Words of the Wise

This last week, I attended a fundraiser for mental health. It was a great cause and I was happy to help raise money for it. As my friend and I drank wonderful wine and danced the night away, I couldn't help but look around at all the wonderful people who also were donating their time and money to such a good cause.

I also couldn't help but notice that there were no mormons in attendance. Why? I had to ask, as I already knew the answer. Avoid the appearance of evil, as there was wine and beer being served. Once again, I was sad and angry at the hypocrisy and ignorance exhibited by the mormons once again. Not only were they not here supporting such a good cause, but they simply do not understand current health codes.

There has been significant research done in the last several years on food and drink. When I would attend mormon functions, there were all sorts of food dishes that were brought by mormons, and almost all of them contained sugar. Sugar is one of the most harmful substances. The mormons consume soda, jello, pudding, diet soda, and sugary drinks of all kinds. Sugar deposits in the liver, contains no vitamins or minerals, is deposited as fat in the body, and has other negative health issues:      negative effects of sugar    Consuming sugar and soft drinks has worse consequences on the body that consuming fat: 76 negative dangers of consuming sugar This study is by a world renowned heart surgeon says that inflammation causes heart disease, but what causes inflammation? Simple, high processed carbohydrates:  causes of heart disease

Yet, sugar is the drug of choice of Mormons.

Let's look at coffee. According to this article by WebMD, there are benefits and drawbacks to coffee, but it is according to how much a person drinks, not by abstaining that determines the benefits and drawbacks.  Coffee has benefits in preventing type 2 diabetes.  The antioxidants and nutrients in coffee prevents tissue damage caused by free radicals and helps regulate insulin. Coffee  It counters the effects of heart attacks and stroke, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's. It lowers the risk of liver cancer. Also, 12 ounces a day has no effect on pregnancy.  The down side is that the caffeine may raise blood pressure, is a mild diuretic, and may increase heartburn.

What about tea? Tea is full of antioxidants, therefore and reduce the risk of cancer, Alzheimer's, type 2 diabetes, and increase bone density. It does contain caffeine and therefore contains the same issues as coffee.  Three cups a day are beneficial:  Tea health benefits of green tea

Wine: There are several benefits to drinking wine; it contains antioxidants, so it lowers your risk or heart disease and raises your levels of good cholesterol.  It can help prevent type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancer, and tooth decay.  benefits of wine  Of course, with the consumption of any alcohol, there is the risk of drinking to much and becoming addicted.  Wine also helps control blood sugar levels, fight off colds, starve cancer cells, or prevent the growth of fat cells.  wine

When I started to drink coffee and tea and wine, I was surprise by their taste...they weren't sweet! I realized that I was raised on one taste bud...sweet. All the things I had grown to like were sweet. I had to add sweetener or sugar to coffee or tea to even drink them. I remember a mormon telling me it was god's way of telling me they were bad for me. I knew she was wrong, but it took me awhile to figure out what it was, exactly.

As I did research, it occurred to me that sugar was the drug of choice for mormons and how damaging that is for them, and me.  I knew I had to stop my addiction. I researched and discovered how bad sugar is for the body. I lost weight as I stopped eating and drinking so much sugar. I stopped eating processed foods. I started drinking iced teas and adding lemon into my tea instead of fake sugar.

The word of wisdom as contained in the D&C talks about moderation, yet the way the mormons practice it today is of total abstinence from alcohol, tea and coffee. Do they know how it got to be that way? I do, but that is for another day. As a person can tell from the research I have presented, drinking coffee, tea and wine in moderation is good for the body, yet mormon's do not practice moderation, they practice abstinence; yet one more contradiction in their doctrine.

I am learning to like red wines, which are drier and not as sweet as white wines.  It is a process. I cook whole foods instead of processed foods. As I read over the word of wisdom, I even realize that its emphasis on grains was written for a time when people were very active and farmers and they burned a lot of calories. We are a people that sit at desks and our dietary needs have changed,as have the way we buy our food.  Trying to make an 1800 diet fit for a 2000 year technology just doesn't fit.

It's time the mormons change their beliefs.

I know I have and I'm healthier for it.

A Parable

The Bubble People

There lived a community under a bubble. Because the bubble completely covered the community, it kept out natural light and rain, therefore trees, shrubs, grass and flowers failed to grow. The leaders learned over time to plant fake plants. Oh, the fake plants looked real, as long as people didn't get too close and try and touch them and smell them, that is; they just looked pretty but they didn't smell pretty and they weren't soft to the touch. There was fake light, also. The light made skin look yellow and pale. But over time, people forgot what real light and real plants looked like and they adjusted and got used to it.

Because there were no natural trees, the leaders used fake materials to make buildings out of. The walls
 were sterile looking, they were bland looking really, just white, grey and black. They were steal and the
floors echoed when walked on. Each house looked like the next one. There was no individuality. The people didn't seem to mind, however, as they were told by their leaders that it was better for the community for everyone to be the same.  There was security in everyone looking like everyone else and the people were told that this is what it would be like in the afterlife, anyway, so they were preparing for things to be equal in the eternities.  They just ignored the fact that some people had nicer and more expensive homes than others, or more expensive clothes or food than others...some of the women had lace and silk on their clothes while others only had cotton and ratty shoes, but they still believed that all were alike under the bubble.

The leaders made the rules for the people to follow. At first, the rules were simple, but as the people became dependent on the leaders for their food and building material, they also became dependent on them for their emotional support and for the rules to govern all aspects of their lives.  The rules began to govern what they ate, what they did with their time, who they married, when they married, what they did with their leisure time. what their professions should be, what they should wear.

Over time, some people began to rebel, as they started to think for themselves. The leaders didn't like this, as they saw this as a threat to their authority. They told the people to shun the freethinkers.  They told the people that is wasn't good for the people to question the leader's authority or for the people to think for themselves, that it wasn't good for the people have people amongst them that rebelled against the group. The freethinkers were not allowed to attend certain functions with the bubble people like weddings and community meals.

 The freethinkers decided to test the bubble barrier and when they touched it and pushed against it they were amazed to find it fake and they could walk right through it. They took a breath and walk out into the real world.  They took in the fresh breath of oxygen and to their amazement, they didn't die, but in fact their lungs loved the clean, fresh air.  They looked around and discovered all sorts of trees and plants and flowers and grass. There were beautiful colors that they never imagined and natural sunlight that their eyes could behold. They saw the beautiful blue sky and they smelled pine and floral scents and their senses could hardly process it all.

They began to walk around and to their amazement, people talked to them. People would say hello and ask them how they were doing. The people didn't try and kill them like they were told would happen. The people were eating and drinking all sorts of new things that weren't killing them and the freethinkers also partook and to their amazement, they learned to like these new tastes.  They learned that this new world was full of choices and with those choices came consequences, both good and bad, but the freethinkers learned to make wise choices through experience and living and learning.

The freethinkers were so amazed by all they learned, they wanted to share their experiences with the bubble people so they went back to the bubble with enthusiasm to share this new found knowledge. To their amazement, the bubble people, upon hearing their stories, were not happy to hear such news, in fact they accused the freethinkers of making up such things, of being full of hate and anger. The bubble people did not want their safety and security of the bubble changed or threatened.  To the freethinker's amazement, the bubble people liked the safety of not having to make decisions or of being responsible for their choices, even if it came at the cost of blandness, emptiness, shallowness and lies.

There were a few bubble people who chose to follow the freethinkers, and the freethinkers would go back occasionally to try and find new converts for the real world, but they were few and far between.

The freethinkers were happy, however, in their world of color and tastes and choices.