Andrew Weil's Blog: Dr. Weil's Healthy Living Blog, page 18

The Legacy Of Music

Reflection – The Legacy of Music:  How often do you surprise yourself remembering the lyrics to songs you’ve not heard in decades – Sinatra ballads, Simon & Garfunkel tunes? For me, such memories are delightful and I wonder where in my brain they’re stored. Talking with a legacy colleague who works with the very elderly (often memory impaired and Alzheimer’s patients) she explained that part of the therapy is to have sing-alongs. The last thing to go as we age may well be our sense of smell, but also in the furthermost reaches of our minds is stored music, and the miracle is that it is accessible long after our cognitive skills, focus and concentration, have waned.

What has this to do with legacy? At the simplest level it made me want to write to my grandchildren and share with them some of the favorite songs I remember from childhood and early adulthood that I want to pass forward to them.

At a deeper level I want them to know how important the legacy of music is to nurture them when “the waters are troubled” in the larger world, when their hearts are breaking, when they are in need of healing, when their souls need comforting.

I consider us legacy writers to be guides or teachers, culling knowledge from the life experiences we’ve had, transmuting that knowledge into stories and wisdom to be preserved and communicated to our loved ones of a younger generation. Isn’t that indeed the purpose of legacy writing? It’s been my experience, miraculously, that even when these teens and young adults who think they know everything, they are hungry to hear my stories and the values I have to impart. As we begin the new year what I want to write about is something basic for all of us: the importance of music in our personal lives, and the life of our cultures.

Here’s a story about a time when I found music healing. I had newly separated from my husband, and although I had chosen to leave the marriage, I could hardly get out of bed, didn’t know who I was, filled with grief about my lost dream of how my life would be (married at 20 and it was 37 years later). A friend suggested I go to the “healing services” our Temple was offering. Not being observant and rarely attending services, I decided to try it anyway, desperate for help. So the next Thursday afternoon I found myself sitting in the sanctuary where I’d grown up. The music began. It took no longer than a couple of minutes for the legacy of music I’d learned as a kid to make its way to my broken heart. I wept through the service, letting the age-old music nourish my heart and soul. An unexpected miracle, but a second miracle was that I remembered every melody and most of the words from almost fifty years earlier.

The Legacy Of Music

Here is a taste of the wisdom I found researching the importance of music, from Plato to Maya Angelou, each with her own perspective depending on the times and personal perspectives:

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”

– Plato

“Music opens a path into the realm of silence. Music reveals the human soul in stark nakedness as it were, without the customary linguistic draperies.”

– Josef Pieper

“Music is the sound of the soul, the direct voice of the subjective world.”

– Franz Kafka

“In time of care and sorrow, music will keep a fountain of joy alive in you.”

– Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart.”

– Pablo Casals

“Music is a piece of art that goes in the ears straight to the heart.”

– Anonymous

“Music is medicine.”

– Anonymous

“Though I am a physicist, I see my life in terms of music.”

– Albert Einstein

“To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it’s about, but the music the words make.”

– Truman Capote

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”

– Aldous Huxley

“To live is to be musical, starting with the blood dancing in your veins. Everything living has a rhythm.“

– Michael Jackson

“Music is the language of the Spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.”

– Khalil Gibran

“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.”

– Confucius

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”

– Maya Angelou

Practice:

Reflect about what the legacy of music means to you – when you were a child, a teen, a young adult, and today.
Choose one of the quotations here that speaks to you personally and spend 15-20 minutes writing about it.
Do you have a personal story that expresses your attitudes, feelings, perspective about music that may be relevant to someone else?
Write a legacy letter to a loved one or a close friend sharing your findings about music of all kinds and its meaning in your life.
If other media have diminished your music listening or playing, it’s a good time, at the New Year, to resolve to nourish yourself by inviting more music into your life.

“May all that has been reduced to noise in you, become music again.”

– Anonymous

Rachael Freed, LICSW, senior fellow, Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing, University of Minnesota, is the author of Your Legacy Matters and Women’s Lives, Women’s Legacies. rachael@life-legacies.com  and www.life-legacies.com

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The Power Of Gratitude: Starting A Gratitude Journal

We have strong evidence for the power of gratitude to boost mood. Research indicates that regularly practicing grateful thinking can move your emotional “set point” for happiness by as much as 25 percent in the right direction. A gratitude journal may help.

