8 Weeks to Optimum Health

Rating:
Summary: a credibility problem
Review: My daughter purchased this book for me about 6 months ago. I know Dr. Weil is an educated man, but I'm sorry. I just cannot take seriously a man this overweight lecturing on optimum health. Look at the size of this guy. Either he is slipping in triple cheeseburgers and double malteds when no one is looking, or salmon and seaweed are VERY fattening. I would say its probably the former. I kept looking for "after" photos but, alas, there are none. This is how he looks.

Rating:
Summary: some new important health tips and relaxation techniques
Review: Review by Carolyn B. Leonard ([e-mail]) 1st NASR August 14, 1998 378 words

8 WEEKS TO OPTIMUM HEALTH by Andrew Weil, MD, read by the author (Random House, $18.00) Running time 3 hrs, 2 cassettes ©1997 ISBN 0-679-45166-8

Not just another weight-loss regimen, "Eight weeks" provides not only a schedule of incremental changes in diet and exercise, but also such mental-spiritual practices as breath work, art and music appreciation. The program goal is to facilitate the body's natural capacity to heal and, so doing, to increase everyday well-being and help the participant reach their healthiest weight level. Dr. Andrew Weil begins the tape with his own story and provides a week-by-week, step-by-step outline of reaching better health. Available in book, video-tape or audiotape form. This is a review of the audiotape.

Like most heath gurus, Weil encourages exchanging red meat, dairy products, most oils, and refined foodstuffs for fish, olive oil, and plenty of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables; but the similarity ends there. He provides clear instruction in five basic breathing exercises (similar to Yoga); one helps you relax -- it put me right to sleep!-- one will wake you up, the others provide other benefits. Weil recommends taking a formula of antioxidant supplements, and he instructs on how to test and filter your water supply. He details reasons to avoid hazards such as ultraviolet rays and radiation. He encourages walking everyday and connecting more charitably with other people. I especially liked his comments about bringing more flowers into your home and life.

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 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.

Reviewed by Carolyn B. Leonard ([e-mail])

Rating:
Summary: Weil is Way Ahead of the Curve
Review: Several years before the tipping point occurred and Americans were alerted in significant numbers to the dangers of trans fats (also known as hydrogenated oils), Weil, in 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, sensibly and clearly laid out the dangers of these kinds of processed fats and warned us of their dangers so emphatically that he made the elimination of them from our diet the first step in his 8-step plan. Weil uses credible science to backup his assertions, never offers fads or extremes, and best of all, he writes in an intelligent, personal voice, using phrases like "I'd like you to . . ." which give the book an intimate feel, as if you were consulting with a personal nutritionist. Further, he has the wisdom to see that improving our health is not based on micromanagement, tweaking one thing or another, but rather is a holistic approach requiring daily walks, bringing beauty into our lives with something as simple as having fresh flowers on the table, and meditating or doing yoga. While I don't embrace everything Weil suggests, I have embraced the gist of his message and, more specifically, have radically changed my diet. No longer eating refined sugar and hydrogenated oils, I have lost 40 pounds in the last five months. A great companion book that is compatible with Weil's philosophy on many levels and which has also helped me is The Philosopher's Diet by Richard Watson.

Rating:
Summary: Best health advice I've ever read, but not easy.
Review: Since I started the "8 Week" program a few months ago, I have lost 20 lbs, reduced my blood pressure medicine by 50%, feel better mentally, increased my stamina, reduced my arthritis pain, etc. His advice is surely no magic pill, but nothing that lasts is. Anyone under the care of a doctor should discuss these strategies with their doctor first. Dr. Weil isn't perfect, but he is the most intelligent and well read proponent of alternative health I've read.

Rating:
Summary: Take control of your own health
Review: Thank you Dr. Weil! By following the suggestions in this book anyone can build themselves a solid health building block. From here you can begin eating healthier, shopping smarter, asking more questions of food manufacturers and doctors. The number of times I have been led through a miriad of tests to no avail only to find that the cause of my symptoms was in this book. Excellent resource.

Rating:
Summary: 8 Weeks to Optimum Health
Review: The book is great. Dr. Weil gives you tips to gradually change your lifestyle. He doesn't say that you need to stop all of your bad habits at once. Most books of this type are full of testimonials that I find are no help. I want to try a program and see if it works for me, I don't want to read how well it has worked for everyone else. Dr. Weil "asks" you to make simple changes in your lifestyle and tells you why those changes are important. His commentaries are full of helpful information and you don't need a PhD to understand them.

