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Many Americans today are willing to spend money on a good night’s sleep. Case in point: In 2023, the U.S. home-bedding market reached $25.7 billion,1 a sign of just how important bedtime comfort has become, and pillows play a big role in it. They’re easy to replace, and with specialty and luxury options costing $30 to $300,2 it’s no surprise that people try different types to see what helps them rest better.

But even seemingly harmless habits can have unintended consequences. When something as simple as a pillow starts affecting the body in ways most people never consider, it’s worth paying attention — especially for older adults who are keeping an “eye” on their health.

A Closer Look at Glaucoma

Glaucoma, often called a “silent thief,” is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide, affecting about 80 million people and rising3 with aging populations. Most people do not notice early changes because glaucoma usually develops without pain or overtly visible symptoms.

• How glaucoma starts — The disease progresses when fluid pressure rises inside the eye — a condition called ocular hypertension — and gradually crushes the delicate fibers of the optic nerve. Peripheral vision declines first, followed by central vision as glaucoma advances.

• Groups who face higher risk — The risk rises for individuals over age 40, especially those with Black or Hispanic heritage, and with a family history of glaucoma or ocular hypertension, diabetes, high blood pressure, myopia, prolonged steroid use, previous eye injuries or surgeries, and conditions such as pigment dispersion syndrome.

• Available treatment options — Aside from relieving pressure in the eye, treatment options include prescription eyedrops or oral medications, laser procedures, surgical drainage techniques, and supportive nutritional approaches. Regular eye exams are also important, because optic nerve damage cannot be reversed.

Can Sleeping with Fewer Pillows Be Good for Your Eyes?

A 2024 observational study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology4 examined how sleeping position affects intraocular pressure (IOP) and ocular blood flow in people with glaucoma.

Researchers followed 144 adults with various types of glaucoma and measured their intraocular pressure (IOP) every two hours over a 24-hour period while sitting, lying flat, and lying down with two pillows (also labeled as the high-pillow position) elevating the head by an angle between 20 and 35 degrees. The study evaluated changes in IOP, ocular perfusion pressure (OPP), which refers to the net blood pressure driving oxygen into the eye, and jugular vein blood flow to assess how pillow use influences nighttime eye health.5,6

• Stacked pillows significantly increased eye pressure — When participants slept with two pillows, average IOP rose from 16.62 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) to 17.42 mmHg, an increase of approximately 1.6 mmHg; 67% of patients experienced a measurable increase in pressure, and IOP fluctuations were greater during pillow use.

• Pillow use reduced blood flow to the eye — OPP dropped from 58.71 to 54.57 mmHg when participants used the high-pillow position. That means less fuel reaching the optic nerve precisely when nighttime repair should be happening.

Lower OPP indicates reduced delivery of oxygen and nutrients to eye tissues, which increases vulnerability to tissue damage from poor blood supply.

• Neck flexion from pillows impaired venous drainage — Imaging studies in 20 healthy volunteers showed that stacked pillows narrowed the jugular vein and altered blood flow dynamics. This suggests that neck bending compresses venous outflow pathways, thereby limiting drainage of aqueous humor — the clear fluid that nourishes the eye and maintains pressure balance — and venous blood from the eye, contributing to IOP elevation.

• Younger adults and primary open-angle glaucoma patients were most affected — Subgroup analysis revealed that younger participants and individuals with primary open-angle glaucoma experienced greater increases in IOP with pillow use. This indicates that certain patient populations may be more sensitive to postural changes during sleep.

• Sleep posture matters — For glaucoma patients, avoiding sleeping positions that flex the neck or compress the jugular veins may help reduce nighttime IOP spikes. While further research is needed, these findings suggest that modifying a simple nightly habit could support long-term eye health and serve as an easy, nondrug strategy for protecting the optic nerve.

• Findings are preliminary and require confirmation — As an observational study, causality cannot be completely established, and researchers recommend conducting more research on this topic.

“Traditional strategies of nocturnal IOP management are primarily limited to increasing the types and frequency of IOP-lowering medications or supplementary laser therapy. Given the well-documented influence of postural changes on IOP, positional modification emerges as a plausible strategy warranting further investigation,” the authors noted.7

The featured study shows that how you sleep matters — but additional research also suggests that how long you sleep, especially if you carry excess weight, may independently affect eye pressure.

Too Much Sleep or Extra Weight May Strain Your Eyes

A population-based study published in Medicine8 examined whether nightly sleep duration is associated with open-angle glaucoma (OAG) and whether body weight modifies this association. Researchers used data from Korea’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) and looked at 9,410 adults aged 40 and older who completed health interviews, medical testing, and comprehensive eye examinations.

The subjects were grouped based on their sleep duration: less than five hours, five to six, six to seven, seven to eight, eight to nine, and nine or more hours. The researchers also diagnosed OAG using international criteria focused on optic-nerve structure and visual-field loss.

• Short and long sleep were tied to higher glaucoma prevalence — The data showed a U-shaped pattern, meaning risk is higher at both extremes and lower in the middle. In plain terms, people sleeping less than five hours had the highest prevalence, followed by those sleeping nine or more hours. Adults in the seven-to-nine-hour range had the lowest prevalence.

• Overweight adults faced the strongest association — Among participants with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher, sleeping less than seven hours or nine or more hours significantly increased the odds of glaucoma compared to adults with a lower weight.

• Abdominal obesity followed the same U-shaped curve — In people with larger waistlines, glaucoma prevalence was highest among very short and very long sleepers, especially at nine or more hours. The pattern was not observed among participants without abdominal obesity, suggesting that central adiposity is a key amplifier of sleep-related eye risk.

• Melatonin disruption may be a key factor — The authors propose that abnormal sleep duration may reduce melatonin, a hormone that regulates circadian rhythms, protects retinal cells from oxidative stress, and has been shown to lower IOP. Reduced melatonin may impair optic nerve resilience, especially in metabolically vulnerable individuals.

• Long sleep may increase nighttime blood pressure drops — Extended sleep may worsen nocturnal hypotension, which has been linked to the progression of normal-tension glaucoma by reducing blood flow to the optic nerve during sleep.

• The results can be a wake-up call — Despite the study’s limitations, the authors acknowledged that self-awareness about your sleeping patterns may help mitigate your glaucoma risk. “These findings suggest that approaches specific to individual sleep patterns and body types may be helpful in the management of glaucoma,” they concluded.9

What You Should Know About Statins and Eye Health

Statins are widely prescribed for lowering cholesterol levels, and millions of adults take them daily to supposedly reduce cardiovascular risk. But emerging research suggests these medications have unintended effects on eye health, particularly when it comes to glaucoma.

• Statin use was linked to more glaucoma diagnoses — A 2024 study published in Ophthalmology Glaucoma analyzed health records from 79,742 adults age 40 and older with high cholesterol in the All of Us (AoU) Research Program. After accounting for age, sex, and medical factors, the researchers found that statin users had a 13% higher likelihood of having glaucoma than non-users.10

• The increased risk was most pronounced even when LDL cholesterol (“bad cholesterol”) was well-controlled — Statin users with optimal LDL levels (less than 100 milligrams per deciliter) had a 39% higher likelihood of glaucoma, while those with high LDL levels (160 to 189 mg/dL) had a 37% higher likelihood. This pattern suggests that the elevated glaucoma risk may stem from the statins themselves, not from poorly managed cholesterol.

• Age amplified the association — Adults aged 60 to 69 who used statins showed a 28% higher likelihood of glaucoma, indicating mid-to-late adulthood may be a particularly sensitive window for eye-related effects.

• What this may mean for patients — The findings suggest that statins, cholesterol levels, and age may interact in ways that influence glaucoma risk. While statins remain popular for managing cardiovascular health — a practice I don’t recommend due to its well-documented side effects — the study highlights the need for individualized monitoring, especially in older adults or those with additional glaucoma risk factors.

As concerns grow about medication-related eye effects, many people are exploring nondrug approaches to visual health, including relaxation-based methods and solutions that involve improving one’s nutrition.