Like forgiveness, gratitude can be cultivated, and there are many resources to help you do that if you find you need help. From the research data he has reviewed, Dr. Weil considers expressing gratitude to be one of the very best strategies to enhance emotional well-being, right up there with fish oil, physical activity, and managing negative thoughts.

He would add that feeling grateful and expressing gratitude are distinct. To get maximum emotional reward you will want to do both. You can remind yourself to feel grateful; you may have to learn and try out different ways of expressing it.

What do you have to be grateful for? How about being alive for starters? Or enjoying good health? Or being able to put food on your table, food of better quality and greater variety than people have ever had. It is a time of relative peace. You have shelter, warmth in winter, material comforts beyond the imaginings of our ancestors. The sun freely gives you light, warmth, and the energy that makes your food. If you happen to watch the sun rise, that might be a good occasion to feel grateful for its gifts. Dr. Weil finds that if he doesn’t create such occasions, he forgets to feel grateful. It’s just so easy to take it all for granted.

The method used most frequently in research on the effects of practicing gratitude is recording thoughts in a gratitude journal. Subjects are asked to dedicate a notebook to this, to make mental notes throughout the day about things to be grateful for, and to enter them in the book at some regular time, such as bedtime. Doing this four times a week for as few as three weeks can bring greater happiness, at least in the short term.

As a result of doing a gratitude journal for a number of years, Dr. Weil finds himself more often making mental notes of things to be grateful for throughout the day:

Flowers that have opened in or around his home

A glorious sunset
Rain in the desert
The gift of friendship
The resilience of his body.

Of course, he remembers to thank his dogs for being in his life and loving him unconditionally, giving them treats and hugs in case they do not understand his words.

The point of practicing both feeling and expressing gratitude in a gratitude journal is to change your perspective. “Gratitude is an attitude” may be a platitude, but it happens to be true: by becoming aware of what you have to be grateful for, you will find more and more to be grateful for.

So in 2018, start to keep a gratitude journal. Dedicate a notebook to this assignment and keep it by your bed. Make mental notes throughout the day of things you have to be grateful for, then enter them briefly in your journal at bedtime. Take a moment to feel grateful as you write. You’ll find this simple exercise has extraordinary power, and you should do it diligently. Note that some people find it even more effective if done weekly rather than daily; experiment with what works best for you.

The post The Power Of Gratitude: Starting A Gratitude Journal appeared first on DrWeil.com.

The Importance Of Mental Nutrition

We know a great deal about nutrition and health in regard to dietary choices – clearly, what you eat has a powerful influence on your physical well-being and risks of disease. Most people, however, do not consider that what you allow into your mind is analogous to what you feed your body and significantly influences emotional well-being. It makes sense to be as careful about mental nutrition as about your diet.

If you habitually and unconsciously listen to sad music, read sad stories, and watch sad movies, chances are you will be sadder than if you choose happier versions of those three art forms. If you habitually tune in to news programs that make you angry and distraught, chances are you will spend less time feeling serene and content. The challenge is to exercise conscious control over your mental nutrition, and what you pay attention to. The world is both wonderful and terrible, beautiful and ugly. At any moment one can choose to focus on the positive or negative aspects of reality. Without denying the negative, it is possible to practice focusing more on the positive, especially if you want to shift your emotional set point in that direction.

Dr. Weil advises you to take particular care with your choices of media. A great deal of the content is designed to work against a healthy mental nutrition by inducing excitement and tension. Often it exacerbates anxiety and the sense of being overwhelmed and out of control. He is a proponent of news fasting: start by excluding news in any form for one day a week and work up to total abstinence for an entire week.

Dr. Weil has also had much fun talking about the benefits of this strategy on national television news shows. (He says, “Not a few newscasters have told me privately that they wish they could do it.”) A great many people who have done it report decreased anxiety and worry and increased happiness as a result of limiting their intake of news. With news actively foisted on us, it takes effort to keep it out of consciousness.

Some of the other ways Dr. Weil controls input to his mind are that he:

Pays attention to the effects on his mood of what he reads, watches, and listens to for entertainment.
Doesn’t watch television except when on the road, and when he is in a hotel room and flips around the ever-increasing number of channels, he is dismayed by how few acceptable options there are. He has no interest in shows about police and criminals, does not care for mindless sitcoms and game shows, and doesn’t tune in to the news. He will, however, watch documentaries: biography, nature, history, and science programs; and looks at the food channels from time to time, mostly to be amused or shocked at what some people regard as good cooking and eating.
Does not read newspapers or newsmagazines but may scan internet headlines or listen sporadically to National Public Radio. Dr. Weil says he is never worried about being uninformed. If something important happens, someone always lets him know about it.

