According to the National Institutes of Health, 116 million Americans live with chronic pain and inflammation. Most are in constant search of relief. Chronic pain is discomfort that lingers for more than three months after a condition has been medically treated or repaired.

Pain Relief, Chronic Pain & Inflammation

Osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, cancer, and multiple sclerosis are just a few of the root causes. 

Opioids are often prescribed. But they can lead to dangerous addictions. Even over-the-counter pain relievers like NSAIDs and acetaminophen can have damaging side effects in the liver and kidneys. 

Without pain relief, emotional side effects are common complications of chronic pain and inflammation. When physical motion is restricted by pain, the quality of life can be diminished and depression may result. 

Safe & Effective Pain Relief with CBD

If opioids and other pain relievers aren’t working, there is an alternative for those willing to think outside the box. Consider a regimen of cannabidiol (CBD), which is a promising treatment drawn from the cannabis plant. 

Some people reject CBD for fear of the “high” associated with marijuana. But marijuana has a significant concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Most CBD products screen out nearly all of the THC. “We’re talking about something with a safety profile that looks like vitamin C,” Joel Stanley, CEO of CW Botanicals, told the Denver Post. 

CBD has become a useful tool for some in the medical community. “I use it in my practice because, unlike pain medications such as Tylenol, CBD does not cause kidney or liver issues while providing the same pain relief,” Texas-based Charlton Woodly, DPM, said in US News & World Report. In the same article, Dr. Philip Blair, MD, said that he concluded CBD was safe and has prescribed it for thousands of patients with chronic pain and inflammation. “I see the relaxation of their facial muscles,” he said. “I hear a deep sigh of relief.”

CBD for Reducing Pain & Inflammation 

Not all doctors agree with Woodly and Blair. But scientific research is under way to assess the full potential of CBD. 

One study in the European Journal of Pain suggested that topical use of CBD creams lowered pain and inflammation in rodents afflicted with arthritis. A second study in the medical journal Pain showed promise in treating pain and anxiety with CBD.

Former NFL quarterback Jake Plummer has suffered from chronic pain and inflammation after years of hard tackles on the football field. He found that CBD provided significant relief.

“The inflammation in my joints that stiffened up in the cold winter months was gone,” Plummer told the sports website FanBuzz. “The random headaches that would throb behind my eyes to the beat of my heart? Gone. The only thing different? CBD.” 

CBD Product Options

If the taste of CBD tincture is off-putting—and for many it is—consider CBD gummies or topical creams and lotions. 

There are many CBD products on the market, so choose wisely. Legal restrictions on CBD vary by state.

Researchers are looking at sleep-inducing melatonin as a possible immunity enhancer in the fight against COVID-19. While the hormone has not shown antiviral activity, it may reduce the severity of infection.

“Melatonin’s beneficial effects derive from its anti-inflammatory properties, free radical scavenging activity, and immunomodulatory functions,” according to an article by neuroendocrinologist Russel J. Reiter, PhD, and others.

The researchers suggest using it as a preventive or in treatment, either alone or with other therapies. “Melatonin is readily available, can be easily synthesized in large quantities, is inexpensive, has a very high safety profile and can be easily self-administered.”

Clinical psychologist Michael J. Breus, PhD, cites “indications that melatonin may reduce the severity of the disease, and the overblown immune response and subsequent severe damage to the lungs” that may happen to the most severely ill COVID-19 patients.

A clinical trial, which researchers expect to complete by the end of 2020, is investigating whether a daily dose of 2 milligrams of melatonin might prevent exposed healthcare workers from becoming infected with COVID-19. Investigators also hope to discover whether “melatonin might prevent the more severe forms” for those who develop the disease.

COVID-19 has brought change to all of our lives. Some of these changes can threaten our sense of balance on any given day. Fortunately, many mental health experts are offering helpful tips for how to access inner peace during the pandemic.

Tips for Mindful Living During COVID-19

Clinical psychologist and author Lisa Langer, PhD, shares her tried-and-true tips here.

• Stay Balanced and Grounded through Self-Care

  • Remember you’re not alone if you’re worried or anxious.
  • Natural to feel this way with everything happening in the world.
  • Self-care every day must be a top priority.
  • Do at least one thing for yourself even if you’re taking care of young children.
  • Go for a walk.
  • Enjoy a cup of coffee or herbal tea.
  • Take a long shower or bath.
  • Schedule self-care into your day.

• Tune Into Your Breath and Body Regularly

  • Simply bring your attention to your breath.
  • Notice each inhale and each exhale.
  • At the same time feel both feet grounded to the earth
  • Your breath becomes an anchor in the body to the present moment.
  • Bringing our attention to the present helps relax the body and mind and lessen any worried or anxious thoughts you have.

