Frederic Patenaude Raw Foods Diet

The Mistakes of Natural Hygiene, Part 1

Natural Hygiene is one of the health philosophies that influenced me the most. I first discovered the raw food diet through the writings of Albert Mosséri, who was a disciple of Herbert Shelton, who’s considered the grand-father of the modern Natural Hygiene movement.

When I first got into Natural Hygiene, I viewed it as quasi religion. It was such a paradigm shift that completely changed my world. I ended up accepting it completely after studying it carefully.

In my first few years as a raw foodist, I became extremely sick and it was only the Natural Hygiene concepts that saved me and helped me regain my health. (I told the full story of what happened in my book Raw Food Controversies.)

I consider Natural Hygiene a great health philosophy that can have a tremendous, positive influence in your life. But because this health philosophy has been created by doctors and researchers that lived 50 to 150 years ago, it’s no longer fully up-to-date with modern science and research, and what we’ve discovered about the human body.

In this series of articles, I’ll be looking at the concepts of Natural Hygiene and dissecting them, one-by-one. Some of these concepts are still very accurate and healthful. Others are incorrect but still lead to positive results when applied. And finally, some concepts of Natural Hygiene are downright wrong.

What Is Natural Hygiene?

To understand Natural Hygiene, we must look at its history and how it came about. Natural Hygiene is essentially a health system that was developed in the last part of the 19th century by medical doctors who became disillusioned with the practice of medicine at the time.

Although Natural Hygiene had inspiration from European writers, it’s essentially an American system developed in the United States.

Natural Hygiene was known at the time as “Nature Cure” and later as “Orthopathy.”

Around the year 1850, medicine had made some great progress but was still very primitive compared to what it is today.

Doctors at the time had very little clue about what causes disease. Many harmful practices were common, such as:

1) Bathing infrequently due to the false belief promoted by some doctors that bathing too often was bad for health. (http://orthopathy.net/history.html)

2) Recommending sick patients to eat a rich diet of meat, butter and other rich foods to “regain their strength.”

3) Bleeding and blood letting as a cure to disease remained popular (http://rosemelnickmuseum.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/19th-century-doctors-in-the-us/)

4) Heroin was routinely prescribed for the common cough (http://www.cracked.com/article_15669_the-10-most-insane-medical-practices-in-history.html)

5) Many doctors did not wash their hands before performing surgery

The first doctors that formulated the ideas behind Natural Hygiene were all very disillusioned with the practice of medicine in their times. Many had been sick themselves and unable to cure themselves through the “science” they had learned.

Those doctors included:

Dr. Issac Jennings (1788-1874)

Jennings is considered to be the father of Natural Hygiene. His trick was simple. He started giving his patients sugar pills as “placebos” and discovered that all of them recovered much faster than usual! He then developped the theory of “orthopathy” or “letting the body heal itself” through fasting. It also says something about the dangers of medicines at the time, when the word “placebo” wasn’t even well known.

Silvester Graham (1794-1851)

Graham was one of the most influential early hygienists. He was one of the first public figures to advocate vegetarianism and what he called “temperance.” We may remember him as the inventor of the graham cracker, but his contribution was much greater. His followers practiced the brushing of teeth, vegetarianism, sobriety, and eating whole foods (such as whole wheat bread instead of white flour)… all practices that we take for granted today, but were very controversial at the time.

Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (1852-1943)

You may remember this guy for inventing the “Kellogg Corn Flakes.” He was a devout Seventh Day Adventist who advocated a strict, sober, healthy life and fasting, which was called “water cure” at the time.

Herbert Shelton (1895-1985)

There were many more early natural hygienists part of that Nature Cure movement in the 19th century. But the movement was not unified until Herbert Shelton came along.

Shelton was born in 1895. In his youth, he became a passionate student of the writings of early Hygienists, and proceeded to consolidate all their theory into a unified philosophy he called “Natural Hygiene.” In his thirties, he wrote his giant book “Human Life, Its Philosophy and Laws.”

He then operated a health center in Texas where he practiced fasting and a clean, mostly raw food diet.

