Edward Hooker Dewey (21 May 1837 - 21 December 1904), best known as Edward H. Dewey, was an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. He was a pioneer of therapeutic

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 ...

and the inventor of the "No Breakfast Plan".

Career

Dewey graduated from the College of Medicine and Surgery of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1864 with a medical degree, and became an assistant surgeon in the

Army of the United States The Army of the United States is one of the four major service components of the United States Army (the others being the Regular Army, the United States Army Reserve and the Army National Guard of the United States), but it has been inactive si ...

. From 1866 he started to work in

Meadville, Pennsylvania Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The city is within of Erie and within of Pittsburgh. It was the first permanent settlement in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The population was 13,388 at the 2010 censu ...

. Dewey's ''The True Science of Living'' (1895) had been reprinted at least four times by 1908. His sequel ''The No-Breakfast Plan and the Fasting Cure'' (1900) was very successful with the public. By 1921 it had gone through three editions and was translated into French and German.Griffith, R. Marie. (2000). ''Apostles of Abstinence: Fasting and Masculinity during the Progressive Era''. ''

American Quarterly ''American Quarterly'' is an academic journal and the official publication of the American Studies Association. The journal covers topics of both domestic and international concern in the United States and is considered a leading resource in the ...

'' 52 (4): 599-638. Dewey argued for people to completely abstain from breakfast, and only consume two meals per day. He attributed all disease and physiological problems to excessive eating. He advocated long fasts and believed that abstinence from food could cure

insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...

and

mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

s. Dewey was a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and affirmed harmony of his "No Breakfast Plan" with the Christian Gospel. Evangelist George Frederick Pentecost wrote the introduction to ''The True Science of Living''.

Reception

Dewey's ideas were popular in the early 20th century but were not accepted by medical experts. In 1910, the ''

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origi ...

'' described Dewey as "not an accurate or careful writer", noting medical errors in his book ''The No-Breakfast Plan and the Fasting-Cure''.Anonymous. (1910). ''Food And Feeding''. ''

The British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origina ...

'' 1 (2563): 388-390. The journal concluded that his ideas about fasting being a

cure-all A panacea , named after the Greek goddess of universal remedy Panacea, is any supposed remedy that is claimed (for example) to cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely. It was in the past sought by alchemists in connection with the elixir ...

for disease was not supported by solid evidence and was a "foolish delusion". Physician William Tibbles wrote that moderate fasts are beneficial but should be carried out under proper medical supervision. He noted that Dewey took the principles of fasting to an "irrational extreme".Tibbles, William. (1914). ''Dietetics: Or Food in Health and Disease''. Lea & Febiger. pp. 244-245 Dewey influenced alternative health writers such as

Hereward Carrington Hereward Carrington (17 October 1880 – 26 December 1958) was a well-known British-born American investigator of psychic phenomena and author. His subjects included several of the most high-profile cases of apparent psychic ability of his times, ...

and Wallace Wattles.

Linda Hazzard Linda Laura Hazzard (''née'' Burfield; December 18, 1867 – June 24, 1938), nicknamed the "Starvation Doctor" was an American quack, swindler and convicted serial killer noted for her promotion of fasting, pummeling and hours-long enemas as tre ...

, author of ''The Science of Fasting'', studied under Dewey. Hazzard was a

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 ...

doctor noted for her promotion of fasting as a treatment, and was imprisoned by the state of Washington for a number of deaths resulting from this at a sanatorium she operated there in the early 20th century.

Publications

''The True Science of Living: The New Gospel of Health''
(1895)
''A New Era for Women: Health Without Drugs''
(1896)
''Chronic Alcoholism''
(1899)
''The No-Breakfast Plan and the Fasting-Cure''
(1900)

References

External links

* *
The No-Breakfast Plan and the Fasting-Cure
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewey, Edward H. 1837 births 1904 deaths United States Army Medical Corps officers Fasting People from Crawford County, Pennsylvania Pseudoscientific diet advocates University of Michigan Medical School alumni

Career

Reception

Publications

See also

References

External links