David Lurie obituary

Other lives: Pioneer of Chinese medicine and acupuncture in the UK

I live a healthier life now I’m free of the trappings of modernity

Being healthy is not about doctors, ambulances and technology. I use natural methods to keep my body in balance, writes Mark Boyle, the Guardian’s Life Without Technology columnist

Pains and needles: brain scans point to hidden effects of acupuncture

Placebo acupuncture can ease short-term pain but the real thing might help to reverse the underlying pathology of a disease

Prepare for grounding – Naomie Harris’s method for beating jetlag

There is no scientific evidence but several celebrities claim extraordinary health benefits from walking around barefoot

‘It’s a superpower’: meet the empaths paid to read your mind

They feel your pain as if it were their own – and charge you £200 an hour to do so. Why has empathy become such a prized commodity?

Regulator could strip alternative medicine charities of their status

Charities commission holding review after complaints that some organisations make unfounded claims about complementary and alternative medicine

Should complementary and alternative medicine charities lose their charitable status?

Reliable evidence matters - and the Charity Commission’s consultation is a chance to make that clear to complementary and alternative therapy charities

Sweetness of woodruff lingers down the ages

Country Diary: Benthall Edge, Shropshire This plant has had a symbolic, medicinal and folkloric importance for centuries

My partner believes in homeopathy. How can I convince her that vaccinations are a good idea?

Her alternative-leaning mother has raised her to have faith in massively diluted plant extracts but, if we are to go travelling or have kids, surely we need to trust science to keep us safe

Two people critically ill after drinking toxic herbal tea

Health officials in San Francisco say the drink contained the plant-based toxin aconite, causing life-threatening heart rhythms