The Shaklee story began with a man who was decades ahead of his time - Dr. Forrest C. Shaklee. He understood the connection between good nutrition and health. His philosophy of achieving optimum health through harmony with nature has built one of the largest grass roots health revolutions in the world.
Born with consumption outside the small town of Carlisle, Iowa, in November of 1894, Forrest Shaklee was not expected to live. But his mother used her knowledge of good nutrition and wild herbs to bring him from near death to health and vigor. From that humble beginning was born Dr. Shaklee’s lifelong interest in nature’s balance, beauty and bounty.
His interest in nature lead him to the study of health and the body and then on to the study of chiropractic medicine. Dr. Shaklee saw the importance of integrating all the disciplines of medicine into patient treatment. As he treated his patients, he was able to correlate their health with their eating habits.
Avidly he followed the work of Casimir Funk, a famous nutrition researcher who pioneered the discovery of vitamins and minerals in food. This study lead him to the realization that if he could stabilize the minerals extracted from vegetable sources, he could create a substance that might be used for the prevention of nutritional disorders-a task he was able to accomplish. He called his product “vitalized minerals” and the product that came to be known as Vita-Lea Multivitamin and Multimineral Supplement was born.
Dr. Shaklee’s reputation and clientele grew and as it did, his wide-ranging interest brought him in contact with some of the great men of his day. Thomas Edison, a man who had little interest in meeting people, asked to meet Dr. Shaklee. And it was later through Edison, that Dr. Shaklee met Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone.
In 1943, Dr. Shaklee retired from clinic work and devoted his time to lecturing on nutrition and his personal philosophy of thoughtsmanship. Then at 60, instead of slipping away into retirement, he and his two sons, Forrest Jr. and Raleigh, founded the enterprise that would become Shaklee Corporation.
Following his retirement, Dr. Shaklee was constantly approached for the nutritional supplements he had distributed through his clinics. Thus, in 1956, Shaklee Corporation was born.
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