Sylvester GrahamBorn 5 Jul 1794; died 11 Sep 1851 at age 57.American physician and inventor of the graham cracker. Perhaps because of concern for his own health, after a long illness, he became interested in human physiology and nutrition, giving lectures in the eastern states, and developing what came to be known as the Graham System, a vegetarian dietetic theory. He advocated use of whole wheat for bread, hard mattresses, open windows, fresh fruits and vegetables, pure drinking water, and cheerfulness at meals Graham's most ambitious work, Lectures on the Science of Human Life, published in 1839, became a leading text on health reform, but his popularity waned after 1840 and he died in 1851. |
