4Leaf Global, LLC

A simple idea with a huge upside for humankind

The 4Leaf idea is simply this. By helping everyone move in the direction of a near optimal diet for humans, we help people everywhere get healthy, we save a fortune on the cost of healthcare and, at the same time, we do some wonderful things for the environment. For the definition of that optimal diet, we chose this simple, concise conclusion by the Cornell professor of nutritional biochemistry who led the most comprehensive study of human nutrition ever conducted:

“The closer we get to eating a diet of whole, plant-based foods, the better off we will be.”

T. Colin Campbell, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University

Latest 1-page version of the 4Leaf Survey. Twelve questions, multiple choice 4Leaf Survey

Two FREE Books for the International Public

• 4Leaf Guide to Vibrant Health Want to get healthy, save money, lose weight AND help preserve the ecosystem that keeps us alive? Read this powerful little book. Meet the authors: Kerry Graff, MD and J. Morris Hicks
• Our 2020 book, OUTCRY, published on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on 4-22-20, provides a big picture explanation of our situation and what me must do to maximize our chances for long-term survival as a species. Authors: J. Morris Hicks & Stuart Scott

Obviously, the closest we can get to that way of eating is by getting ALL  of our calories from those healthiest of foods – whole plants. So we developed the 4Leaf scale, with the top bar set at 80% for those who get at least  80% of their total calories from whole plants.

So if you’re one of those people, you are eating at what we call the 4Leaf level. Here are the other “leaf” levels with all of them delivering far more whole plant calories than the typical western diet, which only derives 7% of its calories from whole plants.

• 3Leaf level is over 60% of calories from whole plants
• 2Leaf is over 40% from whole plants
• 1Leaf is over 20% from whole plants

We estimate that over 90% of Americans (and those in other developed nations) are currently eating below the 1Leaf level, with far less than 20% of their calories from whole plant-based foods.

Next vital sign? The 4Leaf approach to eating was created in 2009 and has been evolving ever since. The 4Leaf Survey (a 2-minute dietary assessment) was created in 2012 and has been administered millions of times throughout the world (now in eleven languages). Dr. Jim Sheppard summarizes the potential:

Medical doctors in dozens of countries have found our survey to be a very useful tool in helping their patients understand what constitutes a true, health-promoting diet. And we recently learned that some of those doctors are entering the patient’s survey score in their EMR (electronic medical records) system as a vital sign.

Dr. Sheppard, quoted above, tells us how he uses 4Leaf in his practice:

“I have found the 4Leaf score to be not only diagnostic, but also therapeutic. Additionally, I have found that one’s 4Leaf score is also prognostic. For as one goes up the 4 Leaf scale, their other vital signs (Wt, BP, BMI, pulse) tend to normalize.  Lastly, the patient’s other biomarkers (Glucose, Cholesterol, A1c, BUN/Cr) improve as one goes up the 4Leaf scale.”

“For that reason, I have begun to use the 4Leaf Score as another vital sign. Patients can take the survey online, with results tabulated along with suggestions on how to improve their score,  emailed automatically to the patient. As is the case with your survey, determining that vital sign must be a quick, simple and easy process – and capable of providing meaningful guidance regarding what patients can do to improve their dietary vital signs while simultaneously triggering improvement in everything from blood pressure and total cholesterol to a patient’s BMI and  A1C.”

Click to read Dr. Sheppard’s April 2019 article re a new vital sign

Can you imagine what would happen if every physician in the world was leveraging this new vital sign to help their patients learn to promote their own health? Can you imagine a world with up to 80% fewer drugs? Let’s face it, the world’s current healthcare industry depends on lots of sick people for its own survival. A few years ago, one medical journalist, Shannon Brownlee, put it this way regarding our so-called “health-care” system:

Time for a Game Changer. We at 4Leaf Global believe that it is time for a game changer in medicine. People everywhere deserve to have a healthcare system that focuses primarily on promoting health instead of managing disease and making money. In the USA, we have the highest cost of healthcare in the world and therefore, deserve to have the best healthcare system. But in order to get there, we need a system that is rewarded for promoting health – not for selling drugs. And for that to happen, we need a game changer.

Perhaps the powerful, food-related scientific truths in The China Study, practiced by a host of pioneering, health-promoting medical doctors – could be that game changer.

Simplicity is key. We believe that it is time for some big changes and we want to do our part to help. We know that, without a doubt, our simple 4Leaf approach can help doctors everywhere as they engage their patients in the process of promoting health.  And when this movement gains momentum, the worldwide era of chronic disease eradication will have begun.

That’s because there will soon be many thousands of those “China Study” educated doctors who already know that encouraging their patients to embrace a whole-food, plant based (WFPB) will enable them to eliminate most, if not all, of the chronic diseases that plague them.

And our simple 4Leaf tools can help. To be clear, we don’t try to measure exactly what people eat. Rather, we use a simple 2-minute, multiple choice questionnaire to better understand their overall pattern of eating and then use that information to help them make food choices that will promote vibrant health. Want to take a tour of our Licensees ONLY page? Just contact me (Jim Hicks) via email  and let’s set up a time to talk.

Credibility at its best.  In September of 2015, I received this unsolicited endorsement via email from T. Colin Campbell, PhD, Nutritional Biochemistry, Cornell University. He sent it from an international cancer conference that he was attending.

“Your 4Leaf model is one-hundredth the complexity but has real value that may exceed any of the very comprehensive survey models developed by some of the world’s top cancer specialists.”

Copyright © 2019 4Leaf Global, LLC

Have you taken our online 4Leaf Survey? While you’re here, we invite you to take  it  at 4leafsurvey.com. In less than two minutes, you will appreciate the power of this tool and will be able to quickly understand why we’re so excited about it. We encourage you to take a look around this site and look forward to hearing from you soon.

J. Morris (Jim) Hicks, Founder & CEO of 4Leaf Global, LLC, and a former board member Dr. Colin Campbell’s Center for Nutrition Studies