"You Like Tomato And I Like Tomahto"

I'm convinced - there's no one diet that's best for everyone. You like cheese and I like peas. You say roast; I say toast. You like "tomato" and I like "tomahto". *

Dr. Roger John Williams agrees. (Thank you, Dave Lull, for bringing him to my attention!)

Williams (1893 - 1988) was a biochemist and author of a number of books on nutrition, as well as several widely used textbooks on organic chemistry and biochemistry. He taught at the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, and the University of Texas at Austin. He discovered the B vitamin pantothenic acid, and named the B vitamin folic acid. In fact, "More vitamins and their variants were discovered in [his] laboratory than in any other laboratory in the world."

Here are a few things Dr. Williams said about individuality:

"There can never be in this Institute such a thing as a settled orthodox credo or point of view on which all must agree." The Clayton Foundation Biochemical Institute. A Short History, 1965

"Since, as science demonstrates, people show wide variability in every respect, the environment which is suitable for one will not be suitable for all." The Human Frontier, 1946

"Always nutrition can be improved, and this improvement is the chief objective of nutritional study." The Advancement of Nutrition, 1982

"Every individual organism that has a distinctive genetic background has distinctive nutritional needs which must be met for optimal wellbeing." Biochemical Individuality, 1956

One of my favorites:

"The existence in every human being of a vast array of attributes which are potentially measurable (whether by present methods or not), and often uncorrelated mathematically, makes quite tenable the hypothesis that practically every human being is a deviate in some respects." Biochemical Individuality, 1956

And this, from a man who devoted his life to science:

"People need to raise their sights and get away from the idea that material needs are the ultimate in importance. People need proper food and shelter but they also need—if they are to be healthy—knowledge, hope, love, friendship, and many other things of a non-material nature." Rethinking Education, 1986

________* Fred Astaire is skatin'.
Photo of Dr. Williams in 1982 (He was 89 years old here.), and quotations, are from the University of Texas, Austin, tribute site.