Dr. Sari Mellman, Ph.d
Have you ever imagined that you would be hit by a drunk driver running a red light and, as a result, not walk for four years?
Now imagine, at the same time, your 3 year old son starts to experience drastic food reactions, causing aggressive respiratory distress, asthma-like symptoms, chronic recurring upper respiratory infections causing hospitalizations, and incredible mental and physical cognitive swings – from extreme fatigue to hyperactivity – all changing day to day.
That was the experience that turned Sari Mellman away from law school and towards nutrition. During rehabilitation from her accident, an alternative educational program was being offered for a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition to a PhD in the Science of Nutrition.
Coupled with her Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Miami, this opportunity appeared interesting and, more importantly, possible.
After her unexpected recovery, she was licensed by the State of Florida Board of Medicine as a Nutrition Counselor and introduced herself to the community and found employment with a variety of medical centers and ultimately a research laboratory. Soon after she was employed by the laboratory, they were busy attempting to automate food allergy testing with blood serums, rather than the traditional skin testing, and then validate their results with double-blind studies.
Being involved with this process made Sari realize that there were results obtained that would not be beneficial to the marketing of their findings because many tests subjects were provoked by foods not found by their instrumentation.
When she brought these results to their attention, they were ignored and she was instructed to tell those subjects that they were not having food reactions. When Sari inquired exactly what those subjects were experiencing she was told the reactions were Unknowns. She soon realized that there were many more Unknowns than Knowns.
Sari was given freedom to apply the results and which foods were not uncovered by their testing to formulate dietary programs for the participants. Leon Mellman, Sari’s son and inspiration, was one of those participants from the very beginning.
She began to see patterns and noticed consistent weight loss when making specific adjustments to the patterns she uncovered. When Sari wanted to share her findings, she was told that it was not important becuase they had to validate the instrumentation to sell test and that she should go home and be a mother.
What a slap in the face! They did not appreciate and value the reality she was showing them or that together they could change peoples lives for the better. Sari Mellman felt that she was being shown a truth as equally important. People, Leon included, we becoming well; their systems healing. As time went on, it did not matter that the lab, scientist, and doctors were not listening.
Now, 45 years later, people are still listening to Sari's son, Dr. Leon Mellman
Now, 45 years later,
Dr. Leon Mellman
At the age of three years old, Leon Mellman was a thriving young boy. The wind beneath my wings. He brought so much excitement, happiness, and magic into my life, my husband’s life, and the lives of my parents, Marianne Danziger and Milton Derek Mellman.
Leon was the reason I wanted to have more children, even considering what you’re about to read. Leon was, without a doubt, a serious ball of energy during his first three years, mentally and physically growing. We had just started him in a Montessori program where he tested out and enrolled into the accelerated program. What parent would not be happy being told that? In my story, at this time, who would’ve known that within just the next six months, I would face a tragic life changing event that our entire family would endure together, guiding me through more of my own self-discovery while pioneering this integrated nutritional program for applied immunology. Leon was having severe food reaction to apple juice and other ingredients within it, which we now know was the fundamental cause of his cognitive behavioral change. From hyperactivity to extreme fatigue, the apple and apple juice was suppressing his immune system and constantly brining on respiratory infections. What happened with Leon was the origin of my inspiration, the motivating factor for the development of this Dietary program. At the same time, I was constantly run down as a professional student at the University of Miami and working two jobs. We were at home, reflecting on Leon’s day-to-day changes with his health and how they were so inconsistent and unpredictable (medical professionals had no clear idea or understanding as to why this was happening), when a gentlemen by the name of Jack Lalanne came on television with his wife. Jack is a nutritionist, a Chiropractor and a natural bodybuilder. He grabbed our attention as was selling his first product, blue-green algae. This was interesting to me because I was constantly run down, my mother was constantly run down, and now growing concerns with Leons’s health. I purchased it and we started taking them as a group. We all felt better, symptoms went away, and it was obvious that our immune system were improving.
