The Adventist Church has a passion for good health. Not just for the absence of disease or sickness, but for total wellness. And you’ll see this passion—the urgent desire to return to Bible-based principles of good health—expressed everywhere you turn in Adventist circles.

Adventists developed a seminar program to help people stop smoking. The original Five-day Plan to Stop Smoking and its successor, Breathe Free, have been offered to millions of people. The church also has health and temperance departments that operate at each church level. And the church produces several publications designed to encourage the young to establish good health habits, including Bodywise, The Winner, Vibrant Life, and Listen. Cooking schools are held in local churches with an emphasis on low-fat, low-sugar, vegetarian cooking.

How can you, as a new Adventist, begin to participate in the church’s emphasis on good health? The name NEWSTART® has been coined as an acronym for eight natural prescriptions for health and happiness based on biblical principles. Making the habit of including all eight of these natural remedies in your life every day is a good way to start.

Nutritious food

Exercise

Water

Sunlight

Temperate, drug-free living

Air, fresh and clean

Rest

Trust in divine power

Are all Adventists vegetarians? No, but all Adventists are concerned about health, and as a result many North American Adventists—approximately 50 percent—have become lacto-ovo-vegetarians, which means that they don’t eat meat, fish, or poultry, but they do eat eggs and dairy products. In addition, some Adventists have adopted a vegan diet, choosing not to eat any animal products at all.

These health decisions are personal choices that new members must grow into and make for themselves. You will find a few Adventists who believe in "salvation by diet," and they will scrutinize everything you bring to potluck. Don’t let them discourage you. The goal of a healthy lifestyle is balance, and that includes much more than food.

I took an unscientific poll among my Adventist friends to discover what they perceive to be the most traditional Adventist recipe. Hands down, "Special K Cottage Cheese Loaf" was the winner. The vegans among us will shudder at the thought, but for new members getting used to a non-meat diet, it’s a good transitional recipe. You will find the recipe in the August issue on our Web site (www.LakeUnionHerald.org) under Adventism 101, or you can ask a long-time member of your church for it. Most Adventists have it in a cookbook or on a card in their recipe files.

By the way, even if Adventists eat meat at home or in restaurants, they don’t traditionally take it to church potlucks. So if you need some good recipes to take to potluck, I recommend purchasing the Apple a Day cookbooks from your Adventist Book Center (ABC). They are favorite recipes of Loma Linda University alumni doctors’ wives. There are two volumes. The second volume reflects Adventism’s shift toward more healthful eating patterns and has less fat and cheese in the recipes.

Now, I'll let you in on an Adventist secret. You'll know you are a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool Adventist when all you want to eat on Saturday night is popcorn and apples!

Portions of this article were adapted by Ann Fisher, Lake Union Herald managing editor, from Welcome to the Family, an out-of-print book published jointly by Home Study International and the North American Division, and used with permission.