At 40 years old, James Marcum found himself alone on a Colorado mountainside, struggling to breathe as crushing pain gripped his chest.
The Chattanooga cardiologist had been skiing with friends when an artery supplying blood to his heart suddenly went into spasm, cutting off circulation and causing a clot to form. Marcum immediately recognized the symptoms of a heart attack.
His friends had already descended the mountain, leaving him without anyone to summon for help. With his heart rhythm changing and sweat beading on his skin, Marcum faced a decision: remain where he was and hope someone found him, or attempt to make his way down the slope.
“I remember thinking, ‘I’m a cardiologist. Why is this happening to me?’” Marcum recalls. “I’d been healthy for the first 40 years of my life – or at least I thought I had.”
He chose to descend.
“I inched my way down, knowing that if I fell, I might not be able to get back up,” he says.
His friends rushed him to a hospital, where doctors confirmed the heart attack. Although he survived, the episode permanently damaged part of his heart muscle and changed the direction of his medical career.
More than two decades later, that experience forms the starting point for Marcum’s new book, “The Creator’s Code: A Cardiologist’s Biblical Diet and Lifestyle to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease and Reclaim Your Life.”
The book draws on Marcum’s 35 years of medical practice, his personal health challenges and research into the relationship between everyday habits and chronic disease.
Its central argument is that preventing and managing heart disease requires more than treating its symptoms. Marcum says changes in diet, physical activity, sleep and other behaviors can address some of the underlying conditions that contribute to cardiovascular illness, sometimes reducing the need for medical intervention.
The approach also draws on an unconventional source for a medical book: the Bible.
“I began looking to the Bible for guidance and comparing its teachings with what science was revealing about the human body,” Marcum says. “Advances in DNA research and epigenetics helped me understand how different influences can turn genes on and off. I think of epigenetics as the software that runs the hardware.”
(Epigenetics studies how behavior and environment affect gene activity without altering DNA.)
Different approach to heart health
Rather than prescribing an elaborate health regimen, “The Creator’s Code” emphasizes accessible practices such as proper hydration, regular movement, adequate rest, plant-based nutrition and time outdoors.
Marcum examines the physiological effects of these habits, drawing connections to inflammation, circulation, metabolism, brain function and the body’s natural repair processes.
He points to biblical passages describing plant foods, the account in Daniel of a diet involving vegetables and water, and teachings about gratitude, happiness and rest as examples of principles that he says align with modern health research.
“I see practical connections between passages in the Bible and what we’re learning about health,” he says. “The passage about a merry heart doing good like medicine connects with what we know about happiness and endorphins. I also discuss gratitude and its effects on the body.”
The book also explores how sunlight affects human physiology, including the role of visible light in regulating the body’s internal clock and the potential effects of different wavelengths on cellular processes.
Marcum recommends spending time outdoors as part of a broader health routine, while emphasizing that many people overlook more fundamental needs, including adequate hydration, dietary fiber, exercise and sleep.
His goal is to help readers understand how these practices work together and give them a practical starting point for improving their health.
Beyond the prescription pad
Marcum’s interest in preventive medicine developed gradually after his heart attack.
He initially concentrated on nutrition, studying the work of physicians and researchers who investigated the relationship between plant-based diets and chronic disease. Over time, his focus expanded to include the influence of sleep, stress, physical activity and other factors.
The search also led him to question whether the healthcare system places enough emphasis on preventing disease rather than treating its consequences.
“Medicine has changed dramatically over 35 years. We’re very good at acute and emergency care, but I don’t think we’re doing well enough with long-term health,” he says.
That criticism does not mean Marcum rejects conventional medicine.
He continues to practice cardiology three days a week and acknowledges the importance of medications, surgery and other interventions, particularly when patients face immediate medical emergencies.
His concern is that treatment often stops short of examining why a patient developed a condition in the first place.
“There’s a place for modern medicine and medications. But we also have to ask why these problems are happening,” he says. “The book looks at both the secondary causes and the underlying problems.”
He points to obesity as an example. Excess body fat, he explains, can influence hormone production, blood pressure, inflammation and the health of blood vessels.
Newer medications, including GLP-1 drugs used for weight management, can help some patients. Marcum says he’s seen their benefits but insists physicians should also investigate the circumstances and behaviors contributing to weight gain.
His broader concern is that chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease are placing increasing demands on patients and the healthcare system.
“We’re seeing more chronic disease, and the costs keep rising,” he says. “As these conditions affect younger generations, who’s going to pay for their care? We need effective prevention programs that give people the motivation and support to change habits they’ve developed over a lifetime.”
Change begins with small steps
Despite the scope of the problems he describes, Marcum’s advice to individual patients is modest.
He doesn’t expect someone who’s spent decades eating poorly, sleeping irregularly or avoiding exercise to transform those habits overnight. Instead, he recommends choosing one manageable improvement and building on it.
