Salt of the Earth

Everyone on the earth is blessed by the blessing of Abraham. His children are found among every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Abraham's children are blessed, and through them all the families of the earth are blessed -- that is the promise of Abraham. 

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.

Abraham 2:11

All the families of the earth are blessed by Abraham’s seed because God gives them blessings, and all those around them are blessed by the blessings of Abraham. Just being associated with the children of Abraham gives great blessings. For example, all the wonders of technology that are given by God to do the work of gathering Israel benefit everyone else in the world who are not doing the work of the Lord. 

Airplanes were invented so the work of gathering Israel could happen. I can go anywhere in the world in one day, and so can the missionaries and other servants of God. Everyone else in the world, who are not servants also get to ride in planes and travel all over the earth. They get all the benefits of travel because God is blessing the children of Abraham. 

Computers were invented so the work of organizing and cataloging the families of the earth could commence. The work of family history is very important to the Lord. We have been given the ability to record the genealogy of every person who ever lived. We have the ability now not just to know their names, dates, parents, and children, but even record details about their lives. Those who are not doing genealogy work also get to benefit from the knowledge God has given for His purposes -- to gather Israel. 

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.

Isaiah 43:19-20

The Lord is doing something new, a marvelous work and a wonder. He sends rivers into the desert, meaning knowledge where there is none. He is giving life to the desert for Israel, His chosen people. He gives them a blessing of water to quench their thirst, and everyone else in the world is able to drink, though the blessing is not given to them because they are wicked and adulterous. They are the beasts of the field, owls, and dragons that will honor God, though they do not seek Him. They have the advantage of plenty of food and all their needs are met in spite of not being worthy, and not having kept the law. They are not blessed with the blessings of prosperity because of their own righteousness, or keeping the law, but rather God is blessing those who do. Blessings cannot be given unless there is faith, and people who are keeping the laws of God. 

There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21

Every blessing is given for a reason to those who keep the law upon which that single blessing is based. Because Abraham kept the law of the gospel, obtained the priesthood and sacrificed the things of the world, he was given a blessing through which all the families of the earth are blessed with the blessings of the priesthood. His priesthood lineage continues on the earth, and all those who receive it in the world, receive it through Him. These are His children -- even the Son of God receives it in the world through Him. Christ is a son of Abraham, and thus has rights to the priesthood, and He blesses every person who ever lived. 

The children of Israel scattered over the whole earth who keep the laws of God are being blessed, and everyone else benefits. They are the salt of the earth. 

When men are called unto mine everlasting gospel, and covenant with an everlasting covenant, they are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men;

Doctrine and Covenants 101:39

A little bit of salt goes a long way in cooking. Likewise, the whole of humanity is blessed by the few people who are living the gospel and obeying the word of God. They are keeping the commandments and doing the work of God so they are blessed. When they receive their rivers of blessings, the rest of the world is also blessed -- like the whole earth being salted and having the savor just from the few people of God. 

Jesus also compared this process to putting a little leavening into a loaf of bread and the whole loaf rises. 

It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Luke 13:21

The leavening is a teaspoon hidden in three measures of flour. There is no way to see the tiny amount of leaven, but it makes the whole three measures of flour rise. Everyone is benefited by the few who keep the commandments of God. Those who are with them, who allow the righteous to remain among them, are blessed by their presence. The whole of society is lifted up by the few who are righteous. Those who do not allow the righteous among them will not be so blessed.

Yea, and I say unto you that if it were not for the prayers of the righteous, who are now in the land, that ye would even now be visited with utter destruction; yet it would not be by flood, as were the people in the days of Noah, but it would be by famine, and by pestilence, and the sword. But it is by the prayers of the righteous that ye are spared; now therefore, if ye will cast out the righteous from among you then will not the Lord stay his hand; but in his fierce anger he will come out against you; then ye shall be smitten by famine, and by pestilence, and by the sword; and the time is soon at hand except ye repent.

Alma 10:22-23

When the society no longer allows the righteous to exist in it, then they are ripe for destruction. They no longer have any blessings of God, because He cannot give them anything since they are not keeping His laws. There is nobody left to receive blessings so the Spirit of the Lord is withdrawn from society, causing war, famine, pestilence, death, and destruction. The people of the covenant are important for the whole nation to exist. 

