There is no way we can or should try to eliminate this chemical from our diets completely. That would be going to an extreme and would be considered fanaticism. Based on your email I don't take you as a fanatic but rather someone who is trying to teach her children the harmful effects of this substance. It sure doesn’t help the matter though, when you have certain people justifying the opposite position. I know how you feel. I'm going through the same challenges.

All we need to do is to use common sense. Like I said, we can't be fanatics over this. Drinking a cola and considering it a sin is going a little too far. Drinking a cola and teaching that there is nothing wrong with it is also going a little too far. It's all about wisdom. We must ask ourselves, are we drinking it because of a dependency to feel good? Could we live without it if we had to?

As we learn in the temple, we are here on this earth to overcome the temptations of the flesh; to be totally free from obsessions, habits and addictions; to keep our passions within the boundaries the Lord has prescribed. He has never given a revelation that specifically states that we can't drink a Coke once in a while. He has asked us, though, to be wise in all things; to use prudence, skill and judgment with the chemicals that he has given us to work with on this earth. (D&C 89:11)

Caffeine. . . is a drug, an alkaloid, related to some of the most violent of poisons. When it enters the human body, it produces at first a feeling of stimulation, followed in due course by a period of depression, relief from which is sought by the use of more caffeine. It is, therefore, habit-forming, so that the power of the will is weakened. (The Word of Wisdom: A Modern Interpretation, p. 79-80)

Caffeine has been shown. . . to be one of a series of chemical compounds known as purin derivatives. These compounds, alkaloids, are found rather widely distributed in the plant kingdom. In their chemical nature they are related to urea, a waste product of the animal body. Whether these purin derivatives, alkaloids and poisons, are the products of the disintegration of the protein substances in the plant, as the corresponding substances are formed in the animal body, is not yet known. The suggestion has been made that they serve the purpose, because of their taste and aftereffect, of protecting the plant against destruction by wild animals. (The Word of Wisdom: A Modern Interpretation, p.90)

So you see, there are purposes in all the constituents that God has given us to work with; it's all in how we use them or abuse them.

It is true that the Church has not come out with an official position, but our leaders have counseled members to avoid caffeine and other addictive chemicals.

I hope this helps you.

Sincerely,

Donny Osmond


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