The Campaign For the Next Generation:
A World Free of Heart Disease, Hypertension, Diabetes, and Obesity
Who We Are
Since its inception in 1977, the nonprofit Pritikin Foundation has funded more than 110 studies published in leading peer-reviewed medical journals which have demonstrated that the leading epidemics of modern society — heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity — can be prevented and even reversed with healthful lifestyle changes.
As a result, the Pritikin Program is widely regarded as the most effective, most scientifically documented health and weight-loss program in the world. The Pritikin Program is proven so successful that the U.S. Congress recently passed legislation allowing Medicare to cover participation in the program.
Ultimately, what is most rewarding about our work at the Pritikin Foundation is the human dimension — the thousands of people we’ve had the pleasure of meeting over the years whose lives have been, quite literally, transformed by the Pritikin Program.
People like Brenda Diuro, age 52, who five years ago was struggling with Type 2 diabetes, was very overweight (a size 26) and taking multiple medications. Her doctor had told her, "You've got to do something, or you're going to die." Brenda adopted the Pritikin Program. Today she's a size 14, she's off all diabetes medications, she's enjoying a bounty of fruits and veggies every day, and she's up every morning to walk the dog at 7:30 and then onto the gym at 8:30. "Best of all, my doctor says I'm diabetes free! DIABETES FREE!" She's had no problem maintaining her new Pritikin lifestyle because "I feel SO GOOD. Every day I wake up ready to roll, full of energy." And full of gratitude for her brand new life.
And people like Leon Perlsweig, age 88. Thirty-five years ago, the Southern California attorney had chest-squeezing angina so painful that "I couldn't walk from the back of my house to the front." His doctors at UCLA told him he had 100% blockage in one coronary artery, 89% in a second, and 76% in a third. They recommended immediate coronary bypass surgery. Instead, Leon started the Pritikin Program. Within six months, he was running four to five miles daily — angina-free. He returned to UCLA for a follow-up evaluation, and while checking his heart's activity with the EKG, the doctors gasped and exclaimed, "It's gone. It's gone. The ischemia's gone!" Today, more than three decades later, Leon's still a Pritikin devotee, still pounding the pavement three miles daily around his neighborhood, still practicing law, and vibrant as ever. What's more, he never needed that bypass surgery.
"Today," says Leon, "doctors are giving us the same advice that Nathan Pritikin was giving 35 years ago. That's how far ahead the Pritikin Program was."
It's stories like these — and they are the type of stories we hear every day — that make us feel we at the Pritikin Foundation have the most rewarding jobs in the world. Every day, we witness the human story of health and renewal at its very best. And every day, we work to ensure that many more have the opportunity to live the same story so that they, too, can be their happiest and healthiest.
Research Highlights
Studying thousands of guests at the Pritikin Longevity Center over the past three decades, the Pritikin Program has been found to:
Dramatically Improve Cholesterol and Triglyceride Levels
Among 4,587 men and women, LDL (bad) cholesterol fell on average 23% within three weeks. Triglycerides plummeted 33%. New England Journal of Medicine, 323: 1142, 1990; Archives of Internal Medicine, 151: 1389, 1991.
Lower Blood Pressure To Normal, Medication-Free Levels
Nearly 60% of 1,117 hypertensives lowered blood pressure to normal levels and left Pritikin free of anti-hypertensive medications. Journal of Applied Physiology, 98: 3, 2005.
Control Diabetes, and, For Many, Eliminate the Need For Drugs
74% of 864 diabetics on oral drugs left Pritikin drug-free; 44% on insulin left insulin-free. Those who continued the Pritikin Program stayed off the medications. Journal of Applied Physiology, 98: 3, 2005. See also Diabetes Care, 17: 1469, 1994.
Promote Healthful, Long-Term Weight Loss
Weight loss among 4,587 adult guests averaged 11 pounds in three weeks. Archives of Internal Medicine, 151: 1389, 1991.
Reverse the Metabolic Syndrome
In 50% of men studied, the Pritikin Program reversed the clinical diagnosis of the Metabolic Syndrome. Journal of Applied Physiology, 100: 1657, 2006.
Substantially Enhance the Effectiveness of Statin Therapy/Reduce Statin Need
Prior to attending Pritikin, 93 men and women had reduced their total and LDL cholesterol levels about 20% on statins. After two weeks at Pritikin, they demonstrated an additional 19% decrease in cholesterol levels. American Journal of Cardiology, 79: 1112, 1997.
Reduce Inflammation
Within two weeks, inflammation markers like C-reactive protein plunged 45%. Metabolism, 53: 377, 2004.
Improve Children's Health
Within two weeks, 100% of overweight children lost significant weight and ameliorated heart disease risk factors, including the Metabolic Syndrome. Metabolism Clinical and Experimental, 55: 871, 2006.
