The ADVENTISTS home video release on DVD has begun; broadcasts on PBS stations are being scheduled for Easter 2010.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an American-born religion that began in the mid-1800’s. From the outset it gave a priority to a healthy lifestyle as part of its understanding of Scriptures. Special diets, concentration on exercise and healthy living have resulted in its membership living on average 8-10 years longer than others. In fact, nearly 100,000 of the religion’s 1 million members in North America have participated in several long-term studies funded in part by the federal government - to understand the secret of the Adventist approach.

National Geographic's Dan Buettner collaborated in a study by the National Institute on Ageing and later wrote about its findings in a book that became the best-selling The Blue Zones. In his interview for the film he shares what he discovered about Adventists. "Week after week, month after month, year after year they're observing the Sabbath, maintaining a plant-based diet and getting exercise. And we know that each of those are associated with longevity - lower body-mass-index, lower rates of heart disease and lower rates of cancer." 

One of the best examples of the Adventist approach to healthy living is Dr. Ellsworth Wareham who is a strong advocate of a plant-based diet. Dr Wareham, once a renowned heart surgeon, is 95 years old and on most days can still be found in the operating room assisting in open-heart surgery.


Also offering reflections on the Adventist success is Deborah Kotz who writes on health for US News and World Report. Part of the success of the Adventists, she says, is that their approach is "much more holistic" and connects body, mind and spirit.

"Deep in our culture is the idea that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit and we ought to take care of them," says historian George Knight. That has set the course as the guiding principle for the Adventist health approach from the earliest days.

Also profiled in the film is the story of infant heart transplant surgeon Dr. Leonard Bailey, who became world-famous in the mid-1980’s for "Baby Fae." Today Dr. Bailey performs on average two transplants per month and The ADVENTISTS profiles one remarkable family’s fight to keep their 5-month old son alive. 

The film also includes re-enactment of key events in the mid-19th century that led to the church's founding and an archival section that re-tells the story of the Adventist-created Battle Creek Sanitarium, headed by John Harvey Kellogg, perhaps the most famous health resort of the 20th century.

Filmmaker Martin Doblmeier says, "through the film we have the chance to explore pioneering health care facilities, state of the art medial technology and cutting-edge science. But what matters most is we have the privilege to encounter people whose lives are completely changed and that is always the heart of the story."