When I finished medical school and my residency, I was practicing conventional medicine. At that time, my father looked as if he was going to die at any moment.

He had been through two heart attacks, two coronary bypass surgeries, three angioplasties, and he was on 10 different medications to treat a 20-year history of continual angina, congestive heart failure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

And then I met my first mentor, Dr. Robert Radtke, who taught me the true causes behind my father’s illness:

• Nutrient deficiencies

• Hormonal imbalances

• Smoking cigarettes

• Poor diet

None of the medications my dad was taking addressed any of these underlying causes, so I decided it was time to take a different approach.

Upon measuring his hormone levels, I found that my father was very low in thyroid hormone and testosterone. In fact, his testosterone levels were below detectable limit.