Anti-Aging Therapeutics Volume XVI

publisher.

Chapter 1

Developments in Human Longevity: A State-of-the-Specialty Report

Ronald Klatz, M.D., D.O., President

Robert Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., D.O., FAASP, Chairman

The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M; www.worldhealth.net)

Introduction

Thousands of physicians and practitioners in private medical offices, as well as at some of the most prestigious teaching hospitals around the world, now embrace the anti-aging medical model. Undeniably, anti-aging medicine is achieving demonstrable and objective results that beneficially impact the degenerative diseases of aging. Anti-aging medicine is transforming healthcare, one practice at a time.

Demographics of Aging

As of this writing, Monaco leads the world in life expectancy at-birth, standing at 89.57 years. Macau follows at 84.48 years, then Japan at 84.46 years, Singapore at 84.38 years, and San Marino rounds out the top-five at 83.18 years.¹

A number of nations report sharply rising life expectancy data:

• The United States Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) reports ² that the average life expectancy in the US rose to 78.8 years in 2012. The age-adjusted death rate for Americans decreased 1.1%, as seniors’ life expectancy rose to stand at an additional 19.3 years. Women age 65 and older in 2012 can expect to live another 20.5 years, while men may get around an additional 18 years. The CDC Data Brief attributes the increased life expectancy to an overall greater awareness and implementation of healthy lifestyles.

• The United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics reports ³ that as many as two-thirds of the babies born in the UK in 2012 will celebrate their100th birthday. And by 2037, most British children will routinely live until nearly 100 years of age.

• The lifespan for Swedish women ⁴ has risen 15 minutes each hour since 1840. While a Swedish female born in 1840 lived to be just 45 years, a girl born in 2013 will live to an average of 84 years – a gain of 40 years in six generations.

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (Germany) report⁵ that: Life expectancy is increasing in most countries and has exceeded 80 in several, as low-mortality nations continue to make progress in averting deaths. Observing a sharp decline in early mortality in the past four generations that points to the bulk of this mortality reduction has occurred since 1900, the study authors cite improvements in clean water, shelter, food, and medicine as primary factors in the life expectancy gains. The study authors note that: This observed plasticity in age-specific risk of death is at odds with conventional theories of aging.

The Anti-Aging Medical Model

The goal of anti-aging medicine is not to merely prolong the total years of an individual's life, but to ensure that those years are enjoyed in a productive and vital fashion. The clinical specialty of anti-aging medicine utilizes diagnostic protocols that are supported by scientific evidence to arrive at an objective assessment upon which effective treatment is assigned. Physicians who dispense anti-aging medical care are concerned with the restoration of optimal functioning of the human body’s systems, organs, tissues, and cells.

People may lose 30 minutes of life expectancy for every two cigarettes they smoke, for being 11 pounds overweight, and for eating an extra portion of red meat daily. David Spiegelhalter⁶, from the University of Cambridge, has coined the concept of a microlife, defined as 30 minutes of life expectancy – as a practical substitution for the statistical concept of the hazard ratio. He computed that a million half hours -- or 57 years -- roughly corresponds to a lifetime of adult exposure to any given hazard. Further, he noted that at current mortality rates in the UK, a 35-year-old can expect to live another 55 years or 481,000 hours or very nearly a million microlives. Spiegelhalter has calculated that people may lose 30 minutes of life expectancy for every two cigarettes they smoke, for being 11 pounds overweight, and for eating an extra portion of red meat daily. Dr Spiegelhalter submits that this approach "allows a general, non-academic audience to make rough but fair comparisons between the sizes of chronic risks, and is based on a metaphor of 'speed of ageing.'

