MOUNTAIN VIEW — The original diet consisted of fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts. Only later, after the flood, was the option of flesh food given. Scientific research has proven that the basic original diet is still the most healthful. By eating foods in their natural state, unrefined and without additives, many diseases can be prevented and often even reversed.
— Taken from handouts printed by the Seventh-day Adventists
Ruthie Doss of Mountain View is convinced that we live in a sick society, and she’s determined to educate the masses on dietary principles that she and fellow Seventh-day Adventists follow. The textbook she depends on for her lesson plans will never need to be replaced by a newer version. The course material, peppered with scientific data and real-life testimonials, is gleaned from the pages of The Holy Bible.
By addressing nutrition, exercise, water, sunlight, temperance, air, rest and trust issues, Doss and fellow church members, none of whom appears overweight or unhealthy, presented their healthy lifestyle to the roughly 30 interested participants who had reserved a spot in the first class of the season.
“My focus for this class, and the whole season really, is on the benefits of live fruits and vegetables and juicing. And everything we do in the kitchen is about how to make interesting dishes with a minimal amount of cooking,” she said. “The instructional part of tonight’s class will focus on enzymes, and the role they play in our health.”
With blenders whirling and all manner of clanging in the kitchen behind her, Doss introduced the evening’s menu: “We have Carrot Juice, Basmati Rice, Couscous and Raw Veggies, Almond Slicing Cheese, Sesame Soup Thin Crackers, Tofu Blueberry Cheesecake, and Chuck has brought his wild rice with nuts. A special presenter tonight is 10-year-old Elijah Joers, who will be sharing his recipe for Oat-Nut Milk,” Doss said.
After a cooking demonstration, guests were invited to eat.
“Notice you got your juice when you came in?” Doss asked the class. “It’s important to drink juice or water 30 minutes before your meal because it’s going to jump right into your cells and start to work. We don’t want it to mix with your food. We have all those nutrients packed with fruits and veggies and fiber to have a chance to digest first. Veggies are good for healing, and fruits are good for cleansing.”
Good combinations for juice are celery and apples; any greens, such as kale and spinach; and beets are great, she said. “We can literally juice any vegetable, but it takes 5 pounds of carrots to make 8 ounces of juice. You’ll never eat that many carrots or reap those benefits without juicing, and remember to drink half an hour before you eat.”
Throughout the cooking demonstration, Doss shared insights.
“I want to encourage you to cut down on oil and fats,” she said. “Try cutting your oil in half, especially if you have medical issues or heart problems. You don’t need any more fat.”
A lot that’s wrong with Americans’ health can be fixed with attention to what goes into the mouth, Doss said.
“Salt and sugar are acquired tastes. The more you eat, the more you want, so it’s hard to cut back.”
Among the shopping tips was praise for Bragg Liquid Aminos.
“If you can’t find it, use LaChoy’s soy sauce because it’s not fermented,” she said. “It’s so much better than salt because of its lower sodium count.”
Emphasis throughout the evening was placed on recognizing “live foods.”
“When we are born, we are given a bank of enzymes,” Doss added. “As you eat foods that are live, we are adding enzymes into that bank, and that’s what gives us vitality. When we eat cooked foods, we are drawing on that bank account and not putting anything in. We become sickly because we don’t have any enzymes to heal our bodies.”
It is important, therefore, to develop ways to keep the enzymes coming into the diet, Doss said. “And that’s where juicing comes in.”
Church member and fellow healthy-foods advocate Libby Appley shared a scenario: “When farmers plant new fields, they plant only carrots and throw them all away because they’ve soaked up all the toxins in the soil. That’s why organic carrots are best,” she said.
After the main menu items had been demonstrated, Joers, who is home-schooled, introduced his recipe and proceeded to show how he makes Oat-Nut Milk.
Joers has been studying nutrition and came up with the recipe, said his mother, Holly. He also likes to cook soup and casseroles.
“It’s important to teach our children healthy living by example,” Doss said.
Joers and his mother cranked up the blender, and as he added the ingredients, Doss noted, “Elijah’s oats have not been heated. That’s a good way to get live food into your diet.”
Joers gave a play-by-play: “There’s no dairy or cholesterol,” he said, “and only 90 calories per cup.” He finished the ingredients with six healthy squirts of honey.
“We call the program New Start,” Doss said, “and the tenets of the program are based on biblical lessons because God taught us what to eat. In the first chapter of Genesis, verses 26-30, we read:
(26) “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (28) And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ (29) And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. (30) And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so.”
“The best fuel for our bodies is fruits, nuts, grains and vegetables,” Doss said. “Eating two to three meals a day every day is important, as well as abstaining from snacks, and drinking at least two quarts of water every day. It’s critical to note that drinking water with your meal is detrimental to digestion. Stay away from refined foods like sugars. The body will just crave more, so eliminate all refined fats, especially hardened fats and animal fats. Eat a large variety of fresh, whole foods.”
Church members are committed to encouraging the community toward a health lifestyle. They also run a food co-op, church member Evelyn Mizner said.
“Community service is part of our walk of faith. Just about everybody in our church is involved in some kind of outreach ministry,” she said. Mizner is the board president for Safe Passages, a ministry for domestic-violence victims.
The amount of information can overwhelm the average consumer, but Doss warned class members not to become discouraged.
“Don’t worry about making all the changes overnight. As you learn something, apply that lesson,” she said. “What we all want is to live as full and healthy a life as we can.”
Those are easy words on the ears of the wise. And that leads to the second Bible passage Doss used to encourage new believers, Proverbs 23: 19-21:
(19) “Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path. (20) Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, (21) for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”
The next class is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, at the Seventh-day Adventist Church education building, on Arkansas highways 5/9 and 14 East. For more information, call Ruthie Doss at (870) 269-7100.