About a week ago a friend lent me her 1968 copy of Ten Talents, a Seventh-Day Adventist cookbook which you can find used. She thought I would be interested in the extensive use of coconut oil in a book from the 1960’s. Although I am very intrigued by the recipes in Ten Talents, what fascinates me even more is the instructions on nutrition—how to eat to be healthy—and how good nutrition is Christian.
I got into cooking (or rather uncooking) six years ago when I thought the raw food movement was first happening. I lived in Maryland then. My teachers (my naturopath, nutritionist and good friend) were going to raw classes and teaching me about raw food—how to make it, and why it’s good for you. We got books like Raw Food, Real World: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow , and Raw: The Uncook Book. The most fun though, was taking the concepts we found, and creating our own recipes.
Now I’m borrowing this Seventh-Day Adventist cookbook from a friend here in Colorado and I see that everything I thought was new about raw food was already published in 1968. And where do the authors of this cookbook get their information about nutrition? From Ellen G. White, a visionary of the Seventh-Day Adventist church from… are you ready for this? The late 1800’s. The late 1800’s?! People have been promoting my beliefs on good nutrition for over a hundred years?
But wait, there’s more! Ellen G. White believed that good nutrition is biblical. This cookbook preaches that eating healthy is not only good for you, but is what God wants. Ten Talents cites the bible for their instructions on what foods we should eat. That would make the concept of eating healthy not only as old as Ellen G. White, but thousands of years old.
As someone who has struggled to defend our reasons for eating healthy (well, mostly on the East Coast, not in Colorado), this is really exciting to me. I realize now that I’m not doing anything new, I’m just doing what most Americans nowadays don’t. I feel so refreshed 🙂
So what nutritional practices does this cookbook teach exactly? This book is very anti-refined sugar, calling it poison (as I often do).
They recommend honey, dates, and fruit to sweeten. Here is one of my favorite sketches in the book, where they call for “abstaining from white sugar products.”
Several places also call for drinking water—6 to 8 glasses a day—between meals, because water with food dilutes the enzymes our bodies need to digest food. Drinking lots of water is one of their “Seven Keys to Health.”
Ten Talents tells us to eat as much raw food as possible, how to conserve food, not to overcook food, how to use herbs for healing, how to use juice for therapy, how to combine foods, and more.
Some passages that spoke to me:
I am crazy about this book, and I would love to see some of the updated editions (how the book may have changed with time), as well as some of the books written by Ellen G. White. I’ve already ordered a used copy of Councils on Diets and Foods on Amazon. Can’t wait.
I must warn you, while Ten Talents is well-known as one of the best vegetarian cookbooks of all time, this cookbook is NOT gluten-free. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t find tons of great recipes, information and inspiration in it. Here is a photo of two of the recipes I’ve already made: Healthy Candy (I left out the carob) and Fruity Chews (p. 122 and 123), both raw. They were a little too moist after being refrigerated, so I put them in the dehydrator over night, and now they’re perfect. Totally yummy. I’m going to make a bigger batch of them to freeze for my maternity leave 🙂
♥, Kelly
Carol S says
What a great find! My uncle is a Seventh Day adventist and used to own a healthfood store in a small town in canada. It went under, which is no surprise as he was up against main-stream, small town thinking and convenience food. This book really interests me as well and I will HAVE to look at it! Thanks!
Eryn says
Wow, what a great find- not only the cookbook but a reminder that you are doing something that is not exactly “new”, but time tested and proven! It makes me feel good to think that when I cook (or uncook 🙂 for my family, I am joining with thousands of years of healthful wisdom on what we should and shouldn’t eat. I might try to find this cookbook gem on amazon, too!
Anonymous says
Hi Kelly –
This is amazing! It seems like the American diet changed dramatically after WWII with the introduction of processed, packaged foods. But, at what point did refined sugar and sweets become such a mainstay? I remember reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books and being struck by how SPECIAL and RARE it was for her to have maple sugar candy, and sugar on bread with butter. Thanks for this informative post!