Finally, when he does sense that he is vulnerable to a slump in mood, he takes extra care to nourish his mind well.

He says: “I am not an arbiter of taste. It is not my place to tell you what to read, listen to, or watch. I just want you to be aware that the decisions you make here affect your moods and emotions for better and worse. I urge you to make them mindfully.”

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Mood Altering Drugs: Pros And Cons

There’s nothing more variable than how human beings respond to mood altering drugs. A substance that one person finds beneficial, or at least benign, can plunge another into a nightmare of suffering and pain.

So on the subject of mood-alteration and drugs, it’s extraordinarily difficult to make firm pronouncements about “good” and “bad” drugs. All one can do is make general observations, understanding that these describe tendencies, not absolutes.

The following are some of Dr. Weil’s observations regarding the use of mood altering drugs – legal and illegal, synthetic and natural – to alter mood states:

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Mood Altering Drugs: Alcohol And Caffeine

The most widely used mood altering drugs in our society are alcohol and caffeine, the former a “downer,” the latter an “upper.” (That’s “depressant” and “stimulant” in medical language.) Both strongly affect mood and behavior and with regular use can lead to dependence and addiction. If you use either and want to attend to your emotional well-being, it is important to look at your relationships with these substances and learn how they might be impacting your moods.

It may seem odd that depressed persons would be drawn to a depressant drug, but that is the case. Alcohol first affects inhibitory centers of the brain, causing alertness; confidence; feelings of energy, warmth, and excitement; good mood; and dissipation of anxiety – a welcome, if temporary, respite from stress and sadness. The disinhibition it causes accounts for its perennial popularity as a “social lubricant” at cocktail and dinner parties and romantic encounters. It is worth deconstructing the term “happy hour” for an alcohol-centered get-together at the end of the day, especially with coworkers in a restaurant or bar that offers drinks at discounted prices during certain hours. Not only does it equate happiness with the effect of a mood-altering drug, it restricts the experience of it to a particular situation and implies that happiness is not to be had in all the hours of the day without alcohol.

In larger doses, alcohol dulls pain, both physical and emotional, although when it wears off, pain returns, now accompanied by physical and mental symptoms of alcohol’s toxicity. It is tempting to try to find relief by consuming more. People suffering from depression can easily slide into frequent and excessive drinking to avoid emotional pain, only to become addicted to alcohol and suffer all of the physical, emotional, social, and behavioral consequences of that addiction.

If you use alcohol regularly and are prone to depression or simply want to experience greater emotional resilience and well-being, I would ask you to examine your relationship with it. Ask yourself these questions:

Do you use alcohol to mask anxiety, sadness, or other negative feelings?
Do you look forward to the time of day when you drink as the time when you feel best?
Do you depend on alcohol to help you through social situations or periods of increased stress?
Are you able to experience contentment, comfort, and serenity when you are not using alcohol?
Do you regularly use any other depressant drugs, such as anti-anxiety or sleeping medications? If so, be aware that their effects and risks are similar to those of alcohol and additive with them.

Alcohol can be a benign and useful social/recreational drug that may benefit overall health. Moderation and awareness are the keys to using it successfully and protecting yourself from harm and the risk of dependence.

Caffeine, especially in the form of coffee, is so much a part of our culture that most users are completely unaware of how powerful a drug it is and how much influence it has on both emotional and physical health. Sensitivity to caffeine varies greatly from person to person. Some people who drink one cup of coffee a day are physically addicted to it, will have a withdrawal reaction if they cut it out, and have any number of physical and emotional symptoms caused by it (that they likely do not connect with their coffee use). Others can drink many cups a day without any of that.

People like caffeine because it gives them temporary feelings of increased energy, alertness, and focus; many cannot start the day without it. Few understand that the energy provided by coffee, tea, cola, yerba maté, etc., is not some gift from out there.  It is your own energy, stored chemically in your cells, that caffeine prods the body into releasing. When the drug wears off, you are left with a depletion of stored energy and are likely to feel fatigued and mentally dull. As with other stimulants, if you take more caffeine at this point, you can stave off the downside of the drug’s effect for a bit but run the risk of becoming dependent on it. When people are addicted to coffee or other forms of caffeine, their energy is usually bunched up early in the day and depleted later.

