McCarrison Society

Health Through Nutrition, A Birthright

Death of Dr Yellowlees

Death of Dr Yellowlees (Original Announcement by the Scottish branch of the Society)

It is with great sadness that we report that Dr Walter Yellowlees, who initiated the formation of the McCarrison Society in 1960, becoming its first president, and who, since the establishment of the Scottish Group in 1981, has been its chairman or a leading committee member, has died on 26 May, at the age of 97.

At the start in 1948 of more than 30 years as a high respected and much loved rural GP in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Watty, as he is affectionately known, was profoundly influenced by the research of Sir Robert McCarrison, whose findings pointed clearly to sound nutrition being the crucial factor which determines good health and prevents the development of degenerative diseases. Throughout both his professional and personal life, he embraced and actively promoted McCarrison’s principles and also highlighted the potential hazards to our health of using chemicals in fertilisers, food or water, notably as a prominent campaigner against fluoridation.

Watty when still a GP

Watty speaking at his 90th birthday lunch

The Food Programme in 2007.

  • awarded with The Scottish McCarrison Medal in 2007.
  • a few photos of him at our Birnam conference in 2013.
  • his writings include: Ill Fares the Land (1979), Food and Health in the Scottish Highlands: Four Lectures from a Rural Practice (1985), A Doctor in Wilderness (1993) & A Time to Weep (2009)
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