Luther on Health Reform

[GHansen]

    …. and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; Gen. 3:18
"This passage seems to me to give sufficiently strong proof that Adam did not live on butter, milk, eggs, cheese, meat, apples, and pears, but on vegetables and seeds, such as peas, beans, fennel seeds, millet, rice, spelt, and the like. What a glorious feast to spread before his guests as he gave away a daughter, or at the wedding of his children, when the only food he could provide was herbs!     

Such was the frugality of this early period: the most ordinary and simple food with water. Now an awful gluttony has come over the world. Now it is not enough to prepare all kinds of meat for one’s pleasure; but they mix meats with fish, add spices, and attempt the unnatural perversion of using condiments to sour those foods that are sweet by nature, and to sweeten those that are sour.     

What great variety there is also in the matter of drink! Who would not feel insulted if he saw water placed before him by his host. We are not satisfied with the beer that is brewed among us and with the native wine, but we desire those from beyond the sea. If our father Adam were to return now, he would be amazed at this insane gluttony among his sons! The things we eat and drink with delight he would shun like poison, and he would prefer to all our delicacies either beets or barley groats with cold water.

 And so, moderation in food is commended to us in this passage when we are told concerning our first parents that they were deprived of all other foods and had left only the food consisting of herbs. This plainness of their food made their bodies healthy, not subject to those sicknesses which more luxurious food and gluttony bring on."

Luther, M. (1999). Luther’s works, vol. 1: Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 1-5. (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol. 1, p. 210). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

[GHansen]

But so far as food is concerned, who would not believe that at that time [during the life of Adam] one fruit was more excellent and also provided more healthful nourishment than a thousand now? The roots, too, of which people made use had more fragrance, quality, and flavor than now. All these factors—namely, their holiness and righteousness, moderation, the excellence of the fruits, and the healthfulness of the climate too—helped people to attain a long life, until at last there came a new decree of God by which the life of men was very much shortened.

If, however, we consider carefully our present-day manner of life, we are harmed more by food and drink than we are nourished. In addition to the fact that we live most immoderately, how much has been lost of the excellence of the fruits? Our first parents lived moderately and chose only those foods that were suited for nourishing and refreshing their bodies. There is no doubt that after the Flood all foods deteriorated, just as in our age we see everything becoming inferior. And today there is less difference between Italian wines or fruits and ours than there was between the fruits before the Flood and those which after the Flood were produced from salt water and the refuse of the sea.

Luther, M. (1999). Luther’s works, vol. 1: Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 1-5. (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol. 1, p. 341). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.