Can Mormons Eat Chocolate & Drink Hot Chocolate?
Many non-Mormons have little understanding of what their friends who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as Mormons, think about Christ, the afterlife, or the salvation plan. However, they are virtually always aware of the Mormon health code.
Many Mormons gladly indulge in eating chocolate and drinking hot chocolate. Even though the Latter-day Saints Church’s health code, The Word of Wisdoms, bans their worshipers from consuming many food products and beverages, chocolate is not on the forbidden list.
Having in mind the most common misconceptions about Mormons and their lifestyle, especially when it comes to food and drinks, this article will put an end to some of the most frequent questions. I’ll start with explaining the stance Mormons have on chocolate, answer the question of whether Mormons drink hot chocolate, and finally, list the drinks which are not on the Mormon menu.
Mormons and Chocolate
The Mormon church has a health code known as “The Word of Wisdom,” established back in 1833, which contains advice to church members on what to avoid, what to eat, and what benefits they will reap if they do so.
Avid churchgoers argue that adhering to principles laid out in their ancient, but revered code protects them against potentially life-threatening modern addictions, considering addictive chemicals are more widely available than they have ever been.
However, caffeine, let alone chocolate, is not forbidden in the Word of Wisdom. Moreover, members of the church are undeniably fond of chocolate, and they consume copious amounts of it throughout the week. Members especially enjoy chocolate on Fridays and during their spiritual services, whether they partake in them or not.
In fact, Mormon love for chocolate goes so far that Marie Osmond, a famous American entertainer who also belongs to the Latter-day Saints Church, once said that chocolate can be considered to be “Mormon medication.” If all medicine was even nearly as tasty as chocolate, we are sure children wouldn’t mind going to the doctor, would they?
Are Mormons Allowed Hot Drinks?
For members of the church, drinks that are hotter than room temperature are not forbidden. Anything that has been heated or reheated, such as lunch leftovers, is also not banned in sacred texts.
The prohibition on “hot liquids” is interpreted by members of the Latter-day Saints Church to include coffee and tea, whether or not they are actually hot. On the other hand, it is widely assumed that consuming boiling or hot water, herbal tea, hot chocolate, coffee alternatives like Postum, or malt drinks like Ovaltine or Milo is not out of bounds for a practicing Mormon.
What Drinks Do Mormons Avoid?
“The Word of Wisdom” expressly named alcohol, including wine and beer, coffee and tea as things which Mormons should not consume, besides many other food items. Drinking non-alcoholic beer and sparkling cider, rather than champagne, may be acceptable, but they should nonetheless be consumed with caution in order not to cause addiction.
Caffeine is tolerated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so sodas such as coke, different types of chocolate, and other items which contain traces of caffeine are not prohibited. However, some Mormons still believe that merely appearing to be drinking or consuming banned substances may cause people to get confused, and, therefore, refrain from coming in contact with anything caffeinated.