Eliminate the Need For Angioplasty and Coronary Bypass Surgery; Relieve Angina Pain
A five-year follow-up of 64 men who chose Pritikin instead of the recommended bypass surgery found that 80% never needed the surgery. Of those taking drugs for angina (chest) pain, 62% left the Center pain-free and drug-free. Journal of Cardiac Rehabilitation, 3: 183, 1983.
Reduce Key Risk Factors For Breast and Prostate Cancer
Adopting the Pritikin Program retarded the growth of breast cancer and prostate cancer cells, and induced tumor cells to self-destruct. Cancer Causes and Control, 13: 929, 2002; Nutrition and Cancer, 55 (1): 28, 2006.
The Future — Taking It To the People
The supreme value of research is its power to directly impact the good of the people. We often imagine, for example, how wonderful it would be if all children could experience what children in the Family Program at the Pritikin Longevity Center have experienced — their discovery, first of all, that healthy living is actually a whole lot of fun. Each day, the kids in the Pritikin Family Program whoop and holler their way through "Funky Salsa Hop" dance classes, drum-thumping "Cardiac Rap" aerobic exercise, and cooking classes where they make — and enjoy sampling — tasty healthy treats like fruit smoothies, sorbets, maniac minestrone soup, and bean-bumpin' burritos.
The results are nothing short of priceless. Says parent Susan Tepper of Villanova, Pennsylvania: "My 11-year-old son, Fitz, never touched a vegetable. But now his daily snacks are often good, nutritious foods — vegetable soups, fruit smoothies, and baked potatoes with salsa. It's amazing! Pritikin turned my very picky eater into a child who likes to experiment and try new foods. I"m in awe!"
We at the Pritikin Foundation firmly believe that in just one to two years the tragic childhood obesity epidemic we're mired in could be reversed. We have the tools to make it happen. We know they work. We know they would make a world of difference in the lives — and futures — of children worldwide.
For adults as well, the impact of the Pritikin Program has been tremendous. In the world of science and research, we don't like to talk about miracles, but that's the word that many Pritikin people use when describing what the Pritikin Program has meant to them. "Pritikin is where miracles happen," says David Oreck, founder and CEO of Oreck Corporation (yes, the vacuum cleaner spokesman). "I have been to spas all over the country, and I can say there's no program that has the results you get from Pritikin."
They are results that impact people's health, not just in terms of what scientific data tell us — the medications no longer needed, the blood pressure that has plummeted, or the surgery that was avoided — but in how they feel every day of their lives. Their emotional well-being. Their vigor. Their ability because of their Pritikin lifestyles to get the most out of life. Their ability now, like never before, to be their very best selves as parents, as employees, as community volunteers, and as citizens of this great country.
Peter Gignac of Asheville, North Carolina, loves that his cholesterol shot down from 220 to 140 and waist size plunged from 44 to 38 after embracing the Pritikin Program, but what's most important to him is the vitality he experiences every day. "There's nothing I could ever own — like a nice home or luxury car — that could make me feel as good as I feel following the Pritikin Program. It's a revelation, really, to know that you can feel this great."
Never was there a more important time for the Pritikin Foundation to utilize its research so that all of society has the opportunity to "feel this great." Nations worldwide are struggling with epidemics of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and obesity. For future generations, we must reduce these life-threatening diseases. We must restore the hope, the youthful enthusiasm and optimism, that the Pritikin Program can give all of us — ages 8 to 108.
"I don't do religion as a rule," says Guardian journalist David Aaronovich, who turned his life around on the Pritikin Program and no longer needs the mega-doses of hypertension medications he was on. "But one thing I will proselytize about — We need more Pritikin."
Phase I Campaign Goals
$10 Million To Support Scholarships, National Policy Changes, Community Outreach, and the Continuation Of Scientific Research
In 2008, the mission of the Pritikin Foundation profoundly expanded. In addition to the funding of scientific research, we have committed ourselves to the support of educational scholarships, advocacy for public policy changes, and community outreach that directly impact the global community. We have already, for example, worked with Florida school superintendents to launch healthy living programs in Florida's public school system modeled after the Pritikin Family Program. It will teach good eating habits, promote physical fitness, and revamp food choices in the school cafeterias. We must take action now to save our children from health officials' predictions. This generation of children, they warn, may be the first generation in human history in which their parents will outlive them. Among U.S. teens, obesity-related Type 2 diabetes has increased 800% during the past decade. And nearly 70% of teens of America show the initial stages of fatty streaks, or early heart disease. We cannot call ourselves a great country if we continue to sell out our children.