All of the modern Natural Hygiene movement stems from Shelton, although it gained even more popularity when T.C. Fry came along and later, when the book “Fit For Life” was released in the 1980s. All serious promoters of Natural Hygiene today are students of Shelton, who wrote more than 50 books.

The Natural Hygiene System

The basic principle of Natural Hygiene is self-healing.

Although Natural Hygiene has later been hijacked by authors such as Harvey Diamond who cherry-picked some ideas such as food combining, the basic principle of Hygiene has nothing to do with diet.

Here are the main concepts of Natural Hygiene, followed by some practical example.

1) Self-Healing: The body has the ability to heal itself, when you get out of the way and provide it with what it needs. Suppressing symptoms is not treating the body. For example, while traditional doctors may provide a special “immunity enhancing diet” during a flu, or some drugs to suppress the symptoms, a Natural Hygienist will probably advise to simply rest as much as possible, don’t take drugs, eat as little as possible, possibly fast, and let the body recover naturally.

2) Less Intervention. Although Natural Hygiene would not claim that it’s always wrong to intervene (for example, if someone breaks his leg), in general, for most diseases, they recommend to avoid giving drugs or natural treatments that are meant to suppress symptoms.

3) Fasting. Fasting is a key component of Natural Hygiene because it is the ultimate physiological rest. The purpose behind fasting is to let the body heal itself by shutting down all the energy that goes into digestion and redirecting it towards healing. During a fever, or other acute diseases, Natural Hygienists would probably advise fasting as opposed to interventions or medicine, even if body temperature is high.

4) Simplicity in eating. Natural Hygienists recommend a diet that’s as simple as possible. While not all agree on the details (such as eating 100% raw or not), most recommend simple vegetarian meals devoid of salt, condiments and spices.

5) Fruitarianism. Almost all Natural Hygienists recommend fruit as the most pure, biologically-appropriate food one can eat.

How Do You Know If You’re a Natural Hygienist?

Some people call themselves Natural Hygienists, but in reality they are naturopaths. How do you know the difference?

This goes back to the principle of self-healing and non-intervention.

If you suffer from a common cold, a naturopath will probably recommend some kind of herb or tincture to “boost your immune system.”

A Natural Hygienist will instead recommend that you fast if you can, get as much rest as possible, drink water, and not take any particular remedy, whether natural or not.

A key principle of Natural Hygiene is to look for the cause and remove it, instead of suppressing symptoms with medicines, even if those come from natural sources.

Modern Natural Hygienists

As a movement, Natural Hygiene has essentially disintegrated. Hygiene saw a resurgence of interest after the publication of the book Fit For Life in the 80s, and many doctors at the time became modern Natural Hygienists. These doctors, such as Dr. Alan Goldhamer from the True North Health Center in California, still practice fasting but don’t necessarily identify themselves as “Natural Hygienists.”

The raw food movement, especially the 80/10/10 Diet by Dr. Douglas Graham, is also strongly influenced by Natural Hygiene. But now, there is no longer a true Natural Hygiene movement that is clearly identifiable. Many authors, myself included, have been influenced by Natural Hygiene, but don’t accept all of its philosophy blindly without question.

Where Natural Hygiene May Be Wrong

It would take a lot of time to go through the philosophy of Natural Hygiene. This was just a brief overview to attack the more specific issues.

Natural Hygiene, as a basic health philosophy, is very appealing and in my experience, works a lot of the time.

Where I think Natural Hygiene is wrong is in applying these principles no matter what, and never consider the state of science in 2012.

Natural Hygiene Mistake #1: Drugs

One principle of Natural Hygiene, as explained by Dr. Shelton in his book Natural Hygiene: Man’s Pristine Way of Life, is the idea that all drugs are toxic, and that’s why they work.

The classic example is that of the constipation drugs, even their herbal equivalent.

Shelton’s reasoning was as follows: drugs don’t really have an effect on the body. Why? Because if you’d give them to a dead person, nothing would happen.

It’s the BODY that has an effect on drugs. The body reacts to the drug given, and the result is our own interpretation of this principle in action.

Let’s say someone suffers from constipation. The drug given will actually provoke a mild form of diarrhea. Is it the drug that’s acting on the body? The drug in itself, Shelton explained, does nothing. You have to give it to a living organism.

