Getting Well

by Herbert M. Shelton

What is Health; The Rationale of Disease; Compensation in Disease; Law Governs Disease; Physiology vs. Voodooism; The Story of Useless Organs; The Fun of Being Sick; How to get Well; Why Drugs; Quick Relief; Killing our Children; Curing Arthritis; Peptic Ulcers; What are Tumors; Curing Gallstones; Diabetes; Varicose Veins; Asthma; Warts; Influenza; Who's on a A Diet; Food cures; Vitamin Failures; When to Eat; Growing Old; Diseases of Middle Life; plus more.

254 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1993

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

[P.J. Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This outspoken book is a denunciation of medicine and "the whole drug system." There is only one possible cure for any illness, says Shelton, and that is removing the cause. Drugs do not remove the cause. It is the body that cures, not inorganic drugs. Treating symptoms with drugs is "like applying an ointment to the foot in which a tack is sticking instead of removing the tack." Medicine is voodoo, not science. Symptoms should not be suppressed. They are "manifestations of an inherent principle of the organism to restore healthy function."

Shelton shows how to identify and remove causes. He believes in fasting. If he has a cure-all to offer, it is fasting. Fasting equals rest for the body. Fasting corrects the enervation and toxemia which are the root causes of disease.

This is more than a book; it is a plan for living. Read it and you will understand how far we have strayed from nature's path. The chapters are short, understandable, and packed with wisdom. He discusses many syndromes, including diabetes, influenza, cancer, and arthritis, but the same principles apply to all of them. Getting well is no different from prevention.

A good introduction to Shelton, this book covers a wide range of topics and provides a good overview of his Natural Hygiene philosophy. Highly recommended.