The Bates Method for Better Eyesight Without Glasses

The Bates Method11 is one of the most enduring approaches to natural vision improvement. First introduced in 1919 by Dr. William H. Bates, an American ophthalmologist, the method was based on his belief that eye strain and not structural defects caused most vision problems.

Today, this method continues to attract interest from those exploring alternatives to glasses, especially among advocates of relaxation-based wellness. Many natural health teachers and vision coaches continue to adapt Bates’ ideas today. In fact, author Aldous Huxley famously credited the method with helping his vision.

• The method focuses on tension, not eye strength — Rather than treating blurry vision as a problem of weak muscles, the Bates Method encourages mental and physical relaxation to reduce chronic eye tension. Core practices aim to soften focus habits, restore natural eye movement, and build visual awareness without relying on corrective lenses.

• Palming is a foundational relaxation technique — One of the most well-known Bates practices, palming involves gently covering the closed eyes with the palms to block out light and encourage relaxation. Practitioners typically hold this position for a few minutes, allowing eye muscles and the nervous system to settle before returning to visual tasks.

• It’s often confused with vision therapy — The Bates Method emphasizes “eye exercises,” particularly eye movement and shifting focus, which superficially resemble techniques used in vision therapy. However, vision therapy is a clinically supervised, medically supervised approach used to treat conditions such as amblyopia (lazy eye) or convergence insufficiency.

• This method is still taught today through Bates Method International — Bates’ ideas carry on through organizations such as Bates Method International,12 which teaches relaxation-based techniques derived from his original work and from his book “The Bates Method for Better Eyesight Without Glasses.”

While controlled studies have not confirmed that the Bates Method can reverse myopia or astigmatism, many people report subjective improvements in visual comfort, reduced strain, and greater awareness of visual habits.

Using DMSO for Your Eyes

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is an “umbrella remedy” with a unique affinity for the eyes. It has been used to treat a range of visual disorders — even cases of vision loss where conventional therapies have failed. DMSO’s potent anti-inflammatory effects make it useful for difficult eye conditions like iridocyclitis13 and uveitis,14 while also breaking up adhesions (synechia) that worsen these issues.

• It may reduce IOP and protect the optic nerve — Glaucoma involves progressive optic nerve degeneration, commonly linked to elevated IOP, impaired fluid drainage — including within the cornea15 — or elevated intracranial pressure.

• It may work when eyedrops or surgeries don’t — DMSO can stabilize proteins and solubilize misfolded ones, allowing it to reduce pathologic deposits such as floaters and cataracts.

• DMSO is supported by animal studies — In rabbits, a DMSO-brinzolamide gel lowered IOP without toxicity.16 Another study found that DMSO alone was effective in lowering pressure as well.17

In their Substack page, “The Forgotten Side of Medicine,” A Midwestern Doctor shares numerous testimonies from patients who’ve benefitted from using DMSO,18 many of whom had reported eyesight improvements after using this compound.

“I am two months into using 99.9% pharmaceutical-grade DMSO for loss of vision due to glaucoma … I haven’t been able to read letters in over two years with that eye. This week, I can now begin to see specific letters and numbers on my computer and the television screen,” one patient reported.19

Note: DMSO needs to be used responsibly. Only 99.9% pharmaceutical-grade DMSO should be used near the eyes and always diluted to safe concentrations. Always consult a knowledgeable practitioner before beginning use.

Other Ways to Protect Your Vision

While conventional treatments like glasses and eyedrops remain essential in many cases, there are also simple, research-backed strategies you can start using today to further support your eye health. In addition to rethinking your pillow choices, also consider the following strategies:

1. Cut out harmful seed oils from your diet — Seed oils — soybean, canola, safflower, sunflower — are loaded with linoleic acid (LA), a polyunsaturated fat (PUF) that, in excess, can impair mitochondrial energy production. Since the optic nerve is one of the most energy-demanding tissues in the body, mitochondrial dysfunction there may accelerate damage.

You can lower your exposure by replacing seed oils with more stable, nourishing fats such as beef tallow, grass fed butter, coconut oil, or ghee. For optimal health, aim to keep daily LA intake below 5 grams, ideally closer to 2 grams. To easily track your intake, sign up for the Mercola Health Coach app when it becomes available. It includes the Seed Oil Sleuth feature, which helps monitor your LA consumption to a tenth of a gram.

2. Get enough safe sunlight — Early-morning sunlight helps your mitochondria generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the fuel every cell in your body depends on. Try to expose your skin and eyes to gentle morning light each day. Hold off on midday sun until you’ve removed seed oils from your diet for at least six months.

3. Recover with rest and routine — Your eyes manage stress, including pressure changes, more effectively when your daily routines are steady. Maintaining a regular sleep and meal schedule helps maintain circadian rhythm, which affects IOP stability and nighttime repair processes in the optic nerve.

In the evening, dim the lights after sunset and limit screen time. Gentle lighting prompts your body to relax, boosts melatonin production, and promotes better sleep quality.

4. Explore vision-friendly herbs — Bilberry and ginkgo biloba20 have both shown promise in supporting circulation to the eye, strengthening capillaries, and fighting oxidative stress.

5. Quit smoking — Cigarette smoke creates high levels of oxidative stress and damages retinal blood vessels. Smoking significantly increases your risk of developing cataracts, macular degeneration, optic nerve damage, and even heart disease. Quitting is one of the best things you can do for your eyes and your entire body.

6. Stay active — Avoiding prolonged sitting and adding regular activity improves circulation, flexibility, and metabolic health. Brisk walking, gentle cycling, or swimming at least three times per week can help support optic-nerve resilience and reduce glaucoma-related risk factors.21

7. Boost your melatonin levels — In addition to regulating sleep, this hormone is also involved in regulating eye pressure. In a small 1988 study,22 doses as low as 0.2 mg of melatonin reduced eye pressure for up to four hours. While this remains early evidence, it aligns with the broader finding that healthy melatonin rhythms support nighttime eye repair.

If you’re considering supplementation, discuss low-dose melatonin use with your eye care provider, as most commercially available supplements are formulated at higher doses for sleep support rather than eye-specific outcomes.

8. Take lutein and zeaxanthin — These carotenoids concentrate in the retina and lens, filtering harmful blue light and protecting against oxidative stress. They’ve been shown to reduce the risk of cataracts, macular degeneration, and glaucoma.23 Leafy greens, bell peppers, and pastured egg yolks are great sources.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Glaucoma Risk and Eye Health

Q: Why is glaucoma often called the “silent thief of sight”?
A: Glaucoma usually develops without pain or early visual symptoms. Optic nerve damage often progresses slowly, affecting peripheral vision first, which many people don’t notice until irreversible vision loss has already occurred.

Q: Can sleeping position really influence eye pressure?
A: Yes. A study in the British Journal of Ophthalmology found that sleeping with two pillows raised IOP and reduced blood flow to the eyes in people with glaucoma. Neck flexion may impair venous drainage, allowing pressure to build overnight.

Q: How does body weight affect glaucoma risk?
A: Excess body weight and abdominal obesity appear to amplify the effects of abnormal sleep on eye pressure and optic nerve stress. In overweight individuals, both short and long sleep durations were strongly linked to higher glaucoma prevalence.

Q: What role does melatonin play in eye pressure?
A: Melatonin helps regulate circadian rhythms and has been shown to lower IOP. Research indicates that small doses of melatonin can reduce eye pressure for several hours, while disrupted sleep or excessive light exposure may impair this protective effect.

Q: Can lifestyle changes really help protect vision?
A: Yes. Reducing seed oil intake, quitting smoking, getting regular exercise, supporting circadian rhythms with morning sunlight, and eating nutrient-dense foods rich in lutein all support optic nerve health and blood flow to the eyes.

1 Which option refers to live microbes that have been shown to support health?

Enzymes
Minerals
Prebiotics
Probiotics
Probiotics are live microorganisms that provide health benefits. They are found in fermented foods, though not all fermented foods contain probiotics. Learn more.