Caffeine makes many people anxious and jittery. Again, in sensitive people, this can occur with small doses. I advise anyone suffering from anxiety, nervousness, and mental restlessness to eliminate all forms of caffeine in order to determine how much it is contributing to those problems or obstructing efforts to control them. The drug also commonly affects sleep for the worse. I have seen cases of insomnia resolve when patients cut out one morning cup of coffee. Of course, these were very caffeine-sensitive individuals; none of them imagined that an ordinary cup of coffee at breakfast could interfere with falling or staying asleep at night.

Even more interesting to me are the case reports I have collected of people who experience improvement in mood when they have stopped using caffeine. Here, for example, is a letter I received from a friend, Bill Weaver, a filmmaker and facilitator from Victoria, British Columbia:

As far as I can remember, I’ve experienced some form of depression most of my adult life, although I only became really aware of it through the daily mirroring of a 20-year marriage. The defining part of my experience was this “ledge” I would all too easily slip over, sending me into an almost immobilized state.

I never bought into prescription antidepressants. Tales of their side effects kept me away. So, I started with alternatives like St. John’s wort, which worked reasonably well, but never completely tackled the problem. For the longest time, coffee – three large cups every morning – seemed to help. The caffeine appeared to keep me “up,” but what went up also went down: the price was a huge dip in my energy in the afternoon. After a few years passed, I was back to the usual tendencies.

Recently, I slipped into a deeper depression than I had experienced for a long time. In the midst of it, I just happened to see a post on Facebook about alternative “mood cures” and clicked on the link. The first thing I read was that coffee was more a contributor than cure. I immediately went cold turkey off of it. What followed were three or four mentally foggy days and some headaches. Ibuprofen nipped most of them in the bud. On another recommendation, I started taking daily doses of two supplements, 5-HTP and L-tyrosine, to balance my serotonin levels. Almost immediately, the “ledge” seemed to disappear.

Now, over a month later, while still in the midst of life’s trials and inconsistencies, I find myself down at times, but it feels more like a natural state and passes quickly. I have dropped the supplements and satisfy my caffeine yearnings with occasional high-quality black tea. I have more energy, healthier sleep, and a better interface with friends, associates, and daily challenges.

My friend’s experience is typical and revealing. Many people consider coffee to be a mild antidepressant, because it can boost mood when used occasionally or when used regularly by those who are less caffeine-sensitive and resistant to its addictive properties. In people dependent on their stimulant effects, coffee and other caffeinated beverages may well be more contributory to depression than counteractive. The only way to know how caffeine may be affecting your moods is to stop it completely. Note whether you have a withdrawal reaction: fatigue and throbbing headache are the most common symptoms, but digestive upsets and others may occur; these usually appear by 36 hours after the last dose of the drug, persist for two to three days, and are instantly relieved if you put caffeine into your system. If you have such a reaction, this is proof that you have been addicted to caffeine and an indication that it is likely to have affected your energy level, sleep, and moods. See how you feel without it.

Be aware that you may be getting more caffeine than you think, because it is in many products, not only the familiar beverages and chocolate, but also decaf coffee (!), energy formulas (drinks, energy waters, shots, powders, pills), non-cola sodas, herbal products, diet pills, and over-the-counter cold, headache, and pain remedies. To do the experiment properly you will need to eliminate all caffeine from your life.

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Mood Altering Drugs: Recreational Drugs

Most drugs that people use to change their moods, perceptions, and thoughts are either depressants or stimulants. Barbiturates (Seconal, Nembutal, “reds”), quaaludes, and opiates all depress brain function, while cocaine, methamphetamine, and ephedrine stimulate it. Frequent or regular use of any depressant or stimulant drug can lead to dependence and addiction and undermine emotional health and stability. If you are in the habit of using substances of this sort and want to improve your emotional well-being, I advise you to learn about their effects, see how your moods change if you discontinue them, and seek professional help if you have difficulty separating yourself from them.

