Everyone’s tummy hurts right now. Or so it seems. Big parts of the U.S. are getting hit with cyclosporiasis, an intestinal illness that can cause severe discomfort and dehydration. The tricky thing? It’s not clear what’s causing the outbreak — but folks have an idea. In the past, outbreaks have been tied to basil, raspberries, cilantro, snow peas, and lettuce. So, until a cause is nailed down, be sure to wash food thoroughly and cook food to 158 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.
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Nutrition
Should You Really Wait 30 Minutes to Swim After Eating?
Adolfo Felix/Unsplash
You Should Know: “Wait 30 minutes after eating before swimming.” That’s the classic pool rule from childhood, with the implication that if you go swimming too soon after eating that hot dog, you could get a cramp and perhaps even drown. Although that rule has stuck around for generations, the science doesn’t really support it.
Going Deeper: The theory behind the advice is that all that blood rushing to your stomach to help digest food could leave your arms and legs short on oxygen mid-swim. A small study testing this directly had swimmers either jump in right after lunch or wait 30 minutes first, and no one drowned or needed rescue. However, some people did report more discomfort when swimming right after eating, but the body apparently still had plenty of oxygen to support digestion and fuel muscles simultaneously.
Takeaway: While there’s a real risk of discomfort when swimming too soon after eating, the fear of drowning doesn’t hold up. And no major safety organization currently tells people to wait before swimming.
Bottom Line: Go ahead and swim after lunch without setting a timer if the water is calling your name.
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Sponsored
Here’s How to Sleep Cooler This Summer
Courtesy: Miracle Made
The hard part about sleeping in summer isn’t always the heat outside. It’s the heat trapped between you and your sheets.
Miracle Made Sheets use breathable, silver-infused fibers designed to help regulate temperature, so your bed feels cooler and less stuffy through the night. The silver also helps prevent up to 99.7% of bacteria growth, which may mean fewer lingering odors and a fresher-feeling bed between washes.
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Cognitive Health
Mental Health Visits Are Rising — But That May Be Good News
Midjourney
The Trend: Mental health visits, especially among young people, have risen sharply over the past decade — but that isn’t necessarily bad news. From 2010 to 2024, healthcare visits for symptoms of depression and anxiety increased by 66% among girls and women and 54% among boys and men, according to a new Norwegian study. Researchers say this uptick may reflect that more people are seeking help earlier and more often, rather than a true rise in mental illness.
What People Are Saying: The researchers included more than 3.7 million people and separated their medical coding into symptom codes and diagnosable disorder codes. Previous research has typically lumped them together. This helped the researchers glean more information about what was driving this increase: Visits for anxiety and depression symptoms rose by a lot, but formal diagnoses for anxiety didn’t increase significantly and stayed basically the same for depression.
What to Know: Rather than signifying a catastrophic decline in mental health, researchers say the findings show younger people have become more proactive about seeking help. They may also signal a shift over time in how physicians are coding mental health consultations, with doctors seemingly making a formal diagnosis less frequently, perhaps in an effort to reduce stigma of patients.
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Cognitive Health
Spending More Time Outside Could Reduce Dementia Risk
Giulia Squillace/Unsplash
Sun Rays: Spending time outside is linked to a multitude of health benefits: studies show that a single trip to the woods reduces cortisol levels for a week and that nature is a major mood-booster. New research bolsters the evidence supporting nature as a brain-health boon, showing that daylight exposure could be a key in dementia prevention.
The Study: Researchers analyzed data from 87,577 adults in the UK Biobank who wore wrist devices that continuously measured their daytime and nighttime light exposure. Participants were followed for a median of 8.1 years, during which 741 people developed dementia. Higher daytime light exposure was associated with a lower risk of dementia. Average daytime light levels above 1,000 lux (roughly equivalent to an overcast day outdoors) were associated with a 16% lower dementia risk, while spending more time in very bright light (at least 5,000 lux) was linked to even greater protection. Getting less than 42 minutes of bright daylight per day emerged as a stronger predictor of dementia than established risk factors.
The Takeaway: Increasing daytime exposure to natural light could become a simple, low-cost strategy to support cognitive health.
Keep in Mind: Because this was an observational study, it cannot prove that daylight directly prevents dementia. However, the findings support growing evidence that healthy circadian rhythms play an important role in brain health.
Creole-Style Red Jambalaya With Chicken, Sausage, and Shrimp Recipe
Courtesy: Serious Eats
Serves: 8 | Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
This New Orleans–style jambalaya is bursting with bold flavor, thanks to a rich combination of tomatoes, vegetables, and a medley of spices. Sausage, chicken, and shrimp simmer in a savory stew of crushed tomatoes, thyme, oregano, cayenne, and garlic powder before everything is combined with rice, which soaks up those aromatic and comforting tomato flavors. Baking the dish in the oven prevents the rice from burning — making this flavor-packed one-pot dish even easier to pull off.
This: Take one slow breath before reacting Not That: Letting every notification run your nervous system
A stressful message can make your body respond before your brain catches up. Before replying, take one slow breath. It won’t solve the problem, but it can create just enough space to answer instead of react.
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HEALTHY HABIT
Take the Slightly Harder Route
Park farther away. Take the stairs. Carry the basket instead of pushing the cart. Get off one stop early. These tiny bits of “incidental movement” don’t feel like exercise, but they add up — especially on days when a real workout isn’t happening.
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Final Thought
The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion.”
