Following Chet Day's flattering introduction, here's his interview with me published in his "Health & Beyond" newsletter i '95 & subsequently re-published without my knowledge or permission in "Real News" in Australia in '99:

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I take great pleasure in offering to you for our Christmas and New Year's issues of H&B the wit and knowledge of my friend and fellow
Natural Hygiene Many to Many (M2M) correspondent, Dr. Robert Wynman, D.D.S., F.A.G.D., and Hygienic thinker virtuoso. I've learned from Dr. Wynman for almost two years now, and I can say without qualification that I know few other people who have thought as deeply about pure Natural Hygiene as Dr. Bob.

Ever since I started studying and practicing NH in my own life and corresponding with other Hygienists, both through the newsletter and through Coordinator Ward Nicholson's marvelous M2M, I've noticed references to various dental questions. Some of these questions have addressed problems apparently caused by a "fruitarian" diet; other questions have sought answers regarding toothpastes, the Òbest way" to brush one's teeth, and so on. Dr. Wynman also replies towards the end of this issue to some questions that several of you sent for answers. Other questions will have answers in next month's number. Queries by subscribers other than myself will have the questioner's name following the question. I should also add that although Bob has carefully updated all his responses where appropriate, some of the material in this interview originally saw publication in various issues of the M2M and will no doubt see the black of print again when Dr. Wynman completes and publishes his long-promised and anxiously-awaited (by your editor and others) book on how to care and feed the human mouth! Enough! Thanks to Dr. Wynman, in December and January, we'll receive a dental hygiene overview that will add one more important dimension to our on-going search for full health.. and beyond.

Dr. Wynman, please tell us something about yourself and your interest in optimum health through Natural Hygiene.

Food Intake: Mother sez that shortly after my birth, her milk dried up & I was allergic to cow's milk, so I was raised mostly on goat's milk. She also reports I developed wheat and corn allergies. From about 1944 to 1960, I ate a fairly well-prepared, "well balanced diet" based on the Dairy Council's obscene "Four Food Groups". During the decade of the 60's, I consumed huge quantities of TV dinners, burgers, Coke, milkshakes, dead animals, grease, salt and ethanol, etc. In 1971 my wife, Lou, & I switched from booze to Valium as our main coping-with-stress mechanism. There were fewer side effects with the Valium and it was also more socially acceptable (& cheap, since our benevolent government graciously provided me with a license to prescribe such toxins). Incidentally, the government really gave me no right to prescribe anything. I already HAD that right, just as you & everyone else does. The government simply pretends we have no rights except those it pretends to grant to us & has taken the power to punish us for exercising those rights it does not want us to exercise.

Exercise--In 1973, thanks to Dr. Ken Cooper and my good friend, Covert Bailey, we switched from Valium to aerobic exercise, finding that 30 minutes running was equivalent to 5 mg. Valium for stress reduction. And all the side effects are positive! I also eliminated sucrose and caffeine.

Lifetime Study--Motivated partly by my role as a health professional and partly by annoying dermal conditions (only a 1-2 year respite between teenage zits and adult skin cancer), I've spent most of my adult life on a constant trek toward Optimal Health, which I define as the best level of health one can attain/maintain given the genetic & environmental limitations beyond one's control. As a consequence, I've always been rather healthy (aerobically fit, <14% fat level, resting pulse about 52, very low drug/poison intake, etc.).

From 1971 through 1979 I learned the preventive approach to dentistry from Drs. Jack Anderson, Bob Barkley, Omer Reed, Jerry Mittleman (writer of foreword to Dr. Meinig's "Root Canal Cover-up Exposed!" book) as well as Covert Bailey. (Yeah, in the early 70's Covert was teaching dentists and their teams to teach preventive dentistry. In '73 we invited him to Tahoe to cross country ski with us and teach a group of 35 dentists over a three-week period about preventive dentistry (he DID emphasize diet and exercise more than any of us expected). My soon-to-be-completed best-selling book began as a compilation/clarification of stuff we learned from Covert.). I then expanded into total wellness with Drs. Ken Cooper, Emanuel Cheraskin, Jeff Bland, and many others.

Between '75 and '90, due to the influence of Jeff Bland, Cheraskin and others, I lived on megadoses of EVERY "nutrient":. Vitamins, minerals, powders, potions, etc. Ate 10-15 GRAMS of powdered Vit C EVERY day for about 15 years due to help from Drs. Irwin Stone, Bob Cathcart, etc.

Natural Hygiene!--In 1979, I read some N H info by Tilden and others and ate a raw food diet for two months, noted no improvements and lost a lot of weight, felt and looked awful, so gave up. Nonetheless, I gradually increased the raw food content of my diet to about 98.5% by '93 while actively pursuing various other nutritional approaches to better health.

Disease ed--My best dental school buddy of nineteen years told me in 1988 his wife, our close friend, was dying of advanced metastatic cancer of various internal organs and he knew I'd always been interested in non-establishment methods. He asked me to research alternative approaches to help Toni. I spent several years and lots of dollars reading, corresponding by phone and letter with individuals, clinics, etc. worldwide with several interesting results that they chose to not pursue. Toni died before I'd re-discovered Natural Hygiene and I continued my studies.