• Express Your Feelings to Close Friends and Family

  • Worries or anxious thoughts can seem more difficult if we keep them inside.
  • It helps to talk to people we care for and trust.
  • Also, helps to share and express your feelings.
  • Make connection a priority for your mental health several times a week and you’ll feel less alone.

• Consider Limiting Time with Social Media and The News

  • You’ve probably heard this before but make some positive choices for yourself about how much time you look at Facebook and Instagram as well as time watching the news.
  • Media can increase your reactivity and worried thoughts.
  • If you choose to look at media, consider spending most time on positive sites.

• Mindfully Meditate, Either Formally or Informally

  • Terrific meditation apps (Headspace, Calm for example) that lead you in simple short formal meditations.
  • Try a 5 or 10-minute meditation to ground your body and settle your mind.
  • Bring more awareness to everything you’re doing for example, make changing a diaper or playing with your child a mediation by bringing your full attention to the activity.
  • Know that worries and challenging thoughts will always come into your mind but you can choose to simply notice the thoughts and let them pass. This takes practice but you can do it!

How fast is a fast fast? No, that’s not a tongue twister (though feel free to say it three times—fast). Short-term or intermittent fasting is gaining popularity as a route to not just weight control but to potentially living a longer, healthier life.

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting is an eating plan that includes cycling between fasting and non-fasting, as well as rotating in regular periods of very low-calorie eating.

Does Fasting Work?

There’s evidence that, in animals including rodents and fruit flies, a lifelong restricted diet that cuts calories by more than a third leads to a lifespan that’s a third longer.

Does it work for humans too?

Scientists haven’t figured that out yet, though evidence backs the idea that, in people, eating a calorie-limited diet leads to longer periods of good health with fewer of the diseases that typically strike in old age.

Still, who would want to deny themselves the pleasures of foods for an entire lifetime? Luckily, we don’t have to. We can get the benefits of long-term fasting with daily, weekly, or monthly short-term fasts or calorie restrictions, according to recent research.

The Science Behind Restricted-Calorie Diets

Mark Mattson, PhD, who heads the neurosciences lab at the National Institute on Aging, is an expert on the science behind intermittent fasting. He has contributed to a number of studies on intermittent fasting and calorie-restricted diets involving both animals and humans.

Results indicate that cycles of fasting may support cardiovascular health, lead to improved learning and memory and decreased symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, and alleviate symptoms of asthma.

How Does Intermittent Fasting Work?

• Promotes Cellular Strength

  One theory is that fasting puts cells under mild stress. “They respond to the stress adaptively by enhancing their ability to cope with stress and, maybe, to resist disease,” Dr. Mattson told the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

• Resets the Immune System

  Valter Longo, PhD, of the University of Southern California, argued in a 2014 study that three days of fasting can “reset” the immune system and trigger the production of new white blood cells, helping to ward off disease.

• Humans Naturally Adapted to Fasting

  While researchers have done many recent studies on fasting, it is not new. According to Francoise Wilhelmi de Toledo, MD, medical director of the Buchinger Wilhelmi Clinic in Germany, the propensity to deprive oneself of food is evolutionary and natural.

  Dr. de Toledo contends that because food was often in short supply as humans evolved, our bodies have adapted. Throughout history, droughts and other harsh conditions produced food shortages that caused our ancestors to fast—often involuntarily—and our bodies eventually got the message.

The Benefits of Fasting

• Reproductive Health

  Studies indicate that benefits of fasting include improved reproductive features (in menstrual cyclicity, ovulation, and fertility) and metabolism.

• Joint Health

  Pain and stiffness from rheumatoid arthritis improved when study participants employed fasting techniques for one to two weeks.

• Cardiovascular Health

  Fasting showed promise in improving cardiovascular health by lowering high blood pressure and reducing the cholesterol that can clog arteries and cause heart attacks.

  Not only do fasting people lose weight, but their arteries are less inflamed if they fast every other day or employ the 5:2 Fast Diet (which features five days of regular eating and two fasting days each week). With both techniques, fasting days provide about one fourth of a person’s normal caloric intake.

  An abstract from a 2024 conference presentation suggested that intermittent fasting may not reduce risk of cardiovascular death. The data has not yet been reviewed nor has it gone through the process of validation. Researchers have yet to compare and analyze a time-restricted eating group with a non-time-restricted feeding group.

• Long-Term Health

  Scientists think fasting mildly stresses cells. They surmise that on low-calorie days, the body is forced to deal with this mild stress, which strengthens the long-term ability to ward off disease.

