To Dr. Keith Berkowitz, MD, MBA, the war we’ve been in during COVID is all too familiar. Long before the pandemic, and before helping to found the FLCCC, Dr. Berkowitz fought a similar battle against the medical establishment.
During the late 1990s, Dr. Berkowitz became intrigued by the work of Dr. Robert Atkins, the health pioneer who put low-carb eating on the medical map. After watching how Dr. Atkins’ diet and treatments prolonged the lives of three women with breast cancer (by 15 years!), Dr. Berkowitz was sold. He accepted the role of Medical Director of the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine in 2003 and while he found it inspiring and fulfilling, it wasn’t an easy path.
“There are a lot of parallels to what is happening today,” he shares. “Dr. Atkins and the team were bullied and denied speaking engagements at conferences and in the media. The medical establishment threatened to take Dr. Atkins’ license away. His diet and health strategies were wildly popular with the public, but they threatened a billion-dollar business – the sugar industry. So, of course he was canceled.”
Throughout all of this, Dr. Berkowitz and his patients knew the Atkins plan worked, so they kept following it and spreading the word. Eventually, he opened up his own medical practice focused on the tenets of the Atkins philosophy and year by year, low-carb, high-protein diets became more and more accepted. Dr. Berkowitz’s NYC-based Center for Balanced Health sees patients from across the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and today it is thriving.
“In the end, change happens with the consumer, not the provider. Consumers can pull their doctors through to what works and is in the best interest of the patient and their health.” he states.
Because of this, he sees tremendous opportunity for the future of healthcare, and for the FLCCC. “FLCCC has proven itself to be a data-driven, reliable source for health information throughout COVID. The past few years have been incredibly isolating and belief in the goodness and honesty of public health has been shattered. People want health resources and medical professionals they can trust, and the FLCCC provides that in spades. The autocratic medical systems of old just don’t work any more….that’s where the FLCCC – truly a robust community and family – can step in and take the lead.”
We couldn’t agree more! Thank you, Dr. Berkowitz for sharing your battle-honed expertise, business sense, and wisdom with FLCCC over the past few years. Your philosophy and doctoring are the embodiment of “Putting Patients First”!
