But you can make positive changes by starting with these guidelines…

• Be honest about how you really feel, recognize it and own it. Then you can be a conscious creator of your feeling rather than a helpless victim to your surroundings and circumstances.
• Create feelings of happiness in your body through physical touch. For some people it’s taking a warm bath, sitting near a heat vent with a blanket, getting a foot or full-body massage, eating comfort foods or best of all, exchanging affectionate touching with your lover or spouse.
• Experience music that lifts your soul or makes your heart sing. And music can be very effective when combined with physical touch.
• Enjoy great companionship where there is an easy flow of communication, a feeling of respect and a chemistry of happiness when you’re together.
• Try deep breathing and meditation, both of which are powerful techniques. Pause your thoughts and breathe in, then think about something for which you’re thankful as you breathe out. Or allow your mind to travel in thought while blissful feelings heal your body, which is especially effective when combined with music therapy.
• Experience a sunrise or sunset. Allow the sun’s light and warmth to penetrate your mind and body to boost happy feelings.

Unfortunately, a deficiency of this all-important nutrient can stem from many different causes such as stress, pollution and the so-called cholesterol alternatives. Plus, your natural CoQ10 levels automatically start to drop as you advance in age.

This lack of healthy CoQ10 levels can open the door to less-than-optimal immune function, occasional fatigue and imbalanced blood pressure. But appropriate amounts not only provide much-needed energy for your body, but also help stimulate your immune system, support balanced blood pressure, maintain proper blood sugar levels and boost your vision.

And most importantly, CoQ10 helps if you…

• Promote heart pumping strength and healthy cardiovascular function. Your heart is the most responsive of all organs to CoQ10, and it contains and requires more CoQ10 than any other organ in your body.
• Supply antioxidant protection for your brain’s cells to help defend against free radicals. The nutrient may also support optimal brain function even during the course of normal healthy aging and the [slowdown] of mitochondrial function, according to Lester Packer, Ph.D., in The Antioxidant Miracle.

To protect your overall health, you must ensure that your body has adequate levels of CoQ10. Finding a high-quality, crystal-free nutritional supplement that includes healthy fats for maximum absorption is the best way to fulfill your body’s requirements for this essential nutrient.

The following food list published in Eat This, Not That can provide you with a great start to ensure that your body gets the magnesium it needs to function properly…

• Cooked salmon—4 ounces—35 percent daily value
• Raw sunflower seeds—1/4 cup—32 percent daily value
• Sesame seeds—1/4 cup—32 percent daily value
• Prickly pear—1 cup—32 percent daily value
• Cooked black beans—1 cup—30 percent daily value
• Roasted almonds—1/4 cup—25 percent daily value
• Cooked pinto beans—1 cup—24 percent daily value
• Cooked brown rice—1 cup—21 percent daily value
• Cooked scallops—4 ounces—19 percent daily value
• Cooked summer squash—1 cup—11 percent daily value

I am a 68-year-old man and in good health except for my blood pressure, which is not where I want it to be. There’s a lot of literature out there about possible options. I value your opinion and would appreciate your insight regarding causes of less-than-optimal blood pressure levels and tips on natural alternatives to achieve healthier levels.

—Martin J.

Dear Martin,

One factor that affects blood pressure is an unbalanced inflammatory response in the body. Unfortunately, low-grade inflammation in your body may also affect your blood vessels. And when certain factors impact blood flow in your blood vessels, your heart has to exert more pressure to move the blood along.

Other possible causes of unbalanced blood pressure levels are…

• Too much table salt in your diet. Excessive table salt may cause too much fluid to collect in your vessels, which can affect the amount of pressure needed to push your blood through.
• Stress, worry or anxiety. The thoughts and emotions you carry may affect your blood pressure levels. If you are constantly worried or anxious, your blood pressure may gradually increase and over time, can become more difficult to address.

But there are natural alternatives you can try to help promote healthier blood pressure levels. Remove foods from your diet that are low in nutrient content—including packaged, greasy, sugary and highly preserved foods such as fast food and soda. Replace them with nutrient-rich whole foods such as fruits and dark-colored, leafy vegetables and cut back on starchy types of vegetables (potatoes, corn and beans).

Other tips that may help keep your blood pressure in check include consuming at least 50 percent of your diet in raw-food form… changing from processed table salt to natural sea salt… and including herbal supplements in your daily regimen. Many of these can be found at your local health food store:

• Ginkgo biloba
• Hawthorne berry
• Dandelion leaf tea
• Fresh ginger tea
• Krill or fish oil
• Niacin

All the best!
Michael Cutler, M.D.

