Every Wednesday, our entire office comes together, sits around a large conference room table, and breathes. I was initially a little skeptical — breathwork wasn’t something I had practiced before joining the All Healthy team — but it has quickly become one of my favorite parts of the week. It’s helped me slow down, relax, and find the kind of focus and motivation I need for the latter half of the week.
We’re now offering you, our readers, access to that very same practice with the Optimism 21-Day Breathwork Challenge. Led by the same expert who guides our office every Wednesday, the course is designed to help you build a more consistent way to reset and regulate your nervous system. Each session takes less than 10 minutes and includes guided instruction on the technique and the science behind what you’re doing.
Rise and Shine: Breakfast used to be pretty straightforward: You wake up, you eat, you start your day. As intermittent fasting became popular, eating that first meal later became more common. But new research has found those later breakfasts may affect longevity.
The Study: Researchers pulled data from 31,044 adults aged 40 and older in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), comparing participants’ meal times and health outcomes. Later mealtimes corresponded with a higher risk of all-cause mortality. Eating your first meal after noon had a 29% higher risk of all-cause mortality and an estimated 2.46 years shorter life expectancy compared to participants who ate breakfasts between 7 and 8 a.m. Eating after midnight was associated with a 27% higher risk of all-cause mortality and about 2.35 years shorter life expectancy compared to those who ate dinner between 7 and 8 p.m.
The Takeaway: Eating earlier appears to work better with the body’s internal clock, which regulates metabolism and hormones. Eating too late in the day may cause additional strain on the metabolism.
Keep in Mind: The study was observational and found only a correlation between meal times and mortality, not causation. And these findings don’t necessarily contradict research on intermittent fasting. Some studies suggest time-restricted eating can improve metabolic health, but when you eat matters just as much as how long you fast — with earlier eating windows often showing greater benefits than later ones. Researchers also haven’t established that intermittent fasting itself extends lifespan in humans.
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Nutrition
Scared of Cyclospora, People Are Turning to Local Produce
Jordan Gonzalez/Unsplash
The Trend: If you’ve noticed an uptick in traffic at your local farmers’ markets, you’re in good company. While sales of prepackaged salads have plummeted by 27% in response to the Cyclospora outbreak, small grocers like Oliver’s Produce, a family-owned farm in upstate New York, are experiencing sudden surges in demand for lettuce and other leafy greens — in the case of Oliver’s, demand has more than doubled.
What People Are Saying: Broadly, people are frightened. Reuters reports that foot traffic at Taco Bell, which was linked to the cyclosporiasis outbreak, has fallen by more than 20% since mid-July. Panera Bread, Chopt, and Chipotle have also suffered significant drops in foot traffic. The CEO of Little Leaf Farms, a lettuce grower in the eastern U.S., said “The consumer has been motivated by fear.”
What to Know: Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by the bacterium Cyclospora. People can get infected when they consume food or water contaminated with human feces containing the bacterium; it causes diarrhea and other symptoms of gastrointestinal upset. Foods linked to the outbreak have been recalled, but it’s apparent that shoppers still fear infection and are taking their dollars elsewhere.
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Beauty
Can One Bad Sunburn Really Increase Your Skin Cancer Risk?
Sara Canonici/Unsplash
You Should Know: It’s a pretty common summertime sight: kids’ lathered with sunscreen and donning sun hats and long-sleeve swim shirts at the beach. Parents may be mostly concerned with preventing the immediate pain and discomfort of a bad sunburn — but it may also have a long-term benefit. Research suggests even one bad sunburn in childhood and adolescence can increase your risk of skin cancer later in life.
Going Deeper: The damage from a severe sunburn goes far deeper than just redness on the skin’s surface. Dermatologists call bad sunburns — the ones that cause blistering and peeling skin — “life-changing sunburns.” That’s because they can cause extensive DNA damage and mutations, which accumulate over time and can lead to skin cancer. The risk of getting deadly melanoma as an adult more than doubles with five or more sunburns or even one severe childhood sunburn.
Takeaway: Adults and kids alike should protect their skin from UV rays, but children are more vulnerable to life-changing sunburns. They tend to spend more time outside, and their skin pigment–producing cells are biologically different from adult cells.
Bottom Line: Be vigilant with children’s sun protection; apply (and reapply) sunscreen regularly, dress them in protective clothing, and limit direct sun exposure during peak midday hours.
Grilling the peaches brings out their natural sweetness while adding a light smoky char, making them a perfect match for creamy burrata and salty prosciutto. A savory vinaigrette made with fish sauce, vinegar, olive oil, and chives gives the salad a subtle umami boost without overpowering the fruit. Quartering the peaches creates more surface area for caramelization and makes them easier to handle on the grill. It’s an elegant summer salad that balances sweet, salty, smoky, and creamy flavors.
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This, Not That
Dim the Lights
THIS
NOT THAT
Annie Spratt/Unsplash, Erik Mclean/Unsplash
This: Make bedtime less bright Not That: Blasting yourself with stadium lighting until 11 p.m.
Your body takes cues from light. In the evening, try dimming overhead lights, using lamps, or lowering screen brightness as bedtime gets closer. You don’t need to live by candlelight — just give your brain a hint that the day is winding down.
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HEALTHY HABIT
Make the First Five Minutes Phone-Free
Before your phone gets a vote in how the day begins, give yourself five minutes without it. Drink water, open the blinds, use the bathroom, stretch, feed the dog, or simply stand there like a human booting up. The internet will still be there. Your nervous system may appreciate not being tackled immediately.
