Michael P. Milburn, PhD
Your Guide to the path of optimal health
For over 40 years health has been my passion. I’ve explored everything from quantum physics to cell biology and biochemistry, but it was Denis Burkitt, MD who helped me see that chronic disease can not only be prevented but reversed. Since that time I’ve been inspired by people like Caldwell Esselstyn, MD and Dean Ornish MD who have reversed heart disease and even early stage prostate cancer by changing what people eat and how they live.
I have worked as a professor teaching health studies and in heavy industry dealing with occupational health. I’ve carried out research and written books, but the chance to share and guide others to optimal health as they get older is my greatest thrill.
It is not your destiny to gain weight and suffer from increasing blood pressure and cholesterol over time. If that has been your experience you need a plan to get on the right path not to live longer but to live to your full potential.
nutrition: key pathway to health
What we eat is the leading cause of death. I have shared my cooking and nutrition program with groups and individuals for some 30 years. My inspiration comes from traditional diets, the world’s ‘blue zones, where good health with age is most common and the programs developed to reverse chronic disease. I studied at Cornell’s Center for Nutrition studies and Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s nutritarian system for disease reversal. I grew up eating real food gathered and grown and even hunted and fished, and while I had an opportunity to work in the creation of highly processed food I have taken the opposite path of being a real food advocate.
Keeping fit and having fun
It is necessary to be fit to have good health and maximize your healthspan. Fitness must be fun and fit the individual. For some group activity provides motivation, for others solitary connection to nature is best. For me I include resistance training using kettlebells when I’m not snow shovelling, running in three seasons and cross country skiing and snow shoeing in winter. Interval training is also on the list. Training in exercise prescription helps me to find the right starting point for my clients, where ever their starting point is.
The stress Reduction tool box
Stress unfortunately is a feature of modern life and we all need a stress reduction tool box to draw upon for times both good and bad. Connecting with your friends, your church group, or with nature is a powerful force for health. For me I have studied meditation, biofeedback, and traditional Chinese approaches to mind body exercise Qi Gong and Tai Chi. These gentle movements that combine mind, body and breathing are very powerful techniques to restore balance in the nervous system to restore blood pressure, sleep, the immune system and much more.