--- title: "World Vegetarian Congress - Introduction to Natural Hygiene or Life Science as a Way of Life - IVU - International Vegetarian Union" description: "World Vegetarian Congress - Introduction to Natural Hygiene or Life Science as a Way of Life: International Vegetarian Union (IVU) 33rd World Vegetarian Congress Chiang Mai, Thailand, January 4 - 10, 1999 'Vegetarianism is the Way' an unforgettable visual, cultural and gastronomic experience" url: "https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/biographies/3747-congress-thai99-texts-malieh.html" date: "2026-11-06T00:26:04+00:00" language: "en-GB" --- # World Vegetarian Congress - Introduction to Natural Hygiene or Life Science as a Way of Life **International Vegetarian Union (IVU)** | ![IVU logo](https://ivu.org/images/legacy/history/members/pics/ivu-con4.gif) | | |---|---| | ![Congress Logo](https://ivu.org/images/legacy/history/congress/thai99/pics/logo99.gif) **33rd World Vegetarian Congress** Chiang Mai, Thailand, January 4 - 10, 1999 *'Vegetarianism is the Way'* an unforgettable visual, cultural and gastronomic experience Introduction to Natural Hygiene or Life Science as a Way of Life [Español](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/biographies/3747-congress-thai99-texts-malieh.html) *A talk given by Malieh Jafari, Iran* Life Science is really an ancient science, but its modern awakening took place in 1822 when Dr.Isaac Jennings was distressed on seeing his patients become worst from the drugging modality and noted that as physicians became older they prescribed smaller drug doses. He did likewise and found his patients were faring better under less drugging. Then he quit prescribing drugs altogether and found miracles happened. He dispensed pills of colored flour and tinted water with strict orders that no food could be taken. Later he was joined by Dr. Graham and others. In 1870's with the ushering in of the "germ era" came about the decline of Hygiene. The revival of the Natural Hatural Hygiene in 1920's owed much to some great Hygienists but Dr.Herbert M.Shelton became the knowledge voice of Natural Hygiene. Life Science or Natural Hygiene is the Science of health. It holds that health is normal and natural and it is the result of healthful living. The human body is a self-sufficient organism that is capable of maintaining itself in superb functioning order, completely free of disease, if its needs are met. Foremost among these needs are fresh air, pure water, rest+sleep, wholesome food, cleanliness, comfortable temperature, sunshine, exercise, constructive work, spiritual + emotional poise, self mastery, recreation, pleasant environment and good companion. Life Science recognizes that humans are constitutionally adapted to a diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts and-seeds and sprouts in compatible combination while in fresh, raw, natural state. What is health? Health is a condition where in we have complete function of all our faculties. It is a condition of perfect development, a state of wholeness and harmonious operation of all body organs. In short total fitness. Health is the result of healthful living. What is healthful living? We know what are the essentials of life or the needs of body. Our body has the inner intelligence and knows how to maintain health. All we have to do is to provide its natural needs, and that we work with our body, not against it. For this, we have to have general knowledge of our body functions and realize that it is not only what we eat that makes the difference, when and in what state and combination we eat. Our body has three obvious functions: Appropriation: taking in food and digesting it. Assimilation: absorbing some of that food and using it. Elimination: of body wastes and food debris. *Mlihen Jafari* I was born in Teheran Iran in 1949. At the age of 5, I got Typhoid for 3 months and almost died. While an adolescent I used to catch cold very often and had difficult periods. I studied Medical Technology at the University of Teheran and when I was 22 married and came to Thailand as a Baha'l pioneer. I was always interested in health matters and tried to feed my 2 children according to standard 4 group food. But I had to take them to the doctor's office all the time. My own health started to deteriorate soon. When my husband went to Australia to see Dr.Gertrude Schmelzle in 1994, I was already suffering from different kind of health problems. He consulted with her about my problems and she suggested that I too go on, an all fruit diet, for a month and continue with all fresh food for another month. I did so very faithfully and was able to witness my health improve daily. I got very interested in this system of health which is called Natural Hygiene and studied the course with Life Science Institute in Austin Texas USA by correspondence and received Certificate of Proficiency In Nutritional Science. Now at the age of 49 my health is much better and my energy is much more than when I was 30 as a result of more healthful living. A note on this archive. The history section of this website is drawn from a body of legacy content originally compiled by John Davis, former manager of the International Vegetarian Union. It represents his curation of historical material, and in places includes passages written by him directly. Over the years, the IVU website has migrated between several different hosting servers. In the course of these migrations, a number of PDF files were unfortunately lost, and **some links to PDF documents may no longer function**. Where this is the case, we have chosen to leave the original link text in place, as it may itself carry information of historical value. - Hits: 1243 ### Vegan Recipes - [![Cuban Bread](https://ivu.org/media/zoo/images/cuban-bread-1780527236_7c09a68c7eb7ffd6a0e03f0f8ecc604f.jpg "Cuban Bread")](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/item/cuban-bread.html "Cuban Bread") #### [Cuban Bread](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/item/cuban-bread.html "Cuban Bread") [Baking](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/baking.html) [Cuba](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/cuba.html) [Starters & side dishes](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/snack-side-dishes.html) [Caribbean](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/caribbean.html) - 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