Ultraprevention: The 6-Week Plan That Will Make You Healthy for Life

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.