Cannabis (marijuana) is neither a depressant nor a stimulant but can also have significant cognitive and emotional effects. There is a great deal of individual variation in responses to cannabis. Some people find that it relaxes them, makes them more sociable and less angry, increases sensory pleasure and helps them concentrate. It works well for some as a natural remedy for pain, muscle spasm, and other medical problems. Others become anxious or paranoid when they use it. It helps some people sleep and keeps others from sleeping. It does not cause the kinds of dependence and addiction associated with stimulants and depressants, but heavy users may consume it every day throughout the day. Although the medical safety of cannabis is great, regular use can be a factor in suboptimal emotional well-being. If you use it more than occasionally and are going to follow the program in this book, I suggest abstaining from it for a while to find out whether it makes it easier or harder for you to maintain serenity, resilience, contentment, and comfort.

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Mood Altering Drugs: Prescription And Over-The-Counter

Commonly prescribed drugs can affect mood, often for the worse. Too frequently, neither doctors who prescribe them nor patients who take them are aware of that potential. For example, antihistamines make many people depressed. (Recall that Thorazine and other “major tranquilizers” used to manage psychotic patients were developed from antihistamines.) I had a bad seasonal allergy to ragweed growing up for which I was given various drugs of this sort; it was a toss-up for me to suffer the dismal mood caused by them or the allergic sneezing and itching. They made me feel as if a gray curtain had descended over my brain. Although I’ve lost my allergies as a result of changing my diet and lifestyle and have not needed to take antihistamines in years, I have tried newer versions that are not supposed to get into the brain or cause sedation. I’m sorry to report that they still dampen my mood.

Other big offenders are sleeping and anti-anxiety medications, particularly the benzodiazepines (Valium, Halcion, Klonepin, Xanax, Ativan, etc.). These drugs are addictive, interfere with memory, and commonly cause mental clouding and depression. Some experts call them “alcohol in a pill.” Opiates, such as codeine, Demerol, and Oxycontin, are often prescribed as cough suppressants and treatment for chronic pain are strong depressants. I mentioned the risks of hormones and corticosteroid drugs like prednisone at the beginning of this chapter. With long-term use steroids cause emotional instability, mania, and, most often, depression. Bronchodilators – used to manage asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – are strong stimulants that make many people anxious, jittery, and sleepless. Some medications used to control high blood pressure also have negative effects on mood. In fact, so many different kinds of pharmaceutical drugs can influence your emotional life that you should pay attention to any changes you notice when starting on a prescribed medication. I also suggest that you search the Internet for full information on possible psychological effects of any medications you take regularly (Good sites are WebMD.com, drugs.com/sfx, and drugwatch.com.)

The same goes for OTC (over-the-counter) products, especially sleeping aids; cough, cold, and allergy remedies; diet pills; and analgesics (pain relievers).

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Mood Altering Drugs: Herbal Remedies

Herbs that affect mood include depressants, like kava and valerian, and stimulants like ephedra, guaraná, yerba maté, and bitter orange. Occasional use is not a concern, but if you take any of these regularly, pay attention to their effects on your emotions. Other natural products sold online, in health food stores, groceries, and pharmacies may contain psychoactive substances: read labels carefully.

In summary:

Many commonly used beverages; prescribed, OTC, and recreational drugs; as well as herbal and natural remedies affect mood. Frequent or regular use of them can make it harder to attain optimum emotional well-being.

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Legacies Of Love: Reversing The Toxic Energy Of Hate

Whenever we turn to TV, social media, or even casual conversation, the toxic energy of hate is pervasive. So I decided to focus on the legacy of love for our Tips & Tools this month. Love: the most potent eradicator of the toxic energy of hate, the healthiest thoughts and feelings we can feed our bodies and souls, and the most precious value we can pass on to future generations.

Here is Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, writing on the power of love:

“No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him…. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to … [become] aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true.”

Let’s plumb the meaning of each sentence: “No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him….” You’d think it would be the opposite, that as you know a person more deeply, the more you can love him. Perhaps we can begin in these divisive times by remembering that we are all children of God, and no matter their “mistaken” beliefs, their “selfish” desires, or their “blatant” intolerance, we all fear losing what we have; we all want to be comfortable, and we all want to be right. Instead of stubbornly persisting in our beliefs, desires, and feelings, we can open ourselves to listening to another – hearing another’s story – we all have a story! Here is the response of Chani Nicholas (feminist healer and astrologer) to being loved despite her imperfections:

“To be loved is to be given the greatest gift. The gift of being human.

Held despite the issues I’ve yet to heal.

