Blake Ferguson Donaldson (6 May 1892 – 19 February 1966) was an American

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

and early advocate of a meat-only diet, which later became known as the carnivore diet.

Career

Donaldson was a physician at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn in 1913. Donaldson was a

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

in the medical Northeastern Department of the Red Cross Hospital sent to France during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In May 1917, he was assigned to duty at

Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk ...

. Donaldson was resident physician at

New York Post-Graduate Medical School The New York University Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, the other being the NYU Gr ...

. In 1921, Donaldson examined a large number of children from the East Side of New York and found that

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

is not a great factor in the causation of heart disease. In 1925, Donaldson was Clinical Instructor in Medicine at the New York Post-Graduate Medical School. He was former chief medical officer at the City Hospital of New York. Donaldson was a specialist in internal medicine and his office was located at 121 East 60th Street, New York.

''Strong Medicine''

Donaldson authored ''Strong Medicine'' which was published by

Doubleday Doubleday may refer to: * Doubleday (surname), including a list of people with the name Publishing imprints * Doubleday (publisher), imprint of Knopf Doubleday, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House * Doubleday Canada, imprint of Penguin Random ...

in 1962. The book advocated fresh fat meat, water and exercise to treat

allergies Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are various conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include Allergic rhinitis, hay fever, Food allergy, food al ...

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

hypertension Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a Chronic condition, long-term Disease, medical condition in which the blood pressure in the artery, arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms i ...

gallstone A gallstone is a stone formed within the gallbladder from precipitated bile components. The term cholelithiasis may refer to the presence of gallstones or to any disease caused by gallstones, and choledocholithiasis refers to the presence of ...

s and

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

. The book described "the big bad seven" foods: milk, cream, ice cream, eggs, cheese, chocolate and flour which should be eliminated from the diet. Surgeon Charles G. Heyd wrote a supportive preface for the book. The diet that Donaldson put his patients on consisted of three fatty steaks a day, three cups of coffee and six glasses of water. Donaldson's ''Strong Medicine'' was criticized by physician

Morris Fishbein Morris Fishbein (July 22, 1889 – September 27, 1976) was an American physician and editor of the ''Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') from 1924 to 1950. Ira Rutkow's ''Seeking the Cure: A History of Medicine in Americ ...

who commented that the "book is hardly scientific, so presumably what the physician was taught in his youth he has forgotten in his later years." Donaldson's extreme dietary views were classified by Fredrick J. Stare as "

food faddism A fad diet is a diet that is popular, generally only for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard scientific dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements; as ...

". Stare cited Donaldson as an example of a physician with no training or real understanding of modern nutrition. Stare included Donaldson's ''Strong Medicine'' in a list of books on nutritional

quackery Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or Ignorance, ignorant medicine, medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or public ...

, which "ought not to be on anyone's shelves".

Personal life

Donaldson was the son of postmaster William W. Donaldson and Helen Scott Donaldson.Donaldson, Blake, Clinton and Wallace
Maggieblanck.com. Retrieved April 14, 2021. He married Harriott Cate. They had a son Blake Donaldson, he died age 55 in 1977. Donaldson died from a heart attack at his home in

Hauppauge, New York Hauppauge ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the towns of Islip and Smithtown in western Suffolk County, New York, on Long Island. Its population in 2022 was estimated at 20,401 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Despite the offici ...

. He was 73.''Physician Dies''. ''

Anniston Star ''The Anniston Star'' is the daily newspaper serving Anniston, Alabama, and the surrounding six-county region. Average Sunday circulation in September 2004 was 26,747. However, by 2020 it was approximately half of this. The newspaper is locally ...

'' (February 21, 1966). p. 9

Selected publications

''Syphilis in Children of School Age With Heart Disease''
(''New York State Journal of Medicine'', 1921)
''Strong Medicine''
(Doubleday, 1962)

Quotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, Blake F. 1892 births 1966 deaths 20th-century American physicians American expatriates in France American food writers American hunters Anti-obesity activists Carnivore diet advocates High-fat diet advocates Low-carbohydrate diet advocates People from Hauppauge, New York Pseudoscientific diet advocates