The Word of Wisdom
An 1833 revelation on food and drink: no alcohol, tobacco, coffee or tea; grain the staff of life; meat used sparingly.
Compiled by Nidari Nutrition from the Atlas dataset · pending clinical review by Maryam Shabbir, DN.
This is an Atlas entry — a short reference overview, not one of our long-form diet guides. Educational, not medical advice; personalized and clinically reviewed at your consult.
What is The Word of Wisdom?
The Word of Wisdom is a religious and faith-based eating practice from Kirtland, Ohio, USA. Nidari rates it moderate to keep up day to day, and rates the weight of peer-reviewed evidence behind its main claims as moderate.
Family: Religious & Faith-Based · Origin: Kirtland, Ohio, USA · Era: 1833 · binding from 1921 · Difficulty: Moderate · Evidence rating: Moderate evidence
Where does The Word of Wisdom come from?
The revelation was framed as “a principle with promise” rather than a commandment, and only in 1921 did President Heber J. Grant make full observance a condition of temple attendance. The text counsels against wine and strong drink, tobacco and “hot drinks” — which later prophets have taught means tea and coffee — and endorses wholesome herbs and seasonal fruit, grain as “the staff of life”, and the flesh of beasts and fowls used sparingly.
Originator: Received by Joseph Smith, 1833; canonised as Doctrine and Covenants 89 · Region: Kirtland, Ohio, USA · Era: 1833 · binding from 1921 · Atlas map pin: 41.46° N, 81.36° W
How does The Word of Wisdom work?
- Abstain from alcohol and tobacco
- No coffee or tea — the “hot drinks”
- All grain is the staff of life
- Meat sparingly; herbs in their season
What do you eat on The Word of Wisdom?
✓ Eat freely
- Wheat, oats and other whole grain
- Fruit and herbs in season
- Meat, used sparingly
✕ Limit or avoid
- Alcohol and strong drink
- Tobacco and drug misuse
- Coffee and tea
Who is The Word of Wisdom for?
The goals this pattern is most often used for. In a consult we confirm whether it actually fits your body and life.
Is there good evidence that The Word of Wisdom works?
Nidari rates the evidence behind The Word of Wisdom’s primary claims as moderate — that is the current weight of peer-reviewed research for those claims, and nothing more.
Prospective cohorts of religiously active Latter-day Saints in California show markedly lower cancer and all-cause mortality and some of the longest life expectancies documented in a defined US cohort. But the researchers themselves attribute most of the advantage to never smoking, marriage, education and weekly church attendance rather than to the counsel on meat and grain — so the health signal is real while the specifically dietary component is not isolated. Note that caffeine as such is not prohibited; the Church stated in 2012 that the text does not mention it.
How does Nidari adapt The Word of Wisdom?
The overlap with Islamic practice is larger than most people expect — no alcohol, no tobacco, restraint with meat. The divergence is caffeine: coffee and tea are out here, and chai is not.
Book a free 15-minute intro callReady to discuss The Word of Wisdom?
Fifteen minutes with one of our dietitians. We’ll tell you honestly whether The Word of Wisdom fits you — or point you to the diet that does. Halal and home-kitchen ready. No pressure.