In the early 1800's many MDs both in Europe and America were critical of the medical practices common at the time. In the USA this movement got the name Hygiene. All but two of the pioneer Hygienists were medical men who had become disillusioned with medical practices. Herbert Shelton had this to say about them, and about the rest who practiced "modern medicine"...

Not by divine revelation, as so many have claimed for their "discoveries," but by a close and careful study of nature did all these men come to their knowledge. Hygiene represents a return to that pristine mode of living that emerged with man when he first appeared on the earth; it is a revival of something precious that had been all but lost during the course of ages thanks to the corrupting and perverting influences of shaman, priest, physician, and trader. These, with their false systems and false teachings, have led the race astray. When and where ignorance and superstition have prevailed with all their mind-beclouding and debasing influences, disease and crime abound. – H. Shelton, 1968.

When Natural Hygiene is Misunderstood

Sometimes I get bashed by people who consider themselves Natural Hygienists, and I'm accused of being "anti-hygiene". Their reason for this is because I recommend nutritional supplements, and their belief is that Natural Hygiene is against the use of nutritional supplements because they are unnatural, and Natural Hygiene is all about being natural, after all, "natural" is part of its name. This is what happens when something is misunderstood.

As you can see from the above reading of the tenets of Natural Hygiene, NH says that we need to get all the things that our body requires for optimal functioning, and it implies that if we don't get all these things, we can't have optimal health. No argument there. But some Hygienists are of the belief that we can get enough of all the nutrients we need from a raw fruit and greens diet. Why is this belief so pervasive? Two reasons:

1. There have always been medicine and "snake oil" salesmen – people who claim that this pill or potion will cure your ills – and old time Hygienists knew this was nonsense, and cautioned against it by saying that pills offered nothing except a burdening of the body. And this is true. But today's Hygienists lump all things other than food into the same category, and this does a disservice to Natural Hygiene.

2. Some of today's popular health practitioners misinterpret this aversion to pills to mean that if you eat a raw diet of fruits and greens you don't have to be concerned about nutrition. And this is indeed a lovely notion, and therefore one that is embraced by the people who these health educators teach. But it turns out not to be true. And since some health educators are not true researchers, they don't welcome new information that suggests that something they've believed to be true, isn't. Scientists and researchers seek to discover the truth. When they prove something, even if they're happy about what they've found, they try with equal vigor to disprove it because, bottom line, they're after the truth. And they also don't mind being proven wrong by others. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for some of today's health educators.

In the list above you will see "food we’re designed to eat" and "sufficient nutrition". Because of the way our foods are grown today, just because we eat the foods of our biological adaptation isn't a guarantee that we'll get enough of all the nutrients our body requires for optimal health. So the philosophy of Natural Hygiene is all about getting enough of what we require, and nowhere does it preclude augmenting what we eat with a worthwhile nutritional adjunct to our diet to make sure that we do. And yes, I'm referring to nutritional supplements... most are a waste of money, but not all. Some deserve to be part of the diet.

So those who accuse me of being "anti-hygiene" might want to take a closer look at what Natural Hygiene actually says, and if they would do this as a researcher instead of a student, they could see the useful role that worthwhile nutritional supplements actually play in health restoration and maintenance.

"The ethos of science – open questioning, no authorities, honesty, transparency, reliance on evidence, and testability – can make the world a better place by burying myth and dogma. Requisites are respect for rational and honest discussion, and an intolerance of distortion and misrepresentation." – Lawrence Krauss