Ep. 183 | Your Body Already Knows How to Heal. Here's What's in the Way, with Dr. Victoria Maizes, MD

Written By Avanti Kumar-Singh

You want to heal, and you want it fast. Something feels off, so you take the ibuprofen, push through the week, and tell yourself you'll rest once the deadline passes.

But eight months after the surgery you still don't feel like yourself. The cold that used to take three days now takes two weeks. And when you go looking for the reason, you land where everyone lands. I'm tired. I need more sleep.

In this episode, Dr. Kumar-Singh sits down with Victoria Maizes, MD, founding executive director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine and author of the new book Heal Faster. Dr. Maizes has spent decades studying what she calls the rapid recovery reflex, the systems already running in your body to bring you back to balance, and what modern life does to interfere with them.

Together, they explore why suppressing every kind of inflammation can work against the healing you're trying to create, what recovery actually looks like during cancer treatment, and why both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda named the depletion women carry into midlife long before conventional medicine had language for it. Avanti also shares what she learned navigating her own breast cancer, and the distinction that reshaped how she thinks about recovery. Treatment is what's done to you. Recovery is what your body does with the conditions you give it.

The question this conversation asks is not what's wrong with you. It's what's in the way.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  • (07:10) Why "heal faster" was never really about speed

  • (10:56) The rapid recovery reflex, and where it's already running in your day

  • (20:18) Why women arrive at midlife already depleted, and why sleep isn't the whole story

  • (25:21) The kind of inflammation you actually want

  • (48:41) Prehab, and why rehab may be starting too late

  • (54:43) The one daily practice Dr. Maizes wants everyone to have


About Dr. Victoria Maizes:

Victoria Maizes, MD, is the founding executive director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine and a professor of medicine, family medicine, and public health at the University of Arizona. An internationally recognized leader in integrative medicine, Dr. Maizes lectures worldwide to academic and community audiences on women's health, vitality, environmental health, nutrition, and cancer. She is the author of Be Fruitful and Heal Faster, the editor of the Oxford University textbook Integrative Women's Health, as well as the co-host of the Body of Wonder podcast.

Connect with Dr. Victoria Maizes:

Connect with Dr. Avanti Kumar-Singh:

More Resources:

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The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Connect with Dr. Avanti

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Avanti Kumar-Singh, MD, is the co-founder of Arvasi and co-host of the Weekly Health Rx, a Substack subscription delivering personalized, evidence-backed modern Ayurvedic prescriptions for perimenopausal women, every Sunday.

Take the FREE Dosha-Data™ Assessment at myarvasi.com to find your constitution.

The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Avanti Kumar-Singh
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Ep. 182 | Why Being Good is Quietly Costing You Your Health, with Elise Loehnen