For almost 50 years, Bernice and Arthur Hicks have thrived on a special diet that begins each day with Tiger's Milk.
    It all started by accident, explained Mrs. Hicks in her living room overlooking Bellingham Bay, surrounded by various shades of pink and beautiful antiques.
    Both are originally from Oregon, and they attended the University of Oregon at the same time, but they didn't meet until after she started teaching school in John Day, Ore.
    "I met him on my first day of teaching and married him on my last.''
    That was May 14, 1925. In 1932, they were living in San Jose, Calif., where he was teaching. It was during the Depression, and he had been the only professor with a doctorate to be hired at the college that year.
    Through friends, she said, she became acquainted with Adelle Davis, who had already begun promoting her special brand of nutrition. They became fast friends, and Mrs. Hicks changed her way of eating--and that of her husband, too.
    A vibrant woman, who keeps busy in the community through various activities, including modeling, Mrs. Hicks will be 81 on March 12.
    "And,'' she said, her eyes twinkling and a mischievous smile on her face, "I got here without ever jogging or even walking fast--unless there was an antique I wanted to see.''
    She credits her good health and vitality to her regimen which includes wheat germ, lots of green and yellow vegetables, yogurt and, in later years, brewer's yeast.
    Every morning, she said, she mixes up a concoction called Tiger's Milk. It's a combination of wheat germ, brewer's yeast, safflower oil and fruit juice. She uses about ½ a cup of wheat germ, 1 tablespoon of brewer's yeast, a "tiny'' amount of oil, and any kind of fruit juice. She blends it thoroughly and drinks it for breakfast.
    For her, that is breakfast, she said, because it fills her up. Her husband has the same thing, but generally supplements it with a whole grain cereal, skim milk and an apple, she said.
    In addition to eating certain foods, the two generally have their main meal of the day at noon and something very light in the evening--maybe some yogurt or a piece of cheese. If they are going out for dinner in the evening, they eat their light meal at noon, she said.
    When people say they can't eat breakfast, the reason is usually because they eat such a big dinner, she said. At night, they don't need a big dinner, they don't need the energy, they just put on fat, she commented.
    They moved to Bellingham in 1933, when he was named chairman of the English department at what is now Western Washington University. Years later, he was retired as professor emeritus.
    When they came to Bellingham, she said, she couldn't find wheat germ. No one knew what she was talking about. She finally went to a milling company east of the mountains and bought it in bulk. Then she had to get a business license so she could sell it--at 10 cents a pound--to her converts. The same thing was true with brewer's yeast. She found a supplier and in turn sold it to her customers for $1 a pound.
    Mrs. Hicks said she often makes what she calls a cabbage salad in order to serve lots of green and yellow vegetables. She includes carrots, cucumber, green peppers, celery. She particularly likes to use new asparagus when it's tender and small--"Whatever fresh vegetables are in the market at the time."'
    In addition, she includes a cooked vegetable, some meat and fruit for dessert. Fortunately, her husband likes casseroles, she said, which allows her to combine the foods she prefers to serve.
    She likes pasta, but feels a little guilty about eating it, she said. However, she has found a pasta that is made with wheat germ and spinach, which she doesn't feel so guilty about eating.
    For weight-watchers, she suggests drinking lots of skim milk when dieting because it "helps keep the skin together and prevent wrinkles.''
    Over the years, Adelle Davis came to Bellingham to lecture and stayed with her friends. Mrs. Hicks typed two of Davis' books, and later added the sale of them to her "business.''
    She said that when Davis wrote "Let's Cook It Right," during World War II, friends from all over sent her ration coupons to buy extra foods for testing recipes. Neighbors and friends pitched in to help with the chopping and with the preparing of the recipes. As soon as testing was completed, the foods were shoved out the door and given to the USO at Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., for young people in the Navy to enjoy.
    At one time, Mrs. Hicks and another local woman, Dawn Everett, had a weekly radio show on nutrition. And Mrs. Hicks is still offering advice. For example, she suggests starting gradually with brewer's yeast, then working up to using a tablespoon a day. But, she said, wheat germ can be sprinkled on anything. She even puts it in her waffles and uses whole wheat flour in her pastry dough. She finds the flour at a health food store, she said, and that it is almost as fine as regular flour. She also buys potato chips without salt, which are really quite tasty, in the health food store. Salt is something she avoids as much as possible, she said.
Bellingham Herald, February 11, 1981, page C1