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.
India introduces a minister of… what?
Yoga is much more than stretching your body in an elegant studio. It’s an ancient way of living that includes meditation and health treatments. But who knows that? Exactly. Not many people outside India. That’s why the recently elected prime minister promised to include a “Minister of Yoga” Read More...
A new tribe: Endurance athletes over 60
Ultra-events, like ultra marathons, or deca-triathlons, aren’t a young person’s sport, but a fit person’s sport. If you’re unfamiliar with endurance races they’re pretty much grueling hyper-cardio races on steroids—like a 625-mile foot race or a 3,000-mile bike ride. While you might be Read More...
Device that detects disease
Wearable devices are getting popular for staying healthy, but to diagnose a real problem you still have to see a doctor. Researchers are creating a device called rHealth that is small, portable and can diagnose hundreds of ailments with one drop of blood. RHealth uses nanotechnology to quickly Read More...
Researchers discover another reason to avoid red meat
You may already have your own reasons why you cut back on red meat a long time ago. Maybe it was because you already knew it wasn’t doing much good in your body. Saturated fat has earned a bad reputation. New research now suggests that may not be the only reason why red meat is linked to heart Read More...
Apples could prevent obesity
The old adage “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, couldn’t be truer. Researchers have discovered that apples help restore gut bacteria in obese mice, a key to long-term health and an easy way to prevent chronic inflammation that can lead to type 2 diabetes and obesity. Interestingly, the Read More...
An apple a day might keep obesity at bay
People who are obese tend to have an irregular mix of bacteria in their colon, which can impair their ability to feel full after a meal and promotes chronic inflammation—eventually leading to type 2 diabetes and ‘metabolic syndrome.’ The health benefits of apples have been well documented, Read More...
Using dung beetles for food safety
Every few years there is an E. coli outbreak—many get sick and maybe one or two die. Most of these outbreaks have been traced to animal droppings on plants that occurred while they were still at the farm. Now researchers have come up with an idea to use dung beetles to minimize E. coli outbreaks. Read More...
Finally, an easy way to find out what’s in your food
So what’s in the food you eat? How much sugar is in that cookie? Which foods contain arsenic? The Environmental Working Group spent 3 years to create a database of 80,000 products with all their ingredients. Foods get a score of 1 through 10 (1 is the best) based on how well they perform in three Read More...
Cocoa could help reverse memory decline
Meditation is the only proven way to prevent dementia, but cocoa could actually reverse age-related memory loss. A study from Columbia University found that memory decline in adults happens in an isolated part of the brain. It just so happens that the part of the brain associated with memory loss Read More...
Daydreaming helps you think
Usually when we’re working on a difficult problem we try to keep our minds from running astray, but scientists have found the opposite might be true. When you daydream you activate an area of the brain called the “default network”, traditionally thought to impair mental performance, not Read More...