However, because it’s a drug and it’s toxic, the body cannot use it as nutrition. It wants to get rid of it. In the process, several things can happen.

In the case of the constipation drug, the body wants to eliminate it through stools, and that’s why users of this drug find relief.

Did the drug cure them of their constipation? No. Instead, it was a toxic substance that the body wanted to eliminate. In the process, it caused diarrhea and eliminated it along with the stools.

That’s a simplistic explanation, but you get the idea.

Shelton believed that ALL drugs were toxic and did not have a specific effect, chemical or other, on the body. In fact, it was always the body reacting to the drug, and in the process eliminating a symptom or another.

Although Shelton was right to say that all drugs are toxic to some degree, he was wrong in his simplistic explanation of their action on the body.

Many drugs actually work through complex chemical and hormonal reactions in the body. Here are some examples:

1) Aspirin. Pain is something that is felt in the brain. Aspirin works by inhibiting an enzyme that produces prostaglandins, substances similar to hormones that trigger inflammation in the body. Aspirin binds itself to the enzyme, changing its chemical structure and blocking the reaction that produces the prostaglandins.

2) Prozac. Many anti-depressants like prozac will work due to their effects on serotonin levels. Low serotonin is associated with depression and anxiety. Due to a complex process, Prozac works by increasing the amount of serotonin that can be delivered to the cells. That’s why Prozac is part of a class of drugs called “Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (or SSRIs).

We could go on an on with more examples, but you get the idea.

Yes, drugs are toxic.

But no, they don’t ALWAYS work through the simplistic idea that the body is working in some manner to “eliminate” or “reject” them. In some cases, they can literally alter complex chemical reactions taking place in the body.

Natural Hygiene Mistake #2: The Germ Theory

Another area where Natural Hygiene is dead wrong is the belief that contagion of disease is essentially a myth.

Even though Shelton and others always claimed that diseases like the flu were essentially the body’s efforts to detoxify itself, I was never fully convinced.

Even T.C. Fry had some interesting discussion on viruses and why he believed that they could not cause disease and were essentially “a scam.”

I was never fully convinced because my own experience, like that of most people, contradicted with this teaching of Natural Hygiene.

Everybody has had the experience of coming in contact with someone with a common cold and then contracting the disease or ailment shortly after.

Typically the pattern is always the same:

- You haven’t been sick for a while
– People around you may be sick, but you’re not.
– After spending time in a crowded area where lots of people are sick, someone around you, like your wife/husband or roommate, comes down with the cold
– A day after, you get the cold yourself.

I remember when I was living in Costa Rica in 2006, working at retreat center I had tried to purchase. We had a little community of people living onsite, and one day people started getting sick with the stomach flu. It was amazing to see everyone get sick, one after the other, with the exact same symptoms.

I naively thought I would be immune from this, but I also ended up being bed-ridden for 2-3 days. Granted, at the time I was under tremendous stress and my immune system was probably greatly compromised, but there was no doubt that the disease was contagious and of viral nature. In fact, during that time, a significant percentage of the town where I lived got sick with the same stomach flu.

Generally, I agree with Natural Hygiene in their treatment of viral diseases. It’s much better to recover while fasting, resting and drinking plenty of water, than the usual treatments.

However, their explanation of disease as always being an attempt for the body to “heal itself” through some sort of crisis is flawed, to say the least.

I don’t think I want to go into a big debate about the Germ Theory, since viral science is quite complex. Times have evolved since Shelton’s days, and we now know more about viruses and their action on the body.

A Personal Experience

A great book to read on the topic of immunity is Dr. Fuhrman’s recent Super Immunity. In this book, you’ll discover exactly what you can do to increase your immunity natural.

After reading Fuhrman’s book, I realized that I had not gotten sick for a long time. I could not even remember the last time I had a cold!

When I was traveling around the world, there were a time or two that I felt I was almost coming down with symptoms of the cold, but after a day or so it was over, and I did not even get a runny nose or anything.