Extended dignity despite all that I’ve withheld from others.

Granted respect no matter how many I have trespassed.”

Returning to Frankl: “Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to … [become] aware of what he can be and of what he should become.” Isn’t this our purpose when we write legacies to those younger than we: that we deeply and lovingly see and share with them who we see they really are, their strengths and directions. Here is part of a send-off letter I wrote in August to my oldest granddaughter who was leaving home to serve in the IDF, (Israeli Defense Forces):

“…to share a concept I believe: the “acorn” theory, conceived by Jungian, James Hillman. He posited…that each of us enters this world with a unique soul – personal psyche – acorn – whose purpose is to grow from acorn to sapling to full oak tree. Acorns, after all, do not grow up to be bunny rabbits or elephants…. We can’t see our own future, so we can’t consciously guide the progress of our acorn, but sometimes others can support, consciously or not, that growth in another….

I hope I am one of those who sees you, who you are, as a sapling or young tree, deepening your roots and spreading your branches as you take this next step on your life path. I hope that I can be here to support and nurture your acorn with my love.” [I then wrote of particular skills and talents, branches on her tree, that will be strengthened and grow on her journey, and of course closed by restating my enduring love.]

Another way of thinking about turning away from the toxic energy of hate and focusing on being loving was shared by a legacy colleague (Robb Lucy) on a Huffington Post blog before Thanksgiving. He wrote about “turning bickering into bonding.” It’s too late for us to practice love for this past Thanksgiving, but this month gives us the same opportunity as we come together with family for Christmas or Chanukah.

Turning from the toxic energy of hate toward love depends on our willingness to remove our blinders to see and listen to the humanity in others. This sounds simple but of course is complex and difficult. The Navaho wisdom, “You can’t wake someone pretending to be asleep” reminds me of my own recalcitrance. The saving grace is the legacy of love that I want to pass forward, not hate, and that helps me open my heart. I wish that for you too.

Getting Rid Of The Toxic Energy Of Hate:

Name three people you know with whom you strongly disagree or who have values vey different from your own.
Choose one and reflect on his/her positive qualities; find something about her/him you “could” love.
Shift gears and imagine you have the opportunity to ask him/her who he/she is, what his/her story is, and that as you listen you find yourself feeling some compassion (not pity or disdain) for the person.
Write a legacy letter to a dear friend describing your experience (both positive and negative) about your practice opening yourself to love, rather than closing down with habitual negative thoughts or putting up blinders to not see.
Continue this practice when you find yourself with strong negative feelings and judgments, and journal about your practice without judging yourself. Especially note any differences you feel in your willingness and in your heart.

May this season of light help you to be willing to see others’ humanity, and may the season bring more love to you and all those you love,

– Rachael Freed

Rachael Freed, LICSW, senior fellow, Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing, University of Minnesota, is the author of Your Legacy Matters and Women’s Lives, Women’s Legacies. rachael@life-legacies.com and www.life-legacies.com.

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Video: 6 Simple Ways To Destress Right Now

Stress is not all bad – we need stress in order to react to situations, such as in “fight or flight” situations, when acute stress can help. But some stress, such as chronic stress, can be mentally and physically harmful. Chronic stress can lead to heart disease, stroke, a depressed immune system, weight changes, insomnia and migraines.

While situations that can lead to stress are unavoidable, you can control how you react to these situations – and help to keep your body and mind healthy. Learn more about ways to keep stress in check with our video “6 Simple Ways To Destress Right Now.”

Video Transcript

Dr.Weil.com Presents: 6 Simple Ways To Destress Right Now

Situations that can create stress are unavoidable, but we can control how we react. Learning how to properly deal with unhealthy stress can go a long way for your health. Consider these six healthy ways to address stress, naturally:

Journaling. Organizing anxious thoughts, worries and symptoms in a journal can help reduce stress by facilitating problem-solving and “releasing” these negative thoughts.
Regular daily exercise. Brisk walking and moderate strength training can reduce stress and anxiety, and offer a healthy distraction from negative thoughts.
Taking a “ media break .” Taking periodic breaks from the news can promote mental calm and help renew your spirits. This can minimize the anxiety and overstimulation catalyzed by the media.
Reduce sources of caffeine. This is especially helpful in those who are stimulant sensitive. You may need to do this gradually to avoid withdrawal symptoms like headaches.
Breathing exercises. Controlling breathing and breath work exercises can offer an immediate lessening of anxiety and a sense of empowerment.
Clean out clutter. A low-maintenance home can provide calm after a day of hectic meetings, errands and chores.

