"Our goal is to put the patient back in the center of health-care management," Sdringola says. "An educated patient can be motivated, committed to achieve these goals of longer and healthier lives that would benefit American society as a whole with reduction in the mortality and morbidity associated with this largely preventable disease."

Conant, who was placed in the second group, is sold on that approach so far. He's maintaining his weight at around 170 pounds and his blood pressure has dropped enough so that doctors have discontinued his use of metoprolol and decreased his dosage of lisinopril. He takes medication to help manage his cholesterol level, but says he and his wife, Carolyn, have benefited greatly from the dietitian's advice.

"I had been on diets before and lost 10 or 15 pounds, but I'd keep eating hamburgers and French fries and I just had to get off that," Conant says. "We still eat burgers at home, but it's with ground turkey, wheat buns and no-fat mayonnaise. Instead of French fries, my wife slices up sweet potatoes and bakes them with a little olive oil and chili powder."

Although Carolyn Conant is not involved in the study, her husband says she has lost weight, too, and both of them feel better and have more energy. Their son Mike also is enjoying the change, dropping weight from 250 pounds to 210.

"We still eat well. It hasn't been a traumatic change," Buddy Conant says. "You just have to look at what you're buying. If you just grab stuff off the shelves, you're going to get a lot of high-fat, high-sugar foods. I grill a lot now instead of eating fried foods, and when we have chicken, we take the skin off. It's really pretty simple."

He has a weekly bowling night, rides his bicycle a couple of times a week and uses a Bowflex fitness machine, but says he hasn't increased his exercise regimen since joining the study.

The dramatic improvement means much more to Conant than just appreciating his slimmer form in the mirror. His father died at age 59 during heart bypass surgery and Conant underwent angioplasty in 2006.

"I thought I was in great shape. I went to my doctor and did a stress test and everything seemed OK, but he ordered some more tests and told me I had had a heart attack and I didn't even know it," Conant says. "They showed me where the damage was, but said my heart had repaired itself."

Now Conant feels more in control of his life and confident about his future. He closed his auto mechanic shop in December and plans to retire with his wife and son to a house they're building on Lake Livingston. That makes for a longer trip to meet with the research team, but he says it'll be a pleasure.

"Dr. Sdringola told me, 'Man, you're my poster boy!' " Conant says.

Visit www.centuryhealthstudy or call 713-500-5200.

Source: University of Texas Health Science Center