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.
The native American healer reviving the medicine of her ancestors
When an elderly Lakota woman limped into the medical tent, one foot sporting a painful burn, Linda Black Elk knew just the herb that would help. She began boiling yarrow, a plant that blossoms golden yellow and has been prized for its healing properties for centuries. Though she had applied the Read More...
Breakthrough study explains how the immune system puts cancer cells to sleep
An exciting new study, led by a team of Australian researchers, has uncovered how the immune system can keep cancer cells in a dormant state. It's hoped the breakthrough insight will offer new pathways for research into immunotherapy techniques that can essentially stop a tumor's growth for an Read More...
Virtual reality to be used as therapeutic treatment for nightmare disorder
Virtual reality could soon be used as a therapeutic treatment for patients suffering from often-occurring nightmares. Researchers conducted a study in which they presented participants with nightmare-like imagery that could then manipulate to be less threatening. The therapy was associated with a Read More...
These foods will help you reset your gut in just 3 days
By now you've probably heard how influential the microbes in your gut are for your overall health. What you might not have known is that the life span of a microbe is about 20 minutes, meaning that it’s possible to make lasting changes to your gut health in just a matter of days. To reset your Read More...
The science of fighting Alzheimer's with brain-health food
There is increasing evidence in scientific literature that healthy eating is associated with retention of cognitive function and warding off dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. A new diet was created by scientists in Toronto and is named the Canadian Brain Health Food Guide. In the United States, Read More...
This woman made Denmark cut food waste by 25 percent in 5 years
Denmark leads the battle against food waste in Europe. That success started with one woman (who was not even born in the country, she came from Russia as an immigrant!). She introduced goody bags for people to take food home from restaurants (Europeans don’t have that tradition). She cut banana Read More...
How a third pillar of physical fitness may exist beyond diet and exercise
An anthropologist poses a theory suggesting that along with diet and exercise, our bodies might need environmental stress—like exposure to cold and hot temperatures—if we’re to reach our full potential. The logic behind this idea is similar to explanations for why we need to eat healthy food Read More...
Republicans and Democrats agree: The U.S. needs more organic farmers
As an organic farmer in northeast Iowa, Wendy Johnson often feels like she and her family are living on an island. The small acreage she rents from her family’s farm to grow corn, soybeans, and small grains and raise chickens, hogs, and sheep is surrounded by large swaths of conventional corn and Read More...
'Largest' microbiome study weighs in on our gut health
The first results of the largest study to have ever investigated the human microbiome are in. They have important implications for our dietary practices, resistance to antibiotics, and our mental Read More...
Study: A diet full of organic food drastically reduces your risk of cancer
Eating organic food is the simplest way to dramatically cut your risk of cancer. That’s the main finding from a new study that looked at the diets of nearly 70,000 French adults. Of those adults, the ones who ate the most organic food were 25 percent less likely to develop cancer. Specifically, Read More...