Chris Kilham

Chris Kilham (born July 22, 1952) is an author, educator, and world-traveler researching and promoting plant-based medicines.He is the founder of Medicine Hunter, Inc., and was a Fox News integrative alternative medicine TV personality and columnist for 9 years.He is the author of 14 books, including The Ayahuasca Test Pilots Handbook - The Essential Guide to Ayahuasca Journeying,The Five Tibetans,Tales from The Medicine Trail, Psyche Delicacies, and Kava: Medicine Hunting in Paradise. The New York Times has referred to Kilham as “part David Attenborough, part Indiana Jones." Richard Branson writes about Kilham's sustainability work in his book, Screw Business as Usual.

Chris Kilham was born and raised in a family of ministers, broadcast and public speaking professionals.He is the son of Elizabeth Scalise Kilham “Bette Day” (1925-2006) and Gene Kilham (1919-1971).Bette Day was one of the first female on-screen TV talents at Boston's WBZ-TV and became a popular radio disc jockey during her 43-year broadcasting career. Gene Kilham was also a broadcasting professional and songwriter. His grandfather, Rev. Dr. Victor Scalise graduated from Yale Divinity School in 1932 and spoke for his graduating class and received an award for effective preaching.Kilham's uncle and first cousin are both Baptist ministers.

Chris Kilham did his first commercial gig for Welch's Grape Juice on live TV at the age of 7 and did several commercials as a child.

Kilham married noted feministZoe Helene in 2007. Helene often travels on Medicine Hunter expeditions and is an officer/partner in the company.

Kilham is the founder of Medicine Hunter, Inc. Through Medicine Hunter, Kilham travels to locate native medicinal plants and set up cultivation methods and sustainable trade with indigenous peoples. Medicine Hunter, Inc. is sponsored by companies who compensate Kilham for researching and promoting specific plants.

Kilham is currently Explorer In Residence for Purity Products, a collaboration that brings to market health-promoting herbal concepts that Chris supports.These products are largely based on his findings on botanical expeditions.

Kilham appears on Fox News in US and international television markets.He appears on Fox News as the "Medicine Hunter" and for 9 years wrote an online column under this same name.

For 21 years, Kilham's primary sponsor was Naturex, a French supplier of plant extracts. The Naturex Foundation employed Kilham to establish fair trade with indigenous peoples in the areas in which their plants are grown. On their behalf he headed new botanical discovery, helped to develop sustainability programs, and developed communication programs about medicinal plants.

Kilham's wife, Zoe Helene, is an active partner in Medicine Hunter, Inc. Zoe Helene is an artist, and cultural activist, and interactive media pioneer. Helene travels with Kilham on expeditions and conducts field research on the state of wilderness and wildlife, the arts of indigenous peoples, and women and children's rights. As partner and 'co-pilot' in Medicine Hunter, Inc., Helene has traveled with Kilham on expeditions to the Peruvian Amazon, Peruvian Andes, Panama, Chile, South Africa, Vanuatu and Aotearoa (New Zealand), where she spent the years 9 to 19. Helene traveled with media on Medicine Hunter expeditions and appeared with Chris Kilham on NBC Nightly News, and in twice in The New York Times. She is mentioned in Reality Sandwich, Ode Magazine, and most recently, Outside Magazine, where she was quoted as advocating for New Zealand's critically endangered Maui's dolphin "of which a mere 55 survive.” On Huffington Post she writes about the importance of sustainable harvesting of medicinal plants, stating that “Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis), in the Amazon, are increasingly difficult to find in the wild.”

Plant Medicine

Under Medicine Hunter, Inc. and partner companies, Kilham has conducted medicinal research in over 20 countries. He also promotes the following plants as having these properties:

• Ayahuasca as an addiction treatment, *Ayahuasca as an addiction treatment, for healing psoriasis, physical abuse and chronic fatigue, and for personal healing.
• Rhodiola rosea for reducing cortisol levels, reducing stress, improving mental function, and enhancing libido.
• Tongkat ali as an aphrodisiac and for balancing both male and female hormones.
• Dragon's blood for skin healing and antioxidant properties.
• Acai as superfood and for antioxidant properties.
• Maca for enhancing energy and sexual function.

Kilham's work with aphrodisiacs has been featured on CNN, The Dr. Oz Show, Good Morning America, and in the New York Times and Washington Post, ABC News Nightline, Outside Magazine, and Business Insider.

From 1985-1990, Kilham was the Vice President of Marketing for Bread and Circus, a natural foods chain bought by Whole Foods in 1992. In 1990, Kilham founded Cowboy Marketing, a consulting firm for the natural foods industry. His book, Cowboy Marketing: How to Shoot from the Hip and Win on the Wild Frontier of Natural Foods Retailing is about his experiences in the natural foods industry.

Kilham is an activist in the movement to legalize marijuana and has written about the topic, including the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes and U.S. patent 6.630.507, on several occasions as part of his Fox Health blog. Kilham's wife and business partner, Zoe Helene, is also a public advocate for the legalization of marijuana, and was recently featured in a Forbes article stating that she uses cannabis occasionally “as a tool for evolving and expanding my psyche.”

Cannabis fine dining is gaining momentum across the country. Kilham is the "celebrity ethnobotanist" in Robyn Grigg Lawerence's, The Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook (2015), which features healthy cannabis-infused food recipes and seasoned advice from America's top cannabis chefs. He was listed as one of the "Top Cannabis Chefs" in Culture Magazine.