So recently I started bragging about the fact that I could not remember the last time I had a cold. Then one of my friends made an interesting observation. He said:

“Fred, you work at home. You don’t come in contact with large crowds of people. You mostly work at home or in an office downtown where you don’t shake hands with anybody. When most people get sick, during the winter, you stay in the tropics. You rarely take public transportation and you don’t touch communal areas. Maybe that’s part of the reason why you never get the cold.”

I thought that was interesting, but I didn’t think about it too much.

Then recently I attended a health conference in California with 250 people in the room. I should have paid attention when I heard lots of people coughing in the room. But because I felt fine and I was with supposedly “healthy” people, I didn’t think about it twice.

I shook hands with lots of people that weekend. And guess what? As soon as I got back home, I started feeling symptoms of the cold myself! I got a sore throat and felt tired. Typical common cold, except that I got almost no mucus compared to most people.

This was over quickly, but I’m quite certain that coming in contact with this many people and getting the cold was no coincidence.

Let me just go through some practical tips and ideas.

1) You Can Increase Your Immunity Naturally. Natural Hygiene is not totally wrong on viral diseases. You can certainly increase your immunity naturally by eating a diet composed mostly of fruits and vegetables and avoiding processed foods.

2) If You’re Healthy, Symptoms Will Be Milder. If you do get sick, you’ll likely experienced a much more suppressed form of the disease than most people. And it will likely be over sooner.

3) You Don’t Need Drugs to Recover. To recover from most viral illnesses, you don’t need drugs. Natural Hygiene is right to recommend for the disease to “follow its course” and for you to simply provide the right environment to allow for maximum healthful recovery.

4) Fasting May Help. In some cases, fasting may help you recover from viral illnesses.

This is the first part in a series of articles on Natural Hygiene. Stay tuned and please post your comments below!

17 Responses to “The Mistakes of Natural Hygiene: Part 1: Drugs and the Germ Theory”

1. Rachel says:

   February 23, 2012 at 11:17 pm

   I was not familiar with the term Natural Hygiene until I saw your post and read your article, but I thought it was interesting because of reading I have been doing into Andrew Still. He too lived during the nineteenth century, and although he studied medicine, he became convinced that most of what doctors did was perform unnecessary surgeries and prescribed poisons. He believed that if people quit using the poisons, and focused instead on giving the body what it needed, health would result. He was particularly interested in making sure the body systems ‘flowed’ correctly, and he did this by studying and correcting the skeletal system. He founded the DO movement, which today follows the same education as any MD, with the addition of osteopathic manipulation technique. Over time, his branch of medical education adopted more and more mainstream ideas, but you have to see his point during his time. In my microbiology class we learned that in that century the only ‘modern’ medicine was quinine for the treatment of malaria. Everything else they used WAS toxic, such as treating people with arsenic. Sure it killed bacteria, which they didn’t know about, so it might appear to be a useful treatment, but you always ran the risk of killing the patient! These people were quite accurate in their assessment of the medical world of their time. Who could argue with the conclusion that doctors were just as likely to kill you as to save you?
2. Martin Matej says:

   February 24, 2012 at 2:20 am

   Really good article Fred. Looking forward to other parts
3. Harm says:

   February 24, 2012 at 9:52 am

   Thank you for the article Frederic. Though I think the term ‘Lies’ is not appropriate. It supposes the Natural Hygienists advocated something while they knew it wasn’t true. Rather than a moral issue, it would be more about being ignorant due to not having the right information as you mention in your post yourself. I therefore think a world like ‘fallacies’ would be a more appropriate description. Also, if you state that Natural Hygienists have certain positions, it would be good to provide some source/quote’s, so we know what information/writings your statements are based upon. Looking forward to your posts about this subject.
4. Laura says:

   February 24, 2012 at 1:00 pm

   Is it fair to call them lies? Surely they were doing the best they could with what they knew at the time, and if there is no real movement promoting these outdated views concerning the causes of disease, there is no attempt at deception taking place?

