Two separate studies have linked Mediterranean diet to a lower risk of heart disease in women and prostate cancer in men.
Researchers from Simmons College in Boston found that women whose diets most closely resembled the Mediterranean diet were 29 percent less likely to suffer from heart disease, and 13 percent less likely to have a stroke compared with those whose diets least resembled it.
This type of diet is includes monounsaturated fats, vegetables, whole grains, fish, and moderate consumption of alcohol while limiting red meat, refined grains, and sweets intake.
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Meanwhile, according to two doctors writing for UroToday.com, a urology news website, a type of Mediterranean diet called the Cretan diet may be helpful in reducing prostate cancer risk.
This type of diet is based on plant foods – fruits, vegetables, wholegrain cereals, nuts and legumes – olive oil as the main source of fat, low consumption of red meat, moderate intake of dairy foods, high intake of fish and moderate use of wine.
According to CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death in both women and men in the United States. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, and the second leading cause of death in that group.

Engine 2 Diet asks men to go vegan?
The “Engine 2 Diet” is a 28 day weight loss program created by a Texas firefighter. Originally created to help his fellow Engine 2 firefighters in Austin, TX, professional athlete-turned-firefighter
plan.
Many of his coworkers were in dire physical condition-several had dangerously high cholesterol levels. At the end of the 4 week plan, everyone
. Some even lost 20 lbs! The plan also lowered their cholesterol and improved their overall health.
is based on whole foods including vegetables, whole grains, fruit, legumes, seeds and nuts. Can you imagine a character on The Simpsons as a vegan firefighter?
The cover brags, “Eat more, Lose more” and even has an endorsement from Lance Armstrong on the back. The book has three parts; “The E2 Diet”, “Making It Work” and “Recipes and Meal Plans.” Warning! If you hate
, you’re not going to like this book.
Now for the diet, you are given a choice of being a cadet or firefighter. The cadet eases you into a new and improved lifestyle. The firefighter is a more drastic approach banning cow’s milk and cheese the first week. That’s right. He says to nix out dairy and processed foods. He recommends drinking soy, rice, almost and oat milk instead of regular milk from a cow. (I caution men of their soy intake as it has been linked to prostate cancer). No cheese of any kind either he says, not even soy substitute. Say goodbye to butter (obviously). Lastly, no processed foods like cakes, cookies, soda, chips, white rice, white flour, white pasta, or white bread.
Week two bans meat and eggs! He asks readers to explore meat substitutes and the “wonderful world of whole grains and legumes.” Week three gets rid of oil. Yes, even olive oil because he claims companies squeeze out the natural oil in olives and that even 15% is artery clogging saturated fat. He suggests getting healthy fats from things like walnuts, flax seeds, soybeans and green leafy vegetables.
I think it’s safe to say this diet is actually the book “Skinny Bitch” but aimed at the male demographic. I’m sorry Rip, but I highly doubt many men will be able to follow your advice unless they are on their last limb. Girls, this book is more geared for you if you like eating like a manly
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It’s Fat Tuesday and IHOP is giving away short stacks on their famous buttermilk pancakes from 7 AM – 10 PM today, February 24th. All they are asking for is a small donation to Childrens’ Miracle Network or other local charity. Another…
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National Margharita Day this sunday, February 22nd! Celebrate without gaining weight with each sip by trying these low calorie version! If you get hungover and want a calorie free pizza check out this video review of the healthiest pizza!…
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This weekend, Slender, a zero calorie wine, will be handed out at the Oscars in the presenter gift bags. Bottled by the Chateau Thomas Winery in Indiana, celebrities will be get the chance to get wasted without sacrificing desert! The winery…
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Lindsey Lohan is not new to the weight loss rumor mill. Recent pictures taken of the scandalous star reveal a rather sudden and drastically skinny lilo. But does she need help? She tells US weekly that she has lost some weight but it was…
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So Jessica is admitting that she’s gone up a size in jeans, but now she’s seeking revenge on the media by losing the weight! Oh no Jessica… you really are going to stick it to them! Even though “tony couldn’t care less,” because…
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One of the oldest forms of exercise that you’ve been doing since you were just a toddler is walking. It’s an excellent form of low impact exercise that gets your heart rate in the “fat burning zone.” Don’t be fooled by this myth…
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The new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model for 2009 is Bar Refaeli! Most famous for her Hollywood boyfriend (Leo DiCaprio), Bar Refaeli has been modeling since she was just a few months old! Not only does she look fabulous wearing a…
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Researchers say you can lose weight by simply adjusting your sleep pattern! That’s right. If you up the amount of shut eye, you will snack less and make wiser decisions. Late night snacking can be a killer when it comes to mindless…
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Are you sick of staying indoors during the weekends? Looking for things to do in Boston this weekend? Don’t let this terrible winter weather keep you from getting some great exercise outside. Here are the top winter activities to stay…
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Officials removed DMX, or Earl Simmons, from Tent City Jail in Phoenix on Sunday for allegedly threatening officers.
