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.
Better sleep may be the key to treating depression, anxiety and schizophrenia
We are only beginning to unravel the genetic and biochemical basis of mental illness—a vague term including conditions as diverse as anxiety, depression, and mood and psychotic disorders. With millions of people suffering from such conditions, it is crucial that we find ways to improve Read More...
How mindfulness meditation can transform health care
The cost and access to health care has been a controversial issue for as long as I can remember. While it is debatable whether recent legislation has fixed the problem, statistics show that the rise in health care cost has outpaced the rate of inflation for 9 of the last 10 years. And if this trend Read More...
For a sustainable lunch, here's how to grow edible insects at home
There are a lot of good reasons to start eating insects. First of all, they provide us with necessary nutrients: adult locusts, mealworms and grasshoppers have comparable levels of protein to raw beef. Secondly, insects release fewer greenhouse gases than traditional livestock. Did you know that Read More...
The health benefits of meditation
Meditation has long been used to induce calm and physical relaxation. But research on its potential uses for treating medical problems “is still in its very early stages,” and designing trials can be challenging, said Richard J. Davidson, a neuroscientist who founded the Center for Read More...
Prebiotics could help prevent food allergies in the future
Scientists at a French medical research institute have demonstrated in mice that prebiotics reduced the risk of allergy to wheat by improving the immune system's tolerance to allergens. Having previously looked into probiotics, scientists at France's INSERM research institute are now conducting Read More...
Tai Chi found to be as effective as physical therapy for knee osteoarthritis
Both Tai Chi and physical therapy positively impact pain, function and other symptoms of knee osteoarthritis -- making Tai Chi a viable treatment alternative for people suffering with the degenerative disease, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Read More...
Sierra Leone declared free of Ebola transmissions
The World Health Organization declared Sierra Leone free from Ebola transmissions on Saturday, as West Africa battles to stamp out the deadly virus that is holding on in neighboring Guinea. Nearly 4,000 people have died in Sierra Leone of Ebola since the outbreak began in late 2013. The Read More...
Food companies replace synthetic colors with plant-based colorings
Artificial colorings, widely used in packaged food, are increasingly being replaced by natural colorings. Spurred by a 2007 study in The Lancet linking synthetic colors with hyperactivity in children, food companies are learning to work with plant-based colors, derived from a variety of fruits Read More...
Vitamin D pill a day may improve exercise performance and lower risk of heart disease
Taking vitamin D supplements can improve exercise performance and lower the risk of heart disease, according to the findings of a preliminary study presented today at the Society for Endocrinology annual conference in Edinburgh. Vitamin D, which is both a vitamin and a hormone, helps control levels Read More...
6 surprising health benefits of hemp seeds
Among the many benefits of the legalization of marijuana would be eliminating any lingering confusion about the legality of its close relation (read, basically the same plant), hemp. While the possession of industrial hemp, also known by its botanical moniker, Cannabis sativa, has never been Read More...