The following is a transcript of an interview with Dr. Ben Lerner and Dr. Greg Loman, founders of Maximized Living and the
Maximized Living Health Center

Program Interviewer: So we’re here with Doctor Ben Lerner and Doctor Greg Loman, New York Times Bestselling authors and founders of Maximized Living. Welcome!

Ben: Thanks for having us.

Greg: Thank you.

Interviewer: Thank you. So tell me about the history of Maximized Living. How did you start?

Greg: For me, it started thirty years ago as a sick and very unhealthy child. At twelve years old, I had asthma, tremendous digestion problems, scoliosis. I was literally a week away from having a surgery where they were going to put a Herringer rod in my spine and my mom had found this new type of doctor that was bringing health to people without drugs and surgery.

And so for me I started thirty years ago. I went off to my eight years of college, started practicing this form of health care that we teach through Maximized Living myself in Naples Florida.

And from there, saw that it was just changing lives and that the people that were in my office were so much healthier than the average person outside of my office. And at that point, I realized that we have to bring this to the city, the state, country, planet, and so, at that point in my life I knew a good fifteen years ago that something had to change in the history of the country if you would. And so therefore, I started teaching this at seminars and at the same time, my business partner Dr. Ben Lerner was having the same results in Central Florida.

Ben: Yeah, and for me, I grew up and I was healthy and fit and really into athletics. However, my parents were not. And after going off to medical school to be an orthopedic surgeon, during that time, my family members began to die. In fact, my father died when he was fifty and my mother had a stroke in her forties, and I knew that something had to be done… And I actually left a medical program to join a nutrition program and eventually an exercise and then eventually a chiropractic program and get those degrees and then start to learn how to and teach how to and work in clinics with people on how to achieve great levels of health or again, Maximized Living versus just simply treating disease and then waiting until, due to bad lifestyle, that you would die early.

Interviewer: Fascinating. So what are the Five Essentials to Maximized Living?

Greg: The five essentials to Maximized Living… The first and foremost is to bring people out of what we would consider “western medicine.” The idea of waiting until you’re sick and dying to treat disease, to treat disease with drugs and surgeries, and that approach…. So what we need is to first get people to understand that that approach, as effective as it may be on a minimal level, on a large level, it’s not very effective. So that would be the first.

The second essential is actually the nerve system. To maximize our nerve function. Nerve function is the key missing link to health care right now. As we turn into, you know, this new millennium and on through the next hundred or two hundred years, the nerve system has to be looked to for health. And not just health, but maximized health. We just don’t believe in a little bit of health, we believe in a lot.

The third essential is nutrients. That we have to bring healthy nutrients into this body.

The fourth essential is actual oxygen and lean muscle. That we need to be moving this body and exercising. And not exercise to lose weight, but exercise to bring maximum life and oxygen to our muscles and all the cells of our bodies.

And then the last is relationships. That to build strong relationships, that there’s more to this human being than just components-- a brain, a heart, lungs and liver. There’s something else going on here with our emotions and our mind, our spirit, our will, so on and so forth. And that would be the fifth maxim, or essential.

Interviewer: Well, thank you-- excellent. So how does Maximized Living differ from a traditional approach to health?

Ben: You can look right now at the amount of depression that’s out there and in modern society, conventional wisdom says, “Well then, take a pill for that.” And of course now, the antidepressant medications are the number one medications taken today and the problem with those drugs is they have enormous side effects. But we know through Maximized Living, if you look at the five essentials: if you look at exposure to toxins and medications; if you look at issues regarding the nervous system, the brain and nerve system; if you look at nutrient deficiency or just a very toxic, modern nutrition system out there; if you look at a lack of exercise and a lack of movement; if you look at stress and the impact that has on your emotions… If you look at those five things combined, those five essentials, if those things aren’t working in your life, sure you’re going to get depressed.

So rather than taking somebody that’s having trouble emotionally and immediately saying, “Well, we have a brain issue that needs medication” our goal is to get people to begin functioning well through the five essentials. So of course, first and foremost, they wouldn’t get depression or other diseases in the first place, but secondly, as the best, first approach to healing.

Greg: I’d like to add to that, if you don’t mind because one of the things also that Dr. Lerner and myself highly believe in… And I don’t think there’s a human being, being married ourselves and having children ourselves, there’s not a human being on the face of the planet that says, “You know, I hope my son grows up to be okay.” Or, “I hope my daughter grows up and, you know, she has a moderately well life.” You know, we want our children to grow up with a maximized life. We want them to have amazing grades, have amazing relationships, we want them to be massively successful in everything they do. And I don’t care what background you come from or what country you come from, we want that for our children and so, if we want that for our children, why can’t the whole planet have that maximized life or that maximized health?

