The Story of our Health Message

More Recent Discoveries

More recent discoveries indicate that the excessive use of butter is a contributing factor to the prevalence of arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. This has been shown to be caused by a deposit of cholesterol in the walls of the arteries. “Cholesterol comes only from animal fats and animal tissues.”—The Review and Herald, July 1, 1937. SHM 201.2

Therefore, we now have clear evidence that the use of even the best quality of butter, save in moderate quantities, is still a source of danger, and that in the decades when the light on health reform was given to Seventh-day Adventists, butter was generally used so excessively as properly to be classed among objectionable articles of food. SHM 201.3

Through the energetic editorship of Elder James White and a strong campaign in behalf of The Health Reformer, the journal soon regained its standing in the field, and the cause that it advocated again came to the front among Seventh-day Adventists. Within a year the list of subscribers increased from three thousand to over ten thousand. The importance which this leader among Seventh-day Adventists assigned to the cause of health in the message advocated by that church is indicated in his statement that he had “thrown off other labors and cares,” and designed to “give The Reformer” his “first and closest attention.” “We shall labor,” he says, “to secure the best writers, and to make the best selections from health journals and medical works.”—The Health Reformer, December, 1872. SHM 201.4

He issued a call for the ministry again to rally to the support of the cause. Listing by name nineteen ministers, he said: These “and many more, are especially expected to help by clear, sharp articles, or selections of the same sort, and paragraphs with comments thereon, and with brief articles they may come across in reading. Men of Israel, help!”—The Review and Herald, December 10, 1872. SHM 202.1

And so it was that by plain testimonies of counsel through the Spirit of prophecy, and the able leadership of Elder James White, the medical staff of the Health Reform Institute, and the co-operation of the ministry and laymen, an early drift toward extremes was checked, and the minds of the people were led more and more to accept only tried and proved principles of health reform. SHM 202.2