Education, Speakers, Classes
Throughout your stay, you will mostly be relaxing and resting. However, there will be some education in the form of live speakers, films, cooking classes & demos, gentle stretching, and group activities.
Nathan Gershfeld, D.C.
After having a life-changing health experience, Dr. Gershfeld went from electrical engineering to changing careers in order to help people more directly and teach them to be healthy. This led him down the path of health promotion through healthy living where he had experienced tremendous results as a patient at the True North Health Center.
While interning at True North Health Center, Dr. Gershfeld, together with Dr. Alan Goldhamer authored “A Case of Non-Pharmacologic Conservative Management of Suspected Uncomplicated Sub-Acute Appendicitis in an Adult Male,” which appeared in the February 2011 edition of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
Dr. Gershfeld then became a staff doctor at the world-renowned True North Health Center from 2011-2014 where, while supervising fasting patients, lecturing on health and wellness, and maintaining a private practice, he earned his Professional Certification by the International Association of Hygienic Physicians. He currently serves on the board of the True North Health Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit foundation dedicated to research in the areas of health promotion and medically supervised water-only fasting.
Dr. Gershfeld has created the Fasting Escape to give you a health-promoting break from the modern world.
Shayda Soleimani
Cooking instructor
Shayda is an experienced Healthy Cooking Instructor and Consultant, who has received her Starch Solution Certificate, from Dr. Mc Dougall. Her primary focus is to help you achieve and thrive on a plant-based diet while teaching you culinary techniques on how to prepare meals using fresh, whole foods that are salt, oil and sugar free. It is simply healthy cooking made delicious and easy. Shayda, herself has lost over 115lbs eating this way and has managed to keep it off for over 6 years. In the meanwhile, she has come off all medication for her cholesterol, diabetes, and high triglycerides amongst other prescriptions.
Guest Speakers
Douglas J. Lisle, Ph.D.
Doug Lisle is a nationally renowned health and wellness psychologist, with a primary interest in self- esteem and achievement motivation. He is the co-author, with Dr. Alan Goldhamer, of The Pleasure Trap. Dr. Lisle is the founder of Esteem Dynamics, and is the psychologist for the True North Health Center as well as the McDougall Wellness Program.
Chef AJ
Chef AJ is a culinary instructor in Los Angeles who has followed a plant-based diet for more than thirty years. She is author of Unprocessed: How to Achieve Vibrant Health and Your Ideal Weight. Chef AJ’s passion is teaching people how to incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables in their diet in ways that are easy, delicious, and fun.