This was remarkable and a pivotal time, right before my accident, when I experienced a higher calling, a sixth sense, and made the change to pursue nutritional science as law school was just beginning. Leon’s symptoms were improving, no drastic attacks or behavioral energetic changes were experienced in weeks, but then it happened. We noticed that when Leon ate and apple or specific brands of apple products with other ingredients on the label, not 100% apple and common at that time, Leon’s immune system immediately reacted like an asthmatic attack, producing excessive amounts of mucus and then, always over the next two-days, cold or flu like symptoms would evolve into strep throat symptoms with green and yellow mucus. By witnessing and assessing this pattern, we were able to identify brands of foods and the other ingredients that caused his reactions. The blue-green algae supplement was no longer working for Leon’s system. His system did not get stronger or correct this problem while staying away from the apple products and the other ingredients were derived from. At this time, in the grocery store industry, we were suspicious of many corn derivatives in children’s products, Looking back at that time, we also did not have the diagnostic capability to formulate a precise approach, an application, a Dietary Progression with foods that Leon’s system would be compatible with and progress to what we now know are levels of dietary correction.
During my recovery from the car accident, I continued my studies and finished my PhD. Throughout that time, I was also working with Leon and different internships with medical centers that had interest in nutritional dietary practices, leading to the development of our Dietary Progressions Program’s software and the Dietary Progression application.
This is where Dr. Leon’s Story takes off and his system makes the move to heal. Continuing through Leon’s childhood, he was constantly aware of what he was putting into his mouth and the way it affected his performance. This developed a finely tuned relationship of feedback, which we call the immunogenicity response. As Leon matured, he understood and started to feel changes. His system was proving to be a fast-acting system and not throwing delayed reaction patterns. During Leon’s adolescent years, the first generation of our software was being developed and I was practicing as a private nutritional immunology to help Leon battle colds any seasonal change most importantly his athletic and academic drive. Even at a young age Leon was incredibly driven, just as he is today. My husband, Leon’s grandmother, and myself found ourselves asking the questions: where did this young boy come from, with all this mental and physical energy? His immune system was not going to let anything hold him back.
It was almost like his immune system was constantly working to make up for lost time. At the age of 13, when bar mitzvahed, Leon was already 6 and 1/2 feet tall with broad shoulders, weighing between 178 to 185 pounds. His immune system was presenting like an adult. At the age of 15, people were constantly asking about Leon’s muscle development. Again it was like his immune system was making up for lost time. Eating foods that were used correctly and more efficiently for his system had more time to thrive and tap into vitalistic energy. We continued our pioneering efforts to utilize this and encourage Leon’s system to reach a level of correction, where he could finally enjoy more food as a teenager but always stay aware of the foods and the ingredients being consumed, especially when it came time for academics and athletics activities. No one wants to experience a food reaction or have to push through other symptoms when getting ready to perform.
Leon went to state championships in gymnastics, and by the age of 15, he also had a 1st degree black belt in Korean
Taekwondo. He joined a middle school basketball team that won county championships consecutively for four years. Because Leon loved structure and function, he attended South Broward High School’s science magnet program and joined the JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps). Leon excelled through South Broward High School as one of the top athletes in Broward County, receiving academic and athletic awards upon graduation, and qualified to apply for West Point Military Academy; an incredible honor. This required high level letters of recommendation from the
state governor, senator, and military personnel. In 1996, Leon’s high school graduation was held during the same time as the summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. A junior Olympic committee contacted south broward High School and selected Leon and other academically and athletically excelling athletes to represent our country. All were so worthy of being associated with the 1996 Summer Olympics Games and the timing couldn’t have been better.
We were so proud.
Leon’s team of athletes were playing basketball in Belgium, Italy, and Paris, in competition with similar age groups and some European professionals. They won the bronze medal.
This also gave Leon great exposure of what the next level would demand of him athletically. Leon returned home and had important decisions to make regarding the buffet of options from universities he had worked so hard to receive. Possible basketball scholarships and academic offerings from my alma mater, the University on Miami, Leon’s
father’s alma mater, the University of Cincinnati, and West Point Military Academy. We also had no idea that when returning home, Leon would de given the honor of escorting the Olympic Torch Bearer for Broward County. Leon was paired with the Olympic Torch carrier who lit the last remaining torch before it was carried to Atlanta, Georgia for the final lighting of the Olympic Torch Ceremony by Muhammad Ali to start the 1996 Summer Olympics Games.
One week after this memorable event. I was struck by another drunk driver and suffered a very serious cervical whiplash, causing severe vertigo, and was not able to drive or function as a parent.
