use
the latter, substituted hot water and cream. This we drank from tiny china cups, but we
had no need to eat again. We bade our friends farewell, and were conveyed in their
carriage back to the home of Bro. Hedin. As is the custom of Scandinavia, the leave-taking
was more ceremonious than our reception. - HS 199
[ Stimulants and Narcotics ] Diseases of every stripe and type have been brought upon
human beings by the use of tea and coffee and the narcotics, opium, and tobacco. These
hurtful indulgences must be given up, not only one, but all; for all are hurtful, and
ruinous to the physical, mental, and moral powers, and should be discontinued from a
health standpoint. The common use of the flesh of dead animals has had a deteriorating
influence upon the morals as well as the physical constitution. MM 222
We are to be brought into connection with the masses. Should health reform be taught
them in its most extreme form, harm would be done. We ask them to leave off eating meat
and drinking tea and coffee. That is well. . . . MM 288
Will Elder Daniels please make his statements, telling wherein Sister White contradicts
her own teachings? I know that he stated that I drank tea, and invited him to drink it,
saying it was good for him. Not only myself, but the members of my family, know this to be
an untruth. What other things he has stated I cannot determine. But what if someone did
use these things contrary to the light of health reform, is it not best to follow the
Bible teaching upon temperance, and the light given in testimony? Do you not remember that
we have an individual accountability? We do not make articles of diet a test question, but
we do try to educate the intellect, and to arouse the moral sensibility to take hold of
health reform in an intelligent manner, as Paul presents it in Rom. 13:8-14; 1 Cor.
9:24-27; 1 Tim. 3:8-12. PH028 017
I have not tested the wine that you claim is not intoxicating. I have perhaps used half
a pint in all, taking a spoonful with a raw egg, much as I hate the taste of wine. I would
not care, even if I had not solemnly pledged myself not to use wine as a beverage, to make
a daily practice of taking even one teaspoonful with a raw egg, for Satan is at work to
encourage the use of tea, coffee, wine, and beer, that he may make us dependent upon these
things, and encourage our resorting to them frequently, so that our appetite and taste
will crave these stimulants. I tell you frankly that you would be much better in nerve and
muscle if you made a decided change in your practice, not only in drinking stimulating
drinks, but in eating so largely of meat. The animal powers are strengthened by indulgence
in these things, and the moral and spiritual powers are overborne. I am not guilty of
drinking any tea except red clover top tea, and if I loved wine, tea, and coffee, I would
not use these health-destroying narcotics, for I prize health, and I prize a healthful
example in all these things. I want to be a pattern of temperance and of good works to
others. Will my brother practice as well as preach temperance in all things? If you do
this, I do not believe you will be so changeable in your character. Your words will be
more select and well chosen. You will not be careless in regard to your conversation. You
will not be so depressed at one time and so hilarious at another, acting like a boy in
place of an ambassador of Jesus Christ. I am seriously troubled for your soul. I know
people are unwise in praising you and extolling you; should they read you as God sees you,
they could not do this. I know that when you have apparent success you are elated, and you
crave praise; and you get it from many, who, if their hearts were right with God, would
not speak one word to flatter you. They would understand that it is not safe to pet and
praise you, or any other poor, sinful mortal. The Lord is to be exalted by all his
creatures. Finite man is not to attract admiration or praise, but do his work in humility.