lockdown status for threatening to assault Sheriff’s Detention Officers.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio ordered that Simmons be placed on a special diet that is a form of bread and water, according to authorities.
Simmons allegedly refused to report for work when called upon by detention officers and became verbally abusive stating, “I already have a job and don’t need this (expletive).”
Later on Sunday, Simmons reportedly failed to report for his medication and then told detention officers that he might assault somebody to get some respect.
Officials said the when a detention officer supervisor spoke to Simmons, he continued to use vulgar language and stated that the officers should expect to be spoken to in that manner.
“DMX will be treated like any other prisoner in my jail and I will not tolerate him threatening my staff,” says Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

When it comes to overindulgence, money and food really aren’t all that different. Both satisfy basic needs in our lives. Yet without boundaries, they can get us in a lot of trouble.
Maybe it’s time to take a few tips from diet experts when trying to control money problems. It’s all about planning and moderation. Here are some ideas you might consider when starting a money diet:
1. Figure out where you are and where you need to be. We’ve all seen those charts that tell us what we should weigh based on our height and age; if only money were that simple. That’s why you should get some help if you’ve never tried to assess your money health before. A financial planning professional can ask the right questions and develop a customized plan to figure out your starting point and, based on your age, your earning potential and new habits you need to develop, where you’ll be able to finish.
2. Track your spending in detail. Whether you do it with a pen and a notebook or a computer program, make a concerted effort to track your everyday spending. Physicians say overweight people should track every morsel of food they eat; with money, it’s the same thing. Knowing where every dollar goes gives a quick picture where money can be saved or invested.
3. Create a financial calendar. This might be a little easier if you’ve tracked your spending for a year. But even if you haven’t, take a big 2009 desk calendar (or an electronic calendar that allows space for lots of notes to yourself) and in each day’s square where you know you’ll have to make a payment write down the reason and the expected amount. (Hint: Write very small.)
That way, you’ll make sure you aren’t tempted to overspend around those dates. What expenses are we talking about? Everything you have to meet on a regular basis and ones you know are coming up. Here are a few examples should get you started: Monthly mortgage; auto or rent payments; student loans; monthly utilities; home, auto, life or disability insurance; retirement savings; property taxes; tuition bills; a new car payment; big home maintenance expenses; property taxes; credit card payments (with payment amounts that exceed the minimum); and yes, vacations and special treats.
What will this crowded calendar tell you? That by attacking debt, making certain sacrifices and spending and saving smarter, you can eventually un-crowd that calendar and your financial life.
4. Write down your long-term goals. You need to think about the things you really want to do with your life and what those things will cost. Putting goals in writing gives them a formality and a starting point for the planning you must do. If these goals require saving, make sure you put those savings dates on the financial calendar you made in No. 3.
5. Permanently change your spending habits. People who have lost a significant amount of weight — and kept it off — usually report that they’ve made slight but permanent lifestyle changes to do so. Money success requires similar dedication. For example, people who have rewarded themselves with unrestricted spending sprees should develop alternate behaviors that bring them as much satisfaction — meals at home with friends or setting money aside to afford the occasional high-quality treat. It’s all about finding out what they really value and deciding whether saving for retirement or affording their child’s college education outranks buying an expensive car or clothing.
6. Don’t go it alone. Leading weight-loss programs like Weight Watchers have had long-term success for two reasons: affordability and easy access to information and support.  Working with a financial planning professional on an ongoing basis can help you develop the right plan and stick to it.
