Massage can benefit health in many ways. It can reduce heart rate, blood pressure and levels of stress hormone, enhance immune function, boost levels of endorphins and serotonin (the body’s natural painkillers and mood regulators) and increase blood circulation - all this while easing sore and achy muscles. Massage certainly can help address the build up of lactic acid in muscles, and promote the clearing of normal byproducts of muscle metabolism, but I know of no evidence suggesting that massage can remove toxins of any kind from the body.
The body has its own self-cleaning, self-purifying systems. The best ways to protect yourself from toxicity are to avoid taking toxins into your body and to keep those systems in good working order. For example, the kidneys are a key component of our blood-purifying apparatus, and you can best protect their health by drinking enough pure water and avoiding dietary stressors such as coffee, alcohol, and excessive protein. In general, I favor relying on the body’s own resources for detoxifying, and I urge you to learn about them (I discuss them in my book Natural Health, Natural Medicine).
You also should be aware that none of the many supplements and herbal products purported to detoxify the system and purify the blood are necessary to good health. Neither is colon cleansing. The entire lining of the colon sloughs off and is regenerated every day. If you are eating well, drinking enough water, and getting enough physical activity, your regular eliminations will be sufficient to keep the colon clean and in good working order.
However, if you’re still concerned about toxins, I suggest taking saunas or steam baths, which can help eliminate them through sweating. Otherwise, your best bet is to help the body eliminate toxins naturally by increasing your intake of pure water to boost urinary output and eating plenty of fiber-rich fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to ensure regular bowel movements. And take my daily antioxidant regimen, which includes vitamins C, E, mixed carotenes, and the mineral selenium, to help maintain your body’s natural defenses.
In addition, you might try herbs that help the body protect itself from common toxins. Some of the best-researched are concentrated extracts of green tea, ginger, turmeric, and milk thistle.
Andrew Weil, M.D.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most baffling of all diseases - we know very little about what causes it and what factors influence its course. MS begins with localized inflammatory damage of the myelin sheaths surrounding nerve fibers due to an autoimmune attack. The resulting damage interferes with nerve impulses and can lead to symptoms such as muscle weakness, loss of vision, and other impairments.
I like to work with MS patients because they respond well to integrative medical treatment, including changes in diet and other aspects of lifestyle, and mind/body therapies. In addition, the disease is highly variable. It can stabilize, go into remission, or disappear completely.
If you have MS, there is no reason not to get a flu shot, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it while you’re in a period of disease exacerbation. Wait until symptoms subside. According to the National MS Society, it is also safe to have a flu shot while you are taking one of the disease-modifying medications (Avonex®, Betaseron®, Copaxone®, Rebif®, or Tysabri®) used to treat MS.
However, you should definitely avoid FluMist, the flu vaccine nasal spray approved by the FDA in 2003 for healthy children and adolescents, ages 5-17, and healthy adults, ages 18-49. FluMist contains live, weakened virus, for which there is no safety data in MS. Nor do we know about possible interactions between live vaccines and the disease-modifying drugs listed above. Finally, many MS patients are on immunosuppressive drugs, such as mitoxantrone (Novantrone®), cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan®), azathioprine (Imuran®), or methotrexate), and we do not know if those medications make immunization with live-virus vaccines more risky.
So, if you have MS, yes to the flu shot, but no to FluMist.
Andrew Weil, M.D.
Originally published 12/31/2004
New Year’s resolutions are easy to make but can be hard to keep, especially when the goal is to substitute new habits for old. To help with follow-through on exercise routines, I suggest starting with a personal trainer for guidance. In fact, a study at McMaster University in Canada found that people who are new to exercise do better when they have some professional help.
In the study, all the participants were asked to perform a grip-strength task. Then, half the participants set their own goals for the second exercise, while the other half was assigned to squeeze three more pounds than they had in the first round. As the study progressed, the researchers concluded that the expertise of a fitness professional increased the confidence of the beginning exercisers and also helped motivate them.
