Eugene Christian | |
Birth Date: | 1860 |
Birth Place: | McMinnville, Tennessee |
Death Date: | 1930 |
Death Place: | San Diego, California |
Occupation: | Naturopath, nutritionist, writer |
Eugene Christian (1860–1930) was an American naturopath, nutritionist and raw foodism writer.
Christian was born in McMinnville, Tennessee. He worked in manufacturing and sales until 1900.[1] Similar to George J. Drews, Christian was one of the pioneers of the raw foodism movement in America.[2] Christian authored the raw food book Uncooked Foods and How to Use Them, in 1904.[2] The book was popular and went through five editions in 1904. It went through ten editions through 1924 and was printed up until the late 20th century.[3] It was widely reviewed in health journals.[4] [5] [6] [7] Medical experts accused Christian of promoting a fad diet and called him the "dean of American food faddists".[8]
Christian had no medical qualifications, advertised himself as a "food scientist" and practiced diet therapy. In 1905, he was arrested and prosecuted by the New York County Medical Society for practicing medicine without a license.[9] In 1907 after an appeal, the New York Supreme Court concluded that no crime was committed and that Christian was improperly convicted.[10] Christian did not prescribe medicine.[11] The Supreme Court decided that a "food scientist" does have the right to diagnose or treat illness by prescribing diet.[1] Christian then advertised himself as a "hero" and "vindicated by the supreme court".[12] Christian believed that cooking food destroyed nutrients. During World War I, he appealed to the Surgeon General to change the army's rations to a raw food diet.[13] [14]
Christian was the owner of the "Christian Natural Food Company", he also operated a mail-order school, the Eugene Christian School of Applied Food Chemistry.[8] He charged $100 for a diploma course in which an F. S. D. degree (Doctor of Food Science) was awarded. The school faded and he formed the Christian Dietetic Society and School of Scientific Eating.[8] He sold a "Course in Scientific Eating" for $10. The organization merged into the Corrective Eating Society. The Society offered a course for $3 which promised to teach people how to cure disease through a dietetic system. The Society sold quack products such as the "Vaco Reducing Cup", that was alleged to remove fat.[8] His products were described as "pseudo-scientific buncombe" by the Bureau of Investigation of the American Medical Association.[15]
Christian recommended raw egg as a good source of protein. He commented that "an egg should never be cooked".[16] He promoted a raw vegetarian diet. However, in volume eleven of Eugene Christian's Course in Scientific Eating, he wrote that "eggs and, once a week, a small service of fish or fowl, may be eaten to maintain the balance as to protein."[17] Christian promised his followers that they could live a hundred years on his recommended diet but died at the age of 69.[18] He died of pneumonia in San Diego, California.[19] [20] In medical literature, Christian was cited as an example of a quack.[8] [18]