   I’m not a follower of natural hygiene, I know very little about it and I am interested in learning more. I just think calling them “lies” seems a bit harsh, when it seems that they are really just honest misconceptions stemming from lack of knowledge.
5. Michael Leech says:

   February 24, 2012 at 1:14 pm

   Lawsuits have almost stopped the practice of NH as caregiving in America. Tocsca Haag her husband and Dr Vetrano coworker with Dr Shelton were sued out of their Texas retreat and are now multilevel marketers. There is still Sheltonite NH taught by Victoria Bidwell with books and a fasting house in Washington State. Generally though litigation environment stopped end end care . The watering down of hygiene and uniting it with other modalities for a quick buck are what often occurs now.as there is no copywrite even on Sheltons books as he gave them to the world. Its an underground movement now. There are always people who think hygiene needs to reinvented or fixed who don’t really practice it. Raw foodists
   are not hygiensts but they met and had a summit so to speak in The Live food Factor
6. Michael says:

   February 24, 2012 at 1:39 pm

   Hi!

   Very good article, looking forward to more of these!! The hygiene notion that all drugs, herbs and supplements are toxic and because of that should be avoided was something that never resonated with me. There is now more and more science that shows that animals use specific herbs etc. when they have certain diseases. They do not allways fast as hygienic doctors have us told.
   Great work!
   Michael
7. Frederic Patenaude says:

   February 24, 2012 at 1:41 pm

   @Mark. I only get colds lasting 2-3 days approximately every 3 years for the past 10 years, whether I was raw or not. My symptoms have always been very suppressed compared to most people. Back when I was a 100% raw eating a lot of fat, I would get colds lasting weeks on end.
   I agree Mark that my immune system might be even better if I only ate raw fruits and vegetables 100% of the time. However there are tradeoffs in other areas as well. On the program I currently follow my health is better in every single aspect. Looking back, I would say that my immune system is doing just great at the moment compared to any other time in my life. As I’ve always said, compare yourself to yourself and not others.
8. Luis says:

   February 24, 2012 at 2:20 pm

   Virus don’t exists.
   Read torstenengelbrecht
   Read the-ultimate-conspiracy
   Read Dr. Stefan Lanka
   Read Roger’s Recovery by Bob Owen

   I’m agree with you about some drugs are needed for diseases in patients without self-healing capacity.

   I am convinced that fasting is not the panacea to cure diseases, and contrary can be a great suffering and stress for the body … but surely you will speak enough about it.

   Thank you for your efforts to communicate.
9. Michele says:

   February 24, 2012 at 2:26 pm

   Personal experience is not enough to prove or disprove the germ theory. But I wanted to share an analogy that I find helpful in putting this question into perspective.
   If your neighbor throws a big pile of garbage into his yard, it’s going to get infested with pests. If you subsequently throw a big pile of garbage into your yard, some of your neighbor’s pests will come over to your yard. Does this mean that you “caught” the “illness” from your neighbor? No, you have the pests because you put garbage in your yard, but it may be true that some of them traveled there because of the proximity to someone else who was “sick.” The real answer in getting rid of the pests is to get rid of the garbage, and the same holds true for our bodies.
   I think people cling to the germ theory because it allows them to absolve themselves of responsibility for taking care of themselves properly. For most of the population, they are so far removed from a lifestyle that causes health, they don’t even know they’re off the path, much less how to get back on it. Germ theory nicely explains something they feel they can’t control – that is getting colds and flus. We don’t have a better explanation. However, I believe that sometime in the future, we will look back on “germ theory” as just another misguided idea, along with arsenic and leeches. In the meantime, those of us who are willing to think outside of the box can choose how far down the path to health that we want to travel.
10. Barbara says:

    February 24, 2012 at 7:30 pm

    I have read with great interest your article Fred and the replies received here.
    However I feel that there is another important element to “food” that many do not give credence to.
    I am a “sensitive” who has been able to feel the energy of different foods for a long time. So even with some “organic” foods I have left them on the shelf due to the “energy” of the food; either from the grower, the electromagnetic effect in the shop, negative energy output from shoppers themselves etc!

    So I purchase food (I wish I was in a position to grow my own!) by the energy of the food. By also using the addition of kinesiology/crystal pendulum I can pick which foods/condiments/spices etc. are not good for me. My body “tells” me what it dosn’t want me to put in it.
    Milk is a big NO, onions are out, bread only if sourdough etc.. So far this system of going by the energy of what is not good for me works.
    However, you can also use the “energy of your thoughts” (a blessing?) to clear the energy of organic food that has been contaminated along it’s journey by negative energy.

