By Jane Birch
What did Adam and Eve eat in the Garden of Eden?
Undoubtedly Adam and Eve ate an ideal diet for their condition in the Garden of Eden. We don’t know exactly what that diet was, but we do know that it was all plant foods. God said to Adam and Eve:
I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. (Genesis 1:29)
In the beginning, God gave our first parents a diet of plants. In the Bible account, consuming the flesh of animals is introduced only after the flood destroyed the vegetation on the earth. In Joseph Smith’s translation of Genesis, we learn that God tells Noah that now he may eat meat, but He emphasizes its use only in times of need:
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. . . .And surely, blood shall not be shed, only for meat, to save your lives; and the blood of every beast will I require at your hands. (JST Genesis 9:9, 11)
What type of plants did they eat?
The Hebrew word for herb means plants, and most plants bear seed (and all can produce offspring which is what this might mean), so this is not very helpful in narrowing down the type of plants. Fruit of the tree is more specific, but between plants bearing seed and the fruit of the tree, this pretty much includes most plants, especially because God specifically states they are given all that are “upon the face of all the earth.”
Some people claim that Adam and Eve ate a diet of mainly fruit with some herbs. Some further suppose these were all raw. I do not see this in the scriptural account. “Every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth,” would include fruit, vegetables, legumes, grains and other plant foods. One thing is for sure, while it is likely that Adam and Eve had the technology to cook food, they certainly did not have blenders or juicers in the Garden of Eden!
I can certainly imagine Adam and Eve eating raw plants directly from the ground, but I don’t believe they were limited to that. It is interesting that there is a small difference in the corresponding verse in the book of Abraham:
And the Gods said: Behold, we will give them every herb bearing seed that shall come upon the face of all the earth, and every tree which shall have fruit upon it; yea, the fruit of the tree yielding seed to them we will give it; it shall be for their meat. (Abraham 4:29)
Note the future tense, “that shall come upon the face of all the earth, and every tree which shall have fruit upon it.” This encourages me to think that Adam and Eve were also given the plants and fruits that would come in the future on the face of the earth. When the Lord sent them out of the Garden of Eden, He cursed the ground for their sake and sent them to “till the ground” and to “eat bread” until they died (Genesis 3:23, 19).
Even if we knew exactly what Adam and Eve ate in the Garden, we don’t live in the Garden and those exact foods are unlikely to be available to us now. When our parents left the Garden, they went from an immortal to a mortal state, I assume their bodies changed somehow. Our bodies are likewise not immortal. My conclusion is that we should look to the revelation God gave us for our day, D&C 89 (the Word of Wisdom), for how to eat, and not to the Garden of Eden.
The Millennium is a time when it appears that we will collectively return to eating more like Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. I assume our bodies will experience some change, and we know our diet will. The scriptures tell us that even the animals will not eat each other:
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. (Isaiah 65:25)
Is an all-fruit (fruitarian) diet superior?
I love fruit! But I personally do not feel the Lord intends for us to live on an all-fruit diet. First of all, this is contrary to the Word of Wisdom which states that ALL plants are ordained for our “constitution, nature, and use” and that grains are specifically ordained to be the “staff of life.” Second, there is no scientific evidence that an all-fruit diet is a superior diet and some disturbing evidence to suggest it can be risky. Certainly no human population has ever existed on an all-fruit diet.
Last, it is obvious that this is not a diet that could possibly provide for all the energy needs of all of God’s children. There are only a select few that can afford to eat this way. An all-fruit diet is likely not sustainable for the earth and certainly not affordable for the masses. The Lord ordained a diet that is sustainable and is affordable for all His children. Grains are the cheapest form of calories on the earth. They currently supply the bulk of all the calories for the human race . . . as they have always done throughout history. To think that we could do away with all these grains and all other plants except fruit and feed the entire world is clearly impossible.
This is not to say that during the Millennium or in the next world (when our bodies are changed) that we could not exist on all fruit, if we choose. It is also possible that in this future condition we will not have to eat any food at all. We don’t have that option now.
Is the Word of Wisdom a perfect diet like they had in the Garden of Eden?
