Allan N. Spreen, MD

Though Dr. Spreen’s interest in nutrition and health began in his teens, it was the affliction of a family member that turned this interest into a passion, and ultimately his profession. A competitive springboard diver at Georgia Tech, he was personally affected by the connection of health and performance. Later, as he transitioned from athlete to coach in the 1970s, he enlightened other athletes eager to maximize their own physical performance. So, when his sister was diagnosed schizophrenic as a sophomore in college and the mainstream medical community offered no hope of recovery, his family was unwilling to accept that she would spend the rest of her life institutionalized. Instead they sought alternatives, eventually finding Canadian physician Abram Hoffer, MD/PhD, who treated schizophrenics with high doses of B-3 and other supplements. As Dr. Spreen watched his sister recover, and subsequently attend law school and begin her law practice, his enthusiasm for non-conventional health therapies intensified. His sincere desire to understand and fairly evaluate both conventional and alternative therapies eventually led to him to a degree from East Tennessee State University medical school in 1982.

In his private practice, limited primarily to nutritional therapies, he counseled patients who preferred alternative options to traditional allopathic techniques. He often found that his weight loss patients were those most likely to follow his recommendations. Like the athletes he coached, their progress in health was measurable: they lost weight, felt better physically, and felt better emotionally about themselves. Dr. Spreen’s background in successful weight loss with his own protocols, supplements, and clinical trial evaluations has made him a unique asset for MRC.

In 1995, to allow him more time for research and coaching, he launched “The Nutrition Physician,” an information service for alternative and complementary medicine. Soon after authoring his signature books: Nutritionally Incorrect, written in his uniquely humorous style, and the bestselling collaboration with Dr. Janet Zand, Smart Medicine for Healthier Living, Dr. Spreen accepted a position as Director of Scientific Research with Metabolic Research Centers. Always on top of the latest in health research, he evaluates products and works with our other on-staff experts to offer optimal results, while proposing alternative products and formulas to better serve our clients.

Dr. Spreen believes we can all improve our health and we can all reach our optimal weight. Many question the expense and necessity of supplementation in a weight loss program. Dr. Spreen explains that the foods we eat do not have the nutritional value of the foods our grandparents and great-grandparents either raised themselves or to which they had ready access: “Large scale fertilizers, pesticides, and hybridization have wrecked the quality of our food supply. Organics are not always available, nor affordable. Our environment has more pollution and our culture more stress than in ‘the good ol’ days’. Smart supplementation can help a body overcome many of the stresses of modern life and begin to improve overall health. That is what I hope to offer all MRC clients.”

Dr. Spreen’s guidance has been valuable to MRC in both the past, present, and into the future.