Gayelord Hauser

Dr. Benjamin Gayelord Hauser (1895-1984), popularly known as Gayelord Hauser, was an American nutritionist, self-help author, and promoter of "the natural way of eating" during the mid-20th century. He promoted foods rich in Vitamin B and discouraged consumption of sugar and white flour. Hauser was a best-selling author, popular on the lecture and social circuits, and was nutritional advisor to many celebrities.

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. At the age of sixteen, young Helmut jointed his older brother, the Reverend Otto Hauser, a pastor, in Chicago, Illinois; shortly thereafter they moved to Milwaukee.

Not long sfter arriving in the USA, Hauser was stricken with tuberculosis of the hip which, before the development of antibiotics in the 1930’s, was almost always fatal. After several operations proved fruitless, his case was declared hopeless and Hauser consulted a naturopath, Dr. Benedict Lust. Lust’s regimen of warm baths, clay packs, and herbal remedies markedly improved Hauser’s condition and he soon followed Lust’s recommendation to seek further treatment in Switzerland to see if the new “food science” (Nahrungswissen) had anything to offer him. A monk, Brother Maier, put him on a strict diet of salads, fruit juices, vegetable broths, and herbs. Within weeks the tubercular hip went into remission, permanently cured.

Hauser then embarked upon studies of “food science” in order to become an expert and spread a message about “the power of food.” He studied in Vienna, Zurich, Dresden, and Copenhagen. He now returned to the USA, changed his name, and set up office in Chicago. He toured the Midwest touting the value of his five “wonder foods:” yogurt, brewer’s yeast, powdered skim milk, wheat germ, and especially blackstrap molasses. Hauser believed in the healthful effects of “whole foods” and urged people to avoid starch, gluten, sugar, and excessive consumption of meat. When enriched white breads were introduced in the 1950’s, Hauser denounced them as “devitalized.”

Hauser continued his studies in the USA, receiving degrees in naturopathy and chiropractic from several American institutions. In 1925 Hauser became partners in the Milwaukee firm of Modern Food Products, which already manufactured an herbal laxative, in order to market a series of food products. This partnership continues to this day, and Hauser’s line of seasonings and broths are found in most health food stores. Another company, Gayelord Hauser of France, markets an even more extensive line of food products and publications in that country.

In 1927, Hauser moved to Hollywood, California, where his “natty good looks and brash, exuberant approach” soon made him popular among movie makers. First Adele Astaire, and later Marlene Dietrich, Paulette Goddard, Gloria Swanson, and, most famously, Greta Garbo all sought his advice and guidance. Also among those seeking his council in later years were Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia, Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergmann, Jeanne Moreau, and the Duchess of Windsor.

A tireless promoter, Hauser began his prolific writing career in 1930 with Harmonized Food Selection, with the Famous Hauser Body-Building System, and continued through his final revision of Gaylord Hauser’s New Treasury of Secrets in 1974. His books were translated into twelve languages, he had a popular column in the Hurst newspapers, and his most famous book, Look Younger; Live Longer (partly ghost-written by Frances Warfield Hackett), was condensed in the Reader’s Digest.

Hauser remained in vigorous good health until shortly before his death on 26 December 1984 from complications of pneumonia.

Controversy and Legacy
Perhaps because he was not a medical doctor, Hauser was criticized almost from the start by the medical establishment, especially the AMA, as well as sugar and flour lobbies. In 1951 the Food and Drug Administration seized copies of Look Younger; Live Longer, which promised to add five “youthful years” to your life, on the grounds that it was promoting the sale of one brand of blackstrap molasses. 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.

In the 1970’s, however, the tide began to change as scientific researches validated many of his progressive notions on nutrition and health. Many now regard him as the founder of the natural food movement and a pioneer who was decades ahead of his time.

Published works
''Types and Temperaments with a Key to Foods (1930), Food Science and Health (1930), Child Feeding: Written for Mothers (1932), Keener Vision Without Glasses (1932), Here's How to Be Healthy (1934), Eat and Grow Beautiful (1939), New Health Cookery (1939), 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), 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.

• Hauser was friends with Greta Garbo until the end of his life and they may have been romantically involved.