Interview with Andrew Weil, M.D. on the Anti-Inflammatory Diet | Meet IIN Visiting Faculty

Dr Weil thank you so much for being with us today my pleasure yeah so you are a world renowned leader and Pioneer in the field of Integrative Medicine you are the founder director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine you are also the founder of the group bringing True Food Kitchen restaurants to life and best-selling author and you're also an i i n health coach visiting faculty member thank you so much for being here sure so I want to start out we all know that inflammation is at the root of so many health conditions and you've created the anti-inflammatory diet pyramid can you just tell us a little bit about that and why you decided to create it well first of all everyone knows inflammation on the surface of the body it's local redness heat swelling and pain and an area that's injured or under attack inflammation is actually the Cornerstone of the body's healing response it's how the body gets more nourishment and more immune activity to an area that needs it but inflammation is so powerful and so potentially destructive that it's very important that it end when it's supposed to end and stay where it's supposed to stay if inflammation escapes its boundaries in time and space if it serves no purpose it becomes productive of disease and it now appears that most of the serious chronic diseases that kill and disabled people prematurely begin as chronic low-level inflammation in various parts of the body that includes coronary artery disease neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's as well as cancer because anything that increases inflammation also stimulates cells to divide more frequently and increasing the risk of malignant transformation so the good news is if all of these diseases have a common root uh then there is a common strategy for dealing with them which is containing inappropriate inflammation there's a lot of influences on your inflammatory status genetics exposure to environmental toxins stress but diet plays a huge role and that's one that we have control over so I came up with an anti-inflammatory diet I based it on the Mediterranean diet because we have so much evidence for that being associated with Good Health and Longevity I tweaked it by adding Asian influences to it from my knowledge of Asian Cuisines things like mushrooms and turmeric and ginger and so forth and then I also made a pyramid to make it easy for people to to grasp that concept so it's not a difficult way of eating it doesn't deny pleasure from food [Music] emphasizes vegetables fruits restricts sugar um promotes uh you know healthy fish otherwise reduces the percentage of animal Foods in the diet and so forth oh I love that yeah and so talking a little bit about diet diet is often not the first sign of defense that that doctors give is it really true that doctors don't learn about nutrition in medical school or the total instruction I got in nutrition in four years at Harvard Medical School was 30 minutes wow which were grudgingly allowed to a dietitian at One hospital I worked at to tell us about special diets we could order for patients it hasn't changed that much since I've been out of medical school and when nutrition is taught it's taught as biochemistry and it's forgotten as soon as the biochemistry exams are over so you know unless it's unless doctors have made some really effort some effort to educate themselves it's not what they learned in their training and when I write a treatment plan for a patient um almost always the first items are about dietary change and I'm a great believer in using dietary change as a primary therapeutic strategy before you even think about medication and that's how I train other health professionals to work as well hmm oh I love that so you've been part of the in community for a long time you've spoken with us for several several years um what do you think the role of health coaches is in the healthcare landscape by the way my daughter is a graduate of why I am too and she is now working as a health coach so I I'm a great fan of health coaches I think they have a critical place in health care of the future especially because trying to navigate the Health Care system has become so confusing I meet so many people who are faced with health crises and don't know where to turn you know they don't know what the direction to go to get help and I think that's a role that health coaches can really fulfill is like giving people Direction yeah and advice yeah and so for someone that's thinking about becoming a health coach what would you say what advice would you give them well I get it find a good training program yeah he has a start and then you know know maybe meet other health coaches and see what they're doing and see what the you know what that looks like and whether that appeals to you absolutely um so I'd love to shift gears a little bit I would love to hear about your your Ming and or nighttime routine if you'd love to share with me sure I'm a very early riser okay I get up uh usually Before Dawn I when I first get up I do some sitting meditation um I then uh I feed my dogs if they're hungry um I make some tea I drink matcha green tea you drink a bowl of that in the morning or ice watching hot weather I go outside for a bit I check my garden uh I make breakfast for myself then morning is my work time that's when I sit at my desk and look at email do the things I have to do so my mind is active in the afternoon I'm more likely to relax read spend time with friends evening after dinner I usually take my dogs for a walk spend some time with them I love to read or to watch stuff either I watch movies or you know programs that appeal to me and I go to bed fairly early [Music] and then if you could share one one tip that's super accessible for anyone what learn how to breathe there is nothing more important there's increasingly there's some books out on breath uh you know just a some basic things you want to breathe through your nose not through your mouth you want to learn to extend exhalation there are some very simple breathing techniques that have great benefits on health the 478 breath that I teach which you can easily find online is one of them but that would be my main piece of advice well it's been an absolute pleasure Dr Weil thank you so much and uh as on behalf of everyone from in thank you you're very welcome

Channel: Institute for Integrative Nutrition

Views: 25,575

Keywords: IIN, nutrition, health coach, nutrition school, holistic nutrition, Institute for Integrative Nutrition, health coaching, holistic health, health, Health Coach Training Program, wellness, health and wellness, inflammation, anti-inflammatory pyramid, anti-inflammatory diet

Id: JPOzAYeOF2U

Length: 7min 3sec (423 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 28 2022