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.
For the first time since 1990, drug overdose deaths have dropped in America
While the fight to end deaths from drug overdoses is far from over, at the very least there’s some good news to the drug epidemic. According to preliminary government data made public this week, the total number of deaths from drug overdoses declined by around 5 percent last year after three Read More...
Only 5% of Americans eat enough fiber. That’s a huge problem
When we fret about the deterioration of the American diet, we tend to focus on the excessive amounts of sugar, salt, and calories we’re now eating. What we don’t talk about: an important ingredient that’s gone missing as we’ve been filling our plates with more chicken and cheese. Fiber. Read More...
New hydrogel could make bone marrow transplants more successful
Bone marrow transplants are a common treatment for certain conditions related to the blood, but the patient's immune system can often react badly to the foreign cells and attack them. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) may help, but they too can be cleared out by immune cells. Now, a Harvard team has Read More...
Scientists have now created lab-grown ice cream that requires nothing from cows
By now you’ve probably heard about lab-grown meat (if not, check out Monday’s daily), but have you heard about lab-grown ice cream? Apparently, lab-grown ice cream is here that is made from a whey protein that is produced by genetically modified yeast rather than cows. In fact, not a single cow Read More...
Give your body a boost with this tasty wheatgrass shot
Wheatgrass is known for its nutrient-dense and powerful antioxidant properties. Many of these purported benefits come from the fact that it’s made up of 70 percent chlorophyll. The idea is that by consuming wheatgrass, you will get many of chlorophyll’s benefits, including detoxification, Read More...
Holy cow! Rotterdam is now home to the world’s first floating dairy farm
In 2018, we wrote about a Dutch firm that was planning to create a floating dairy farm that sits on the Maas river in Rotterdam. Well, now it’s actually here: a floating dairy farm where sustainably-sourced milk and dairy products are produced for locals. While the ethics of hosting a bunch of Read More...
It’s not chicken. It’s a pea-based chicken alternative with an odd backstory
The development of plant-based meat has been quite fascinating to watch for those of us here at the Optimist Daily. Just a couple years ago meat alternatives such as Tofurkey were almost a joke and certainly not in the mainstream. These days it seems there’s a new plant-based meat alternative on Read More...
An injection of nanoparticles could help prevent paralysis after cord injuries
When it comes to spinal cord injuries that lead to paralysis, it is the immune system that actually causes most of the damage. Soon, however, it’s possible that an injection of nanoparticles at the injury site could prevent the body’s immune system from overreacting to trauma and resulting in Read More...
Could lab-grown meat help save the planet?
While the market for plant-based meat alternatives is exploding, there’s another alternative to farm-raised meat that could soon become a staple of your local supermarket: lab-grown meat. While companies vary in exact details, broadly speaking “lab-grown meat” refers to a method of making Read More...
Pioneering nerve transfer surgery brings hope to patients with paralysis
Each year between 250,000 and 500,000 people worldwide suffer a spinal cord injury, with just over 50 percent resulting in tetraplegia - a degree of paralysis in all four limbs. In a bid to offer new hope to paralyzed patients, an Australian doctor has performed a pioneering surgery technique that Read More...