2 What protective compound decreases when a high-fat diet disrupts gut balance?

Digestive enzymes
Short-chain fatty acids
Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), especially butyrate, fuel colon cells and support immune function. High-fat diets can reduce these compounds, weakening the gut barrier. Learn more.

Electrolytes such as sodium
Fat-soluble vitamins

3 Which of the following factors significantly raise cancer risk in women?

Low sunlight and low protein
Stress and late-night eating
Infections and alcohol intake
Infections such as human papilloma virus (HPV) and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), along with alcohol intake, contribute significantly to cancer risk in women. Learn more.

High-carb diets and dehydration

4 What naturally stimulates your body to release the hormone GLP-1 after meals?

Natural sweeteners
Balanced gut bacteria
Healthy gut bacteria ferment dietary fiber, activating the intestine’s L-cells to release GLP-1. This natural process helps regulate appetite, blood sugar, and fat metabolism. Learn more.

High-fat meals
Skipping breakfast

5 What creates the quick mental boost from resistance exercise?

Reduced muscle tension
Bigger oxygen demands while running
Stronger appetite signals after squats
A rise in systolic blood pressure
A brief rise in systolic blood pressure boosts brain blood flow and helps the brain process information more efficiently. Learn more.

6 What’s the most widely prescribed type of anxiety medication today?

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac, Zoloft, and Lexapro are often used as first-line treatment for generalized anxiety disorder. Learn more.

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)

7 What percentage of the global population may have insulin resistance?

80%
Estimates presented in the documentary film Human OS: Health and Wellness in 2026 suggest insulin resistance may affect up to 80% of people worldwide. Learn more.

20%
5%
40%

Test Your Knowledge with
The Master Level Quiz

1 How do fermented foods help the gut defend itself against harmful microbes?

Higher pH levels make the intestines more neutral
Lower pH levels create an environment hostile to pathogens
Fermentation produces acids that lower gut pH, creating an environment where harmful microbes struggle to survive while beneficial species thrive. Learn more.

Complete removal of gut bacteria prevents any microbes from staying
Faster sugar absorption changes how the small intestine works

2 About how many people in the U.S. experience a stroke each year?

795,000
More than 795,000 Americans experience a stroke each year, making it a leading cause of long-term disability, particularly in older adults. Learn more.

520,000
610,000
430,000

3 How does fermentation improve the availability of nutrients in foods?

It removes all natural acids from food
It reduces the food’s calorie content
It makes vitamins easier for the body to absorb and use
Fermentation breaks food components into forms your body can absorb more easily, boosting the bioavailability of nutrients, such as vitamins C, B12, and K. Learn more.

It replaces nutrients with microbial byproducts

4 What percentage of daily calories from fats supports healthy hormone production?

10% to 15%
20% to 25%
45% to 55%
30% to 40%
Keeping fat at about 30% to 40% of daily calories supports hormone production and nutrient absorption while avoiding the metabolic strain caused by excessive fat intake. Learn more.

5 Which condition is characterized by episodes of mania alternating with periods of depression?

Panic disorder
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder involves mood swings between highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (bipolar depression). Depressive episodes may include persistent sadness, low motivation, slowed thinking, and brain fog. Learn more.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

6 Which of the following is a serious side effect of long-term stomach acid suppression?

Increased vitamin C levels
Elevated glaucoma risk
Reduced magnesium levels
Long-term stomach acid suppression can lower magnesium levels and impair nutrient absorption, while also raising the risk of fractures, infections, and other health complications. Learn more.

Higher oxygen levels

7 How does excess body fat raise your cancer risk?

It prevents vitamins from being absorbed properly in the gut
It releases inflammatory signals that support tumor growth
Fat tissue releases inflammatory chemicals and disrupts metabolic function, creating conditions that support tumor growth. Learn more.

It blocks protein from reaching muscle cells, causing sarcopenia
It stops the body from making new mitochondria

8 Which statement best describes pink noise?

A softer, deeper static sound similar to steady rushing water
Pink noise concentrates more sound energy in lower frequencies, creating a gentle, water-like static often used in sleep sound devices. Learn more.

High-pitched bursts that resemble electronic beeps
Random volume spikes that change through the night
Sharp rhythmic pulses designed to mimic fast heartbeats

9 Which hormone helps protect the brain from inflammation and oxidative stress?

Cortisol
Melatonin
DHEA-S
DHEA-S acts as a long-lasting buffer against chronic stress, helping the brain stay resilient when cortisol levels remain elevated. Learn more.

Insulin

10 Which process does butyrate help suppress to protect brain cells?

Rapid neuron firing during stress
Neuroinflammation driven by NF-κB activity
Butyrate helps suppress nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), a key regulator of inflammation, helping protect neurons and support healthy brain signaling. Learn more.

Blood flow changes in the frontal cortex
Loss of electrolytes during digestion

11 How does obesity affect macrophage activity during an infection?

Faster responses that create excess strain in lung tissues
Slower clearing of pathogens as macrophages lose efficiency
Obesity-related inflammation pushes macrophages into a low-efficiency state, slowing pathogen removal and prolonging infection. Learn more.

Reduced engagement with infected areas during respiratory stress
Increased targeting of healthy tissues rather than invading microbes

12 What is the recommended daily intake of vitamin K2 for adults?

15 to 30 mcg
45 to 60 mcg
200 to 300 mcg
90 to 180 mcg
For adults, the suggested daily range is 90 to 180 micrograms. Vitamin K2 helps direct calcium into bones, keeping it from accumulating in the arteries. Learn more.

13 Do children gain cognitive benefits from resistance training?

Only if they train two hours daily at moderate intensity
Only after early adulthood when muscle begins to form
Yes, with small but steady improvements
Children and teens experience modest but consistent improvements in cognition, behavior, and academic performance, with the greatest gains often seen in those with lower baseline muscular fitness. Learn more.

No, benefits appear only in older adults

14 Which brain region showed inflammation-driven cell death after 5G exposure?

Amygdala
5G-related pyroptosis (an inflammatory form of cell death) was found in the amygdala, a region that helps regulate emotion, memory, and behavior. Learn more.

Hippocampus
Cerebellum
Prefrontal cortex

15 What matters more than liver fat when predicting serious liver risk?

Steatosis
Fibrosis
Fibrosis, or liver scarring, is the stronger warning sign because it reflects declining function and a higher risk of complications such as liver cancer better than fat accumulation alone. Learn more.

Bile flow
Hydration

16 Which age group saw the fastest rise in anxiety medication use?

35 to 49 years old
18 to 34 years old
Young adults had the sharpest increase between 2019 and 2024, a shift linked to pandemic-related stress, financial pressure, and constant social media comparison. Learn more.

50 to 64 years old
65 years and older

17 How many adults in the U.S. aren’t getting enough sleep?

6 out of 10
Data from the National Sleep Foundation show that 6 in 10 American adults do not get sufficient sleep, a pattern linked to gut disruption and higher metabolic risk. Learn more.

3 out of 10
1 out of 10
8 out of 10

18 What is the most convenient and effective way to use molecular hydrogen?

Using hydrogen products steadily throughout the entire day
Drinking hydrogen-rich water immediately after preparation
Hydrogen-rich water, especially from tablets, works best when used right away because the hydrogen level falls quickly after preparation. Learn more.

Taking hydrogen only after eating a large heavy meal
Saving hydrogen water and drinking it much later on

19 What’s the best way to use information from wearables?

Check and beat every score obsessively
Treat the data as short-term feedback
Wearable data is most useful as temporary guidance to learn your patterns, not as something to micromanage your day. Learn more.

Let the device decide your daily schedule
Compare your results to strangers online

20 How many grams (g) of protein per pound of ideal body weight are recommended for daily intake to support muscle growth?

0.3 g
0.8 g
About 0.8 g per pound of ideal body weight is a practical daily target for muscle growth, especially when meals provides 2 to 3 g of leucine from high-quality protein sources like grass fed beef. Learn more.

