About Mormon health and the Word of Wisdom - the fact and myth cheat sheet
This is part of the Mormon fact and myth cheat sheet on this website. The main list of Mormon facts and Myths can be found here. This section specifically discusses Mormon belief about health and the Word of Wisdom.
This is a compilation of facts and myths about Mormon beliefs compiled from comments and other resources. I add things to this list as I run into them so this list has more information on it than I have had time to write about in detail. Some of these can be uncommonly random.
Some of these comments may have been collected from someone that is trying to imply that Mormons won't tell you about these things. This is partially accurate simply because we don't actually believe in many of these things. On a similar note, I have pulled some of this information from several "campaigns" which claim that they just want to help us Mormons realize the error of our ways. However, most of these campaigns are not actually targeted to Mormons. They are targeted to those who are not Mormon and may be curious about what we really believe. In war and politics it is known as a "disinformation" campaign and it's used to keep other people in the dark or doubtful of factual information. If these campaigns were intended to target Mormons, they would talk to us directly, instead of referring to Mormons in the third person as "they," and they would use our real teachings to try and convince us of our error.
You may notice that after the first sentence, these descriptions are written in a way so that anyone can quote them if they need to. The disadvantage to this is that there are some things that get repeated in the explanations more than once. It should be noted that this site is not an official source for Mormon doctrine, so if you're going to quote from this site I would recommend that you point out the sources or link back to this page so readers can verify accurate sources for themselves. I have also bolded some things in each statement to help identify the key points.
Speaking of repeating stuff, this introduction is fairly standard on the other fact and myth pages so you can probably skip it on the next one without missing much.
Editing and referencing is still an ongoing process for this page.
Mormon beliefs about health and the Word of Wisdom
"Mormons believe in a law of health":
This is true.
Mormons believe that the Lord commanded the latter-day saints to live by a law of health. It is usually referred to as the Word of Wisdom. Latter-day saints who observe the Word of Wisdom will not drink coffee, tea, or alcohol. They will also abstain from tobacco and other similar items.
"Mormons are not supposed to drink coffee":
This is true.
Mormons believe in a law of health known as the Word of Wisdom. The original text states that Latter-day saints should avoid hot drinks. The leaders of the LDS church have stated that this specifically means tea and coffee.
"Mormons are not supposed to drink tea":
This is true.
Mormons believe in a law of health known as the Word of Wisdom. The original text states that Latter-day saints should avoid hot drinks. The leaders of the LDS church have stated that this specifically means tea and coffee. Most Latter-day saints will not drink any form of tea.
"Mormons are not supposed to drink alcohol":
This is true.
Part of the Mormon law of health, known as the Word of Wisdom, states that Latter-day-saints should not drink wine or strong drinks. The leaders of the LDS church have stated that this specifically means alcohol and fermented drinks. Alcohol that is found in medicines is ok as long as it is not abused.
"Mormons are not supposed to smoke cigarettes":
This is true.
Mormons believe in a law of health known as the Word of Wisdom. Part of the Word of Wisdom states that Latter-day-saints should not use tobacco.
"Mormons are not supposed to use illegal drugs":
This is true.
Mormons believe in a law of health known as the Word of Wisdom. The leaders of the LDS church have stated that this also includes illegal or strong drugs that are not prescribed by a competent medical professional.
"Mormons are not supposed to drink caffeine":
This is false.
The LDS Word of Wisdom specifically means that Mormons cannot drink coffee, tea, or alcohol. Caffeinated drinks are not included in this. The council of the leaders of the church is to avoid any addictive substances, which includes caffeine, but it is not something that would affect a members standing. A member can be caffeinated and hold a temple recommend.
"The ability to drink caffeine is a recent change":
This is false. The author of this site has been a well caffeinated Mormon for at least 20 years.
The ability to drink caffeine has not changed recently. The council from church leaders has always been to avoid addictive substances even if they are not illegal, so many Mormons will not drink caffeine. In a blog post the Mormon newsroom stated that the revelation on the word of wisdom does not include caffeine. This caused a lot of people who were unfamiliar with the Word of Wisdom to assume that this was a new change in doctrine.
