What if I told you it’s possible to affect every part of your body just by rubbing your feet the right way? Well, you likely know how relaxing a good foot rub can be. But if that’s been your only experience of your feet’s connection to the rest of the body, you’ve barely scratched the surface.

Cultures around the world have mapped points on the feet to other areas of the body. And they’ve used the application of pressure to these specific points to improve health and relieve pain for thousands of years. This practice, called reflexology or zone therapy, dates back over 5,000 years in China and to 2330 BC in Egypt. It showed up in Europe by the 14th century and is still practiced around the world today.

Many people utilize reflexology as drug-free options for managing pain. But the benefits don’t end there. It certainly does release stress by relaxing your muscles. Bad posture, repetitive movements, and carrying excess weight all take a toll on our bodies, particularly on our feet. Reflexology not only can help release that tightness; it also can improve flexibility and range of motion to help our bodies better adapt to the strains of our daily activities. Muscle strength and flexibility tend to be “use it or lose it” aspects of our health. And relaxing the muscles through reflexology can help them get ready to stretch and strengthen again after a period of inactivity.

Foot reflexology also stimulates circulation, the immune system, and nerve function. It triggers the body to increase its cytotoxic capacity and production of natural killer cells, making it easier for you to fight infection. And there are over 7,000 nerves in your feet, which benefit from the opening and clearing effects of reflexology.

Many proponents of reflexology talk about its effects on energy in the body. To some people, this sounds a bit strange. However, it’s important to remember that our bodies do contain electromagnetic energy (this is why an electric shock can be used to restore function in someone who’s experiencing cardiac arrest). Many proponents of reflexology believe that different parts of the body communicate via these electromagnetic fields. They believe that there can be blockages that disrupt the flow of this energy. Others believe that lactic acid crystals can build up in the feet and that breaking them up through reflexology allows energy to flow through the body more efficiently. This, in turn, affects how energetic you feel.

The basic principle of foot reflexology is simple: apply pressure to the area of the foot that corresponds to the part of the body in need of attention. You also can apply pressure in circles moving down from the ankle joint to provide whole-body relaxation and unleash the circulatory and nervous system benefits I mentioned above. The pressure applied to specific points should be intermittent and mild to moderate; this process should not be painful.
The following map shows the various parts of the body that you can access through the feet.

Many researchers have investigated this topic, with promising results. An article published in Oncology Nursing Forum found that reflexology significantly decreased anxiety in breast and lung cancer patients and significantly decreased a measure of pain in breast cancer patients as well. Another study, published in Nursing Standard, found that reflexology had a beneficial effect on the quality of life in patients receiving palliative care for cancer.

Other studies have confirmed a number of benefits to reflexology. These include helping patients recover more quickly from surgery, reducing the physical and emotional symptoms that accompany cancer treatment, and easing postpartum issues including depression, anxiety, and trouble with urination and bowel movements. Others have shown that reflexology increases blood flow to the kidneys and intestines, improving kidney function.

Many studies have found that it can reduce pain for patients with a variety of conditions, including AIDS, chest pain, peripheral neuropathy of diabetes mellitus, kidney stones, and osteoarthritis. Systematic reviews suggest that reflexology could also help patients with type-2 diabetes, lower blood pressure, reduce incontinence, and help MS patients who experience tingling. And providing evidence that this truly can be a head-to-toe treatment option, one study of 32 patients found that foot reflexology was just as effective as the drug Flunarizin in treating headaches.

While reflexology can clearly be beneficial, there are some people who should be cautious with it, particularly if you’re going to try it on yourself. Pregnant women should wait until their second trimesters before utilizing reflexology. And even then they should avoid the areas of the feet connected to the genitals. You should skip reflexology altogether if your pregnancy is deemed to be high-risk.

This also means that if there’s a possibility you could be pregnant and not know it, it’s best not to use reflexology. In fact, I know of one woman who was sent home from a reflexology appointment without having received treatment because her practitioner was able to tell from the condition of her feet that she was pregnant! The woman was skeptical, but a test soon confirmed the surprising news! That’s how powerful this therapy is.

You should also skip your reflexology appointment (and avoid practicing on yourself) if you’re experiencing diarrhea or vomiting. Beyond not wanting to infect your reflexologist, you don’t want to overstimulate the body when it’s already stressed. The same goes for localized infections of inflammation as well as for a fever. Let your body rest and fight off the infection, then return to reflexology to build up your immune system once you’re well.

