Restoring balance and harmony: A paradigm shift
If we were to describe the underlying message that we seek to express at the Optimist Daily it would be that we live in a “we-world” not in a “me-world." We recognize and respect the many challenges facing our society, yet too often “doom and gloom” stories are the only kind of news we Read More...
Study suggests that dying from a broken heart may actually be a thing
A new study has found that the feeling of grief can promote inflammation, which can have detrimental effects on people’s health. The researchers interviewed and took blood samples of 100 people who recently lost their spouses. Those in the top one-third of people who experienced exalted grief Read More...
Ending this subsidy will significantly increase health
A 2016 report found that sugary drinks are something rarely missing on the shopping lists of Americans who receive food stamps. According to the report, nearly 10 percent of the value of food stamps gets spent on soda. That’s more than $75 million worth of taxpayer money. This isn’t only a Read More...
How sunshine helps kill the germs in your home
Researchers in Oregon set up a study of dusty, dollhouse-size rooms to compare what happens in rooms exposed to daylight through regular glass and rooms kept in the dark. What they found was that the rooms exposed to daylight had fewer germs. In fact, the study showed that the lit rooms had about Read More...
How the UK is using postal workers to fix the problem of loneliness
Evidence is mounting that social isolation negatively impacts our health. In the UK, where loneliness has become a major issue, the government is launching a pilot program that will send postal workers door to door to see if people are feeling socially isolated. If so, the resident will get Read More...
The royal fern shown to be effective in treating head and neck cancers
Head and neck cancers account for only four percent of all cancer cases in the Read More...
New research points to way to stop Parkinson's neural degeneration
Parkinson's disease is characterized by progressive neural degeneration. Researchers in Spain may have found a way of stopping and even reversing this process. They have discovered a molecule that disrupts the degenerative Read More...
Train your eyes to see clearly without your glasses or contacts
Is it possible to train your eyes to see clearly without your glasses or contacts? By Elleke Bal From The Optimist Magazine Fall 2015 I almost put rice in my coffee maker. It feels very odd, going through my morning routine without my contact lenses. With a prescription of –3.0 in both Read More...
An Ode to Laughter
By Kristy Jansen Have you ever been in a situation brimming with tense anxiety that evaporates the instant one person makes a joke or self-deprecating comment and everyone chuckles together? That’s the magic of laughter. It eases tension and relaxes us - physiologically, psychologically and Read More...
Possibility: Scalpel, sutures, herbes de Provence
From The Intelligent Optimist Summer 2016 Students at the Tulane University School of Medicine are being trained to look not only to Big Pharma for med-ical solutions, but also to the farmers’ market. The Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at the New Orleans university is the first culinary Read More...