Gayelord Hauser

Benjamin Gayelord Hauser (May 17, 1895 – December 26, 1984), 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. He promoted foods rich in B vitamins and discouraged consumption of sugar and white flour. He rose to fame as a self-help author, popular on the lecture and social circuits, and was nutritional advisor to many celebrities.

Hauser was supported by many film stars but was often in conflict with the medical community. He 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. He was criticized as a "food faddist" and his dieting ideas were described by medical doctors as pseudoscientific and quackery.

Background and education

Gayelord Hauser was born Helmut Eugen Benjamin Gellert Hauser on 17 May 1895 in Tübingen, Germany, to Christian Hauser, a schoolmaster, and Agate Rothe. As late as 1967, Hauser was dismissed as a crank and compared with such obvious charlatans as Dudley J. LeBlanc, promoter of the cure-all Hadacol.

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

However, others consider him to be ahead of his time and a founder of the natural food movement.

Publications

Types and Temperaments with a Key to Foods (1930) Food Science and Health (1930) New Health Cookery (1930) Child Feeding: Written for Mothers (1932) Keener Vision Without Glasses (1932) Here's How to Be Healthy (1934) Eat and Grow Beautiful (1936) Dictionary Of Foods (1939) A Training Course In Health-Eating (1940) Diet Does It (1944) Better Eyes Without Glasses (1944) The Gayelord Hauser Cook Book (1946) Look Younger, Live Longer (1950) Gayelord Hauser's New Treasury of Secrets (1951) Be Happier, Be Healthier (1952) Diet Does It: Incorporating the Gayelord Hauser Cook Book (1952) Gayelord Hauser's New Guide to Intelligent Reducing (1955) Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Invitation to Beauty (1961) Gayelord Hauser's Treasury of Secrets (1963)

Trivia

Hauser's doctorates are honorary degrees from the University Philtechnique in Brussels, Belgium and the Argentina School of Nutrition in Buenos Aires. A statue stands in his honor in Kyoto, Japan. His diet was the topic of a popular 1951 novelty song, Black Strap Molasses, recorded by movie stars Groucho Marx, Jimmy Durante, Jane Wyman, and Danny Kaye. He is referenced in the song "Monotonous" by Eartha Kitt with the line "Gayelord Hauser sends me vitamin D." Stan Freberg mentions Hauser in a song entitled 'Widescreen Mama Blues.' In the episode "Travnicek in der Apotheke" of Helmut Qualtinger's Travniceks Gesammelte Werke Travnicek's friend advises him to start a diet based on Hauser's recommendations.