You should also avoid reflexology if you have an acute inflammatory condition, particularly one affecting the circulatory or lymphatic system; and any form of ischemic heart disease, such as angina pectoris, thrombosis, or myocardial infarction; rheumatic fever; or have experienced or are at risk of an aneurysm. People with these conditions may not be able to handle the sudden changes that reflexology can trigger. Talk to your doctor or a reflexologist if you’re concerned about whether any aspect of your health may not make you a good candidate for the treatment.

An appointment with a reflexologist can help you determine whether reflexology is right for you and allow you to get a sense of the techniques to try. But it’s not necessary if you’d like to give it a try on your own first. You’ll likely find it to be a pleasant, relaxing experience – and we all know how beneficial stress relief can be.

Is This Overlooked Allergy the Cause of Your Dermatitis?

If you have unexplained dermatitis on your skin, the cause of it may not be what you think. Many doctors will look at your gluten sensitivity or other allergies. But it might not be that obvious.

Diagnosing skin issues like dermatitis can be challenging because you have to consider both internal and external factors. We’ve talked before about how your diet can affect your skin. But I usually focus on how eating the right foods (fruits, vegetables, and various specific nutrients) can make your skin look better. However, the opposite is also true. Eating the wrong foods can make your skin worse, causing significant dermatitis.

Sometimes it can come in the form of allergies. Most people think to check particular foods, chemicals in their skin care products, and other environmental issues. But the allergy can be very surprising.

Such is the case with a nickel allergy. You’ve probably seen this allergy before, as many people have a reaction when exposed to nickel in costume jewelry. But many people don’t know that you can also be exposed to nickel in your diet. And if you’re allergic, the response may still show up on your skin.

This was the case for Ann, a 42-year-old patient of mine. She’d been suffering from severe dermatitis for five years. She’d tried topical steroids and a variety of prescription medications. But nothing seemed to help for long. Any improvements from the medications would quickly wear off. Ann was particularly frustrated because right before she began having the dermatitis issues, she had switched to what she thought was a healthier diet, one that included lots of whole grains, especially whole wheat.

I had Ann see an allergist to go through a patch testing process called the North American Contact Dermatitis Panel. Sure enough, it revealed that she had a nickel allergy. And whole wheat is high in nickel, as are rye, oats, millet, buckwheat, cocoa, chocolate, tea, gelatin, baking powder, soy products, red kidney beans, legumes (including peas, lentils, peanuts, soya beans, and chickpeas), dried fruits, and canned foods.

Once we identified Ann’s allergy, we weren’t at all surprised that her dermatitis had cropped up at the same time she’d changed her diet. I put her on a low-nickel diet, and her dermatitis improved significantly within two months.

Ann’s not the only one with this issue. A study published in The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology obtained similar results by putting allergic patients on low-nickel diets. This study reported on a woman nearly identical to Ann. It also followed a 23-year-old woman who experienced large, painful blisters on her hands and feet and papules and plaques on her elbows. There also was a 63-year-old man who experienced itchy papules on his trunk and elbows. For all of the patients, patch testing revealed a nickel allergy, and dietary changes cleared up the issues within weeks.

Studies have shown that doses as low as .3 mg of nickel produce skin reactions in 40% of nickel-sensitive people. Some studies indicate that gradual exposure can help people build up a tolerance to nickel. In one small study of 25 nickel-allergic people, 22 of them reacted to 10 mg of oral nickel sulfate at the beginning of the study. The researchers asked the participants to consume 3 mg a day for a month, 6 mg for a month, and then 10 mg for a month. Only three of the participants had to drop out because their symptoms were getting worse with the increased dosages. And over half of the participants didn’t have any flare-ups at all as they gradually increased their doses.

Still, for many people it’s easiest to just avoid foods containing the metal. And because very low doses can trigger a reaction, especially if you aren’t regularly exposed to the allergen, it can also help to stay away from foods stored in metal and avoid cooking acidic foods, such as tomato, vinegar, or lemon, in stainless steel cookware. Doing so can cause nickel from the pans to leach into food. Some processed foods contain nickel because of the equipment used to prepare them. And even hot tap water can be a source of nickel if the water sits too long in the fixtures.

Nickel content in foods does vary by region. That’s because nickel in the water and soil can influence the amount present in fruits, vegetables, and grains. So if you’re noticing a new reaction after a move, an allergen in your diet (or leaching into your tap water from new-to-you fixtures) could be to blame even if you haven’t changed the actual foods you choose.

It’s easy to assume a skin reaction like blisters or dermatitis is due to something you’re applying topically. But this study clearly shows that isn’t always the case. If you haven’t been able to identify the culprit for dermatitis, blisters, eczema on your hands, or papules, particularly if they’re occurring near your elbows, talk to your doctor about the North American Contact Dermatitis panel. It may reveal a nickel allergy, which can give you a good starting place for clearing up the issue.

