[music starts]
CNN: Everywhere you look, it seems a heart attack is just waiting to happen.
Jane Birch: It was 2011. I wasn't thinking about diet or nutrition,
but I saw a show on CNN called,
"The Last Heart Attack."
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn: Once they start eating this way, you'll make yourself heart attack proof.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Heart attack proof?
Dr. Esselstyn: We know that if people are eating this way,
they are not going to have a heart attack.
Dr. Gupta: Esselstyn thinks heart disease is completely preventable.
Jane: I learned that day that we can eat in such a way
as to not just reduce our chances of getting heart disease,
but essentially eliminate our chance of getting the most serious forms of heart disease.
I did a little more research on the diet and
realized it wasn't just heart disease.
It was most of the other chronic diseases
that are so common in our society.
When I realized that I could just simply eat differently and avoid most of the major diseases,
I thought, "This is a no-brainer. I'm going to change my diet."
President Ezra Taft Benson: To a significant degree, we are an overfed and undernourished nation
who are digging an early grave with our teeth.
President Gordon B. Hinckley: I thank the Lord for a testimony of the Word of Wisdom.
I wish we lived it more fully.
But even though we do not, the Lord pours out His blessings upon those who try.
Jane: When I learned about the tremendous health benefits from eating a whole food, plant-based diet,
I think that the Word of Wisdom was resonating in the background.
And it wasn't very long before I opened up to the Word of Wisdom, and I read those words,
and they jumped out at me like they'd never jumped out before.
Shane Jones: The Word of Wisdom typically has been thought of as "Don't do this,"
but there's a lot of things that the Word of Wisdom teaches that we should be doing.
And that's eating a lot of grains and then other herbs of the field,
which would I define as fruits and vegetables.
Michelle Jones: Yes, God gave us animals for a purpose.
He gave them to us to provide us with food and with raiment.
However, if there's a better option, he would rather we ate the better option,
and the better option is plants.
Vic Johnson: Really, there's as many blessings out there as people
are willing to look for and people are willing to go get.
And I love that about the Word of Wisdom, and I feel closer to Heavenly Father because of it.
He created our bodies. He knows what's best for them.
Jane: I don't think we've realized just how powerful the Word of Wisdom is, but I've learned that
there are Mormons all over the world who are now embracing the Word of Wisdom
to a greater degree than ever before.
Girl: "I'll have Kentucky Fried Chicken, Mom."
Mom: "You got it, superstar!"
Narrator: Kids love . . .
Jane: There's two main types of commercials on television . . .
McDonald's Ad: We're working on something big . . .
Jane: . . . the types of foods that get us sick, and then the pharmaceuticals that can help us,
help to relieve some of the symptoms.
Man in commercial: You told me your doctor's worried about plaque clogging your arteries.
Jane: They always tell you the side effects.
"You'll get this, you'll get that, you'll get that . . .
and by the way, one possible result is . . .
death!"
Commercial: . . . lymphoma and other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders and allergic reactions have occurred.
Jane: It's not that way with this diet.
There are no negative side effects.
You feel better. You have more energy. You lose weight.
You get all the nutrients you need.
Rogan Taylor: Most people, they're trying to lose weight. I mean, that's just a given.
And they've tried a lot of things.
And some people are like "I've tried everything,"
and I was like "Well, have you tried this?"
Orva Johnson: Most people I know are trying to lose weight, and so to have that
completely out of the equation, and be happy and full and never have to be hungry is a huge advantage.
The more I have tried to eat the way I see
the Word of Wisdom suggesting,
the more I feel like our bodies are a gift.
Paul Johnson: I'm old. I'm in my sixties, and I want
to stay in shape and be at my correct weight, and this diet really helps me do that.
Rogan: I had one patient who . . . she said she'd been heavy her whole life,
and she lost all this weight, and she came back and said,
"You know, people look at me now. Before they wouldn't even look me in the eye.
It's like I was wallpaper or something."
And, you know, it changes their lives. It's awesome.
Jane: Our Heavenly Father created our bodies. You'd think that he would
be able to give us the best advice about how to take care of them.
He gives us three principles. The first principle is in D&C 89:10–11
where the Lord tells us that he ordained wholesome herbs,
which means wholesome plants,
in the season thereof, for our constitution, nature, and use,
to be eaten with prudence and thanksgiving.
