A Tribute to the Woman Who Changed My Life

September 29, 2017
Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Award-winning nutritionist and New York Times bestselling author.

Honoring the timeless Dr. Hazel Parcells.

Anyone who knows me or has followed my career surely knows about my deep admiration and respect for my mentor, Dr. Hazel Parcells—who lived to be 106! Yesterday she would have turned 118 and I honestly thought that she would live that long! I had the absolute privilege of working with Dr. Parcells personally—and soaked up all of the wisdom that she shared. She was known as the grande dame of nutrition and I can’t think of a more fitting woman for the title.

This adaptation to the forward by Dr. Kaayla Daniels in the book Healer: The Pioneer Nutritionist and Prophet by Joseph Dispenza describes Dr. Parcells’ legacy magnificently.

“I never met Dr. Hazel Parcells, but I want to grow up to be just like her.

Dr. Parcells discovered the secrets to a long life, and lived into grand old age with strength, stamina, mental acuity, emotional balance, spiritual attunement, and meaningful, enduring accomplishment. Lest you think she was born with good genes—or blessed with unusually fine luck—the truth is this: she was diagnosed with terminal tuberculosis at 42, healed her way back to full health, and then went on to live another whole lifetime—65 years making pioneering discoveries in the fields of nutrition and alternative medicine before her death in 1996 at 106 years young.

Dr. Parcells liked to say, ‘If you want to be healthy, you need to trade your wishbone for a backbone and get to work.’ I took her advice and became healthy. I noted that she earned several advanced degrees after the age of 50 and went for my own Ph.D. I was so intrigued by her findings about the health problems cause by soy protein and soy in margarine that I researched and wrote The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food. It took me four years to review scientific studies spanning seven decades only to confirm what she—in her brilliance—knew back in the 1950s. So much for today’s so-called health experts touting soy as the cure-all for everything from cancer to ingrown toenails!

How did she achieve so much? By living large in the dual roles of enlightened warrior and wizard. Her warrior’s path required laser focus, high energy, unwavering commitment, uncompromising integrity and the sheer willpower to live long enough to attain her goals. The wizard’s way led her to acknowledge and feed her inner flame, tune into spirit, drop preconceptions and judgements, laugh at herself and keep her mind wide open to possibility.

Dr. Parcells believed in body rejuvenation—even healing ‘incurables’—if people would just step out of Mother Nature’s way. She considered it a ‘grave mistake’ to chase disease symptoms, choosing instead to address malnutrition, parasite infestations, pesticide poisoning, radiation sickness, toxic metal poisoning, miasms, and other unwanted by-products from Father Technology. Rather than reduce nutrition to data banks of macro and micro nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and calories, she expanded it with the simple, yet stunning, concept that it is ‘not the food in our life but the life in our food.’ What’s more, she could measure that food energy! She found it highest in traditionally prepared organic, free-range, pastured and cultured foods, and lowest in processed, packaged, fast, fractionated and fake. Surprisingly, she could bring health-promoting energy to even low-quality products with her unique food cleaning and energy charging techniques.

Moving into energy medicine, she explored homeopathy, light and color therapies, Bach Flower remedies, radionics, and other modalities, and grasped the unity of body/mind/spirit medicine long before its reinvention in the New Age. Ever humble, she never took credit for cures, preferring to quip, ‘Only taxidermists and undertakers do curing.’

Dr. Parcells kept a low profile because of the unorthodox nature of her work. She did not want to butt heads with the AMA, FDA and other medical police. She did not want to be made an example of as happened to pioneers Royal Rife, Royal Lee, Ruth Drown and Max Gerson. Word of her gifts spread anyway, and she was revered—and is still remembered—as a ‘doctor’s doctor.’”

A Birthday Thought

I will leave you with a poem written by Dr. Hazel Parcells herself.

“Time tells us that birthdays are slipping away,
That years are making us wrinkled and gray.
But science refutes this statement, it’s true,
Claims every cell tissue is each year built anew.
And birthdays, well really there’s only one,
For no man since the days of birthdays begun
Has ever been born but once in this life.
So why do we make all this trouble and strife?
Celebrate an anniversary with laughter and song.
Forget about the years as you go along.
Just realize each year you’re building anew
The living temple of God that was given to you.”

Related Articles and Podcasts

Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS, is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty books including The Fat Flush Plan series and her latest book, Radical Metabolism. She’s been rewriting the rules of nutrition for more than 40 years and is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of diet, detox and women’s health issues. 

For a FREE daily dose of tips and strategies for maintaining healthy weight, conquering insomnia, and much more…check out my Radical Health Tips.

I’d like to meet and greet you on my Facebook groups, so won’t you check us out at the Radical Metabolism RevolutionFat Flush Nation, or my Inner Circle!

13 Comments

  1. Gayle

    So encouraging. I am 69 and choosing to go on thru nutrition and spiritual growth. Rebirthing in this body.

    Reply
  2. Dody K.

    It is so nice you acknowledge your mentors in this way.

    Happy birthday Dr. Parcells!!

    Reply
  3. Kathleen

    Beautiful article! What an inspiring read! Thank you, Ann Louise!

    Reply
    • Team ALG

      So happy to hear from you, Kaayla T. Daniel. ALG thought you captured the Doctor so well without having ever met her. Brava!!

      Reply
  4. calle

    No hard copy, we do not do Kindle etc. Too many EMF’s.

    Reply
  5. Sophie

    Dear Ann Louise,
    A wonderful tribute to an extraordinary woman and nutritionist. What a gift to have had her as your mentor.
    We are most fortunate to have had Dr.Parcells pass on ker knowledge and wisdom and we are now most fortunate to have you Ann Louise continue such a rich legacy. We are grateful beneficiaries!

    Reply
  6. Jana K.

    What an inspiring lady! I’m a qualified Naturopathic Nutritionist (based in the UK) and the first time I heard about Dr. Hazel Parcells was through your work, so thank you kindly for sharing! 🙂

    Reply
  7. Alexandra

    I would have loved to meet her! It’s too bad there aren’t more videos of her. 🙂

    Reply
  8. Bonnie Cerrillo

    Thank you Ann Louise. I love learning more about Dr.Hazel Parcells. She is such an inspiration.

    Reply
  9. Nancy

    Is Dr. Parcells formula X and laxative still available to purchase. Unfortunately, the phone numbers I have been using to order these products have been disconnected.

    Reply
    • Team ALG

      Nancy, according to the man who owns the company that still sells some of the Dr. Parcells technology equipment, the formula x is no longer being produced.

      Reply
  10. Aura Gregory

    Hi , I would like to purchase Dr. Purcell’s book do you know where can I get them?

    Reply

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