The Internet is brimming with info on natural health—including stuff that’s incorrect or incomplete. Which sources can you really trust?
Here is ANH-USA’s list, in alphabetical order, of leading integrative physicians who have good, easily digestible newsletters or blogs or websites on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) available to patients and the general public. The information and practical tools they offer can literally be a life-saver.
Please keep in mind that we are not attempting to list all the best known and most respected integrative physicians, just those who have a very visible web presence that you can tap into without being a patient. If we missed anyone you think should be included, let us know!
- Jeffrey Bland, PhD, FACN, FACB, CNS: Synthesis (online articles and podcasts). A nutritional biochemist and registered clinical laboratory director, Bland is a former professor of biochemistry at the University of Puget Sound, and was director of nutritional research at the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine. With his wife, Susan Bland, MA, he founded the Institute for Functional Medicine. He is the author of numerous books for both the general public and for health professionals.
- Russell Blaylock, MD: The Blaylock Wellness Report (digital newsletter). Blaylock is a nationally recognized board-certified neurosurgeon, health practitioner, author, and lecturer who practiced neurosurgery and ran a nutritional clinic for twenty-six years but now focuses his full attention on nutritional studies and research. Blaylock serves on the editorial staff of the Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association and is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. He’s also the author of four books on nutrition and health, as well as his newsletter, which is an excellent source of new ideas.
- David Brownstein, MD: Holistic Medicine (blog). Brownstein is a board-certified family physician and the author of eleven books. He received the American Academy of Integrative Medicine’s Distinguished Clinician Award for the advancements he made in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases.
- Jeanne Drisko, MD: Integrative Medicine: A Healing Response (website). Drisko is director of integrative medicine and professor of orthomolecular medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center. The only integrative doctor on the faculty of a major medical school, she also runs a clinic within the medical center. Her clinic combines the best therapies from conventional medicine with integrative biomedical practices and mind-body therapies. She is a past president of the American College for Advancement in Medicine and a board member of ANH-USA.
- Ronald Hoffman, MD: Intelligent Medicine (digital newsletter). Hoffman is the founder and medical director of the Hoffman Center in New York, and the author of numerous books and articles for the public and for health professionals. He is a past president the American College for Advancement in Medicine and a board member of ANH-USA.
- Mark Hyman, MD: newsletter (digital). Hyman addresses the root causes of chronic illness through a whole-systems medicine approach. He is a family physician and an eight-time New York Times bestselling author. Hyman currently chairs the Institute for Functional Medicine.
- Joseph A. Mercola, DO: Mercola.com (digital newsletter). Mercola is an osteopathic physician, board-certified in family medicine, and chair of Family Medicine at St. Alexius Medical Center. Trained in both conventional and natural medicine, Mercola was named “Ultimate Wellness Game Changer” by the Huffington Post. He has written several bestselling books, including one on diet. Diet advice is one of the most potentially confusing areas in integrative medicine, and we find Dr. Mercola’s authoritative advice in this area, as well as others, to be clear, simple, and extremely helpful. He is also an excellent source of new ideas.
- Mehmet Oz, MD: blog and newsletter (digital). Oz is a cardiothoracic surgeon, author, and TV personality. He directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital. His research interests include heart replacement surgery, minimally invasive cardiac surgery, complementary medicine, and healthcare policy. He has authored over 400 original publications, book chapters, and medical books, has received several patents, and has performed more than 100 heart surgeries per year.
- Nick Perricone, MD: Daily Perricone (digital newsletter). Perricone is a board-certified dermatologist, healthy aging expert, host of a series of PBS specials, and the author of several New York Times bestsellers. He is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, the American College of Nutrition, and the American Academy of Dermatology.
- Robert J. Rowen, MD: Second Opinion (physical newsletter, digital archive available). Rowen, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the University of California at San Francisco, is certified by the American Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology. Rowan pioneered the nation’s first statutory protection for alternative medicine in 1990 in California, and is the author of several books. His newsletter is also an excellent source of new ideas.
