Heart Health

In 1976, Hal was anything but healthy. His arteries were so clogged that he couldn’t walk around the block near his home without suffering chest-squeezing angina pain. His doctors told him he needed double coronary bypass surgery immediately, or he could try "this new diet-and-exercise program" being taught up in Santa Barbara by a man named Nathan Pritikin. Hal chose the latter. He’s never needed bypass surgery or angioplasty. And he’s never suffered a heart attack. In fact, last year cardiac testing showed that his coronary arteries had no blockages. None.

Leon Perlsweig always knew his DNA wasn’t the best. His earliest memories were of his dear mother passing out in the street, “which scared the hell out of me. I was just a little kid.”

"When my doctors told me 20 years ago I needed coronary bypass surgery, I told them I had a better solution. I went to Pritikin instead. I'VE NEVER HAD ANOTHER PROBLEM WITH MY HEART. No chest pains. No angioplasty. No bypass surgery. Every six months, I see my cardiologist and take a battery of tests, and every six months he says that my coronary risk profile is right on target."

Via the Pritikin Program, Leonard Riggio has realized one of his own personal dreams – a vibrant healthy life despite a strong family history of heart disease – “almost every male member of our family has heart disease.”

"I'm 66 years old now, and I have no heart problems. I've found the Pritikin Program to be highly beneficial. A week at the Pritikin Center rejuvenates me. I really feel better, both physically and emotionally. I have much more energy. I'm more alert. I certainly feel much, much younger."