By Nicholas Perricone, MD

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Through superfoods, nutritional supplements, and state-of-the-art topical applications, the “New York Times” bestselling author of “The Wrinkle Cure” presents an astonishing program to reverse the aging process, inside and out. Two four-color inserts.

Copyright

The program herein is not intended to replace the services of trained health professionals, or be a substitute for medical advice. You are advised to consult with your health care professional with regard to matters relating to your health, and in particular regarding matters that may require diagnosis or medical attention.

Several of the recipes in this book have been adapted with permission from The Whole Food Bible: How to Select & Prepare Safe, Healthful Foods by Chris Kilham, Healing Arts Press, Rochester, VT 05767 Copyright © 1991, 1997 by Chris Kilham www.InnerTraditions.com.

Warner Books

Hachette Book Group

237 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10017

Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com

First eBook Edition: April 2010

ISBN: 978-0-446-53551-9

To my children
Jeffrey, Nicholas, and Caitie

Acknowledgments

Anne Sellaro again deserves star billing in these acknowledgments. Anne's untiring enthusiasm, hard work, creativity, and vision as friend, agent, producer, and collaborator continue to help me share my message and mission with millions of people worldwide.

To Diana Baroni, my extraordinary editor at Warner Books, and the entire Warner team, including publicity expert Jennifer Romanello, the sales reps, and the marketing folks.

And to all of my friends and colleagues, including:

Eddie Magnotti

Tony Tiano, Lennlee Keep, Eli Brown, and the team at Santa Fe Productions

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS-TV)

Desiree Gruber and the team at Full Picture

Richard Post

Our retail partners Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Sephora, Saks, Henri Bendel, and Clyde's on Madison

Tucker and Josh Greco, Dr. Dale Webb, Kevin Gors

Craig Weatherby

Steve Mirabella Sr.

The staff at N.V. Perricone, M.D., Ltd.

My parents

My brother and sisters, Jimmy, Laura, June, and Barbara

My children, Jeffrey, Nicholas, and Caitie

Beth and Ken Lazer and their children, Kyle, Jack, Dave, and Eric

Sharyn Kolberg

Introduction

Writing The Perricone Promise has been a great joy for me, because it has allowed me to introduce the latest breakthrough in fighting the cause of aging and age-related diseases: peptides and neuropeptides.

Whether your goal is to try to prevent serious diseases, such as cancer or heart disease, or simply to have wrinkle- or blemish-free skin, the three simple steps outlined in this book will provide both immediate and longterm age-defying benefits.

This might seem like a pretty lofty claim, but once you understand how it works, it will make perfect sense. My goal is not to introduce you to some wonder drug but rather to enable you to take control of your body and the rate at which it is aging—and actually help you put on the brakes.

In The Perricone Promise, I introduce powerful peptides and neuropeptides formulated into various products that have significant antiinflammatory benefits at the cellular level. (Since inflammation occurs on a cellular level, our tools for fighting the inflammation also need to work on a cellular level.) These are very exciting substances that work:

As functional foods.
As nutritional supplements.
As topical anti-aging therapies.

But these products are not the only tools at our disposal. Another indispensable method for fighting inflammation that delivers great results comes from the foods we eat. Sadly, many of our food choices are directly responsible for wrinkles, degenerative diseases, and accelerated aging. In this book, I introduce you to some important foods that may not be in your current diet, and reveal ten amazing and powerful superfoods, as well as herbs and spices, that you'll want to incorporate into your diet for their great anti-aging, health benefits. In addition to being rich in flavor, these foods are rich in nutrients and antioxidants. They will help you to not only live longer, but also look younger.

The neuropeptides, peptides, foods, and supplements introduced in these pages provide energy to the cells, helping them to function at optimum levels to keep you healthy and active well into middle age and beyond.

The Perricone Promise is my promise to you that these tools will deliver a rejuvenated face and body in just twenty-eight days. How can I make this claim? It's easy. Because all these foods, supplements, peptides, and neuropeptides, including the topical formulations, are physiologic —that is, they enable the body to utilize all their benefits. How? Because they work with the body and not against it, to accomplish their goals.

