Immune-strengthening tip: Eat less salt

The Great Salt Lake on the Utah-nevada border registers 30 percent salinity in the northern reaches and 6 percent to 27 percent in the southern areas. Only brine shrimp and some algae thrive. The Dead Sea is so salty that it doesn’t feel like water — some say it’s more like olive oil mixed with sand.

These natural wonders are a testimony to how hard excess salt can be on plants and animals. And a new study in the journal Science Translational Medicine offers more evidence. The researchers found that people who took in an extra 6 grams of salt daily showed pronounced immune deficiencies.

But hold on! Sodium levels are listed on nutrition labels. Is that the same as salt? Nope: The recommendation of 2,300 mg sodium daily comes out to about a third of a teaspoon of salt!

So, along with making sure you get 30 minutes of physical activity daily, reducing excess salt intake is one more way to keep your immune system strong.

Acupuncture for migraine

Pop singer Gwen Stefani was plagued with debilitating migraines during each of her pregnancies. The mother of three wanted to avoid medications, so she gave acupuncture a try.

It turns out Stefani was onto something. A new study published in BMJ suggests acupuncture can reduce migraines. The researchers looked at 147 people who had two to eight migraines a month and had never had acupuncture.

One group underwent 20 sessions of 30-minute manual acupuncture at real acupuncture points over eight weeks; another had the same number of sessions over eight weeks, but with sham acupuncture. A third group tried standard care, which included lifestyle adjustments.

After the eight weeks of treatment, the researchers followed the participants for 12 more weeks. People who received real acupuncture had 1.4 fewer migraine days in weeks 13 to 16 and 2.1 fewer migraine days in weeks 17 to 20.

That’s not surprising, since acupuncture is often used to ease chronic pain conditions, including lower back and joint pain, and to alleviate stress and manage depression.

If you’re a frequent migraine sufferer, then ask your doctor about trying this therapy, which may be covered by health insurance, especially if the practitioner works out of a physician’s office. In combination with medications that prevent migraine or ease symptoms, you may find you are able to reduce the frequency significantly.

Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare. com.