Book summary

Can the body heal itself? Dr. Weil says it can, and in SPONTANEOUS HEALING he offers practical advice on wellness along with anecdotes of patients who have healed after pursuing alternative medical approaches. Weil presents an overview of the body's healing system and describes what promotes or inhibits its functioning. He offers a specific 8-week plan for boosting the body's immune system, and addresses the very serious issue of what to do when one gets sick. Weil is one of the great explainers, and in plain language he addresses the questions like: What do I need to know about diet? Or about fat? Or protein? Why is garlic supposedly good for us? And he emphasizes the mental and spiritual connection to health. The reader comes away from Weil better informed and better equipped to make small but key adjustments in everyday habits in order to live healthier and longer.

Media reviews

"In his latest book, 'Spontaneous Healing', Andrew Weil, a Harvard-trained physician and a botanist with a longstanding interest in medicinal plants, points out that Western physicians are often guilty (inadvertently or otherwise) of medical hexing simply by telling the patient what they know of the natural history of a disease and its prognosis."