Shelton was born on October 6, 1895, in
Wylie, Texas, to Thomas Mitchell Shelton and Mary Frances Gutherie Shelton, who were devoted Christians. As a child, Shelton took an interest in animals, especially their habits when sick as compared to when well. He was especially intrigued by their fasting when the farm animals became sick.[5]
Career
Shelton attended
Bernarr Macfadden's College of Physcultopathy in
Chicago and interned at Crane's Sanatorium in
Elmhurst, Illinois. He also attended Lindlahr College of Natural Therapeutics for post-graduate work and served at Lindlahr's and Sahler's Sanatoriums. Shelton later continued post-graduate work at Peerless College of Chiropractic in
Illinois and served an internship at Crandall Health School in
Pennsylvania.
In 1921, he married Ida Pape, studied at the American School of Chiropractic, and graduated from the American School of Naturopathy with a
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine. Shelton claimed that cooking food denatures it, and that a healthy body has the ability to restore itself from illness without medical intervention. Although heavily criticized by his contemporaries for advocating fasting over medical treatment, Shelton's work served as an early influence for the
raw food movement.[3][4]
In 1922, Shelton self-published his first book, Fundamentals of Nature Cure. Seeing importance in the Hygienic Movement (influenced by
Isaac Jennings and
Sylvester Graham), he changed the title of this first book to An Introduction to Natural Hygiene. From 1934–1941, Shelton authored a seven-volume work The Hygienic System.[6]
In 1939, Shelton published The Hygienic Review magazine which ran for four decades.[6] In 1948, he founded the American Natural Hygiene Society which was renamed the National Health Association in 1998.[6]
Legal history
A pacifist, Shelton was jailed in 1917 for making an anti-draft statement in public during the height of
World War I.
In 1927, Shelton was arrested, jailed, and fined three times for
practicing medicine without a license. These arrests continued periodically through the next three decades. He was found guilty of violating the Medical Practice Act in 1932, and served 30 days on
Rikers Island.
In 1942, Shelton was charged with negligent homicide and "treating and offering to treat a human being without a state medical license" for starving a patient to death.[5] The case was never tried and the charges were later dropped.
In 1978, another patient died at one of his schools, this time of an apparent heart attack. After a two-year-long court battle, Shelton lost the lawsuit for negligence and was bankrupted by the judgment.[5] His school was forced to close as a result.
Death
By 1972, at the age of 77, Shelton became bedridden from a degenerative neuro-muscular disease believed to be
Parkinson's disease.[5] He died thirteen years later, unable to improve his own health despite many attempts. His peers were shocked to see him unable to walk, speak normally, or write.[1]
Towards the end of his life, Shelton continued his involvement in Dr. Shelton's Health School. In the time that the school was in operation, over 40,000 people were treated for various ailments, with most recovering with the help of
water fasting[citation needed]. The school operated for 53 years, closing in 1981.[7]
In 1989, four years after his death, a biography of Shelton called Yours for Health: The Life and Times of Herbert M. Shelton, was published by Jean A. Oswald.[1]
Bibliography
Shelton, Herbert M. A Month of Menus: Featuring Natural Non-animal Foods, Deliciously And Healthfully Selected in Compatible Combinations, With A Minimum of Preparation. The American Vegan Society. (1968).
Shelton, Herbert M. An Introduction to Natural Hygiene. (1972).
Shelton, Herbert M. Animal Foods. The American Vegan Society. (1968).
Shelton, Herbert M. Basic Principles of Natural Hygiene. (1949).
Shelton, Herbert M. Colds (Acute Coryza) and Related Subjects. (1958).
Shelton, Herbert M. Facts About Fasting. The American Vegan Society. (1968).
Shelton, Herbert M. The Joys of Getting Well. (1957).
Shelton, Herbert M. The Liver and Its Complaints. (Sep. 1996).
Shelton, Herbert M. Living Life to Live It Longer.
Shelton, Herbert M. Natural Hygiene: Man's Pristine Way of Life. Library of New Atlantis, Incorporated UPC/
ISBN1-57179-407-7 (Feb. 2003).
Shelton, Herbert M. Natural Hygiene: The Pristine Way of Life (1968).
Shelton, Herbert M. / Willard, Jo / Oswald, Jean A. The Original Natural Hygiene Weight Loss Diet Book. (New Canaan, CT: Keats Publishing, Inc, 1986).
ISBN0-87983-376-9
Shelton, Herbert M. Rubies in the Sand. (1961).
Shelton, Herbert M. The Science and Fine Art of Fasting.
Shelton, Herbert M. The Science and Fine Art of Natural Hygiene. American Natural Hygiene Society. (1994).
Shelton, Herbert M. Science and Fine Art of Food and Nutrition. American Natural Hygiene Society. (1996).
Shelton, Herbert M. Superior Nutrition. Willow Pub. (1994).
Shelton, Herbert M. Syphilis: The Werewolf of Medicine.
Shelton, Herbert M. Vaccine and Serum Evils. (Sep. 1996).
Shelton, Herbert M. et al. The Virgin Birth: The Famous Debate Between Herbert M. Shelton and George R. Clements. Health Research.
ISBN0-7873-1173-1 (Jan. 1998).
References
^
abcOswald, Jean A. (1989). Yours for Health: The Life and Times of Herbert M. Shelton. Franklin Books.
ISBN9780962049002
^ Puskar-Pasewicz, Margaret. (2010). Cultural Encyclopedia of Vegetarianism. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 2.
ISBN978-0-313-37556-9
^
abButler, Kurt. (1992). A Consumer's Guide to "Alternative Medicine": A Close Look at Homeopathy, Acupuncture, Faith-healing, and Other Unconventional Treatments. Prometheus Books. pp. 13-14.
ISBN0-87975-733-7
^
abRaso, Jack. (1993). Vitalistic Gurus and Their Legacies. In
Stephen Barrett. The Health Robbers: A Close Look at Quackery in America. Prometheus Books. pp. 236-240.
ISBN0-87975-855-4
^
abcSmith, Andrew F. (2017). Food in America: The Past, Present, and Future of Food, Farming, and the Family Meal. ABC-CLIO. p. 33.
ISBN978-1-4408-4731-8