The Hopewood Project
Introducing The Hopewood Project
In 2019, the Australian Youth and Health Foundation made a generous gift towards the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney to support research on the impact of nutrition, exercise, stress management and physical wellbeing on the health of individuals in relation to cardiovascular diseases and other lifestyle diseases.
Eric Storm AM, renowned investor, stockbroker, entrepreneur and philanthropist, attributed his 103 years’ long life to adopting a natural health lifestyle in the 1930s, after suffering a serious heart attack. Mr Storm became a passionate advocate for healthy living and a founding Director of Hopewood Health Retreat. His significant bequest enables the Australian Youth and Health Foundation to continue to support projects which encourage wellbeing. It recently funded this exciting, longitudinal, independent study at the University of Sydney to investigate the impact of an intensive lifestyle program on cardiometabolic health.
Professor Luigi Fontana
Internationally recognised physician scientist, Professor Luigi Fontana, and his team are leading ‘The Hopewood Project’ research program which will explore the impact of holistic approaches to health, such as the Hopewood philosophy.
Hopewood’s philosophy for a healthier lifestyle, which supported thousands of guests at the Hopewood Health Retreat for 55 years, and is now promoted through this website, has always been funded by the Australian Youth and Health Foundation. It advocates for a holistic approach that focuses on lifestyle as a whole, rather than a specific health problem or part of the body. This focus supports better long-term wellbeing. In particular it advocates a natural, unprocessed diet; drinking ample water; sleep and meditation; and exercise.
The focus of Professor Fontana’s work is the LIVEPLUS (LIfestyle VulnErable PLaqUe Study) trial. This study will measure the impact of a holistic lifestyle program on inflammatory markers such as fatty deposits in arteries (plaques), body composition, blood vessel function, blood pressure, blood lipids and glucose metabolism. These are all known to indicate risk factors for coronary heart disease in adults.
About the Charles Perkins Centre: The Charles Perkins Centre is committed to easing the burden of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and related metabolic conditions that drive accelerated aging, through innovative research projects and partnerships, and teaching and clinical activities.
The Hopewood Project
The LIVEPLUS Study at the University of Sydney
By Professor Luigi Fontana
Cardiometabolic disease (a group of common but often preventable conditions including heart attack, stroke, diabetes, insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) is one of Australia’s largest health problems and cause of death in Australia and worldwide.
Research Library
Healthy sleeping for a healthy life
Sleep is a non-negotiable biological condition necessary for the preservation of human life and wellbeing. It is a foundational component of our biology, as much as the air we breathe, and the food and the
The health and environmental benefits of a healthy diet
Did you know the benefits of implementing a healthy plant-based or pesco-vegetarian diet extend beyond our own personal health? Professor Luigi Fontana is an internationally recognised physician scientist and his team at the Charles
The key to living a long and healthy life
It can seem impossible to avoid the lure of quick weight loss tips and fad diets. But what if there was a way to live a long, healthy and fulfilling life without falling prey to
Measuring the impact of a healthy lifestyle
Despite the clear experimental and clinical trial data demonstrating the power of a healthy lifestyle to change heart risk factors and events, there are still gaps which need to be addressed. Firstly, there is
The 5:2 pesco-vegetarian diet
The diet will focus on substituting meat with fish and processed and refined foods with a range of minimally processed plant-based foods and will involve fasting for two non-consecutive days a week. For the
The LIVEPLUS study at the University of Sydney
Cardiometabolic disease (a group of common but often preventable conditions including heart attack, stroke, diabetes, insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) is one of Australia’s largest health problems and cause of death in