The Word of Wisdom contains simple principles, rather than an exhaustive list of what to eat and not eat. Is a diet “adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints” (D&C 89:3). These facts suggest there is more counsel and wisdom the Lord can give us when we are prepared to receive it. I believe the Lord will provide more personal guidance to us as individuals through the Spirit as we follow the counsel in D&C 89 and keep all the commandments (see D&C 89:18–21).
See also: Discovering the Word of Wisdom: Surprising Insights from a Whole Food, Plant-based Perspective by Jane Birch
Last updated: July 26, 2016
I agree with your musings. God’s people have always had a Word of Wisdom that changes depending on circumstances. I love Daniel 1 as another example.
Regarding all fruit, Nutritional Facts .org had an interesting video on a rice and fruit diet. I agree with your view, but thought the video was interesting.
https://youtu.be/GQb5Fe6hZXw
Dear Brian: Thanks for sharing the video! I love Dr. Kempner and have read his biography. He did amazing work many decades ago. The science has advanced far beyond what he understood then, but so much of what today’s whole food, plant-based doctors know is based on his good work. Thanks again!
What are the that God mad and a man made food?
Hi Gabby! I think the God-made food is the food we pick straight from the earth before we have processed it. When we take the food and highly process it, that is the man-made food. So whole apples and spinach are God made. Oreo cookies are mostly human-made.
It’s too bad you people only read the Bible and not study it! There were no vegetables in the garden of eden, only fruit. There was no man to till the ground; it wasn’t tilled until Adam and woman, who’s name wasn’t eve until they were kicked out of the garden; the seed bearing plants were not used until they were out of the garden! They only ate from the fruit trees! Get a clue, do an in-depth study! Don’t just read it! I expect that whoever believes they ate vegetables also doesn’t realize that Adam was created outside the garden and placed in the garden ! You probably don’t know that Adams wife was called woman, that God called her Adam ! Her name wasn’t eve until the were kicked out of the garden , and the seed bearing plants were reserved for Adam to til after they left the garden! What blasphemy! They didn’t cook in the garden, and why would they eat anything but fruit from multiple trees! If you will study more closely, it tells you about eden, not just the garden he planted in eden! Get a clue people! It’s there in the Bible! You just really need to study!
Thanks for sharing your opinion. In my experience, people who have studied the Bible carefully may have quite different interpretations. My thoughts are based on studying both the Hebrew and various translations of the Hebrew. You are welcome to interpret this differently. Enjoy life!
You are so confused & don’t understand what you have read in genesis about Adam and Eve
Iris, angry and indignant much? If I wasn’t a Christian, and saw this rant, there would be no way I’d be receptive to God’s gift. You have placed yourself in a superior position above others. Maybe you should follow your own advice, and study the Bible. I’m just going to say it, “shame on you!”
Why is Iris so angry and accusatory. This is why people get turned off of scripture and Christianity and turn away from the Word of God because of people like Iris- rude, ignorant and opinionated. I believe she is the one who needs to “get a clue” and read her Bible. Was she there? Does she know something all the scholars and theologians do not? Jane this was a great article and for some us, less confrontational folks, we found it informative.
Thanks so much for the complement! I appreciate the kind words.
I too am ignorant and opinionated about some things, so I do feel empathy for others who may have the same weakness as I!
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. . . .And surely, blood shall not be shed, only for meat, to save your lives; and the blood of every beast will I require at your hands. (JST Genesis 9:9, 11) I appreciate your article, but this translation really is pushing it saying” only for meat to save your lives,”
3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the * green herb, have I given you all things. is the accurate quote, this is from a 1775 bible.
There is a scripture also in 1 Timothy 4:3
1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 4For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 6If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
Hi Joy! I don’t know if you are LDS or not, but the translation I quoted from Genesis is the one made by Joseph Smith. If you are not LDS, then that will not matter to you. But it is also helpful to realize that the word “meat” in the Bible almost always means “food.” You might try re-reading the scriptures you quoted with that in mind. Regardless, we can all chose the interpretations that seem correct to us, and we don’t have to all agree. Take care!