Intermittent Fasting Plans

Unlike traditional diets, intermittent fasting is more about when you eat than what you eat. The idea is to skip or limit food for a certain number of hours in a day or a certain number of days in a week or month. Here are some common approaches.

• Every-Other-Day Fasting

  Every-other-day fasting suggests you eat normally on the first day, then limit yourself to 500 calories (for women) or 600 (for men) the next. Continue to alternate.

  With only 500 calories on your fasting day, it’s critical you make those 500 calories count, so choose food wisely. Opt for nutrient-rich foods, such as lean proteins and fresh produce.

• Half-Day Fasting

  Half-day fasting is essentially 12 hours on—when eating is permitted—and 12 hours off, when you fast. Beginning the fast in the evening makes the limited food intake much easier to tolerate since you’ll be dozing for about two-thirds of the period.

  Over time, you might find you can increase your fasting hours to 16 hours a day. Some research shows increased health benefits if you limit eating to eight hours per day.

• The 5:2 Plan

  Eat what you normally do for five days a week, and eat just 500 calories on the other two (nonconsecutive) days.

• The 16:8 Plan

  Fast for 16 consecutive hours during every 24-hour period, limiting your eating to the other eight hours. For instance, have your first meal at 10 a.m. and finish your last meal by 6 p.m.

• Eat-Stop-Eat

  Fast for 24 hours once or twice a week.

• Five Days a Month

  Cut your food intake by 30 to 40 percent for five consecutive days a month, and eat as you normally do on the other days.

  In a recent study, human volunteers who were put on a regimen of 725 to 1,090 calories a day for five days a month lost abdominal fat, became more fit, and had lower blood glucose levels than a control group after only three months.

• Convenience Plan

  If you can’t adopt a regular mode of intermittent fasting, try fasting when it works for your schedule. Skip a meal if you’re not hungry, or take a day off from eating when the time is right. You’ll still get some of the benefits of a more structured plan.

Fasting Precautions

• Stay Hydrated

  Be sure to drink plenty of noncaloric liquids while you are fasting. Water, unsweetened coffee and tea (a splash of milk or cream is OK), and other sugar-free drinks will help keep you hydrated.

• Check with Your Doctor

  Check with your healthcare provider before you make any radical changes in your eating habits, especially if you have medical conditions. People who should not fast include children, those who are underweight or have a history of eating disorders, and women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or trying to conceive.

What Is Hintonia latiflora?

Hintonia latiflora is an extract of the bark of a shrubby tree that grows in the Sonoran Desert. It has been used in folk medicine in Mexico and Central America to treat and even reverse high blood sugar, insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome for over a century.

It’s been studied in detail for its ability to reverse high blood sugars for the past 60 years.

Studies Show Hintonia latiflora is Effective for Treating Diabetes

After a number of case reports showing efficacy, 10 more studies have been published looking at this herb’s effectiveness in treating diabetes. Research has shown it was so effective that many patients with Type 2 diabetes could reduce or eliminate their need for insulin, especially those needing 25 units a day or less. They were also routinely able to lower the dose or eliminate their oral hypoglycemic agents.

One Hintonia latiflora study followed 177 patients with prediabetes or mild Type 2 diabetes for eight months. Patients consumed capsules that included hintonia as the primary ingredient. During the study, patients were evaluated every two months on various parameters of diabetes, including HbA1C, fasting glucose, and postprandial blood sugar, as well as common symptoms associated with diabetes, such as neuropathy.

Improvements of Diabetics Using Hintonia latiflora

At the end of eight months, researchers noted these improvements:

• HbA1C improved by a significant average of 10.4 percent.
• Fasting glucose improved an average of 23.3 percent.  
• Postprandial glucose decreased by an average of 24.9 percent.

Improvements were also found in diabetic symptoms, as well as blood pressure, cholesterol, and liver enzyme values.

Is Hintonia latiflora Safe?

Hintonia latiflora is an incredibly safe herbal medicine. Researchers followed up with study participants for almost three years, and there were no side effects or any problems taking it in combination with blood-sugar-control medications.

How Does Hintonia latiflora Work?

• Hintonia inhibits glucosidases, slowing the breakdown and absorption of sugar in the gut. This delays the release of sugar into the bloodstream and keeps glucose levels low instead of allowing them to spike, a main cause of excessive insulin release.
• Coutareagenin, a nutrient found in hintonia extracts, appears to be responsible for other blood sugar-controlling benefits. It has been shown to reduce insulin resistance and inflammation.

Excerpted with permission from Diabetes Is Optional by Jacob Teitelbaum, MD ($8.95, To Your Health Books, 2018).