In the early history of Mormonism a revelation now called the Word of Wisdom was given to Joseph Smith (now section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants). This Word of Wisdom contains some instruction on how to keep the body healthy. Among these are the following:
What's In the Revelation?
"That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good," (v. 5), "And again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly," (v. 8), "Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving." (v. 11), "All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts," (v. 14).
Not everything bad for the body is listed in this revelation, neither is all that is good for the body listed here. Joseph Smith has said in relation to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves." This also holds true with the Word of Wisdom. The principle is presented and members of the church govern themselves over it. Things that can be harmful to the body should not be given to the body, and things that are good for the body should be used.
A Real-Life Example
In a General Conference address, October of 1996, Elder L. Tom Perry shared a story of an athlete on a track team. His team was at a competition. The night before the coach of the team asked all the athletes to have a small glass of wine, thinking this would help them be on the best game the following morning. The boy refused to take the wine, but the rest of his teammates did have some. The following morning every athlete except the boy that refused the wine was ill, some of which unable to race. This boy, however, went out to his races, winning race after race throughout the competition.
To listen to Elder Perry's full address, watch the video below:
More on the Word of Wisdom:
Read more on the Word of Wisdom here at the following sites.
https://www.lds.org/topics/word-of-wisdom
http://www.squidoo.com/those-crazy-mormons-word-of-wisdom
If you have any further questions you can ask the Mormon missionaries.
http://mormon.org/chat
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