A Chiropractor and More

Given his childhood experiences, it’s not surprising that the subject of health and wellness always fascinated Forrest.  When it was time to pick a career, he decided to study chiropractic medicine. 

A 1915 portrait

He was sometimes asked why he didn’t become a medical doctor.  “I never belittle the medical profession", he once said, “but we are in two separate fields of endeavor.   They are trained to treat disease.  I am interested in building health.”

He graduated from the Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, in 1915.  Though he had enjoyed the school, he was convinced that the theory was too narrow.  He disagreed with his instructors who said that chiropractic was the only useful health treatment.  “Too many of the people who came in for treatment appeared to me to be overfed and undernourished, “ he said.

When Dr. Shaklee established his first practice in Rockwell City, Iowa, he spoke with his patients about their diets.  Although this was unusual for the time, he devised detailed nutrition diaries to monitor patients’ progress.  What he saw clearly was that those who regularly ate fresh fruits and vegetables were most likely to recover quickly from their complaints.  When he wasn’t seeing patients, he was experimenting in his laboratories, focusing on how certain foods related to overall health.

“I’m interested in building health”

At night he read scientific journals and was particularly interested in the work of a young Polish biochemist, Casimir Funk, who was working to isolate natural compounds that he called “vitamins.” 

He experimented to make a supplement for his patients

Forrest himself had been experimenting with concentrating and compounding

vegetables for their mineral values to make a supplement for his patients.  He called it Vitalized Minerals.

While he was studying at Palmer, he fell in love with Ruth Chapin.   They were married in December, 1915.  As they returned from their honeymoon, Ruth got a good glimpse of what married life would be like.  They were met at the train station by a man whose wife needed immediate attention.  Instead of heading off to their new home together, they raced by horse and buggy to see the patient.