Mark Hyman

Mark Adam Hyman (born November 22, 1959) is an American physician and author.

He is the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center and was a columnist for The Huffington Post.

He was the co-medical director at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts, from 1996 to 2004.

He opened The UltraWellness Center in a small shopping mall in Lenox after leaving Canyon Ranch.

Hyman is one of the most prominent proponents of functional medicine, a controversial form of alternative medicine; there is no definitive clinical evidence of its effectiveness.

He is the board president of clinical affairs of the Institute for Functional Medicine, and is a contributing editor and former editor-in-chief to the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine.

Quackwatch lists Hyman's 2003 book Ultraprevention: The 6-Week Plan That Will Make You Healthy for Life as one of their non-recommended books due to promoting misinformation and containing unsubstantiated advice.

In 2009, Hyman testified before the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions about integrative medical care.

Hyman also participated in a Partners In Health program to bring medical care to Haiti following the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Hyman was a regular contributor to the Katie Couric Show until the show's cancellation in 2013.

He writes a blog called The Doctor’s Farmacy, which examines many topics related to human health and welfare.

He is the author of several books on nutrition and longevity, including Food Fix, Eat Fat, Get Thin, and Young Forever.

Hyman is a proponent of functional medicine, a controversial form of alternative medicine.

He is the board president of clinical affairs of the Institute for Functional Medicine.

He was the editor-in-chief of, and is a contributing editor to, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal.

Hyman promotes a diet called peganism, which has been called a fad diet by some dietitians.

Hyman was born in New York to Ruth Sidransky.

He graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor's degree in Asian Studies.

He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Ottawa and completed his training at the Community Hospital of Santa Rosa in family medicine.

Hyman started his medical career as a family physician in rural Idaho and later as an emergency department physician in Massachusetts.

In December 2013, The Daniel Plan, a book Hyman co-authored with Pastor Rick Warren and Daniel Amen, became Number One on the New York Times bestseller list.

Hyman is the author of several books on nutrition and health, such as 10 Day Detox Diet. Hyman was named the director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine in September 2014.

He appeared as a featured expert in the 2014 documentary film ''Fed Up.

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He collaborated with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2014 book Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak, writing the preface in which he advocates for the removal of thimerosal from vaccines as a precautionary measure.

Hyman convinced Kennedy to remove controversial chapters incorrectly linking thimerosal to autism.

A 2014 New York Times article described Hyman's relationship as a medical adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Hyman first wrote about the pegan diet in 2014 and outlined it in his book Food: What the Heck Should I Eat?, published in 2018.

In 2016, Hyman joined environmentalists and civil rights leaders in calling for federal investigations into U.S. fluoridation policy, writing that communities of color are at particular risk of adverse health impacts.

Hyman endorsed a low-carbohydrate high-fat diet in his books Eat Fat Get Thin and The Eat Fat, Get Thin Cookbook, published in 2016.

In these books, Hyman disputes commonly held ideas about consuming dietary fat.

He says that saturated fat does not cause heart disease and obesity; processed carbohydrates do.

Hyman recommends his readers transition to a pegan diet.

Hyman promoted the pegan diet, a plant-rich diet that combines principles of the paleo and vegan diets.

The pegan diet is gluten-free and encourages consumption of nonstarchy vegetables with grass-fed organic meats and low-mercury fish.

The diet consists of 75% plant foods and limits fruits to low-glycemic berries.

The pegan diet opposes refined sugar and foods that can spike insulin production.

The diet also opposes cow's milk but is not dairy free.

Hyman allows the occasional organic goat or sheep milk, yogurt, kefir, grass-fed butter, ghee or cheese.

Hyman has stated that the pegan diet can be defined by one simple rule: "If God made it, eat it; if man made it, leave it."