Today’s Solutions: July 17, 2026

Nutrition & Wellness

From learning about the health benefits of turmeric to staying up-to-date with the latest superfood trends, discover the best diet tips to improve your health.

Close-up of a finger covered in white bath salt granules with blue specks, against a blue background

Reducing microplastic exposure: the four habits we should all be prioritizing

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In 2025, researchers publishing in Nature Medicine found microplastics in human brain tissue at concentrations considerably higher than in the liver or kidneys. The year before, scientists at Columbia and Rutgers counted hundreds of thousands of nanoplastic Read More...

Old metal kettle beside a stacked steam pot on a campfire in a sandy outdoor area.

Africa secures $900 million in new clean cooking commitments

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Nearly one billion people across Africa cook over charcoal or firewood every day. $3.1 billion in commitments is what it’s going to take to change that, and the number keeps climbing. African countries secured $900 million in new financial commitments to Read More...

Hands cutting a mixed salad with a knife and fork on a square white plate.

5 French principles for eating that Americans would do well to borrow

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Think about the last time you ate lunch without also doing something else. Not at your desk, not in the car, not scrolling. Just sitting with food and letting it be the thing. For a lot of Americans, it’s hard to remember. For the French, it’s just Read More...

Woman with blond hair holds her head in distress, eyes closed, wearing a beige sweater in a teal chair setting

Illinois found a smarter way to close the menopause care gap

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton set up a series of financial wellness conversations with women around the state. She expected to hear about rent, wages, and the cost of groceries. What she kept hearing about was menopause: what it was doing to their work, Read More...

Amber glass essential oil bottle with dropper on a weathered wooden surface, with green leaves in the foreground.

Using eucalyptus oil to repel household pests: what the experts say

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM You might already have eucalyptus oil at home, maybe for the diffuser or a bundle you hang in the shower. It also happens to be something pests avoid. The scent is sharp and herbal, nothing like what rodents or crawling insects encounter in the wild, and that Read More...

Man in a white long-sleeve shirt applies facial cream from a jar near his eye in a bright bathroom with a tub and brick wall on the left

5 grooming habits every man should build into his routine

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Men’s grooming has always occupied a strange middle ground. Too much and you’re vain. Too little and people notice. For most men, the default settled around soap, a razor, and deodorant, and that was that. Dermatologists have been making the case for Read More...

London street lined with historic façades, with Big Ben in the distance and stone lions at the foreground monument.

Air pollution deaths in London fall 40 percent over five years

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Deaths linked to air pollution in London fell an estimated 40 percent between 2019 and 2024, according to a new Imperial College London study. That’s the good news. The more complicated part: the same research revised the original death estimates sharply Read More...

Bright sun in a golden orange sky with wispy clouds spreading warm light.

How heat domes form, intensify, and what they do to the body

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM More than 1,300 people die from extreme heat in the United States each year. The events behind the worst of those deaths usually share the same explanation: a heat dome, a ridge of high atmospheric pressure that parks itself over a region and won’t Read More...

Close-up of a mosquito perched on human skin, its long legs visible and proboscis near the skin surface.

The skin compound that makes some more delicious to mosquitoes than others

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Mosquitoes don’t pick targets randomly. They run a multi-stage sensory scan, and new research is beginning to explain what that scan detects and why it favors some people over others. “It’s not a misconception: mosquitoes are attracted to some people Read More...

Assorted tropical fruits on a dark wooden surface: pineapple, papaya half, dragon fruit, mango, passion fruit, and a red fruit (pomegranate) in a rustic display.

10 best anti-aging foods for skin health and longevity

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM You know the skincare aisle. You’ve stood there long enough to know that the options are overwhelming and the prices are humbling: serums, creams, collagen-boosting masks, each one promising the same thing in a slightly different bottle. A good topical Read More...