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.
Meditation linked to lower stress among prison inmates
Prisoners who practice transcendental meditation twice a day may experience less stress and fewer mental health issues than fellow inmates who don't meditate, a small U.S. study suggests. Previous research has linked this type of meditation involving mantras and mindfulness to reduced stress in a Read More...
Quadriplegic man feels touch on robotic hand with brain implant
This could be the most touchy-feely robotic limb yet. For the first time, brain stimulation has made it possible for a paralysed person to experience the sensation of touch via a bionic hand. Robert Gaunt at the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and his team Read More...
Can probiotics replace antibiotics on the farm?
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, sales of antimicrobial medication approved for use in food-producing animals rose by 22 percent from 2009 through 2014. As the use of antibiotics on farm animals increases, physicians and health experts began to warn of the dangers Read More...
Vegan chefs show how to make even a carrot the centerpiece of a meal
V Street, the new cookbook by married chefs Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby, features recipes inspired by global street food. Jacoby says the right techniques can coax "amazing flavor" out of Read More...
Lots of people with chronic pain are turning to 'alternative' medicine
A lot of people are in pain. According to a government report released Wednesday, 54.5% of US adults live with a "musculoskeletal" pain disorder such a arthritis, lower back pain, sciatica, or other problems of the joints and muscles of the body. But that's not really new information. Here's what Read More...
This company helps eliminate food waste by selling leftovers for almost nothing
BuffetGo, a company designed to help eliminate waste by selling restaurant food before it’s thrown out, has launched in Los Angeles. The company purchases whatever food is left at a participating restaurant before it closes on that day; BuffetGo customers can then purchase Read More...
20 minutes of this simple breathing technique could lower your inflammation
Ever struggle to keep up with the heavy yoga breathing that everyone around you seems to do effortlessly? Well, it’s time to hone in your skills—in the name of gut health. According to a new study, pranayama—AKA the Ayurvedic breathing technique practiced in Read More...
Doing a stretch: how yoga is cutting stress in South African prisons
Raeez Safar sits in a grassy courtyard, his eyes closed as he lifts his hands to his face. The sleeves of his white top fall past his wrists, revealing a small, neat gang tattoo of the number “26”. Safar is one of more than 250 South African prisoners who regularly do yoga. He says it helps him Read More...
Why being optimistic is good for your health
Being hopeful and confident about the future or the successful outcome of something is actually unnatural to us human beings. Some research shows that people who are pessimistic are in fact more realistic. Evolutionarily, we were programmed to be pessimistic, to imagine the worst-case scenario, Read More...
Researchers restored a colony of microbes in the gut
Last month, Popular Science discussed the state of gut microbiome research and the often overgeneralized claims of many probiotics. As we concluded, the field is still in its infancy and one of the main challenges to creating effective prescription probiotics is that it’s extremely difficult Read More...