An interview with Dr. Alan Goldhamer by James Michael Lennon

How did you first get interested in Natural Hygiene?

When I was 16 years old I was exposed to the philosophy of Natural Hygiene through the writings of Herbert Shelton. I was also influenced through my interaction with Dr. Gerald Benesh, of San Diego. I was fascinated by the concept that health and disease were understandable and predictable phenomena.

You are a licensed doctor. Where did you do your training in Natural Hygiene?

After I graduated from Western States Chiropractic College in Oregon, I had the privilege of completing a residency program at the Arcadia Health Centre in Australia under the instruction of Dr. Alec Burton.

When did you open the Center for Conservative Therapy?

After returning from Australia in 1984, my wife, Dr. Jennifer Marano, and I opened the Center.   During the past 10 years we have supervised the care and fasting of thousands of patients from around the world. Operating a residential health care program is an intense and demanding experience, but an extremely rewarding one.

Including you and Dr. Marano, there are now nine doctors associated with the Center For Conservative Therapy, all certified by the International Association of Professional Natural Hygienists for fasting supervision. That is quite an accomplishment.

The Center set out to attract doctors with specific skills that complement each other. No one individual can have all the skills necessary to provide optimum care. In addition to his broad hygienic knowledge, Dr. Sultana is a board certified family physician, and an expert in helping patients evaluate and, when possible, eliminate unnecessary medication and medical treatment. Dr. Isabeau is trained in sports medicine and fitness. Dr. Kim, Linzner and Dina supervise  the day-to-day activities

Having so many hygienic physicians in one place brings benefits to patients and doctors alike. Because the doctors can easily consult with one another, they can make their combined experience and expertise available to patients.

People have raved about some of your recent talks, where you have emphasized the importance of understanding the genetic influences that affect our behavior.

I think it helps people better understand some of their eating tendencies and cravings, especially with their desire to eat concentrated foods-such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, oils and processed refined foods.

We are made up of trillions of electrochemically interrelated cells. Each of our cells contains 46 chromosomes which are in turn made up of millions of genes. The gene is the basic unit of heredity and determines much of who we are. For example, the genes contain the information that determines the color of our eyes and skin, how tall we can grow, even how intelligent we can become. Genes are responsible for our strengths and weaknesses and influence virtually every part of our lives, including our behavior tendencies.

Genes affect our behavior?

Our genes determine which of our cells become muscle, bone, nerves, organs, etc. They control the growth and replacement of cells. The gene represents accumulated adaptive information that has been selected over biological time. Genes that promote behavior and characteristics that favor survival are passed on from generation to generation.

Genes survive by promoting behavior that favors survival and reproduction of the individual. To the individual, survival means getting enough to eat and not getting eaten.

In addition to passing the adaptive traits through our genes, human beings have developed another powerful means of passing on accumulated knowledge-language.

Not getting eaten implies not only avoiding being eaten by other animals trying to survive, but also avoiding bacteria, viruses and other entities that would be more than happy to try to make you their supper. Not getting eaten, in the broadest sense of the term, also means avoiding cars that might try to run you over and other dangers of modern life.

How does this tie in with human eating behavior?

Most animals spend virtually all of their time trying to get enough to eat and avoid being eaten. Human beings, owing to our sophisticated mastery of language, have been able to gain control over our environment such that, at least in the developed countries, we have been able to get enough to eat and still have some time left over. But we still have a natural craving for concentrated foods, foods that have high amounts of fuel or calories. We crave the tastes of sugar, salt and fat.

In a natural setting this desire to eat as much concentrated food as we can get serves us well. Animals whose genes promote feeding behavior live to reproduce. In a natural setting, there are no chocolate chip cookie trees or candy bushes. There are no heated, beaten, treated, refined foods. But in many countries today, these processed foods are everywhere, and they are designed to appeal to our genetically driven instincts. They fool our natural senses.

Some of my patients tell me that some junk foods have even learned to speak. In fact, I've had many reports that some flavors of ice cream (the ultimate combination of sugar, fat and salt, all in one) will actually learn to speak their name. At night the ice cream will call out to them begging to be eaten. Sometimes they have to eat it just to shut it up.


I know you are just kidding about the talking ice cream. But it sounds like since we can't change our genes, we'll have to change our environment?