When we introduce a foreign substance (such as a pharmacologic agent) to the body, its benefit ends when we stop using the product or substance. In addition, there may be a host of negative side effects. However, when we deliver substances that are natural to the body, their therapeutic benefits increase each time, resulting in the ultimate strengthening and rejuvenating of all organ systems.

The Perricone Promise recommendations work synergistically, both internally and externally, to restore that youthful glow to your skin and vigor and vitality to your body. The side effects? The benefits keep increasing over time. Again, because the method of action is physiologic, our bodies do not develop resistance or immunity to the effects of these superfoods, neuropeptide technology, powerful antiinflammatory supplements—and, best of all, topical treatments. You will start to see immediate benefits in as little as three days, with significant changes to face and body highly visible after the 28-Day Program. The longer you follow the program, the greater the physical and mental benefits.

Wishing you an exciting journey to greater health, beauty, and happiness.

NICHOLAS PERRICONE, M.D.

Madison, Connecticut

June 2004

PART I

EXPLAINING THE PROMISE

What are you doing for the next twenty-eight days? You could be taking ten years off the way you look and adding ten years on to your life by following the program laid out for you in the rest of this book.

In the first part of this book, you'll discover the breakthroughs on which this book is based. It's a breakthrough for me because it's the culmination of research I've been doing for years, research that provides irrefutable proof of the connections among inflammation, aging, and disease—and tells us what we can do about it.

You'll learn about one of the biggest breakthroughs in anti-aging medicine in years—protein-like substances in our bodies called peptides and neuropeptides. You'll also discover how they work both for us and against us, and how we can harness the positive power they offer to reduce harmful inflammation—and therefore begin to actually reverse the aging process.

It's not hard to do. Follow the three easy steps in part 2 (the foods, the supplements, the topicals) and put together for you in part 3 (the Perricone Program), and I promise that within twenty-eight days (or less), you'll look younger and feel healthier than you have in years.

1 The Perricone Promise

The world is so fast that there are days when the person who says it can't be done is interrupted by the person who is doing it.

—ANONYMOUS

The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.

—EDEN PHILLPOTTS

WHAT IF I WERE TO TELL YOU that we are on the threshold of a revolution that can reverse the signs of aging? And that with this book in hand, by following just three simple steps, you can start reaping these benefits today?

When I wrote The Wrinkle Cure and The Perricone Prescription, I introduced the Inflammation-Aging Connection—the concept that inflammation at the cellular level is the single most powerful cause of the signs of aging. That's not to mention the correlation between inflammation and such chronic diseases as arthritis, diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancer, and strokes.

The extensive research and the resulting solutions I introduced still hold true today, and thousands of people have reported how much better they look and feel after following my program.

I could have discontinued my research there. But I knew there was more to learn. I knew that if inflammation was at the root of aging, something deeper must be able to mediate that inflammation. That "something deeper" turns out to be the biggest breakthrough in antiaging medicine in years: protein-like substances in our bodies called peptides and neuropeptides.

Peptides are compounds consisting of two or more amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), chained together by what is called a peptide bond.

Neuropeptides are peptides released by neurons (brain cells) as intercellular messengers. Some neuropeptides function as neurotransmitters, and others function as hormones.

Peptides and neuropeptides, like many substances in our bodies (think cholesterol) can work both for and against us. The good news is that by following the program in The Perricone Promise, you can dramatically increase the positive effects of anti-inflammatory peptides and neuropeptides and greatly decrease their negative influences.

As a result, you will experience dramatic changes not only in the way you look, but also in the way you feel. In just twenty-eight days, you can erase what seems like ten years from your face and body. With The Perricone Promise, you'll learn to help reverse the aging process and add many more youthful years to your life.

Look Better, Feel Better in Three Easy Steps

As a dermatologist, my primary interest and concern is how my patients look. Is your skin clear and healthy? Is your skin radiant and glowing, or is it dull and sallow? Is your skin heavily lined and wrinkled, or is it toned and supple? This concern does not stem from an obsession with youth or with looking like a model or film star. The answers to these questions are prime indicators of overall health. Your face and body are constant, visible monitors of how well or how poorly you are aging. Looking good and having a positive body image is not vanity; it is your road to a long, healthy, and happy life. This is one of the key reasons that I chose dermatology as a medical specialty—to be able to find new ways to achieve these highly visible goals regardless of chronological age.

My promise to you is that you can achieve these goals—looking younger and living longer—by following the three easy steps included in this book:

Step 1.	DIET. A revolutionary nutritional program that includes the Ten Superfoods to help reduce inflammation and rejuvenate the skin and body.
Step 2.	SUPPLEMENTS. In addition to eating well, these multipurpose and highly effective nutritional supplements will increase production of the anti-inflammatory peptides and neuropeptides, your body's natural anti-aging weapons.
Step 3.	TOPICALS. Working from the outside in, these newly formulated neuropeptidebased creams will have you looking younger almost instantly.

Throughout the rest of this book, you'll find ways of unleashing the power of neuropeptides to:

Increase production of collagen and elastin.
Repair scars and wrinkles.
Increase circulation, resulting in breathtaking radiance and glow.
Experience rapid wound repair.
Develop a dewy, supple appearance to skin that you haven't seen since your teens.

But this book is not just about the way you look. By following this simple three-step program, you can rejuvenate not only your skin, but also your brain, your emotional state, and your overall health. Increasing the power of positive peptides can result in such diverse effects as:

Decreased inflammation in every organ system.
Increased efficiency of metabolism, resulting in cellular repair.
Elevated mood.
A strong and healthy heart that is resistant to disease.
Denser bones as you age.
Decreased risk of certain forms of cancer.
Repair of the skin.
Normalized metabolism for losing weight while retaining youth.
A rejuvenated immune system.

The Brain-Beauty Connection

Each step I have taken in my career has led me to uncover secrets that go deep beneath the surface of the skin. When I began my research into peptides and neuropeptides, my goal was to help solve my patients' skin problems. I wanted to find ways to help them look healthier and younger.

How exciting, then, to discover that my research had much greater benefit than I ever imagined. It turns out that boosting the positive powers of peptides and neuropeptides will not only help you look healthier and younger, but actually help you maintain the health of every system and organ in your body—and even give you an edge on reversing the aging process. And it's all due to the Brain-Beauty Connection.

Prior to the discovery of neuropeptides, control of the brain and nervous system was thought to be accomplished through a complicated network of neurotransmitters (such as serotonin and dopamine), hormones (like adrenaline and cortisol), and enzymes.

Today, we know that matters are infinitely more complex. As brain researcher Dr. Steve Henricksen once put it, "We used to think the brain was like a computer. Now we think each cell is like a computer, a separate computer. And one single cell is like the whole brain."

If the brain is at all like a collection of integrated, high-speed computers, neuropeptides seem to form the electrochemical communications web that keeps them balanced and working in unison.

There are cells in the brain that produce various neuropeptides, and these neuropeptides do just about everything. They can be either pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory. They are responsible for many functions: They control our mood, energy levels, pain and pleasure reception, body weight, and ability to solve problems; they also form memories and regulate our immune system. These active little messengers in the brain actually turn on cellular function in the skin. (It's interesting to note that the immune system is an extension of the brain, and that the skin is an immune organ.)

Beauty Is Much More Than Skin Deep

When I was a medical student, we studied embryology. There I learned that three layers of tissue develop into every organ system in our bodies. One fact that particularly intrigued me was that the same layer of tissue that was responsible for the production of the brain also produced skin. That is why, when we eat a food or take a nutritional supplement that is therapeutic for the brain, the skin improves. This simple fact shaped much of my research into the role of peptides and neuropeptides in the Brain-Beauty Connection.

While manipulating the neuropeptides, neurotransmitters, and hormones that are in the brain to help create younger, more beautiful skin, increase longevity, and slow the aging process might seem more at home in a Michael Crichton or Robin Cook novel, believe me when I tell you that it is not only possible, but in fact the new reality.