Potentially 37 million premature deaths over 15 years may be prevented, simply if people modulated six specific modifiable risk factors. Various countries aim to reduce premature mortality from four main non-communicable diseases (NCDs)-namely – cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, cancers, and diabetes. These nations have targeted to reduce these disease incidences by 25% from 2010 levels by 2025. Potentially 37 million premature deaths over 15 years may be prevented, simply if nations adopt the anti-aging medical model. Majid Ezzati⁷ from Imperial College London (United Kingdom), and colleagues report that this target may be achievable by the reduction of six specific modifiable risk factors. Using country-level data on deaths and risk factors and epidemiological models, the researchers estimate the number of deaths that could be prevented between 2010 and 2025 by reducing the burden of each of the six risk factors to globally-agreed target levels -- tobacco use (30% reduction and a more ambitious 50% reduction), alcohol use (10% reduction), salt intake (30% reduction), high blood pressure (25% reduction), and halting the rise in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes. Overall, the findings suggest that meeting the targets for all six risk factors would reduce the risk of dying prematurely from the four main NCDs by 22% in men and 19% for women in 2025 compared to what they were in 2010. Worldwide, this improvement is equivalent to delaying or preventing at least 16 million deaths in people aged 30-70 years and 21 million in those aged 70 years or older over 15 years. The authors predict that the largest benefits will come from reducing high blood pressure and tobacco use. They calculate that a more ambitious 50% reduction in prevalence of smoking by 2025, rather than the current target of 30%, would reduce the risk of dying prematurely by more than 24% in men and by 20% in women. The study investigators submit that: If the agreed risk factor targets are met, premature mortality from the four main NCDs will decrease to levels that are close to the 25×25 target, with most of these benefits seen in low-income and middle-income countries.

A steady rise in life expectancy over the past two decades is accompanied by prolonged health in later life. David Cutler⁸, from Harvard University (Massachusetts, USA), and colleagues analyzed data collected between 1991 and 2009 from nearly 90,000 individuals who responded to the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), allowing researchers to link survey responses to participants' Medicare records for the rest of their life – effectively enabling a determination as to exactly how far participants were from death when they answered the survey. With the exception of the year or two just before death, people are healthier than they used to be, observes the lead investigator, elaborating that: Effectively, the period of time in which we're in poor health is being compressed until just before the end of life. So where we used to see people who are very, very sick for the final six or seven years of their life, that's now far less common. People are living to older ages and we are adding healthy years, not debilitated ones. …People are much better educated about their health now.

Successes and Sound-Alikes

Attempting to rebrand what it cannot deny, those in positions of power in academic, political, and regulatory arenas are Inventing new catch phrases including longevity medicine, successful aging, healthy aging, and the like, in an effort to dilute and absorb the A4M's original definition of anti-aging medicine. Regardless of what name you use to describe anti-aging medicine, the clinical field was established in 1991 by the physicians of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, A4M.

Attributable to James Fries of Stanford University (California, USA), successful aging advances the concept of morbidity compression, that is, shortening the period of infirmity into a shorter period closer to death. In a recent interview, Dr. Fries⁹ admits that: studies show that common sense moves like exercising and eating well really can help us stay healthier for longer.

Similarly, Buck Institute of Aging (California, USA) researchers herald¹⁰ the merits of preventing the diseases of aging. The team submits that a healthy diet and regular exercise … slow the metabolic and molecular causes of human aging. They also warn that our current health care approach is not sustainable. Targeting diseases has helped people live longer, [but] they are spending more years being sick with multiple disorders relating to aging, and that’s expensive.

By whichever name it is referred, anti-aging medicine is the leading trend in consumer health and beauty today. The Natural Marketing Institute reports¹¹ that consumer interest in anti-aging therapies has risen 50% in the past five years, with the leading concerns as: #1. mental health, #2 sleep; #3 energy; and #4 weight management. Similarly, Datamonitor, a market intelligence company, is¹¹ bullish about the [sector’s] prospects in the future.

Over one-third of Americans want to reach 120 years or older. A survey by the Pew Research Center (Washington DC, USA) found¹² that Americans considered 90 years as the median ideal lifespan. Baby Boomers – those born between 1946 and 1964, 10,000 of whom are retiring every day, want to live to be at least 84 years on-average. To achieve this goal, the Natural Marketing Institute reports¹³ that this group is specifically interested in self-care, thus driving the continued growth of the natural products and dietary supplements marketplaces.

