Hippocrates said, “Let food be your medicine, and medicine be your food”. Evidence increasingly suggests that chronic inflammation may be a major cause of many chronic diseases, and that obesity generates much of this inflammation—which would explain the linkage of obesity to such diverse conditions as heart disease, Alzheimer’s, prostate and other cancers, and Attention Deficit Disorder. Dr. Barry Sears, creator of the Zone Diet, believes that dietary interventions can reduce chronic inflammation by controlling the hormones that influence inflammation at the molecular level, and that they can do so without the stressful side-effects of anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals. Research must test all this, but drug companies and NIH have little incentive to sponsor medical research on diet. So Dr. Sears turned to philanthropy, and using his own resources created IRF in 2003 to investigate how diet affects chronic inflammation in pediatric obesity at Harvard, Boston University, and the Las Vegas Heart Institute. Results come soon—the studies take only months, and if successful, results can “go public” immediately since regulatory approvals are not required. Dr. Sears himself covers all IRF’s administrative expenses, so that at least 90% of all outside donations will produce research and education. If you are interested in potentially changing the practice of medicine worldwide to focus on dietary reduction of inflammation, here is your golden opportunity.