Top Natural Remedies From Dr. Weil

The founder of integrative medicine answers our top questions about staying healthy naturally

Q: When did you first become interested in natural and alternative medicine?
A: Long before medical school. As a boy, I was always interested in plants and did a lot of gardening. I also read about things that were off the beaten track, like hypnosis, yoga, mind-body interactions, and Eastern philosophy.

Q: Not exactly a conventional preparation for medical school.
A: No, not then. After I got out, I did a lot of traveling and studied the healing practices of other cultures. I gradually put together my own system, which I first called natural and preventive medicine and later integrative medicine.

Q: What is the main tenet of integrative medicine?
A: The body has an incredible capacity to regulate and heal itself, and good medicine should begin with the assumption that the body can and wants to be healthy. To that end, we should always consider natural, less expensive treatments first.

Q: What can the average person do to embrace this natural healing philosophy?
A: The basic principles of maintaining health are not complicated. They start with good nutrition, proper physical activity, adequate rest and sleep, maintaining a positive outlook, managing stress, and using natural remedies for common conditions. Doctors should be guides and teachers in this.

Q: How do you practice these principles daily in your own life?
A: I'm very careful about what I eat. I grow a lot of my own food, like to cook, and eat mostly fish and vegetables. I take a multivitamin-and-mineral supplement, two low-dose aspirin, coenzyme Q10, fish oil, vitamin D, and a mixture of Asian mushrooms for immune support. I sleep a full 8 hours and practice breathing exercises for stress reduction. I used to run a lot, but now on most days I swim for at least a half hour. I like the breathing that goes with it, and I get into a kind of altered state that works really well for me.

Q: Do you still see patients?
A: Not many, but some—mostly people referred to me by colleagues, people whose conditions have resisted treatment. Much of what I've learned I've picked up from patients.

Q: What have you learned from them?
A: Over the years, they've taught me something very important: that each person has an individual path to healing. I often don't know what that is, so the most valuable thing I can do is tell them, "I know you can get better." I tell them I may not know the exact way, but I can give them suggestions for making changes in their lifestyle, help them explore healing modalities, and introduce them to other practitioners who may help. Many say I was the first doctor who told them they could get better—it makes me sad to hear that—but they consistently say that was the single most valuable thing I did for them.

ANDREW WEIL, MD, is founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and clinical professor of medicine at the University of Arizona. For more information, go to

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