1.6 g
2.5 g

21 Which of the following is not a common source of excess iodine?

Conventionally raised animal foods
Regular dairy products
Fresh fruits and vegetables
Conventionally raised animal foods, dairy products, processed foods, and some supplements contain hidden iodine. These sources contribute to widespread iodine overexposure. Learn more.

Processed packaged foods

If you’re among the tens of millions of Americans taking statin drugs, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced muscle pain, weakness, or fatigue. These are side effects that afflicts up to 29% of statin users. You may have been told to take CoQ10 to help with these symptoms — advice that sounds reasonable but, according to the published research, rarely works.

For years, I’ve been searching for a real solution to this problem, and I’ve found it. It’s called geranylgeraniol, or GG for short, and the science behind it explains not only why statin muscle problems occur but also why CoQ10 has failed so many people.

The $50 Billion Statin Problem Nobody Wants to Talk About

Statins are among the most prescribed drugs in the world. In the United States alone, approximately 40 million people take them. The pharmaceutical industry has built an empire around these cholesterol-lowering medications, generating tens of billions in revenue annually.

But there’s a dirty secret that undermines this entire enterprise: statin-associated muscle symptoms (SAMS) are so prevalent and debilitating that they represent the primary reason patients stop taking these drugs. When patients can’t tolerate the medication, they discontinue it — and the supposed cardiovascular “protection” vanishes along with the prescription.

The symptoms range from mild muscle aches and weakness to severe myopathy and, in rare cases, life-threatening rhabdomyolysis where muscle tissue breaks down and releases proteins into the bloodstream that can damage the kidneys.

For decades, the conventional solution has been CoQ10 supplementation. The reasoning seemed logical: statins inhibit the mevalonate pathway, which is the same pathway your body uses to produce CoQ10. Therefore, replacing the depleted CoQ10 should solve the problem. It was a tidy hypothesis — except it doesn’t actually work.

The CoQ10 Failure: What Multiple Meta-Analyses Reveal

A 2015 meta-analysis published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings1 evaluated randomized controlled trials investigating CoQ10 supplementation for statin-induced myopathy. The conclusion was clear: “The results of this meta-analysis of available randomized controlled trials do not suggest any significant benefit of CoQ10 supplementation in improving statin-induced myopathy.”

This wasn’t an isolated finding. A 2022 meta-analysis in the Irish Journal of Medical Science2 reached the same conclusion: “The outcomes of this meta-analysis of existing randomized controlled trials showed that supplementation with CoQ10 did not have any significant benefit in improving statin-induced myopathy.”

These aren’t fringe studies. These are comprehensive reviews of the best available evidence, and they consistently show that CoQ10 — the supplement doctors have been recommending for years — doesn’t actually solve the problem.

Why? Because CoQ10 isn’t the root cause of statin myopathy. It’s a downstream effect of a more fundamental disruption in cellular biochemistry.

The Mevalonate Pathway: Understanding Where the Real Problem Lies

To understand why GG works where CoQ10 fails, you need to understand the mevalonate pathway — the biochemical assembly line that statins disrupt.

Statins work by inhibiting an enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase, which sits at the very top of the mevalonate pathway. This enzyme is the rate-limiting step in cholesterol synthesis, which is why blocking it lowers cholesterol. But here’s what the statin manufacturers don’t emphasize: the mevalonate pathway doesn’t just make cholesterol. It produces numerous essential compounds your body needs to function.

When you block HMG-CoA reductase, you don’t just reduce cholesterol production. You reduce the production of everything downstream — including farnesyl pyrophosphate, geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP), CoQ10, and vitamin K2.

Here’s where it gets critical: GGPP, the activated form of geranylgeraniol, is an obligatory substrate for the synthesis of CoQ10. In other words, your body cannot make CoQ10 without first having adequate GG. This means that trying to replace CoQ10 directly — while the GG deficiency persists — is like trying to fill a bathtub with the drain open.

But there’s an even more fundamental problem. GGPP is required for a process called protein prenylation, which is essential for muscle cell survival, function, and repair. When statin drugs deplete GG, they directly impair your muscles’ ability to maintain themselves at the cellular level.

The Science: GG Reverses Statin Myopathy at the Source

A landmark 2004 study published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology3 demonstrated something remarkable. Researchers found that statin-induced apoptosis (cell death) in muscle cells was completely prevented by mevalonate or geranylgeraniol. Even more striking, they found no correlation between ubiquinone (CoQ10) levels and apoptosis.

The conclusion was clear: statins cause muscle cell death by inhibiting protein geranylgeranylation, not by suppressing CoQ10 concentration. This finding turned the conventional CoQ10 hypothesis on its head and pointed directly to GG as the real solution.

Subsequent research has confirmed and expanded these findings. A 2018 study in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity4 found that GG “fully reverted the statin-mediated cell viability loss in proliferating myoblasts.” Water-soluble cholesterol, by contrast, only rescued toxicity caused by direct cholesterol depletion — proving that statin myotoxicity results from mevalonate pathway intermediate deficiency, not from lower cholesterol levels.

A 2019 in vivo study published in Translational Research5 took these findings from the laboratory into living animals. Researchers administered simvastatin to rats and found that it caused significant reduction in force production in fast-twitch muscle fibers — exactly what statin patients experience as muscle weakness and fatigue. When the rats were given GG along with the statin, this effect was completely eliminated.

Even more encouraging, the researchers found that GG improved muscle performance even in muscles not adversely affected by statins. And critically, neither control nor statin-treated animals given GG showed any adverse changes in cardiac function or blood vessel relaxation. GG appears to selectively protect and enhance skeletal muscle without negative cardiovascular consequences.

A 2023 Opinion Paper Calls for a Paradigm Shift

A November 2023 opinion paper published in Frontiers in Physiology6 synthesized the evidence and made the case explicitly. The authors noted that “myopathy is the most common side effect of statins, but it has not been addressed effectively.” They explained that while both CoQ10 and GG syntheses are reduced by statin use, “CoQ10 supplementation has not been shown to reverse SAMS.”

The paper emphasized that “GG is an obligatory substrate for CoQ10 synthesis, an endogenous nutrient critical for skeletal muscle protein synthesis.” Multiple studies, they noted, “showed GG supplementation is effective in reversing SAMS.”

This represents a fundamental shift in how we should approach statin side effects. Rather than trying to replace a downstream product (CoQ10) that the body can’t properly use anyway due to the underlying GG deficiency, we should replenish the upstream substrate (GG) that allows all the downstream processes — including CoQ10 production — to proceed normally.

What Is Geranylgeraniol and Where Does It Come From?

Geranylgeraniol is a 20-carbon isoprenoid alcohol that occurs naturally in the human body and in various plants. It’s a diterpene — a class of compounds that includes other biologically important molecules like retinol (vitamin A) and phytol (a component of chlorophyll).

In nature, GG is found in olive oil, sunflower oil, and annatto seeds. The annatto plant (Bixa orellana), native to South America, is a particularly rich source and is where most supplemental GG is extracted from.

When you consume GG, it enters the mevalonate pathway and is converted to its activated form, GGPP. From there, it can be used for protein prenylation — the process that’s essential for muscle cell function — and as a building block for CoQ10, vitamin K2 (MK-4), and other essential compounds.

Importantly, taking GG does not interfere with statins’ ability to lower cholesterol. The cholesterol synthesis branch of the mevalonate pathway uses farnesyl pyrophosphate, not geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate. This means you can support your muscle health with GG while maintaining whatever cholesterol-lowering effect your doctor is trying to achieve with the statin.

Practical Recommendations

Based on the available research, GG supplementation appears to be a safe and effective strategy for preventing or reversing statin-associated muscle symptoms. Here are some practical considerations:

• Dosing — Most commercial GG supplements provide 150 mg to 300 mg per softgel. The research suggests that daily supplementation at these doses can help replenish GG stores depleted by statin use.

