Psychologists Confirm That a Canceled Meeting Is Good for You
Cognitive Health 
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Every day we publish stories that cut through the noise with expert insights, science-backed advice, recipes, and thoughtful tips for living well. These are the ones we think you should read.
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What Does ‘Cortisol Belly’ Actually Look Like, and What Can You Do About It?
Hormonal Health 
How to Declutter Your Kitchen: 9 Things to Toss Today
Your kitchen collects clutter faster than any room in the house. Here are the 9 things to toss today — from expired spices to cracked containers — and simple tests to figure out what's actually worth keeping.
Nutrition 
Why Does Hair Turn Gray as We Age?
You Should Know: Ever wondered why hair eventually turns gray? Well, it comes down to melanin — or the eventual lack of it. Every strand of hair gets its color from this natural pigment made in your hair follicles. Your hair moves through growth cycles that last years, and follicles pump out fresh melanin at the start of each one. After somewhere between seven and 15 of these cycles, melanin production stops for good, and then new white or gray hair grows in without pigment. Going Deeper: Genetics determines much of the timeline for all this. If your parents grayed early, then you probably will too. Stress also plays a role because when your body goes into fight-or-flight mode, it releases norepinephrine, which pushes melanin-producing cells out of the follicle. Certain medications and vitamin deficiencies can also speed the process along. Takeaway: There’s no medical treatment that reliably restores color once it’s gone, though managing stress might slow the process. Hair dye remains the main option if any gray strands are bothering you. Bottom Line: When and if you go gray comes down to biology and time, so it’s mostly outside your control.
Beauty 
Natural Mood Boosters: 8 Simple Ways to Feel Better
Cognitive Health 
The 5-Minute Core Workout You’ll Actually Stick To
A 5-minute core workout sounds too short to matter, but done consistently, it builds real core strength and endurance — no equipment needed. Here's the science behind short workouts, plus a simple five-move bodyweight routine you can start today.
Fitness 
Why Do I Wake Up Groggy? The REM and Deep Sleep Connection
You logged a full eight hours and still feel foggy. If you've wondered why you wake up groggy, the answer is usually about sleep quality, not quantity — here's what's going on and how to fix it.
Sleep
Fitness
Nutrition
Sleep
Exercise Appears to Rewind the Clock on Muscle Aging
Hit Rewind: Muscle loss and muscle weakening are major concerns in older adults, but we have the power to slow — or even reverse — muscle aging. New research suggests exercise can reverse some of the cellular changes associated with muscle aging. The Study: Researchers wanted to understand why muscles lose strength and function with age, and how exercise might counteract that process. They identified a protein called DEAF1 that becomes more active in aging muscle. When that happens, it disrupts a cellular system called mTORC1, which helps muscles manage the production and recycling of proteins. That disruption can contribute to the buildup of damaged proteins and other signs of muscle aging. Exercise also appeared to activate another pathway, called FOXO, which suppressed DEAF1 and helped restore healthier muscle function. When researchers blocked this pathway, many of exercise’s beneficial effects disappeared. The Takeaway: More than just making muscles stronger, exercise may reverse some of the underlying cellular changes that occur as muscles age. Keep in Mind: This research doesn’t prove that exercise literally makes human muscles biologically young again. The study focused on the cellular mechanisms behind muscle aging, and more research is needed to determine how these findings translate […]
Fitness 
Here’s the Five-Minute Fix for Too Much Sitting
I Like To Move It Move It: If your job (or your doom-scrolling) keeps you in a chair for hours on end, this one’s relevant to you. Yes, it’s become patently clear that sitting too much isn’t great, but new research from Columbia University Irving Medical Center gets super specific about how much, exactly, is too much. The study concluded that sitting for more than 30 minutes straight is linked to a higher risk of dying from cancer, based on data from over 91,000 people tracked for about 12 years. How To Do It: Five minutes of walking every 30 minutes of sitting made the biggest difference in offsetting the downsides of being sedentary. That could look like a walk around the block or a few laps up and down the hallway. Shorter breaks helped some too, just not as much. The Benefits: In the Columbia study, the habit lowered blood pressure and blood sugar, cutting post-meal spikes by 58 percent compared to sitting all day. The results of a larger UK Biobank study supported this, finding that replacing sitting time with light activity, such as walking or housework, was associated with a lower risk of cancer death.