Ellen White. PH096 055
Jesus endured the painful fast in our behalf, and conquered Satan in every temptation,
thus making it possible for man to conquer in his own behalf, and on his own account,
through the strength brought to him by this mighty victory gained as man's substitute and
surety. We thank the Lord that a victory was gained upon these points, even here in Basel;
and we hope to carry our brethren and sisters up to a still higher standard to sign the
pledge to abstain from Java coffee and the herb that comes from China. We see that there
are some who need to take this step in reform. There are some who are nervous, and they
should abstain from these nerve-weakening narcotics, that they may place themselves in
right relation to the laws of life and health. These injurious stimulants are doing great
harm to their nervous system. The machinery of nature is aroused to unwonted activity to
be followed by reaction, and the coffee and tea must be used by them to keep up their
strength and again urge up their powers. Unnatural activity is the result, and by this
continual course of indulgence of appetite the natural vigour of the constitution becomes
gradually and imperceptibly impaired. If we would preserve a healthy action of all the
powers of the system, nature must not be forced to unnatural action. Nature will stand at
her post of duty, and do her work wisely and efficiently, if the false props that have
been brought in to take the place of nature are expelled. RH APR.19,1887
Tea and coffee, as well as tobacco, have an injurious effect upon the system. Tea is
intoxicating; though less in degree, its effect is the same in character as that of
spirituous liquors. Coffee has a greater tendency to becloud the intellect and benumb the
energies. It is not so powerful as tobacco, but is similar in its effects. The arguments
brought against tobacco may also be urged against the use of tea and coffee. RH
JAN.25,1881
Those who are in the habit of using tea, coffee, tobacco, opium, or spirituous liquors,
cannot worship God when they are deprived of the accustomed indulgence. Let them, while
deprived of these stimulants, engage in the worship of God, and divine grace would be
powerless to animate, enliven, or spiritualise their prayers or their testimonies. These
professed Christians should consider the means of their enjoyment. Is it from above, or
from beneath? RH JAN.25,1881
Many make a mistake in drinking cold water with their meals. Taken with meals water
diminishes the flow of the salivary glands; and the colder the water, the greater the
injury to the stomach. Ice water or iced lemonade, drank with meals, will arrest digestion
until the system has imparted sufficient warmth to the stomach to enable it to take up its
work again. Hot drinks are debilitating; and besides, those who indulge in their use
become slaves to the habit. Food should not be washed down; no drink is needed with meals.
Eat slowly, and allow the saliva to mingle with the food. The more liquid there is taken
into the stomach with the meals, the more difficult it is for the food to digest; for the
liquid must first be absorbed. Do not eat largely of salt, give up bottled pickles, keep
fiery, spiced food out of your stomach, eat fruit with your meals, and the irritation that
calls for so much drink will cease to exist. But if anything is needed to quench thirst,
pure water drank some little time before or after the meal is all that nature requires.
Never take tea, coffee, beer, wine, or any spirituous liquors. Water is the best liquid
possible to cleanse the tissues. RH JUL.29,1884
Tea, coffee, tobacco, and alcohol we must present as sinful indulgences. We cannot
place on the same ground, meat, eggs, butter, cheese and such articles placed upon the
table. These are not to be borne in front, as the burden of our work. The former--tea,
coffee, tobacco, beer, wine, and all spirituous liquors--are not to be taken moderately,
but discarded. The poisonous narcotics are not to be treated in the same way as the
subject of eggs, butter, and cheese. In the beginning animal food was not designed to be
the diet of man. We have every evidence that the flesh of dead animals is dangerous
because of disease that is fast becoming universal, because of the curse resting more
heavily in consequence of the habits and crimes of man. We are to present the truth. We
are to be guarded how to use reason and select those articles of food that will make the
very best blood and keep the blood in an unfevered condition.--Manuscript 5, 1881. RH
JUN.25,1859
Men and women, by indulging the appetite in eating rich and highly seasoned foods,
especially flesh-meats, with rich gravies, and by using stimulating drinks, as tea and
coffee, create unnatural appetites. The system becomes fevered, the organs of digestion
are injured, the mental faculties are beclouded, while the baser passions are excited, and
predominate over the nobler faculties. The appetite becomes more unnatural, and more
difficult of restraint. The circulation of the blood is not equalised, and the blood
becomes impure. The whole system is deranged, and the demands of appetite become more
unreasonable, craving exciting, hurtful things, until it is thoroughly depraved. RH
JUN.27,1899
"I feel distressed as I look upon our people and know that they are holding very
loosely the temperance question. It has been a mystery to me how any of our people with
all the light they have had, could manufacture and sell cider. From the light God has
given me, every member among us should sign the pledge and be connected with the
temperance association. Some have backslidden and tampered with tea and coffee. Those who
break the laws of health will become blinded in their minds and break the law of God. We
should unite with other people just as far as we can and not sacrifice principle. This
does not mean that we should join their lodges and societies, but that we should let them
know that we are most heartily in sympathy with the temperance question. We should not
work solely for our own people, but should bestow labour also upon noble minds outside of
our ranks. We should be at the head in the temperance reform. We want our sisters who are
now injuring themselves by wrong habits to put them away and come to the front and be
workers in reform. The reason why many of us will fall in the time of trouble is because
of laxity in temperance and indulgence of appetite. RH OCT.28,1884
In the family circle and in the church we should place Christian temperance on an
elevated platform. It should be a living, working element, reforming habits, dispositions,
and characters. Intemperance lies at the foundation of all the evil in our world. We are
altogether too silent upon the subject of Christian temperance. We fail to urge this
subject upon Christian parents. Fathers and mothers should be invited, in the fear of the
Lord, not only to abstain from all intoxicating beverages, but from tea, coffee, and flesh
meat. SAT 214
I eat only two meals, and can not eat vegetables or grains. I do not use meat: I can
not go back on this. When tomatoes, raised on my land were placed on my table, I tried
using them, uncooked and seasoned with a little salt or sugar. These I found agreed with
me very well, and from last February until June they formed the greater part of my diet.