Well, while some commentaries were a bit abrasive in their delivery, they still do contain some merit & while I’m thankful for your article here and subsequent dialogue … it does seem to be amiss about a few small details, unfortunately. The seed bearing fruit encompass all fruits with seeds within them such as common day fruits as we know them… But much more as well. For many of us we are not familiar that these ‘fruits’ also include the ‘vegetables’ we commonly eat nowadays but have come to deem them vegetables instead of the fruit they really are.
Some of these are olives, tomatoes, pumpkin, peppers of all sorts including hot chili peppers, zuchinni, avacodo, all squashes, beans, peapods, cucumbers, eggplants, corn kernels, okra and more..so you can see that, in fact, the fruitarian diet is plausible once you identify that most vegetarians to day eat these main foods in grocery stores and are, in fact, mainly fruitarians and not vegetarians because these so called vegetables are actually part of the God-ordained fruits he said we could eat and eat as our meats.
Next would be the lentils and beans and legumes… oh and I also forgot the nuts and seeds, because did you know nuts are in fact technically deemed a ‘fruit’? So people are making assumptions of the food categories based on alot of misinformation and it surprises me how little we all really know about plant life on earth, whether it’s a fruit, vegetable, nut or legume or grain ? lol It would be awesome to educate our children about these foods don’t you think and sadly we do not?
I think maybe this is perhaps our aversion for so many decades or millenials to a raw and holistic vegetarian and fruit diet?
Last on the pyramid is the actual vegetables and then the grains, and these we are to eat last and if you notice they appeared and were only noted by God once the fall of man happened and was delivered outside of eden to toil the earth etc… this means toil the earth like gardening and cultivating the vegetables / herbs of the ground/covering the ground and these also included the cultivated grains we now eat and also in bible days. So the foundation of the pyramid is the fruit bearing seeds from trees which includes nuts and seeds and all the fruits we consider vegetables, such as olives tomatoes etc etc. Next in the pyramid is the legumes and lentils and beans, and after that is the actual vegetables such as leafy green lettuces, onions, carrots and all the root vegetables and so forth and potatoes and also veggies like broccoli and so on including all herbs. It’s important to note that these veggies and also the grains are not essential for life and are more garnishes and supplements to our diet and came much later and were not part of the original diet God wanted for us.
Next is of course the grains and should be used sparingly or not at all as well. And lastly are some small amounts of dairy and also meats including fish etc… These too should be used sparingly and more as a garnish with out main food diet, which are the foundational foods, such as nuts, seeds, fruits and beans and legumes and all the fruits we consider veggies these days like tomatoes, squashes, peppers, olives etc… These are our foundational foods and many of them you can eat limitless amounts and never gain weight either like have a bowl of olives at your dinner table because olives are a fruit with a seed inside and can be eaten all the time and are also very healthy for us including olive oil! Meat and dairy are always the smallest part of God’s food pyramid so we can be fruitarians/vegetarians or flexitarians for optimal health.
Flexitarians eat small portions of meat and fish throughout the week more like a garnish then having like 16 ounce steak dinners which is not healthy for anyone as God said he was fine we ate meat but not with gluttony. We can eat anything now but not everything is wise or healthy for us or our weight gain probs in our culture today as well. We should always be eating beans, lentils and legumes daily as our main protein source with small amounts of dairy and we can supplement with small amounts of animal proteins as well if we really cannot give them up but it’s not necessary or even recommended in the bible to eat an animal based protein diet.
Anyhow, I hope this helps some who are as confused as I once was until I learned more about this by direction of the Holy Spirit over time that many of the ‘vegetarians’ as we identify the are in actuality fruitarians and people don’t seem to understand what a fruitarian is until they study indepth what God and the bible is actually saying about these seed producing fruit trees etc…
Hi yanina! Thanks for your very interesting and insightful comment. I appreciate your perspective and the points you make. Since we do not live in the Garden of Eden, I feel starch foods (primarily grains) are more rightly the “staff of life,” or best foundation for the human diet, but I love many of the points you make. Thanks for sharing from your understanding and study!