7. Build failure and recovery into the plan. How many diets have failed with the words, “I can’t fail?” The fact is, with food or money, everyone goes off course at times. The important thing is to have a plan for corrective action if it happens or is about to happen. If you can minimize the damage and get back on course, your progress will continue.
This column is produced by the Financial Planning Association, the membership organization for the financial planning community, and is provided by Percy Bolton, a local member of FPA.

By Larry Marsh, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices columnist 2009
Don’t try this without your doctor’s approval, but this might be “just what the doctor ordered.”
The objective of the No-Eat-Day-Diet is to never have a no-eat day.
Here’s how it works. You set a maximum weight you don’t want to exceed. You then weigh yourself every morning. If your weight exceeds your maximum, then it’s a no-eat day.
On a no-eat day, you eat nothing except a big glass of water at each meal and usually your normal medications, if any. Check with your doctor.
The diet is primarily for weight maintenance but could be used to nudge down your weight over time.
If you get hungry just take a walk, take a nap, work out at the gym or do whatever works as a distraction.
No-eat days are tough. You don’t want to ever have to go through one. But that’s the point. If you are careful, you never will.
Had a big lunch, skip dinner. Planning a big dinner, skip lunch.
Do whatever it takes, but know that the numbers don’t lie. You will be facing the scale in the morning.

to launch its new £35m ad campaign featuring Welsh singer Duffy, who is up for four prizes, as a “strong and confident woman who takes control”.
The pan-European Diet Coke ad campaign breaks with the Duffy TV commercial to be broadcast at the end of ITV1’s coverage of the Brit awards at 21.58pm tonight.
The campaign, which includes posters with the strapline “I’m no superwoman”, aims to represent confident young women taking a stand against the pressure of modern life.
In the 60-second TV ad, in which Duffy covers Sammy Davis Jnr’s I Gotta Be Me, the singer is seen in a break during a live show and, with the crowd calling for an encore, rejecting the pressure and heading for a break.
She hops on a bike and cycles off to take some time out for herself before returning, taking a sip of Diet Coke, and returning to sing to the crowd.
Cathryn Sleight,
GB marketing director, said that the campaign aimed to show “strong and confident women taking control and saying no”.
Given the success of the Welsh songstress in the US, Coca Cola may consider using the ad campaign beyond the 20-plus territories across Europe in which it will initially run.
The use of the 24-year-old singer — real name Aimee Anne Duffy – marks a significant departure for Coca-Cola, which in recent years has attempted to bring back the famous Diet Coke “hunk break” TV ads.
Diet Coke’s new campaign has been put together by ad agency Mother London, which won the brand’s £35m pan-European account last summer.
Coca-Cola now targets men with Coke Zero and has repositioned Diet Coke to target a female audience primarily in their teens and twenties.
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If a weight-loss supplement does contain an undeclared active
pharmaceutical, the F.D.A. considers the product to be an illegal,
unapproved drug. Doctors said undeclared drugs could cause problems on
their own, like elevated blood pressure or seizures, could have toxic interactions with other medications people take and
could make it difficult for physicians to diagnose patients.
As the F.D.A. continues to investigate, many questions remain to be
answered – including who put the drugs in the pills and who knew about
it. Some doctors and other experts say the F.D.A. inquiry raises a
larger issue: Whether the regulations governing dietary supplements
leave consumers who take so-called natural weight-loss supplements to
unknowingly play Russian roulette with their health.
Enacted in 1994, the main law on dietary supplements gives the
F.D.A. jurisdiction only after the products go on the market. Rather
than reviewing the supplements and approving them for sale, as the
agency does with drugs, the F.D.A. is limited to spot-checking
manufacturers and distributors, and testing products already on store
shelves. Even the F.D.A. acknowledges there may be hundreds of other
drug-contaminated weight-loss supplements for sale that the agency does
not have the resources to identify.
Even when the agency identifies contaminated products, however, it does
not have the ability to remove the pills from stores, because it is
initially up to companies to recall their products. Eventually, though,
if contaminated products stay on the market, the F.D.A. can seek
injunctions, seize products or file criminal charges.
As of Monday, the American distributors behind only three of the
brands named by the F.D.A., including StarCaps, had recalled their
tainted pills. Meanwhile, Web sites like
continue to sell a variety of the other brands, including 3X Slimming Power and Imelda Perfect Slim.
