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Daily Edition • Monday, May 11

Your Gut Bacteria May Be Quietly Tweaking Your Mood

A scientist in a lab coat examines a sample under a microscope, surrounded by plants and flasks in a colorful setting.

Midjourney

Gut Reaction: Researchers have long suspected the trillions of microbes in our intestines play a part in mental health. A Harvard study points to one specific way that conversation might happen, and a surprising environmental contaminant is part of the chain.

The Study: Investigators at Harvard Medical School, in research published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, found that a common gut bacterium, Morganella morganii, can take diethanolamine (DEA) — a chemical found in many household and industrial products — and turn it into a fat-like molecule that closely mimics ones the body naturally makes inside its own cells. These imposters cause the immune system to release interleukin-6 (IL-6), an inflammatory molecule separately tied to major depressive disorder, which may suggest a link between gut microbes, environmental chemicals, immune system inflammation, and depression.

The Takeaway: This research opens the door to thinking about some depression as having gut-level origins, which could one day inspire new diagnostic tests or anti-inflammatory treatments.

Keep in Mind: This is early-stage research, and it does not yet prove DEA exposure causes depression in people. Plus, we are still far from a clinical test.

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Tired of Feeling Sluggish After a Night Out?

Courtesy: ZBiotics

Most people blame dehydration for the rough morning after a night out, but the real culprit is acetaldehyde — a toxic byproduct your body produces when it breaks down alcohol. Enter ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic. This genetically engineered probiotic designed by PhD scientists breaks down acetaldehyde in the gut.

Simply drink one bottle before your first alcoholic beverage, and it works while you’re enjoying your night. So no matter where the night takes you, you’ll feel your best the next morning. It’s the perfect companion for this graduation and wedding season. Right now, get 15% off your first purchase with code ALLHEALTHY.

See The Ingredients

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Personal Development

How Expecting the Worst Can Make You Sick

A blurred portrait of a person with long hair, conveying a sense of movement and emotion against a plain background.

Windah Limbai/Unsplash

You Should Know: Lauding the “power of positive thinking” is almost a cliché at this point. You might not know, however, that the flip side can be just as powerful. The “nocebo effect” occurs when negative expectations about a treatment lead to real negative outcomes, including side effects that the treatment itself isn’t actually causing.

Going Deeper: When you expect something bad to happen, your brain releases a hormone that can worsen both anxiety and pain sensitivity. In one study, patients receiving continuous pain medication reported a major increase in pain the moment they were told it stopped, even though it hadn't. Past treatment experiences (think starting a new medication after a previous one failed) can also prime your brain to expect the worst since it processes past experiences through regions tied directly to pain perception.

Takeaway: What a clinician says during treatment can also affect how your body responds. And people who tend to be more anxious or pessimistic appear more vulnerable to nocebo responses.

Bottom Line: Expecting to feel worse might actually make you feel worse in the long run.

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Sleep & Recovery

Here’s Why You Actually Should Wear Socks To Bed

A person pulls on a cozy beige sock while sitting on a bed, with soft sunlight illuminating the scene.

Andrej Lisakov/Unsplash

Sock It To Me: People often fall squarely into one of two camps with certain things: dogs or cats, coffee or tea, iPhone or Android, socks or no socks in bed. People who are firmly no-socks might eschew the practice because it feels too constricting, too hot, or too reminiscent of a child wearing footie pajamas. But the socks-to-bed fans might be onto something: a better night’s sleep.

How to Do It: It’s as simple as it sounds — keep those sleep slippers on when you tuck in for bed. Can’t stand the idea of keeping socks on? A warm shower or bath an hour or two before bed can do the same thing.

The Benefits: It sounds counterintuitive, but warming your body before bed can actually jumpstart a drop in your core body temperature — a necessity for falling asleep. Some research has indicated wearing socks to bed can not only help you fall asleep faster, but also stay asleep longer. Socks to bed may even help ward off hot flashes in menopausal women.

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Quick Picks

Work It Out — Doing this before therapy could boost your results.

Hydration Hack? — Do you really need electrolytes or is plain water enough?

The Natural Fix — Find out why men are talking about this prostate health supplement.*

Gut Punch — These 9 daily habits may be disrupting your gut health.

Keep the Peace — Can the “grey rock method” help defuse family drama?

^*Indicates a brand partnership

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This, Not That

Mid-Morning Sweet Tooth, Smarter

A small white bowl filled with chocolate-coated almonds next to a handful of raw almonds on a wooden board.

THIS

Three chocolate-drizzled croissants with powdered sugar, stacked on a wooden surface.

NOT THAT

Luna Hu/Unsplash, Gabriel Catite/Unsplash

This: Dark chocolate (70%+) + almonds
Not That: Chocolate pastry

Pastries are a fast hit of refined carbs and sugar that tend to spike and crash your energy. A couple squares of dark chocolate with a handful of almonds still scratches the sweet craving, but adds fat and a bit of protein to slow things down.

Bonus: you’ll likely feel satisfied with less — not halfway through a second croissant.

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What We're Cooking

Sheet-Pan Salmon and Kale

Baked salmon fillets topped with pomegranate seeds and garnished with leafy greens on a baking tray.

Courtesy: Serious Eats

Serves: 4 | Cook Time: 45 minutes

This sheet-pan recipe uses the “ring of fire” technique — kale spread around the edges catches the oven’s fiercest heat and turns extra crispy, while the salmon in the center cooks evenly. Brush the fish with a glaze of maple syrup and pomegranate molasses that becomes rich, sticky, and sweet as it roasts. To finish, a bright gremolata of toasted walnuts, mint, oregano, and pomegranate seeds adds crunch, freshness, and another layer of pomegranate flavor — making this dish the perfect balance of hearty, crisp, and lightly sweet.

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How to Support Your Body After a Few Drinks

Don’t let a night out slow you down the next day. ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol is a genetically engineered probiotic that helps your body break down alcohol’s toxic byproduct so you can celebrate with a drink or two without feeling sluggish the next morning. Drink one bottle before your first alcoholic beverage and you’re ready to go. Use code ALLHEALTHY for 15% off.

Try ZBiotics

Thank you for supporting our sponsors! They help us keep All Healthy free.

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HEALTHY HABIT

The First Breath Check

Before responding to anything — message, email, comment — take one breath. It’s a simple buffer that can change tone, reduce reactivity, and improve how you show up.

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Final Thought

Lone tree atop a grassy hill under a blue sky with scattered clouds, surrounded by a field of wildflowers.

The present is the ever moving shadow that divides yesterday from tomorrow. In that lies hope.”

– Frank Lloyd Wright, The Living City

Filip Kvasnak/Unsplash