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About
Author/speaker Joe Piscatella is one of the nation’s foremost experts on how to live a healthy lifestyle. He is Founder & CEO of the Institute for Fitness and Health, an organization dedicated to helping people initiate and sustain healthy lifestyle habits. TIME magazine calls him “a positive force for healthy changes.”
He has written 18 best-selling books, hosted three PBS television specials on heart health and has been a “guest expert” on WebMD. As a spokesman for a healthy lifestyle, he has been interviewed on The Today Show, CNN, Good Morning America and Fox News. His newest book is Strong Heart/Sharp Brain, a book that examines the link between cardiac risk factors and risk factors for Alzheimer’s, and sets out 6 key actions to reverse heart disease and prevent Alzheimer’s.
A professional speaker for 30 years, Joe presents about 80 times a year to medical organizations, corporations, associations and schools. Presently, his most popular programs are Managing Chronic Stress in the Age of Covid-19 and Six Steps to Reversing Heart Disease and Preventing Alzheimer’s. Over 2 million people have attended his talks.
Mr. Piscatella has served as the only non-medical member of the NIH Cardiac Rehabilitation Expert Panel charged with developing clinical guidelines for physicians.
He is the designer and facilitator of 6 Weeks to a Healthier You ® a successful community wellness program. In one program, 650 people lost 4200 pounds.
Mr. Piscatella’s body of work has created a recognized brand because it puts a human face of the practical science of healthy living. He uses humor and an upbeat presentation style to explain how to balance healthy eating, effective exercise, stress management and a positive attitude to optimize well-being. His audience receives information and take-home tools, and he motivates them to put the message to work.
Mr. Piscatella knows the science of healthy living, but he understands the practical aspect as well. At age 32, he went through coronary bypass surgery. The prognosis was not good (one doctor predicted he would not live to age 40.) But he put his effort into developing healthy lifestyle habits and it has worked. He has celebrated the 45th anniversary of that surgery, making him one of the longest-living survivors of bypass surgery and a wonderful example of the effectiveness of healthy lifestyle habits.
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Video Clips
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Topics
Strong Heart, Sharp Mind
How to Reverse Heart Disease and Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease…at the Same Time
For hundreds of years the heart and brain were considered separate, but not equal. Science remained cardio-centric, viewing the heart as the seat of reason and the brain as the symbol of soul or emotion. They were considered as two separate, but vital, organs.
Recently, however, researchers have begun to take a fresh look at the heart-brain nexus and found that heart and brain health were related, along with the inverse—that is, how dysfunction in one (heart disease) could be linked to problems in the other (Alzheimer’s disease.) The conclusion: there is a great overlap in the two areas.
We now understand that hypertension and type 2 diabetes, long known as culprits for cardiovascular disease, are also risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease. We now understand that ApoE4 (the genetic signature associated with higher rates of Alzheimer’s) is also implicated in heart disease. We now know that elevated cholesterol—another well-known risk factor in heart disease—is linked to higher levels of amyloid, the substance that forms the brain tangles that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.
These are profound discoveries—and exciting! Why exciting? Because think of just those three common risk factors for heart and brain health: hypertension, diabetes, elevated cholesterol. What do they have in common? They are all conditions that can be managed, controlled, and even, in some cases, reversed.
In addition to providing information on these links, Joe offers a proven program – based on the latest research – to successfully manage these common risk factors. In doing so, he blends science and solution into a six-step program to provide the tools to reverse heart disease and prevent Alzheimer’s…at the same time.
Stress Management
How to Manage Stress Effectively for Increased Health, Longevity, and Productivity
In this era of too little time and too much to do, of increased career and family commitments, of crawling traffic and never-ending e-mails, Americans are living with chronic stress. Indeed, 89% of us say that the stress in our lives is overwhelming. The result is often high levels of frustration, anxiety, and anger.
Says one corporate manager, “I’m dropping kids off to school at 7 am, racing to work at 8, in a grocery store at 5:15, answering e-mails at 9 pm, and doing laundry till midnight. I’m always behind and never have enough time to do my best. I’m always behind. Weekends used to be for kicking back, now they’re for catching up.”
In this presentation, Joe examines the impact of chronic stress on health, productivity, and quality of life. He helps audiences understand that the secret to a balanced life is not to avoid stress, but to manage it; not to react to stress, but to respond to it. His program not only examines the sources of stress in modern life (including Type A personality), but it provides audiences with a variety of mental and physical tools to successfully manage stress every day.
In this seminar, participants will learn:
- How chronic stress impacts well-being, particularly cardiac health
- What are the most common sources of chronic stress
- What are the best physical and mental methods of managing stress successfully
Overcoming Barriers
Overcoming Barriers to Healthy Living
Healthy living starts with good information. What constitutes a healthy diet? What’s the best way to exercise? How to handle stress?
And today people know the difference between an apple and a piece of apple pie, between going out dancing or watching Dancing with the Stars! But knowing the information isn’t acting on the information. Why this chasm between information and action? Because information alone is not enough. If it were, we’d be a nation of non-smokers.
In this dynamic and inspirational program, Joe Piscatella provides practical solutions to overcoming barriers and making healthy changes that last a lifetime. Audiences learn how to get started and stay the course.
In this seminar, participants will learn:
- How barriers keep us from living a healthy lifestyle
- What are the most common barriers to healthy living
- How the Mind-Body connection can overcome barriers
Maximizing Health Span
Make Your Health Last as Long as Your Life
Just because you can afford retirement doesn’t mean that you will have the quality of life to enjoy it. While a financial plan is important, a good health plan is critical. There is a difference between longevity, the number of years you live, and healthspan, the number of years you live in good health. Two people, for example, each live to age 85. But while the first spends the last 20 years of life in a golf cart, the other spend those years in a wheelchair. Their respective longevity is the same, but their health spans are drastically different.
In this timely program, Joe examines the lifestyle habits found in societies all over the world where people not only live longer but also have extended years of good health. Learn what you can do now to maximize your “healthspan” and increase the number of years you will have good health.
In this seminar, participants will learn:
- Which lifestyle habits most positively impact healthspan
- How to institute such habits for a lifetime
- How to improve strength, stamina, and well-being, and reverse premature aging
Healthy Eating: A Step-by-Step Guide to Healthy Eating in the Real World
A balanced diet is critical for good health and increased performance. But how do you sort out what is balanced in a world of conflicting claims where fat and carbohydrates see-saw being in, then out, where a tablespoon of ketchup can contain a teaspoon of high-fructose corn syrup, where food supplements claim to be healthier than the food itself, and where new weight-loss diet books appear weekly?
In over three decades of successfully managing his heart disease, Joe knows fad diets from real science. His sensible, realistic program offers basic principles for healthy eating, including cutting-edge methods on how to control your fat tooth. (That’s right, fat tooth, not sweet tooth!). More importantly, he gives nutritional science real-life applications.
In this seminar, participants will learn:
- How to read food labels to make smart choices at a grocery store
- What the secret is to cooking healthy food at home (and having your whole family enjoy it)
- How to handle eating in the company cafeteria or in a restaurant.
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Testimonials
2 people have recommended this speaker
“This is a world-class presentation. The audience was blown away with the quality of information and delivery.”
“Joe Piscatella is a fabulous writer and speaker with a story that is relevant, personal, and life-changing. Person after person at our conference told me his message has inspired them to take positive action. He is a top-quality presenter.”
“This is a world-class presentation. The audience was blown away with the quality of information and delivery.”