A full list of the tainted pills and other details are available on the F.D.A.’s Web site,
. An agency spokeswoman said people who want to report problems with the pills could call 1-800-FDA-1088.
“I used to think weight-loss pills were just fancy placebos,” said
Dr. Pieter Cohen, a general internist at the Cambridge Health Alliance
public hospital system in the Boston area. Over the last few years, he
said he had treated many patients who took tainted weight-loss pills
and came in complaining of chest pains and heat palpitations. “I think doctors need to be a lot more thoughtful – whether patients
are buying from local health food stores, off the Internet, or from
friends.”
A truck driver who is one of Dr. Cohen’s patients said he lost 20 pounds by taking what he thought were natural diet  pills imported from Brazil. Unaware that the pills contained high doses of an amphetamine as well as an antidepressant, the man said he nearly lost his trucking license after he did not pass a drug test at work.
“I failed the drug test and found out the hard way,” said the truck
driver, 42, who for privacy reasons did not want his name used. His
trucking license was suspended for six weeks, but he is now back at
work.
Of the nearly $24 billion spent on dietary supplements in this
country in 2007, about $1.7 billion went for weight-loss pills,
according to Nutrition Business Journal, a market research firm. About
15 percent of American adults said they had used weight-loss
supplements and the majority failed to inform their doctors about it,
according to a phone questionnaire of 9,500 adults conducted by
researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
Steven M. Mister, the president of the Council for Responsible
Nutrition, a trade group whose members include ingredient suppliers and
makers of dietary supplements, said that the majority of weight-loss
supplements were safe. The F.D.A., he said, is mainly citing obscure
imported brands.
A half-dozen experts interviewed for this article, including
government scientists, health activists, doctors and a professor of
pharmacy, said that even mainstream natural weight-loss supplements
that did not contain hidden drugs could be risky. And they questioned
whether such supplements could have any significant effect on weight.
“Whether they have the ability to help people keep the weight off in
the long term is unknown,” said Dr. Paul Coates, the director of the
Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
in Washington, D.C. He added that even seemingly inert herbs can cause
biological changes. “Anything biologically active may turn out to have
a risk for somebody.”
Consider ephedra, an herbal stimulant that gained popularity as a
weight-loss supplement in the 1990s – until hundreds of people reported
ephedra-related problems including heart attacks, seizures and even
deaths. The F.D.A banned the use of ephedra in supplements in 2004.
Last year, the F.D.A. adopted new “good manufacturing practices”
rules that require makers of dietary supplements to test the purity of
each ingredient and the final product. Another new statute, which went
into effect in December 2007, requires manufacturers to notify the
F.D.A. of any reports of serious health problems caused by the pills.
“The law adequately protects consumer health because it does have
the monitoring system in place,” said Mister, of the industry trade
group.
Dr. Sidney W. Wolfe, the director of the health research division of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said the regulations did not go far enough. Just because something is
uncontaminated does not mean it is safe, he said. For example, Dr.
Wolfe said he was concerned about bitter orange, a natural stimulant similar to ephedra that is widely used in weight-loss supplements.
So far no one has taken responsibility for the undeclared drugs in the pills.
StarCaps, the best known of the brands cited, gained a large
following through celebrity endorsements and articles in glossy
magazines like People. A billboard featuring the company’s founder and proprietor, Nikki Haskell, stood for years above Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.
After reports surfaced late last fall that StarCaps contained
bumetanide, a potent diuretic that was not included on StarCaps’
ingredients list, the Vitamin Shoppe and GNC pulled StarCaps from their
shelves, according to e-mail messages from the companies in reply to a
reporter’s questions. Asked how GNC ensured the safety of such
supplements, a spokeswoman wrote, “Like any retailer, we rely on
warranties supplied by manufacturers of any third-party product.”
Last fall, Jackson and several other National Football League players
who said they had taken StarCaps failed a drug test when they tested
positive for bumetanide. The drug, which can mask steroiduse, is on the list of substances banned by the league.
Now, Jackson has filed a class-action suit against Haskell and the stores where he said he purchased StarCaps, including the Vitamin Shoppe and GNC.
Haskell said she had been shocked to learn from the news that
her product contained the diuretic. Over the last 25 years, she said
she had sold several hundred thousand bottles of StarCaps and had never
before received a complaint. She voluntarily recalled the products.