Fitness The 5-Minute Core Workout You’ll Actually Stick To
A 5-minute core workout sounds too short to matter, but done consistently, it builds real core strength and endurance — no equipment needed. Here's the science behind short workouts, plus a simple five-move bodyweight routine you can start today.
Fitness 
A Gentle Postpartum Core Workout for Rebuilding a Strong, Stable Center
A postpartum core workout can help rebuild strength, stability, and function after pregnancy when approached gradually. Learn when it's safe to start, why deep core and pelvic floor exercises matter, and six expert-backed moves that support recovery while helping reduce back pain, diastasis recti, and other common postpartum symptoms.
Fitness 
Does Eating Celery Actually Burn Calories?
You Should Know: Maybe you’ve heard the claim that celery has a magical quality we all wish other foods had. The common wisdom is that eating it burns more calories than it contains, earning it “negative calorie” status. But is that true? A 2013 study in the Proceedings of the Nutrition Society put that theory to the test. Going Deeper: Researchers had women eat 100 grams of celery (16 calories) and then tracked their energy expenditure for three hours. Digesting it burned 13.76 calories, close to the total but not quite over it, so celery didn’t create a negative energy balance in the end. Still, digestion used up 86% of what the celery provided. And there’s no solid evidence that other foods, like cucumbers or lettuce, can produce a true negative-calorie effect, since digestion uses only a small portion of the calories in a food. Takeaway: You won’t necessarily generate a calorie deficit from eating celery, but it adds fiber and volume to a meal without piling on calories. Bottom Line: Celery remains a nutritious snack that’s low in calories and high in fiber, but its “negative calorie” status doesn’t stand up to rigorous testing.
Nutrition 
This Eating Pattern May Drive Weight Gain
Eat Up: There are tons of studies exploring the efficacy of various diets for weight loss, from keto to intermittent fasting. However, a new meta-analysis is getting more specific about diets that help you gain weight, including an inflammatory diet, which hinges on your overall eating pattern and how it raises or lowers inflammatory markers in your body. The Study: Researchers pooled data from 22 studies to test this idea, using a tool called the Dietary Inflammatory Index, which scores diets based on 45 nutrients and food groups. Ultra-processed foods, refined carbs, and red meat tend to be more inflammatory, while vegetables and whole grains are on the opposite end of the spectrum. People eating the most pro-inflammatory diets had significantly higher odds of being overweight or obese, and three long-term studies found the same pattern held up over time, with one showing a 32% higher risk of becoming overweight or obese. The Takeaway: Adding fiber-rich foods like beans or berries to the meals you already eat can help move your score in the right direction. Keep in Mind: The chicken-and-egg question is still in play here, as it’s not clear yet whether inflammation causes weight gain or vice versa.
Nutrition 
The “Detox” Trend Doctors Don’t Recommend
The Trend: It’s safe to say that when most people consume coffee, they’re doing so through their mouths. But some are putting coffee, well, elsewhere. Coffee enemas have recently grown in popularity, but they’ve actually been used for therapeutic benefits since the early 1900s. (Yes, really.) People do them to “detox,” alleviate constipation, and improve gut health — often as part of a suite of alternative wellness practices — but the practice is controversial. What People Are Saying: Coffee enemas are typically self-administered by first filling up an enema bag with brewed caffeinated coffee (cooled first, of course) and squirting the liquid in the business end of your digestive tract. Some say when administered this way, the compounds in coffee can “cleanse” the colon, detoxify the liver and digestive organs, boost the immune system, get rid of constipation, and stimulate production of the antioxidant glutathione. Perhaps the wildest claim is that coffee enemas can fight cancer. What to Know: Sharing anecdotes on Reddit and social media, coffee enema fans say they feel better afterward, while others caution the practice can become addictive. Unsurprisingly, mainstream gastroenterologists and oncologists are not on board. There’s no scientific evidence coffee enemas work, and they […]
Nutrition 
The Best Foods for Lung Health, According to Research
Smoking and exercise get all the attention, but your diet belongs in the lung conversation too. Here's what the research says about the best foods for lung health — and why fruit leads the list.
