Wednesday, 27th November 2002, 5:51pm
An opinion by:
Nette 
Spontaneous Healing by Dr. Weil
This is my favourite health book at the moment. I am very enamoured of Dr. Weil's philosophy that we should take the best of all the various forms of medicine and use what works best for each individual ailment. A sort of opportunistic guide to good health - eg. if surgery will cure it, go under the knife but if a bit of acupunture is proven to work better, find an acupuncturist. He has good tips on tonics for detoxing and a lot of basic nutritional advice as well.
I don't think I would have the patience to ever embark on one of his eight week programs for good health. I read an article once written by someone who tried and it is prohibitively expensive to locate all those organic foods and supplements and to spend all that time sweating in saunas, but the principles are easy to apply to daily living. Eat lots of garlic and ginger; do deep breathing exercises daily; eat fish a few times a week; buy bottled water; eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables; walk lots; get a good bed; make time for flowers, art and music; stop watching the news; sensible stuff my hippy mom always told me.
His book also contains a good criticism of the current medical system and the tendency by doctors to condemn people to ill health. More uplifting are the examples of patients who have been cured by alternative forms of medicine when conventional medicine failed them - and occasionally vice versa. His web site is also a good source of info on any health question you can come up with, at www.drweil.com.