Rating:
Summary: Save your money.
Review: The information is neither new, comprehensive or factually relevant. Buy Pizzorno and Marray's 'Enclopedia of Natural Medicine' instead.

Rating:
Summary: Overall not good enough
Review: The longer I have this book, the less I think of it. Didn't like soyburgers enough to go on eathing them. He's just wrong about the value of artificial sweetners since they have practially no calories and every level teaspoon of sugar has 15 calories (over time this adds up to whatever it adds up depending on how many teaspoons of sugar you consume on the average per day--one pound of bodyfat is 3500 calories)--and each and every one of them is a calorie I don't need (I usually need sweetnener in coffee, green tea and cereal). I drink soymilk (lowfat) and it tastes fine but I've read credibly elsewhere that it has developed that less calcium is asorbed by the human body from having drunk a cup of calcium fortified soymilk than from an eaual amount of cow's milk containing the same amouint of calcium. I drink more (fat free) cows milk and less soymilk than I did when I first started drinking it. His advice that is worth taking take can be had elsewhere for free on the internet or in better form and in better books (The Omega Diet, and Judith Wills' The Food Bible, both avaiable at this website) which I recommend over this one. Furthermore, while it's not a bad idea at all to take two baby aspirin a day (162 mg. a day ) to lower one's risk for heart attacks and colon cancer, it is also true that the website of The Harvard School of Public Health has a free cancer quiz ( risk assessment) for various types of cancer including colon cancer and what they recommend to reduce one's risk ( only after you talk to your doctor) is one full strength aspirin (325 mg.) 4-6 times a week. Also, in his discussion of the raw foods diet which he doesn't recommend (and he's right) although he does say that people shouldn't eat raw sprouts (I THINK because they contain natural toxins), he doesn't say that that since 1999 (starting before that in 1998) the FDA has had an advisory in effect that people should not eat ANY raw sprouts because of the food borne illnesses they cause because they're contaminated. Where the bacteria are most present when they are present is in the seeds and in the beans--and what is present, if present, is the most harmful strain of E Coli that exists which cannot be removed by washing but causes no harm in thoroughly cooked sprouts. Also, this book is chock full of testmonials which seriously detract from it. Other reviewers have commented about the fact that at the end there's something about the possiblity of surviving without food. I don't think this belongs in a book of this type at all and of course it's absurd. As to pesticides: they wash off even strawberries. He says organic strawberries taste better: after trying his recipe for marinara sauce (see my comment below), I doubt that he has any taste buds. Some of his recipes, you could not pay me to try ( such as mayonnaise and tartar sauce made with silken tofu). Also, I do eat meat and poultry (not oganic-- I think people should save their money and not take this advice). As to his his marinara sauce, had I followed his recipe to the letter, I don't see how I could have eaten it. He's got a large can (28 oz) of crushed tomatoes (I used a 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes and a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes and I'm glad I did), and, if anyone can believe it, a 15 oz (!) can of tomato paste and no water (and also red pepper flakes which I dislike which I therefore omitted). The diced tomatoes saved the sauce. (It would have been dreary without them). I did have to add a can (28 oz) of water. As to all that tomato paste, I don't know how anyone could stand to put that in the sauce, let alone eat it. That is way too much. I used a 3 oz can of it and that is, I think the most anyone should use because its so strong (If I make it again it will be with two tablespoons of it because that's enough). I've decided that I'm not going to try any more of his recipes. As I said earlier, his lentil salad was dismal. I recommed both of the books mentioned above over this one. I'd pass on this one if I were you.

Rating:
Summary: Would this really help one to attain & maintain full health?
Review: This author promotes soy products and vegetarianism and is anti-animal fat/protein. Unfermented soy contains high amounts of anti-nutrients (as do other legumes, grains, nuts and seeds if they are not properly prepared) that are non-removable and has always been recognized as inedible, since ancient times. It was never used as a food until modern financial interests popularized it as such to only their "benefit" (Could anyone truly benefit from harming others?) and to the detriment of a generation. Infant soy formula in particular has created an epidemic. The human body needs animal foods, plenty of high quality fat and sufficient protein. These factors are especially important for children. He also gives extremely incorrect data on fats. It's wonderful that he promotes fresh air, exercise, vegetables and some other health-giving practices, but nowhere near worth the price of so much false information on such key issues. I recommend reading Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon, instead of books by Andrew Weil.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent advice that's easy to incorporate into your life
Review: This book made a big difference in my approach to living well. The author's emphasis is on making little changes that (hopefully) will have a dramatic impact. He also uses everyday language so that anyone can understand the medical information. His touchy feely stories are a bit much but it doesn't detract from the main premise.d