Any program promising better health is only as good as the work you put into it, but Ultraprevention authors Mark Liponis and Mark Hyman, co-directors of medicine at Canyon Ranch, have designed their program so that not everyone must follow every little detail to the letter. Their six-week program is divided into three stages, but you can decide which suggestions will help speed you towards your goals. They begin by simplifying illness and reducing the various causes to five possible categories: Burnout (metabolism), Heat (inflammation), Rust (presence of free radicals or absence of antioxidants), Sludge (nutrition), and Waste (poor detoxification). These five categories are individually complex, but it's not at all difficult to find a few simple steps to take in the direction of healthier living. Some choices--filtering drinking water via reverse osmosis, improving your sleeping habits, or choosing specific supplements to add to your daily regimen--are quick and painless. Others, such as weaning yourself off prescription medications (like anti-inflammatories) and replacing the drugs with micronutrients, are best done in consultation with your own physician. Balancing general suggestions with a deep understanding that people vary greatly in their habits, Liponis and Hyman present a range of possibilities for every age and level of fitness while simultaneously addressing the specific needs of particular illnesses. While the terminology is potentially overwhelming to total novices in complimentary medicine, the book offers clear and excellent possibilities for those who are willing to look outside the box for improved health. --Jill Lightner


From Publishers Weekly
Bets are on that pharmaceutical companies are not fans of doctors Mark Hyman and Mark Liponis, co-medical directors of Canyon Ranch, a practice affiliated with Harvard University. Their fact-packed book presents a convincing argument that most prescription and over-the-counter medications do nothing more than treat the symptoms of sickness, ignoring the root cause of illnesses like asthma, diabetes, arthritis and heart disease. They also blame pharmaceutically indoctrinated doctors for neglecting their duty to examine the real causes of illness in their patients. "If you have high blood pressure," they remark, "Doctors give you a high blood pressure pill, instead of trying to figure out why you might have high blood pressure in the first place." In lieu of such quick fixes, Hyman and Liponis suggest a plan of far-reaching life-style changes that combat "the five forces of illness" (i.e., malnutrition, impaired metabolism, inflammation, impaired detoxification and oxidative stress). For example, instead of treating arthritis with commonly prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs that can "burn a hole in your stomach, your kidneys, or your liver" they suggest taking nutritional supplements like glucosamine and chondrotin. But Hyman and Liponis's six-week Ultra-Prevention Plan can be a bit overwhelming-one of its first steps requires that readers install a reverse osmosis water filter in their kitchens. It may be that only true believers, or otherwise very dedicated folks, will be determined enough to practice Hyman and Liponis's prescription for good health. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Two likable physicians weave every new and worthwhile idea about nutrition into a useful guide to healthy living. Even the trickiest language of today's metabolic lexicon is a breeze to understand in the hands of these two articulate authors, who also have fabulous speaking voices. The five forces of illness--malnutrition, impaired metabolism, inflammation, impaired detoxification, and oxidative stress--call attention to processes that are operating in our bodies, whether we know it or not, and which require regular attention if we want to live a long time. A well-done audio that should be a top listening priority for health pros and anyone interested in physical health. T.W. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


Review
Peter Libby, M.D. Chief, Cardiovascular Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School A healthy lifestyle is the cornerstone of cardiovascular prevention. Hyman and Liponis provide a provocative, practical, accessible, and highly readable guide to this important subject and challenge aspects of the traditional medical model.


Book Description
Two physicians unveil a revolutionary, accessible, science-based, patient-centered program for living an active, age-defying, disease-free life. Healthcare is pulled and shaped by many forces, by drug and insurance companies looking for profits, by politicians in search of votes, and by stressed, overworked physicians who barely have time to talk to you before writing a prescription or packing you off to a specialist. So is anyone interested in keeping you well? Yes. Created by two physicians who both survived catastrophic illness, the Ultraprevention program will work for absolutely everyone -- old, young, healthy, sick, or somewhere in between. The promise of its practice is huge -- a health span that matches life span -- and you'll experience increased energy, weight loss, enhanced mood and memory, better digestion, deeper sleep, diminished stress, and more. Ultraprevention is the new science of staying healthy, an innovative program that shatters the myths of today's "fix-the-broken-parts" medicine. These myths -- drugs cure disease, genes determine your fate, getting older means aging, fat is a four-letter word -- are actually believed by many doctors and are keeping you sick. Ardent general practitioners, Drs. Hyman and Liponis reject the current healthcare system of specialists paid to find something wrong, specialists who don't consider how their "cure" for one ailment affects the entire body. Working outside the managed care model at Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires, Hyman and Liponis break free of the vicious quick-fix prescription cycle and formulate a program that identifies and eliminates the cause of disease instead of just masking symptoms. Isolating the source of more than 90 percent of today's most common diseases, from cancer and heart disease to diabetes, stroke, and Alzheimer's, they enumerate the Five Forces of Illness -- Sludge (malnutrition), Burnout (impaired metabolism), Heat (inflammation), Waste (impaired detoxification), and Rust (oxidative stress). Through the practice of the six-week Ultraprevention program, you'll learn three simple steps -- each only two weeks long -- that stop these forces and create a lifetime of good health by removing allergens, infections, and toxins from the body and environment; repairing the body through personalizing nutrition, boosting the immune system, and balancing hormones; and recharging with stress management, sleep restoration, and gentle movement. So stop falling for the myths that make you sick and start Ultraprevention, the powerful plan to get older without aging, to maintain health for all of life.


