Healthy Greetings Friends, Clients and Colleagues ~

“People don't care how much you know ; they want to know how much you care !”

Okay, who needs another health and nutrition advice website? There are literally hundreds of them. There are thousands of books on health and nutrition, and hundreds of authors whose work has inspired many. The bookshelves are lined with book topics on men's health, women's health, children's health, how to beat cancer, how to treat heart disease, the hundreds of weight loss books and various other topics. I have some awesome, wonderful, highly-credentialed and highly-respected friends and colleagues who are authors of best selling books that grace my personal medical and health library. Their books are on my recommended reading list. They ARE the experts and I encourage you to read their books.

“Unless we put Medical Freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize itself into an undercover dictatorship. To restrict the art of healing to one class of men and deny equal privileges to others will constitute the Bastille of Medical Science .” - Dr. Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration of Independence

So, who am I and what makes me an authority on health and nutrition and more importantly disease prevention?

My own father died of a massive heart attack at age 58 when I was four months pregnant with my first child. My mother has emphysema from years of smoking. Although she quit more than 10 years ago, her 40+ years of smoking did its damage to her lungs. At this writing, one of my sisters weighs over 275 pounds and is a type 2 diabetic who is on several medications. My 52-year-old brother had a liver transplant recently and his own surgeon told me that his nutritional status “sucked” (this slang coming from a highly educated and highly respected surgeon!) The surgeon also told me that he was considered “borderline” for even getting the liver because of his nutritional status. After the surgery, I moved my brother to Virginia so that I could manage his care and provide the nutrition his body and new liver so desperately needed. I share this family history to show you that my own family's poor diet and lifestyle caused and exacerbated their diseases and, in my father's case, his death. Now I should point out here that my Daddy was from the South, and everything he ate was fried, processed, salted, greasy and usually had a ladle of gravy on it. If I had only known then what I have learned since, of course it would have made a huge difference. So my passion continues…

I have lost beloved family and friends to cancer, heart disease and other preventable diseases. I have family and friends whose own poor health issues are completely diet and lifestyle related. Genes do not always play a role in disease; it's estimated that only 3-5% of cancer is genetic, which means the other 95-97% is affected by our diet and lifestyle. A recent well-known cardiologist was on Larry King discussing Tim Russert's untimely death and when asked about genetics, the physician said “genetics loads the gun; diet and lifestyle pull the trigger!” In other words, even if we have bad genes, they have to be ‘turned on' or ‘expressed'. We always have the opportunity to turn them off! Proper diet and lifestyle are keys to disease prevention and longevity.

My passion of advocacy and the legacy I'm creating are for my children, their future children and for generations to come. My children are caring and loving and are also seeking to make a difference in the lives of others. My oldest daughter is studying to become a registered nurse and then she plans to go on to become an RNP; my son is serving in the U.S. Navy and is learning fire-fighting skills; my youngest daughter continues her education while providing daycare.

"It would be hard to top the enthusiasm, sincerity and energy of Tami Hulcher for promoting health and nutrition, especially in promoting health through proper diet. " - Dr. T. Colin Campbell, PhD, Best Selling Author "The China Study"; Professor Emeritus Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University ; researcher and author of over 300 research papers.

I am so passionate about life, our environment and people's health especially that of our children. Why do I continue to gift and share health information? Life experiences, passion for the truth, and research, research, research! My friend and colleague, Dr. T. Colin Campbell's book “The China Study” the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted had a profound effect on me. Prior to reading his book, I had returned to school to study nutrition and had already attained certification, yet it wasn't enough for me. So back to school to complete my bachelor's/master's program on nutrition. I've attended conferences, lectures and webinars on various topics such as autism, nutrition, disease prevention, cardiovascular health, women's health, pediatrics, cancer and more. I've subscribed to various journals, newsletters and other publications. With mounds and mounds of research, articles, various papers and armed with knowledge, it was time to gather, collate and articulate all of it into layman's terms knowing that thousands of people needed, wanted and deserved the truth. “Health education”, gifting and sharing is what I do best and what I am so passionate about. You and your family are worth it and your health matters!

I've been providing health and nutrition lectures for many years. I am a member and guest speaker for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington DC . I have done many radio shows and appeared on television, and even co-hosted a radio show. I wrote, produced and hosted a TV show for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, having several UCLA healthcare professionals and cancer survivors as my guests and ‘experts'. I've served on wellness panels, ‘ask the experts' panels, health committees and I currently serve as a nutritional consultant for healthcare professionals. One such professional is an autism specialist at UCLA. I've attended autism conferences and support groups. I've lectured in classrooms, assemblies, PTAs, hospitals, prestigious hotel resorts, and for various organizations and businesses. I've been a plenary speaker and keynote speaker for continuing education credits. I'll agree, all of this may not make me “expert”. Nutrition information is sometimes biased, funded by big industry or big pharma and is very confusing for the consumer. It's even confusing for our healthcare professionals. Many physicians have never even had a nutrition class in med-school! Many health organizations, including The American Dietetics Associations (registered dieticians) accept industry funding, so it could appear that information from these groups may be biased. When these organizations claim there ‘are no bad foods', when we now have research to prove otherwise, the public should be wary and use caution with respect to advice from these seemingly well-intended, yet sometimes industry funded organizations. In their defense, some of the information is beneficial. I have friends and colleagues who are registered dieticians, and I have respect for them.

So, I've become the voice of thousands…I'm a mom on a mission! It doesn't take a PhD to see that our healthcare system is broken, we are sicker and fatter than ever before and millions of people are taking medications for problems that proper diet and lifestyle could fix. Disease rates are climbing, we have not won the war on cancer, and our children are taking medications that only our grandparents used to take. When an eight-year-old needs cholesterol lowering medication, and when a two-year-old needs anti-depressants, we should be screaming at the top of our unhealthy lungs!!! We are not Lipitor deficient or Prozac deficient! We are knowledge deficient and nutrition deficient!

We need to stand united over the nutritional concerns and health of our society. America should not rank in the lowest percentile of mortality or disease! We can make America and our world healthier! My children used to say to me “Mom, you can't change the world.” And I always reply, “Yes WE can, one person at a time!' Together we can make a difference, in our families, our communities, our nation and our world. I hope you will join me on this journey.