Of course, if you notice wearing certain jewelry triggers a reaction, which usually includes a blackening around your skin where you wore the jewelry, you should stop wearing it. But you may need to stop your nickel exposure from the inside as well as from the outside by cutting out the nickel in your diet.

Because a low-nickel diet can also be low in fiber (their fiber content is one of the main reasons whole grains are generally beneficial to a healthy diet), you may find that you need to take a fiber supplement to avoid constipation.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2923958/.

Chocolate Has Even More Health Benefits Than We Thought

It’s finally here – the news we’ve been waiting for! A review study recently published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition has confirmed what many of us have been claiming all along: chocolate is brain food.

Yes, really. Italian researchers reviewed a number of studies investigating how cocoa flavanols affected various cognitive domains. Overall, the majority of the studies found that cocoa flavanols do indeed boost cognitive performance, improve working memory, and boost visual information processing.

The news was especially good for women, particularly those who often don’t get enough sleep. One study found that if women ingested cocoa after having been awake all night, the flavanols actually counteracted the effects of the sleep deprivation on cognitive functioning. This is great news for people who regularly suffer from poor sleep or who perform shift work.

While the effects tended to be fairly subtle in young, healthy study participants, several studies noted that long-term cocoa flavanol consumption in elderly study participants helped them quite a bit. Various studies noted significant improvements in attention, processing speed, working memory, and verbal fluency when older adults consumed cocoa every day. These effects were particularly significant for study participants who were beginning to show signs of cognitive decline.

The researchers believe these positive effects may be due to cocoa flavanols’ ability to increase blood flow to the hippocampus, which is particularly vulnerable to aging. This increased blood flow means that cocoa flavanols also benefit cardiovascular health, so your brain isn’t the only organ that benefits from cocoa intake.

The researchers were the first in line to put their study findings into practice, noting that they eat a little dark chocolate every day. The key, of course, is moderation. Processing cocoa into chocolate involves adding sugar and milk, and chocolate is pretty calorie-dense. So this isn’t a free pass to eat as much as you want.

However, a little daily dark chocolate is a great treat. You also can benefit from unsweetened cocoa powder. Try mixing it into oatmeal, adding it to a smoothie, or sprinkling it over fruit. Be mindful of the caffeine content of chocolate as well, and don’t use it to create a poor night’s sleep just so you have an excuse to eat more in the morning. But if you do have a rough night and want to have your daily allowance of chocolate first thing in the morning, that might not be a bad idea.

Valentina Socci, Daniela Tempesta, Giovambattista Desideri, Luigi De Gennaro, Michele Ferrara. Enhancing Human Cognition with Cocoa Flavonoids. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2017; 4 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2017.00019

Is This a New Way to Combat Anxiety, Pain, and Inflammation?

If you're like most of my readers, you're always on the lookout for natural ways to treat illnesses, particularly when the related drug treatments may have serious side effects. That's why I'm excited about a new area of research that's investigating the endocannabinoid system and how it affects the brain and the immune system. The researchers have uncovered some interesting information about how we can approach issues such as anxiety and inflammation by tapping into this system.

If you see "endocannabinoids" and immediately think of cannabis, or marijuana, you're not far off. Cannabis has a similar effect to endocannabinoids, but the latter are actually produced by our own bodies (endocannabinoids is a shortened version of endogenous cannabinoids). They're similar to fatty acids, and because the body makes them on its own, it can't overproduce them. That means you can't overdose on them the way you could with cannabis or any drug, for that matter.

These University of Bern researchers have been trying to activate select endocannabinoids in the brain in order to treat neuropsychiatric disorders like anxiety. They've recently figured out how to influence the transport route of endocannabinoids in mice's brains, benefiting their stress levels and supporting their immune systems. This manipulation also seemed to have anti-inflammatory, analgesic (pain-killing), and anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) effects in the mice.

The researchers are looking for ways to influence this transport system further, and to do so, they've been studying the purple coneflower, also known as Echinacea purpurea. If you've ever used Echinacea to treat a cold, you know how effective it can be, and it seems that it works at least in part by affecting the endocannabinoid system. When researchers introduce inhibitors to the system, the cells have trouble taking in the endocannabinoids. This tells the brain to activate cannabinoid receptors throughout the nervous and immune systems, which presses "pause" on stress and inflammation and helps the body restore equilibrium.