For some, that might mean drinking more water. For others, it could mean taking a short walk after meals, improving their sleep schedule or gradually introducing more plant foods into their diet.
He recommends working toward at least 150 minutes of aerobic activity each week, supplemented by light resistance training and stretching.
Exercise, he explains, supports circulation and the health of the endothelium, the lining of blood vessels. It also influences nitric oxide production, oxygen delivery and metabolism.
“I’d start with something manageable: drink water, walk after a meal or gradually build up exercise,” he says.
His own experience illustrates how slowly those changes can develop.
After his heart attack, Marcum began adjusting his diet. He later focused on hydration and exercise. Today, at 63, he eats a mostly plant-based diet, spends time outdoors and tries to walk after every meal.
He’s still refining those habits.
“Right now, I’m working toward getting 30 grams of fiber a day,” he says. “Even though I eat a mostly plant-based diet and have a salad every day, getting enough fiber is still a challenge, so I supplement with psyllium.”
Fiber receives considerable attention in the book because of its relationship to gut health and inflammation. Marcum explains how certain intestinal bacteria convert dietary fiber into compounds such as butyrate, which play a role in regulating inflammatory processes.
He also discusses how eating habits can change over time, including people’s preferences for processed foods.
“These days, I’d rather have a good salad than fried chicken,” he says. “Fried chicken doesn’t taste as good to me as it used to.”
Marcum acknowledges that genetics can influence disease risk and that healthy habits can’t eliminate every medical problem.
He cites a patient who underwent bypass surgery at 60 despite exercising, avoiding cigarettes and eating reasonably well. The man’s father had developed heart problems at 40.
Marcum viewed the comparison as an illustration of how lifestyle choices might help delay the consequences of inherited vulnerabilities, even when they cannot prevent disease entirely.
A physician who became a patient
Marcum’s understanding of those limitations extends beyond his heart attack.
At age 7, he fell from a tree and severely injured his arm and hand. Although doctors saved the limb, the damage permanently affected its movement and sensation.
He’d hoped to become a cardiovascular surgeon, but the injury prevented him from pursuing that specialty. He chose cardiology instead.
He’s also lived with diabetes, a weakened heart and, at one point, sleep apnea.
Those experiences have shaped his approach to medicine and his understanding of the difficulties patients face.
“I’ve faced other health challenges, including diabetes, and those experiences have taught me how much genetics can influence our health,” he says. “Some things are beyond our control.”
His health has also influenced how he organizes his work.
A few years ago, after recognizing that he was not getting adequate rest, Marcum reduced his clinical schedule from full-time to part time.
He now reserves one day each week for rest and time with family, a practice he says helps him maintain his physical and mental health.
“We’re constantly busy and connected to media around the clock,” he says. “That takes a toll on both our physical and mental health.”
For Marcum, those adjustments reinforce the book’s emphasis on gradual, sustainable changes rather than dramatic interventions.
Reaching patients beyond Chattanooga
Although Marcum continues seeing patients, much of his work now takes place outside the examination room.
He directs Heartwise Ministries, hosts the syndicated radio program “Heartwise” and the television health program “The Heart of Health Live!,” and produces videos for his YouTube channel, Biblical Prescriptions for Life.
His radio program airs on more than 300 stations nationwide, and his YouTube channel has approximately 251,000 followers.
He previously wrote “The Ultimate Prescription” and “Medicines That Kill,” but describes “The Creator’s Code” as a culmination of what he’s learned through decades of treating patients, researching chronic disease and managing his own health.
The book was released around May, with its principal launch in September. It’s available through Amazon, including in a Kindle edition, and Marcum says there has been interest in translations.
He hopes the book will serve people who cannot become his patients but want to investigate practical ways to improve their health.
“People often ask if I can take them on as patients, but there are too many people with chronic disease for me to see everyone,” he says. “The book gives them a practical guide they can follow at their own pace, starting with manageable changes and building on their progress.”
At 63, Marcum recognizes that his own health challenges and the passage of time have changed what he can accomplish. Nevertheless, he continues to research subjects such as inflammation, obesity and brain health, spending about 90 minutes a day reviewing new information.
His motivation, he says, is to give people more options and a greater sense of control over their health.
“These problems have been around for years, and I don’t know whether society will change,” he says. “But I want to give people another perspective and more tools to improve their health.”
That message returns to the experience that set him on this path: a heart attack that forced a cardiologist to reconsider what it means to be healthy.
Marcum doesn’t suggest that lifestyle changes can replace emergency care or guarantee freedom from disease. Rather, he wants patients to recognize that their choices can still matter, even when their medical circumstances are complicated.
“Enduring hope is one of the book’s central themes,” he says. “Many patients live with the fear of pain or death and struggle to cope. I want them to know there are healthier ways to face those fears and practical steps they can take to improve their lives.”