Coming Soon · A New Book

Designed
to Heal

A Framework for Human Health in an Age of Chronic Illness — by Andrew Petersen, DO & Kirsten Mast, JD

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Designed
to Heal

Petersen · Mast

A Framework for Human Health in an Age of Chronic Illness

The Problem

Why doing everything right still leaves millions stuck

More than half of American adults live with chronic disease — yet millions remain trapped between “normal” lab results and treatments their bodies cannot tolerate. Diets, supplements, and lifestyle programs bring short-term relief followed by relapse.

What’s missing isn’t motivation or information. It’s a usable framework for understanding readiness and sequencing — knowing when the body is capable of healing, and in what order to support it.

60%

of U.S. adults live with at least one chronic condition — many cycling through specialists without sustained improvement

40%

manage multiple conditions simultaneously, yet most medical frameworks treat each in isolation

$5T+

in annual U.S. healthcare spending, the majority driven by chronic disease with no clear resolution

clinics and 200,000+ patients inform the clinical framework behind Designed to Heal

The Authors

Bridging clinical practice and systems thinking

Andrew Petersen, DO

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine

Founder of a 30-clinic, 200,000-patient network, Andrew has spent his career translating the complexity of systems medicine into clinical approaches that produce durable results — even for patients who have exhausted conventional options.

Kirsten Mast, JD

Author · Health Educator

With deep expertise in functional medicine communication and patient education, Kirsten brings clinical rigor to accessible prose — making complex biological systems understandable for readers at every level of health literacy.

Inside the Book

Five parts. One coherent model.

Rather than promoting a single protocol, Designed to Heal gives readers a mental model for understanding readiness, sequencing, and resilience.

The Framework: How the Body Actually Works

Introduces the core model — aging as balance, DNA as blueprint, nutrition as substrate, and constraints as capacity drains. Establishes the “body as a city” metaphor that runs throughout the book.

The Terrain and the Forces That Shape It

Explains why healing stalls: gut health, microbial imbalance, toxin burden, metabolic instability, and the chronic signal mismatch of modern stress and environment.

III

Sequencing: Why Order Determines Outcomes

Introduces readiness and tolerance as clinical concepts. Explains why capacity limits recovery, why overload causes setbacks, and when to pause, support, or advance.

Applying the Framework

Puts principles into practice across foundation, gut health, detoxification, metabolism, hormones, and nervous system resilience.

Stewardship and Sustainability

Addresses the long-term reality of chronic illness — relapse, plateaus, access constraints, and health as ongoing stewardship rather than a one-time optimization.

Designedto Heal