Why don’t Mormons smoke or drink alcohol?
The health code for Latter-day Saints is based upon The Word of Wisdom, an 1833 revelation outlining foods that are healthy and substances that are not good for the human body. Accordingly, alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee, and illegal drugs are forbidden due to their addictive and harmful effects. A 14-year UCLA study, completed in 1997, tracked mortality rates and health practices of 10,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in California, indicating that Church members who adhered to the health code had one of the lowest death rates from cancer and cardiovascular disease in the United States and that Church members who followed the code had a life expectancy eight to 11 years longer than the general white population of the United States.
