Who is Stan Malstrom?

In memory of Dr. Stan Malstrom, ND, MT (February 1924-June 2008)
Naturopathic Physician, Massage Therapist, Master Herbalist

Stan Malstrom was born and raised in the Salt Lake Valley in northern Utah. In high school he was active in athletics, and was quite proficient at massage, which he used to improve circulation and to loosen up muscles. He had good hands, and the kids liked him to work on them. He first learned some techniques from a South Jordan therapist by the name of Jim Shields, and he seemed to have a natural aptitude for massage and health ideals.
However, Stan was not interested in any other facet of natural methods until about 1952, when he was attending the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where he was majoring in pre-med, with plans to work in a cancer research lab. Married, he had a son, Kendal, who had been sick from birth, suffering from constant ear and bronchial problems. Kendal had been treated constantly with a broad spectrum of drugs, which seemed to pull him out of immediate crisis but did not effect a permanent cure. At one point he had been in the hospital for ten days on oxygen, where Stan’s wife, Marge, had to stay with him constantly. He nearly died several times during that stay. He did recover, only to get sick again two weeks later. Desperate, his parents looked for alternative answers. Marge had had some contact with natural healing through her sister, who had been using herbs and diet with good results through Dr. Hugh Wayman of Salt Lake City. Stan, with his medical involvement, of course thought the whole thing silly, but he was desperate enough to try. On a Friday, Marge began giving her baby garlic enemas and put him on a strict juice diet. On Sunday his temperature rose to 105o. Stan panicked and called a doctor. No one would see him until Monday morning, so Stan and Marge continued the treatment. By Monday the fever had broken and the child was playing in bed. They canceled that appointment, and they never had to have another.
This opened up an entirely new field of exploration to Stan. He talked to Dr. Wayman, who introduced him to many of the first things he learned about diet, and he took his first steps into the knowledge of natural methods.
As he became more involved in massage, diet, and other areas of natural healing, he changed his major to educational administration, emphasizing the basic sciences. He received his Master Degree in Educational Administration in 1954, with a minor in science. During this period he worked in explosive research at the University of Utah under Dr. William Partridge and Dr. Melvin Cook.
Stan searched in many different areas of natural healing to find answers he felt were right for him, and effective. He took a course from the College of Swedish Massage in Chicago, in which he learned some of his basic techniques. This was only the beginning. He studied a text by Dr. F.M. Houston of Taos, New Mexico, on what was called at that time contact healing, now acupressure. This study filled in many gaps for Stan, but not all. He kept exploring and searching. He acquired techniques of Chinese acupressure, and the yin and yang; also negative and positive body energies, knowledge of the aura, and other techniques. Dr. Hulse, in Arizona, probably the master of cranography (working the nerves of the head), taught him about the treatment of headaches and related problems; Dr. Nelson from Wyoming taught him some techniques on treating sinus problems and head allergies such as asthma.
He studied much in the field of Herbology, and found it virgin territory. For a long while he used as his basic reference Back to Eden, by Jethro Kloss, published originally in 1939; then he included as another source of herbal information, Master Herbology, from the Dominion Herbal College in Toronto, Canada. From that point, he gathered information wherever he could find it. The scriptures are full of herbal information and clues about natural healing, and he has become a student of the scriptures, developing great understanding of them.
Meanwhile Stan was being more and more drawn into the field of natural healing. He had used massage therapy whenever anyone needed it. In the army, he had worked on soldiers after marches. When released from the army, he had worked for security in Los Alamos, where he did a great deal of therapy. At the University of Utah he had done massage therapy on people who worked in the labs, as they asked for it.
At one point, he worked for DuPont as manager of the Photo Products X-ray Department in Utah, Idaho, and Montana. Watching doctors diagnose patients in the X-ray rooms, he became increasingly frustrated, because he could see simple answers to their problems in the knowledge he had gained. Doctors talked about trying a certain drug, and if it didn’t help, another drug, and if that didn’t work, then something else. They were treating symptoms, not causes. The more he saw, the more he was convinced there were better answers.
After working in the University of Utah Explosives Research Department, he switched to the Utah Research and Development Company, doing basic research in space re-entry problems and high-velocity impact work. But by 1958, people were keeping him up until late hours working with massage. At this point he decided he would have to get into natural methods full time. He expected things to be rocky for a year or two, but within two months he was working a full schedule. Even at that time, the need for his services was great; people were eager for his type of treatment. He has been working to his limits ever since, in massage therapy, herbology and diet research, and counseling.
Stan Malstrom is a pioneer in many kinds of natural healing methods. Brought into the field by a great need, by a great curiosity, by a questioning open mind, he has developed his method of treatment bit by bit, through study and experimentation. He remained humble, prayerful, and open throughout his life. He continued to learn, feeling that the fields of herbology and diet are still open for exploration, that there are worlds of answers yet to be gained. He has not been a popular figure among traditionalists and medical people, but his skill and knowledge are in great demand among many who have sought health counsel.
He has trained many other practitioners around the world, as the demand for his services grew over the years. Several are already working, and through his writings, he continues to help people better understand the herbal and massage approach. One of Stan’s life-long goals was to help people learn how to care for their own well being: massage, exercise, proper eating habits; alternatives to the foods that make them ill, dooming them to ill health or death; alternatives to preservatives, synthetic materials, over-refined foods, dead foods; and alternatives to drugs.
Here for the first time in blog, book and DVD form is a synthesis of Stan’s methods of natural prevention and treatment for your own use. It covers many aspects of healing disease and of retaining health. Now you can begin to take responsibility of yourself. Now you can begin to OWN YOUR OWN BODY.

“God has created something to help heal any disease known to man if he will eat properly, exercise, and maintain a good mental and spiritual attitude.” Stan Malstrom, ND, MT, MH