I found Sondra while researchingmy entry about the recent mood study on Seventh-Day Adventists, which found that vegetarian Adventists were in a slightly better mood than their meat-eating brethren. Sondra is an ex-Adventist who now blogs about her new faith at 8thDay4Life. In her entry SDA Health Message, she wrote:

I cannot find any scriptural foundation for teaching that your choice of diet and level of health will affect your ability to be holy.  The Seventh-day Adventist church, from its very origins, has made this a monumental issue.  Ellen White presented this as a vital part of process of sanctification, without which your very soul could be in danger.  I heard more than once as an Adventist that the health message was the “right arm of the gospel” and this avenue is often used to gain proselytes, using health seminars as a way to get their foot in the front door of people’s acceptance. 

We left the SDA church several years ago, but long after we left I was still absolutely convinced a vegan diet was the most healthy, even if I wasn’t following the regimen.  I had constant guilt and fear that I was damaging my health by eating animal products. 

This seemed to go along with what I was getting from my research — because Adventists believe that God vouches for the healthfulness of vegetarianism, Adventist scientists and study subjects are biased and any study involving them is on a shaky ground. But I am an outsider when it comes to Seventh-Day Adventism; I interviewed Sondra to see if I was on the right track.

Why exactly do Seventh-Day Adventists (SDAs) believe that vegetarianism is the proper diet for mankind?

They believe this mainly because [Adventist prophet] Ellen G. White said it was. As scriptural evidence, they point out it was given at Creation to Adam and Eve, therefore it was God’s original intent and highest wisdom regarding health. Also they use the story of Daniel and his friends who ate no meat and were wiser and healthier than the other young men being trained in Babylon after the exile — total disregard for the Jewish context there, and the miraculous nature of the story.

They also often refer to modern methods of meat production as cruel and unhealthy, which is true, but not a reason to not eat meat at all. 

SDAs often see vegetarianism as a way to show their devotion to God and church; if you do eat meat as an SDA, you may be viewed by the veg*an SDAs as less spiritual. (It is a diverse community, so I’m just speaking for the majority of situations). They believe Ellen G. White heard from God, so to disobey her is to disobey God. They will not admit they place her on this level of authority, but this is the common practice.

In my entry about the mood study on Seventh-Day Adventists, I listed terms that Adventists use in reference to spreading Adventist ideas of health. What do they mean when they talk about the “health message,” “medical missionaries,” “health evangelism,” and “the right arm of the gospel”?

Adventists will often give conflicting definititions on their terms when you ask them to pin down what they mean. I will explain them to you based on my own experience.

Health Message: This is the term used to refer to all the revelations Ellen White claimed to have received from God concerning diet and health. They believe this is an essential message given specifically to their church, and it goes beyond just food. She applied it to how people should dress, even admonishing that wigs were unhealthy.  

When observed correctly, the SDA health message can be a full-time job. It’s very easy to have a great deal of your life occupied with what not to eat (which can create awkward social situations) and acquiring the needed food products. Food prep activities can get really involved, like making your own imitation cheese, etc.

There are schools that Adventist purists attend to learn the ropes of the vegan/Ellen G. White lifestyle, based off The Eight Laws of Health. We had friends who trained at one of these places as “medical missionaries.” They believe health has a direct link to your spiritual life and affects your ability to be in tune with God (we often heard that a bad diet would cloud the mind). To evangelize people to follow the health message is to help them know God better.

The health message also gives them a foot in the door to start sharing their doctrines with people. They use it as a point of contact with their communities.

As far as “the right arm of the gospel,” we had a pastor once who used this phrase many times. I know SDAs who felt their standing with God would be jeopardized if they ate meat, especially pork or seafood.

Do Adventists hope to convert people through the health message and vegetarianism, or are they interested in spreading vegetarianism for the sake of it?

I think both probably. They so strongly believe it’s beneficial that they feel they are helping people even if they don’t convert.

Is the official church stance on diet a vegan one?

Only the very conservative, historic Seventh-Day Adventists are all the way vegan, or see it as part of the “gospel.” Even vegetarianism isn’t required — just very strongly encouraged. Eating “unclean” meat, however, is seen as extremely bad. I have known people who would commit sexual sin before they would eat bacon.

Does nutrition talk enter the Adventist church often? For instance, would this mood study be discussed at a church gathering?

Yes, absolutely — maybe even from the pulpit.

While doing research on the Adventist influence on nutrition, I saw stories about Adventist leaders encouraging Adventists to become dietitians or assistants to dietitians. Do Adventists become dietitians to spread the word of their prophet?

I can’t comment on their motives as individuals but it would seem logical. No other church I know of encourages their members in this way. Mormons also have some eating guidelines, but I do not know of any that see this as a special message on its own that they must share with the world.