This principle extends to the One. One man can raise up, not just a nation, but the whole world through all time. Jesus Christ is the ultimate leaven of the earth. All flesh is saved by Him. He is the leaven that causes us to rise because we cannot rise on our own. The Father blesses His Son with the blessings of Eternity because He is deserving, He has kept the law upon which that blessing is predicated. He never took of the forbidden fruit, but came to earth willingly. He was not cast out. He experienced pain, suffering, and all manner of temptation, and returned to the Father, having done all He was commanded to do. He is the One who has earned salvation for Himself. He becomes an exalted being. Because He did it by keeping the law upon which it is predicated, the whole world can go with Him. Everyone who ever lived, or who ever will live in this world are able to be raised up -- not by any worthiness on their part to receive that blessing, but only because they follow Him. He brings them with Him. The three measures of flour have no ability to rise on their own. I’m just flour. Christ is the leavening that raises me up. He blesses me with His worthiness. He is the salt of the earth. He makes the rest of us palatable to God. 

Optimum Levels -- The J Curve

 Today, I would like to share something called “optimal.” We often think of things on a linear scale, but biology is rarely linear. There is a possibility of having too little, and too much. Therefore, there must be some optimal amount. It turns out that there is a ‘J’ curve for almost everything. The very bottom of the ‘J’ on a graph is the optimum level. I am going to use the ‘J’ curves for “ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY” because it is the least likely to be manipulated. If someone has some “heart disease” endpoint, there is a lot of play in the diagnosis, whereas when someone is dead… well, there’s no faking that!

I am choosing what may seem like random graphs to illustrate certain points about what is optimal. The purpose is to show how you can evaluate research to determine for yourself what is optimal. 

Hemoglobin A1c:

This illustrates nicely what a ‘J’ curve looks like. The odds of dying increase on both sides of an optimum level. A study of over 11,000 people who did not have diabetes were assessed for their risks of dying from any cause.[i] It is very interesting to see that blood glucose (sugar) can be too low! Those with HbA1c at 5.0 or less have an increased risk of death. The best range of HbA1c is between 5.0 and 5.4. Those who have pre-diabetes (HbA1c 6.0-6.4) have twice the rate of death as those who have the optimum level – the bottom of the ‘J’ curve.

Thus, though doctors are told that lower is better, and that pre-diabetes does not need to be treated, clearly there is an optimal level that makes a difference in lives.

Vitamin D

Even vitamins can have a ‘J’ curve. We can get too much. Too much of anything can be toxic. However, Vitamin D is a good case to illustrate the effects of the “95% confidence interval” or 95% CI. What that means is instead of just looking at the average, we look at where 95% of the people fall. Thus, in this graph you see a line, the average, with a dotted line on either side, which is the 95% CI. Notice that there is an ideal level where the average meets the “1.0” line, or the average rate of death. Then, the average stays at “1.0” while the 95% CI starts getting really wide as the level of vitamin D goes up over 70. That means that people are dying of other causes, and just happen to have high vitamin D. They are just as likely to live longer as to live shorter with high vitamin D levels. The clear optimum blood level of vitamin D is 70 nanomoles per liter, which corresponds to 30 nanograms per milliliter. (Different labs use different measurements).[ii]

The take-home message is that Vitamin D does not get toxic at high levels, and is not associated with a risk of death, despite what doctors are told.

Cholesterol

There is an optimum amount of cholesterol.[iii] Every study that looks at “All-Cause Mortality” shows that too little is worse than too much. So why do the doctors always tell us that it is best to be below 200? It is because those who do marketing for cholesterol medications narrowly focus only on “Cardiovascular” issues. Here is a graph from the famous MRFIT study[iv] of over 350,000 men starting in 1980.

Notice how the “ALL CAUSE” mortality has a ‘J’ curve, with lower cholesterol being associated with higher death rates. However, the “CARDIOVASCULAR” mortality keeps going down. So, the drug companies taught the doctors not to look at “All-cause Mortality,” just focus on heart disease.

For “All-Cause Mortality,“ the cause of death is not distinguished; it may be from COVID, or an automobile accident. So, how is that related to cholesterol levels? We don’t know. We do know that low cholesterol is related to cognitive decline, since cholesterol is needed for the function of all nerves, especially in the brain, as well as immune function. Every cell requires cholesterol to function. So, whatever the reason, even though people die less from cardiovascular disease, there is consistent and compelling evidence that those with a cholesterol level between 200 and 250 are less likely to die in a given time, than those who are below 200, the ideal chosen by cardiologists.

The largest study ever done includes 12.8 million adults (that’s over 12 million more than the previous study, and included young adults and women) and showed that men or women in every age group have an optimal level of cholesterol around 230.

