8 Weeks to Optimum Health: A Proven Program for Taking Full Advantage of Your Body's Natural Healing Power [Paperback]

Andrew Weil (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 28, 2007

Now expanded and updated–the #1 New York Times bestselling book in which one of America’s most brilliant doctors shares his famous program for improving and protecting your health

Eight Weeks to Optimum Health lays out Dr. Andrew Weil’s famous week-by-week, step-by-step plan that will keep your body’s natural healing system in peak working order. It covers diet, exercise, lifestyle, stress, and environment–all aspects of daily living that affect health and well-being. This revised edition includes the most up-to-date findings on such vital subjects as cholesterol, antioxidants, trans fats, toxic residues in the food supply, soy products, and vitamins and supplements, together with a greatly enhanced source list of information and supplies. Inside you will learn how to

• develop eating habits for greater health and well-being
• start an effective exercise program based on walking and stretching
• work with breathing patterns to decrease stress and improve energy
• solve sleeping problems
• eliminate toxins from your diet
• minimize environmental hazards in your daily life

Plus–programs tailored to the specific needs of pregnant women, senior citizens, overweight people, and those at risk for cancer.

“If there is a heaven, sixtysomething Weil is headed there, but if he practices what he preaches, probably not for some time yet.”
– London Times

“Dr. Andrew Weil is an extraordinary phenomenon.”
–The Washington Post

Editorial Reviews

Review

“If there is a heaven, sixtysomething Weil is headed there, but if he practices what he preaches, probably not for some time yet.”
– London Times

“Dr. Andrew Weil is an extraordinary phenomenon.”
–The Washington Post

About the Author

Andrew Weil, M.D., has worked for the National Institute of Mental Health and for fifteen years was a Research Associate in Ethnopharmacology at the Harvard Botanical Museum. He has traveled extensively throughout the world collecting information about the medicinal properties of plants, altered states of consciousness, and healing. He has written for the New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine and other national publications. He is under constant demand to lecture and appear on radio and television. He is currently Associate Director of the Division of Social Perspectives in Medicine, and Director of the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he practices natural and preventive medicine. Eight Weeks to Optimum Health is his seventh book.


From the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; Rev Exp Up edition (August 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034549802X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345498021
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.7 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,422 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #93 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Alternative Medicine > Healing

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 85 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Basic guide and many tips to better health- but use with caution October 7, 2006

By Shalom Freedman HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Andrew Weil is a legendary figure in the Health business. He advocates a mix of conventional medicine( for crises) and alternative medicine ( prevention and maintenance). He is a best- selling author and this present work is a revised edition of one of his best known books.

In it he provides an eight- week health plan for optimum health. Each week he gives his recommendations for changing one's self. Diet, exercise, breathing, overall mental and spiritual attitude are the fundamental subjects he deals with.. He provides case - histories which recount the cures of those who took his 'medicine'

Weil recommends a number of changes in Diet which most nutritionists would accept wholeheartedly. He recommends a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, fibre, and fish - derived Omega- three..

Where Weil is controversial is in his wholehearted recommended of various alternative medicines and vitamin supplements. I do not know whether or not he is right in his claims for Gingkao Bilbao,, Milk Thistle( LIver illness) ,Saw Palmetto ( prostate ) but his use of anecdotal rather than statistical evidence is less than wholly convincing.

I found most interesting his emphasis on ' breathing techniques' as basis for improved health. And I will perhaps make efforts at exploring it.

He has special sections for those fifty years old, and for those seventy years old.

On the whole I have a sense that he is sane, balanced and by and large correct in most of his recommendations.

But I think caution is required in undertaking many of the supplements he recommends. Perhaps it is best to read this book, and take whatever practical messages one derives from it, to one 's own personal physician for evaluation.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Revision April 14, 2007

By Abby O.

Format:Hardcover

I think this is a solid book. It is not about dieting for losing weight, but dieting for healthy living. Change is almost always more difficult than we think it will be, and certainly changing one's dietary habits are among the more difficult habits to change. By breaking down this change into an eight week program, Weil makes the transition from "eating habit A" to "eating habit B" more practical than other eating for healthy living diets I've seen. I have to admit that I found each week turning into 2 or 3 weeks, but that did provide a sound foundation from which to build, and did not force change on me too quickly. I managed to make it through week 8 using the first edition of this book (about 6 months worth of time using my 2-3 week per chapter pace). I definitely felt better than when I began the program.

After going through this book, I stopped paying attention to my diet and just wanted to see what habits would remain. I think about 1/3 of what I learned in Weil's book I still practiced after about a year. I bought the second edition as a reinvestment into the program. It is essentially the same as the first edition, but with updated information (vitamins and such) and also new recipes. I think there are enough changes to warrant purchasing it.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, easy to follow program.... July 23, 2007

By Patrick D. Goonan

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I read the original version of this book when it first came out and I was very impressed. Both the new and old version of this book are excellent, easy to follow roadmaps to improve your health and prevent problems down the road.

As a former biochemist and physiology teaching fellow, I can understand the reasoning behind many of Dr. Weil's supplement recommendations. However, it is important to proceed with caution especially in the area of herbal medicine. Some of these compounds do have a powerful effect and they don't mix well with other medications and sometimes each other.

A lot of this material is recycled, but it is updated. It worth having the updates, but if you have read the first version, you will see a lot of material that is familiar.

This is a very encouraging, easy to follow, common sense approach to making permanent changes in your life. It covers every realm of fitness from physical to mental and even spiritual. The breathing section is also good and I have seen these techniques work in using biofeedback with my clients and myself. They really do produce profound physiological effects.