Thanks for watching!

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Video: 8 Low-Glycemic Sources Of Vitamin C

Both vitamin C and low-glycemic foods can be helpful for promoting optimal health. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and vitamin that can help to protect against heart disease and some cancers, and help to minimize the duration and affects of the common cold. The glycemic index is a way of ranking carbohydrate foods on how they affect glucose (or blood sugar) levels. By moderating your intake of high glycemic index foods, you can help to minimize spikes in blood sugar, which may lead to insulin sensitivity – possibly a precursor to insulin resistance, which is linked to high blood pressure, an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, and obesity.

The good news is that you can get your vitamin C intake through a variety of foods, including some that are low on the glycemic index. Watch the video, 8 Low-Glycemic Sources Of Vitamin C, to see what foods to add to your shopping list.

Video Transcript:

Dr.Weil.com Presents: 8 Low-Glycemic Sources of Vitamin C

The glycemic index ranks carbohydrate foods on the basis of how they affect blood sugar (glucose). This is important because high glycemic foods produce spikes in blood sugar; can lead to insulin resistance, which is associated with obesity, high blood pressure and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Some popular sources of vitamin C score high on the glycemic index, but the following eight vitamin-C rich foods are considered low on the glycemic index. Added bonus: they are good alternatives to more well-known vitamin C sources!

Broccoli – 1 cup of chopped broccoli provides 81.2 mg of vitamin C.

Raspberries – 1 cup of raspberries provides 32.2 mg of vitamin C.

Cabbage – 1 cup of chopped cabbage provides 32.6 mg of vitamin C.

Red Bell Pepper – 1 cup of chopped red bell pepper provides 190.3 mg of vitamin C.

Kale – 1 cup of chopped kale provides 81.2 mg of vitamin C.

Cauliflower – 1 cup of chopped cauliflower provides 51.6 mg of vitamin C.

Parsley – 1 cup of chopped parsley provides 79.8 mg of vitamin C.

Tomatoes – 1 cup of sliced tomatoes provides 24.7 mg of vitamin C.

Thanks for watching!

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Video: 9 Green Teas To Try

Green tea is one of Dr. Weil’s favorite drinks, and for good reason: it is not only delicious, but is healthy as well. Made from the unoxidized leaf of the Camellia sinensis plant, green tea is rich in the polyphenol EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate). This antioxidant most likely helps to protect the cardiovascular and neurological systems, as reported in a variety of studies.

While green tea may be high on Dr. Weil’s list of favorite teas, it may take some people a while to warm up to the unique taste that green tea provides. The good news is there are a variety to choose from each with a different taste and aroma. There are thousands of varieties of green tea – we put together nine green teas that are easy to find in natural foods stores and supermarkets. Give them a try and see what you like best learn more in the new video Dr.Weil.com Presents: 9 Green Teas To Try.

Transcript

Dr.Weil.com Presents: 9 Green Teas To Try

Green tea provides EGCG, a polyphenol than may help to fight inflammation, lower cholesterol, prevent cancer and boost the immune system. Learn more about the different types of green tea, including Dr. Weil’s favorite at the end of this list! Sencha. Refers to a broad category of loose-leaf green tea meant to be infused. Gyokuro. This tea’s name means “jade dew,” and refers to the deep green color of its leaves. It is intensely rich in flavor and low in astringency. Kabusecha: Its flavor lies between sencha and gyokuro, offering a mild sweetness and depth of character. Bancha This tea is mellow, low in caffeine yet high in antioxidants, making it an ideal daily tea. Genmaicha. A mix of roasted rice and either sencha or bancha tea, creating a smooth and nutty taste. Hojicha. This tea is created when finished tea leaves or stems are roasted for a few minutes, turning them a dark brown. The result is a smooth tea with no astringency. Kukicha. This tea is made mainly of stems, or kuki. Its flavor is vibrant but mild in astringency. Konacha. Made from from fine, powdery tea leaves, it brews a vibrant green and yields a clean, brisk taste, great for cleansing the palate. Matcha. Matcha bursts with a bold, rich herbaceous flavor in the mouth. This is Dr. Weil’s favorite type of green tea! Thanks for watching!

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