The Biotech Factor

Today, we can detect, forestall, and prevent most forms of cardiovascular incidents, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s Disease. Therapies to reverse such life-robbing conditions are on the horizon, thanks to biomedical and biotech R&D.

Medical knowledge doubles every three years. By 2017, we will know twice as much as we do today, by 2020 four-times, and so on. We submit that 2029 signals the arrival of the Biotech Singularity, when advancements in anti-aging and regenerative medicine reach maturity:

• Stem cell therapeutics, technologies aiming to beneficially alter the very basic cellular sources of dysfunctions, disorders, disabilities, and diseases

• Therapeutic cloning, technologies to develop ample sources of human cells, tissues, and organs for use in acute emergency care as well as the treatment of chronic, debilitating diseases

• Genetic engineering and genomics, advancements that permit the identification and alteration of genetics to ameliorate dysfunctions, disorders, disabilities, and diseases

• Nanotechnology, deploying micro- and molecular-sized tools to manipulate human tissue biology for microsurgical repair on a gross level, as well as microscopic nano-biology for repair at the most basic cellular level

Today, thanks to the Pharma pipeline¹⁴ of 465 drugs targeted on 10 chronic conditions in seniors, most adults in developed nations enjoy lifespans of around 80 years. With progress in stem cells, DNA repair, and telomerase, by 2029 lifespans of 120 years are realistically foreseeable. As genomic medicine and artificial organ technologies advance, by 2050 to 2095 we may achieve the 150 year lifespan. Past that, machine-based human enhancements may herald living 200-plus, disease-free years.

Lab Models of Aging Intervention

A drug originally designed to suppress the immune system in organ transplant recipients, rapamycin is shown in lab models to exert life-extending properties. The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (Texas, USA) team observed¹⁵ that rapamycin increased the lifespan of male and female C57BL/6J mice by 11 to 16%, most likely by reducing the increase in the hazard for mortality.

Researchers from the Buck Institute of Aging (California, USA) successfully and markedly amplified¹⁶ the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans (earthworm). The team altered two genetic pathways via a combination of mutations in daf-2 and rsks-1 [to produce] a nearly 5-fold increase in longevity that is much greater than the sum of single mutations. The worms lived to the human equivalent of 500 years.

Scientists from the University of California/Los Angeles (UCLA; California, USA) identified¹⁷ a gene that slows the aging process through the entire body. Activating the AMPK gene induces autophagy, a cellular recycling process. When AMPK is activated in the intestine or nervous system of Drosophila (fruit flies), we see the aging process is slowed beyond the organ system in which the gene is activated.

Delayed aging could increase life expectancy by an additional 2.2 years, most of which would be spent in good health. Observing that: Recent scientific advances suggest that slowing the aging process (senescence) is now a realistic goal … Yet most medical research remains focused on combating individual diseases, Dana Goldman, from the University of Southern California (USC; California, USA), and colleagues submit¹⁸ that research to delay aging and the infirmities of old age would have better population health and economic returns, as compared to advances in individual fatal diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Using the Future Elderly Model – a microsimulation of the future health and spending of older Americans – the researchers compared optimistic disease specific scenarios with a hypothetical delayed aging scenario in terms of the scenarios' impact on longevity, disability, and major entitlement program costs. The team found that delayed aging could increase life expectancy by an additional 2.2 years, most of which would be spent in good health, with the economic value of delayed aging estimated to be $7.1 trillion over fifty years. The study authors that: Overall, greater investment in research to delay aging appears to be a highly efficient way to forestall disease, extend healthy life, and improve public health.

Anti-Aging Medicine’s Prominent Adopters

Multinational companies are pouring billions of dollars into anti-aging medical technologies. In particular, Silicon Valley has engaged significant resources.

Google backs privately held 23andMe, which offers a DNA test for consumers who can secure genetic reports and ancestry-related data. In 2013 by Google’s CEO and co-founder, Larry Page – 40 years old at the time, founded Calico (California Life Company) with $1 billion in start-up funding. Describing its goal as focusing on the challenge of aging and associated diseases. Page has observed¹⁹ that: With some longer term, moonshot thinking around healthcare and biotechnology, I believe we can improve millions of lives. Calico is headed by Art Levinson, former CEO of Genetech, a highly successful biotech company specializing in cancer therapies.