• Form — Look for supplements containing “GG-Gold” or similar branded forms of trans-geranylgeraniol derived from annatto seeds. These are the most studied forms.

• Timing — GG can be taken with or without food. Some practitioners recommend taking it at a different time than your statin to ensure optimal absorption of both.

• Combination with CoQ10 — While CoQ10 alone has not been shown to reverse statin myopathy, there may be value in combining it with GG. Once GG replenishes the upstream pathway, CoQ10 supplementation might provide additional support. However, the priority should be GG.

• Safety — GG has an excellent safety profile. No adverse effects on cardiac function or blood vessels have been observed. That said, always consult with a healthcare provider familiar with your medical history before starting any new supplement.

The Bigger Picture: Why This Matters

The GG story illustrates a broader truth about modern medicine: when we don’t understand the root cause of a problem, our solutions often miss the mark. For years, millions of statin patients have been told to take CoQ10 for their muscle pain. Many dutifully bought the supplements, took them faithfully, and experienced little or no benefit.

The failure wasn’t their fault. They were given incomplete information based on an incomplete understanding of the biochemistry. Now that we know GG depletion — not CoQ10 depletion — is the primary driver of statin muscle problems, we can finally offer people a solution that actually works.

If you’re experiencing statin-associated muscle symptoms, talk to your healthcare provider about geranylgeraniol. The science is clear, the mechanism is understood, and the evidence supports its effectiveness. After decades of failed CoQ10 recommendations, it’s time for a real solution.

FAQ

Q: Why do doctors often recommend CoQ10 for statin muscle pain?
A: Statins block the mevalonate pathway, which contributes to CoQ10 production. Clinicians assumed CoQ10 replacement would ease muscle symptoms caused by statins. That hypothesis did not hold up under clinical testing.

Q: What causes statin-related muscle damage if not CoQ10 deficiency?
A: Evidence points to depletion of geranylgeraniol (GG), a key intermediate in the mevalonate pathway. GG supports protein prenylation, a process required for muscle cell survival, repair, and function. Statins reduce GG availability by blocking HMG-CoA reductase.

Q: Why does GG address the root problem better than CoQ10?
A: GG sits upstream in the mevalonate pathway. Without GG, the body cannot synthesize CoQ10 or maintain normal protein prenylation in muscle cells. Replacing CoQ10 alone does not correct this upstream deficiency.

Q: What does research show about GG and statin myopathy?
A: Cell and animal studies report that GG prevents statin-induced muscle cell death and fully reverses statin-related muscle weakness. A rat study found GG eliminated simvastatin-related loss of muscle force without harming heart or blood vessel function.

Q: What is the key takeaway for you if statins cause muscle pain?
A: Evidence suggests statin muscle symptoms stem from GG depletion rather than CoQ10 loss alone. GG supplementation targets the upstream biochemical disruption responsible for muscle dysfunction. Discuss this option with your health care provider before changes to supplements or medications.

Test Your Knowledge with Today’s Quiz!
Take today’s quiz to see how much you’ve learned from yesterday’s Mercola.com article.

Which habit can help your body regulate cortisol, your main stress hormone?

Fixing your sleep routine
Consistent, high-quality sleep lowers cortisol, which helps stabilize blood sugar and improve insulin response. Learn more.

Drinking moderate amounts of caffeine
Exercising only at night
Skipping high-carb foods during breakfast

You sleep eight hours but wake up tired. You eat reasonably well but can’t lose the weight around your middle. Your doctor says your labs look fine, but something feels off — and it has for a while. Health doesn’t fail all at once. It erodes quietly, and that quiet erosion is exactly what the documentary Human OS: Health and Wellness in 2026 sets out to explain.

In the film, doctors and researchers describe a global shift away from symptom-driven medicine toward early detection, prevention, and personalization.1 They highlight the scale of metabolic dysfunction: current estimates place insulin resistance at up to 80% of the global population. Insulin resistance, meaning your cells stop responding normally to insulin, shows up as fatigue, weight gain around your midsection, unstable energy, poor sleep, and reduced exercise tolerance.

Left unaddressed, it sets the stage for diabetes, heart disease, cognitive decline, and shortened healthspan, often decades before a formal diagnosis appears. For decades, the standard medical playbook has been simple: wait until something breaks, then treat it. That’s not health care — it’s sick care, and it leaves millions of people stuck in a gray zone between “not yet diagnosed” and “not actually well.”

Chronic disease begins long before symptoms force attention — a point the cardiologists, functional medicine physicians, and performance specialists in the film return to repeatedly.

Subtle changes in sleep quality, stress tolerance, appetite, and recovery signal trouble early. Fasting insulin, heart rhythm monitoring, and basic imaging can identify risk in your 20s and 30s, not after a collapse or hospital admission. This approach reframes health as a system, not a series of isolated events, and places daily habits at the center of prevention.

What makes this shift different is practicality. Wearables, AI tools, and simple screening either reduce confusion or increase stress depending on how you use them. The documentary makes one point clear: data supports awareness, not obsession. Sleep consistency, hydration, movement, and recovery form the foundation, while personalized insights guide adjustments before damage accumulates. That sets the stage for a closer look at how predictive care works when applied to real lives, not abstract models.

From Sick Care to Self-Care: How Prevention Is Replacing Reaction

Instead of tracking disease after symptoms appear, the documentary explores how modern health care identifies risk earlier through sleep patterns, metabolic markers, movement capacity, and recovery habits.2 The central question stays practical: how do you stay functional and resilient long before a diagnosis forces change?

The discussions span young adults, working professionals, athletes, and people with no formal diagnosis who still experience fatigue, poor sleep, stress overload, and declining performance. The focus stays on people who appear healthy on the surface yet carry hidden risk beneath it.

• Sleep is the single most important habit you can fix — Tennis player Fares Al Janahi puts it plainly: “If you fix your sleep, everything will come with it.” There’s a direct mechanism behind this: inconsistent sleep elevates cortisol, your primary stress hormone, which raises blood sugar, increases fat storage around your midsection, and blunts your response to insulin. Fix the timing, and that entire cascade quiets down.

• Most people don’t get screened until something goes wrong — That’s backwards. The cardiologists in this documentary explain that simple health tests like fasting insulin, ECG monitoring, and basic cardiac imaging catch problems decades before a collapse or a hospital visit.
They describe active, apparently healthy people walking around with conditions like atrial fibrillation — an irregular heart rhythm that raises stroke risk — or structural heart issues, such as an enlarged heart chamber, that nobody thought to look for. A short, targeted screening in your 20s or 30s costs almost nothing compared to what happens when you wait.

• Wearables are useful until they aren’t — Athletes and clinicians in the film agree that tracking sleep, stress, and recovery gives you real insight — but only when you treat it as a short-term feedback tool. The moment you start obsessing over every score or letting a fitness tracker tell you how to feel about your day, the data works against you. Use it to learn patterns. Then trust what your body is already telling you.

• Stop chasing intensity — The documentary makes this point repeatedly: extremes don’t last. Overtraining breaks you down. Inactivity lets you decay. What actually protects long-term function is moderate, repeatable movement you sustain without burnout. Do the basics, like walking, well. Do them often. That’s the whole strategy.

• Insulin resistance is not a diagnosis you wait for — It’s a warning signal your body sends early — through fatigue, belly fat, unstable energy, and poor sleep — long before diabetes, heart disease, or cognitive decline show up on a chart.

The physicians in this documentary are clear: once you identify insulin resistance, daily walking, strength training, better sleep, and stress reduction reverse the trajectory by restoring insulin sensitivity — your cells’ ability to respond to insulin efficiently, which is the opposite of insulin resistance. This is actionable information, not a life sentence.

Recovery, Hydration, and the System That Holds It All Together

Recovery starts the moment you finish moving, not the moment something hurts. Physiotherapist Marcela Henao and the performance experts in the film stress that hydration, nutrition, and rest function as daily repair tools for your joints, muscles, and nervous system. If you wait for pain to tell you it’s time to recover, you’ve already fallen behind.