    The same applies for where we go out into the public – keeping our energy positiive, stay away from the negative – and know when your body says rest or “make a run for it” away from people!! Clearing the energy of the “virus” showing around us the same as our food helps.
    Our body is the biggest indicator for telling us what it needs. Everything is comprised of “energy” – our own bodies will show us what food energy it requires to keep us balanced.
11. monalee says:

    February 24, 2012 at 8:07 pm

    hi…. I am not sure why this always happens but it seems that as soon as someone becomes an expert in their field they start to believe that they invented the concepts and they forget the foundations that brought them out of their own miseries… I remember when Natures First Law Called Hygienists “the walking dead” yet it all started for NFL from David and Dini reading Hygienic material… same goes for you Fred, your roots are in hygiene and although you seem to forget that in this article I have not forgotten how you stayed true to Hygiene when the Raw Rage was going towards cocoa and vanilla…..hmpth, how quickly we forget our roots when start to believe that we are the center of the Universe…. I like you Fred but I liked you more when you were humble and not so swayed by popular notions… come back Fred, come back to The Living Truth, warmly Mona
12. Frederic Patenaude says:

    February 24, 2012 at 8:36 pm

    In my next article, I will show the many places where Natural Hygiene is right and always has been. The problem comes when we view one health philosophy as “The Truth” especially if this philosophy is supposed to encompass every aspect of health and is stuck, frozen in time, based on writings of long-dead authors. A lot of it is simply common sense and honest scientific inquiry. We have to be persistent enough to look at current scientific evidence and compare that with any health philosophy. Even my old mentor Albert Mosséri knew that there were some cases where hygienic methods simply would not work. He prescribed antibiotics in a few cases when they were absolutely necessary.
13. Mark says:

    February 24, 2012 at 8:53 pm

    Hi Fred,

    Good article dealing with some contentious issues. I prefer to see viruses, germs, bacteria etc in a scavenging role and to a large degree beneficial to the body – obviously there are some viruses we don’t want to share space with. When we allow ourselves to become overly toxic through incorrect living practices we in a sense invite them in. By fasting or cleaning up our diet we essentially starve them out – maybe a bit simplistic but works for me.
14. Ruza Bogdanovich, ND.PhD says:

    February 24, 2012 at 9:48 pm

    I believe that stress is number one in getting sick. Viral, degenerative or not, If people get sick from others, why do doctors never get the bug the patients bring in daily? But the doctor also gets sick if he or she is under the stress. There are many more forms of stress today, ( mental, physical, biological, etc. ). The one that is the trigger is when something is bothering you a lot, deep in your heart and soul and you won’t admit it. It brings your immune system way down too. …. It is easy to criticize all the people we learned from now, but they woke us up to grow and learn the truth to begin with, and we should be thankful. As always, the truth shall set you free. In Nature there are no rewards or punishments, only consequences! Best regards, Dr Ruza.
15. mary kay says:

    February 24, 2012 at 10:23 pm

    Monalee, I actually like the “new Fred” better.

    Thanks for sharing this info, Fred. Yes, I knew a bit about NH, but not all the details of the history. So for me, it was informative.

    Mary Kay
16. Marina says:

    February 25, 2012 at 11:32 am

    Excellent as always! Bravo!
    Just… Prozac???
17. Mariano says:

    February 25, 2012 at 7:33 pm

    I had hepatitis for four months. I lived all the time with my five brothers and my two parents in the same small house. None was infected. Perhaps there never was infection, but intoxication. Maybe Shelton was right. Luc Montagnier, Nobel Prize winner for discovering the AIDS virus, says in the documentary “House of numbers” that the body can rid of the supposed virus naturally within weeks. Perhaps there is no infection, but poisoning, malnutrition, exhaustion, and so on. Perhaps no American aboriginal peoples were decimated by the spread of Europeans germs but by slavery and exploitation, which obviously destroys health. Maybe all those attending the meeting did not share the same virus but a stressor.

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