In mid-2014, Calico forged²⁰,²¹ a 10-year R&D collaboration deal with AbbVie Inc., a major US drugmaker (notably, Humira®, a rheumatoid arthritis biologic). Each company is reported to invest an initial $250 million, with a possible additional $500 million in the future. Using this funding, Calico will use its scientific expertise to establish a world-class research and development facility and AbbVie will use its commercial expertise to bring the new drugs discovered in this facility to market. 

In early 2014, US scientist Craig Venter, who mapped the Human Genome a decade ago, founded²² Human Longevity, Inc. With $70 million in its first round of private funding and prominent Asian real estate developers as key investors, the company aims to take a genome-based approach to tackle the diseases associated with aging-related human biological decline.

In late 2014, the health technology and medical lab services company Theranos reached²³ critical mass. In 2003, Elizabeth Holmes, a then-19-year-old interested in microfluidics and nanotechnology dropped out of Stanford to start the company, which successfully raised $45-million in venture capital. Announcing a partnership to provide point-of-care blood testing in Walgreen’s Pharmacy stores across the US, Theranos is reported to now be worth over $9 billion. Oracle founder and CEO Larry Ellison is a Theranos board member.

In September 2014, Dr. Joon Yun, a California radiologist, announced²⁴,²⁵ that he would leverage his Palo Alto hedge fund to award $1 million to the first scientists who successfully halt aging. The Palo Alto Longevity Prize focuses on cardiac parameters, with two prizes of $500,000 each: one to be awarded to the team that can protect an animal's heart from aging, and another that succeeds in extending an animal's life expectancy by 50%. Yun observes that: We spend more than $2 trillion per year on healthcare and do a pretty good job helping people live longer, but ultimately you still die.

Clearly, the notion that aging is not inevitable now resonates with entities that are poised to have a major, lasting, and beneficial impact in the field. It is interesting, as well, to note that each of these megacorporations proudly equates themselves with anti-aging. As such, the phrase anti-aging is now poised for transformation from a disparaged term to one of prestige and dominance.

Concluding Remarks

Researchers from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Austria) report²⁶ that population aging has the potential for many positive impacts for society, including:

• Increased productivity: While population aging may lead to a decline in the labor force, expected increases in workers’ education levels may partly compensate through higher productivity.

• Good for the environment: Reduced consumptions of energy-intensive goods and lower carbon dioxide emissions.

• Prolonged health: As people live longer, they generally also sta healthier longer. This study reports that the average German male in 2050 will spend 80% of his lifetime in good health, compared to 63% today.

• Enhanced quality of life: The relationship between leisure, work, and housework will change in the future, with leisure time increasing on-average.

The future for human longevity is promising. The professional members of the A4M lead the cutting-edge R&D efforts in human aging intervention. The A4M brings lab-to-market by applying such discoveries in the clinical setting. We have the here-and-now answers in our hands today, and the 26,000-plus physician, scientist, and health practitioner members of the A4M engage them to help hundreds of thousands of patients to enjoy prolonged quality – and quantity, of life.

REFERENCES

1. Central Intelligence Agency, Country Comparison: Life Expectancy at-Birth, in The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html .

2. Xu J, Kochanek K, Murphy S, Arias E. NCHS Data Brief: Mortality in the United States 2012, National Center for Health Statistics (US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention), October 2014.

3. Two thirds of today’s babies could live to 100, Telegraph.co.uk, 12 Dec. 2013.

4. Silvertown J. The Long and the Short of It: The Science of Life Span and Ageing. November 2013.

5. Burger O, Baudisch A, Vaupel JW. Human mortality improvement in evolutionary context. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Oct 30;109(44):18210-4.

6. Spiegelhalter D. Using speed of ageing and ‘microlives’ to communicate the effects of lifetime habits and environment. BMJ. 2012 Dec 14;345:e8223.

