AAHH: updates and questions answered

  I love plants.   I live in a temperate zone with four seasons, so I am fascinated to see and experience the emergence of green and multicolored plant life from the grays and browns of winter.   I love closing my eyes and hearing the sound of wind rushing through the leaf canopy overhead in the woods in the summer.   I love watching seeds sprout out of the ground and become garden plants, bearing squash, tomatoes and beans.   The color of a daisy stops me in my tracks.   Plants are magical. So it’s no surprise that I would be drawn to the wonders of botanical (herbal) medicine. For centuries in western civilization, and to this day in many areas of the world, botanical medicine was the primary source of medicines taken by people to prevent or treat disease. The wisdom of these practices passed down over generations leaves us with a rich legacy of traditional medicine that has been proven by the test of time.   Plant medicine that had no effect wou...

Imagine with me for a moment, that you are my patient, in my office, and we are reviewing my recommendations for foods to keep you healthy, diet recommendations to reduce your risk of cancer, or heart attack, or dementia, or just to live as long and healthy as possible. That's not hard for me to imagine, because I do that every week with patients in my office.  It may be hard for you to imagine, as perhaps you never had a doctor who wanted to talk in detail about the healing power of foods, but that's a different story.  What do you imagine I would tell you to eat more of?  Or to stay away from?  What "superfood" would I recommend to you?  Or would it be more likely I would recommend nutritional supplements and pills?  If you know me at all, you know that you would not be hearing about any single "superfood," but that I would be recommending overall dietary patterns, ways of eating that utilize the balance of nature and may be drawn from traditional eating ...

  I wonder how you are feeling about Christmas?   The song says, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year,” but it’s widely known that Christmas stress is real and it can even make you sick!   Instead of Christmas cheer, many people are reminded of family or friends they have lost either by death or estrangement, or reminded of financial stresses triggered by so many false expectations that our happiness depends on the latest expensive whatchamacallit. Whatever the reasons, we need a way out of our tendency to simmer in our own disappointments and then pretend that everything is happy. This is exactly where cultivating skills of mindfulness and meditation are a game-changer.   If you are sick and tired of listening to your own stream of unwanted thoughts and negative self-talk, this is tailor-made for you. What is mindfulness anyway? And what's it good for? Here’s some background, then I’ll share some practical tips. Measurable improvements in a person’s wel...

On a recent trail hike in the woods, Gail and I came across a tree that had just recently fallen.   The leaves were still green, but the entire trunk, roots and all, were flat on the ground. No other nearby trees had any sign of damage.   How could that be?   It’s likely that there was some disease or weakness deep in the tree, in the inner trunk or roots, so that the beautiful tree fell in some storm that left the others undisturbed. In his book, Healthy Aging , Andrew Weil, MD, laments that in much of what passes for “anti-aging medicine” today is an emphasis on the appearance of youth.   Plastic surgery, Botox, skin peels, muscle building supplements are big business. Dr. Weil goes on to fill the book with actionable ideas for healthy aging and the “compression of morbidity.”   What is that? Compression of morbidity is the concept of staying healthy and active until a short time before death in old age, rather than the gradual decline over decades that is m...

Physical Fitness: less heart disease, less cancer, but how do we sustain it?    Let's start thinking about this together with some shared recollections. Some of my favorite childhood and young adult memories have to do with being physically active, and I wonder if yours are too. As young people, we took delight in discovering what our bodies can do as we grow.  Think of the look of amazed delight on the face of a toddler learning how to walk... or run!  Recall what it felt like to be 6 years old and running in exuberant circles in the grass on a summer evening. Maybe you enjoyed throwing a ball, catching a Frisbee, playing table-tennis, dancing, gymnastics, or a team sport. There was a sense of pride and satisfaction even with the hard breathing and the sweat, or even a bruise or a scrape from rough competition. It is natural for young humans (and other animals too!) to stretch and test the limits of our bodies and to enjoy activity.  I think that recalling tha...