I started studying nutrition and biochemistry while attending UC Santa Barbara in the late 1970s.  I briefly thought about becoming an MD, but decided that I preferred research.  I ended up with a degree in Math / Biology / Chemistry. Then life threw one of its many twists, and I ended up becoming a software engineer instead.  I continued my biochemistry and health reading as a hobby.

I got very sick in the early 1990’s with unusual and debilitating problems that appeared to be related to immune system dysfunction.  I saw many docs, had many tests, many different diagnoses, underwent many treatments, and increased my reading even more (including primary literature).  “Chemical sensitivity” was one thing they called it, but all that really means is “we don’t know what’s wrong.”  If you stacked all of the medical / nutrition / biochemistry books and journals I read during that period on top of each other, the pile would be well over 6 feet tall.

After about 5 years and many hundreds of thousands of dollars, I finally managed to 80%+ cure myself (in spite of many docs telling me it was impossible) – but it was a long, tough road.  On top of that, I have two kids with health problems, and have helped support and advise my father and my mother-in-law through their cancer treatments (they have since died, but both lived years longer than their docs said they would).

I guess in the end you could say that my nutritional education has come from a combination of book learning, consultations with a number of top MDs and other specialists (most of whom don’t see the whole picture), and the school of hard-knocks (self-experimentation and trial-and-error).

Oh, in case you’re curious, the photo at the top of the page was taken from my home in Nelson, New Zealand.