Section 89

and

Eli BOUGHT a fertility book!

Family size is a choice for so many couples --- and even singles. For us it's a matter of money. The thought of buying our eternal family disgusts and frustrates me. It costs to adopt. It costs for IVF. It costs a lot just to give birth in a hospital (so I hear). Each --- a financial risk.

That doesn't mean we can't save some money! My husband and I want more children. The feeling is tugging pretty strongly at our hearts again. The desire feels good and right inside. A few months ago we talked about really trying to get pregnant --- this time with IVF. If we're going to put that kind of money into conceiving then I need to get as healthy as possible --- for myself and our baby.

After years of research, I am convinced that PCOS can be controlled through proper diet and consistent exercise. I have tried to refine our diet a little bit here and there, but NOW is the time to be drastic! I find myself, once again, trying desperately to find the information that will bring success this time around. I want to set goals and create a plan I feel thoroughly good about and stick with it. It also needs to be built around "My Diet Rules" as much as possible.

MY DIET RULES

1. It MUST be in harmony with the Word of Wisdom. (No red wine or green tea for me, please.)
2. My family and I will share the SAME meal. It's hard enough preparing 3 meals a day --- expecting myself to create an extra meal for myself is NOT going to happen. I should know. But, more importantly, if I'm going to create a healthy meal, I WANT my family to partake of it as well. I want my family to enjoy health too.
3. Meals must be EASY to prepare. It must be easy because nights out at the restaurant should be limited. Also, I work at home. When I'm not working, I want to play, spend time with my kids and husband, garden, keep my home in order and learn --- not spend 2-3 hours preparing 1 meal, just to finish that one and start on the next one.
4. The cheaper the better. I feel very strongly that God has provided health for everyone! Food, supplements and information should be free or reasonably priced. (Hey, even weeds are suppose to be highly nutritious --- if only I knew how to identify and use those!)
5. Naturally healthy --- that includes growing a garden. The more natural, the better (organic and local...) I also feel very strongly that God provides us with the food we should be eating.  Hippocrates said, "Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food." I'm not saying that I shouldn't ever see a doctor (for example: IVF, broken bones, cancer, etc.) --- but for overall health maintenance, I should look to what I eat; after all, the more natural, the better (eliminate: hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, and GMOs (at least start with avoiding the big 4: canola, cotton, corn and soy)).
6. Drink more water. According to Dr. Fereydoon Batamanghelidj, M.D., the author of Your Body's Many Cry's for Water, I should be getting at least 84 oz of water per day, more when I exercise, to stay hydrated. It's very important! I drink water almost exclusively (no alcohol, caffeine, soda, processed juice, etc.) except for fresh homemade juice from my new juicer, raw lemonade (made with raw honey, mmmmmm...) and an occasional 1/2 glass of organic whole milk (a little full fat dairy has been proven to increase fertility, according to my new book).
7. Sweets must be allowed, at least occasionally. I know this is a danger zone for me and most likely the biggest contributing factor of my infertility. But, completely take me off sweets and I'll binge on those big time. Healthy treats like Raw Apple Crisp seem to be a satisfying substitutes for traditional baked goods. (I have also been experimenting with ice creams made from nuts and puddings made with avocado, but, I'm not satisfied enough to post a link to any of those yet.)
8. Exercise. Ideally, I would like to do 20-30 minutes of aerobic exercise twice a day, six days a week. I would like to attend a Yoga class 2-3 times a week and do weights on 2-3 of the other days. For now, I would like to just get going on something again.

I have used these rules to implemented several health improvements in my family, yet, we still have health issues. My husband has asthma and his knees sound like mush. Last week my son was diagnosed with acid reflux or GERD. My poor daughter gets constipated. My personal list includes eczema and hay fever, migraines, osteoporosis, overweight, PCOS (Polycystic Ovarium Syndrome) which causes my infertility and is a precursor to diabetes and heart-attack. (BTW, grandparents on both my parents side have died from heart-attacks.)