Download Description
"Two physicians unveil a revolutionary, accessible, science-based, patient-centered program for living an active, age-defying, disease-free life. Healthcare is pulled and shaped by many forces, by drug and insurance companies looking for profits, by politicians in search of votes, and by stressed, overworked physicians who barely have time to talk to you before writing a prescription or packing you off to a specialist. So is anyone interested in keeping you well? Yes. Created by two physicians who both survived catastrophic illness, the Ultraprevention program will work for absolutely everyone -- old, young, healthy, sick, or somewhere in between. The promise of its practice is huge -- a health span that matches life span -- and you'll experience increased energy, weight loss, enhanced mood and memory, better digestion, deeper sleep, diminished stress, and more. Ultraprevention is the new science of staying healthy, an innovative program that shatters the myths of today's ""fix-the-broken-parts"" medicine. These myths -- drugs cure disease, genes determine your fate, getting older means aging, fat is a four-letter word -- are actually believed by many doctors and are keeping you sick. Ardent general practitioners, Drs. Hyman and Liponis reject the current healthcare system of specialists paid to find something wrong, specialists who don't consider how their ""cure"" for one ailment affects the entire body. Working outside the managed care model at Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires, Hyman and Liponis break free of the vicious quick-fix prescription cycle and formulate a program that identifies and eliminates the cause of disease instead of just masking symptoms.


About the Author
Mark Hyman, M.D., was educated at Cornell University and the University of Ottawa Medical School.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Shattering the myth that modern medicine is only supposed to "fix the broken parts," two physicians from Arizona's famed Canyon Ranch health resort have developed a program based on science, prevention, and personal empowerment. Rather than relying on drugs to fix ailments or succumbing to genetic predispositions, you can employ this six-week program to flush out toxins, restore healthy sleep patterns, and learn how to exercise in a gentle, effective way. This new science of wellness is required reading for health-conscious folks looking to stay happy and balanced.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Healthcare is pulled and shaped by many forces, by drug and insurance companies looking for profits, by politicians in search of votes, and by stressed, overworked physicians who barely have time to talk to you before writing a prescription or packing you off to a specialist.

So is anyone interested in keeping you well?

Yes. Created by two physicians who both survived catastrophic illness, the Ultraprevention program will work for absolutely everyone -- old, young, healthy, sick, or somewhere in between. The promise of its practice is huge -- a health span that matches life span -- and you'll experience increased energy, weight loss, enhanced mood and memory, better digestion, deeper sleep, diminished stress, and more.

Ultraprevention is the new science of staying healthy, an innovative program that shatters the myths of today's "fix-the-broken-parts" medicine. These myths -- drugs cure disease, genes determine your fate, getting older means aging, fat is a four-letter word -- are actually believed by many doctors and are keeping you sick.

Ardent general practitioners, Drs. Hyman and Liponis reject the current healthcare system of specialists paid to find something wrong, specialists who don't consider how their "cure" for one ailment affects the entire body.

Working outside the managed care model at Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires, Hyman and Liponis break free of the vicious quick-fix prescription cycle and formulate a program that identifies and eliminates the cause of disease instead of just masking symptoms.

Isolating the source of more than 90 percent of today's most common diseases, from cancer and heart disease to diabetes, stroke, and Alzheimer's, they enumerate the Five Forces of Illness -- Sludge (malnutrition), Burnout (impaired metabolism), Heat (inflammation), Waste (impaired detoxification), and Rust (oxidative stress). Through the practice of the six-week Ultraprevention program, you'll learn three simple steps -- each only two weeks long -- that stop these forces and create a lifetime of good health by removing allergens, infections, and toxins from the body and environment; repairing the body through personalizing nutrition, boosting the immune system, and balancing hormones; and recharging with stress management, sleep restoration, and gentle movement.

So stop falling for the myths that make you sick and start Ultraprevention, the powerful plan to get older without aging, to maintain health for all of life.

FROM THE CRITICS

AudioFile