Chosen “One of America’s 20 Superheroes of Health,” Dr. Hans Diehl (1946-2023) established the Lifestyle Medicine Institute at Loma Linda, California more than 25 years ago. Offering more than 30 years of leadership experience in the emerging field of lifestyle medicine, his pioneering efforts with Nathan Pritikin and Denis Burkitt, MD have shown that simple lifestyle changes can prevent and reverse many of today’s diseases.
Dr. Diehl’s work as a lifestyle interventionist, researcher, educator, and speaker has found its most powerful expression in the CHIP program (Complete Health Improvement Project), a community-based, 12-week, 40-hour intensive educational lifestyle intervention, which draws together healthcare professionals, faith-communities, corporations, schools, and community infrastructures, such as restaurants and grocery chains. More than 30 clinical reports have been published in peer-reviewed journals highlighting the vast potential of an integrated medical/public health approach to many of our largely lifestyle-related diseases. More than 70,000 CHIP graduates vindicate the applicability of these CHIP lifestyle principles in their daily lives. His book Health Power (co-authored with Aileen Ludington, MD) has been published in more than 26 languages and has sold over 2 million copies. He was a Clinical Professor of Preventive Medicine at the School of Medicine at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, CA.