In trying to keep our meals within a low glycemic load, learning how to do square foot gardening so that we can afford to eat organically and locally, and baking my own sweets (to avoid hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup and GMOs) I came across raw foods. The idea wasn't new to me, I just didn't realize that some people ate raw almost exclusively. It seemed too extreme! At least I felt that way for a few years. About 6 months ago I got curious and took a deeper look into it. This time the phrase "in the season thereof" clicked with new meaning. It seemed to say to me that "in season" definitely includes raw --- NOT cooked and/or processed, not altered.

Wow! It finally made sense to me! The whole concept felt so simple and right that I wondered if it was truly my answer. I've spent a lot of time searching for raw recipes and ideas to add to my family's diet. Some favorites so far are: Raw Tacos, juicing, almond milk, Mediterranean Kale Salad, spinach salad with the yummiest walnut ginger dressing EVER, cabbage salad, Turnip Apple Salad, raw hot chocolate and raw applesauce (leave the peels on). (Check out Elder John A. Widtsoe explanation, also found in the Doctrine and Covenant Institute Manual.) The challenge now is to make raw a significantly large part of our diet (I've read that 80% is recommended).

In my pursuit of fertility I have delved, many times, into nutritional facts to understand what's best. In the back of my mind I am always comparing what I find with The Doctrine and Covenants --- Section 89, more commonly known as "The Word of Wisdom." Today I googled "eating raw and the Word of Wisdom." I came across the most interesting discussion on Latter-day Saints and vegetarianism titled "The Word of Wisdom: the forgotten verses" (I recommend reading it!)" The following includes Jim Catano's personal comments on eating meat (D&C Section 89:10-15):

10.  "...all wholesome herbs," or plants as the footnote explains, "God hath ordained for the constitution, nature and use of man---
11.  "Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving.
12.  "Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use" and please note---NOT for the constitution, nature and use as was said of the plants but merely for the use "of man with thanksgiving, nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;
13.  "and it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.
14.  "All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth;
15.  "And these" in repetition of the admonition to limit the eating of animal flesh "God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger."

Hmmmmmm... I never desired to be vegetarian or even thought I should be until I read it this way. So, does that mean milk? eggs? ice cream? Cutting down on most meat shouldn't be terribly hard. I can prepare more vegetarian meals that include healthy plant proteins --- we eat a lot of those anyway. (Eli's not gunna be crazy about this change!)

And what's this about grains? Instead of breaking up the sentence in verses 14 and 15, I read the entire sentence together. I felt enlightened as I read to use grain as well as animal flesh sparingly. Could that be right? It feels right with what I understand about blood sugar spikes, but is that just what I want to hear? That would explain that being tired after eating grain isn't necessary in order to obey the Word of Wisdom. However, until today, I thought obeying the Word of Wisdom was eating grains as my "staff of life," so when doing some earlier research I was excited to learn that sprouting grains essentially converts it into a living vegetable. (Since that discovery, my kids and I have enjoyed eating raw germinated wheat sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and chopped dates; or, dried fruit and raw chopped nuts or seeds as a breakfast cereal, sometimes even with almond milk poured over it.)

I am so excited to know that the way I've been trying to tweak our diet goes right along with the Word of Wisdom. I feel confident in moving forward with the knowledge I have been gleaning from those who have been excited to share their information. I can't wait to google "eating raw and the Word of Wisdom" again and read how other Latter-day Saints are doing it. I'm am so ready to make a change. I want to feel good. I want my body to work!

As a side note, I want to comment on verse 4, "... In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarned you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation---" I want to list 3 poisons that I believe exist because of conspiring greedy men: hydrogenated oils (also known as trans fats), high fructose corn syrup (currently being relabeled simply as corn sugar) and; GMOs (which I wonder if the earth will have to burn to completely get rid of those). In the book The Fertility Diet, high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils are listed on the bottom of a good-to-bad food-ranking list --- BELOW alcohol! It's scary that mother's give those to their children so naively. (I KNOW better and am guilty of taking advantage of the convenience!) I feel it is time to completely remove these from my family's diet, I just don't know if I can. (No trick-or-treating, seriously? No chocolate Easter Bunny or boxes of Valentine's chocolates? Nope --- I'm not 100% ready --- but it's time to start somewhere.)




