Disclaimer: Nothing in this book is intended to provide treatment for any disease, disability, or medical condition, nor to substitute for personal, individual medical care from a qualified physician. The reader is advised to check with his or her own physician prior to following any recommendations given in this book or any of its references. Every attempt has been made to provide accurate information. However, the reader is on notice that the information in this book has been compiled and written to address general principles. It is not intended as specific advice for any individual. Thus, the personal application of any information provided herein is the sole responsibility of the user and, if implemented, would be applied at his or her own risk.

Introduction

Author's Preface

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Chapter 1: The Principle of Health

Chapter 2: The Foundations of Faith

Chapter 3: Life and Its Organisms

Chapter 4: What To Think

Chapter 5: Faith

Chapter 6: Use of the Will

Chapter 7: Health from God

Chapter 8: Summary of the Mental Actions

Chapter 9: When To Eat

Chapter 10: What To Eat

Chapter 11: How To Eat

Chapter 12: Hunger and Appetites

Chapter 13: In a Nutshell

Chapter 14: Breathing

Chapter 15: Sleep

Chapter 16: Supplementary Instructions

Chapter 17: A Summary of the Science of Being Well

Historical Notes on When, What, and How to Eat

Afterword

Glossary

Tips

NOTE: Paragraphs are numbered for ease in group follow-along reading and dialogue…

1. This is a radical book. It was radical when it was published in 1910, and it is radical today. When I first read The Science of Being Well, I thought, OF COURSE! This is brilliant! Everyone should read this book! You may have a similar reaction to this book if you've read Mr. Wattles. first book, The Science of Getting Rich, or if you believe that both thought and behavior affect health.

2. At first glance, I believed I already practiced much of what Mr. Wattles teaches. But when I looked more closely I discovered there was a big difference between what I was actually doing and what I thought I was doing. Then there was a big leap from what I thought I was doing to the approach Mr. Wattles describes.

3. Immediate and dramatic results

4. When I began actually to practice what he teaches (even imperfectly), the results were immediate and dramatic. After just one day of consciously changing my eating habits to what Mr. Wattles recommends, I noticed an enormous improvement in how I felt. As I continued to practice, I continued to feel better. (And I was already feeling reasonably healthy before I read this book!)

5. I thought, if only I could get all my patients to read and follow this book! Ninety percent of their problems would be resolved! An unforgettable image came to mind of a couple of patients I had seen years ago while still a student intern.

6. I remember so clearly these two women ...

7. One in her mid-90s had brought a friend in her early 80s who was suffering from terrible abdominal pain. The younger woman lived in a nursing facility and was so frail with osteoporosis that she could not bend to tie her shoes without breaking her ribs. She looked stooped and sad, and could only talk of her suffering, the problems at the nursing facility, the terrible food, the terrible way she was treated. The older woman had brought her to us because she was sure we would provide a positive, holistic approach that would improve her friend's spirits as well as her health.

8. I asked the older woman what she was doing to be in such apparently vibrant health and spirits. She joyfully reported that she worked in her garden every day, ate fresh, healthy food, thanked God, and went dancing every week. She told me her doctor was so impressed with her blood pressure and cholesterol that he had measured them twice to make sure there wasn't a mistake. What she didn't say was what was so obvious by looking at her and listening to her -- she loved her life and was bubbling with optimism, generosity, and gratitude.

9. Which of these two would you like to resemble when you are beyond 80 years of age?

10. Determined to help you achieve a life of such vibrant health, I set about the task of finding the original text of The Science of Being Well and preparing it for you to download.

11. As I read it again and again, carefully considering each word, each concept, each argument, each example, I began to have second thoughts. I said to myself:

12. I'm not so sure I agree with everything he says -- some of it disagrees with what I was taught and what I've believed as a doctor and what I've recommended to my patients.

13. People without a background like mine as a Naturopathic Physician may not understand the historical context or the language or his references to all these different healing arts and may not know how to adjust it to modern knowledge of nutrition.

