The nagging anxieties and uncertainty caused by fear of the pandemic and its second-round effects (on employment, incomes, social and political stability) are not going away. The psychological impact of the pandemic is becoming ever more apparent. According to a recent poll, more than 50% of American adults (more than 1 in 2!) assert that COVID-19 is taking a toll on their psychological wellbeing and…
Expert Q&A: Nicola Finley, MD–The Wellness Disconnect for Black Communities The GWI recently released a “Wellness in the Age of COVID-19” Q&A with Dr. Nicola Finley, who practices integrative medicine at Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Arizona, and who worked for a decade with economically disadvantaged Black and brown communities there. Dr. Finley discusses… How people of color have not felt sufficiently seen, heard or valued by the wellness industry—and how COVID-19…
A new study randomized obese men and women into three groups: those who ate an unrestricted amount of calories from 1–7 PM, those who ate unrestricted calories from 3–7 PM, and a control group that ate anything at any time of day. Both groups that practiced time-restricted fasting consumed, on average, 550 fewer calories each day and lost 3% of their body weight while seeing…
An important new article from the Atlantic asks: How is it, six months into a respiratory pandemic, that the world has done so little to reduce indoor airborne transmission? Why do we have so little guidance on how to improve the air we breathe? There are two key strategies to counter virus-laden aerosols indoors: 1) Dilute viral particles’ presence by exchanging air in the room…
The pandemic brings many positive domino effects. Habit formation will become an important part of the economic story of COVID-19. Four to five months is long enough to get into a new routine, and it is likely that WFH (working from home), outdoor exercise, more home cooking, and many other COVID-related types of behavior will persist beyond the direct pandemic period: habits once adopted tend…
A large new observational study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that meditating was associated with a 35% lower risk of high cholesterol, a 14% lower risk of high blood pressure, a 30% lower risk of diabetes, a 24% lower risk of stroke, and a 49% lower risk of coronary artery disease. ACCESS STUDY