If you’re new to exercise, it is a good idea to hire a trainer to you get started on the right track and set realistic goals. A few sessions can get you going on the right track and the trainer can help you set realistic goals. If you’re planning to include strength training in your exercise program (and you should), you need a trainer to teach you the correct form so that you get the most out of the exercises and don’t injure yourself. If you can afford it, weekly (or even twice weekly) sessions with a personal trainer will go a long way to keeping you motivated while ensuring that your workouts are appropriate to your age and fitness level. If you’re going to be exercising at a gym, be sure to ask trainers there to show you how to use the weights and machines. If you can’t afford to hire a trainer for regular sessions, it is still a good idea to pay for a session or two when you begin an exercise routine. The trainer can give you goals for aerobic and strength-training exercises. When you meet those goals, you can schedule another session so that new goals can be set.
Best of luck, and Happy New Year.
Andrew Weil, M.D.
Warts are harmless growths on the skin caused by infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). The virus is passed from person to person, but you’re not likely to see any warts until months after contact with the person who transmitted the virus. Once you have warts, picking at them can spread the virus causing more warts to form - so try and keep your daughter’s hands off them.
It’s true that warts usually disappear without treatment, but until they go, they can be annoying or embarrassing. My preferred approach to removing them is visualization. You simply spend a few minutes a day picturing the growths shrinking. If you need help coming up with images, you can listen to audiotapes made by practitioners skilled in guided imagery and clinical hypnosis. It may be most effective to do this when waking and falling asleep. Children are especially good at it - their vivid imaginations can conjure up all kinds of magical methods of wart removal. A man I know got rid of a troublesome wart by imagining a steam shovel scraping away at it morning and night (he had a lifelong fascination with steam shovels). This mind-over-matter method can work remarkably well, and I urge you to try it before resorting to liquid nitrogen, lasers, or surgery.
If your daughter isn’t inclined to visualization, you can try over-the-counter wart medications and patches containing salicylic acid. The product you mention, a preparation known as beetle juice, contains a drug called cantharidin derived from blister beetles. Treatment causes the wart to blister so that it can be lifted off the skin.
Another option worth trying is duct tape. Odd as it sounds, this approach worked well in a 2002 study. You apply a piece of duct tape cut to the size of the warts, apply it and leave it in place for six days. Then you remove it, soak the area in water and gently rub the wart with an emery board or pumice stone. You leave the tape off overnight and reapply it the next morning. In the 2002 study, the treatment continued for two months or until the wart disappeared, whichever came first. The duct tape method worked better than cryotherapy (freezing warts off), leading to complete disappearance of the warts in 22 out of 26 patients.
Andrew Weil, M.D.
It’s true that oil pulling is an Ayurvedic practice. That system of medicine, which originated in northern India centuries ago, includes a sophisticated tradition of herbalism and lifestyle recommendations. Ayurveda views health as a radiant state of increased vigor, energy, and balance and emphasizes detoxification of the body.
Some traditions of Ayurvedic medicine can be helpful for chronic conditions such as asthma, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, digestive disorders, rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune conditions, and chronic skin problems. Several Ayurvedic practices, such as dietary changes, herbal remedies, and steam bathing seem sensible and safe; others, such as bloodletting, seem out of place in modern treatment.
Oil pulling is a curious and ancient folk remedy recommended by Ayurvedic physicians, without any scientific proof of its efficacy, to prevent tooth decay, bad breath, bleeding gums, dryness of the throat and cracked lips, and to treat weakness of the teeth, gums, and jaws. On the Internet, oil pulling is promoted as a cure for a long list of disorders including headache, bronchitis, toothache, thrombosis, eczema, ulcers and other diseases of the stomach, intestines, heart, blood, kidney, liver, lungs and female reproductive organs. I’ve also seen claims that oil pulling can prevent the growth of malignant tumors. I know of no evidence to support any of these claims.