I read a LOT of T. C. Fry's stuff in 1989, bought and listened to Natural Hygiene tapes (ANHS, Bidwell, Robbins, Burton, Goldhamer, Weston, etc.) & became convinced in late '89 that Natural Hygiene was THE way to optimum health and committed to LIVE Natural Hygiene. (I'm still convinced after five more years of study!) I ate "mostly raw fruits/vegetables" with some lightly steamed vegetables about four months, then took a three and a five-day water-only fast, then ate raw fruit ONLY for another two months.

I visited Dr. Goldhamer, feeling about as robustly healthy as I always had, but looking pale, gaunt, weak, frail and even more ugly than usual. He recommended a McDougall-style starch-based diet, which I followed for over a year until '91, when I began paying Ron Weston to suggest that I could obtain the calories and condensed food needed for my active lifestyle more healthfully from "young sprouts" (sprouts whose tails are about as long as the seeds, as contrasted to the grassy "old sprouts" sold in produce stores.

My present (11/94) food intake has slowly evolved to 99.5% raw food; approximately 15% fruit (mostly in AM), 33% vegetables, 25% "young sprouts", 25% nuts/seeds/avocados and 2% raw animal products (wild game, fertile eggs, no dairy).

As for other NH elements, I currently run about 15 miles/week plus mountain biking (or x-c skiing -- my favorite -- when Tahoe snow permits). I'm very slowly integrating weight training into my life -- done in evenings while listening to NH purchased from American Natural Hygiene Society, Inc., Box 30630, Tampa, FL 33630, (813) 855-6607 & from EVERETT WEIBERT, Box 110, Pullman, WV 26421, (304) 659-2060, who has the most complete collection of original Herbert Shelton audio tapes on the planet--& who's a wonderful person!, & borrowing tapes from Frank Scerni, Book/Tape Order Dep't, Canadian Natural Hygiene Society, 439 Wellington Street West, Suite #5, FAX: (416) 977-1536 {GREAT lending library, highly recommended for copious NH stuff; I've been borrowing their tapes at about 5/mo for two years & there's still lots more I've not yet heard)!!}. That weight training bit is being added on the strong recommendation of Ron Weston, R. M., RR2-Tottenham, Ontario, Canada LOG 1WO,, who's been my personal health consultant since '92. I generally sleep on an open outside deck from about 11 PM and wake spontaneously about 6 AM (rely on alarm clock about two days per week, working toward NO clock). NH has brought about many positive results in my health. My skin has been healthier than anytime in 30 years and moderate sun exposure no longer causes the usual lesions. Nasal congestion has cleared somewhat; no longer do I need Neo-Synephrine to breathe at night.

I'm increasingly euphoric due to my belief that I've finally found a way to the higher level of health I've been searching for all these years. Life's headed in the right direction, I don't have to face a life ruled by skin cancer, dermal lesions and visits to medical people (have visited NONE, except for trauma repair & to be THEIR doctor, since '90!), and I'll be able to use this knowledge to help others. I've also probably gained "emotional poise" or whatever it's called when one's living according to one's belief system.

Negatives--I lost about 30 pounds (from the 165 I carried comfortably for the previous 20 years) which, at 5' 10", caused me to look like a refugee from Auschwitz. It's taken about four years to gain back about 15 pounds, to my present 150#. I still have gradually improving impaired digestion, absorption and/or assimilation since I still seem to need to eat at least twice the normal quantity of foods to maintain weight and health (I'm FINALLY beginning to realize that over-eating + under-sleeping is probably the cause of my poor digestion, a wicked cycle I'm committed to breaking). I figure I've lost a bunch of muscle as well as some fat, since although I weigh 15 lbs less, I can't do any more push-ups, pull-ups, or run any faster than when I weighed 165 lbs.

After two years of doing my best to live hygienically, my energy level a few days a month is great, the rest of the month, fair. My physical strength is still at 1/2 to 2/3 of pre-Natural Hygiene level, as measured by the number of push-ups and pull-ups. My physical appearance is still weak and gaunt looking, compared to pre-hygiene levels, 'tho gradually improving 'cause folks are beginning to compliment me on my healthy appearance, skin-tone, etc.. I looked about my actual 47-year age when I began the NH lifestyle in '90 & looked about 60+ after my first six months of this "healthful living" and probably have "improved" to where I only look about 65, four years later at my present 52 year chronological age! It's handy to look 65. Desk clerks at hotels, etc. routinely offer me senior discounts (some up to 30-40% off room rates -- which more than pays for the refrigerator we usually order for fruits & vegies during our stay) while ignoring my wife, Lou, who's over a decade my senior & DOES qualify for such discounts. She does not live a NH lifestyle!

Sure, I've never been home sick from work in 22 years, but only the last four of those years were influenced by Natural Hygiene. Once the detox phase is completed (determined when I'm free of disease symptoms?) and my obviously improved health is very apparent to my dental team and patient/clients, I'll be able to actively promote Natural Hygiene in our practice and in our newsletter. CONTINUE