This area of research has great promise for to treating anxiety and inflammation. But until the researchers develop more specific action steps, investigate other natural ways to treat these conditions. You can learn more about suggestions by checking out the Women's Health Letter archives. I've written about both of these topics at length. And stay tuned for updates on the endocannabinoid system and how we can best harness its powerful effects throughout the body.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28685756
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28675558
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18275004

Nutrition Detective

How Fighting Cancer Can Also Protect Your Skin

We all know that mushrooms can have powerful effects on our bodies. The wrong ones can even be fatal. But the right ones can be agents of healing. Now research is starting to investigate just how they work. And what they found shows you how to use these powerful healers.

One review study focused on a family of mushrooms called Ganoderma lucidum, which contain proteins and polysaccharides involved in a number of important bioactivities. These mushrooms have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for over a thousand years. The study found that these mushrooms both support the immune system and have anti-cancer properties. The mushrooms are so effective because of their role in modulating immune signaling and down-regulating pathways invoalved in cell division. They also can inhibit unwanted cell growth, an important part of halting cancer, and upregulate pathways that promote cell health.

Another study agreed that Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms help balance the immune system.These mushrooms have anti-tumor effects and are a significant source of antioxidant protection. If you're concerned about how your skin looks, these mushrooms can help enhance our appearance. Their unique properties make them great defenders against photoaging that can occur after UVB exposure.

The researchers determined this by cultivating human skin fibroblasts, exposing them to UVB, and measuring their viability. While exposing the cells to the harmful rays decreased viability and increased their cellular age, those that were treated with polysaccharides from Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms fared much better. It seems that the mushrooms may help fight off the reactive oxygen molecules that fuel the aging process. Researchers are eager to continue investigating how they can use mushrooms in other ways to fight photoaging.

Clearly, practitioners of traditional medicine were onto something when they turned to mushrooms. Researchers are just beginning to scratch the surface of what fungi have to offer. That's why I recommend MycoPhyto Complex (800-791-3395) to anyone who wants to strengthen their immune system or take advantage of the profound antioxidant properties of mushrooms. This blend contains six medicinal mushrooms, each with unique properties. Together, they support endurance, cardiovascular function, blood sugar levels and, of course, enhance beauty.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27959406.

LETTERS

Q: I have been taking Nexium for about 12 years. I know I must get off of it, but it seems impossible. I have GERD. It seems there is something called “acid rebound” that one suffers when one tries to get off Nexium. This is unbelievably painful. Do you have any suggestions? — Barbara M., via email

Dear Barbara,

Getting off of a PPI such as Nexium is difficult and you should do it slowly. To start, you may want to get a Chinese medicine called FARE YOU. This is a tablet of pressed cabbage that is prepared very carefully to preserve much of the functionality of cabbage. You can find it on Amazon.

You can use it as directed on the label. Little by little you can begin to cut back on the Nexium. In addition, you may want to take a probiotic between meals – twice daily. Some people do well with either a digestive aid or digestive herbs. My favorite formula, which we get a lot of great testimonials for is Integrative Digestive Formula. I have at least two dozen of my patients currently using it, and patients seem to write me after only a week of taking the formula and thank me. I usually have my patients use two capsules twice daily with their two largest meals when they’re trying to get off of Nexium. You can order it by calling 800-791-3395.

In addition, you might consider taking homeopathic NUX VOMICA 30c. Take it as needed. It's available on Amazon.

And lastly, if you’re having issues with grains, you may want to consider a gluten digestive enzyme such as GlütProof. This can be found on Amazon as well. Please let me know how these suggestions work out for you.

Q. I have peripheral neuropathy in my feet and hands. I also have balance issues, probably from the loss of proprioception in my feet due to poor circulation. My doctor said it’s nutritional and that I need alpha lipoid acid. You recommend the ALA also. I tried it in pill form and I could not absorb it. I have malabsorption issues, probably due to my autoimmune issues. My doctor did not know of a source for ALA intravenously. How can I get intravenous ALA? — Bonnie W., via email

Dear Bonnie,

If you do an Internet search for “Functional Medical Doctor” or “Naturopathic Doctor” near you, several names will likely come up. You can phone these doctors and inquire if they give IVs. There are several IV ingredients that they can give to you that would help your condition. They also may be able to help you determine if your stomach acid level is hindering your absorption.

Advanced Nerve Support (800-791-3395) by Advanced Bionutritionals is a remarkable formulation for peripheral neuropathy. We have received many testimonials mentioning how it helped relieve the pain and discomfort they had been experiencing. Some customers have told us that in the beginning they will take up to three tablets daily (as opposed to one-to-two tablets daily recommended on the bottle) for a week just to get going and then return to the one-to-two daily regimen.

In addition, you may want to try to get ALA in a capsule as opposed to a tablet. The capsule form is more easily absorbed than the tablet.