On the right, “Hazard Ratio,” 1.0 means one time the average, or normal, death rate. 2.0 is twice the average death rate, and so on. Looking at this graph, you can see that the 95% CI is very small, that means the association is strong, or the level of cholesterol is likely related to the cause of death. It becomes obvious that the optimal level of cholesterol is around 230. A cholesterol level of 120 has twice the risk of death as someone with a cholesterol of 220!

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Body mass index uses a weight to height ratio. The optimal has always thought to be what is “normal.” However, normal has changed.[v]

We are told that BMI should be between 20 and 24. However, the most current studies indicate a different story. It seems in modern society that 27 has the lowest mortality. That is considered overweight. In fact, according to the graph, a person who is obese with a BMI over 30 is at a lower risk of death than a person with a BMI of 20, which was previously considered optimal. The old saying, “You can’t be too rich or too thin” is not true (in either case!).                           

Protein

We have been told that there is an association between protein intake and health. Because the graph of mortality to protein intake is complex, people have interpreted portions of it to indicate that more is better, or less is better. 

                       8       11       14      17       20      23      26

                                  Protein Intake (% of Calories)

It seems clear that adequate protein intake lowers the risk of death, up to a point. But notice that the 95% CI gets wider and wider as protein is increased. The optimum amount of protein intake seems to be about 18% of calories. More than 25% of Calories may increase risk of death.

Blood Pressure

There is a lot of information on blood pressure because so many studies have been done over many decades. I’m going to share one interesting study, the INVEST study, with over 22,000 people because they separated people by age groups.[vi] The “J” curve in this is obvious in all age groups, but different age groups have different optimal blood pressures.

Diastolic blood pressure does not change – the optimum remains at 75 mmHg. The ideal diastolic blood pressure stays within a narrow range. Systolic blood pressure, however, increases over a few decades of life from an optimal of 110 mmHg for those less than 60 years old, to 140 for those over 80. Moreover, older people don’t want their systolic blood pressure to be lower than 140 because their death rate goes up. For a person over 80 years old, a systolic blood pressure of 120 is a higher risk than a blood pressure of 150.

Another very interesting thing to note is that when the blood pressure is optimal, the risk of dying is less than one. In other words, an optimal blood pressure will prolong your life. Notice that nothing else we have seen actually increases life span (where the “Mortality Ratio” is less than “1.0”).

Homocysteine

Not everything has a “J”curve. Some things are not needed by the body. For example, the waste product homocysteine is often measured as a marker for methylation, or the function of the B-vitamins: B12, B6, and B9 (folic acid). In this case, the lower the better.[vii]

“Hcy” is homocysteine. “Relative Risk” is relative risk of death. “1” is the average risk of dying and “2” is twice the average risk of dying. Clearly, in the case of homocysteine, there is no “optimal” amount – less is better.

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)

Another vitamin supplement that may actually lower death rate is vitamin B6. Pyridoxine is essential for so many functions in the body.[viii]

“PLP” means “Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate.” The optimal level is 4, making the death rate significantly lower than “1.” Notice that a blood level higher than 4 shows a slight increase in death rate.

Exercise

Let’s look at the effect of exercise on mortality.[ix]

This is a different ‘J’ curve that only has the downside for those taking fewer steps. The benefit of exercise levels out after about 12,000 steps. Those who take half as many steps have about twice the risk of dying. I include this to illustrate that sometimes “All-cause Mortality” can be deceptive. Those who are sick are going to take fewer steps because of disability. Those who are healthy and strong are going to take more steps. So, this is one of those “of course!” graphs. Nothing to see here! Except, consider that if you want to be healthy and vigorous and lower your death rate it is still a good Idea to remain active.

Recommendations

The take-away message is that there is an optimal amount of everything. Don’t do too little, and don’t do too much! How do you know? Let’s look at some simple guidelines:

1.      Eat moderate amounts of Calories from carbohydrates, fats, and protein. (and fast periodically)

2.      Take vitamins every week. Think about it: a person can get a few milligrams of vitamin B3 from food on a daily basis, and the supplement is a hundred times that. Most nutrients are similar. Taking the supplements on a weekly basis allows your nutrients from food to be absorbed, and the huge amounts in the pills can “fill up the tank” on a weekly basis so you keep an optimal level.

3.      Exercise regularly, doing more than average. Instead of 6,000 steps, take 10,000 to 12,000.

4.      Keep your DIASTOLIC (the lower number) blood pressure around 75 by exercising and lowering stress. Stress is significantly related to elevated diastolic blood pressure.

