The Anti-Doctor Doctor

IN A MASS-MAILED BROCHURE, JULIAN WHITAKER '63 describes the typical doctor's modus operandi: "Ignore you until you get sick, drug you up, cut you open, bombard you with radioactive beams, charge you an arm and a leg, and laugh all the way to the bank."

One would think that any doctor would take such overwrought language as an insult—except Julian Whitaker. He's a doctor himself.

Owner and chief executive of die California-based Whitaker Wellness Institute and editor of his own health magazine, Health & Healing, Whitaker dispenses the kind of commonsense advice found in women's magazines: eat a lot of fiber, exercise, avoid saturated fats, drinka lot of water. It's the way he gives this advice that has made him less than popular with his profession.

Whitaker claims there are five things your doctor won't tell you: that his job isn't to keep you heal thy; that he is only human; that he is busy and does not have time to keep up with discoveries and developments; that his job is a profession, nota charity; and that he is paralyzed by the fear of malpractice suits and being labeled "nonconformist."

When pressed, Whitaker admits his own health adv ice is fairly mainstream. "Nowadays, just about everyone agrees that good nutrition, exercise, and avoiding smoking and excessive drinking Will make you healthier," he says. "At first the medical community scowled at that, but now it's common knowledge."