A new metareview published in the highly-respected JAMA Psychiatry reveals that even modest exercise (less than recommended by public health guidelines) can have a major impact on mental health. Just 2.5 hours a week of brisk walking was related to a 25% lower risk of depression–and the biggest benefits were seen when moving from none to some activity (rather than moving from moderate to high…
Psychedelics have shown promise in treating diverse mental health disorders, but exactly how they rewire the mind remains a mystery. A small 2022 study from Imperial College in London provides some answers. Patients with severe depression were given either psilocybin or a popular antidepressant (escitalopram). The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure brain activity pre-dose and three weeks after. The results were enlightening:…
A new study from Northwestern University found that sleeping in even the dimmest light for one night (such as leaving the TV on or exposure to streetlights through a window) significantly impaired cardiometabolic function: increasing nighttime heart rate and next-morning insulin resistance. The researchers concluded that even when your eyes are closed, your brain knows that lights are on, with dim light activating the sympathetic…
A recent metareview of studies from the Salk Institute found that eating your daily calories within a consistent window of 8-10 hours is a powerful strategy to prevent and manage chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. The study found that eating at random times messes with the synchrony of our internal circadian rhythms which makes us prone to a host of diseases—and that time-restricted…
A new University of Florida study found that meditation done at an intense level caused diverse positive changes in participants’ immune systems. The meditation experience studied was certainly intense: an 8-day retreat with 10-hour daily meditation sessions all conducted in silence. Those retreat participants saw robust activation of their immune systems, with positive changes in 220 immune-related genes–but without activating inflammatory signals. Access this study
A new study in JAMA revealed that for people with less-than-healthy hearts, mental stress beat out physical stress as a predictor of fatal and non-fatal heart attacks and deaths from cardiovascular disease. Patients underwent tests to see how their heart reacted to both physical and mental stress, and those who experienced ischemia (reduced blood flow to the heart muscles) as a reaction to mental stress were much…
