We have already studied what is not food at all; that is, those things which have only a stimulating effect upon the system. We found that. ...
... from tea to hashish, we have, through hops, alcohol, tobacco, and opium, a sort of graduated scale of intoxicants, which stimulate in small doses and narcotize in larger.
We studied the effect of these things, particularly tea and coffee, because they are so largely used by people who profess to be strict temperance reformers.
All these things having only a stimulating, narcotizing, intoxicating effect upon the human system, it follows that they are not foods in any sense, and therefore are never to be used at all by those who would present their bodies "holy, acceptable unto God,"[1] and who are preparing to be translated at the soon coming of the Lord.
Having found, then, what is not food at all, we will now study what is not good food.
It is proper, indeed, to study not only what is not good food, but what is not the best food; for the Lord wants His people to have the best of everything. He has given us the best Gift in His possession. In this He has given us the best religion in the universe. And He wants His people to have the best health, so that we can enjoy, in the best way, the religion which He has given. And that we may have the best health, He wants us to live on that which is best.
On this subject the Testimonies use the expression that such and such "is not the best" many more times than the expression, "is not good." This simply illustrates the thought that the Lord wants us to use that which is the best.
Having shown the injurious effects of tea and coffee, and that those things have no other than injurious effects, the questions have been asked:
"What about cocoa?"
--and,
"When we leave off tea and coffee, is not cocoa a good substitute for them?"
If we use the word "substitute" in the sense of doing the same thing that tea and coffee would do, then cocoa is a perfect substitute for them. But if we use the word "substitute" in the sense that is evidently here intended, of using cocoa with the expectation of its doing good where tea and coffee do only evil, then it is not a substitute at all.
We have seen that the evil effects of tea and coffee come altogether from the theine and caffeine that they respectively contain--theine and caffeine, however, being but different names for the same identical thing. Now the truth is that a given amount of cocoa always contains nearly as much, and often more, of the same identical poison that is found in the same quantity of tea, and one-and-one-fifth times as much as is found in the same quantity of coffee.
The active principle of tea is theine; the active principle of cocoa is theobromine. And all three of these words are simply three different names for the same thing. Theine and caffeine and theobromine are identical. Perhaps we had better give the proof of this; so here it is:
Theine is an alkaloid identical with the caffeine obtained from coffee....Theine is precisely the characteristic constituent of coffee.[2]
The constituent upon which the peculiar value of cocoa depends is the theobromine, an alkaloid substance which, till recently, was supposed to be distinct from, though closely allied to, the theine of tea and coffee. It is now, however, known that the alkaloid in these and two or three other substances similarly used is identical, and their physiological value is consequently the same.[3]
The physiological and dietetic value of coffee depends principally upon the alkaloid caffeine, which it contains in common with tea; cocoa; maté, or Paraguay tea; guarana; and African colanut.[4]
The proportion of this constituent that is identical in tea, coffee, and cocoa is as follows:
Tea : 1.8% to 3.0% (average: 2.4%)
Cocoa : 2.0%
Coffee: 0.8%
Now when you leave off coffee because of the evil effects of four fifths of one percent of stimulant, and take in its place cocoa, which has in it two and one-half times as much of the same identical stimulant, it is evident enough that that is not exactly health reform. Indeed, it is not reform of any kind; it is only to make the matter worse than it was before.
And when you leave off tea because of the injurious effects of two-and-two-fifths percent of stimulant, and "substitute" for it cocoa, which has almost as much, and in many cases more, of the same identical stimulant, it is evident that this is also just as far from being true health reform as the other.
This only illustrates the necessity of our using thought and judgment in all this work of health reform. It is not acting, sensibly to leave off a thing that we have learned is bad, and then blindly take up, simply because it tastes good, something that is as bad, or perhaps worse, or is the same identical thing under another name or in another form. This is not health reform.
We need to think on all these things, and act upon a thoughtful, well-formed, and well-balanced judgment. Of all things, this is one in which haphazard action is not allowable. Everyone needs to learn, and never to forget, that health reform does not consist in simply leaving off what we have learned is not good, but in using that which is good, or even the best. When we use only what is good or the best, all those things that are injurious will drop away like dead leaves from a tree, and will simply be left behind and never missed.
There is a difference, however, between cocoa and tea and coffee. That is, whereas tea and coffee have a very small proportion of food elements, or none at all, cocoa has a large proportion. More than four fifths of the constituents of cocoa--82 percent--are food elements; while in coffee less than one fifth is food, and in tea there are practically no food elements at all.
From tea and coffee, therefore, practically nothing is obtained but the stimulants, which are only injurious; while from cocoa the same, or a greater amount of the same, stimulant is obtained, yet along with it there is more than forty times as much of food elements. The proportion is:
Theobromine : 2%
Food Elements: 82%
These food elements consist of:
Fat : 52%
Nitrogenous Compounds: 20%
Starch : 10%
Yet the greater proportion of food elements does not, by any means, destroy the stimulant. The effect of the stimulant is the same, whether taken with the larger proportion of food elements in cocoa, or with very little, or none, in tea and coffee. It is better to do without the food elements as found in cocoa, and thus escape the stimulant, than to take the stimulant with the food elements. In other words, it is far better to use that which contains only food than to use what contains both food and stimulant.
This brings us to another principle of health reform. It is this: As anything, the effect of which is only to stimulate, is not food, and therefore is not to be used at all, so also anything that carries with it any stimulant is not good food, and is therefore not to be used if it is possible to avoid it.--Advent Review, June 7, 1898.
Notes: