A typical American growing up in the New Jersey/New York area, Brian likes to joke that he was a pioneer in the field of obesity—he was fat even before many Americans were fat! Raised in an Irish household on the standard American diet of meat, processed foods and sugary sodas, he was unfit and gasping for air every few steps. When he was 20 years old, he was dating a girl whose best friend’s boyfriend was 30—and a vegetarian. Despite the fact he had been more or less educated by his family that the body would die without animal-based foods, the lure of an influential peer inspired him to give up meat in one fell swoop. For the first year and a half, he kept his vegetarian diet a secret from his family. Yet after losing 120 pounds and experiencing the difference in his health, he came out of the proverbial closet (much to his family’s dismay!) and became a complete vegan three years later.

A natural performer, Brian had worked his way through college as a musician. Many friends, including one who shared his interest in nutrition after healing herself from cancer through diet, offered feedback that he was born to teach. With his degree in biochemistry in hand and his interest in nutrition sealed, Brian began doing just that.

It was during this time he was living in Southern Oregon where temperatures are hot, dry and sunny from May through September. His body naturally gravitated towards raw foods and, after a few months, he remembered the book “Be Your Own Doctor” by Ann Wigmore. He dug it out, read it again, and realized he had essentially become a raw vegan by default. With the intention of returning to Oregon to open a health institute, Brian moved to Maine for a final taste of the East Coast. While there, he decided to go down to Boston to visit Ann Wigmore at the Hippocrates Health Institute. As his friend had years prior, Ann saw Brian’s natural talent to communicate this lifestyle to people in a relatable way, and she convinced him to move to Boston and work with her.

On behalf of Hippocrates, Brian soon went to Europe and spent three years re-educating Europeans about the raw food movement that had begun on their continent. In 1978, he spent a year in Denmark as Director of the Humlegaarden Institute that had been founded by the famous Danish raw-food pioneer Dr. Kristine Nolfi in the 1940s. Upon his return to the U.S. in 1980, Brian assumed the title of Director of Hippocrates Health Institute and, in 1987, he moved the Institute to Florida.

Since that time, he has directed the Institute’s growth and development, as well as facilitated the implementation of progressive natural health treatments and programs. Brian’s progressive ideas on natural health, coupled with his vast theoretical and practical science experience, have provided him with the opportunity to conduct countless seminars, lectures and educational programs. He has traveled to more than 25 countries motivating the public to take action to improve their lives. Most recently, he was commissioned by government-supported organizations to establish, organize and direct health programs in Denmark, Switzerland, Greece and India.

Brian has also written numerous books in which he explores the various aspects of health, spirituality and natural healing. His best-selling book, “Living Foods for Optimum Health,” has been acclaimed by Marilyn Diamond, co-author of the book “Fit for Life,” as “an important and eminently readable book for the new era of self-care,” and by Coretta Scott King as a “landmark guide to the essentials of healthy living.”