7. Kontis V, Mathers CD, Rehm J, Stevens GA, Shield KD, Bonita R, Riley LM, Poznyak V, Beaglehole R, Ezzati M. "Contribution of six risk factors to achieving the 25×25 non-communicable disease mortality reduction target: a modelling study. Lancet. 2014 May 2. pii: S0140-6736(14)60616-4.

8. David Cutler, Kaushik Ghosh, Mary Beth Landrum. Evidence for Significant Compression of Morbidity in the Elderly U.S. Population, Discoveries in the Economics of Aging. National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 20139.

9. ’Successful aging’ protects health and wealth, Marketwastch.com , 9 June 2013.

10. Strategy proposed for preventing diseases of aging," Medical Xpress.com , 24 July 2014.

11. Quality of life, aging with grace, and sleep: experts give insights into ‘healthy aging’, Nutraingredients-usa.com , 23 Oct. 2014.

12. Radical life extension, anti-aging prospects, Huffington Post, 6 August 2013.

13. Boomer retirees present continued huge opportunity, Nutraingredients-usa.com , 28 March 2014.

14. Medicines in Development: Older Americans, Pharmaceuticals Research and Manufacturers of America, 2013.

15. Fok WC, Chen Y, Bokov A, Zhang Y, Salmon AB, Diaz V, Javors M, Wood WH 3rd, Zhang Y, Becker KG, Perez VI, Richardson A. Mice fed rapamycin have an increase in lifespan associated with major changes in the liver transcriptomePLoS One. 2014 Jan 7;9(1):e83988.

16. Chen D, Li PW, Goldstein BA, Cai W, Thomas EL, Chen F, Hubbard AE, Melov S, Kapahi P. Germline signaling mediates the synergistically prolonged longevity produced by double mutations in daf-2 and rsks-1 in C. elegans. Cell Rep. 2013 Dec 26;5(6):1600-10.

17. Ulgherait M, Rana A, Rera M, Graniel J, Walker DW. AMPK Modulates Tissue and Organismal Aging in a Non-Cell-Autonomous Manner. Cell Rep. 2014 Sep 25;8(6):1767-8

18. Goldman DP, Cutler D, Rowe JW, Michaud PC, Sullivan J, et al. Substantial Health And Economic Returns From Delayed Aging May Warrant A New Focus For Medical Research. Health Aff (Millwood). 2013 Oct;32(10):1698-1705.

19. ‘Anti-ageing drugs may have been developed," Independent,co.uk, 2 October 2014.

20. Google’s Calico, AbbVie forge deal against diseases of aging, Reuters.com . 3 September 2014

21. Can Google’s Calico develop a cure for death? Nanlyze.com , 4 September 2014.

22. ‘Anti-ageing drugs may have been developed," Independent,co.uk, 2 October 2014.

23. Secretive lab test startup Theranos has everyone talking, Medcitynews.com , 28 February 2014.

24. If you want to live forever, there’s good news for you. Mic.com , 11 September 2014.\

25. Silicon Valley investor backs $1 million prize to end death, Businessweek.com , 9 September 2014

26. Kluge F, Zagheni E, Loichinger E, Vogt T. The advantages of demographic change after the wave: fewer and older, but healthier, greener, and more productive? PLoS One. 2014 Sep 24;9(9):e108501.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Ronald Klatz, M.D., D.O., is a physician, medical scientist, futurist, and innovator. He coined the term anti-aging medicine and is recognized as a leading authority in the new clinical science of anti-aging medicine. Dr. Klatz is the physician founder and President of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. In 1984, Dr. Klatz was a pioneer in the clinical specialty of preventative medicine: as a principal founder of the National Academy of Sports Medicine and researcher into elite human performance and physiology. Dr. Klatz is a best-selling author, and is columnist or Senior Medical Editor to several international medical journals. Since 1981, Dr. Klatz has been integral in the pioneering exploration of new therapies for the treatment and prevention of age-related degenerative diseases. He is the inventor, developer, or administrator of 100-plus scientific patents, including those for technologies for brain resuscitation, trauma and emergency medicine, organ transplant and blood preservation. Today, Dr. Klatz helps to support aging-related biotech research and supervises postgraduate medical training programs for physicians from 120 countries.

