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Q. Tell us a little about yourself?   What prompted you to write books on health?

I have been consulting, speaking and coaching for over 20 years. I have successfully used the concepts in my books to help people become fit, healthier, and overcome serious diseases such as cancer, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. But I started with myself.

I spent most of my younger years in bed or visiting the doctor – not running and playing with my friends. I was a chronic asthmatic and I had severe eczema. I was allergic to almost everything – dust, animals, pollen – you name it, I was allergic to it. 

At the age of 25, I had an anaphylactic shock reaction, while not my first reaction, that one was the one that almost killed me. Actually, my heart stopped in the emergency room and it was the treatment that almost killed me. The drugs they had given me to keep me alive, were also killing me, just more slowly. The doctors finally admitted as much. At that point I realized I needed to take control in order to save my own life.

Since the drugs weren't helping I looked for other alternatives. I went to the local health-food stores (this was back in 1975, before Goggle), but there wasn’t much information available.

So I did my research in the area of physiology, the study of how the body functions. I changed my lifestyle to incorporate the basic principles of physiology and I got healthy.

I still live by those principles of physiology and I'm still healthy.

My new book, Overcoming the Myths of Aging challenges the myths that are aging us prematurely. Most of us buy into these aging myths. You know the myths I'm taking about, the ones that make us think it's "normal" to add a few pounds, be less active, and expect our health to decline, as we get older. 

It may be "normal" but it's certainly not natural. And, I don’t believe this “normal” life is the life we really want. Don’t we deserve something much better? 

Let's look at the baby boomers, our biggest adult population, who are now between the ages of 44 and 61. Buying into these myths has resulted in 55% of these boomers having high cholesterol, and more than 65% being overweight. Today, one in three boomers already has cardio vascular disease, our number one cause of death. That's scary.

Overcoming the Myths of Aging debunks the aging myths and leverages the principles of human physiology to reveal the influence of toxicity, malnutrition and negative attitudes that are at the root of the aging myths. Once these influences are reduced or eliminated the body’s own ability to rejuvenate kicks in. The book offers a framework to make this possible, and to help you improve your health and fitness, and regain your energy with simple changes in food, exercise and attitude.

Q. Tell us more about the aging myths. What are they and why do you suggest that they are indeed "myths?"

The aging myths are when we get old, we get sick, fat and flabby.   That we lose our sex drive and our sex appeal and that it is too late to really be, do or have what we really want. They are myths because it not only doesn't make sense physiologically but also because there are people that are older who don't buy into these myths and don't have the negative results. I talk about them in my book. Hey, I'm one of them. I'm 57 and I know I'm getting better and healthier.

No, it is the opposite. Diets are dead-ends. They focus on what you can’t do and create lifestyles that are not sustainable for people. This book is about how to add more nutrition, exercise and positive attitude to your life. Rather that creating limits for people , the book explains what fuels the body’s natural ability to keep healthy and offers ways to ensure that healthy habits become more common than unhealthy habits.

Q. Your last book, Perfect Body, has been in circulation for several years with a following around the world. How is your Perfect Body plan different from your Overcoming The Myths plan?

I wrote Perfect Body to help people get healthy and it worked. It was based upon the research I did and the steps I took to battle a life threatening illness. The PB plan has succeeded in helping people recover from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, asthma, and many other conditions to live full and happy lives.

But it only worked if you did it, and doing it was the difficult part. Most people with no symptoms of disease found it too difficult to embrace the concepts in my plan. At the time, I couldn’t understand their resistance—especially family and friends who knew me when I was sick. They watched as my life was transformed; yet they refused to consider a change.

As I saw more and more boomers succumb to disease, weight gain and inactivity, I decided to write Overcoming the Myths of Aging to take the same ideas in Perfect Body to a broader audience, and in doing so, contribute to improving the lives of even more people. The principles are consistent, but the plan is much easier to adopt.

Q. Your books have a following in the vegan and raw foods communities. Is this book about vegan or raw foods lifestyles?

There are many beneficial aspects to those lifestyles, but I would not say that either my work or this book should be considered vegan or raw food. The book comes from the perspective of physiology. Of what makes the body healthy and keeps it that way. Fresh fruits and raw vegetables are an important foundation, but it is also important to accommodate the personal choices we might want to make.

What I have found in my work is that by creating more healthy habits, the body naturally ceases craving unhealthy choices. It gets easier to be healthy. It’s a virtuous cycle. Just as important to our mental health is accommodating compromises. Things we want to do for pleasure. Overcoming the Myths of Aging helps people find a balance that leads them to happier, healthier lives.

Q. Why do you feel that it was important to get this book, Overcoming The Myths of Aging, out to the public at this time?

Most of our 76 million baby boomers are anticipating the onset of degenerative disease, excess fat, a flabby body, aches and pains and believe that physical age is the cause of their problems. I refer to this condition as “boomerosis.” This self-induced condition will age them prematurely, rob them of the life they deserve, and lead them to an early grave. And it’s all because of a few myths that they can easily change in 90 days or less by following the plan in Over Coming the Myths of Aging.

Q. Your new book seems to be targeted at the “baby boomers”. Why did you choose to specifically address that group, and is the book relevant to a broader audience?

I specifically saw an opportunity to help boomers for two reasons. First, it’s a very real problem that is affecting a huge demographic, and my experience over the years has proven that my plan can truly change their health for the better. And I am one of them. I think I can be a great example.

Second, as this boomer generation looks in the mirror, they are seeing and feeling the changes in their bodies and they will seemingly buy anything they can get their hands on that might stop or at least slow down the process. In the face of mounting evidence regarding lifestyle impact on health, they will even start making lifestyle changes they might not have considered before. It’s the lifestyle changes that will save them!