5.      Keep your blood sugar around 100, or HbA1c between 5.0 and 5.4.

6.      Get homocysteine down as low as possible.

If you have questions about a specific blood test or supplement, look up the mortality rates associated with it. You may be surprised to find that it is different than the conventional wisdom dictates. Instead of looking for “normal” or “average” or “expected range,” look for what is optimal. I hope this gives you an understanding of how to interpret your findings to discover what is optimal.

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[i] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20200384/

[ii] https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/6/e017256

[iii] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-38461-y

[iv] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/182557

[v] https://conscienhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Shifiting-BMI-Mortality-Curves.png

[vi] https://blogs.bmj.com/heart/2010/11/09/hypertension-targets-in-the-elderly/

[vii] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-05205-3

[viii] https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/9/2977

[ix] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35247352/

Joseph Smith, the Prophet

Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.

Doctrine and Covenants 135:3

This is a bold statement. It is scripture. It is true. How can it be true? What about Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Peter, Paul, or Isaiah? Aren’t these prophets greater than Joseph Smith? No. I think it is essential to understand what Joseph Smith did. He did the work of God. If he did more for the salvation of mankind than anyone except Jesus, then what, exactly, did he do? 

• Joseph Smith restored the option of eternal life to the earth, the greatest of all the gifts of God. 
• Because of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, everyone has the ability to choose life or death. 
• He set up the Kingdom of God on the earth that will fill the whole earth and never go away. 
• He restored the priesthood to the earth, which is now available to everyone. 
• He prepared the way for the coming of Jesus Christ to the earth by building Zion. 
• He built temples where the fullness of the priesthood can take place for everyone who ever lived. 
• He restored the knowledge of the celestial glory to the earth.

Jesus taught all these things to His apostles, but that was lost for many centuries. For a long time, the keys to the kingdom of God were not found anywhere on the earth. 

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

Amos 8:11-12

The path to eternal life was not found anywhere. The religions of the world didn’t even know it existed. They had a concept of heaven and hell -- if you’re good you go to heaven, and if your bad you go to hell. Their concept of heaven is being with Jesus, while hell is suffering for your sins. This is true, but it is only part of the picture. These represent the terrestrial and telestial kingdoms, respectively, but where was the “glory of the sun?” (1 Corinthians 15:41) nobody knew. It was gone. People denied the need for baptism because they didn’t know why it was necessary. People denied the priesthood because they didn’t think they needed it. The priesthood and the ordinances thereof are ONLY for the celestial glory and they didn’t know about the celestial glory, so these things seemed irrelevant -- and indeed they were. Most Christian religions still deny the need for the priesthood authority and the need for the ordinances, and continue to be ignorant of the celestial “glory of the sun.”  

Enter Joseph Smith, Jr., a young lad with no formal training in religion or anything. He prayed to find out which church was true, and was visited by God the Father and Jesus Christ. He was told that he should join none of them, and that he would have the work of restoring the truth. What did he restore? In a nutshell, he restored all that was needed to obtain eternal life, and put it into an organization to administer these things, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is no other place to go for eternal life. 

All that was lost was restored, but not just for our time, it is now offered to everyone who ever lived, or ever will live. Now, the ordinances in the house of the Lord, the path of eternal life, is available to all the earth from every time. This will never be taken away again. This is the most important time when all things are brought together. Everyone will choose what they want, either to choose God, or not -- either to choose life and salvation, or not. The whole world is now able to choose. 

For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other—either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken.

1 Nephi 14:7

This is the time. Now is that time that was predicted over two thousand years before Joseph Smith. He did that work. It is a great, meaning huge, and marvelous work. The marvel is that everyone can now choose. Before, people lived and died without any information on which to choose their eternal existence. Most people had to go to “spirit prison” and wait to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ to be taught to them. Now, everyone has the information to decide. This is the work that determines where each person goes; people can choose to be celestial, terrestrial, or telestial -- or have none of these, to be cast out of any kingdom of glory and live with Satan and his angels for eternity. This is the work that is everlasting; the choices made now are forever. This is a unique dispensation in all of history. Before this time, only a few had these options; only few could choose to seek eternal life because not everyone had the ordinances available to them. Now literally everyone in the world has access to the gospel. This is the marvelous work. It is wondrous. It is the work of God, brought about by Joseph Smith, the prophet. 

Now, it’s easy to see why the scripture says that “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.” It is obvious. Gods work is “to bring to pass the... eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39) Jesus makes it all possible. Joseph Smith set it up. He did this “great and marvelous” work for the Lord. No other prophet has been the prophet of the whole world for all time. No other prophet has made eternal life available to everyone, living or dead. This work is amazing!