Scientists now know that these neuropeptides, neurotransmitters, and hormones have a vast cellular communications system. Neuropeptides are nature's "cell" phones. There is a trio controlling every aspect of our bodies, using neuropeptides as their messengers. That is, the brain signals the thymus, which is the master gland of immunity (more about this in chapter 2); the thymus signals the skin; and the skin talks back to the brain. Every messenger has a recipient for its message. These recipients are known as receptor sites. Think of it as "cellular communication": The cells communicate in the same way as making a phone call from your phone (the messenger) to another phone, which is there to receive the call (the receptor site). There is no voice mail here—it is a world in which (for good or ill) every call is answered, instantly.

The message delivered at the receptor site depends upon the particular neuropeptide, neurotransmitter, or hormone making the call. If high levels of the potentially harmful neuropeptide Substance P (which you will also learn more about in chapter 2) are being released in the brain, for example, we will experience "psychic pain"—we will feel depressed and anxious. Substance P has receptor sites throughout the body, including in the skin, so the message or call sent to the receptors in the skin might be: "We're depressed. Let's turn on inflammation in our skin cells today."

The result? Accelerated aging of the skin through abnormal cell turnover, loss of radiance and tone.

So the brain sends messages to the skin. But remember, this "phone system" circuitry goes both ways. We now know that just by touching the skin, we can actually change the circuitry in our brain! This is an amazing concept if we take a minute to think about it. Usually we think it takes a powerful drug or surgical or therapeutic procedure of some sort to make any kind of significant change in the body or mind. However, studies have shown that just fifteen minutes of daily massage help premature infants gain weight faster, enabling them to leave the hospital sooner than their counterparts. The massaged babies are more relaxed, active, and alert. Six months later, they continue to be more advanced.

Studies in orphanages and hospitals repeatedly tell us that infants deprived of skin contact lose weight, become ill, and even die. Infants who are held cry less than those who are not, their immune systems are enhanced, and they handle stress more efficiently

The need for touch continues throughout our lives. When diabetic children were massaged for a month, blood glucose levels decreased and they were able to reduce their medication levels. Asthmatic children had fewer attacks. Massage helped children with autism, severe burns, cancer, and arthritis. These are perfect illustrations of how neuropeptides can be activated in the brain from touch receptors in the skin. And the neuropeptides released, such as endorphins, send a healing, positive message to the brain.

NEUROPEPTIDES COME INTO
THEIR OWN

I recently spoke with Jim Parker of the Do It Now Foundation, who shared with me some fascinating information on the world of neuropeptides back when they were first known as endorphins.

They were going to be the "magic bullets" of psychopharmacology miraculous chemical keys to unlock the secrets of pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, memory, intelligence, and behavior.

They were supposed to explain everything from falling in love to falling asleep, and a full understanding of their actions and effects was going to cure drug addiction and mental illness, regulate mood and appetite, and even heighten creativity and sexual response.

They were the endorphins, the internally produced morphine-like substances responsible for an array of drug-like effects in the body, and for a while after their 1975 discovery, everyone wanted to speculate about them.

But the euphoria didn't last. Life got complicated as research findings grew confusing, then contradictory. As the number of identified endorphins grew from month to month, and scientists' understanding of their many effects broadened, they became known as endogenous opioids, and finally neuropeptides, of which endorphins form a small subcategory.

Investigators continued to look hard and long at the powerful new body of chemicals and quietly went about the difficult work of figuring them out—or at least figuring out a way to figure them out.

In the process, they linked them with a vast array of physical and emotional problems—as both possible causes and potential cures—and the prognosis is now good for at least some of the promised early magic bullets to hit their mark. In human terms, for the millions of people afflicted with a wide range of problems from alcoholism and obesity to chronic pain and schizophrenia, the study of neuropeptides holds great promise.

Botox? Notox!

One of the great joys of practicing dermatology is seeing immediate, visible effects when the right treatment is applied to a particular condition. This has been a great motivator for me throughout my career, and it continues to provide the inspiration for spending many hours in the laboratory looking for that next miracle ingredient that can truly deliver results to the skin.

For far too long, the beauty and skin care industry has focused on the look and feel of a product—its packaging and its perfume, as opposed to genuine efficacy. Since I first introduced topical formulations containing highly active ingredients such as alpha lipoic acid (ALA) and dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE), retailers have had a hard time keeping their shelves stocked with these products. A new generation of women and men is controlling the marketplace—a generation that not only wants but actually demands products that work overtime to keep them as young looking and as vital as possible. I think this is an excellent development, because it has now involved many major corporations in serious research aimed toward resolving the problems of aging skin.

