A Nutrition Authority Discusses Mrs. E. G. White

Man’s Diet in Earlier Ages

In earlier ages man did not destroy the complex nutrients of natural foodstuffs, because his supply was often marginal and he had to eat the whole product in the form in which it grew. Cookery was probably the first method evolved that tended to destroy part of the vitamins of food. However, early man was migratory, within limits, and often had little fuel available. Hence he cooked briefly as many Eastern people do today, because of limited fuel supplies. Early man learned to sprout certain seeds such as soy beans that are difficult to eat without long cookery. Sprouting conserved the natural food values and made short-time cookery possible. NADEGW 2.2

Man first learned to destroy most of the value of natural foods when he discovered the distillation of alcohol, more than a thousand years ago, and when he learned to crystallize sugar, about two thousand years ago. Distillation and crystallization are human methods of removing most of the vitamins and other essentials of natural foods. When grain, such as corn, is fermented and then distilled, all of the protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals are left in the retort. Today these essentials are fed to animals, and man drinks the alcohol in the form of vodka or whisky. When sugar cane or sugar beets are grown they are rich in many essentials, like other foods, but crystallizing out the sugar leaves the essentials behind, just as much as does distillation. NADEGW 2.3