Norman Walker: Juicing Pioneer

In recent Health Tips, I have shared the life stories of men who have greatly inspired and encouraged me in my quest to learn how to live a long and healthy life on planet earth so that I could better maintain a body fit for the Master’s use. Jack LaLanne and Paul C. Bragg are two of my three "Health Heroes," named as such because each of them, though earlier in life were seriously ill, changed their diet and lifestyle, restored their health, and went on to maintain a strong and healthy body until nearly the Century Mark. In this Health Tip we are going to examine the life of Norman W. Walker, my third “Health Hero” who was born on January 4, 1886 and died June 6, 1985 at the age 99 years and 5 months.

Remembering Norman W. Walker’s First Half Century of Life

Norman W. Walker, D.Sc., Ph.D., was born in Genoa, Liguria, Italy to Robert Walker, a Baptist Minister from Scotland. The family later moved to England where in October 1910, on the S.S. Lusitania, arrived in New York City, and on November 22, 1918 was granted U. S. citizenship. In his early 50s, Dr. Walker became seriously ill. Rather than going the traditional medical route for his sickness, he turned to Dr. H. William Baum, a chiropractor and physical therapist. At the suggestion of Dr. Baum, Dr. Walker turned his back on the Standard American Diet (SAD) of his day, and changed his diet to raw vegetarian.

EDITORS NOTE: In 1978, while on staff as a lecturer and head gardener at the Shangri-La Health Resort in Bonita Springs, Florida, I personally met and had an extended talk with Dr. Baum. He shared with me a lot of information about Dr. Walker and gave me what was then a recent photograph of both he and Dr. Walker. Dr. Baum personally autographed the photo on the back side with the words: “To George Malkmus, Compliments Dr. H. W. Baum.” Also on the back of the picture were the words: “Dr. Norman Walker, Natal Day – January 28, 1867.” Since we know for sure Dr. Walker died on June 6, 1985, that date of birth would have made Dr. Walker 119 years old at his death. This 1867 date of birth conflicts with more recent research which places his birth date as January 4, 1886, which would have made him 99 years and 5 months at death. No matter his actual age at death, Dr. Walker lived a very long life.

Dr. Walker’s Last Half Century of Life

Following his conversion to a raw vegetarian diet, for nearly a half-century, Norman W. Walker went on to prove through research and personal experience that well being and long life can go hand-in-hand. Modern-day nutritionists and medical researchers are just now discovering some of the truths Dr. Walker knew and expounded upon. Dr. Walker himself became living proof that a longer, healthier life may be achieved, starting even in later life, through proper diet, mental soundness, and intelligent body care. He left behind his research and unique contributions to health for all to read in his numerous writings. (His books are still available for all to read and are carried by Hallelujah Acres.)

Dr. Walker was notable for at least three reasons:

Dr. Norman Walker’s Views on Nutrition

Dr. Walker advocated a diet based solely on raw and fresh foods like vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts. He considered cooked or baked foods dead and therefore unhealthful, saying that “while such food can, and does, sustain life in the human system, it does so at the expense of progressively degenerating health, energy, and vitality.” As a strict vegan, he did not recommend the eating of meat, dairy or dairy products (with the exception of raw goat milk), fish or eggs. His diet suggestions also avoided such staple foods as breads, pasta, rice and sugar.

Dr. Walker devoted large sections of many of his books to the description of the different organs of the human body, explaining how the digestive system and the various glands work. He considered a healthy colon key to one’s health, and estimated that 80% of all disease begins in the colon. He wrote: “Every organ, gland and cell in the body is affected by the condition of the colon.” According to Walker, the number one affliction underlying almost every ailment is constipation. In other words, it is “the primary cause of nearly every disturbance of the human system.” This is because the blood vessels lining the colon collect nutrients missed by the small intestine.

In his book, Pure and Simple Natural Weight Control, Dr. Walker explained, “If the feces in the colon have putrefied and fermented, any toxic elements present in it would pass into the bloodstream. What would otherwise be nutritional instead generates toxemia, a condition in which the blood contains poisonous products. . . .” Pimples can be an indication of the presence of toxemia. Walker maintained that the Standard American Diet (SAD) causes the colon to be filled with toxins that strain the eliminative channels and ultimately, the immune system.

Dr. Walker believed that dairy products had an especially deleterious effect on human health. He testified to the disappearance of many ailments upon the exclusion of dairy products. He explained that pathogenic organisms find an ideal breeding ground in the excess mucus that dairy products generate. He cited the following diseases as being aggravated or caused by mucus conditions in which dairy products are the major offenders: undulant fever, colds, flu, bronchial troubles, tuberculosis, asthma, hay fever, sinus trouble, pneumonia, and certain types of arthritis.

The Norwalk Laboratory of Nutritional Chemistry and Scientific Research

In 1910, Dr. Walker established the Norwalk Laboratory of Nutritional Chemistry and Scientific Research in New York. This is where he later studied the therapeutic value of fresh vegetable juices. Perhaps best known today, he also discovered carrot juice. The Triturator Juicer, known today as The Norwalk Press Juicer, is also widely considered the granddaddy of juicers.

The present “juicing craze” is directly attributable to the incredible dedication of this great man.

Thousands of people credit Dr. Walker’s live vegetable juice therapy for healing them of incurable diseases, including Jay Kordich, known as the “Juiceman”, who popularized juicing in the United States with extensive television advertising in the 1990s. When Jay Kordich had cancer, he met and was tremendously inspired by Dr. Walker. After healing himself of cancer through the raw food diet and juice therapy promoted by Dr. Walker, Jay worked with Dr. Walker beginning in the 1940s and right up until Dr. Walker's death. Dr. Walker’s discoveries and the advocating of raw vegetable juices in the restoration of health has lived on in the promotion of juicing by Jay Kordich, Paul Bragg, Jack LaLanne, and yes, even to this day, by this editor and Hallelujah Acres. Dr. N. W. Walker was living proof that a longer, healthier, more enjoyable life is achievable through mental poise, intelligent body care, and the abundant use of raw vegetable juices. Dr. Walker observed a raw food diet, with the abundant use of raw vegetable juices right up until his death at the age of 99 years and 5 months. He also remained both physically and mentally healthy and active up to the day of his death, when he peacefully died during his sleep one night at his home.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Norman W. Walker, along with Paul Bragg, and Jack LaLanne, my Health Heroes, are men I have tried to emulate. It is my hope that after reading their testimonies, you will make them your Health Heroes as well, and that you will desire to emulate their diets and lifestyle as I have. What Dr. Walker, Paul Bragg, and Jack LaLanne, preached and practiced for many, many, years is what this editor has been preaching and practicing for the past 35 years. If you, my friend, are not on The Hallelujah Diet, if you will but stop putting the world’s SAD diet into your body and start eating those foods God told us to eat in Genesis 1:29 and start exercising, then you too can most likely experience the miracle in your body that Dr. Walker, Paul Bragg, Jack LaLanne, and this editor have experienced. And please don’t say that you are too old or sickly to begin. No matter how old or sickly you may be, in most instances a change in diet and lifestyle can start you on the road to recovery – a road that can restore your health, and possibly save your life.