• You’re losing water right now. Not just when you sweat — Thinking, breathing, basic metabolic function — all of it depletes your reserves. The experts in this film emphasize hydrating before exertion, not after breakdown.
Nutritionist Lina Shibib and others describe adding Himalayan pink salt to water for natural electrolyte support and getting water through whole fruits and vegetables, not just drinking more glasses. To stay well hydrated, let your thirst be your guide and aim for clear, pale-yellow urine throughout the day.
• Your health doesn’t exist in isolation — Family, workplace culture, coaches, health care practitioners — they all shape your outcomes. As noted in the documentary, when one person in the system breaks down, everyone around them absorbs the cost. Your daily habits protect more than just you. They protect the people who depend on you.
• Chronic disease doesn’t appear overnight — It builds through years of ignored signals — poor sleep, unmanaged stress, skipped recovery, dehydration. But the reverse is also true. Small, consistent actions compound over time. You don’t need a dramatic intervention. You need repetition.
• The goal is not to live longer. It’s to live better — Lifespan means nothing without daily function, mental clarity, and physical energy. The real target is healthspan — staying capable, adaptable, and resilient for decades, not just adding years to a calendar.
• Fear doesn’t drive lasting change. Understanding does — The documentary closes exactly where it should: on fundamentals. Sleep at consistent times. Move daily. Hydrate. Recover. Screen early. Complexity is a distraction. The basics, done well and done often, deliver the largest return on your health.

Build Health Before Symptoms Force Action

This approach speaks to anyone who feels mostly fine yet senses something underneath is drifting off course. The objective stays clear: correct the upstream breakdown that drives fatigue, poor sleep, metabolic strain, and long-term disease risk. Every step below targets causes rather than surface markers, so progress builds steadily instead of reacting under pressure.

1. Make sleep timing the nonnegotiable foundation — Going to bed and waking up within a 30-minute window every day — meaning if you typically sleep at 10:30 p.m., you stay between 10:15 and 10:45 — stabilizes appetite signals, stress hormones, and daily energy. On weekends, resist the urge to shift by more than an hour. That consistency matters more than total hours. Once timing stays steady, other habits fall into place with far less effort.

2. Look for early warning signs instead of waiting for labels — Action begins long before pain or dramatic lab results appear. Tracking early markers — fasting insulin, HOMA-IR (a simple but powerful way to gauge how efficiently your body is responding to insulin), exercise tolerance, recovery speed, daily energy — reveals risk years ahead of diagnosis. Stubborn fatigue, belly weight, or declining stamina signals the moment to intervene, while change still carries momentum.

3. Keep movement regular and remove extremes — Daily walking and consistent strength training twice a week support insulin sensitivity, circulation, and mental clarity. Excessive exercise intensity drains your system and blunts progress. Persistent soreness, flat energy, or loss of motivation point to overload and greater need for recovery.

4. Remove seed oils from your diet — Linoleic acid (LA) from industrially processed seed oils — soybean, canola, corn, sunflower, safflower — accumulates in your tissues and drives chronic inflammation at the cellular level. It disrupts mitochondrial function — your mitochondria are the structures inside each cell that produce energy — worsens insulin resistance, and amplifies the metabolic damage that the documentary’s experts are warning you about.
Replacing these oils with stable fats like grass fed butter, ghee, and tallow reduces oxidative stress — the cellular equivalent of rust building up inside your engine — and supports the recovery and energy production your body depends on daily.

5. Support recovery and hydration every single day — Hydration and rest function as daily repair tools, not afterthoughts. Fluid intake matters before stress builds, not only after exertion. Consistent recovery prevents small stressors from accumulating into chronic breakdown, keeping tissues resilient and energy steady.

FAQs About Predictive Health Care

Q: What is “predictive and preventive” health care?
A: Predictive and preventive care shifts the focus from treating disease after diagnosis to identifying risk early and correcting it before damage accumulates. Instead of waiting for diabetes, heart disease, or cognitive decline, you track early signals like fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, sleep quality, and recovery patterns. The goal is to extend your healthspan — the years you feel strong and capable — not just your lifespan.

Q: Why is insulin resistance such a big concern?
A: Insulin resistance means your cells stop responding efficiently to insulin, the hormone that helps move sugar from your blood into your cells for energy. Early signs include fatigue, belly fat, unstable energy, cravings, and poor sleep. Left unaddressed, it increases your risk for Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cognitive decline. The good news is that consistent sleep, strength training, daily walking, and removing inflammatory seed oils directly improve insulin sensitivity.

Q: Are wearables and health trackers necessary?
A: They’re tools, not requirements. Short-term use helps you see patterns in sleep, stress, and recovery. Problems arise when you obsess over daily scores or let the device dictate how you feel. Use technology to learn about your body, then step back once you understand your rhythms. Awareness supports progress. Obsession disrupts it.

Q: Why does sleep matter more than diet or exercise?
A: Sleep regulates your metabolism, appetite hormones, stress response, and tissue repair. When sleep timing is consistent, your body stabilizes energy production and recovery. When it’s irregular, cravings increase, stress hormones rise, and metabolic dysfunction accelerates. Fixing sleep first makes every other habit easier and more effective.

Q: What’s the simplest place to start today?
A: Start with three fundamentals: consistent sleep timing, daily walking plus strength training twice weekly, and removing seed oils from your diet. Add proper hydration and regular screening like HOMA-IR. These steps address root causes — metabolic dysfunction, inflammation, and poor recovery — instead of chasing symptoms after they appear.

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Take today’s quiz to see how much you’ve learned from yesterday’s Mercola.com article.

How many Americans are now on anxiety medications?

18 million
28 million
38 million
Federal survey data put the total at about 38 million U.S. adults after a sharp rise between 2019 and 2024. Learn more.

48 million

After a workout, you probably already know to reach for protein. It’s one of the most common pieces of fitness advice, and for good reason. Protein provides the amino acids your muscles need to recover and grow, and getting it soon after training helps make the most of that recovery window. But there’s more to the story than just hitting a certain number of grams.

A recent randomized controlled trial conducted by researchers from the University of Illinois tested whether the fat packaged with your protein changes the muscle-building signal in the hours that follow exercise. Their findings revealed that not all protein-rich meals perform equally, even if the protein content is the same.1

How Fat Content Determines the Muscle-Building Response to Protein

The featured trial, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, enrolled 16 physically active adults who completed a resistance training session involving leg press and leg extension exercises. Immediately afterward, participants consumed one of three test meals, and researchers collected muscle and blood samples over the next five hours to measure the post-exercise muscle-building response.2

• Three meals, one key difference: fat content — Participants were randomly assigned to consume either a low-fat pork (LFP) meal, a high-fat pork (HFP) meal, or a carbohydrate-only (CHO) drink. All meals were precisely formulated. The LFP meal provided 20 grams of protein, 4.4 grams of fat, and 120 kilocalories.

The HFP meal also delivered 20 grams of protein, but with 20.6 grams of fat and 266 kilocalories. The CHO drink supplied 73.3 grams of carbohydrate and 266 kilocalories, with no protein or fat. The study design allowed for within-subject comparisons between pork meals and a parallel comparison to the carb-only condition.

• Lean pork produced the strongest muscle-building effect — Myofibrillar protein synthesis increased to 0.106% per hour after the low-fat pork meal, more than double the baseline rate of 0.047%. High-fat pork raised synthesis to 0.072% per hour, a modest increase that was significantly lower than the lean pork response.

The carbohydrate drink raised synthesis only slightly, from 0.040% to 0.056% per hour, with no significant effect. In head-to-head comparisons, lean pork outperformed both alternatives. Most notably, high-fat pork showed no significant difference from carbohydrate alone, meaning that the added protein failed to deliver a muscle-building benefit when it came packaged with a high-fat load.

• Slower amino acid delivery explains the outcome — Plasma levels of leucine, an amino acid essential for stimulating muscle protein synthesis, rose higher and peaked faster after the low-fat meal than after the high-fat meal. Essential amino acid concentrations followed the same pattern.

