Carlton Fredericks, born Harold Frederick Caplan, (October 23, 1910 – July 28, 1987) was a radio commentator and writer on

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

and

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient n ...

Career

He was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, and graduated from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

in 1931 with a major in English and a minor in political science. In 1937 he got a job writing advertising copy and giving sales talks for the U.S. Vitamin Corporation. In this capacity, he began diagnosing and prescribing vitamins to patients. Caught in a sting operation conducted by agents from the New York State Department of Education, he pleaded guilty to unlawful practice of medicine in the Special Sessions Court of New York City on March 13, 1945, and paid a $500 fine, receiving a suspended sentence of 3 months in prison. He enrolled in

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

's School of Education and received a master's degree in 1949, and a night-school Ph.D. in communications in 1955, his dissertation being "A Study of the Responses of a Group of Adult Female Listeners to a Series of Educational Radio Programs." He was a radio host at WMGM in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and starting in 1957 moved to

WOR-AM WOR (710 AM) is a 50,000-watt class A clear-channel AM radio station owned by iHeartMedia and licensed to New York, New York. The station airs a mix of local and syndicated talk radio shows, primarily from co-owned Premiere Networks, includi ...

, where he stayed for 30 years until his death. His WOR-AM nutrition advice call-in program, ''Design for Living,'' was broadcast six days a week by the station and was also syndicated. Fredericks also wrote several books on nutrition as well as writing a column for Prevention magazine. He was a heavy smoker and died of a heart attack in 1987 at the age of 76. Fredericks was a friend of Robert Atkins and they remained in close contact. Atkins considered Fredericks one of his mentors.Rogak, Lisa. (2005). ''Dr. Robert Atkins: The True Story of the Man Behind the War on Carbohydrates''. Robson Books. pp. 128-129.

Reception

Fredericks' ideas about nutrition have been described as "nonsense" and "

quackery Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, ...

".Butler, Kurt. (1992). ''A Consumer's Guide to "Alternative Medicine": A Close Look at Homeopathy, Acupuncture, Faith-healing, and Other Unconventional Treatments''. Prometheus Books. pp. 36-38. In 1978 it was noted that "Fredericks frequently threatens to take libel action against those who disagree with him. So assiduous has he been in this respect that he even writes threatening letters to physicians who have questioned his ideas in private correspondence." Biographer

Lisa Rogak Lisa Rogak is an American author, primarily of biographies and other non-fiction books. She is also a freelance magazine writer. ''Barack Obama: In His Own Words'', which Rogak edited, hit the ''New York Times'' bestseller list. Her biography of ...

notes that Fredericks "quickly developed a reputation as a quack or worse, discredited by traditional medical practitioners and the

AMA Ama or AMA may refer to: Ama Languages * Ama language (New Guinea) * Ama language (Sudan) People * Ama (Ama Kōhei), former ring name for sumo wrestler Harumafuji Kōhei * Mary Ama, a New Zealand artist * Shola Ama, a British singer * Ām ...

." He was criticized for spreading misinformation about

hypoglycemia Hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's triad is used to properly identify hypoglycemic episodes. It is defined as blood glucose belo ...

. For example, he stated that millions of people were suffering from

reactive hypoglycemia Reactive hypoglycemia, postprandial hypoglycemia, or sugar crash is a term describing recurrent episodes of symptomatic hypoglycemia occurring within four hours"Hypoglycemia." It can also be referred to as "sugar crash" or "glucose crash." Nati ...

but according to the

American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes (including type 1 diabetes, ...

and other medical health experts the condition is uncommon. Science writer Kurt Butler has written that Fredericks "recommended injects of adrenal cortical extract on the theory that the gland is weakened in hypoglycemia and needs a boost. Fredericks thus compounded nonsense with dangerous nonsense." Nutritionist Fredrick J. Stare commented that the "acceptance and application of Frederick's erroneous interpretation of research findings as applied to human health could result in tragedy."Stare, Frederick J; Witschi, Jelia C. (1973). ''Nutrition Fads are Booming''. ''

BioScience ''BioScience'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. It was established in 1964 and was preceded by the ''AIBS Bulletin'' (1951–19 ...

'' 23 (9): 505.

Selected publications

*''Eat, Live and be Merry'' (1951)
''Dr. Carlton Fredericks' Low Carbohydrate Diet''
(1965) *''Food Facts and Fallacies'' (1968) ith Herbert Bailey*''Nutrition: Your Key to Good Health'' (1973) *''Carlton Fredericks Cook Book for Good Nutrition'' (1974) *''Carlton Fredericks' High-Fiber Way to Total Health'' (1976) *''Breast Cancer: A Nutritional Approach'' (1979) *''Psychonutrition: Diet, Vitamin and Mineral Way to Emotional Health'' (1979) *''Eat Well, Get Well, Stay Well'' (1980) *''Carlton Fredericks' Program for Living Longer'' (1983) *''Carlton Fredericks' New Low Blood Sugar and You'' (1985) *''Look Younger, Feel Healthier'' (1985) *''Low Blood Sugar You'' (1987) *''Carlton Fredericks' Guide to Women's Nutrition'' (1988)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fredericks, Carl 1910 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American writers 20th-century American male writers American radio personalities American magazine writers American nutritionists Low-carbohydrate diet advocates People from Brooklyn Pseudoscientific diet advocates Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni University of Alabama alumni