“I was completely devastated and remain devastated,” said Haskell.
You can read this article by New York Times writer
Natasha Singer, reporting from New York City, N.Y., in context here:

With the quick swipe of a student ID and a plastic brown tray in hand, Megan Kono is left standing in the Dewick-MacPhie Dining Hall faced with a serious dilemma. As she moves from station to station, she must fight the ever-present temptation to grab a slice of fresh tomato pizza or dish out a serving of macaroni and cheese. She must walk quickly past the tub of French fries and the trays of cookies that Dewick offers on a daily basis.
As a swimmer at Tufts in the midst of an intense training season, Kono, a sophomore, has made a conscious decision to cut sweets and other unhealthy foods from her diet. But this is no simple task, as the stress of college and the abundance of food in the dining halls seems to work against anyone hoping to shed a few pounds.
If there is anyone that understands the importance of a healthy diet, it is Susan Roberts, professor of nutrition and psychiatry at Tufts Medical School and author of “The Instinct Diet: Use Your Five Food Instincts to Lose Weight and Keep It Off” (2008).
Roberts, an expert on nutrition and obesity control, has made a career out of helping people lose weight. In her new book, she stresses that the key to weight control is in understanding the biology behind our eating habits. Once we recognize what drives us to eat the way we do, we can begin to change our sometimes harmful routines.
“The Instinct Diet is all about controlling your five food instincts,” Roberts said in an e-mail to the Daily.
As described in her book, humans are born with five food instincts that have been instilled in us for the purpose of early survival. These instincts include hunger (we like to feel full), availability (we eat simply because food is present), calorie density (we prefer food that is heavy in calories), familiarity (we enjoy comfort foods that we’re used to) and variety (the more variety we have in food, the more we will eat).
Roberts considers the recognition of these instincts to be a key component in the process of losing weight, noting that humans must first understand why the body craves certain foods in order to control these urges and eat healthily.
It seems that all five food instincts must be fought in order to make it through a trip to the dining hall with a waistline still intact. With a menu that boasts items as diverse as red curry beef and grilled tuna steak and a wide array of comfort foods such as lasagna and chicken parmesan, the dining halls can be a danger zone for dieters at Tufts.
“As much as I want to [do so], eating healthy at college can be hard sometimes,” sophomore Eliza Walters said. “When there isn’t anything appealing for dinner at the dining hall, the fallback choices are usually pretty unhealthy, such as waffles or sugary cereal.”
Roberts recognizes that college life can leave one vulnerable to poor nutrition but stresses that by following the Instinct Diet, one can be back on track to a healthy lifestyle.
“College dining is a challenge,” Roberts said. “The first thing is you have to stay satisfied 24/7 or you can’t control yourself.”
With Roberts’ advice, every meal in the dining hall can potentially be a healthy one. For breakfast, Roberts recommends a high-fiber cereal such as Fiber One or All Bran Extra Fiber.
“With high fiber cereal … fruit on top for taste, and milk, you have a great start to the day,” Roberts said. For lunch, she recommends a salad with the addition of chicken or chickpeas. Dinner should be comprised of whole grains, lots of vegetables, and lean meats. Although allowed, dessert should be eaten sparingly and only on a few select days of the week.
To keep hunger and cravings at bay, Roberts stresses the importance of healthy snacks. “Carry some apples or an orange and nuts for snacks so you don’t get hungry and buy cookies or chips,” she said. “Timing is really important as well. When you cut calories for weight control, snacks become really important.”
Although Roberts’ ideas make sense, they may be easier to carry out in theory than in practice. And though it seems easy enough to follow a diet, we often find ourselves vowing to start eating more healthily after that final slice of chocolate cake or that one last potato chip.
“You’re told what you should be eating, but your body also knows what tastes good to you. It’s a little bit harder when it comes down to it,” Kono said. “I know how many calories I should be eating based on how much I work out each day but I’m not going to sit around and calorie-count.”
To these foibles, Roberts has simple advice. “You practice,” she said. “That is really almost all it takes … Our brain is amazingly adaptable. If you satisfy your instincts by eating the right way, then all the temptations die down and it gets easier to make the permanent changes that keep your weight under control from here on out.”

–Eat lots of fruits and veggies every day, especially those high in
potassium and vitamin C, such as citrus; dark green, leafy veggies;
and melons.
