Adelle Davis
Adelle Davis, one of the country's best known nutritionists, was born in 1904, and lived an active 70 years. In 1938 she received her Masters from Purdue University, graduated from University of California at Berkeley, and took postgraduate work at Columbia University and the University of California at Los Angeles before receiving her Master of Science degree in biochemistry from the University of Southern California Medical School. Throughout her career, she worked with physicians, beginning in New York with dietetics training at Bellevue and Fordham hospitals and her first job at the Judson Health Clinic.
Later, in Oakland, California, and then in Los Angeles, she worked as a consulting nutritionist with physicians at the Alameda County Health Clinic and the William E. Branch Clinic in Hollywood as well as seeing patients referred to her by numerous specialists. After planning individual diets for more than 20,000 people suffering from almost every known disease, she gave up consulting work to devote her time to her family, writing, and lecturing.
Adelle Davis was the author of four best selling books, "Let's Cook It Right," "Let's Have Healthy Children," "Let's Get Well," and "Let's Eat Right To Keep Fit."
Adelle Davis was a visionary. When going back through her history it is amazing to realize the impact Adelle had on the most recent and popular diets that are the craze now. Dr. Barry Sears, author of "The Zone" speaks very highly of Adelle Davis and her impact on his discoveries. Thirty years ago Adelle was a supporter of Dr. Atkins, founder of "The Atkins Diet." Adelle was the pioneer of the nutritional revolution. Her teachings and writings influenced the people striving for health and wellness long before our time.
Adelle Davis's Nutritional Philosophy
Adelle lived and wrote in the post-World War II era, which was enthralled with freedom. Blind freedom is "not freedom, but license," and Adelle was determined that readers would not be in the dark about the scientific basis of nutritional education. Adelle Davis gives us the kernel of the research in nutrition, based on experiments and scientific writings that she read voluminously and thoroughly. The picture that she saw, and which she repeatedly describes, is that the body does best when all of the known nutrients have been available, as well as fresh food sources for obtaining nutrients yet to be discovered by science. She writes so often, "When the diet is made adequate..." The key to this philosophy is knowing the amounts of nutrients that the body requires under given conditions, one can make educated decisions about what substances to include in the diet. This is true freedom of choice in nutrition. Without knowing the research, one cannot judge what amounts are necessary to avoid vitamin deficiencies.
The crux of her findings boil down to this: deficiencies in vitamins, mineral elements, or other nutrients can cause illness that is reversed when the nutrients are added to the diet in an educated way, and "when the diet is made adequate" in all other respects.
Adelle Davis is my hero, and rightly so---she is responsible, because of her books, for getting me over my asthma and allergies. Using the principles taught in her books, I was also able to get my own daughter over her asthma, and to help others to do the same.
Some people have criticized Adelle's philosophy because Adelle herself died of bone cancer. The thinking is that if she had all the answers, if she had been right, she would not have developed cancer. This seems logical on the surface. However, we need to educate ourselves beyond simplistic thinking, for there are other factors that enter into the picture. For one thing, Adelle was severely malnourished as she grew up. Animal studies have proven that when this is the case, even with excellent nutrition later in life, the person will never gain optimum health.
In the study, scientists fed one group of newborn laboratory animals very well, providing them with an excellent diet. A second group was deliberately malnourished. When the animals matured, the diets were reversed. The ones raised on an excellent diet were then given diets so inadequate as to make them become ill. The animals raised in a malnourished state were then fed excellent diets.
What happened next is very interesting, and very important to know. The first group, which was raised with an excellent diet and then malnourished to the point of becoming ill, completely recovered their original health once their diet was again improved.
The second group, however, even after living on an excellent diet as adults, never attained the same degree of health that the first group did. The damage done all the time they were growing up was irreparable.
Adelle Davis, as a result of her earlier poor health, became seriously interested in nutrition and how to obtain health; this was her life's work. She was so passionate, even fanatical about it, that she was very aggressive and outspoken. I remember seeing a series of her lectures on public television back in the early 70's, and I wasn't too impressed with her abrasive personality. I could see how she probably rubbed people the wrong way, doctors in particular, in being so outspoken about the lack of knowledge regarding nutrition in our medical establishment.
However, she always gave physicians the respect they deserve in their own field of influence. She says, "It can scarcely be overemphasized that nutrition is never competitive with the practice of medicine, but is an aid to both the physician and the patient. To eat wisely is different indeed from the home treatment of disease. When any abnormality occurs, two steps should be taken: one should improve his nutrition, and consult a physician."
She goes on to say, "Numerous articles have appeared in the professional journals urging that more nutrition be taught in medical schools. Often physicians themselves are upset by their lack of training in nutrition. A young pediatrician who had read my books brought his child to me for nutritional advice. He remarked sadly, 'Everything you advise which I've tried on my patients works. But if what you say is true, why weren't we taught it in medical school? We had wonderful professors.' And I am sure they were wonderful, but unfortunately they too were untrained in nutrition. A letter written on sixteen pages of a prescription pad came from another physician. 'I've had so little training in nutrition I feel unprepared when patients ask me about diet,' he wrote, 'Often they know more about nutrition than I do. I try to avoid recommending diets whenever possible.' He may speak for many practitioners. (Carmen's own story) Excellent nutrition advice has been given to patients by their doctors, however, and all too frequently ignored.
"It is literally impossible for a busy physician to keep abreast of new research on drugs, viruses, antibiotics, treatments, surgery, medical procedures, and laboratory technics." (Add to that: new healthcare regulations, health insurance, OSHA, IRS regulations, malpractice guidelines, etc. etc.). "The National Library of Medicine estimates that 200,000 articles are published annually on drugs alone. A doctor attempting to keep up on all subjects related to medicine would not have time to pull a stethoscope from his pocket. Is it not grossly unfair to expect him to be an expert on nutrition?"
The Adelle Davis Foundation website: http://adelledavis.org