Dr. Josh Axe on Ancient Medicine, Organ Meats and His Mom's Story
Dr. Josh Axe tells us how his mom's cancer diagnosis pushed him toward natural medicine, why he's a huge believer in organ meats, and how he uses Chinese medicine ideas.
By The Meat Mafia (Harry Gray and Brett Ender)
Dr. Josh Axe has spent years teaching people about food and herbs. When we asked what first pulled him away from the conventional path, he went straight to his family.
"Yeah, for me it was a health crisis in my family." (03:05)
His mom was diagnosed with cancer when he was in junior high. He describes her following a program that included visualizing a future with her grandkids, picturing bringing them to Disney World 25 years down the road.
He says watching her go through it gave him one clear goal: he wanted to learn a different, more natural way to help people.
That path led him into nutrition and Chinese medicine, and later into Ancient Nutrition, which he says he and Jordan Rubin built around this kind of thinking. On the show he walked us through the Chinese medicine idea that your body tends to run too hot or too cold internally.
He also shared a harder chapter: a back injury that, by his account, left him in bed for months. He says it deepened his faith and gave him more empathy for the people he works with.
When the talk turned to food, he didn't hedge.
"So I'm a huge, huge believer in the benefits of organ meats." (54:56)
That's the Josh Axe we sat down with: a natural-medicine doctor who still goes back to old foods like liver and bone broth. Below is the rest of the conversation, from Chinese medicine to organ meats. This is his view, not medical advice. Talk to your own clinician before you start herbs or change your diet.
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TL;DR: Dr. Josh Axe says his path started with a family health crisis: his mom's cancer diagnosis when he was in junior high. He talks about Chinese medicine's hot and cold framework, why he calls the liver one of the body's most important organs, and why he's a huge believer in organ meats. His views, not medical advice.
Who is Dr. Josh Axe? A doctor of natural medicine who co-founded Ancient Nutrition with Jordan Rubin and writes about food, herbs and Chinese medicine.
Key takeaways
- His interest in natural health started with his mom's cancer diagnosis when he was in junior high (03:08).
- He describes the Chinese medicine framework of the body running too hot or too cold (27:19).
- He calls the liver probably the body's most important organ outside the brain (51:27).
- He says he's a huge believer in organ meats (54:56).
- He hopes to see hospitals with more functional medicine and better-trained dietitians (30:24).
Hot and cold in Chinese medicine
Dr. Axe says Chinese medicine looks at whether your body runs too hot or too cold internally. He points out that we still call it "a cold," and says many traditional remedies for one are warming (27:19).
Why liver
He says the liver helps move blood, clear waste and balance hormones, and calls it probably the body's most important organ outside the brain (51:17). He calls liver an unbelievable food and says he's a huge believer in organ meats (54:11).
Where he thinks medicine is going
He says he expects hospitals to add more functional and regenerative medicine, and he jokes about hospital food built on Jell-O and skim milk (30:26).
Note: parts of this episode's audio transcript are unclear, so we only quote passages we could confirm.
FAQ
Who is Dr. Josh Axe? A doctor of natural medicine and co-founder of Ancient Nutrition with Jordan Rubin.
What does Dr. Josh Axe say about organ meats? He says he's a huge believer in organ meats and calls liver an unbelievable food (54:56).
Why did Dr. Josh Axe get into natural medicine? He says it started with his mom's cancer diagnosis when he was in junior high (03:05).
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Not medical advice. This post summarizes a podcast conversation for education. The views are the guest's own. Talk to a qualified clinician before you change your diet, supplements or any medication.
