Christian was born in McMinnville, Tennessee. He worked in manufacturing and sales until 1900.[2] Similar to George J. Drews, Christian was one of the pioneers of the raw foodism movement in America.[3] Christian authored the raw food book Uncooked Foods and How to Use Them, in 1904.[3] The book was popular and went through five editions in 1904. It went through ten editions through 1924 and was printed up until the late 20th century.[4] It was widely reviewed in health journals.[5][6][7][8] Medical experts accused Christian of promoting a fad diet and called him the "dean of American food faddists".[9]
Christian had no medical qualifications, advertised himself as a "food scientist" and practiced diet therapy. In 1905, he was arrested and prosecuted by the New York County Medical Society for practicing medicine without a license.[10] In 1907 after an appeal, the New York Supreme Court concluded that no crime was committed and that Christian was improperly convicted.[11] Christian did not prescribe medicine.[12] The Supreme Court decided that a "food scientist" does have the right to diagnose or treat illness by prescribing diet.[2] Christian then advertised himself as a "hero" and "vindicated by the supreme court".[13] Christian believed that cooking food destroyed nutrients. During World War I, he appealed to the Surgeon General to change the army's rations to a raw food diet.[14][15]
Christian was the owner of the "Christian Natural Food Company", he also operated a mail-order school, the Eugene Christian School of Applied Food Chemistry.[9] He charged $100 for a diploma course in which an F. S. D. degree (Doctor of Food Science) was awarded. The school faded and he formed the Christian Dietetic Society and School of Scientific Eating.[9] He sold a "Course in Scientific Eating" for $10. The organization merged into the Corrective Eating Society. The Society offered a course for $3 which promised to teach people how to cure disease through a dietetic system. The Society sold quack products such as the "Vaco Reducing Cup", that was alleged to remove fat.[9] His products were described as "pseudo-scientific buncombe" by the Bureau of Investigation of the American Medical Association.[16]
Christian recommended raw egg as a good source of protein. He commented that "an egg should never be cooked".[17] He promoted a raw vegetarian diet. However, in volume eleven of Eugene Christian's Course in Scientific Eating, he wrote that "eggs and, once a week, a small service of fish or fowl, may be eaten to maintain the balance as to protein."[18] Christian promised his followers that they could live a hundred years on his recommended diet but died at the age of 69.[19] He died of pneumonia in San Diego, California.[20][21] In medical literature, Christian was cited as an example of a quack.[9][19]
^ abHoolihan, Christopher. (2001). An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine and Health Reform, Volume 1. University of Rochester Press. p. 187. ISBN1-58046-098-4
^ abBerry, Rynn. (2007). "Raw Foodism". In Andrew F. Smith. The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. Oxford University Press. pp. 493-494. ISBN978-0-19-530796-2
^Hoolihan, Christopher. (2008). An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine and Health Reform, Volume 3. University of Rochester Press. p. 141. ISBN978-1-58046-284-6
^Hill, Fredric W. (1978). The American Institute of Nutrition: A History of the First 50 Years, 1928-1978; And, The Proceedings of a Symposium Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Journal of Nutrition. American Institute of Nutrition. p. 72
^Grover, Kathryn. (1989). Fitness in American Culture: Images of Health, Sport, and the Body, 1830-1940. University of Massachusetts Press. p. 96. ISBN978-0870236822