According to a report in USA Today, a new study funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine indicates that two types of massage may ease chronic lower back pain in the short-term better than any of the traditional methods including painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle relaxants or physical therapy. The two types of massage techniques examined include: structural massage, which focuses on soft-tissue abnormalities and manipulates specific pain-related back muscles and ligaments… and Swedish massage, which aims to promote a body-wide feeling of relaxation.

Those in the study who received a series of massages experienced less pain, continued to work and remained active for more than six months afterwards, compared to those who received the usual care. The massage groups also reported fewer sick days and a lesser need for prescription drugs to help manage pain. Researchers noted that another benefit of massage therapy is that it’s also relatively safe.

While other regions in Japan grew rice, the hilly terrain of this village proved better suited for harvesting healthier carbohydrates like satsumaimo (a type of sweet potato), satoimo (a sticky white potato), imoji (a potato root), and konyaku (a gelatinous root vegetable). And the common ingredient in these foods is a joint-supportive nutrient called hyaluronic acid (HA).

HA is a water-gelling molecule contained in the synovial fluid surrounding your joints, cartilage and skin tissues. Synovial fluid functions as a lubricant, nutrient carrier and shock absorber for your bones and joints.

To perform its duties, the synovial fluid must contain ample amounts of HA. However, as you get older your natural production of HA starts to decrease. This can lead to…

• Intermittently stiff joints
• Creaking knees
• Less flexible finger joints
• Knotted shoulders
• Sore elbows

But eating foods with HA can help maintain joint flexibility. You can further benefit your joints by adding quality supplements to your diet that contain not only HA, but also collagen and chondroitin sulfate—two more nutrients that help maintain your joints and your synovial fluid. By taking these precautions to support your body’s production of the fluid, you are taking all-important steps to promote the health of your body’s joints.

Banana Bread

1 cup fresh honey
½ cup butter (softened)
4 eggs
8 medium ripe bananas (mashed)
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup oat or wheat bran
3 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp sea salt
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the honey, butter, eggs, bananas and water until smooth and lightly foamy. In a separate bowl, mix the bran, flour, soda, powder and salt, then add to the wet ingredients. Mix just until ingredients are blended. Fold in the nuts and divide the batter between two large greased loaf pans. Bake approximately 1 hour (or until a pick comes out clean) at 350 degrees.

Sweet Breakfast Rice

1 cup cooked brown rice
3 dates (medjool)
1/3 cup water
¾ banana
Vanilla flavoring (to taste)
Cinnamon (to taste

Warm the cooked rice in a saucepan on low heat, stir and set aside. Place dates, water and banana in a blender and process until smooth. Pour banana mixture over the warmed rice. Add either vanilla flavoring or cinnamon to taste.

TIP: Try other dried fruit or frozen fresh fruits for delicious variations.

I have read so much about the ill effects sugar has on a person’s health but I love a sweet taste in food and am not willing to give it up entirely. So I switched to artificial sweeteners only to find out that they might even be worse. I’ve read about natural sugar replacements that are safe to use. Are you in agreement with that? If so, would you please tell me more?

—Rae M.

Dear Rae,

I recommend you use turbinado, rapadura or sucanat to replace brown sugar, white sugar and powdered sugar. You can pick your favorite from the bulk section of a health food store and store it in an airtight container for an increased shelf life.

If you’re unfamiliar with sugar substitutes let me explain that…

• Turbinado is evaporated cane sugar juice that has been crystallized.
• Rapadura is essentially pure-dried sugarcane juice.
• Sucanat is non-refined cane sugar that has not had the molasses removed from it.

Plus, other safe and natural sweeteners and their extracts that I also recommend are stevia (an herb), xylitol (wood sugar or birch sugar), agave nectar (cactus-like plant in Mexico) and Grade B maple syrup.

All the best!
Michael Cutler, M.D.

• Black cohosh for hot flashes—This herb is commonly known as bugwort or rattle root and seems to exhibit anti-inflammatory properties. Be sure to get black, not blue, cohosh.
• Calcium pills for premenstrual syndrome (PMS) cramps—Scientific evidence shows that those who suffer from common PMS symptoms have lower calcium levels in their blood. Try consuming calcium-rich dairy foods and you might manage to keep the symptoms at bay completely.
• Tea tree oil can help with skin outbreaks—A study in the British Journal of Dermatology found that applying tea tree oil extract to skin outbreaks may reduce inflammation. It’s also antiseptic and can be quite effective.
• Steam therapy for sinus headaches—Inhaling steam may relieve sinus discomfort and pressure by flushing out your nasal passages. You can make it even more potent by adding a few drops of eucalyptus or peppermint oil which can have a decongestant effect.
• Cranberry juice can help promote urinary tract health—Medical institutions such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) agree that drinking cranberry juice can help maintain a healthy urinary tract because cranberries contain proanthocyanidins that help keep certain bacteria from adhering to the inside of your bladder, resulting in them being eliminated through your urine.