On October 11, 2008, I had the privilege and pleasure of interviewing Dr. Roni DeLuz, RN, ND who is the author of 21 Pounds in 21 Days http://mvdietdetox.com/ and owner of Martha's Vineyard Holistic Retreat. While Dr. Roni's story begins with a very personal battle to save her own life, it continues as she now helps people around the globe restore health and vitality to their lives with weight loss being the preferred byproduct of her detox program. My fascination with detoxifying the body started with my own visits with Dr. Alim Muhammad, MD (Abundant Life Clinic, Washington, D.C.) who is trained in both allopathic and naturopathic medicines. His treatment and advice gave me the courage to try detoxification and nutritional supplementation to cure some severe health ailments and lose weight. (Dr. Alim told me that detoxing was part of my treatment plan after first eliminating food allergens and taking nutritional supplements--which I did.) Both programs worked and I now have a better understanding of eating (to live) properly and how to enable my body to heal itself. Never having met Dr. Roni face-to-face, I was thrilled to secure the telephone interview. I must say, on that call you could feel her energy and excitement and all over again, I was inspired to improve my health.

Dr. Roni DeLuz is a graduate of Fairfield University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, The Clayton School of Natural Healing, and the American Holistic College of Nutrition. Dr. Roni is a registered nurse and colonic therapist who has been a healing professional for 20years. She is a member of the Coalition for Natural Health, the American Naturopathic Medical Association, and the International Association for Colon Therapy. In 1980, Dr. Roni founded Singh Care Homes in California, which provides long term care facilities for children and adults.
She continues to act as its Executive Director. In 1997, she founded and opened the Martha's Vineyard Holistic Retreat http://mvholisticretreat.com/. By 2007, the success of her on-site retreat led Dr. Roni (along with publicist and partner James Hester) to write 21 Pounds in 21 Days: The Martha's Vineyard Diet Detox. A former client-turned-success story, Mr. Hester has worked with Dr. Roni at the retreat since 2003.

An average day for Dr. Roni starts long before her clients rise in the morning. She takes time to address her own wellness needs and then oversees her staff's execution of the customized treatment plans that she designs for each individual. She has a kitchen staff that prepares the juices, soups, and supplements, counselors, massage therapists, detox therapists, yoga/Pilates instructors, and more. Every client has a specific plan based on their health condition, length of stay, and personal goals. Every hour of the client's day is scheduled. Her approach is very hands-on as she will periodically stay overnight at the facility. Dr. Roni also offers telephone consultations at an hourly rate. Emails and other correspondence are answered late at night. While this setup sounds pretty elaborate (as many have assumed), Dr. Roni assures me that she manages an intimate treatment facility making her very accessible to her guests.

We talked at length about the overall health condition of Americans in relation to the practices of allopathic (traditional) doctors. Dr. Roni stated that, "The problem is nutrition." The quality and nutritional value of fruits and vegetables harvested in 2008 is more than 20 times less than produce grown over 50 years ago. Many doctors either refuse to investigate nutritional deficiencies in their patients, or they ignore it. Routinely, prescription medications are administered to treat an ailment, which leads to additional medications for treatment of the drugs' side effects. Sadly, irreversible organ failure (i.e. kidney, liver) is a result of taking prescription drugs over the long-term. If a doctor decides to add anti-depressants to his/her patients' "treatment plan", expect those patients to die soon because the doctors have given up hope. Dr. Roni sees a shift in this old paradigm, especially in new doctors who now include detox programs coupled with exercise as a greater part of their orders.

Health and fitness professionals in the future will have to educate/re-educate themselves on cleansing, healing, and feeding the body properly for the optimal health and performance of their patients and clients. Treatment plans must expand to include these elements because our present system has failed. The average American is uninsured and toxic and can afford to neither get sick nor get well. The need for more naturally-trained professionals is increasing, but Dr. Roni believes that the industry is just not ready to take the leap. There is much to lose if our current HMO system is scrapped.

Dr. Roni's advice for future professionals is to prepare now, model the behavior, and spread the word. Each care provider must be ready to accommodate new clients because the masses are frustrated and desperate for healing. Robin Quivers hired Dr. Roni and James Hester to detox her at her home. After a successful detox, Dr. Roni was invited to appear on Robin's radio show. Unbeknownst to Dr. Roni, Robin works on "The Howard Sterns Show." After her appearance, a viewer/listener with chronic digestive problems traveled to the Martha's Vineyard Holistic Retreat looking for Dr. Roni in the wee hours of the morning. At the time the retreat was private and offered no walk-in services. Dr. Roni's attorney said to her that, "You have to put things in place to help people." That encounter led to the opening of the Martha's Vineyard Holistic Spa Annex which offers detox/spa services for "walk-in" clients-in my mind, a quite natural progression. The exposure led to her book that debuted at #3 on the New York Times Best Seller List, television appearances on shows like ABC's "The View", and a growing clientele ranging from professional to celebrity status. Dr. Roni now travels to detox clients during her retreat's off-season.

The health and fitness professional of the future must, therefore, be properly educated, have a business structure that is easily expandable, be a service-minded resource, and be able to assist the masses through a variety of media. In this case, if you build it (and market it), they will come.