5 Tips for Safe Detoxification

Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald examines the celebrity fad of detoxification and separates fact from fiction. She gives five tips for approaching detoxification that combine science with basic common sense. .

I just finished reading the latest about how celebrities "detox,"--pretty much by starving themselves. I cringe when I see these articles. What other group of people could make deprivation seem attractive?

Seriously, what really concerns me is that these extreme programs are misleading. You simply cannot "detox your body" in seven days--or even seventy --no matter what you do. Read more

Instant Stress Blockers

Self.com says these activities can stop hormones that cause health problems and increase weight gain.

When I feel a tightening in my back or neck coming on, I cope by doing things I love, like going for a long, slow run in the park with my dog. Try a few of these instant soothers, and watch your own stress go from ARGH! to Ahhh.

Turn up the tunes. Listening to music that has a steady (not frenetic) beat may cause brain waves to keep time and relax you, research from a music symposium at Stanford University in California reports. Load your iPod with a playlist of the songs that make you happiest. Read more

American Medicine Ignores Ginkgo Biloba

American medicine ignores ginko biloba though European doctors prescribe this leading remedy for circulatory problems, says Bill Sardi.

Imagine that ginkgo biloba, a widely sold herbal supplement, were an FDA-approved drug in the U.S.A.

Brian Williams, NBC’s evening news anchor, would likely lead off by saying: "Good evening, I’m Brian Williams with NBC’s Nightly News, brought to you by Tebonin® ginkgo leaf extract, the world’s leading remedy for circulatory problems in small arteries and veins."

Ginkgo biloba leaf extract is a drug in Europe. The approved ginkgo drug in Germany is Tebonin®, made by Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co KG. It contains 120mg per tablet of EGb761® (ginkgo leaf extract).

Throughout the world, Tebonin is widely sold for relief of ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and dizziness (vertigo) and these very health claims are printed on the front label of a box of Tebonin. In the U.S., such advertising claims are not permitted. Read more

How to Find Your Healthiest Weight

You know you need to lose weight, but how much? How do you find your "feel great" weight? Health tells you how to calculate your healthiest weight.

Follow the steps below to determine a healthy goal weight for your body and lifestyle—and then check out the rest of our Feel Great Weight diet and exercise plan for ways to make that number a reality.

1. What’s your BMI? How tall you are, obviously, has a lot to do with whether your weight is healthy—and that’s always frustrating for the vertically challenged. Read more

The Science of Distant Healing

Can your good intentions really reach out to someone who is not present? Srinivasan Pillay discusses the science of distant healing.

There is much written about how our good intentions help others. But can your good intentions really reach someone who is not physically present, and how do we know this? In this column, I will present the current evidence that discusses this phenomenon and provide some explanations as to why distant healing has a place in modern scientific thinking. Read more

10 Steps to Bring New Life to Your Liver

Giving special attention to liver health and detoxification was a springtime ritual in many cultures, says Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald. She gives ten steps to bring new life to your liver.

Here are 10 ways to increase your vitality and give your liver a little more TLC:

1. Drink plenty of water. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, M.D. is one of the world's foremost experts on the therapeutic value of water. He suggests that half of your body's weight is the number of ounces of water to aim for each day. For example, if you weigh 120 pounds, 60 ounces of water is your goal. I have seen the beneficial effects of this formula in the clinic with many patients over the years. Also, drinking a glass of warm water with lemon first thing in the morning will support your liver's natural detoxification processes. By the way, dehydrating beverages such as coffee and alcohol don't count towards your total water intake. Read more

Blueberries Lower High Cholesterol and Protect Cardiovascular Health

Blueberries provide an effective way to lower cholesterol without the dangers of statin drugs. They taste better, too.

How good are blueberries at lowering high cholesterol and protecting cardiovascular health? This article compiles a collection of quotes and statements about blueberries from doctors, authors and health experts. Read more

The Water Cure: An Ancient Tradition

The water cure, whether you call it water therapy, hydrotherapy, or hydropathy, is an ancient tradition. Water has long been used to improve health and well-being.