14. If I'm going to encourage people to read it, prescribe it to all my patients, stake my reputation on it, I have to define those words, add sections, rewrite the parts that are medically outdated, and modernize the language.

15. Months of research pay off

16. So I spent several months wrestling with the text, adding, subtracting, changing the parts I thought needed changing. I had many conversations with Rebecca Fine, who published The Science of Getting Rich online, teaches an excellent online course, writes regularly about the principles taught by Wallace Wattles, and has the best understanding of anyone I know about his work. (Thanks, Rebecca!)

17. I spent months finding and reading relevant books and articles. I read Mr. Wattles. New Science of Living and Healing and the two works on which his eating program is based -- Edward Hooker Dewey, MD's 1900 book, The No-Breakfast Plan and The Fasting-Cure, and Horace Fletcher's 1903 book, The A.B.-Z. of Our Own Nutrition. I got out my notes on the history of nutrition and the discovery of vitamins. I returned to my notes from the months of research I did as a new doctor in 1997 to understand everything known about fasting so I could responsibly guide my patients through fasting, cleansing and detoxification programs.

18. I reread the medical history books required of me as a beginning student of Naturopathic Medicine -- all about the "Nature Cure" movement, about what was happening in Western medicine during the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and America, and about how this fit with centuries-old Eastern medicine (Chinese, Tibetan, Ayurvedic).

19. I found and read translations of everything written about nutrition by the "father of modern medicine", Hippocrates, around 400 B.C., and the works of others who followed him. (His ideas still form the basis for the oath every physician -- at least in the United States -- takes before beginning to practice medicine.) The different philosophies of Eastern and Western medicine alone can get me talking for hours. When these are combined with spiritual philosophies, you've got me for life!

20. But I wanted to focus on practical application.

21. How were doctors of all stripes actually practicing medicine at the turn of the last century? How successful were they? What was actually known back then about nutrition and the human body in health and disease? What were people around the globe really eating, and what were the common diseases of that time? What did people believe about healing? What do we now understand about the links between what and how they were eating, what they believed, and their health? What do we know now about the links between what people today believe, what they practice, and their health?

22. I dove anew into a study that quickly began to fill up my life.

23. Discovering people in perfect health

24.While searching through many sources to answer my questions, I remembered a reference to the work of Dr. Weston Price. In the 1930s this dedicated dentist and his wife traveled all around the world to isolated communities untouched, or barely touched, by "modern" ways of life.

25. As a dentist, his objective was to learn the cause of tooth decay.

26. What he discovered were people in absolutely perfect health.

27. His careful and detailed research, included in his 1939 book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, provides invaluable information about the diet and way of life of these people and the impact of dietary change.

28. Everything changed

29. I read The Science of Being Well many more times. It's a powerful book, and studying it has changed my life profoundly. My health, the way I live, my understanding of healing and the practice of medicine have all been transformed. (You can read more about that last part in the .Afterword..)

30. After ALL my research, thought, meditation, and practice, I decided that the best approach would be to offer you the book in close to its original form. I've rewritten only one chapter, "What to Eat" and added "Editor's Notes" at the ends of the chapters on when, what and how to eat, and on breathing to bring them up to date with current medical knowledge and to explain changes I made. I've left most of the archaic language, changing only the word "man" to "a human being" or "person" or "humanity" so that women readers don't have to translate so many words to include our gender. (Although Mr. Wattles clearly intended the book for both women and men, at present we still have to translate "he","him", and "his" to "she", "her" and "hers".)

31. Otherwise, I've left Mr. Wattles' original arguments, examples, and historical references, even though I'm bursting to talk with you about them!

32. As a start, I've added a section, ."Historical Notes on When, What, and How to Eat",. to begin to give you the historical context and evidence supporting Mr. Wattles' radical ideas about eating. It's juicy! I've also added a short glossary to help you with a few of the terms.

