20 Facts About Gayelord Hauser

Benjamin Gayelord Hauser, popularly known as Gayelord Hauser, was an American nutritionist and self-help writer, who promoted the 'natural way of eating' during the mid-20th century.

Gayelord Hauser promoted foods rich in vitamin B and discouraged consumption of sugar and white flour.

Gayelord Hauser rose to fame as a self-help author, popular on the lecture and social circuits, and was nutritional advisor to many celebrities.

Gayelord Hauser promised people they could add years to their life by eating five "wonder foods": blackstrap molasses, brewer's yeast, skimmed milk, wheat germ and yogurt.

Gayelord Hauser was criticized as a "food faddist" and his dieting ideas were described by medical doctors as pseudoscientific and quackery.

Gayelord Hauser was born Helmut Eugen Benjamin Gellert Hauser on 17 May 1895 in Tubingen, Germany to Christian Hauser, a schoolmaster, and Agate Rothe.

Young Gayelord Hauser sailed to America as a steerage passenger on the SS George Washington, and underwent immigrant inspection at Ellis Island on 14 August 1911.

Not long after settling in the US, Gayelord Hauser was stricken with tuberculosis of the hip which, before the development of antibiotics in the 1930s, was almost always fatal.

Gayelord Hauser now returned to the US, changed his name, and set up office in Chicago.

Gayelord Hauser toured the Midwest touting the value of his five "wonder foods": yogurt, brewers yeast, powdered skim milk, wheat germ, and especially blackstrap molasses.

Gayelord Hauser believed in the healthful effects of "whole foods" and urged people to avoid too much fat, excessive sugar, and excessive consumption of meat.

Gayelord Hauser urged people to "enrich" their milk and food with powdered skim milk, blackstrap molasses, and brewer's yeast.

Gayelord Hauser provided recipes for whole wheat muffins, breads, drinks, and yogurt.

When enriched white breads were introduced in the 1950s, Gayelord Hauser denounced them as "devitalized" because of the value of the removed wheat germ.

Gayelord Hauser continued his studies in the US, receiving degrees in naturopathy and chiropractic from several American institutions.

In 1925 Gayelord Hauser joined his brother-in-law, Sebastian Gysin, in the Milwaukee firm of Modern Products, which already manufactured an herbal laxative developed by Gysin, called Swiss Kriss.

Gayelord Hauser helped to market a series of food products produced by Modern Products.

In 1927, Gayelord Hauser moved to Hollywood, California, where his "natty good looks and brash, exuberant approach" soon made him popular among movie makers.

Gayelord Hauser's books were translated into twelve languages, he had a popular column in the Hearst newspapers, and his most famous book, Look Younger; Live Longer, was condensed in Reader's Digest.

Some medical health experts have been critical; for example it has been noted that Gayelord Hauser was a promoter of the Bates method, which is widely regarded as quackery.