If we wish to survive and live happy, meaningful lives, we must adopt a strategy for achieving happiness that compensates for the changes we have created in our environment.

People often confuse happiness with pleasure. Pleasure is a response of our nervous system to specific stimulation. Food, sexual activity and even drugs can stimulate our nervous system in such a way that we experience pleasure.

Happiness is a word we use to describe a mood that occurs spontaneously when we perceive the balance of our experiences as highly positive.

Many people mistakenly assume that if they are not happy, they must lack pleasure in their lives. They assume they have a pleasure deficiency and go about trying to stimulate their nervous system.

Cocaine addicts are an excellent example. They will flush their entire lives down the drain to induce the pleasurable response associated with the use of cocaine. Some crack addicts have reportedly sold their infant children for a few rocks of cocaine. But no matter how much cocaine the addicts use, they will never be happy.

To achieve happiness requires a happiness strategy. It means being able to delay gratification and not being driven solely by short term, instant gratification, pleasure seeking behavior. We need to understand the difference between happiness and pleasure.   

As Printed in HEALTH SCIENCE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1998 updated 2005
Alan Goldhamer, D.C., is the president of the International Association of Hygienic Physicians. He is also the director of the TrueNorth Health Center. The Center, which is located in Penngrove, Calif., specializes in fasting supervision, and is one of only two in-patient facilities in the world that trains and certifies physicians in that specialty. Dr. Goldhamer completed his chiropractic studies at Western States Chiropractic College in Portland, Oregon, and completed his internship in fasting supervision at the Arcadia Health Center in Australia, under the direction of Dr. Alec Burton. Dr. Goldhamer is the author of The Health Promoting Cookbook, co-author of The Pleasure Trap, and he recently participated in the production of two new videos on vegan cuisine and fasting.

How did you first become interested in Natural Hygiene? In 1976, after reading several of Dr. Herbert Shelton's books, I met Dr. Gerald Benesh of Escondido, Calif., who, along with Dr. Shelton, was one of the founders of the American Natural Hygiene Society. I was very impressed with the health philosophy of Natural Hygiene. Dr. Benesh told me that a doctor who used Hygiene-the science of health-as the basis of his or her practice had the best job in the world. He said, "That's because the body does all of the healing, the patient does all of the work, and the doctor gets all of the credit." I decided then and there that that was the job for me.

What is involved in becoming a Hygienic physician? Any licensed primary care physician [medical doctor, chiropractor, osteopath, or naturopath] is eligible to undertake an internship in fasting supervision under the auspices of the International Association of Hygienic Physicians. Successful completion leads to certification in fasting supervision.

What is a fasting internship like? Mine was an exciting and enriching experience. I worked very hard and was continually amazed at how effective fasting was-in even the sickest of patients. I remember saying to myself, "If this patient gets well, I'll really be convinced." I must have said that two dozen times during my internship. I am grateful to Drs. Alec and Nejla Burton for the opportunity to learn from them how to help sick people get well.

When did you open the Center for Conservative Therapy? My wife, Dr. Jennifer Marano, and I opened the Center in 1984. With our recent remodeling, it has grown to a 22-bed facility. We now have a staff of 22-including a medical director, Peter Sultana, M.D.; a clinical psychologist, Douglas Lisle, Ph.D.; and three IAHP certified Hygienic physicians-Alec Isabeau, D.C., Erwin Linzner, D.C., and Fani Alexandrakais, D.C.-in addition to Dr. Marano and myself. We specialize in the supervision of fasting and in the use of diet and lifestyle modification to achieve and maintain optimum health. We also are excited about our internet website that describes the Center-www.healthpromoting.com.

Is the Center involved in conducting scientific research? Yes, with the help of Dr. Lisle, our new director of research, we just completed a major retrospective analysis of the use of fasting and a health promoting diet in the treatment of hypertension (high blood pressure). We worked with Dr. T. Colin Campbell at Cornell University, and have seen two papers published in the scientific literature.

What are the biggest health challenges that people face? We live in a world that does not promote health, and despite an abundance of credible scientific evidence that points the way, most people seem more interested in pursuing short-term, pleasure-seeking, self-indulgent behavior. Even people who are convinced about what to do find it difficult to "stray too far from the social norm." Pressure from family, plus the difficulty of breaking bad habits, can hold people back. For many people, the most effective way to make the dietary and lifestyle changes necessary to recover and maintain health often occurs in conjunction with a properly supervised fasting and feeding program at a residential health education facility such as the Center. They get started right, and get new patterns established in a supportive environment.