Hydrotherapy, also known as water therapy or hydropathy, has been used for centuries to calm the body and mind and is one of the more varied techniques in natural health. Different cultures have varied techniques using water as a healing tool. By experimenting with high temperatures of heated water and steam these techniques have been effective in improving health, making people feel better and more rejuvenated. As far back as ancient Greece, public baths have been a part of rituals revolving around water. Immersion in water, often known as public bathing, has also been a staple in Japan and China. Known as sento in Japan, public baths are seen as a great social importance because people who frequent the baths are close physically, so the theory is that they should be close emotionally, forming a bond through intimacy. A different type of Japanese bath is called onsen and is a naturally formed hot spring, which are also popular across the world.
Body wraps are another type of water therapy and can be hot or cold. Hot wraps induce sweating of certain affected parts or the whole body and cold wraps reduce inflammation or fever. Read more

How to Keep Depression from Affecting Your Relationships

Depression doesn't just affected the depressed person. It also affects the people around them. Psychotherapist Christine Webber suggests some ways to keep depression from affecting your relationships.

What is likely to happen if your partner has depression?

Depressed people usually feel withdrawn. They don't feel they can raise enough energy to pursue their normal routine, do things with the family or even notice when their partners are being attentive.

This can quickly lead to the non-depressed partner feeling that he or she is in the way, unwanted, or unloved. It can be easy to misinterpret the low moods as hostility, or as evidence that the depressed person wants out of the relationship. Read more

Should You Perform a Breast Self-Examination?

Dr. Kate explains the pros and cons of doing your own breast examination.

Many of my patients have come in lately for their yearly check-ups, and as I do their breast exam, they confess that they haven’t been checking themselves as regularly as they ought to. But there isn’t really a clear answer as to whether or not women “should” perform breast self-exam (or BSE) on a regular basis. There are doctors on both sides of the debate, and if you search the web you’ll find a plethora of opinions. I tell my patients that there are two arguments to be made: Read more

The Best (and Most Bewildering) of Britain's Home Remedies

Cherry Chappell has compiled a vast compendium of traditional British home remedies. Here is a selection of the best. Some sound sensible, while many are bewildering.

Flatulence

There is a general consensus that some high-fibre foods - lentils, leeks, peas, beans and bran, for instance - can create excessive wind and bloating. A traditional Irish folk remedy for "wind in the stomach", described by Frances Kennett in the 1976 book Folk Medicine: fact and fiction, consists of half a pint of milk (probably warmed) with four teaspoons of soot. This sounds unlikely but, as she points out, carbon is sometimes prescribed for flatulent conditions of the stomach and intestines.

Fennel seeds have long been regarded as a carminative for wind. In India the seeds are toasted and then chewed after a meal to help digestion, and in Britain tea has been made from the seeds to treat everything from hiccups to colic. Read more

Excessive Television for Teens Raises Risk of Depression as Adults

TV isn't just depressing. Excessive television for teens may raise their risk for depression as adults.

Teenagers today are spending more and more time slouched on a couch in front of the electronic box - although nowadays it's rather too flat to really be called a box anymore - called a television. And a recent University of Pittsburg and Harvard Medical School study has found that TV time for teens could elevate their risk of becoming depressed adults. Read more

Grow Your Own Drugs

Did you know you can have a medicine cabinet in your garden? Botanist James Wong tells how to use plant-based remedies to cure everyday ailments from coughs to eczema.

On one bitterly cold day recently James Wong found himself walking home in a light coat. He's an optimist, he explains. But just to make sure he didn't get a cold, when he got home he made his granny's chicken soup, using echinacea root, goji berries and extreme quantities of ginger, chillies and garlic.

“Well, I didn't get a cold,” he says. “It's something I make all the time. In Asia you don't have a big thick dividing line between food and medicine. That soup would be eaten as dinner even if you weren't feeling under the weather.”

Wong's recipe for his Immune System Booster is in his book, Grow Your Own Drugs, a set of instructions for plant-based remedies and beauty products that accompanies the eponymous BBC Two series starting tonight. Read more

Natural Remedies for Panic Attacks

A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear that develops for no apparent reason and that triggers severe physical reactions. Experiencing a panic attack is said to be one of the most intensely frightening, upsetting and uncomfortable experiences of a person's life.The onset of these episodes is typically abrupt and may have no obvious triggers. One of the widely accepted uses of natural remedies is the treatment of anxiety with herbs.

Today millions of people of all ages are affected by anxiety disorder. Regular intake of strong medicines and long therapy sessions with the psychiatrists has become the norm for many of us suffering from anxiety disorder these days. But with anti anxiety natural remedies available, why should drug therapy be the first choice for anxiety disorder patients? As natural remedies, they are free of any type of serious negative side-effects.

One of the widely accepted forms of anti anxiety natural remedies is treatment of anxiety with herbal medicines. Some of the natural herbs and their benefits are discussed bellow. Read more