Interviewer: Of course. And so, once you developed this concept, how did you reach out to people to spread the Maximized Living message?

Ben: One of the greatest ways we do it is through events. In fact we have, all throughout the year, Maximized Living makeovers. Events where people can come through a system where they not only get educated like reading a book or sitting through one class. Because clearly, that hasn’t been effective. There’s zillions of books out there on wellness and nutrition and exercise, etc, yet we are more overweight and more miserable than we’ve ever been in recorded history. So through events, where we have trained leaders, trained doctors, and healthcare providers leading these events, taking people through either several hours or several weeks of education and inspiration, we’re able to get people to not only learn and be exposed to the stuff they need on wellness, but to stick to it and get results. And because these doctors are in place and on the ground in the areas where people are who are reading about Maximized Living and learning its principles, these leaders who are out there can help keep people informed and keep them on track with their new way of living.

Interviewer: And so then, you’re taking this message and creating Maximized Living centers. So what does it mean to be a Maximized Living Health Center?

Greg: First and foremost is that the doctor and healthcare provider who’s leading it actually has a maximized life him or herself. There’s one. But we’re creating a literally an international brand that follows the essentials. And so, the most powerful thing about the Maximized Living health center branding or movement is that when you walk into that office, you at least know you’re going to get a certain level of quality. Of not just service, but doctor, because we’re very, very, very adamant about making sure that we find the most competent doctors with the largest hearts that are passionate about helping people.

And then, that person would take what Dr. Lerner was just describing and take our programs and our processes that have worked in hundreds of offices all over the world as it is now and on its way to thousands, that that doctor would have the capacity, the integrity, the ability to actually take those programs to their cities and their specific areas.

Interviewer: What a great wellness concept you’ve developed. So why did you start the Maximized Living Health Center program?

Ben: One of the issues had to do with just excellence in wellness. You know, wellness is one of these issues that’s very dissected and fragmented over the years. I mean, if you look at the wellness movement, it started fifty, sixty years ago and yet we are more out of shape and unhealthy than ever. So clearly, it hasn’t worked. And so our desire was to un-fragment the system. To create a leader who was well trained and on the cutting edge of all the important essentials to good living as well as a place people can go where they can receive all these things. To un-fragment and make one place you can go and get well with a leader there who can make this happen, along with co-leaders there who can assist doctors and healthcare professionals in the process. And a result, we don’t have the fad sort of theory out there-- fad diets, fad exercise programs-- or good ideas. We have real clinical evidence where people are really turning their lives around and really getting well.

Interviewer: So this program really touches so many lives. And so Maximized Living has been proven to be a very powerful approach to health and wellness. How have you developed it, or how was it developed in the fifteen years since you first recognized its impact on your patients?

Greg: Probably the first level, or answer to that is that, since it’s worked fifteen years ago, we have found some of the most passionate, powerful doctors to help us bring this to the country. There’s no way that Dr. Lerner and myself were able to do it on our own. So through radio shows, our television shows, our seminars, through multiple New York Times bestselling books, through all of our products, the movement has just become powerful and I want to say it’s just once again, it’s because of a large group of people who truly, truly care about the outcome and the wellbeing of not only a country but a planet.

Ben: The other thing I would say is that, you know I graduated my nutrition degree back more than fifteen years ago and it has just come around huge. I mean, the world of nutrition, the world of fitness-- these things have really evolved and evolved. They’ve become harder and harder sciences versus a lot of theories that existed back then. And so when you go to a Maximized Living health center, you’re getting the cutting edge of biostructural correction. The best care that can be offered to correct your spine and nerve system. You’re getting the best sort of detox programs out there. The best nutrition that’s available today. And the types of exercise, time and stress management that you’re being introduced to when you go to one of these centers has come a long, long way. These are things that we know that work. They work quickly, they work effectively, and they fit in to virtually any sort of lifestyle and they fit into any sort of condition or really any sort of person’s body. We say these things work for every “body”. So whether somebody is ninety years old and trying to get more physical health and motion, more mental clarity or whether somebody’s a brand new baby. Whether you bring in a new baby and say, “I just want this baby to be as healthy as possible, to experience Maximized Living for his or her whole life.” In today’s world, fifteen, sixteen years later after we’ve developed the idea of Maximized Living, in today’s world, we have the best solutions available at Maximized Living.

Interviewer: Yes. So thank you both so much for your time and for your message that has and will transform so many lives. Thank you.

Ben and Greg: Thank you!