"Mormons are not supposed to drink cough medicine":
This is false.
Part of the Mormon law of health, known as the Word of Wisdom, states that Latter-day-saints should not drink wine or strong drinks. The leaders of the LDS church have stated that this specifically means alcohol and fermented drinks. Alcohol that is found in medicines is ok as long as it is not abused.
"Mormons have to obey the Word of Wisdom to hold a temple recommend":
This is true.
Mormons believe in a law of health known as the Word of Wisdom. Latter-day saints are required to keep the Word of Wisdom to have and use a temple recommend which allows members to go to the temple.
"Mormons are kicked out of the church if they do not obey the Word of Wisdom":
This is false.
Mormons believe in a law of health known as the Word of Wisdom. Latter-day saints are still members and can attend any church meetings if they are not obeying the Word of Wisdom, but would need to be following it to receive any ordinance work, including baptism or temple work.
"Teen pregnancies are high in Utah":
This is false.
The claim that teen pregnancy rates in Utah are incredibly high is a claim that is often made by individuals attempting to smear the major demographic of Mormons in Utah, but it is inaccurate and not backed by actual data. According to Live Science, data from the Guttmacher Institute collected in 2008 indicates that Utah is in the lowest 10 states for teen pregnancy rates in the nation. It is ranked 43rd, with 48 teen pregnancies per 1000 teens.[1] For 2011 the Guttmacher Institute ranked Utah 45th in the nation, with 27 pregnancies per 1000 teens.
"Suicide rates are higher in Utah than other states":
This is true.
While suicide rates in Utah usually rank in the top 15 states per year. However, studies in the peer-reviewed Oxford American Journal of Epidemiology (Volume 155, Issue 5) indicated that active Latter-day saints have a much lower suicide rate than less active members or nonmembers. According to the study, 'the risk of suicide is 2.5 to 3 times greater for US males aged 20–34 years than it is for active LDS males of comparable age. For young men aged 15–19 years, the risk of suicide for active LDS males is comparable with the total US male risk.'[2]
"Suicide rates are higher in Mormons than non-members":
This is false. However it is true that I like to repeat myself.
Studies in the peer-reviewed Oxford American Journal of Epidemiology (Volume 155, Issue 5) indicated that active Latter-day saints have a much lower suicide rate than less-active members or non-members. According to the study, 'the risk of suicide is 2.5 to 3 times greater for US males aged 20–34 years than it is for active LDS males of comparable age. For young men aged 15–19 years, the risk of suicide for active LDS males is comparable with the total US male risk.'[2]
"Antidepressant use is higher in Utah than other states":
This is true if the source is using the Express Scripts report which is based on the three million subscriptions their company fulfilled. It's false when based on 236 million prescriptions written overall.
The claim that anti-depressant use is higher in Utah is accurate when the Express Scripts report in January of 2008 is used as the source,[3] but false when compared with prescription percent written by state in 2008. The Express Scripts report is based off of a sampling of three million of its own members who receive online fulfillment through the companies website and offline fulfillment through networked pharmacies. This study is the primary source for several of the news articles in the past few years. While this previous study evaluates one companies order fulfillment statistics, Yale has produced a report that shows different results based on more than 236 million prescriptions actually written for 2008. According to the Yale study 'The Geography of Antidepressant, Antipsychotic, and Stimulant Utilization in the United States,' the highest concentration of anti-depressant use was found in Alexandria, Virginia, with the south-eastern United States having the highest percent of these prescriptions written overall. According to the report 'use was lowest in the western part of the country.' All of Utah either falls beneath or within the range of the national median of 10.4% of anti-depressant use; with the one exception of Salt Lake County which is in the range just above the median. The study found that 'access to health care, insurance coverage and pharmaceutical marketing efforts explain much of the geographic variation in use.'[4]
"Mormons believe that AIDS is God's punishment for sin":
This is false.
Latter-day saints do not believe that AIDS is God's punishment for sin. According to the official statement on AIDS released by the church in July of 1988, AIDS affects even the innocent, and "in the Lord’s eternal plan, those who endure such suffering, pain, and injustice, not of their own doing, will receive compensatory blessings through the Lord's infinite mercy."[5]
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