In Summary: Phase I Campaign has four key purposes:
- Educational Scholarships
- Advocacy For National Policy Changes
- Community Outreach
- Continuation of Scientific Research
All have the overriding goal of erasing the global burden of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, many cancers, and obesity. All bring fitter, thinner, healthier living to all sectors of society.
I. The Case for Scholarships
The Pritikin Longevity Center's three decades of expertise in teaching healthy lifestyle change to more than 100,000 men, women, and children is unparalleled. The curriculum, however, has been largely limited to families with the financial means to attend the Center. The Pritikin Foundation is committed, via scholarships, to making the Pritikin Longevity Center experience available to individuals worldwide who:
- Would otherwise not be able to afford it,
- Are in profound need of life-saving intervention,
- Have the influence and ability to teach others the benefits of the Pritikin Program (e.g., teachers and nurses), and/or
- Have the influence to help propel the global community toward healthful lifestyle change (e.g., health professionals/administrators at leading public health institutes like the World Health Organization).
II. The Case for National Policy Changes
The Pritikin Foundation strongly believes that the only way to effect major healthful lifestyle changes is to get the entire society involved. The Foundation therefore supports a wide variety of efforts from both private and public sectors. Most recently, the Pritikin Foundation helped secure the passage of legislation in the U.S. Congress that allows Medicare to cover participation in the Pritikin Program beginning in 2010.
Future public health goals the Pritikin Foundation hopes to support include:
- Policy changes that would encourage the implementation of curriculums that teach healthful, lifelong eating and exercising habits in elementary and high schools nationwide;
- National legislation that would require posting of calories on menu boards of fast food chains, as New York City recently passed;
- National health care legislation that pays doctors more for preventive care and less for complex treatments;
- National legislation that insures health care for all Americans, emphasizing lifestyle changes; and includes the stratification of health-care insurance premiums by modifiable risk factors, such as weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
The Case for Community Outreach
There is nothing more powerful than a movement that has been fueled from the ground up. There is no better team to launch the healthy-living movement our nation so desperately needs than the faculty at the Pritikin Longevity Center. For 30+ years they have taught thousands the fine points and joy of healthy living. For 30+ years they have garnered worldwide acclaim for their expertise and success. They are the perfect team to "take it to the people." Through direct "hands on" consulting by Pritikin professionals in communities, businesses, the media, schools, and other institutions, programs can be launched that make vibrant Pritikin health everyone's health.
Community-outreach plans the Pritikin Foundation hopes to put into action include:
- Establishing "Teach the Teacher" training programs in elementary and high schools nationwide that provide teachers with the successful tools used in the Pritikin Family Program for inspiring children to eat well and exercise daily.
- Establishing in medical schools mandatory curriculums on nutrition, fitness, and motivating patients to make healthy lifestyle changes.
- Developing sports programs/public facilities nationwide that encourage a lifetime love of and involvement in physical activity for all sectors of society.
- Encouraging fast food companies to begin offering mini farmers markets featuring fresh produce from local farms each afternoon in a designated part of their parking lots.
- Launching cholesterol-improving and blood-pressure-lowering competitions on the Internet and on local and national television shows.
- Sending Pritikin educators to community-based events nationwide, such as town meetings and PTA meetings, to give inspirational seminars on the "10 Essential Ingredients for a Long and Delicious Life," patterned after the newly published Pritikin book The Pritikin Edge.
The Case For Continuing Scientific Research
The Pritikin Foundation has amassed definitive proof of the value of healthful lifestyle changes in preventing and controlling heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. Now the Foundation is spearheading important new research and affiliations on other fronts, including:
- Studies that will investigate the effectiveness of the Pritikin Program in halting the progression of early-stage breast and prostate cancers;
- Studies that will explain the mechanisms underlying the Pritikin Program's rapid success in stabilizing plaque in people with heart disease;
- Studies that will confirm the effectiveness of implementing a curriculum based on the Pritikin Family Program in school systems;
- The establishment of university academic chairs in the areas of nutrition, fitness, and disease prevention. Universities targeted include UCLA, University of Miami, Washington University, Yale University, and Harvard University.
Private contributions to these research endeavors is vital because pharmaceutical companies, the major supporters in our society of medical research, rarely fund lifestyle-related investigations because they cannot put patents on lifestyle-related benefits like exercise, fruits and vegetables, and emotional well-being. The sole reason the Pritikin Foundation has published more than 110 studies over the past 30 years is because it has received funding from individuals, often Pritikin alumni, who have personally witnessed the incredible power of lifestyle change, and have acted on it.
Help Us Begin Our Campaign For the Next Generation...
For More Information, Contact:
Peggy Cavalancia
1-800-327-4914 or 305-935-7131 (ext 1318)
Or email: pcavalancia@pritikin.com
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