the college athletes. The tests included: “deep-knee bending”, holding out arms horizontally for a length of time, and calf raises on an intricate machine. Fletcher claimed to lift “three hundred pounds dead weight three hundred and fifty times with his right calf”. The tests claim that Fletcher outperformed these Yale athletes in all events and that they were very impressed with his athletic ability at his old age. Fletcher attributed this to following his eating practices, and ultimately these tests, whether true or not, helped further endorse “Fletcherism” publicly. Fletcher saw many similarities between humans and functioning machines. He posited several analogies between machines and the human body. Just some of the comparisons that Fletcher drew included: fuel to food; steam to blood circulation; steam gauge to human pulse; and engine to heart. Along with "Fletcherizing", Fletcher and his supporters advocated a low-protein diet as a means to health and well-being. Fletcher had a special interest in human excreta. He believed that the only true indication of one’s nutrition was evidenced by excreta (Fletcher 142). Fletcher advocated teaching children to examine their excreta as a means for disease prevention (Fletcher 143). If one was in good health and maintained proper nutrition then their excreta, or digestive "ash", as Fletcher called it, should be entirely "inoffensive". By inoffensive, Fletcher meant that there was no stench and no evidence of bacterial decomposition. Fletcher was an avid spokesman for Belgian Relief and a member of the Commission for Relief in Belgium in World War I. Fletcher, 69, died of bronchitis in Copenhagen on January 13, 1919. His message to humanity – to have an excellent overall health – was to have a holistic approach. The approach has only three steps: Eat only when you have a good appetite Chew the food like pulp and drink that pulp. Do not swallow food. Drink all the liquids and liquid food sip by sip. Do not drink in gulps. Reception Although he acquired many followers, medical experts described Fletcher as a food faddist and promoter of quackery. He was a key figure of the American "Golden Age of Food Faddism". Critics described Fletcherism as a "chew-chew cult". Fletcher's extreme claims about chewing a mouthful of food until it had no taste, up to one hundred times to avoid illness is not supported by scientific evidence. He believed that his mastication system could cure alcoholism, anaemia, appendicitis,