Right before the second accident happened, Leon had visited our family chiropractor, who always played a very important role in our family’s healthcare. A specific type of chiropractic protocol was the sole reason for my overall recovery from the first accident mentioned in my story. I remember Leon being so excited and anxious to go get his adiustment as soon as he returned home from that Olympic tournament tour. While he was overseas playing
basketball, every time Leon and I spoke he would anxiously express how his entire body needed an adjustment from the travel and the sports. From his neck to his feet, as athletically involved as Leon was, his understanding and awareness of food and the chiropractic care he got really helped him keep his pace, both mentally and physically. There was no stopping him.
At this time our family would need Leon’s extra strength. My third child, Max, was four years of age and Zev, Leon’s
younger brother, was finishing middle school and looking forward to attending the same high school.
It was a blessing in disguise how Leon’s role would influence the entire family in a positive way.
Leon’s next step in life was making the decision to double major in the Bachelors of Science in Nutrition program and the Doctor of Chiropractic program at Life College, the first of it’s kind in the country. Leon was the youngest student to ever attend Life College, now known as Life University, in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb county in the outskirts of Atlanta.
During our first visit, the Founder and President, Dr. Sid Williams, took a very special interest in Leon, as they both had JROTC, academics, and competitive athletics in common. Dr. Sid was fond of our strong association with chiropractic practices. They told me I may not walk again but I did because of the chiropractic care I received. As I was home in South Florida, making my second recovery, Leon was excited about the chiropractic clinic on the college campus using advanced techniques. The research center was getting great results and they could probably accelerate my healing. The timeline of events, and Leon being embraced by Dr. Sid Williams, contributed to Leon’s development, adding to his background of certainty and confidence with what he already new of nutrition, his self-discovery, and now the philosophy, science and art of being a Chiropractor.
During Leon’s clinical internship, he received multiples of Ambassador awards from Dr. Sid Williams, for speaking at community events, practicing doctor’s offices, and championing for the University. Dr. Sid Williams also awarded me with an ambassador award for putting the trust, faith, and belief in Leon, the youngest student to attend LIFE.
Leon fulfilled the university’s nutritional educational requirements but he year of 2000, and immediately started nutritional counsel, hosting national calls. In 2002, Leon became the first Doctor of Chiropractic, in both the
Mellman and Danziger family generations. From past to present time, Dr. Leon has received accolades ranging from
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s leadership affiliation to the International Sports and Fitness Council of America for pioneering efforts within the realm of professional sports, as their sports chiropractic physician and nutritionist, providing nutritional counsel for pro athletes. Leon continued his post graduate education by acquiring diplomas and an additional board certification in complimentary fields of study to nutritional integrated and conventional energy sciences of medicine.
Zev, who was significantly influenced by Leon’s journey, is now the second Doctor of Chiropractic in our family. Dr. Leon and Dr. Zev practice together and l am so proud. It is a wonderful and magical experience to sit and watch people of all ages pour into the practice, feel the spirit, and “B Your Greatest!”
Dr. Leon’s story contributes to his extraordinary gifts: his passionate and enthusiastic energy, compassion, nurtured talents, and a thorough understanding of what it’s like to suffer with pain, to feel like you can be taken
hostage at any moment by your own system.
Whether chemically related to food, or the ingredients in our foods, environmental stress, both personally and
professionally, emotionally and mentally, all health issues are immune related and food related.
Dr. Leon carries compassionate listening, guidance, leadership, and the ability to influence into your dietary counsel. He provides high level thinking and very well thought-out strategies, with the ability to increase your certainty and confidence in what your body is communicating to you, and most importantly understanding it and the magical food moments that await your arrival when practicing your dietary progression.
Sari Danziger Mellman, Be Your Greatest! My mother, founder, pioneer and developer, wrote this short story
in 2008, as a gift to me, Dr. Leon Mellman. Now 45 years later, people are still listening.
I, Dr. Leon Mellman, am here to give, love and serve from an abundance of focused omnipotent energy. This is my innate catalyst. The expression of dietary excellence can be 100% earned for each of our individual systems. It can be an inherent living gift of life, granted to all of us. In counsel, knowledge is not power, but the application of knowledge is.
My Mom, Sari Mellman, founded this organization with the intent and purpose for you to “B Your Greatest!” (B.Y.G.)
DrLM
PS: In honor of my mother’s legacy.
A dedicated life’s work to developing and improving integrated nutritional programs for applied
immunology. An extraordinary angelic mother of a human being.
It was at this date and time, my mother’s wish was to share this with our audience. That has been and is currently in Dietary counsel cultivating a new level of health through Dietary Progressions.
DrLM | BYG
