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.
Why you should do some Japanese ‘forest bathing’
In Japan, people practice something called forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku. Shinrin in Japanese means “forest,” and yoku means “bath.” So shinrin-yoku means bathing in the forest atmosphere, or taking in the forest through your senses. This is not exercise, or hiking, or jogging. It is Read More...
Why farm-raised kids are healthier than kids raised in the city
The hygiene hypothesis, as it’s called, says that our immune system needs to spar with relatively harmless germs and foreign substances in its earliest years so it can calibrate itself. Or in other words, growing up in a “dirtier” environment such as a farm actually boosts our immune system Read More...
Intermittent fasting may have 'profound health benefits'
Intermittent fasting has been gaining popularity among people looking to shed extra kilograms and maintain a healthy weight. Researchers argue that this type of diet may also slow down aging and Read More...
The key to staying healthy is a well-functioning intestinal flora
The bacteria within our bodies is wildly complex, but what we do know for sure is that your intestinal flora is incredibly important for your health. In a nutshell, intestinal flora is the bacteria and microorganisms that exist naturally in the intestine. When your intestinal flora function Read More...
Music may help restore cognitive functions in dementia patients
Plato said music "gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, and life to everything." Two and a half millennia later, a study by researchers at the University of Utah is suggesting that music-based treatments may indeed provide significant help in Read More...
Harvard scientists say doing this can lower your blood pressure
You know that fight-or-flight feeling: tense muscles, pounding heart, rapid breathing and sky-high blood pressure. We're a nation of stressed-out workers tackling too many tasks, and an endless supply of office scenarios can trigger that Read More...
Natural antibiotics can help us beat drug-resistant viruses
Superbugs is the name given to the strains of bacteria that are nowadays resistant or immune to most of the antibiotics. They can fight back the effects of the antibiotics, making their use equal to useless. However, there is a solution: natural antibiotics. Take a look here to see everything you Read More...
Smart exercise helps you age well and feel young. Here’s how to do it
Physical decline as the body ages is inevitable, something to be grumbled about, accepted and dealt with. That fundamental law has not changed, but the way we manage aging has. Getting older need not mean getting weaker, at least not until the end is truly near. Just look at athletes like Roger Read More...
Three-minute brain stimulation found effective for hard-to-treat depression
A new study finds that a three-minute version of a brain stimulation treatment is just as effective as the standard 37-minute version for Read More...
How traditional health claims about India’s ayurvedic foods make big business
In India, you can buy saffron that is “useful in asthma, indigestion, body pain, fever, dry skin diseases and pregnancy”, ghee that increases “memory power”, intellect and digestion, and lemon pickle that “improves your immunity level and helps the human body develop resistance against Read More...