Mark Hyman, M.D. Wellness Coach

By: Katrina Washington, Special to AOL Coaches

Who doesn't dream of losing weight without even trying? Well, when I saw the title of Dr. Mark Hyman's latest book, UltraMetabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss, I thought my prayers had been answered. Dr. Hyman, editor-in-chief of Alternative Therapies in Health and co-author of the bestseller Ultraprevention, was the Medical Director of the world-renowned Canyon Ranch Spa and Resort in the Berkshires for 10 years. If anyone should know from weight loss, I thought it must be him. And if I could naturally rev my metabolism and still enjoy all the foods I love, so much the better.

The science in UltraMetabolism seems to make a lot of sense. Dr. Hyman's years' worth of research on patients who could afford extensive (and expensive!) private testing for chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, gave him useful insights into functional medicine -- essentially the ways in which all the body's systems work together. It was in tracking down and treating patients for chronic conditions that Dr. Hyman discovered the side effect of his functional approach was -- you guessed it --automatic weight loss.

And there's the catch. The weight loss wasn't really automatic. Unless you are already eating a largely whole foods diet and exercising regularly, the UltraMetabolism plan will probably require some pretty dramatic lifestyle changes. But if you read Dr. Hyman's argument -- that your prehistoric ancestors were not born with DNA that could process chemical additives and by-products like high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, and that your DNA has not evolved to process those things either, his argument is pretty compelling. In fact, he believes that many of the foods we eat today actually cause internal inflammation that leads to weight gain, as well as many other chronic conditions.

Dr. Hyman encourages you to detoxify by getting rid of foods that can cause inflammation and switch to a variety of whole foods and whole food products (his short-hand: if it has a label on it, don't eat it). This approach seems logical, though depending on where you live and how busy your lifestyle is, it may be easier said than done. But even if you're not ready to throw out processed foods entirely (or if it's just not realistic given the way you live), Dr. Hyman offers many useful takeaways that you can incorporate into any lifestyle, such as seeking out deeply colored fruits and vegetables, doing interval training in lieu of endurance training, and eating dark chocolate when you're hankering for a pick-me-up (yes, I said chocolate!).

1. Read an Excerpt from 'UltraMetabolism'
2. Buy 'UltraMetabolism'