Hay’s research led to a diet based on the theory
that health was affected by the chemical process of
digestion. The body uses an alkaline digestive process
forcarbohydrates, the group that Hay classified as
consisting of starchy foods and sweet things. The
digestion of proteins involved acid. If carbohydrates
and proteins were consumed at the same time, the
alkaline process was interrupted by the acid process.
Combining incompatible foods caused acidosis, the
accumulation of excess acid in body fluids. Hay linked
the combination of foods to medical conditions like
Bright’s disease and diabetes. The wrong combina-
tions ‘‘drained vitality’’ and caused people to gain
weight.
Hay maintained that the solution was to eat pro-
teins at one meal and carbohydrates at another. He
classified fruits with acids. Hay labeled vegetables in
the neutral category that could be consumed witheither group. He also advocated the daily administra-
tion of an enema to cleanse the colon.
The Hay diet was credited with curing the doctor.
He pointed out inHealth via Foodthat the book was
written 24 years after his bleak diagnosis. Hay said
that after changing his eating habits that his blood
pressure was lower, the swelling caused by fluid was
gone, and he could run quickly and at a distance.
He gave up his traditional medical practice, sur-
gery and administering drugs. He believed that his
eating plan was more beneficial. Hay introduced his
diet in 1911 and spent the rest of his life promoting it.
He lectured in the United States and Canada and
wrote books.The Medical Millenniumwas published
in 1927, followed by Health via Foodin 1929 andA
New Health Erain 1939.
In addition to writing diet books, Hay used the
diet to treats patients at sanatoriums. He worked as
the medical director of the East Aurora Sun Diet and
Health Sanatorium in New York state from 1927
through 1932. He then founded the Pocono Haven
Sanatorium Hotel in Mount Pocono, Pa. He served
as its director until he died in a traffic accident in 1940.
Hay’s eating plan was the forerunner of late 20th
century food-combining diet including Stephen’s
Twiggs’ Kensington Diet and Judy Mazel’s NewBev-
erly Hills Diet.DescriptionWilliam Howard Hay evaluated health theories
and weight-loss methods while developing his plan.
When he concluded that proper food combination
was the solution to improved health, he saw some
benefits in Fletcherism. The slow-chewing method
could aid in the digestion of incompatible foods in
some cases, Hay wrote in Health via Food. Bread
could be chewed into a liquid, but the process wasn’t
effective with foods like cheese.
Exercise did not provide the answer, Hay said. He
pointed out that farmers who were physically active
were diagnosed with some of the same conditions that
less sedentary people were. Hay concluded that the
solution was a lifetime of his diet and a daily enema.
Hay regarded the enema as vital to providing relief to
the colon and eliminating the toxins produced by a
poor diet. He pointed out that some patients were
constipated for two weeks because of their poor eating
habits.
Hay also maintained that fresh air provided a
benefit, especially when people slept. However, the
Hay diet was the foundation of his treatment. TheKEY TERMS
Body Mass Index—Also known as BMI, the index
rates a person’s weight as healthy, underweight,
overweight, or obese.
Calorie—The nutritional term for a kilocalorie, the
unit of energy needed to raise the temperature of
one liter of water by one degree centigrade at sea
level. A nutritional calorie equals 1,000 calories.
Carbohydrate—A nutrient that the body uses as an
energy source. A carbohydrate provide 4 calories
of energy per gram.
Edema—Swelling caused by caused by the build-
up of fluid in the body’s tissues.
Fat—A nutrient that the body uses as an energy
source. Fats produce 9 calories per gram.
Fiber—A complex carbohydrate not digested by
the human body. Plants are the source of fiber.
Morbidly obese—Also known as extremely obese,
the condition of someone with a BMI of more than
40.
Obese—A person with a high amount of body fat;
someone with a Body Mass Index of 30 or higher.
Overweight—A person is too heavy for his or her
height; someone with a Body Mass Index of from 25
to 30.
Protein—A nutrient that the body uses as an energy
source. Proteins produce 4 calories per gram.Hay diet