An Interview with Dr. Paul J. Arciero

^OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine Editorial Office 

LIDSEN Publishing Inc., 2000 Auburn Drive, One Chagrin Highlands, Suite 200, Beachwood, OH, USA

Academic Editor: Gerhard Litscher

Special Issue: Interviews with Leading Experts in Integrative and Complementary Medicine

Received: January 25, 2022 | Accepted: January 27, 2022 | Published: January 28, 2022

OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine 2022, Volume 7, Issue 1, doi:10.21926/obm.icm.2201004

Recommended citation:  Integrative and Complementary Medicine Editorial Office. An Interview with Dr. Paul J. Arciero. OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine 2022; 7(1): 004; doi:10.21926/obm.icm.2201004.

© 2022 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the conditions of the Creative Commons by Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is correctly cited.

Dr. Paul J. Arciero

Dr. Paul J. Arciero, FACSM, FTOS, FISSN, is the director of the Human Nutrition, Metabolism, and Performance Laboratory and professor in the Department of Health and Human Physiological Sciences at Skidmore College and has served as a Research Professor in the Psychology and Neurosciences Department at Union College and an adjunct professor in the School of Health Sciences in the Department of Nutrition at The Sage Colleges. He graduated from Simsbury High School in 1980, received a Bachelor of Science in special studies (concentration in biology, physical education, and business) from Central Connecticut State University in 1986, a Master of Science in physiology of exercise and bioenergetics from Purdue University in 1987, a Master of Science in nutritional sciences from University of Vermont in 1993, a Doctorate in Physiology of Exercise from Springfield College in 1993, and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in applied physiology from Washington University School of Medicine in 1994. Dr. Arciero has published more than 65 peer-reviewed publications indexed on PubMed and cited over 2,400 times with an h-index of 28.

1. What is Your Main Research Area? How Did You First Become Interested in It? Is There a Particular Case Which Has Influenced You the Most?

1. 1) My most important scientific discoveries are: consuming the right type, amount, and timing of protein with and without exercise training, optimizes cardiometabolic, hormonal, body composition, cognitive/psychological health, and performance outcomes in adults of all ages using my Protein Pacing®, PRISE® Life, and iPACES® technologies I’ve created, which have been extensively cited in medical publications and popular media. 

2. 2) I was a competitive athlete and discovered early in my career the synergistic benefits of healthy eating, proper exercise and recovery/sleep, and mind-body wellness. I realized emphasizing the quality of nourishment from food, fitness, and cognitive/mood exercise is superior to the quantity of performing each of these lifestyle strategies. For example, incorporating intermittent nutritional fasting one to days per week combined with evenly timed ingestion of high-quality protein five to six days per week is superior for body composition, cardiometabolic, and hormonal health compared to other eating regimens. Similarly, avoiding the “more is better” mindset with fitness training and instead adopting a “less is more” approach to fitness training drastically enhances physical and emotional performance at every level. Moreover, engaging in a multi-modal fitness program of the four primary modes of physical movement (RISE: Resistance, Intervals, Stretching, and Endurance) allows for optimal rest and recovery and improvements over the long-term. As a result of experiencing the performance and health improvements in my own life, I brought these same principles into the lab and scientifically tested them to determine whether they were real and may improve the health and performance of others. After 35 years of research, I’m able to state with a great deal of confidence - they work! As a result, I serve as a health and wellness consultant to corporations and organizations of all sizes to enhance their wellness culture.

3. 3) Several of my published studies have established my research findings as noteworthy and of value to the scientific community and general public (See References) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7].

2. Considering the Progress in Your Research Area, Could You Please Share Us Some Hot Topics or Cutting-Edge Technologies in Your Research Field?

Precision lifestyle medicine and implementation science are the emerging frontiers of research in my field. Currently, I’m conducting several lifestyle interventions incorporating precision medicine technology platforms of nutrition, exercise, and neurocognitive strategies in adults across the age, fitness and health spectrum. The preliminary findings from this research are tremendously exciting and fulfilling and may change the way we manage healthcare through selfcare. I’m most excited about bringing this cutting-edge, evidence-based research to employee wellness in organizations of all sizes to facilitate improved health and increased job productivity.

3. Which Topics Are Included? In Your Opinion, What Challenges and Developments Can We Expect to See in Among These Topics?

The topic areas with the greatest potential impact on public health policy and recommendations are with precision nutrition, exercise and neurocognitive training technology platforms. This will allow for remote data capture and mining from a central cloud-based server and significantly enhance the way in which data is collected, analyzed and implemented in real-world settings on both an individual and organization healthcare provider level. More and more of the population is working and living remotely and we are definitely in an aging culture, including the greatest threat to our aging population, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Lifestyle interventions are and will be our greatest defense against these diseases.

4. As an Experienced Researcher in This Field, What Do You Consider to Be Key Aspects of Research That Apply to Clinical Practice?

Implementation science is most important as we move from scientific research investigation to clinical practice. In order to impact health and human performance (physical, cognitive, emotional, spiritual) the science must be implemented at a large scale and with ease to make a difference. That’s why emerging technology platforms that can be administered in-home and at-work are essential.

5. Do You Also Offer Training and/or Further Education in Your Area?

Yes. I provide online training and have books available to educate others with my Protein Pacing, PRISE Life, and iPACES technology by visiting these websites [8,9,10,11].

6. How Do Patients Benefit from Your Research?

The best way to get started is to purchase my book on Amazon [8].

7. Let Us Know How You Balance Your Job with Privacy? What Are Your Secrets of Success for This?

This is a great question as it pertains to the ‘quality of life’. Fortunately, my research and consulting is a natural extension of who I am and therefore I remain in harmony pursuing my desires and passion of helping others achieve optimal health and performance. I am a firm believer in walk-the-walk and talk-the-talk to create a life of fulfillment, purpose and meaningfulness. My PRISE Life is my secret path that I want to share with the world.

8. What Are Your Future Plans?

I want to continue spreading the message of optimal health and performance, using evidence-based research/science in an easy-to-follow and results-oriented path, with the entire world. My current target audience is employee wellness for organizations, industry, and education settings. I fully embrace my life purpose and mission to pursue scientific investigation of the most effective lifestyle strategies to maximize our health and performance.