The researchers concluded that fat delayed or reduced the appearance of amino acids in the bloodstream, likely weakening the anabolic signal during the early window of recovery. Several mechanisms were proposed to explain this result:

“[T]he most straightforward answer is that differences in the lipid content of the pork conditions are known to result in slowed gastric emptying. The latter likely impacted the differential postprandial aminoacidemia observed and the subsequent enhancement of the anabolic properties of ingesting LFP compared with HFP,” the study authors reported.

“For example, past efforts have demonstrated that fast-digested proteins that contain a higher proportion of leucine are particularly effective at stimulating a postprandial rise in muscle protein synthesis rates. This concept has been coined the leucine trigger hypothesis and has largely only been pertinent when comparing isolated protein sources such as whey or casein.

Here, we demonstrated a more rapid and greater postprandial rise in plasma leucine concentrations in the LFP compared with the HFP condition … Hence, the enhanced anabolic effectiveness of the LFP condition may have simply been related to the leucine trigger, particularly because both LFP and HFP demonstrated a similar total net exposure to postprandial amino acids.”3

What Earlier Research Shows About Higher Protein and Muscle Growth

The featured study aligns with the findings of a 2020 review published in Nutrients, which examined current literature to determine how increasing protein intake affects body composition when combined with regular resistance training.4

• Higher protein intakes support increases in lean mass in trained individuals — Several trials included in the review reported that consuming protein well above the recommended daily amount (RDA) improved body composition during resistance training. In one 10-week study, resistance-trained men taking whey and casein gained more lean mass than those consuming carbohydrate alone.

Other trials found that intakes of 2 to 3 grams per kilogram per day (g/kg/day) during structured training programs supported either greater lean mass gains or more pronounced reductions in fat mass compared to lower-protein diets. These benefits appeared consistently in individuals who maintained regular resistance training.

• Not all studies found additional benefits, highlighting individual and training-related variables — While many trials showed improvements, others reported no difference between higher-protein and moderate-protein groups.

For example, some resistance-trained men consuming 2.6 to 3.3 g/kg/day showed no further advantage in lean mass or strength over individuals consuming roughly half that amount. These discrepancies suggest that training status, program design, baseline protein intake, and study duration influence outcomes.

• Pre-sleep protein meaningfully increases overnight muscle protein synthesis — One of the clearest findings in the review is that consuming casein before bed boosts overnight muscle protein synthesis. This response occurs in both younger and older adults and is even stronger when resistance exercise takes place in the evening. Casein is digested slowly, allowing a steady release of amino acids throughout the night, which supports muscle repair and adaptation.

• Long-term training programs combined with pre-sleep protein also improved muscle size and strength — In a 12-week evening resistance-training study, participants who consumed casein before bedtime increased quadriceps size and strength more than those receiving an isocaloric placebo.

Other long-term studies using morning or afternoon exercise showed mixed results, suggesting that timing relative to the training session influences how effectively pre-sleep protein supports adaptation.

• Higher protein intake does not increase fat mass — Across all trials included in the review, increasing daily protein intake did not lead to fat gain, even when total calories were higher. Some studies even reported reductions in fat mass in high-protein groups. The evidence consistently shows that protein overfeeding does not contribute to excess fat accumulation in trained individuals.

How Protein Source Shapes Recovery After Intense Training

Another study published in Nutrients in May 2025 provides additional evidence that animal protein offers a strong recovery advantage after intense exercise. The trial used a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design in military cadets completing the Army Combat Fitness Test, a demanding assessment that includes sprints, drag pulls, lifting tasks, and other high-output movements.5

• Researchers compared pork- and plant-based meals after maximal effort — Twenty-three men and women aged 18 to 40 completed clinical assessments, soreness ratings, dietary questionnaires, and blood and urine sampling at each visit.

Participants consumed either a pork- or plant-based MRE for three days after the fitness test, with meals similar in total daily protein but differing in amino acid density and creatine content. The crossover design allowed each participant to serve as their own control.

• Animal protein produced stronger recovery signals — Across the 72-hour recovery period, the pork-based meals led to lower muscle soreness in multiple thigh regions, a sharper reduction in cortisol at 48 and 72 hours, a higher testosterone-to-cortisol ratio within the pork condition, and reduced urinary urea nitrogen, indicating less protein breakdown.

These responses point to a more favorable recovery environment after consuming the animal-based meals, although testosterone itself did not differ between diets, and inflammatory markers showed mixed patterns rather than a uniform improvement.

• Amino acid density and creatine explained the advantage — The pork meals delivered substantially higher essential amino acids and nearly 10 times more creatine than the plant-based meals, as shown in the study’s nutrient tables.

The authors note that this richer nutrient profile may help explain improvements in soreness ratings, cortisol reduction, and nitrogen retention. The study did not test mechanisms directly but concludes that the plant-based meals would require targeted fortification with essential amino acids and creatine to match the recovery support seen with pork.

• Protein combining improves plant-based outcomes — Although the plant-based meals in this study contained less creatine and fewer essential amino acids, the authors emphasize that these limitations are correctable. They recommend fortifying plant-based MREs with additional essential amino acids and creatine to support post-exercise recovery on par with animal-based options.

This reflects the broader principle that protein quality depends on amino acid completeness and bioactive compounds. Combining plant sources like legumes and grains balances limiting amino acids and creates a more effective protein profile.

As long as you reach 2 to 3 grams of leucine per meal, plant-based meals can still promote muscle protein synthesis, provided total protein intake is high enough and timed to meet your recovery window.

These findings reinforce a consistent theme — after strenuous exercise, protein quality matters. Read more about the importance of protein quality in “Eating Animal Protein After Training Improves Recovery, According to Study.”

Setting the Right Daily Protein Target for Your Body

Daily protein needs depend on your ideal body weight, not the number you see on the scale alone. Ideal weight reflects what is appropriate for your height, age, and sex. Using current weight often inflates targets in people carrying excess body fat or sets them too low in those who are underweight, which leads to inaccurate and unhelpful protein goals.

• Start with a clear target based on ideal body weight — Most adults do well with about 0.8 grams of protein per pound of ideal body weight, or 1.76 grams per kilogram. This generally places protein at about 15% of daily calories. Roughly a third of that intake (about 5% of your daily protein) needs to come from collagen-rich sources such as bone broth, oxtail, shank, or other connective tissue cuts.

• Calculate your ideal weight before setting your intake — Use any reputable ideal body weight calculator and enter your height, age, and gender. Once you have that number, multiply it by 0.8 to find your daily protein goal. For example, if your ideal weight is 128 pounds, your daily target becomes about 102 grams. This method applies across body types and ages, including older adults, who often benefit from the higher end of the range.

• Spread protein evenly through the day — Dividing your intake across meals makes it easier to reach your target and improves how your body uses those amino acids. If you’re aiming for 100 grams per day, you can take in about 33 grams for each of your three meals.

A person with an ideal weight of 135 pounds would need about 108 grams daily, which breaks down to roughly 54 grams if eating twice a day. As a guide, one ounce of steak supplies about 7 grams of protein, so a 5-ounce serving gives you around 35 grams.

• Needs shift with age, activity, and health — Children require only 5 to 10 grams per meal, while young adults need about 20 grams. Most adults need at least 30 grams per meal to support muscle tissue. Older adults, athletes, and those recovering from illness often need more to overcome reduced anabolic sensitivity or increased training demands.

• Aim for balance rather than excess — Protein is essential, yet routinely going far above your requirement strains your organs and skews your amino acid balance, especially when collagen intake is low.6 Staying within your calculated range and using a mix of muscle and collagen-rich proteins supports strength, recovery, and long-term metabolic health.

For a deeper look at how to match your protein intake to your daily rhythm, read “When Is the Best Time to Eat Protein?”

What to Eat After Training for Muscle Recovery

Once you know your daily protein target, the next step is making sure each meal delivers enough leucine to trigger muscle repair. Aim for about 2 to 3 grams of leucine in your post-workout meal. Hitting this threshold ensures your protein actually stimulates recovery rather than simply adding to your daily total.

