Durk Pearson | |
---|---|
Born | August 19,1943 Illinois |
Died | October 26,2024 |
Occupation | writer and life extension advocate |
Nationality | American |
Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Notable works | Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach |
Spouse |
Durk Pearson (born August 1943) was a research scientist best known for coauthoring a series of books on longevity, beginning with Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach .
While a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he was a member of the MIT Science Fiction Society and one of the writers for the early underground comic God Comics. Pearson graduated from MIT with a triple major in physics, biology, and psychology. [2]
Pearson has patents in the area of oil shale and tar sands recovery, [3] lasers, holography and supplement formulations. [4] Pearson assisted with equipment design and experiments for NASA's Space Shuttle. [5] Pearson is also an International Society for Testing and Failure Analysis honoree. [6]
Pearson and his wife, Sandy Shaw, are the authors of Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach [7] ( ISBN 0-446-51229-X, Warner Books, 1982), The Life Extension Companion [8] (Warner Books), The Life Extension Weight Loss Program, and Freedom of Informed Choice: FDA v. Nutrient Supplements, (Common Sense Press, 1993). The couple have written numerous articles on life extension, cognitive enhancement, anti-aging, weight loss, and other aspects of nutrition.[ citation needed ]
Pearson and Shaw wrote, designed the stunts, and acted as technical advisors for a 1978 episode of The Wonderful World of Disney , called "Black Holes, Monsters That Eat Space and Time." [9] They acted as scientific and technical advisors and received screen credits for the Clint Eastwood film Firefox . [10] They received screen credits for acting as technical advisors for Douglas Trumbull's film Brainstorm , starring Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood. [11] In 1988, Steve Sharon, Pearson, and Shaw wrote the thriller The Dead Pool, which was later sold to Warner Bros. and made into a film. [12] Pearson and Shaw make a cameo appearance in the funeral scene. They are standing directly behind the bereaved.
Pearson and Shaw in a civil action challenged the constitutional validity of several U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") regulations that require sellers of dietary supplements to obtain FDA authorization before labeling such supplements with "health claims." In ruling against the FDA, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found that the supplement health claims were constitutionally protected free speech. [13]
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener and sugar substitute. As the majority of ingested sucralose is not metabolized by the body, it adds very little food energy. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. It is produced by chlorination of sucrose, selectively replacing three of the hydroxy groups—in the C1 and C6 positions of the fructose portion and the C4 position of the glucose portion—to give a 1,6-dichloro-1,6-dideoxyfructose–4-chloro-4-deoxygalactose disaccharide. Sucralose is about 600 times sweeter than sucrose, 3 times as sweet as both aspartame and acesulfame potassium, and 2 times as sweet as sodium saccharin.
A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill, capsule, tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients either extracted from food sources, or that are synthetic. The classes of nutrient compounds in supplements include vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, and amino acids. Dietary supplements can also contain substances that have not been confirmed as being essential to life, and so are not nutrients per se, but are marketed as having a beneficial biological effect, such as plant pigments or polyphenols. Animals can also be a source of supplement ingredients, such as collagen from chickens or fish for example. These are also sold individually and in combination, and may be combined with nutrient ingredients. The European Commission has also established harmonized rules to help insure that food supplements are safe and appropriately labeled.
Joel Fuhrman is an American celebrity doctor who advocates a plant-based diet termed the "nutritarian" diet which emphasizes nutrient-dense foods. His practice is based on his nutrition-based approach to obesity and chronic disease, as well as promoting his products and books. He has written books promoting his dietary approaches including the bestsellers Eat to Live, Super Immunity, The Eat to Live Cookbook, The End of Dieting (2016) and The End of Heart Disease (2016). He sells a related line of nutrition-related products.
Ephedra is a medicinal preparation from the plant Ephedra sinica. Several additional species belonging to the genus Ephedra have traditionally been used for a variety of medicinal purposes, and are a possible candidate for the soma plant of Indo-Iranian religion. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine, in which it is referred to as Ma Huang, for more than 2,000 years. Native Americans and Mormon pioneers drank a tea brewed from other Ephedra species, called "Mormon tea" and "Indian tea".
Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health, or physical fitness, refers to a reduction of the total body mass, by a mean loss of fluid, body fat, or lean mass. Weight loss can either occur unintentionally because of malnourishment or an underlying disease, or from a conscious effort to improve an actual or perceived overweight or obese state. "Unexplained" weight loss that is not caused by reduction in calorific intake or increase in exercise is called cachexia and may be a symptom of a serious medical condition.
A fad diet is a diet that is popular, generally only for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard scientific dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements; as such it is often considered a type of pseudoscientific diet. Fad diets are usually not supported by clinical research and their health recommendations are not peer-reviewed, thus they often make unsubstantiated statements about health and disease.
Roy Lee Walford, M. D. was a professor of pathology at University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, a leading advocate of calorie restriction for life extension and health improvement, and a crew member of Biosphere 2.
Body for Life (BFL) is a 12-week nutrition and exercise program, and also an annual physique transformation competition. The program utilizes a low-fat high-protein diet. It was created by Bill Phillips, a former competitive bodybuilder and previous owner of EAS, a manufacturer of nutritional supplements. It has been popularized by a bestselling book of the same name.
Sibutramine, formerly sold under the brand name Meridia among others, is an appetite suppressant which has been discontinued in many countries. It works as a serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) similar to certain antidepressants. Until 2010, it was widely marketed and prescribed as an adjunct in the treatment of obesity along with diet and exercise. It has been associated with increased cardiovascular diseases and strokes and has been withdrawn from the market in 2010 in several countries and regions including Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. However, the drug remains available in some countries.
Jillian Michaels is an American fitness expert, nutritionist, businesswoman, media personality, and author. She is best known for her appearances on NBC series such as The Biggest Loser. She has also made an appearance on the talk show The Doctors. In 2015, she hosted and co-judged a series on Spike titled Sweat, INC. In 2016, her reality television series Just Jillian premiered on E!.
Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach is a 1982 book (ISBN 0-446-51229-X) by Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw that popularized the life extension and smart drug movements.
Sandy Shaw was an American writer on health, and an avid advocate of life extension.
Following is a list of topics related to life extension:
Hydroxycut is a brand of dietary supplements that is marketed as a weight loss aid. Hydroxycut was originally developed and manufactured by MuscleTech Research and Development; MuscleTech was sold to Iovate Health Sciences in 2003–2004 and declared bankruptcy in 2005; Iovate continues to use MuscleTech as a brand to market Hydroxycut.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to exercise:
Dexatrim is an over-the-counter (OTC) dietary supplement meant to assist with weight loss. Dexatrim claims it "gives you the power to lose weight, curb binges, and keep you in control of your diet." Current Dexatrim products available are in capsule form and include Dexatrim Max Complex 7, Dexatrim Max Daytime Appetite Control, Dexatrim Natural Green Tea, and Dexatrim Natural Extra Energy. The major active ingredients found in current Dexatrim products include caffeine, green tea extract, Asian (Panax) ginseng root extract, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA).
Fit for Life is a diet and lifestyle book series stemming from the principles of orthopathy. It is promoted mainly by the American writers Harvey and Marilyn Diamond. The Fit for Life book series describes a fad diet which specifies eating only fruit in the morning, eating predominantly "live" and "high-water-content" food, and, if animal protein is eaten, avoiding combining it with complex carbohydrates.
The Alliance for Natural Health USA (ANH-USA), formerly known as the American Association for Health Freedom, is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting alternative medicine and is associated with the libertarian health freedom movement. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, the organization was founded in 1992 as the American Preventive Medical Association (APMA) and became a part of the international Alliance for Natural Health organization, headquartered in the United Kingdom, in 2009.
Life extension is the idea of extending the human lifespan.
Christian diet programs are books and other name-brand products promoting weight-loss diets and other diets that the authors believe are consistent with Christian rules and values. They may borrow elements from Jewish dietary laws, the Bible, modern nutrition science, or other sources. Christian diet and exercise programs became popular in the 1970s. They differ from historical, non-commercial Christian dietary traditions, such as not eating meat on Fridays.