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.
Meet the ocean farmer who grows food that cleans up pollution in the Atlantic
What if locals in your area called you the “Oyster Wench”? For Catherine Puckett, it’s the highest honor there is. Puckett, who lives on an island off the coast of Rhode Island, represents a new generation of ocean farmers, one whose singular connection to the water is coupled with a passion Read More...
Why letting go of anger can be key to a long, healthy life
Of all the emotions linked to negative health conditions, a small new study points out that anger is the worst, potentially contributing to inflammation and chronic disease. The new research was borne from a theory developed by two of the study’s co-authors, psychologists Carsten Wrosch and Ute Read More...
Need a boost? Study says simply thinking about coffee can energize you
The source of coffee’s powerful stimulating effects may not be limited to the caffeine in it, or even to its rich, distinct aroma. A new study suggests that merely being exposed to cues about coffee is enough to perk up the mind and make us more likely to concentrate on the task at hand, while Read More...
Could this candy alternative help people end their sugar addiction?
When we think about addiction, we tend to think about substances such as alcohol or cigarettes. But there’s another addictive substance that is severely hurting people’s health: sugar. Our grocery stores dedicate aisles just to sugar-filled candy, and although we’re all aware how much damage Read More...
The global child mortality rate has dropped to an all-time low
These days, it can sometimes feel like everything is getting worse. We’re faced every day with the problems we haven’t solved yet and new ones that we’re creating, and the barrage of bad news can be dispiriting. In these times of seeming despair, it’s extremely important to take a step back Read More...
Scorpion venom could help surgeons remove brain cancer more easily
Though the venom of some scorpions can deliver pain, and occasionally death, to humans, scorpion venom is used in a number of medical fields, including cancer research. Recently, for instance, scientists have developed an imaging technique that uses a synthetic version of a compound found in Read More...
This Canadian doctor boosts people’s incomes to help boost their health outcomes
Gary Bloch became a doctor because he wanted to help people who were less privileged than him. For years, he tried his best to treat patients coping with poverty and homelessness.But no matter how many blood tests he ordered and prescriptions he wrote, many of his patients’ health problems Read More...
An Ode to the Marvelous Mushroom
By Amelia Buckley August 14th marked the first day of the sold-out 39th annual Telluride Mushroom Festival in Aspen, Colorado, which sold more tickets this year than ever. Mushrooms gained a reputation in the 1970s as a vehicle for psychedelic exploration, but these fungi friends are not just Read More...
This organic material could help us save tons of food from spoiling too soon
It's the ultimate kitchen let-down: Your toast is prepped, your egg poached, and you cut into your avocado to find it brown, speckled, and mushy. Forlorn, you toss it in the trash (or hopefully, the compost bin) and take the loss. Your avocado toast isn't the only thing that suffers in that Read More...
Lab-grown seafood is getting ready to hit the market. Could it save our oceans?
High-tech meat alternatives are grabbing a lot of headlines these days. Last month, the Impossible Burger marked a meatless milestone with its debut as a Burger King Whopper, while plant-based innovator Beyond Meat became a game-changer by taking its company shares public. Meanwhile, Lou Read More...