Book excerpt: Today, being a health consumer encompasses more than being knowledgeable about traditional medicine and health practice but also includes the necessity to be well informed about the expading field of complementary and alternative medicine. Consumer Health and Integrative Medicine: Holistic View of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Practices, Second Edition was written to expand upon the many alternative modalities that many other consumer health texts overlook. It includes chapters on the major alternative medicine systems and healing modalities, including Ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, naturopathy, homeopathic medicine, chiropractic medicine, massage, reflexology, and herbals or botanicals. The authors mission is to increase reader's knowledge base, not make up their mind, as we all make better choices related to our own personal health care practices when we are informed consumers.