Leah says
Why do they say that hard fats should be avoided? Isn’t coconut oil considered a “hard” fat?
Mac says
That’s fascinating! So interesting that these ideas have been around for so long- I’d love to read and learn more these sources too!
Amber says
The things you made look really yummy, so now I will have to find the book for myself…or at least the recipes for those! Thanks for the review!
Kelly says
Leah, I was wondering that too. And they use tons of coconut oil. Maybe they didn’t know it was. But I don’t agree with everything in the book. It uses a lot of tofu, and I don’t agree with that. I was happy to see so much I did agree with.
Gretchen says
I loved this post and just bought a used copy on Amazon for $11!!! I can’t wait to read it. I have always been fascinated by the Seventh Day Adventist’s nutritional beliefs and look forward to reading more about it. Thanks!
Kelli says
“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or SABBATHS, which are a shadow of things to come, buit the substance is of Christ.”
Colossians 2:16-17
Wenchypoo says
If you think about it, the raw “diet” is actually many millenia old–it was practiced by cavepeople before fire was invented.
As for the 1800’s, I was astonished to find information about sugar and heart disease in a cookbook from 1918–this information was exactly what the American Heart Association uses today as sugar intake recommendations to prevent heart disease! So did we waste a lot of time and money making scientific discoveries and conducting medical research on heart disease, only to find it was supposedly caused by cholesterol? It seems like it.
http://wenchwisdom.blogspot.com/2010/05/sugar-through-lens-of-past-cookbooks.html
How much money have people thrown at drugs to combat heart disease, only to find the real culprit is sugar, and not cholesterol?
If you go back far enough, you can even find cookbooks from the Civil War era that discuss rationing, sugar use/consumption, alternatives to wheat flour, etc.
Everything old is new again–even in the kitchen.
I’m looking into your book now, as it may become my “new” staple in the bookshelf.
Wenchypoo says
For the coconut oil wonderers: coconut oil is only hard in climates north of the equator, and if you notice, your jar of oil gets softer in summer months (even just sitting in the cupboard), making it only a TEMPORARILY HARD oil (and safe to use).
Anonymous says
Wow, this was a surprise when I opened my google reader!
I grew up SDA, and my mom’s family is still SDA. We never really ate sugar, lots of honey, though! I’m thankful for the heavy education in healthy eating, which I still practice today.
The current SDA vegetarian diet (they’re not all vegetarians), however, relies heavily on soy and processed wheat gluten meat substitutes. After growing up eating that kind of stuff, I (along some other people I know) believe that all that soy has been the reason for a lot of my health problems as an adult (gluten intolerance, endometriosis, allergies, etc).
But I really do support their emphasis on whole foods and low sugar. I will always be grateful for my health education in that regard.
Enjoy Counsels on Diet and Foods!
blogderecetas says
I think this is so interesting! My mom used to said that our bodies are the temple of the holly spirit and we should take good care of them!
I’m into green smoothies these days and I’m excited about it.
Reindeer Station Farm says
Too funny!!! I am an SDA, in fact, for the last 7 years I’ve been editor of the church’s teen drug and alcohol prevention magazine, Listen. The church, historically, has always had a great emphasis on health and what used to be called temperance. I did not grow up Adventist so I wasn’t familiar with this cookbook but I am familiar with our dietary principles. There have been a lot of changes over the years…the emphasis now in the cookbooks we’re publishing seems to be on vegan/raw. But another poster is correct that there was a terrible “health food” phase of meat substitutes that was anything but healthy. I think on the whole we’ve moved away from that. In any case, so interesting to read your review. Am curious now myself to check out that cookbook. If you enjoy Counsels on Diet and Foods you may also enjoy The Ministry of Healing by the same author. Some chapter titles include: “The Use of Remedies,” “Diet and Health,” “Flesh as Food,” “Mind Cure,” and “In Contact With Nature.” You might also enjoy “Eat For Strength” by Dr. Agatha Thrash. I was revisiting that one myself when I read your post and the coincidence gave me a giggle. Enjoyed the review. Thanks!
