In his bestselling book 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, [Andrew] Weil sets out a programme of eating, exercising and living that will "take full advantage of your body's natural healing power". Each week he includes extra things to concentrate on, from eating broccoli and ginger to "news fasting" — taking a day off from newspapers, TV and radio that bring "in" bad information.

The experts also suggest limiting your exposure to news coverage. "Obviously, we all want to be informed citizens," Ellen Leibenluft, a physician at the National Institute of Mental Health, says. "But the other thing is to titrate the amount of brain time people spend on this." If you find news fasting too much to bear, Erica Wise, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has this advice: read or listen, but don't watch. "It does seem that the visual medium is a little more intense," she cautions.

I eat fresh broccoli regularly. I pop vitamin C tablets. I'm trying to establish a routine for exercise walking since I've had to give up running. I even bring flowers home occasionally.

But engage in a "news fast"? No sir! That would be difficult, to say the least, for a newspaperman. I could try news fasting when I retire this spring, but the idea of cutting myself off from the world around me by not reading, watching or listening to any news is unacceptable, not to mention downright distasteful.