Nutrition 
What Cannabis Really Does to Your Sleep
THC gummies can help you drift off faster, but sleep experts warn that regular cannabis use suppresses REM sleep, builds tolerance, and may leave you more tired than when you started. Here's what the research says about cannabis as a sleep aid — and what actually works better long-term.
Sleep 
Just 78 Minutes Less Sleep a Night Could Lead to Weight Gain
Tip the Scales: Good sleep is essential for keeping nearly every system in our body working properly, including our hormones, brain, and heart. Need more incentive to catch more zzz’s? A new study has found that losing even a modest amount of sleep could contribute to weight gain. The Study: Researchers studied 95 people who were already at risk for heart or metabolic disease and normally slept between seven and eight hours a night. Each participant experienced two different sleep conditions over a six-week period. During the “adequate sleep” window, they slept their normal seven hours or more. During “sleep restriction,” they went to bed 1.5 hours later than normal, losing 90 minutes of sleep time. Participants wore wrist trackers to monitor sleep and activity levels. Their hormones, BMI, body composition, and waist circumference were measured multiple times. The Takeaway: Participants who slept an average of 78 minutes less per night gained nearly one pound of weight compared to when they got adequate sleep. They also gained an average of a half-centimeter around their waist and had 17 more minutes a day of sedentary time. Keep in Mind: Because the study was small and lasted only six weeks, it can’t […]
Sleep Why Do I Wake Up Groggy? The REM and Deep Sleep Connection
You logged a full eight hours and still feel foggy. If you've wondered why you wake up groggy, the answer is usually about sleep quality, not quantity — here's what's going on and how to fix it.
Sleep 
Why Do We Sleep Worse in the Summer?
You Should Know: Summer may feel like a time to rest and recharge, but when days stay lighter for hours longer and sweltering nights make it hard to get comfortable, our sleep often suffers. Going Deeper: We may sleep less in the summer because of vacations or extra socializing, and bedtimes and wake times get later when days are longer and warmer. The extra summer sunlight affects our circadian rhythm, which regulates the sleep/wake cycle. Darkness and a drop in body temperature helps trigger melatonin production and induce sleep — both of which can be hard to come by in summertime. Takeaway: You might need to do a little more in the summer to sleep better. Keep blinds or curtains open to get as much sunlight as possible during the day, and dim the lights an hour or two before bed to signal to your body that it’s time to sleep. Keep your bedroom cool and take a warm bath or shower before bed to help trigger the needed drop in core body temperature. A consistent sleep schedule, even on weekends and on vacation, can also help you sleep more soundly during the summer months. Bottom Line: Simple steps you […]
Sleep
Mindfulness
Beauty
Personal Growth
Why Smoking Is Making a Comeback Among Gen Z
The Trend: What goes around comes around when it comes to trends and fashion, and it appears we’ve reached the “come around” moment for one that was seemingly gone forever: smoking. Cigarettes are making a comeback, particularly among young Gen Z adults. The resurgence can be attributed to multiple elements: more images of celebs smoking on social media and on the screen, the wave of ’80s and ’90s nostalgia and desire for anything analog, a need for stress relief, and a dose of nihilism and rebellion. What People Are Saying: Public attitude toward smoking also appears to have softened. In November, more than 2,000 New Yorkers smoked cigs together in Central Park for a planned communal “five-minute group smoke.” On social media, people lament the loss of the smoke break, which allowed you to go outside, unwind for a few minutes, and bond with other smokers. What to Know: Anti-smoking campaigns have waned in recent years, so Gen Z hasn’t been as inundated with this messaging like older generations were. It might be recently back in style and have a “good old days” nostalgic vibe, but smoking is still dangerous and still causes cancer and death.
