(Preface of The Original Prescription)
Those who know me are well aware that I have spent over 16 years researching and developing evidence-based nutritional supplements (nutraceuticals) for use by clinicians and their patients. You might think it curious, then, that the first manuscript I decided to expand into a book is about lifestyle medicine. The reason is simple. I firmly believe that every therapy, including nutritional supplementation, must be rooted in the fundamental signaling pathways designed to keep us healthy. Those signals and that design are what this book is all about. In many ways, I have been thinking about some of these ideas since my graduate school days, studying molecular immunology and debating the meaning of life with my fellow students. When you really begin to understand the elegant processes that drive the functions we call “life,” you will just shake your head in amazement. My hope is that in my description of the simple complexity that converts our lifestyle decisions into health, you will first be amazed and then inspired to leverage these ideas to pursue your own optimal health. The fundamental principles we outline here are not “new” per se; they are, after all, The Original Prescription. What is new is that our understanding of how and why these interventions work has been expanded with recent scientific research; and when we understand how something works, we are able to leverage its benefits. In this case, understanding the mechanisms behind lifestyle signals allows you to create a synergistic effect using multiple lifestyle intervention strategies. Knowing how these interventions work will also allow you to modify them to fit your unique health history and circumstance, and, because these concepts are fundamental principles, they won’t become useless once the next health fad or research paper comes and goes. As an aside, my other great pursuit is the study of biblical history, language, culture and influence. I have included a few brief anecdotes from these pursuits, mostly in the form of footnotes, for your consideration as well. It would have been easy in a book like this to point the finger of blame toward all those who have contributed to the poor lifestyles driving our healthcare crisis. The usual suspects of agribusiness, Big Pharma, insurance companies, fast-food chains, government regulation, FDA, poor parenting, and the like are easy targets. The fact is there is plenty of blame to be shared by all. Ultimately, most of the decisions that affect your health are yours to make. The principles outlined in this book have a powerful potential to turn your health around but are impotent if left neglected and untried. My hope is that you will, instead, choose to fulfill The Original Prescription.
– Dr. Thomas Guilliams
