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Daily Edition • Tuesday, Sept 15
SPONSORED BY
Daily Edition • Tuesday, Sept 15
SPONSORED BY
Unless you have an injury, you probably don’t spend that much time thinking about your foot health. But strong feet are especially important for balance as we age and can help support long-term mobility. So how can you work out your feet? Toe spacers are one way to start. They might feel awkward at first, but research suggests they can help reduce foot pain and boost foot muscle strength. Slip them on during downtime and try simple exercises like calf raises or balance drills. If spacers feel like too big a leap, start by introducing barefoot walking or exercising into your routine. For more tips on how to improve foot strength, check out our full story here.
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Personal Growth
Night Owls May Have a Harder Time Leaving Work Behind
Andrej Lišakov/Unsplash
The Late Shift: Some people can’t help but rerun the day’s work meeting while making dinner, or reply to one more email after the dishes are done. So why do some people seem to have the enviable ability to clock out both physically and mentally? Well, it’s not necessarily because they have a better mindset or are less busy. A new analysis of more than 2,000 working adults in Finland found that night owls have a harder time leaving work behind.
The Study: Researchers asked adults ages 20 to 65 to rate themselves from morning person to full night owl, then asked whether work ate into their personal downtime. The more of a night owl someone was, the less likely they were to feel fully recovered before the next workday. Evening types also reported more anxiety and depression.
Keep in Mind: This study can’t prove being a night owl causes anxiety, since it’s observational and based on self-reports. Still, the tie between recovery and overworking held up across all the chronotypes.
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Sponsored
How Massage Chairs Turn Recovery Time Into Real Wellness Gains
Courtesy: Johnson Fitness
If your body feels tight from long workdays or tough workouts, you are not imagining it. Many of us treat recovery as optional, even though consistent deep relaxation can be just as important as exercise.
Quality massage chairs can help loosen muscles, calm your nervous system, and support better sleep at home. The key is finding one that fits your space, habits, and budget.
That is where Johnson Fitness & Wellness comes in, with wellness experts who help you test and compare premium massage chairs in person so you can choose the right fit for your home.
Thank you for supporting our sponsors! They help us keep All Healthy free.
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Fitness
Why Yoga’s Having a Rough Stretch in Fitness
David Whipple/Unsplash
The Trend: Trends often follow what’s in, but this one is about what’s out: Yoga. Lots of people are still practicing yoga, but it doesn’t quite have the stranglehold on the wellness and fitness worlds as it once had. So what’s the reason for yoga’s decline in popularity?
What People Are Saying: Boutique fitness studios were growing leading up to 2020, but the COVID pandemic was not kind to them. Studios rely on consistently full classes to make money, and many yoga studios never recovered after the lockdown. More recently, there’s been a shift toward team sports and “tougher” workouts, including HYROX, marathon and trail running, and strength training. Pilates has also nibbled away at yoga’s market share, with Pilates participation up by about 11% and yoga’s growth staying flat. In fact, fitness booking sites ClassPass and Mindbody both reported that more yoga studios are adding Pilates classes and reducing yoga classes.
What to Know: The fitness landscape is always changing, and yoga simply might not be the hottest workout trend of the moment. But the shift away from yoga may also reflect a growing focus on “fitness-maxxing,” and physical optimization, as “the cultural ideal seems to have shifted from inner peace to outward perfection,” writer Rheana Murray posited in a recent Atlantic article.
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Cognitive Health
Could Inflammation Be the Cause of Your Bad Mood?
All Healthy Design Studio
You Should Know: Your immune system and your brain are more connected than you might think. Inflammation — the immune system’s response to injury, infection, or other threats — can influence the brain through signaling molecules called cytokines. Research has linkedhigher levels of inflammatory markers with greater risk of anxiety and other psychiatric conditions.
Going Deeper: One theory is that inflammatory signals can alter the brain’s chemistry and circuitry. Certain cytokines can influence neurotransmitter systems, including serotonin and dopamine, while also affecting the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which helps regulate the body’s stress response. These changes could contribute to symptoms such as low mood, fatigue, disrupted sleep, and reduced motivation. But the biology is complicated: inflammatory markers vary considerably between people, as does the trigger for inflammation in the first place.
Takeaway: Inflammation is one piece of the very complicated puzzle that is mental health. Known factors, like sleep, stress, physical activity, diet, genetics, and life experiences all play roles, too.
Bottom Line: The inflammation-mental health connection is real and intriguing, but it’s not yet a reason to reach for anti-inflammatory drugs for the purpose of improving mental health. For now, focus on proven mental-health care and the everyday habits that support both immune and brain health.
This simple yet elevated chocolate mousse gets its sweetness from dates and its rich chocolate flavor from cacao powder. The dates also add fiber, while cacao contributes antioxidants, and pistachios provide protein, healthy fats, and a little crunch. Blend the dates, cacao, heavy cream, and vanilla until smooth and creamy, then top with pistachios. It’s an easy choice when you’re craving something chocolatey but don’t want to make a full baked dessert.
By clicking, you are agreeing to receive a daily recipe from Better Plates.
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This, Not That
Give Your Brain a Morning Buffer
THIS
NOT THAT
A.C./Unsplash, Evelyn Verdin/Unsplash
This: Start the day with one offline minute Not That: Letting notifications choose your mood
Before checking texts, email, or headlines, give yourself one minute without input. Drink water, open the blinds, breathe, or just stand there quietly. It’s not a full morning routine. It’s a small way to make sure the day starts with you, not everyone else.
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Sponsored
Is Your Kid’s Protein Shake Quietly Loaded With Sugar?
Here’s something you may not know: some “healthy” kids’ shakes can pack as much sugar as dessert, and very little kid-specific nutrition. Hiya worked with pediatric experts to create Kids Daily Growth + Protein, a clean, heavy-metal-tested blend with grass-fed whey, prebiotics, and healthy fats that is actually formulated for children ages 2 and up.
Thank you for supporting our sponsors! They help us keep All Healthy free.
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HEALTHY HABIT
Make Movement the Errand
Pick one nearby errand and do it on foot. Coffee, mail, groceries, the pharmacy, whatever is close enough to be realistic. It turns a basic task into easy movement and helps remind your body that not every trip needs to involve keys, parking, and sitting.
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Final Thought
We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