Robert Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., D.O., FAASP is physician co-founder and Chairman of the Board of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine and Chairman of the World Anti-Aging Academy of Medicine. Dr. Goldman serves as Chairman of the International Medical Commission overseeing sports medicine committees in over 184 nations. He also is President Emeritis of the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and founded the International Sports Hall of Fame. Dr. Goldman has served as a Senior Fellow at the Lincoln Filene Center, Tufts University; as an Affiliate at the Philosophy of Education Research Center, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University. He currently holds professorships at Universities in China, Indonesia, Korea, and Brazil.

Chapter 2

Healing the Mind and Body with Food: A Personal Experience

Tana Amen, BSN, RN

Executive Vice-President, Amen Clinics (www.amenclinics.com)

ABSTRACT

Food can be both a medicine and a poison. The aim of this paper is to show how making the right food choices can transform and heal both the mind and the body.

INTRODUCTION

I was a sick little girl who grew up with a lot of trauma and drama. It was like there was a tiger hiding around every corner, and you never knew when something bad was going to jump up and bite you. I still remember the day that my uncle was murdered – I was 4-years-old, and I saw my mother and my grandmother fall to the floor sobbing in grief. I used to sooth my anxiety when I was young with my best friend, sugary food. The poor quality food and the chronic stress in my home attacked my immune system. I was sick a lot and I became a frequent flyer at the local hospital.

A few years later my grandmother came to live with us. She had diabetes. She and I shared the same diet. We both loved sugary cereals and we started eating them for dinner as well as breakfast. She used to make the most amazing warm Syrian bread smothered and drowning in honey. By the time I was 11, I was giving my grandmother her insulin shots because my mother had to work 3 jobs so that we could survive. I spent so much time around doctors that I wanted to be one.

When I was 15 I was attacked and dragged down an alley. I was nearly raped, but I fought with the attacker and I got away. I decided there and then that I was never going to be a victim and that is when I learned how to fight for real. But in my early 20s I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer that metastasized and came back 3 times, which is unusual. My cancer completely ruined my plans for medical school and I became so devastated and overwhelmed that I sunk into a deep depression. This time the attacker was inside my own body and I realized that I was fighting with an invisible phantom and I was in for the fight of my life. It was so much harder to fight for my own health, and I was up against a huge adversary.

At one point, I was so sick, that I was on 9 prescriptions and taking medications to manage the side effects of the medications. When I complained, my doctor told me that I was in denial and that maybe I should see a psychiatrist. I did not agree. You have to become a warrior for your own health, so I fought. Now I am in my 40s and I am healthier than I have ever been.

HEALING THE MIND WITH FOOD

Food can be both a medicine and a poison. Today, it mainly seems to be the latter. Many people eat highly-processed, pesticide-sprayed, genetically-modified, low-fiber, and high-glycemic index foods, each and every day. These types of foods are so damaging to health. And it is not just us humans that are being affected.

Bebac and Mokolo are gorillas who live at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Even though they were barely in middle age, they were dying of heart disease – the number one cause of death for western lowland gorillas living in captivity. Captive western lowland gorillas also demonstrate odd behaviors, such as pulling out their hair and regurgitating their food and re-eating it. These behaviors are not seen in wild gorillas. This perplexed zoologists, and some began to suspect that the gorillas’ diet was to blame. Why? Because almost all captive gorillas are fed vitamin-rich, high-sugar, and high-starch nutritional cookies to ensure that they get all of their nutrients. However, in the wild gorillas obviously do not eat foods like this. The zoologists at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo decided to radically change the gorillas’ diet to see if they could improve their health. So, they started giving them their natural diet of wild greens, nuts, seeds, bamboo and flax, and instead of putting their food in one place they scattered it around their enclosure so they had to go and look for their food. This new approach worked wonders. The new diet contained twice as many calories as the nutritional cookies; however it took the gorillas up to 75% of their day to forage for their food, so they became much more active. Within 1-year, they had lost 65 pounds each and they had also stopped regurgitating and re-eating their food.