A diet that avoids all animal products including meat, fish, fowl, eggs and dairy products is called a vegan diet. Despite the proven benefits derived from avoiding the use of animal products in the diet, many vegans do not fare as well as they might. Not all vegan diets are created equally. Eliminating animal products from the diet does not guarantee a health promoting diet. Much of the benefit derived from eliminating the risks of animal products in the diet can be offset if the diet is not a health-promoting diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, raw nuts and seeds and sprouts and the variable addition of minimally processed whole grains and beans. Potato chips, french fries, alcohol, soda pop and chocolate might all be vegan but that hardly qualifies them as healthy. Vegetarians and vegans often consume large quantities of highly processed foods containing large amounts of oil, sugar, flour and salt. If they believe that their avoidance of animal products alone will grant them dispensation from the devastating consequences of the dietary pleasure trap, they may be sadly disappointed. They say that some vegans get headaches from their halos being too tight. A vegan diet may be undertaken for many reasons: health, social, environmental and/or spiritual. A vegan diet may help you get into heaven, but it will not delay how quickly you get there, unless you avoid some potential pitfalls. In addition to the problems caused by the dietary pleasure trap resulting in the consumption of highly processed foods, vegans are subject to the deficiency of two important nutrients.

Vitamin B12 deficiency Vitamin B12 is produced only by bacteria. Rich sources of bacteria, including animal products, contain large quantities of this essential nutrient. The elimination of animal products in conjunction with modern Hygienic standards reduces the exposure to bacteria and thus vitamin B12. The reduced intake of vitamin B12 can lead to a depletion of vitamin B12 stores and eventually to vitamin B12 deficiency. Although it may take years or even decades to deplete body stores of vitamin B12, we have found this to be common in long-term vegan who do not supplement. A vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to numerous symptoms including neurological disturbances, and increased blood levels of the protein homocysteine. This elevated level of homocysteine causes inflammation in the blood vessels and increases the risk of heart disease. The most accurate way to assess the vitamin B12 status is to perform a blood test measuring homocysteine or methylmalonic acid. These two metabolites will increase when vitamin B12 deficiency is present. Oral supplementation of vitamin B12 in the form of methylcobalamin is thought to be the most efficient way to correct deficiency. A single, daily 1000 mcg tablet is sufficient to correct a B12 deficiency and maintain normal B12 status in most patients.

Vitamin D deficiency Vitamin D is a hormone that is formed naturally when the skin is exposed to sunlight. Thirty minutes of full body exposure can result in the formation of up to 10,000 IU of vitamin D and there is no risk of excess vitamin D forming from this natural route. There is a risk from sunburn from overexposure and burns should be avoided by carefully limiting your exposure to the sun. Sunburn can increase your risk of the formation of skin cancer and can contribute to the premature aging of the skin. The best way to insure optimum vitamin D levels of 35-50 units is by getting regular sunshine. If you cannot get adequate sun exposure a sun lamp may be the best alternative. If for some reason this does not result in a normal level of vitamin D then supplementation of vitamin D is an option. It is important to avoid excess vitamin D supplementation as excess vitamin D from supplements can be toxic. Most individuals can restore their levels with 1000 to 4000 IU per day of vitamin D3 (from either Lichen or sheep's wool). Some individuals may require higher doses in order to replenish depleted body stores. Once normal levels have been achieved, supplementation should be discontinued or reduced to the lowest levels needed to sustain optimum blood values. If at all possible, sunshine or a sunlamp should be used to sustain normal levels. Problems from vitamin D deficiency include: osteoporosis, immune suppression, chronic pain and some cancers, etc. The blood test for vitamin D status is 25-dehydroxy vitamin D. We suggest that vitamin B12 and vitamin D be routinely evaluated by including a homocysteine and 25-hydroxy vitamin D blood test with each individual's periodic health checkup. Alan Goldhamer, D.C., is the founder of TrueNorth Health Center in California. He is the author of the Health Promoting Cookbook and co-author of The Pleasure Trap. Jennifer Marano, D.C., is the co-founder of TrueNorth Health Center. Contact the authors at: www.healthpromoting.com or at 707-586-5555