The second principle of the Word of Wisdom is that flesh is ordained for our use,
but He says, "Nevertheless, they are to be used sparingly."
What's more, "it is pleasing unto me that they not be used,"
only in times of winter, cold or famine.
So, essentially, in times of need.
The third principle of the Word of Wisdom is that are all grains are good
and are ordained to be the "staff of life," the foundation of our diet.
A whole food plant-based diet matches all three principles of the Word of Wisdom.
It is very low, or no, processed foods and very low, or no, animal foods.
Grains are the foundation.
President Benson: What needs additional emphasis are
the need for vegetables, fruits, and grain, particularly wheat.
In most cases, the closer these can be eaten, in their natural state—without over-refinement and processing
—the healthier we will be.
Shane: I think when most people hear about a whole food, plant-based diet, in theory, they agree with it.
There's nobody that's going to argue that a hamburger's not the best food for you,
but that's as far as it goes.
Everybody acknowledges that, but then how far do you go in avoiding that, and what does it take to do it?
Vic: Most people, if they really look into it openly, they'll find truth.
Just like in the Word of Wisdom, what it says, they'll find treasures,
and it might be hard to change some of those things, just like any other part of the gospel,
it's hard to change what you've already been doing.
Shane: I've realized that you do have to be a little radical.
You have to really make a big commitment to eat better,
and you do have to stand out in saying, you know, "No, I am going to eat well."
Rogan: Some people will just go with it and learn it, and other people will come
when they're having a crisis, and I'm like "Why wait till you have a crisis?"
Lynda Taylor: I think it made the Word of Wisdom come to life to me
that it really is a promise
that if you do these things, you'll have health, and we really have had the benefits of that.
Shane: If you gain a testimony of the Word of Wisdom, you can take immediate action,
and you can feel immediate results, and the Spirit can witness
to you almost immediately that what you're doing is right.
Vic: There is the part of the Word of Wisdom that is a commandment,
but there is this other awesome part of the Word of Wisdom that most people just kinda skip over or ignore or don't fully understand.
Paul: I'm not prohibiting anybody from eating meat.
You can eat meat; it's not a commandment.
You can have a temple recommend and eat meat, but I think it pleases the Lord when you don't.
Orva: We know when Jesus taught in parables, that it was on many different levels people heard those things,
and we are blessed if we will live just the bare minimum of the Word of Wisdom.
President Hinckley: To me, it is marvelous that beyond the promises of a physical nature,
is the promise of hidden treasures of knowledge concerning things divine and eternal.
Orva: There's something so sweet and satisfying and
peaceful about treating your body the way Heavenly Father suggests we treat it,
and it makes me feel part of this wonderful earth and part of his creations in a different way than I used to.
Paul: It pleases the Lord, and I like to please the Lord. I disappoint Him in so many
other areas of my life that maybe, this one area, I can mostly please Him.
Rogan: There's definitely a spiritual element to it.
I have a little hard time talking about it because, I think, others hear it and it's like they don't get it.
Jane: One of the great hidden treasures of the Word of Wisdom is
that we don't have to sacrifice delicious foods for healthy foods, for the foods that
the Lord ordained for our body.
Michelle: We really limit our selection of healthy foods,
and it's really a shame because there's a lot of good stuff out there that we haven't even delved into yet.
Paul: We have some great recipes, some great meals, and I'm completely happy.
Orva: When people say, "I could never do that, I like my food too much," I think,
"You cannot love your food more than I love my food.
In fact, I don't think you love your food as much as I love my food
because I have wonderful food and no guilt."
Lynda: This is one of the blessings, to see our grandkids being raised with a healthy diet.
It's very exciting to us.
Jane: I love the fact that the Word of Wisdom was given for our day.
A lot of people say, "It's outdated. That was for Joseph Smith's day,"
But frankly, the saints in Joseph Smith's day, they never benefited from the Word of Wisdom like we can.
There's a lot of things the Lord could have told them that would have protected
the Saints in Joseph Smith's day better than the text in D&C 89.
Who needs this text?
We need this text!
President Benson: We need a generation of young people who eat in a more healthy manner, as did Daniel.
God has never given any temporal commandments,
and that which affects our stature, affects our soul.