Mindfulness 
That Strange Feeling of Déjà Vu — Explained
You Should Know: Most of us have felt it: that weird, spooky “I swear I’ve been in this exact moment before” experience of déjà vu. It can feel freaky, but it usually only lasts for a few seconds. We might chalk it up to one of life’s mysteries or a glitch in the matrix, but there is an explanation for why and how it happens. Going Deeper: The term “déjà vu” translates to “already seen” in French. Scientists think déjà vu happens from a moment of miscommunication between the brain’s hippocampus, which processes new information, and the temporal lobe, which forms and stores memories. This can cause the brain to falsely register a new situation as a memory, especially if it happens in a familiar place. Takeaway: People with certain neurological conditions, including anxiety and schizophrenia, can experience déjà vu more often. It’s more likely to happen when we’re stressed or tired, and it’s more common in people who are highly educated, travel a lot, and often remember their dreams (though it’s not clear why). Bottom Line: Déjà vu feels unsettling, but it’s incredibly common (97% of people have experienced it) and rarely means something is wrong with our brain.
Mindfulness 
Why Gen Z Is Taking the Plunge
Mindfulness 
Been Outside? Here’s How to Check Yourself for Ticks
Summer of Ticks: Tick season is worse than usual this year. Not only are there more ticks in more areas, but tick bites are sending more people to the ER. The Benefits: A proper tick check only takes a few minutes and is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of tick-borne illnesses after spending time outdoors. How to Do It: As soon as you get home from hiking, gardening, or walking through wooded areas, tall grass, or brush, take a shower to wash away any un-embedded ticks. Then, carefully examine your entire body. Pay close attention to your scalp and hairline, behind your ears, under your arms, around your waist, inside your belly button, in your groin area, between your legs, behind your knees, between your toes, and around your ankles. If possible, ask someone to help check areas that are difficult to view, such as your back and scalp. Also inspect your clothing, shoes, backpacks, and other gear, as ticks can cling to fabrics and later make their way onto your skin. Place your clothes in a hot dryer for about 10 minutes, or longer if they’re damp, to help kill any ticks that may still […]
Beauty 
Do Beards Really Harbor More Germs Than Bare Skin?
You Should Know: Depending on your preference, beards fall into either a “love them” or “leave them” category. Either way, there’s a common perception that beards are less hygienic than a clean-shaven face. But is that really true? Going Deeper: Beards can create a particularly hospitable environment for bacteria to thrive, as moisture, oils, and food particles tend to linger longer in beards than on bare skin. Hair also holds in warmth, which helps bacteria grow. Some studies have found more bacteria in beards than on toilet seats and in dog fur. Other research has refuted this, finding no more bacteria in beards than elsewhere. While beards may carry certain infections, including impetigo, other research found masked surgeons with beards were no more likely to transmit infections than non-bearded ones. Takeaway: Everything has bacteria in or on it, including our skin and hair — some naturally present and some introduced when we eat, drink, and touch our face or hair with our fingers. Experts say as long as beards are kept clean, there’s no real danger. Bottom Line: Beards aren’t inherently unhygienic — they just need regular care. Washing your beard and the skin underneath helps remove buildup, while trimming […]
Beauty 
How To Repel Mosquitoes Naturally
Beauty 
9 Things You Do Every Day That Weaken Your Immunity
The things that weaken your immune system are more ordinary than you'd guess — and most are easy to fix. Here are nine everyday habits worth a second look, plus how to shore up the basics.
Personal Growth 
Can Better Breathing Lead to Better Decisions?
Take a Breath: We’re supposed to listen to our gut when faced with a tricky decision, but that advice perhaps should be tweaked to “listen to our breath.” Breathwork can help us calm down, manage stress, and regulate our nervous systems. Research shows that certain breathwork patterns may also help us make better decisions. How to Do It: Researchers presented participants with a risky financial decision: a 50/50 gamble in which they could either win or lose money. How they breathed affected the decision they made, with blood flow to their brains measured by a functional MRI. Those who did a slow long-exhalation breathing pattern — a two-second inhale followed by an eight-second exhale, repeated several times — found the potential rewards were amplified. Why It Works: Long exhalation slows the heart rate and stimulates the vagus nerve to activate the calming parasympathetic “rest and digest” nervous system. It helps the brain become attuned to the opportunities of an action instead of its potential downsides. Repeating this practice for several minutes before making a big decision, taking a step that makes you nervous, or having a difficult conversation can help you focus on what could go right instead of what […]
Personal Growth 
Can AI Improve Your Love Life?
Personal Growth