Desiree says
Hey!
So glad you found the book. I have heard lots of people say that its a good one. I am a Seventh-day Adventists and am proud of our strong health beliefs. Though I can’t say that I follow them as well as I should.
I hope you enjoy more recipes. Also, I know that the book has been updated, we met the author a couple summers ago. She looks like the girl in the picture.
Desiree says
That’s so cool that you found that book. I know it has been updated. A couple summers ago I met the lady in the picture. She looks the same, it must be due to the healthy eating.
As a seventh-day Adventist I am very proud of our health beliefs. I am still working on changing my eating habits but I know its the right way to go.
Have fun with more recipes.
Allison says
I loved your blog this week…I have been an Adventist my whole life and have this cookbook. While one reader mentioned the dependence of soy meat substitutes as a mainstay of the Adventist diet, not so nearly as much these days as in years past. I grew up eating almost none of the soy products and the emphasis has always been on whole foods, eaten as grown. And another key idea I grew up with was that what we eat affects both body and mind and the importance of having a clear mind to best serve God and man. The Ten Talents cookbook is a treasure and my copy is well worn!
Archer says
What a great post! Very interesting.
YYLady @ Flavor&Times says
Hey there! I just wanted to say I love reading your blog! I did not realize there was a sugar-free (REAL food) way to eat out there until I found your blog by a search for celiac-friendly stuff for my brother. In regards to this book: totally insane. I mean, who knew people back in the day were so in tune with quality nutrition? I love this ancient intuition about food and re-learning how to use what God designed to be a gift. 🙂 Thank you thank you for your recipes! I promise I will leave a shorter comment next time. *pinkies* YYLady
Wenchypoo says
You know, I always thought More With Less (the Mennonite cookbook) would forever be my go-to book, even though I can no longer eat many of the recipes in it. The informational pages contained within were the basis of many of my blog articles about nutrition, food, and food quality, as well as cost per unit and cost per gram of protein. I keep it around solely for re-reading the tables and narrative that went along with them.
I ordered the 1969 version of this cookbook because some people placed a thumbs-down on the newer version–I want what I see on this blog. This is going to be another cookbook you can sit and read on the couch, rather than stand and cook from in the kitchen, just like More With Less.
I want to experience kitchen life BEFORE Betty Crocker, rationing, and farm subsidies took over this country…and look where it got us!
July 8th, 1977 says
When you state coconut milk and don’t stipulate the cream on the top of whole coconut milk CAN I use the beverage coconut milk that has no sugar added? Thanks!
Gabrielle says
My family owns that book (we actually have the 2008 pictorial edition; I don’t know entirely how much it has changed.) Anyway, I’m actually Seventh-Day Adventist and, yeah, Ellen G. White has said a great deal of stuff on a wide variety of topics that some people are only now figuring out. There is so much to learn all of the time.
Kelly says
July 8th, You could try that kind. I always use canned, so I don’t know if it would be the same.
Summer says
Hello Kelly, I must let you know that one of your cookbooks sold today !!!! … I am a very firm believer in Biblical Nutrition as well …. GOD wants us to be healthy while we are here on earth … I do not bake or use white sugar / flour I use Agave Nectar as well as a very good Coconut Oil… I do know that we get no daily guarantees however we are given Biblical advice as to how to eat & care for our bodies in Genesis 1:29 & also in Psalm 104:14 …. I do know GOD is good no matter what !! I will email you my facebook page with pictures of CLOE&Company Shoppe.
July 8th, 1977 says
Thanks Kelly – I’ll try it both ways … 🙂 Re: Coconut milk question. 😉
Anonymous says
I would assume “hard fats” = lard.
Anonymous says
Thank you so much for this wonderful review! I am so thankful to our heavenly Father for all the wisdom and guidance he revealed to Ellen White for our happiness and health. I thank Him that He lead me to the Bible as the guide for our lives (Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth)seven years ago and I have since been enjoying the blessings of increasing health and happiness! May it also be your experience in your walk with God. Sacha