Bebac and Moloko were not happy with their new diet at first. It took them about a week to accept that they were no longer going to be receiving their daily sugar-fix. The same is true with patients; we tell our patients that it will take about a week to break their sugar addiction. Once that week is over they will start to feel better and they will get healthy.

Even though we know how bad certain foods are for us, people keep on eating them. Nutritious and healthy food can be so beneficial, yet people keep opting for food that is more poisonous than nutritious. Moreover, it is often the people that desperately need healthy food (e.g. people in churches, hospitals, homeless shelters, prisons, and drug rehab centers) that are fed the worst diet.

Figures from the CDC show that the incidence of attention deficit disorder (ADD) has increased by 53% since 2001, with 20% of boys and 11% of all children being diagnosed with it. However, 2 studies from Holland have showed that simply eliminating sugar, gluten, soy, dairy and food dyes significantly improved the symptoms of nearly 70% of children with ADD.¹,² So, just cleaning up their diet can have a dramatic effect. Let me show you how this works in large groups.

In 2011, Pastor Rick Warren, Mark Hyman, my husband Dr Daniel Amen, and I helped to set up the Daniel Plan health program in the one of the largest churches in America. The decision to set up the Daniel Plan came about in the fall of 2010, when Pastor Rick Warren baptized over 800 people and he realized that they were all fat. He realized that he was not healthy and neither were most of the people in his congregation. By using the principles of the Daniel Plan, the church lost over 250,000 pounds in less than a year along with many other benefits, such as reductions in blood sugar and blood pressure.

The Bible belt is widening, but not in the way that we had hoped – the states of Tennessee, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Mississippi are at the center of our obesity epidemic. We are targeting this population, but fortunately these principles do not apply only to strictly churchgoing folks. Sinners can be helped too! So there is hope for us all. My husband and I also helped to plant these principles into several large drug treatment programs. One of them is with newly court ordered criminals and the results have been just incredible.

The secret is that you have to develop warriors and empower them in order to create massive change. Figure 1 shows Laura, one of our affiliates. She went through our program herself and lost 55 pounds. She no longer suffers from IBS, rosacea, and hot flashes. As she became healthier, she came to realize that she had to share this information with the people she serves (she is the director of one of the largest chemical addiction recovery programs in America). She came to understand that not removing the disease-promoting food in her center really amounted to negligence, as the center was unconsciously contributing to their patients’ illness. Together, we helped to radically transform their menu and we added an exercise program. The results have been truly astounding.

Figure 1. Laura before (left) and after (right) embarking upon the Daniel Plan.

Here are just a few comments from people at Laura’s center who were helped by the Daniel Plan:

Chad: I am far less impulsive. I thought I was stupid but I now realize it was brain fog and my mind and self-esteem are so much better.

Alejandra: I have so much natural energy and don’t crave caffeine throughout the day.

Jason: The doctor told me due to drugs I had brain damage and would not be able to work. But being on the program my energy and focus is so much better. I’m also sleeping through the night.

William: As the days went by my mind began to clear, plus my focus, memory and even speaking abilities were better. Plus I lost 55 lbs in 87 days and I have a 6 pack… the kind that won’t get me arrested!

Thomas’ story is my favorite. When he first came into the program he said he was depressed, hopeless, felt like he had no future, and was overweight. Within months he had lost 55 pounds and he felt energized. In the past he had tried to pass the General Education Development test (GED) 3 times and failed. While he was on the program he took the GED again, and this time he passed. He was so proud. Thomas said of the program:

My life was a mess, now it’s a message. I have been tested, now I have a testimony. I was a victim, now I’m victorious. I went through trials, now I am triumphant!

The good news is that you can be triumphant too. You can also help your patients become a warrior by following the 4 simple steps laid out by the Daniel Plan.

The First Step – Educate Patients on an Emotional Level

Take the time to educate your patients on the dangers of unhealthy food. Too often healthcare providers forget that our patients do not have our knowledge. You need to take the time to teach them. When I took the time to teach the group at the drug treatment program they became advocates for their own health. I showed them what junk food does, and that it is actually more addictive than cocaine and morphine. They were shocked, but it did make sense to