33. Read The Science of Being Well! Read it again . and again. Put it into practice -- try it for yourself! Write to me about your experiences. Join me and all the others who are amazed at what is unfolding for them as they tap into the power of this book.

34. Mr. Wattles claimed a 100% success rate with the hundreds of people who tried it alongside him.

35. How will your success unfold?

36. Just One Caution:

37. The only caution I must add to your implementing Mr. Wattles' recommended eating plan is this:

38. If you are emaciated, have a serious condition associated with malnourishment or nutrient deficiency, or have a condition which affects your hunger, or your ability to detect hunger, I advise you to work under the guidance of a doctor familiar with (and enthusiastic about) this book, Mr. Fletcher's and Dr. Dewey's work, and experienced in guiding people like you.

39. Don't Worry: Perfection Is Not Required!

40. There's another important bit of guidance I'd like to offer as you dive into The Science of Being Well.

41. Start where you are, with what you have, and do what you can to the best of your ability. This is not an all-or-nothing program that only works if you do it "perfectly". What Mr. Wattles suggests may be a huge change for you. If it sounds overwhelming or impossible, start with small changes -- one choice at a time.

42. My experience is that the key ingredient to success is willingness. Willingness to become aware of what choices you're making. Willingness to make a small change and celebrate it. Willingness to be patient with yourself and the process. Willingness to start over, to try again. Willingness to have faith.

43. If you can't do it all, what part can you do? Focus on and do what you can do, and it will make a difference.

44. In all of living an abundant, healthy life, the most important thing to know is that there is good everywhere, in every situation, in everything, and in every person, including you. If you seek always to find and focus on that good, to build on that good, and to increase your conscious experience of goodness, you will have a good and healthy life.

45. May you find The Science of Being Well as intriguing and helpful as I have in your own quest for the fullest, most abundant life possible.

46. Blessings for a healthy and abundant life! And of course ... Be Well!

Dr. Alexandra Gayek
Seattle, Washington, USA
April 2004

1. This volume is the second of a series, the first of which is The Science of Getting Rich. As that book is intended solely for those who want money, so this is for those who want health, and who want a practical guide and handbook, not a philosophical treatise.

2. It is an instructor in the use of the universal Principle of Life, and my effort has been to explain the way in so plain and simple a fashion that the reader, though he may have given no previous study to New Thought or metaphysics, may readily follow it to perfect health. While retaining all essentials, I have carefully eliminated all non-essentials. I have used no technical, abstruse, or difficult language, and have kept the one point in view at all times.

3. As its title asserts, the book deals with science, not speculation. The monistic theory of the universe -- the theory that matter, mind, consciousness, and life are all manifestations of One Substance -- is now accepted by most thinkers, and if you accept this theory, you cannot deny the logical conclusions you will find here.

4. Best of all, the methods of thought and action prescribed have been tested by the author in his own case and in the case of hundreds of others during twelve years of practice, with continuous and unfailing success.

5. I can say of the Science of Being Well that it works, and that wherever its laws are complied with, it can no more fail to work than the science of geometry can fail to work. If the tissues of your body have not been so destroyed that continued life is impossible, you can get well, and if you will think and act in a Certain Way, you will get well.

6. Those who wish more detailed information as to the performance of the voluntary function of eating, I would recommend the writings of Horace Fletcher and of Edward Hooker Dewey. Read these, if you like, as a sort of buttress to your faith, but let me warn you against making the mistake of studying many conflicting theories, and practicing, at the same time, parts of several different "systems". For if you get well, it must be by giving your WHOLE MIND to the right way of thinking and living.

7. Remember that the Science of Being Well claims to be a complete and sufficient guide in every particular. Concentrate upon the way of thinking and acting it prescribes, and follow it in every detail, and you will get well, or if you are already well, you will remain so.

8. Trusting that you will go on until the priceless blessing of perfect health is yours, I remain,

Very Truly Yours
Wallace D. Wattles