An article for American Fitness magazine
The story of diet and fitness pioneer Nathan Pritkin is fraught with controversy and inspiration. This year, the Pritikin organization marks its 25th anniversary, celebrating its remarkable ability to survive and prosper while countless other programs have fallen by the wayside.
"The major cause of death in the United States States is food poisoning."
In the early 1970s, these words cut to the heart of traditional American medicine. They were spoken by a self-taught researcher named Nathan Pritikin, who with no formal medical training or scientific credentials was able to produce indisputable research to support his bold pronouncment. When he presented alternatives to the fat and cholesterol-laden meals that were the staples of the American diet in the 1970s, his critics claimed that Nathan's recommendations would kill people. When he went public with his belief that heart patients should engage in moderate exercise, the medical "experts" labeled him a quack, a hereteic and an outlaw.
Now, 25 years later, Nathan's once-radical ideas are taken for granted in the majority of American households, and commercial food products from sugary kids' cereals to gourmet cheeses boast about their low fat contents. Nathan was the visionary who started it all, long before it was politically correct to eat well and to exercise.
From humble beginnings, Nathan's reach has expanded to include a luxury spa, several top-selling books, a part in a revolutionary new technology for treating angina, and most importantly, more than 70,000 people who credit the program for improving -- and in some cases saving -- their lives. So what's the deal? Why has Pritikin survived with dignity for 25 years while so many other weight loss and fitness programs have become commercial sell-outs?
"We're unique because no other health program has been more closely studied, and none have demonstrated the kind of success that we have," says Robert Pritikin, son of Nathan and current director the Pritikin organization. "We're different because we've done research far and above what other health programs do, and our results have been published in 80 peer-reviewed journals. We employ a full-time staff of scientists and researchers. It isn't theoretical, and it isn't hype. It's based in scientific evidence."
Robert describes the Pritikin organization as a "living laboratory" that constantly tracks results, alters protocol and puts new data to work. Unlike ultra-commercial weight loss programs like Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers, Pritikin doesn't advocate rapid weight loss, but offers a health improvement system in which weight loss occurs as a natural benefit. That -- plus the Pritikin research that's been published all over the world -- is what sets the program apart. The fact that the program grows and evolves as a result of the research is what accounts for more than half the Pritikin alumni returning on a regular basis for a refresher course.
The intense focus on research was an intrinsic part of Nathan Pritikin's personality. He was curious, tenacious, and obsessed with finding the truth in everything that challenged him. An eccentric genius, inventor, creator and electronic whiz, Pritikin held more than two dozen patents on various inventions. His passion for taking things apart and learning how they work shifted to the health arena in 1957, when he was diagnosed with heart disease at age 40. When doctors told him to eliminate exercise, take an afternoon nap each day and eat more eggs, he ignored their advice. Instead, he began reading books on blood chemistry and nutrition, and kept meticiluous track of his health through blood tests and urinalysis. It was the beginning of a personal research project that lasted a lifetime and would eventually win him international acclaim.
In the 1950s, the healthfullness of the American diet -- with staples like a two-martini lunch and a daily dose of red meat -- was unquestioned. But Pritkin fought the system, following his hunch that lowering fat and cholesterol, combined with exercise could not only maintain health, but restore it. Through trial and error, he had developed a protocol for changing diet and lifestyle habits that he was certain could help other people. And he tested it out on himself as well as on numerous friends, family and research subjects. In 1976, confident with his findings, Nathan opened the Pritikin Logenvity Center. But the medical establshment would not acknowledge Nathan's work until much later, when the controversy generated enough media attention to make Nathan a celebrity.
"Nathan was living proof that the program worked." says Robert. "After his death, his autopsy revealed that his arteries were akin to those of a young man and totally clear of any heart disease. There's a great quote attributed to a doctor named Ernst Wynder, who was credited with dicovering the link between cigarettes and lung cancer. Ernest said, 'the goal is to die young...as late in life as possible.' That sums up the Pritikin theory beautifully."
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