Introduction
With this new edition of “In Fitness and In Health,” it’s more
obvious than ever that we have entered a new era in health care. The
responsibility for personal health has shifted from a broken health-
care system back to each of us. It’s a time when we demand higher
quality of life now and for the future. In this age of true prevention,
we seek to avoid the illnesses we almost accept as part of the aging
process. We want to postpone — effectively preventing — cancer,
heart disease and Alzheimer’s rather than settle for early detection.
We would rather be full of life in our “golden years” than spend a
decade or more at the end of life in dysfunction. The tools to do this
are contained in this newly rewritten and expanded fifth edition.
I continue sharing my experiences on improving health as a bal-
ance of art and science. This stems from my clinical practice in com-
plementary medicine, which began in 1977, and — previous to that —
being a patient. The art facet entails a unique understanding of both
fitness and health. I compiled the actual science through my early
education, then extensive clinical research. In this book I combine this
art with this science in hopes of helping you to fully understand and
simplify many of the complex mechanisms of fitness and health.
I have worked with patients from all walks of life, from the most
healthy to the most frail, from professional athletes to couch potatoes.
Many had unique imbalances that not only caused dysfunction, but
detracted from their quality of life, reducing what I call “human per-
formance.” Many of these problems were the result of dietary and
nutritional imbalances, and others stemmed from deficiencies in the
aerobic system or the stress-coping mechanisms. It was clear that
addressing these problems immediately and individually was the key
not only to improving health in the short term, but also avoiding seri-
ous disease in the long run.
This reorganized and extensively updated edition addresses
steps you can take to improve your health and fitness for a better
quality of life now, and a longer life and higher human performance
in your later years. It opens by defining key issues, terms and philoso-