With them I ate crackers, here called biscuits. I eat no dessert but plain pumpkin pie. I
use a little boiled milk in my simple home-made coffee, but discard cream and butter and
strictly adhere to a limited amount of food. I am scarcely ever hungry, and never know
what it is to have a feverish, disagreeable feeling in my stomach. I have no bad taste in
my mouth. SPM 039
Another says, "Sister White drinks tea, and we can drink tea." Who of my
brethren has made that statement? Who has ever heard it of me? I never have tea in my home
or set it before anyone. Now I have not eaten any meat for years and years. SPM 169
In regard to flesh-meat, do not bring it into the Sanitarium. Neither tea nor coffee
should be served. Caramel-cereal, made as nicely as possible, should be served in the
place of these health-destroying beverages. In regard to the third meal, do not make
eating but two meals compulsory. Some do best healthwise when eating three light meals,
and when they are restricted to two, they feel the change severely. SPM 214
I have had five shocks of paralysis, and God, in his mercy, has raised me up, to take
my place in the work he has given me to do, and to try to benefit others by my experience.
Light was given me, and I saw the reason for my feeble health. I was astonished that I had
so long remained in ignorance in regard to the laws of life. My habits were out of harmony
with the conditions that are necessary to health. My food had not been of a proper kind to
give vitality and strength to the system. It was highly seasoned, and stimulating rather
than nutritious. The physicians said that I might die at any time, and I resolved that if
I died, I would die in attempting to correct my injurious habits of life. I resolved to
place myself on a platform of strictest temperance. I did not use tea or coffee or any
kind of intoxicating wine or liquor, so I did not have these habits to overcome; but I had
used flesh and spices, eating hearty meals three times a day. I had to educate myself to
enjoy the simple, healthful grains and fruits that God has provided for the wants of man.
But I found that all the sacrifice I had to make was doubly repaid in renewed health of
body and mind. I had used pepper and mustard in my diet; but these should not be put into
the human stomach. The delicate membrane becomes inflamed, the healthy tone of the stomach
is lowered, and the appetite is perverted, the taste loses its discernment, and the
delicious flavours of grains, vegetables, and fruits become insipid and unpalatable. ST
FEB.17,1888
I have been invited here and there to come and take tea with certain families. I was
glad to have an opportunity to talk with these friends; but I could not countenance their
hurtful practice of tea-drinking, I could not partake of this beverage with them, or give
my influence to encourage this unnecessary and injurious habit. After freely partaking,
the effects of tea-drinking may be discovered. The face becomes flushed, the eyes
brighten, a new vigour is manifested, and the mind seems unnaturally active. Tea is a
stimulant, and its exhilarating effects are neither lasting nor beneficial. The same is
true of coffee. I have heard people declare that they could not live without their coffee.
They were languid and dispirited, and were unfit to take up the tasks of the day, but
after they had had their coffee they felt revived and encouraged; but this feeling of
strength was only due to the stimulant they had taken. They were, in reality, just as
unfit for their tasks as before and had only spurred up their flagging energies. When the
influence of coffee had passed away, they were left as much in need of another cup as
before they had taken the first cup. ST FEB.17,1888
.--All these nerve irritants are wearing away the
life forces; and the restlessness, the impatience, the mental feebleness caused by
shattered nerves, become a warring element, ever working against spiritual progress. Shall
Christians bring their appetite under the control of reason, or will they continue its
indulgence because they fell so "let down" without it, like the drunkard without
his stimulant? Shall not those who advocate temperance reform awake in regard to these
injurious things also? And shall not the pledge embrace coffee and tea as hurtful
stimulants? -- page 442. TE 081
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