A 2025 study from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (on 85,000 predominantly Black and low-income participants) found that just 15 minutes of brisk walking daily were linked with a nearly 20% reduction in mortality. The positive effects of walking have been endlessly documented, but this research revealed that walking quickly delivers health benefits in a very short timeframe. Slow walking for more than three hours daily was…
The Life of Plastic: How Microplastics Contaminate Entire Ecosystems, Including the Food We Eat––The Guardian Microplastics have been found in the placentas of unborn babies, the summit of Everest and the organs of Antarctic penguins. But how do they travel through the world, and what do they do to the creatures that carry them? Since the 1950s, humans have produced in excess of 8.3 billion…
According to the most recent Gallup survey on wellbeing (based on their Life Evaluation Index interviews conducted in 142 countries), more people globally report that they are living better lives, while also becoming more hopeful about the future, significantly more than they have in years. In 2024, a median of 33% of adults across 142 countries rated their lives well enough to be…
How Wellness Policies Can Promote Responsible Tourism By Tonia Callender, GWI research fellow  Wellness in tourism extends beyond a destination’s wellness businesses and services. It also involves protecting the wellbeing of the tourism workforce and the surrounding communities. As global tourism recovers from the pandemic’s impact, many destinations are feeling the strain of overtourism which threatens residents’ wellbeing, bringing noise, congestion and rising costs, while…
The Path Toward a Metabolic Health Revolution–McKinsey report Their new report explores how the advent of GLP-1s has brought the treatment of obesity to the forefront of public attention. Nearly 900 million adults globally are living with obesity, a substantial risk factor for at least 20 diseases/conditions. The rise of GLP-1s is shifting the discussion of obesity from an intractable issue to a treatable medical…
Nightmares Linked to Rapid Biological Aging and Early Death A 2025 study from Imperial College London, analyzing 183,000 adults and 2,400 children, found that those who had bad dreams once a week or more had shorter telomeres, associated with faster cellular aging. They also found that those who experienced regular nightmares were three times more likely to die before the age of 70 compared with those who did not––concluding…