In fact, I have been able to find only one scientific study on oil pulling. The study was designed to evaluate the effect of oil pulling on bacteria (Streptococcus mutans) in plaque and saliva of children, and to compare its antiseptic power with that of using a conventional mouthwash containing chlorhexidine. The researchers found a reduction in the bacteria count in the plaque and saliva samples in both the study and the control groups and concluded that oil pulling can help maintain oral health. The study was published in an Indian dental journal.
Bottom line: Oil pulling won’t hurt you, but I wouldn’t depend on it to help you improve your overall health or treat significant medical problems.
Andrew Weil, M.D.
I can’t name a particular gift as the best one ever. Like so many of us, I’ve received many thoughtful, and sometimes expensive, gifts over the years. I’ve been especially touched by the homemade gifts - clothes or crafts or food - made with effort and love. And it is always gratifying to have contributions made on one’s behalf to a charitable organization where the money will do some good rather than to add to the ample supply of material goods most of us already have.
In years past on this site, I have mentioned some of the organizations that offer such gifts as school dinners for kids in Africa or helping to reunite children in war zones with their families. You can find some of those via Good Gifts, a British charity with an extensive on-line catalog. Heifer International, a similar U.S. outfit with its own on- line catalog, offers farm animals for needy families worldwide. You can buy a flock of chicks or a water buffalo, pig, heifer or llama. I think those are wonderful gifts, and a great way to teach young children about the needs of others and how they can help.
However, if I had to pick the best gift of all, I would say it is the presence of close friends and loved ones who have spent time and effort, and sometimes traveled great distances, to be with me during the holidays. Renewing and strengthening our human connections may be the best gifts we can give others - and ourselves.
Happy holidays,
Andrew Weil, M.D.
An acoustic neuroma is a benign tumor arising from the eighth cranial nerve, which connects the inner ear to the brain. These tumors usually grow very slowly, and often cause no symptoms, but as they enlarge, they can press against nerves involved with hearing and postural stability, leading to deafness on one side, ringing in the ear, dizziness, and balance problems.
No one knows the cause of acoustic neuroma. Some evidence suggests that persistent exposure to very loud noise or heavy cell phone use may play a role in their development.
I know of no holistic treatments that can slow the growth of acoustic neuroma. If the tumor is small and isn’t enlarging rapidly, you may not have to do anything about it other than have your doctor monitor it over time with periodic imaging exams (MRIs) and hearing tests. About 25 percent of all patients need no treatment. However, if symptoms such as hearing loss develop, the only treatment option is surgery. This can be done via gamma-knife radiosurgery in which radiation beams are aimed at the tumor. This does not require an incision, and only local anesthesia is necessary. Results are not immediate, and it can take weeks or months before symptoms resolve.
Alternatively, these tumors can be removed surgically under general anesthesia. Typically, patients spend four to six days in the hospital and need a recovery period of six weeks or more once they go home. Loss of hearing on the affected side is a major risk of the procedure.
Andrew Weil, M.D.
Continue reading about Acoustic Neuroma: Battling a Benign Brain Tumor?
Brainwave music therapy attempts to address anxiety, depression, insomnia and migraines via music created from patients’ brain waves. The brain waves are recorded via electroencephalogram (EEG) equipment and then converted into musical sounds and transferred to a CD. Reportedly, the result sounds like classical piano music. You get two files, one meant to help you relax and the other intended to promote alertness. It’s unclear how a musical interpretation (CD) of an electrical interpretation (EEG) of brainwaves would be helpful, and I’m aware of only a few published studies on the effects of brainwave music. I think it makes more sense to access the autonomic nervous system through breath work, and I recommend “Breathing: the Master Key to Self-Healing.” It sells for only a fraction of the cost of brainwave music treatment and is a very effective way to deal with anxiety and depression.
If you plan to stop taking your anti-anxiety medication, don’t do so suddenly. Ask your physician for a dosing schedule so that you can taper off the drugs with no ill-effects.In addition to breathing exercises, other measures I find useful for dealing with anxiety include the following:
- Increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in salmon, mackerel and other wild, cold-water fish as well as walnuts and freshly ground flaxseeds (sprinkle a tablespoon on cereal and/or salads). You should also consider taking fish-oil supplements, 2-3 grams a day, in two divided doses with meals.