–Keep up that fiber intake. Aim for at least 50 grams per day. Some
studies suggest that fiber such as psyllium and wheat bran can help
lower blood pressure. It’s estimated that prehistoric folks got about
100 grams of fiber per day in their diet; the average American now
gets about 10.
–Eat calcium-rich food every day. Calcium also seems to help
regulate blood pressure. Or take a calcium supplement twice daily with
food.
–Take a vitamin D supplement daily. Population studies suggest that
people with low vitamin D blood levels are at higher risk of
developing hypertension as well as obesity and diabetes.
–Fish oil may help to reduce blood pressure, so try to eat high-fat
fish at least twice per week or take a fish oil supplement daily.
–Consider taking garlic, coenzyme Q-10 and dark chocolate. These
all help to relax blood vessels and may help to lower blood pressure
as well.
–Watch that sodium! If you have high blood pressure, keep your
dietary sodium intake under 1,500 mg/day; otherwise, try to stay under
2,000 mg/day.
–Exercise every day and maintain your weight, two of the most
powerful things you can do for your blood pressure.
If you are already taking blood pressure medications and you decide
to try some of the above, be sure to talk to your doctor — you may
need an adjustment in your meds. By leading a healthy lifestyle,
you’re bound to need less medication, which is good news for the
health of your body and your wallet!

My life partner has been diagnosed with respiratory reactive disease. He is normally a cyclist and hiker. He was ill a great deal last fall and winter. What do you recommend he do to stay healthy and fit?
Respiratory reactive disease, sometimes called reactive airway disease and better known as exercise-induced asthma, is a form of asthma that occurs among people who don’t have the allergies or recurrent infections that usually trigger asthma symptoms. Instead, their symptoms (wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath) occur when they exert themselves, as in aerobic exercise. Fortunately, attacks are preventable with proper precautions, changes in diet and lifestyle, and with medications in the form of inhalers for use prior to exercise.
• Warm up very slowly to the point where you almost feel the “tightness” of exercise-induced asthma. Then stop and stretch or, if you’re exercising vigorously, slow down. This break can thwart the development of symptoms.
• Try breath work. The most effective approaches are pranayama techniques (breath-control exercises taught in some yoga classes). You can do these after the initial warm-up when symptoms are almost upon you. Start with my relaxing breath, which you can learn by visiting www.drweil.com and searching for “relaxing breath.”
•  Find a form of physical activity that minimizes exercise-induced symptoms. Sports that have intermittent rest periods (such as tennis, softball and golf) can allow you to regain control of your breathing. Swimming may be better than running outdoors in cold weather, but with proper treatment no type of exercise is off-limits.
• An anti-inflammatory diet including plenty of organic fruits and vegetables, less rather than more protein, and a lot of omega-3 fatty acids. Take my antioxidant formula plus anti-inflammatory herbs such as ginger and turmeric.
•  Eliminate cow’s milk and all cow’s milk products from the diet. Milk protein increases mucus secretion.
•  Drink plenty of water.
What are the health benefits of eating apples? I’m also curious about the best way to choose apples.
Apples are good for you – as long as they’re fresh and organically grown. Unfortunately, apples usually rank among the 12 top fruits and vegetables contaminated by pesticides in tests run by the non-profit Environmental Working.
I avoid apples that have been grown with pesticides or treated with fungicides and wax. And I don’t like the ubiquitous Red Delicious variety that conventional growers have foisted on us for years; in my experience, they are usually mealy and tasteless.
If you’re choosing your apples on the basis of their health benefits, not your taste preferences, you’ll be better off with Red Delicious, Northern Spy and Ida Red, because a 2005 Canadian study found these varieties to be highest in antioxidants. The same study reported that polyphenols, the major antioxidants in apples, are five times more prevalent in apple skin than in the flesh. Note, however, that while Northern Spy apples have fewer polyphenols in the skin than Red Delicious, they have twice as many in their flesh. I recommend never eating the skins of non-organic apples.
Andrew Weil is a pioneer in the field of integrative medicine. He is a professor of medicine and heads the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. Visit www.drweil.com for more information. Ask Dr. Weil does not provide specific medical advice and is not intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other health-care professional. You should always consult your physician to discuss specific symptoms and conditions.