The Church offered some clarification on Word of Wisdom topics for young Latter-day Saints In a recent New Era article. The article focuses specifically on substances like mocha, latte, macchiato, espresso, green tea, iced tea, vaping, e-cigarettes, marijuana, and opioids.
“The longer I live, the more knowledge I gain. That knowledge helps me to understand that the gift of our physical bodies is a transcendent miracle. A unique body is given to each of us by our loving Heavenly Father. He created it as a tabernacle for our spirits, to assist each of us in our quest to fulfill the full measure of our creation. Our bodies allow each of us to experience the great plan of salvation that He has designed for all His precious children. He wants us eventually to become more like Him and return to live with Him. That great blessing would not be possible without our first receiving a physical body in this probationary estate.” wrote President Nelson.
BELOW ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS
Green Tea and Iced Tea: Both iced tea and green tea are considered tea and would therefore be against the Word of Wisdom. “Green tea and black tea are both made from the leaves of the exact same tea plant. The only difference is that the leaves in black tea are fermented and in green tea they’re not. They’re both tea and against the Word of Wisdom. Some drinks have tea in them but don’t advertise that fact, so always check the ingredients. Also, iced tea is still tea.”
Marijuana and Opioids: With the rush of new users of marijuana due to its legalization the New era warns against the use of the now legal drug. “Marijuana may be legal for medicinal or even recreational use in a lot of places now, but that doesn’t mean that any use is suddenly not against the Word of Wisdom. Medical uses are being studied, but just like many pain medications such as opioids, marijuana is an addictive substance. Such habit-forming substances should be avoided except under the care of a competent physician, and then used only as prescribed.”
Vaping: The New Era article highlighted the negative effects of e-cigarettes – “Electronic vaporizers or e-cigarettes are devices people use to inhale mist, usually with various flavors. One study showed that nearly two-thirds of teen e-cigarette users thought that the pods they were vaping contained only flavoring. That’s way, way far from the truth. Most vaping pods contain nicotine, which is highly addictive, and all of them contain harmful chemicals. Vaping is clearly against the Word of Wisdom.”
Mocha, Latte, Macchiato: ”Hot Drinks” in the Word of Wisdom has long been defined as tea and coffee. The New Era article warned “The word coffee isn’t always in the name of coffee drinks. So, before you try what you think is just some new milkshake flavor, here are a couple of rules of thumb: (1) If you’re in a coffee shop (or any other shop that’s well-known for its coffee), the drink you’re ordering probably has coffee in it, so either never buy drinks at coffee shops or always ask if there’s coffee in it. (2) Drinks with names that include café or caffé, mocha, latte, espresso, or anything ending in -ccino usually have coffee in them and are against the Word of Wisdom.”