The researchers for the Adventist mood study wrote that the study subjects (vegetarian Adventists and meat-eating Adventists) were unaware that the study was about vegetarianism. But wouldn’t Adventists in a nutritional study kind of assume it is a vegetarian study?

With anything involving food, yes, it would most definitely be in their minds. My simple explanation for this very unscientific subjective mood study is that SDAs who take their religion seriously, but eat meat, are living with guilt that would most definitely make them moody!

Do vegetarian Adventists pressure meat-eating Adventists about their diets?

Many SDAs are obsessive about their diets, so it’s a common topic for conversation, which can also be an indirect pressure to conform. Even though half the members might eat meat in a particular congregation, none would bring any to a potluck. It’s just a loaded issue for everyone. Meat-eating Adventists may often feel guilt and fear — lots of fear — for not eating correctly.

What are they afraid of?

Sickness, disease and God’s displeasure. I also am convinced that fear of death is a big player (subconsciously) here because of the Adventist doctrine on the spirit of man. They don’t believe you have one. Your spirit is simply your “breath” and that’s it. You basically cease to exist until the resurrection.

Now that I am in fellowship with Christians who believe they are with Christ at the point of their death, not depending on themselves, I see people who view death and dying in a much better light. When a body is all you have, it seems you can get a little too concerned over it.

How serious a crime is it for an Adventist to eat meat?

Often the food issues will be observed more strictly than morality. EGW taught that eating meat would make you more prone to anger and lust, so those who eat it are sometimes seen as less concerned about growing in their relationship with God. She also taught that only believers who did not eat any meat would be alive at the time of Christ’s return. The rest would die during the time of persecution preceding the second coming. (More fear factor there.)

Every time researchers do a nutritional study on Adventists, they point out that all Adventists don’t smoke or drink alcohol or caffeine, but some Adventists eat meat and some don’t. Why is meat the one exception for so many Adventists, especially considering how much guilt they feel for eating it?

My speculation is that it’s because the body actually needs meat and it’s very difficult to go against that. However, it’s been explained to me from their side that meat is a harmful addiction rather than a nutritional need.

The SDAs I know are not really that strict about caffeine, but smoking and alcohol are seen as “evil” - as in from the devil. Obviously the lack of smoking and abuse of alcohol would factor into the statistics, if they are valid at all.

One interesting thing noted in the book “Nourishing Traditions” (p. 200) by Sally Fallon is a 1994 study that showed SDAs actually have a much higher cancer rate than other people:

Researchers found that although vegetarian SDAs have the same or slightly lower cancer rates for some sites, for example 91 percent instead of 100 percent for breast cancer, the rates of numerous other cancers are much higher than the general US population standard.

And it goes on to list type and percentages.

Here is a Web page with quotes regarding the “health message” and a citation on the study mentioned in Fallon’s book. And this website has some of the outrageous things Ellen G. White taught about health.

What do Adventists get out of it when science vindicates vegetarianism?

Reinforced faith that their prophet knew things before her time… or just more guilt, depending on level of adherence.

When science defends vegetarianism, do Adventists automatically view that in religious terms, as a vindication of their prophet?

Yes.

And do they see any scientific skepticism of vegetarianism as an attack on their prophet?

As an SDA, I had no idea there was any scientific evidence to the contrary. I never dreamed there could be. Opposing scientific evidence was never even presented as something to defend against. We were taught how to defend against anti-vegetarian arguments, but I don’t remember hearing about any actual studies or research that contradicted what we believed. It wasn’t until much later that it occurred to me to look for some, and I was amazed at how much evidence there was that conflicted with what I had always believed was “absolute truth” about health.

If vegetarianism was proven to be unhealthy, would that be a problem for the Adventist church?

It would not be possible to prove to them it was totally unhealthy, no matter what evidence you provide.

You were vegan for a while. How did that work out for you?

I only lasted six months as an SDA vegan, though I was raised lacto-ovo vegetarian. I tried the Hallelujah Diet later because even after I left the Adventist church I was convinced they were right about health. I lived in fear all the time that I was not eating well enough to be healthy.

I found the vegan diet very unsatisfying and didn’t have the self-control to stay on it. All the vegans I personally know have many health issues, and their diets are very carb heavy. I think veganism can be good for cleansing or during an illness, but not as a way of life.

What is your diet like now?

I now believe a healthy diet consists of non-processed whole foods, ideally local meats, vegetables and dairy. But my time and money are limited so I am not inclined to spend much of either on my diet now. My idea of healthy is completely different than it was and it’s also less of a priority. I mainly endeavor to eat simply, cooking as much as I can from scratch and avoiding pre-packaged food.

But the main thing is I don’t believe my health is going to affect my relationship with God.