Arnold Paul DeVries (November 30, 1921 – February 16, 1996) was an American natural hygienist,

alternative health Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...

writer and pioneer of the

Paleolithic diet The Paleolithic diet, Paleo diet, caveman diet, or stone-age diet is a modern fad diet consisting of foods thought by its proponents to mirror those eaten by humans during the Paleolithic era. The diet avoids processed food and typically incl ...

Biography

DeVries was born in

Kesley, Iowa Kesley is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in southwestern Butler County, Iowa, Butler County, Iowa, United States. It lies along local roads southwest of the city of Allison, Iowa, Allison, the county seat of Butler County. It ...

and graduated from Aplington High School in 1939."Arnold P. DeVries, 74, died Friday (Feb. 16, 1996) at home"
Mason City Globe Gazette Obituaries February 16 - 21, 1996. He attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he worked at an aircraft plant. At the end of the war he worked as a bus driver in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. His 1946 book, ''Fountain of Youth'', advocated a

fruitarian Fruitarianism () is a diet related to veganism that consists primarily of consuming fruits and possibly nuts and seeds, but without any animal products. Fruitarian diets are subject to criticism and health concerns. Fruitarianism may be adopted ...

raw food diet. He later distanced himself from this viewpoint, consumed animal products and embraced a

paleolithic diet The Paleolithic diet, Paleo diet, caveman diet, or stone-age diet is a modern fad diet consisting of foods thought by its proponents to mirror those eaten by humans during the Paleolithic era. The diet avoids processed food and typically incl ...

in ''Primitive Man and His Food'', 1952. He also started his own publishing company, Chandler Book Company. He married Dorice E. Shemtob in 1959, she died in 1981. He married Mary K. Parmely in 1981, they divorced in 1993. DeVries was associated with the Universal Church of the Master and was an ordained minister. The Universal Church of the Master is a religious organization that takes influence from

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

.Michael, George. (2009). ''Theology Of Hate: A History Of The World Church Of The Creator''. University Press of Florida. pp. 73-74. DeVries was involved in the

natural hygiene Orthopathy (from the Ancient Greek, Greek ὀρθός ''orthos'' 'right' and πάθος ''pathos'' 'suffering') or natural hygiene (NH) is a set of alternative medicine, alternative medical beliefs and practices originating from the ''Nature Cure ...

movement.Berry, Damon T. (2017). ''Blood and Faith: Christianity in American White Nationalism''. Syracuse University Press. pp. 95-96. He recommended exercise,

fasting Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...

, sleep and avoidance of medical drugs. DeVries was the co-author of

Ben Klassen Bernhardt "Ben" Klassen ( ( O.S. February 7, 1918) – ) was an American politician and white supremacist religious leader. He founded the Church of the Creator with the publication of his book ''Nature's Eternal Religion'' in 1973. Klassen ...

's 1982 book ''Salubrious Living''. Twenty-one of the book’s twenty-two chapters were written by DeVries. It was basically a reprint of his 1946 book ''The Fountain of Youth''. Klassen noted that apart from the introduction and last chapter on

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

, "the entire balance of the text has been written by Arnold DeVries, who compiled the study in an excellent book entitled ''The Fountain of Youth''."''Introduction''. In ''Salubrious Living'', 1982. Historian

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

noted that it was "surprising that DeVries would collaborate with Klassen with whom he seemingly disagreed on many issues." For example, DeVries admired

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

s for their physical beauty and criticized the dieting and lifestyles of

western culture Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

. The book endorses fasting,

sunbathing Sun tanning or tanning is the process whereby skin color is darkened or tanned. It is most often a result of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight or from artificial sources, such as a tanning lamp found in indoor tanning beds. ...

, fruitarian and

raw food Raw foodism, also known as rawism or a raw food diet, is the dietary practice of eating only or mostly food that is uncooked and unprocessed. Depending on the philosophy, or type of lifestyle and results desired, raw food diets may include ...

dieting. DeVries eschewed medical treatment and believed that fasting could treat most illnesses. DeVries believed that correct diet and exercise would improve one's beauty and health. He gave specific instructions for women to be fit mates for strong males. Klassen promoted this idea to "upgrade" the white race by improving the offspring.

Publications

*''Nude Culture'' (1946) *''The Fountain of Youth'' (1946) *''Primitive Man and His Food'' (1952) *''The Elixir of Life'' (1952) *''Dangers In Modern Foods'' (1958) *''Health From the Soil'' (1958)
''Therapeutic Fasting''
(1963) *''Salubrious Living'' (with

, 1982)

References

External links

Arnold Paul DeVries
-

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{{DEFAULTSORT:DeVries, Arnold 1921 births 1996 deaths American health and wellness writers Fasting advocates Orthopaths Paleolithic diet advocates People from Iowa Pseudoscientific diet advocates Raw foodists University of Iowa alumni

Biography

Publications

See also

References

External links