Kilham is recognized as a chief in the South Pacific. He researches and promotes psychoactive and psychedelic plants used in traditional shaman rituals, including kava and ayahuasca. He has written a book about the medicinal qualities of psychoactive and psychedelic plants, entitled Psyche Delicacies: Coffee, Chocolate, Chiles, Kava and Cannabis and Why They're Good for You. Chris' most recent book, The Ayahuasca Test Pilots Handbook - The Essential Guide to Ayahuasca Journeying, has been featured in Newsweek, Boston Magazine, and Reset with Amber Lyon. The Ayahuasca Test Pilots Handbook - The Essential Guide to Ayahuasca Journeying is dedicated to Kilham's wife, Zoe Helene, and to the late Ipupiara, Bernardo Dias Peixoto, a shaman.

Kilham's Ayahausca Monologues have been described as a “psychedelic TED talk” and “Insightful, funny, wild, and totally real". Chris is the founder of Ayahuasca Test Pilots, a “collaboration of individuals who engage in the ceremonial practice of ayahuasca journeying with skilled shamans”. His wife, Zoe Helene, serves as “Co-Pilot”.

Kilham is a yoga teacher and conference speaker. His most notable yoga contribution is his book, The Five Tibetans: Five Dynamic Exercises for Health, Energy, and Personal Power, which has been a bestseller for 20 years and translated into 27 languages. Nicki Doane, Deepak Chopra, and Dr. Mehmet Oz are quoted on the book jacket. Kilham has been featured on The Dr. Oz Show teaching Dr. Mehmet Oz the exercises. He has also demonstrated The Five Tibetans on Fox News. Kilham is sometimes referred to as the "Psychedelic Yogi".

Kilham has a Mind Body Disciplines degree from University of Massachusetts-Amherst, a major that he designed himself.

Kilham has taught ethnobotany at University of Massachusetts since 2000.His title there is “Explorer in Residence.”He leads the Shaman's Pharmacy Amazon Field Immersion Course, an expedition to primary rainforest in Peru for students from UMass Amherst, Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College, Hampshire College, and Smith College.Students experience the Amazon while learning about field expedition, sustainability, shamanism, and medicinal plants of the region.Helene travels with and educates the students.

Kilham is the author of fourteen books and numerous publications on medicinal plants, natural products, and yoga,including The Five Tibetans: Five Dynamic Exercises for Health, Energy, and Personal Power and Stalking the Wild Orgasm, which appears as a key character set-up prop in the cult 1988 movie, Earth Girls Are Easy in the lead role Valerie Gail's (played by Geena Davis) lingerie drawer. Chris' most recent book, The Ayahuasca Test Pilots Handbook - The Essential Guide to Ayahuasca Journeying, provides a practical guide to ayahuasca use.

Kilham's other books are:

• The Ayahuasca Test Pilots Handbook: The Essential Guide to Ayahuasca Journeying. ( North Atlantic Books | Evolver Editions, November 4, 2014) – ISBN 978-1-58394-792-0
• The Five Tibetans: Five Dynamic Exercises for Health, Energy, and Personal Power. (Healing Arts Press; 2nd Edition, New Edition, August 16, 2011) – ISBN 978-1594774447
• Hot Plants: Nature's Proven Sex Boosters for Men and Women. (St. Martin's Press, September 2004) – ISBN 978-0-312-31539-9
• Psyche Delicacies: Coffee, Chocolate, Chiles, Kava and Cannabis, and Why They're Good For You. (Rodale Press, 2001) – ISBN 1-57954-347-2
• Tales from The Medicine Trail: Tracking Down the Health Secrets of Shamans, Herbalists, Mystics, Yogis, and Other Healers. (Rodale Press, 2000) – ISBN 1-57954-185-2
• OPC: The Miracle Antioxidant.(Keats Publishing, Jan. 11,1998) – ISBN 0-87983-842-6
• Kava: Medicine Hunting in Paradise. (Park Street Press, 1996) – ISBN 0-89281-640-6
• Cowboy Marketing: How to Shoot From the Hip and Win on the Wild Frontier of Natural Foods Retailing.(New Hope Communications, 1993) – ASIN B000E6CS1O
• The Bread & Circus Whole Food Bible: How to Select and Prepare Safe Healthful Foods Without Pesticides or Chemical Additives.(Addison-Wesley, 1991.Revised version: Healing Arts Press, 1996) – ISBN 978-0-89281-626-2
• Inner Power: Secrets from the Tibet and Orient. (Japan Publications, 1988) – ISBN 0-87040-689-2
• In Search Of The New Age: A Humorous Look at an Emerging Culture. (Destiny Books, 1988) – ISBN 978-0-89281-209-7
• Take Charge Of Your Health: Healing with Yogatherapy and Nutrition. (Japan Publications, 1985) – ISBN 0-87040-632-9
• The Complete Shopper's Guide to Natural Foods. (Autumn Press, 1980) – ISBN 0-394-73983-3

Kilham is a frequent guest on The Dr. Oz Show with Dr. Mehmet Oz, appearing on at least 15 occasions from January 2008 to January 2015,and Good Morning America, where he has appeared to discuss herbal remedies, his cocoa sustainability project, and libido boosting plants. Kilham also serves on The Medical Advisory Board of The Dr. Oz Show.

Kilham has appeared as a guest expert on numerous radio and television programs, speaking primarily about medicine hunting, mind/body health and wellness, traditional botanical medicine, sustainability, environmental and cultural preservation and other related topics.