Mind Body Medicine
Matcha Tea Decreases Anxiety by Activating Dopamine and Seratonin Receptors
Many different countries have a tea culture, and Japanese Matcha tea is growing in popularity around the world. In Japan, Matcha has a long history of being used for various medicinal purposes. It has been suspected to have various beneficial effects to health, but relatively little scientific evidence supported thatRead
Non-Probiotics Associated with Improved Anxiety Symptoms Over Just Probiotics
On Today’s Practitioner, we’ve been a champion of reporting on the importance of regulating gut bacteria for mood disorders (see our Mood and Microbiome Resource Center here). A review study including 1,500 participants, published in General Psychiatry, showed that anxiety symptoms might be reduced by taking steps to regulate theRead
Integrative Psychiatrist Scott Shannon, MD: The Phase III MDMA Trial and the Transformation of Psychotherapy
Author Michael Pollan’s powerful 2015 New Yorker essay “The Trip Treatment” suggested that a book was coming, as it did with last year’s best seller: How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence. Pollan’s essay also suggested thatRead
Transcendental Meditation May Reduce the Severity of PTSD Symptoms
As the Veterans Administration continues to delve into the benefits of integrative medicine for pain and post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD), this new study shows that transcendental meditation may reduce the severity of PTSD. The study is a randomized controlled trial of 203 US veterans with PTSD published in The Lancet PsychiatryRead
Special Report: Dramatic Progress in Integrative Care for Veterans
Veterans Day is coming up, which drew our attention to some very encouraging and heart-warming studies on integrative care for veterans, published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. We feature excerpts of two studies followed by full-text links to each of the 15 studies at the end ofRead
Free On-Demand Webinar on Supporting Mood Disorders with Scot Bay, MD and Jane Foster, PhD
Popular contributors Scot Bay, MD and Jane Foster, PhD are back with a ready-watch webinar on animal science and clinical research that explains the gut-brain axis and how specific probiotic strains can positively support mood and mental health. Dr. Bay will elaborate on his case studies using probiotic formulas asRead
Finding Emotional Balance with Your Patients, Interview with Leslie Korn, PhD., Author Good Mood Kitchen
In light of recent tragic events with fashion designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain and a growing number of suicides in Western society, it’s important to remember that whole health wellness plays a crucial role in addressing mental health and mood disorders. One part of that care isRead
Seven-Year Meditation Study Shows Improved Attention Span into Old Age
As one ages, our attention span is often met with challenges of fatigue, attention lapses and fluctuations during prolonged sessions of concentration. Regular and intensive meditation, over the course of a lifetime, could help a person remain attentive and focused well into old age. “This study is the first toRead
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Saves Thousands for Treatment of Teen Depression
Cognitive behavioral therapy delivered in a primary care setting is a cost-effective way to treat adolescents with depression who decline or quickly stop using antidepressants, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published today in the journal Pediatrics. The study, which included 212 adolescents who received care in Kaiser Permanente primaryRead
Practicing Belief and Hope with Our Words, by Bernie Siegel, M.D.
Many years ago, one of our children brought home a canvas he decorated in his school art class. He filled the entire canvas with the word “words.” As a surgeon, what immediately struck me was that each of us can “kill” or “cure” with a sword, or scalpel. We canRead