Health in the navel and marrow to the bones

The science of medicine was not revealed through the heavens as was the Word of

Wisdom and the Doctrine and Covenants.  We are therefore in a position to discern between the philosophies of men and the word of the Lord because we have modern day revelation and prophets to lead us.

I have received numerous calls from missionaries and mission presidents and members in regard to medical advice, which has been given by doctors to people regarding their health.  Usually it will be about taking tea, coffee, or alcohol for some ailment that the person has. The ingestion of the substance is supposed to be the treatment for the patient’s medical condition.  The word of wisdom makes no distinction between the ingestion for pleasure and medical use.  It is therefore understood that these substances are prohibited even for medical use.

Let me say at the outset that there is no medical condition that I know of that will be cured by administration of substances prohibited by the word of wisdom.  We have made many mistakes in the history of medicine in the treatment of diseases.  They were looked upon at the time as the proper treatment, but time has proven them to be ineffective or in some cases dangerous.  Thus the recommendations of the doctors today may be discarded tomorrow.

What then should we do? The best advice that I can give is to follow the prophet.  You will find that if you keep the principles contained in the revelations you will have indeed health in the navel and marrow in the bones. 

In a sense we are sometimes put in a position where we must choose between the ways of God and the ways of men.  We may have our faith challenged, but in the end we will be justified in our actions not only before the Lord, but also before man as well.

I have heard that there are some people advocating the use of green tea saying that it is different than black tea and therefore can be consumed and be in compliance with the word of wisdom.  They imply that this has in some way been condoned by the church authorities.  This shows a lack of knowledge.  The tea, which we will consider is made from the leaves of the plant Camillia sinensis   From these leaves three kinds of tea are manufactured.  Black tea comes from the leaves that are partially dried and the juices are squeezed from them and then they are fermented and dried.  Green tea is made from leaves that are steamed, crushed and dried.  Oolong tea is made from leaves that are partially fermented and then dried.  There seems to be some difference in the caffeine content of the various teas varying from 2.5 to 4.5 percent.  Coffee contains 1.5 % caffeine.  There are various tea products that are flavored with fruit or flowers.  These can be mistaken for the fruit and herbal teas such as rose hip, black currant or peppermint.  The best thing to do if you are going to use these products is to read the label and avoid products containing tea.

There is a tea popular in South America called Yerba Mate.  This is made from the dried leaves and stems of a tree Ilex paraguarensis.   In a recent study done at BYU the caffeine content was found to average 0.95 percent in 8 brands varying from .73 to 1.35 percent.  The church leaders in that area have asked the missionaries not to drink that beverage.

I would also like to address at this time the use of herbs, natural remedies and acupuncture.  The Lord indicates in the D&C that the use of herbal cures should be done with prudence and thanksgiving.  In my experience this is not the way that members of the church are using these substances in the treatment and amelioration of disease.  Just because some friend recommends the treatment is no reason to accept this as the absolute truth and to use the substance without any more information.  The Lord said prudence, which to me means wisdom and knowledge.  Most of the proponents of these therapies have no other knowledge than word of mouth recommendations and unscientific testimonials.  Many of the actions and side effects of these treatments are unknown to their users and proponents.  It is literally the blind leading the blind. 

Because something is claimed to be of ancient date, does not mean that it is not one of the vain traditions of the fathers and of questionable value.  The missionary committee has given directions that no missionary be treated with acupuncture while serving as a missionary.  All medical care given to missionaries is to meet with the standards practiced by traditional western medicine.

We believe that we are living in the dispensation of the fullness of times.  We should realize that all the knowledge, which the Lord has, will be revealed in this disposition at some time.  It will come when we are ready for it and the Lord reveals it.  Until that time we should not suffer ourselves to be lead about by every wind of doctrine, either spiritual or temporal.