Superior Nutrition

by Herbert M. Shelton

Book by Herbert M. Shelton

Genres: Health, Nutrition, Food

Paperback

First published June 1, 1987

About the author

Herbert M. Shelton was an American naturopath, alternative medicine advocate, and prolific author best known for promoting natural hygiene, fasting, and raw veganism. Born in Texas in 1895, Shelton was deeply influenced by observing animal behavior during illness and early pioneers like Isaac Jennings and Sylvester Graham. He studied at several institutions devoted to chiropractic and naturopathy, eventually graduating from the American School of Naturopathy. Shelton believed that cooked food was harmful and that the human body could heal itself without medical intervention, primarily through fasting and a raw, plant-based diet.
In 1922, he self-published Fundamentals of Nature Cure, later retitled An Introduction to Natural Hygiene. He went on to write the influential seven-volume The Hygienic System and published The Hygienic Review for forty years. In 1948, he founded the American Natural Hygiene Society, which became the National Health Association. Despite facing frequent legal challenges for practicing medicine without a license, Shelton maintained a loyal following and left a lasting legacy on the raw food and fasting movements.
A pacifist, Shelton was jailed during World War I for opposing the draft. His career was marred by controversy, including patient deaths and lawsuits, one of which led to his financial ruin and the closure of his health school. Afflicted by a degenerative disease in later life, he remained active in his work until his death in 1985. His legacy remains polarizing, viewed by some as visionary and by others as dangerously unscientific.

Reviews

[Steve Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've probably put more hours into reading Shelton's books than any other author. He is a fantastic writer, and his teachings are what I try and live my life by now. Superior nutrition is a fantastic book, whether it is your first book on Natural Hygiene, or you are well read up on the subject. Each book of Shelton's has something new to offer, and I will continue to read his work with great pleasure.

[P.J. Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant! Its chapters are short, clear, and packed with wisdom. They cover all the obvious food angles, within the larger context of Shelton’s Hygienic program. Discussed are digestion, food combining, fasting, vitamins, food additives, superfoods, oxidation and fragmentation of foods, sulfured foods, amino acids, proteins, and many other issues pertaining to nutrition. The all-important difference between organic and inorganic minerals in the diet. No surprises here for Shelton followers. Consistent with his other books.

The theme is stated on page 168: “Want of nourishment results from lack of power to digest as often as from lack of food.” Because food is not nutrition. Nutrition is food plus digestion plus assimilation plus utilization. This book is about more than food.

Better than Shelton’s 1926 book, “Food and Feeding.” This is a more mature work. More up-to-date; but not so up-to-date as to include mention of acrylamides, those toxins in cooked starches, which are more recent discoveries. And why does he neglect to mention aflatoxins in nuts? His menu suggestions do include cooked starches, but rarely. Raw foods predominate. Vegan foods. His chapter on salt is better, in its unqualified denunciation of salt, than any book I have found on the subject. I wish he had included a separate chapter on the role of greens in the human diet.

The text is technical at times, but intelligent readers should have no difficulty following it. It makes good sense, and debunks many common misconceptions about food and nutrition. I wish the type fonts were larger, easier to read, but they are readable. Highly recommended to people who want to base their diets on the true needs of their bodies.