However, there is a somewhat alarming trend toward obtaining serious (and very costly) surgical procedures at a younger and younger age. Just turn on the TV and you will see some young woman, still in her teens, vying for radical surgery to turn herself into a clone of the current hot actress, model, or singer. America seems to be gripped by manic, radical makeover madness. According to a New York Times article, "A Lovelier You, With Off-the-Shelf Parts" by Alex Kuczynski (May 2,2004), Americans underwent 8.3 million cosmetic surgery procedures in 2003, an increase of 12 percent over the previous year.

In addition to all the surgery, new fillers designed to plump up facial lines are being rushed to market. Use of Botox, a neurotoxin (neuro means "nerve"; toxin means "poison") that paralyzes muscles to smooth out wrinkles and expression lines, is rampant. The Kuczynski article reports that the number of nonsurgical procedures, such as Botox, rose 22 percent over the previous year to 6.4 million. These products offer a quick fix, but there are questions about their longterm safety, questions that won't be answered for years to come.

My ongoing goal is to find the Notox solution to signs and symptoms of aging on the face and in the body. This has led me to develop what might be termed the next generation of skin and body care— the peptides and neuropeptides.

Reversing the Aging Process

In The Wrinkle Cure and The Perricone Prescription, I introduced a major theme of my research: the Inflammation-Disease-Aging Connection. Because inflammation is a great contributor to accelerated aging, it has been an important focus of my ongoing scientific research. And we now know that neuropeptides and peptides play an important role in mediating inflammation.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the Inflammation-Aging Connection, here is a quick review.

Inflammation exists as a spectrum ranging from the highly visible, such as bright red sunburn, to the invisible. It is this invisible inflammation that I am referring to when I use the term inflammation. You can't see it and you can't feel it. This invisible inflammation (also called micro-inflammation) exists in all of our cells and is responsible for their eventual breakdown. It is responsible for the aging process that gives us wrinkled, sagging skin as well as age-related diseases as diverse as Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, and the autoimmune diseases.

Simply put, if we want to decrease our risk for age-related diseases and decelerate the aging process, then we need to control inflammation. And we can do that best by controlling two essential lifestyle elements: diet and stress.

DIET AND AGING: THE SUGAR CONNECTION

There are many causes of the inflammation-aging process, but I believe the primary cause is diet. Foods that we eat can either be proinflammatory (they provoke an inflammatory response) or antiinflammatory (they suppress the inflammatory response). Pro-inflammatory foods are those that cause a rapid rise in blood sugar, resulting in the release of insulin into the bloodstream. The chief culprits in the pro-inflammatory arena are sugar and foods that quickly convert to sugar in the bloodstream, such as potatoes, breads, pastries, juice, chips, and rice cakes.

We have to understand and accept this simple but painful fact of life: Sugar can be toxic. Ingesting sugar causes a rise in blood sugar, resulting in a burst of inflammatory chemicals that spread throughout our bodies. Even worse, from a dermatological point of view, is that sugar can permanently attach to the collagen present in our skin and other parts of our body through a process known as glycation. Where the sugar attaches, there is a little mechanism creating inflammation, and that attachment becomes a source of inflammation in its own right. This inflammation produces enzymes that break down collagen, resulting in wrinkles. In addition to creating inflammation, glycation results in the cross-linking of our collagen, making it stiff and inflexible—somewhat like a soft, supple leather boot that has been left out in the rain and is now hard and stiff and brittle.

But it's not only glycation of the skin we have to worry about. The overconsumption of sugar produces stiff sugar-protein bonds, which accumulate throughout our bodies as we get older. The sugar or glucose molecule "glues" itself to our collagen, as well as to our veins, arteries, ligaments, bones—even our brains! We then suffer from stiff joints, hardened arteries, failing organs—basically, sugar contributes to the deterioration of every bodily function.

It's easy to see why we must avoid foods that cause elevated levels of sugar. The Perricone Promise provides many excellent food choices, recipes, and meal plans that will prevent this age-accelerating, dietary inflammation.