- Aerobic exercise: A brisk 30-minute walk at least five times a week can help combat anxiety.
- Avoid caffeine, which is a stimulant that can trigger or heighten anxiety.
- Valerian (Valeriana officinalis): You can find this herb in tablet or tincture form. While it is relatively safe and no significant side effects are known, try not to use it on a regular basis, or you may become psychologically dependent upon it. People with impaired kidney or liver functions should not take valerian except under a physician’s supervision. It should not be used with kava. Take one capsule every 4-6 hours as needed and two at bedtime to promote sleep.
- Kava: This herb can reduce symptoms of anxiety or stress. However, the FDA has warned that it can cause liver damage, an extremely low risk. To be safe, don’t take it if you have liver problems or a history of liver disease (such as hepatitis). If you want to try kava, Tieraona Low Dog, M.D., an authority on botanical medicine and director of the Fellowship at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, recommends taking 1-2, 460 mg capsules of a good quality brand (she recommends Eclectic Institute) as needed, 2-3 times per day.
Andrew Weil, M.D.
Continue reading about Ending Anxiety With Brainwave Music Therapy?
Yes, in my family we have a holiday tradition that I think is a great way to enjoy spending time together: reading stories to each other, after dinner, in front of a fire. I love reading and being read to, something that once was an evening ritual among many families but, sadly, has disappeared in the age of television and DVDs. I especially enjoy funny tales like those by Saki (H.H. Monroe), an English author born in Myanmar who is known as the master of the short story. Saki’s writing is witty and often outrageous.
Another favorite of mine is Roald Dahl, a British writer born in Wales who wrote for both children and adults. Among his best known works are the children’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, but I prefer his twisted tales with knockout endings. (A good collection is The Best of Roald Dahl.) I also enjoy fantastic stories, such as The Arabian Nights.
Storytelling stimulates the imagination and is a great way for family and friends to be together at the darkest time of the year. And incidentally, storytelling can have important health benefits. You might want to take a look at the Web site of the International Storytelling Center to get a sense of that. Increasingly, storytelling is used to comfort the sick and dying, promote healing, and create a more nurturing environment for people who are dealing with pain, suffering, and grief.
Try it instead of watching television after a holiday dinner.
Andrew Weil, M.D.
The impact of isoflavones, plant chemicals in soy that act as weak estrogens, on male fertility has been studied with inconsistent results. A report from Harvard published in the July 23, 2008 issue of Human Reproduction, found that regular consumption of soy foods may lower a man’s sperm count, but no changes were seen in the shape of sperm or in their motility (ability to swim) or on ejaculate volume, all of which play a role in fertility.
This study was a relatively small one. It included 99 men from couples who had come to the fertility center at Massachusetts General Hospital. After giving a semen sample, the men were asked to complete a questionnaire that included items on how often, on average, they had eaten each of 15 soy foods listed during the past three months. They were also asked to describe their usual serving sizes compared to an illustration of a medium-size serving.
In animal studies, isoflavones have been associated with decreased fertility, but we have scant evidence of any impact in humans. This new study found that the men who ate soy foods had, on average, 41 million fewer sperm per milliliter than men who didn’t eat these foods. (Sperm counts average 18-120 million per milliliter.) The association held up even after the researchers adjusted for smoking, alcohol consumption, caffeine intake, age and other factors that could influence sperm count. The strongest effects seen were among overweight and obese men in the study.
In discussing their results, the researchers noted that Asian men consume up to 10 times as many phytoestrogens as the men in the Harvard study without encountering any apparent fertility problems. The Harvard team called for more investigation, specifically a randomized controlled trial to explore this question. The new findings are interesting but don’t provide us with strong enough evidence to advise men concerned about fertility to stay away from soy.
Andrew Weil, M.D.
