Eugene Christian (1860–1930) was an American naturopath,

nutritionist A nutritionist is a person who advises others on matters of food and nutrition and their impacts on health. Some people specialize in particular areas, such as sports nutrition, public health, or animal nutrition, among other disciplines. In many ...

and

raw foodism 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 ...

writer.

Biography

Eugene Christian School of Applied Chemistry

Christian was born in

McMinnville, Tennessee McMinnville is the largest city in and the county seat of Warren County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 13,605 at the 2010 census. It was named for Governor Joseph McMinn. Geography McMinnville is located at (35.686708, -85.779309) ...

. He worked in manufacturing and sales until 1900.Hoolihan, Christopher. (2001). ''An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine and Health Reform, Volume 1''. University of Rochester Press. p. 187. Similar to George J. Drews, Christian was one of the pioneers of the

movement in America.Berry, Rynn. (2007). "Raw Foodism". In Andrew F. Smith. ''The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink''. Oxford University Press. pp. 493-494. Christian authored the raw food book ''Uncooked Foods and How to Use Them'', in 1904. 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. It was widely reviewed in health journals. Medical experts accused Christian of promoting a

fad diet A fad diet is a diet that becomes popular for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements. There is no single defini ...

and called him the "dean of American food faddists".Cramp, Arthur J. (1936)
''Nostrums and Quackery and Pseudo-Medicine, Volume 3''
Press of American Medical Association. pp. 57-59 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. In 1907 after an appeal, the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

concluded that no crime was committed and that Christian was improperly convicted. Christian did not prescribe medicine. The Supreme Court made the decision that a "food scientist" does have the right to diagnose or treat illness by prescribing diet. Christian then advertised himself as a "hero" and "vindicated by the supreme court". Christian believed that

cooking Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to Outline of food preparation, prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric ...

food destroyed

nutrient A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

s. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he appealed to the Surgeon General to change the army's rations to a raw food diet. 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. He charged $100 for a diploma course in which a 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. 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 by a dietetic system. The Society sold

quack Quack, The Quack or Quacks may refer to: People * Quack Davis, American baseball player * Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack (1834–1917), Dutch economist and historian * Joachim Friedrich Quack (born 1966), German Egyptologist * Johannes Quack (b ...

products such as the "Vaco Reducing Cup", that was alleged to remove fat. His products were described as "pseudo-scientific buncombe" by the Bureau of Investigation of the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's state ...

. Christian recommended

raw egg Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

s as a good source of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

. He commented that "an egg should never be cooked". 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 in order to maintain the balance as to protein." Christian promised his followers that they could live a hundred years on his recommended diet but died at the age of 69.Anonymous. (1930)
''More Funny Advice on Longevity''
''Journal of the American Medical Association'' 94 (20): 1604-1605. He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

.''A Dietist and His Theory''. ''

Charleston Daily Mail The ''Charleston Daily Mail'' was a newspaper based in Charleston, West Virginia. On July 20, 2015, it merged with the ''Charleston Gazette'' to form the ''Charleston Gazette-Mail''. Publishing history The ''Daily Mail'' was founded in 1914 b ...

''. (March 12, 1930). p. 6 In medical literature, Christian was cited as an example of a quack.

Selected publications

''Uncooked Foods and How to Use Them''
(1904)
''Suncooked Food''
(1909)
''250 Meatless Menus and Recipes''
(1910)
''Encyclopedia of Diet''
(5 volumes, 1914) *''How to Live 100 Years'' (1914)
''Eat and Be Well''
(1916) *''Eugene Christian's Course in Scientific Eating'' (24 volumes, 1916)
''Little Lessons in Corrective Eating''
(2 volumes, 1916)
''Meatless and Wheatless Menus''
(1917)
''Why Die''
(1928)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Eugene 1860 births 1930 deaths American health and wellness writers American nutritionists American vegetarianism activists Deaths from pneumonia in California Naturopaths Orthopaths Pseudoscientific diet advocates Raw foodists Vegetarian cookbook writers

Biography

Selected publications

See also

References