The Double Life of Dr. Bragg - What the World's Leading Fasting Popularizer Lied to Everyone About

Those of us who were alive in the 1970s and 80s probably remember the books of American nutritionist Paul Bragg, who taught healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. His main book, The Miracle of Fasting, was not published, so it was rewritten by hand, copied on typewriters using tracing paper, and even photographed. Now, decades later, it has become clear that the “great nutritionist” Bragg was a clever hoaxer who became a millionaire thanks to his inspired lies.

On July 12, 1976, one of the respected New York newspapers informed its readers of the sad news that the world-famous nutritionist and popularizer of a healthy lifestyle, Paul Bragg, had passed away at the age of 96. It seemed nothing strange that a person would die at such a venerable age, if not for one “but”. The obituary said that the man had not simply died, but had perished in an accident while doing… surfing.

One can only envy the fact that a person of such an age leaves this world doing extreme sports, and not lying under a drip in a clinic. Paul Bragg spent his whole life telling people how to stay healthy until old age and he himself was the best advertisement for his method.

By the way, the doctor planned to live to at least 120 years old, and few doubted that if not for the tragedy, he would have easily succeeded. But there is one problem with this story. On the same day, another, no less respected publication, informed the public that Mr. Bragg felt ill on the street, he fell and was taken to a clinic, where he soon died of heart failure.

No one in the US, much less in the world, paid attention to these inconsistencies, especially since in a country of victorious democracy, the press can report anything it wants. The very fact of the death of the favorite of millions, who changed people's attitudes to nutrition and their health, was a shock for everyone and Americans simply mourned this loss.

The name of Dr. Paul Bragg was familiar to every American and his books "Heal Yourself" and "The Miracle of Fasting" became bestsellers in dozens of countries around the world. The doctor not only wrote books about a healthy lifestyle, but also traveled around the United States giving lectures and consulted patients personally. To get an appointment with the legend, you had to make an appointment at least three months in advance, and also remember to prepare a certain amount of money for the nutritionist for his work.

A few months after Bragg's death, when the grief of loss had somewhat subsided, the great nutritionist's daughter, Patricia, was invited on television to delight the American people with memories of her remarkable father. The woman was also a doctor and, as expected, continued her famous father's work.

Patricia herself was also something of a celebrity - the face of this lady of indeterminate age in a frivolous pink hat was featured on the labels of the author's apple cider vinegar that Dr. Bragg insistently prescribed to everyone.

By the time Patricia arrived at the studio, the room was packed with fans of healthy eating, and the phones of the direct line operators were melting from calls from viewers. Patricia, as always, was sweet and positive, and began the broadcast by telling a story about her father's childhood.

The nutritionist's daughter said that Paul Bragg grew up on a large farm in Virginia and his father, Robert Elton, was famous throughout the area for his excellent vegetables and fruits. The farm produced apple cider vinegar and steeped it in wooden barrels in the basement of the house.

This vinegar had unique healing properties. If someone felt unwell, Paul's mother, Caroline, would add a few drops of this liquid to food and the patient would immediately recover. This worked not only with household members - vinegar was used to treat cows, goats and even chickens, and they quickly recovered.

The meeting was going just fine, but suddenly one of the audience members asked to speak. He wanted to clarify why Patricia’s story about Bragg’s childhood did not at all match how the author himself described it in one of his first books. In particular, the nutritionist complained that his early years were marred by terrible nutrition – his mother cooked exclusively fried and very fatty dishes.

Patricia cleverly got out of the unpleasant situation, immediately telling about how Paul's father was a supporter of healthy eating, and his mother was a classic American housewife of the late 19th century, who did not think about healthy food. The doctor's daughter also added that it was poor nutrition that led to Bragg contracting tuberculosis at the age of 16 and almost dying.

The young man was saved by being sent to Switzerland, to the clinic of Dr. Auguste Rollier, who treated illnesses with proper nutrition, sunbathing and physical exercise. According to Patricia, it was his miraculous recovery that awakened in Paul the desire to become a doctor.

The storyteller had already taken a deep breath to begin telling another story from the life of her great father, when another question came from the audience, from the same restless spectator:

Patricia had to wriggle out of it again, explaining that Louise was just a cousin who grew up with her father. After the second awkward pause, the meticulous viewer was no longer given the floor, and the woman was able to tell everyone the touching story of how her parents met and her birth without interference.

Patricia's mother, Nettie Pendleton, who died in a car accident at an advanced age, followed her husband's method until her death and could boast of excellent health. In the Braggs' house, they never kept sugar, did not eat meat or chocolate, and instead of deodorants, they used salted water from a spray bottle.

Patricia Bragg toured with this touching story until 1980, until a Washington Post journalist asked on a TV show how Auguste Rollier could have saved her father in his clinic, if it had not yet been opened when Paul Bragg was 16. Patricia replied that her father had a bad memory for dates and quickly changed the subject.

