Health
Finding good health news amidst a pandemic can be quite daunting. That’s not the case with The Optimist Daily, where positive news is in high supply. Our Health section covers the latest good news from the health sector, featuring solutions ranging from mental and physical health to immunity, nutrition, and cutting edge medical research.
Promising flu vaccine derived from tobacco plant passes clinical trials
Since the influenza virus mutates every year, the vaccine against it has to be reformulated accordingly every flu season, which is a massive undertaking. But a recent breakthrough — which sees the tobacco plant as the main protagonist — could make things easier for vaccine developers. In Read More...
It’s autumn. Time to enjoy the health benefits of pomegranates
We love eating seasonally at the Optimist Daily. Now that it’s autumn, there’s a special red fruit that is in-season and chock full of antioxidants: pomegranates! Let’s take a dive into the nutritional benefits of pomegranates, shall we? Health benefits of pomegranates Registered Read More...
Study: psilocybin therapy 4 times more effective than antidepressants
In 2020, Oregon voted to become the first state to legalize access to psilocybin for all adults. A study reinforces the idea that voters made a sensible decision. The preliminary human trials investigated the effect of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy to treat the major depressive disorder Read More...
The first lab-grown chicken restaurant has opened its doors
Lab-grown meat is making its way into the consumer market after a new restaurant opened in Tel Aviv that is offering customers chicken burgers made from “cultured chicken meat.” The restaurant, which is called The Chicken, sits adjacent to a pilot plant where a startup by the name of SuperMeat Read More...
Food waste: This smart label shows your food’s real expiration date
While useful to a certain extent, expiry dates on food products can be misleading, resulting in lots of perfectly good food getting tossed. In the UK alone, 60 percent of the food that’s thrown away is still edible, even if the label states the contrary. Concerned with the problem, a Read More...
Bandage-like malaria test delivers results in minutes
Testing for malaria could become as simple as putting on a band-aid. At least, that’s what a recent medical development promises with a simple device featuring a microneedle patch that can rapidly detect the presence of malaria. The novel test taps into protein biomarkers contained in Read More...
Feeling down? Here are 3 science-backed ways to feel better now
When we find ourselves in a bad mood, we can either simmer in those negative feelings or choose to do something about them. The Optimist Daily is a fan of the latter option, which is why we want to share with you a few methods for immediate mood management that scientists have proven to be Read More...
Sarah McBride just became America’s first transgender state senator
History was made on Election Day after voters in Delaware elected the first transgender state senator in American history. On Tuesday, Democrat Sarah McBride defeated Republic Steve Washington to win a seat that became open following the retirement of the longest-serving legislator in Delaware Read More...
Cooking tip: How to remove toxins from rice but keep the nutrients
Rice is nice, but the problem with this widely-consumed food is that it’s very high in arsenic compared to most other foods. In fact, rice absorbs nearly 10 times as much toxic inorganic arsenic as other cereal crops. That’s because rice is grown in flooded rice fields, making it easy for the Read More...
Smart implantable device to revolutionize the way we monitor heart disease
Pacemakers and other implantable cardiac devices used to monitor and treat heart conditions have generally posed one issue — either they are made with rigid materials that can't move to accommodate a beating heart, or they are made from soft materials that can collect only a limited amount of Read More...