Registered Dietitian Industry

Anonymous, The Gathering Call, February, 1932, pp. 16-22

"We were very zealous and conscientious believers in the Testimonies and other writings of Mrs. White being given by inspiration of God until one who was very closely associated with her work and in whose integrity we had perfect confidence, told my companion and myself many things connected with that work which showed us it was subject to very much human manipulation, though our informant seemed to be trying to uphold the work as of God. We could not doubt the truth of what we heard, and when later we saw truth in the Bible which these writings contradicted, we had no hesitancy to “maintain the Bible and the Bible only as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms.”

In 1912, we were in Battle Creek for some weeks. One day while at the home of a friend she called our attention to a lady who was passing and said, “There goes Miss Fannie Bolton. Wouldn’t you like to meet her?” We replied that we should. We had once asked why she had separated from Mrs. White’s work and the answer had been given that she had told some things that she should not have told. We had never before seen Miss Bolton."

When we had opportunity we told her that we would like to have a talk with her regarding her experiences while connected with Mrs. White’s work as one who was of much interest to us was still there and had told us of some things. Miss Bolton said she would meet us that and the following afternoons in a park where we could talk without interruption. The following is a crude report of that interview just as I wrote it with pen and paper as Miss Bolton talked. I could add many items which I heard from her later, but this is all that I ever wrote down just while she told it and I have not changed any of the wording. I am sorry some personal items appear but I do not wish to change it in any way now, and nothing that I heard later discredited anything that is here written.

She [Fannie Bolton] was converted to S. D. Adventism about the year 1885. Was very zealous. Had previously attended Evanston College in Illinois. Experienced in writing essays which girls passed off as their own productions. Thru Elder George B. Starr, who had brot [sic] the “truth” to her she was called to work with Sister White. She was very conscientious in following out all instructions given in the Testimonies and discarded articles of diet condemned by them. It seemed a wonderful thing to her that she should be called upon to help in the work of a prophet of the Lord.

Elder Starr went with her to the station in Chicago where she was to meet Sister White and party and go with them to Healdsburg, California. This was about two years after she had become a Sabbath keeper. Elder Starr was anxious to personally conduct her into the presence of Sister White, but she was not readily found. He asked Eld. W. C. White regarding her whereabouts but he simply replied that she was somewhere about in the company. At last, in a corner of an eating room, rather screened off from others, she was found making a breakfast of raw oysters, with vinegar, pepper and salt in evidence before her. Sister Fannie was a young, inexperienced girl, but surprise, horror and bewilderment took possession of her. She was shocked beyond expression and Eld. Starr took her aside as he noted from the expression of her face how she felt and told her she must not let it trouble her that Sister White did this, that she needed such refreshment to fit her for her long, tiresome trip, and that raw oysters are very easily digested. But Sister White from this time seemed like a Sphinx to Sister Bolton. [See Starr’s comments, p. 118]

There was quite a party of them and they occupied a tourist car to themselves. One day she saw Eld. W. C. White enter the car with an open brown paper spread in his hand on which was a piece of bloody thick beefsteak. This looked horrible to her, but it was handed to Miss Sarah McEnterfer who cooked it an an oil stove and it was passed to the company after being cut up. Marion Davis and Fannie Bolton did not eat of it. Most or all of the others did.

Kelly West, among others, rediscovered the high carbohydrate diet in the 1960s. He was astonished to discover when writing up his results that ‘very similar experiments had been done by Himsworth, with the same results. Over and over again this phenomenon has been rediscovered—and subsequently forgotten or disregarded’ [29]. Even those who remained unconvinced as to the virtue of a high carbohydrate diet were persuaded of the need to reduce fat, and the new diet was greeted with particular enthusiasm by those who had rediscovered that a high fat intake might be bad for the heart. Concerns about ‘diet heart’ powered many investigations into the virtues of polyunsaturated fats and fish oils [30], and the new high carbohydrate/low fat recommendations were formally recognised by the ADA in 1971 [31].

"A review of the available evidence shows clearly the rarity with which diabetics understand and follow their diet prescriptions. The reasons for these shortcomings and their persistence are many and complex. They include the tendency of physicians to underestimate the formidability of developing, implementing, and adjusting a diet prescription that is both acceptable and effective over a long period of time. Another problem is the limited conceptual and technical knowledge of most physicians concerning dietary principles, strategies, and tactics as they apply to the various types of diabetes. Recent research confirms the important potentials of diet regulation in mitigating diabetes and its complications. But apparently much of our effort in diet counseling is ineffective and wasteful. It seems desirable, therefore, to review in some detail the reasons for this failure and then to use candid appraisals for developing more effective approaches in the diet therapy of diabetes.

Dr. Winston Craig, MPH, PhD, RD.

Claim to Fame: Co-author of the American Dietetic Association’s 2009 position paper on a vegetarian diet.

Education: Master in Public Health in Nutrition at Loma Linda University,a Seventh-day Adventist university in California that promotes a vegetarian diet.

Profession: Nutrition chair and professor at Andrews University, a Seventh-day Adventist university in Michigan that promotes a vegetarian diet.

Employer’s Mission: “The mission of the Nutrition Department of Andrews University is to prepare dietetic and nutrition professionals for service in church, society, and the world and to influence the community-at large to affirm the Seventh-day Adventist lifestyle, including the vegetarian diet.”

Previous Employment: Chemistry instructor at Kingsway College, a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school in Ontario (1974 - 1976). Assistant professor in Chemistry and Health Science at Adventist College of West Africa (1976 - 1979). Assistant/Associate Prof. in Nutrition at Loma Linda University (1979 - 1984).

Religion: Seventh-day Adventist.

Most Popular Books and Articles:Some Valuable Things I Learnt About Nutrition and Health from Ellen White… The Use and Safety of Common Herbs and Herbal Teas… The Top Ten For Good Health!… Dietary Fat… Raw Foods Diet and Vegetarian Meat Substitutes.

Quotes: “Did you know the Bible describes the best foods for our bodies in Genesis 1:29 and 3:18?”

“Temperance in all things is necessary for health and the development of a balanced Christian character (Ellen G. White, Counsels on Health, p. 38). In today’s world, we are continually tempted to excesses or to extremes. Being self-controlled includes restraining ourselves from extremes. Self-control is listed as part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) and is essential for living an effective and productive Christian life (2 Peter 1:6).”

“The original diet given to humans in Genesis One is a plant-based diet. After the permission to eat flesh food the longevity of people was greatly shortened.”

"Sylvester Graham in 1839 wrote that humans would never suffer illness if they ate only uncooked foods. His ideas on a raw food diet were not endorsed by other health reformers of that time, such as John Harvey Kellogg and Ellen White. Dr Kellogg wrote that he could not endorse the extravagant and unsubstantiated claims made by the promoters of the raw food fad. Ellen White also did not recommend that we eat only a raw food diet. … Ellen White clearly promoted the importance of cooking or baking legumes, grains, potatoes and other starchy foods.”

Controversies: Winston Craig occasionally quotes himself as a source in his own articles. His most common “source” is the General Conference Nutrition Council, a Seventh-day Adventist group with a logo modeled off the United Nations flag. When Craig cites them as a source, he is actually citing his own articles that are published anonymously on that site. Craig even references the General Conference Nutrition Council (himself) in his ADA position paper on a vegetarian diet. After all, when you quote yourself, you’re quoting the most reliable person you know.