But a start had been made, and the facts given out by the nutritionist's daughter were closely scrutinized. When the doctor's heiress revealed that her father was seriously into wrestling and even entered the US Olympic teams in 1908 and 1912, she was quickly exposed. Bragg was indeed a passionate fan of wrestling, but he never participated in the Olympics.

After that, exposing facts from Paul Bragg's biography became a real hobby for many. One of the most sensational stories was the discovery of his real date of birth. In the public library of Batesville, Indiana, a birth certificate of the doctor was unexpectedly found, in which the year of his birth was indicated as 1895, not 1881.

This explained the youthful appearance of Paul Bragg, who turned out to be 14 years younger than he had told everyone. This was the complete collapse of the Bragg empire and Patricia could no longer make money on lies. Having received the real documents of the genius of dietetics, the press representatives extracted from oblivion all his real background, which did not fit at all with the marketing public version.

It turned out that there was no paradise farm in Virginia. There was only a rickety old house in the Indianapolis suburb of Batesville, where the family of a poor printing house worker, Robert Elton Bragg, huddled. Paul had no sisters or cousins, but two brothers.

Bragg never suffered from tuberculosis and certainly could not afford treatment in Switzerland with his family's income. On the contrary, he grew up as a strong, athletic guy and was fond of wrestling and acrobatics from childhood. In 1915, the guy left his home and moved to New York, where he soon married a girl named Neva Parnin.

The couple moved to Indianapolis, where Bragg found work as an insurance agent. In his spare time, Paul did not study dietetics, but performed at local fairs as an amateur wrestler or entertained acquaintances with acrobatic tricks. By 1921, Paul and Parnin already had three children, but the doctor never mentioned this, as well as his marriage to Parnin.

From Indianapolis, the Bragg family moved to warm Los Angeles, where Bragg found a good job as a physical education teacher at a good school. You may ask, when did Paul manage to study medicine, because, according to him, that was all he did starting at the age of 18.

The answer to this question is simple - Bragg never studied medicine, and he awarded himself a doctorate. You must admit that "Paul Bragg, MD" sounds much better than "Paul Bragg, physical education teacher". The idea of the benefits of fasting was given to him by his Japanese friend, with whom he practiced judo. The friend assured Paul that if you don't eat for 24 hours, your chances of winning on the tatami are higher, and this helped Bragg win several times.

After that, he immersed himself in studying fasting methods and the works of Swiss doctor Auguste Rollier, among other things. No one knows when and why Bragg separated from his wife, but there is an assumption that she could not withstand the flow of his ideas. All that is known for sure is that Neva Parnin outlived her husband and died in 1988, when she turned 91 years old - real, not fictitious.

And Bragg, freed from family ties, felt a calling to mentoring and in 1929 gave his first lectures on the topic of rejuvenation and healing. The announcement advertising the performance of the self-proclaimed doctor said the following:

The very first performance in a small hall in Pasadena was a stunning success. The temperamental, athletically built lecturer made an indelible impression on the audience, consisting mainly of exalted ladies. Bragg was compared to the ancient god of health, people expected personal advice from him, they simply wanted to touch him.

Paul ended all his lectures with a simple but effective trick - he asked the audience to guess how old he was. After the audience timidly named the lecturer's real age - 30-35 years old, Bragg made a theatrical pause and announced that he had recently turned 49! Everyone gasped and at the next lecture the hall was again packed - who doesn't want to cheat nature and look younger.

It is worth mentioning right away that all of Bragg's public events were absolutely free, but after their completion, huge queues formed at the doctor's secretary to sign up for a private paid consultation. Paul did not skimp and charged sufferers $25, which was quite a lot in the 20s of the last century. Hollywood stars, ready to do anything to maintain their figure and youth, were the doctor's most grateful clients.

A little later, in 1929, the nutritionist's first books were published - "The Truth About Sex" and "Heal Yourself". Their first print run was only 1,000 copies, but five years later both works were published in quantities of 50 thousand copies each. We must give Bragg his due - he wrote the books himself, without resorting to plagiarism. Everyone who dealt with him noted the author's simple and therefore deadly style.

And Paul had no shortage of persuasive powers. Many of his lectures began with the preparation of soup: Bragg would put chunks of meat, tomatoes, cheeses and grains into a large pot and then declare:

Bragg poured the prepared soup into plastic plates, accompanying his actions with an explanation of the mechanism of penetration of poisons from plastic into hot food. Isn't he a brilliant lecturer? At the same time, in all his books and interviews, Paul shamelessly lied, juggling dates, facts and medical terms.

In conclusion of our story, it is worth mentioning the last big interview that the genius of dietetics gave to People magazine in 1975. When the reporter asked Bragg at what age, in his opinion, a person’s sexual activity ends, the doctor replied: “You’ve come to the wrong place… How should I know – I’m only 95 years old.” Curtain call!