- Al Sears, MD: House Call (digital newsletter). Sears is the founder of Center of Health and Wellness, an integrative medicine and anti-aging facility, and is the first doctor to be board-certified in anti-aging medicine. Dr. Sears has published over fifteen books. He is especially well known for his innovative work on fitness and exercise.
- Frank Shallenberger, MD: Real Cures (digital and physical newsletter). Shallenberger has been practicing medicine since 1973 and has been a pioneer in alternative/integrative medicine since 1978. He is one of only a handful of physicians in Nevada licensed both in conventional as well as alternative medicine. He is board-certified by the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine. Dr. Shallenberger has published numerous scientific papers, and is the author of several books. He is the originator of Bio-Energy Testing and Prolozone Pain Therapy, and has trained more than 700 doctors in the use of his techniques. His newsletter is an excellent source of new ideas.
- Steven Sinatra, MD: Heart, Health, & Nutrition (digital archives, blog, and online newsletter). Sinatra takes an integrative approach to treating cardiovascular disease. In 1987, he founded the New England Heart Center, and has since become a well-known advocate of conventional medical treatments for heart disease complemented by nutritional, anti-aging, and psychological therapies. He has authored over a dozen books and contributed to many peer-reviewed medical journals.
- Andrew Weil, MD: newsletters (digital, numerous topics). Weil is a medical doctor, professor, naturopath, and a teacher and writer on holistic health. Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative medicine at the University of Arizona, Weil is an internationally recognized expert on medicinal plants as well as the author of numerous books. Despite the image that might be drawn from his luxuriant beard, Dr. Weil is regarded by some as practicing more on the conventional side of medicine.
- Julian Whitaker, MD: Health and Healing (physical newsletter and blog). Whitaker is the founder and director of the Whitaker Wellness Institute, one of the largest alternative medicine clinics in the US; he has served over 40,000 patients for over thirty years, working to heal patients with techniques based on diet, supplements, and lifestyle. He has authored fourteen books in addition to his newsletter, another source of new ideas.
- David Williams, DC: Alternatives Newsletter (physical newsletter, digital archive available).. Williams is a medical researcher, biochemist, and chiropractor, and is a leading authority on natural healing. He was among the first to write about the power of coenzyme Q10 (a powerful preventative against heart attacks), and recommended saw palmetto (a native herb in the southeastern US that among other things protects the prostate) years before most others had even heard of it. His newsletter is especially known for its in-depth and thought-provoking treatment of broader topics.
- Jonathan V. Wright, MD: Nutrition & Healing (digital and physical newsletter). Wright, one of the most renowned integrative physicians in the world, has degrees from both Harvard and Michigan, and is recognized as one of the inventors of “applied nutritional biochemistry.” He also introduced a nutritional remedy for benign prostate disease, the first successful treatment to reverse macular degeneration, the safe medical use of DHEA therapy, natural hormone replacement therapy for women, and many other revolutionary natural cures. He has written numerous bestselling books and his authoritative newsletter is also a reliable source of fresh ideas.
Other good online resources for an integrative approach to health include:
- ADVANCES in Cancer Treatment (digital newsletter, online archive). Ralph Moss’s monthly progress report on the war on cancer—not just FDA-approved drugs but also the most promising complementary and alternative treatments. Clinically oriented, but written with the patient as well as the physician and healthcare practitioner in mind.
- Life Extension Magazine (monthly magazine, archives and many other resources available online). Life Extension reports on new discoveries involving nutrition, hormones, anti-aging supplements, and the diseases that threaten many of us, such as atherosclerosis, cancer, and diabetes.
- Natural News (digital newsletter). Mike Adams’ natural health advocacy newsletter covers holistic health, nutritional therapies, consciousness and spirituality, permaculture, organics, environmental health, food and superfoods, and performance nutrition.
- Gary Null’s website (blog, Internet radio). For nearly four decades, Null has been one of the foremost advocates of alternative medicine and natural healing. A multi award-winning journalist and author, Dr. Null has written over seventy books.
- Townsend Letter (physical newsletter with website). A trusted resource and forum for the entire alternative medicine community, with info on a wide variety of alternative medicine topics.