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The following are more reminders to myself of why I am changing my family's diet:

From the Doctrine and Covenants Institute Manual:
 

D&C 89:2

President Joseph Fielding Smith said: “The temporal salvation of the children of men is a most important thing, but sadly neglected by many religious teachers. The truth is that the spiritual salvation is dependent upon the temporal far more than most men realize. The line of demarcation between the temporal, or physical, and the spiritual, cannot be definitely seen. The Lord has said that he has not given a temporal commandment at any time. To men some of these commandments may be temporal, but they are spiritual to the Lord because they all have a bearing on the spiritual or eternal welfare of mankind.” (Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:383.) Obedience to the Word of Wisdom, keeping the “temple of God” undefiled (1 Corinthians 3:16), invites the Holy Ghost to help us resist the temptations of the world.

D&C 89:10–11

The Doctrine and Covenants does not specifically mention heroin, cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, other illegal drugs, or the abuse of prescription drugs. President Joseph Fielding Smith said: “Such revelation is unnecessary. The Word of Wisdom is a basic law. It points the way and gives us ample instruction in regard to both food and drink, good for the body and also detrimental. If we sincerely follow what is written with the aid of the Spirit of the Lord, we need no further counsel....

“Thus by keeping the commandments we are promised inspiration and the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord through which we will know what is good and what is bad for the body, without the Lord presenting us with a detailed list separating the good things from the bad that we may be protected. We will learn by this faithful observance that the promises of the Lord are fulfilled.” (Improvement Era, Feb. 1956, pp. 78–79.)

Taken from The Word of Wisdom: the Forgotten Verses:  

John A. Widstoe 

One of the most brilliant scholars to ever serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was John A. Widtsoe who had the additional perspective of a scientist as to the merits of a plant-based diet. He wrote in a book on the Word of Wisdom, "It was shown in the history of plant science that plants contain all the necessary food substances: proteins, fats, starches and the carbohydrates, minerals...water [and] vitamins. The Great builder of the earth provided well for the physical needs of His children. Countless varieties of edible plants, vegetables, cereals, fruits and nuts are yielded by Mother Nature for man's daily food. If one uses meat it must be used sparingly and in winter or famine only.... They who wish to be well and gain the promised reward stated in the Word of Wisdom must obey all of the law, not just part of it as suits their whim or their appetite, or their notion of its meaning." (The Word of Wisdom, a Modern Interpretation, 1950)

Just as it was 50 years ago, some Church members today still resist a full embrace of the principles of their divinely inspired health code. Sadly, some even resent the efforts of others who attempt to rise above the current LDS cultural norm, and they sometimes label as "fanatics" those who try to pursue a higher course. In defense of those Latter-day Saints who have a special awareness of health and nutrition, Elder Widtsoe said, "one with an intelligent interest in food and good life habits is in no sense a faddist or 'crank.' Indeed, every one should have such a sound fundamental knowledge of nutrition." (The Word of Wisdom, a Modern Interpretation, 1950)

Ezra Taft Benson

"In general, the more food we eat in its natural state and the less it is refined without additives, the healthier it will be for us." (Ensign 4:66, 1974)

"To a significant degree, we are an overfed and undernourished nation digging an early grave with our teeth, and lacking the energy that could be ours.... We need a generation of young people who, as Daniel, eat in a more healthy manner than to fare on the 'kings meat' ---and whose countenances show it." (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson pp. 476-7) His reference, of course, is to the biblical Daniel who, as a student in the Babylonian royal court, opted for simple vegetarian food and whose superior health quickly became visible to others.

"There is no question that the health of the body affects the spirit, or the Lord would never have revealed the Word of Wisdom.... Disease, fever and unexpected deaths are some of the consequences directly related to disobedience.... To a great extent, we are physically what we eat. Most of us are acquainted with some of the prohibitions of the Word of Wisdom...but what need additional emphasis are the positive aspects---the need for vegetables, fruits, and grain, particularly wheat. We need a generation of people who eat in a healthier manner." (Ensign, September 1988, p. 5)

George Q. Cannon (This should be worked into "My Diet Rules.")

"We can have variety in diet, and yet have simplicity. We can have a diet that will be easily prepared, and yet have it healthful. We can have a diet that will be tasteful, nutritious and delightful to us and easy to digest..." (Journal of Discourses 12:221-4)