• Animal proteins are the most efficient way to meet this threshold — Grass fed beef, wild-caught fish, pastured eggs, and dairy all provide complete amino acid profiles and naturally high amounts of leucine in realistic serving sizes. Whey protein isolate is also highly concentrated, delivering close to 3 grams of leucine per scoop.

• Tempeh is a reliable plant-based option when portioned correctly — A 150-gram serving offers 28 to 30 grams of protein and a little over 2 grams of leucine, making it one of the few whole-food, plant-based choices that meet the post-workout recovery threshold without requiring additional powders or blends.

• Avoid unfermented soy products like tofu — While some sources include tofu as a plant-based protein option, unfermented soy has been linked to several health concerns. Tempeh remains the better choice, as fermentation helps break down many of soy’s harmful compounds. For more information on soy’s risks, read “Soybean Oil Linked to Genetic and Neurological Damage.”

• If you’re eating pork and poultry, choose pasture-raised varieties — The pork used in the studies above was part of a controlled research protocol, but for real-world use, sourcing matters. Conventional pork and chicken are often raised on feed high in polyunsaturated fats (PUFs), which alters the fat profile of the meat.

When possible, choose pasture-raised options. Organic, pasture-raised pork delivers high-quality protein and is one of the richest dietary sources of thiamine (vitamin B1), which supports mitochondrial energy production. Here’s a quick leucine breakdown for common post-workout protein choices:

Food (serving)
Protein (g)
Est. leucine (g)

Lean beef, cooked, 3 oz
22 to 26
2.3

Pork loin, cooked, 3 oz
24 to 26
2.1

Whey isolate, 25 to 30 g
23 to 27
2.5 to 3.0

Cottage cheese, 1 cup
25 to 28
2.0 to 2.5

Eggs, 2 large
12 to 14
1.0 to 1.2

Tempeh, 150 g
28 to 30
2.0 to 2.1

Milk, 16 oz
16
1.4 to 1.6

No matter which protein sources you rely on, make sure your meals still include high-quality fats (especially outside the post-training window), clean carbs, and colorful fruits and vegetables. When protein is integrated into a balanced plate, it supports daily recovery and long-term health without crowding out other essentials.

Animal Protein Remains Necessary Until Better Alternatives Exist

At this time, I firmly agree with the assertion that animal protein is required to optimize human biology. Yet after five decades of studying the issue, I’ve concluded that relying on animal sources is far from ideal.

That is why I am engaged in research to solve this dilemma — developing healthier, cost-effective alternatives from plants and microbial fermentation that can supply the dozen essential nutrients found only in animal foods, such as creatine, carnitine, choline, carnosine, vitamin B12, taurine, anserine, and others.

I am fully committed to this path, and once a practical replacement exists, I will no longer consume animal flesh. For now, there is no truly pragmatic alternative for most people, but creating one is my deepest commitment.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Post-Workout Protein Intake

Q: Why does the amount of fat in my post-workout meal matter?
A: The featured study showed that meals with the same protein content produced very different muscle-building responses depending on how much fat they contained. The low-fat meal triggered a much stronger rise in muscle protein synthesis, while the high-fat meal produced a weaker signal that wasn’t any better than carbohydrates alone.

Fat appears to blunt this response because it slows gastric emptying and delays the rise in amino acids, especially leucine, during the early recovery window when your muscles are most responsive.

Q: If high-fat protein blunts muscle building, do I need to avoid fat entirely?
A: You don’t need to avoid fat altogether, but the findings suggest it’s ideal to keep it low in your immediate post-workout meal. Save richer fats for meals later in the day, when digestion speed doesn’t affect recovery as much.

Q: Can plant-based protein work as well as animal protein after training?
A: Yes, but it takes more planning. To match the recovery effect of animal protein, you need enough essential amino acids like leucine, and you may need to combine plant sources. Plant proteins also lack creatine, so adding creatine separately helps close the gap.

Q: How much protein do I need to eat each day?
A: Your target depends on your ideal body weight. Multiply your ideal weight (in pounds) by 0.8 to find your daily intake in grams. This gives you a more accurate number than using your current weight, especially if you’re overweight or underweight.

Q: How much leucine do I need after a workout?
A: Aim for 2 to 3 grams of leucine in your post-workout meal. This level reliably triggers muscle protein synthesis. Lean meats, pastured eggs, grass fed dairy, and whey protein make it easy to hit that threshold.

Editor’s Note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published January 12, 2025.

I interviewed Dr. Alan Christianson, widely regarded as a premier expert on thyroid issues, and Ashley Armstrong, a regenerative farmer and founder of Angel Acres. Our discussion explored the intricate relationship between iodine intake and thyroid health, uncovering a paradox that has significant implications for your health.

To understand the current iodine dilemma, we need to rewind to the early 20th century. In the 1920s, iodine was added to table salt as a public health measure to prevent goiters — a swelling of the thyroid gland. Christianson explained that before iodine fortification, autoimmune thyroid disease was a rarity in medicine. However, within a decade of adding iodine to foods, rates among adult women skyrocketed, increasing up to 26-fold.

This historical intervention, intended to correct deficiencies, inadvertently set the stage for widespread thyroid issues. Armstrong emphasized the interconnectedness of iodine fortification across the food chain, including the mistaken belief that “if humans are deficient in iodine, then animals must be deficient too.”1 So, iodine was added not just to human salt but also to animal feed, resulting in significantly higher iodine levels in animal products and processed foods.

Iodine Overload Is a Modern Epidemic

Fast forward to today, and the narrative around iodine has taken a troubling turn. While there was once a legitimate concern about iodine deficiency, modern food production systems have transformed iodine into a stealthy toxin.

• Excess iodine is disrupting thyroid health — Armstrong highlighted, “The iodine content, which impacts thyroid health, has significantly increased in our food production system over the last 20 to 30 years.” This over-supplementation has led to an epidemic of thyroid dysfunction, including autoimmune thyroid disease, where your body attacks its own thyroid gland.

• Iodine accumulation is a growing crisis — Christianson added, “Iodine accumulation is a really big problem that our nation is facing. It’s one of those government interventions — oops — that have unintended consequences.”2 The excessive iodine intake is pervasive, stemming from various sources beyond fortified salt, making it difficult for individuals to control their iodine levels.

To learn more about the connection between iodine and thyroid health, read “Unmasking Thyroid Health via the Iodine Connection.”

5 Sources of Excess Iodine Beyond Table Salt

The underlying sources of modern iodine overload isn’t limited to fortified table salt. Christianson and Armstrong shed light on various sources contributing to excessive iodine intake:

1. Animal feed — Conventionally raised livestock are routinely supplemented with iodine, significantly increasing iodine levels in animal products. Armstrong emphasized that if animals are supplemented with iodine, the iodine levels in products like eggs increase five to 10-fold.

2. Dairy cleaning practices — The dairy industry commonly uses iodine-based disinfectants to clean teats and equipment. Although a hot water rinse helps mitigate iodine residues, the pervasive use of iodine teat dips introduces an additional, often unnoticed source of iodine into dairy products.

3. Processed foods — Iodine additives in processed grains and salt heavily fortify the food supply, making it challenging to control individual iodine intake if you consume processed foods. Christianson noted that many processed grains contain iodized dough conditioners. Even those that don’t explicitly list iodine often have significant levels when tested.

4. Personal care products — Iodine is prevalent in numerous personal care products, including some acne treatments, contributing to daily iodine exposure without consumers’ awareness. Armstrong pointed out, “Many common acne treatments contain a lot of iodine because of its antifungal and antimicrobial properties.”

5. Seafood and kelp supplements — While ocean-based seafood is a natural iodine source, fishmeal is also a common protein source for cattle feed, which increases iodine levels in eggs and dairy products.

These hidden sources of iodine make it increasingly difficult to regulate intake, contributing to widespread overexposure that negatively impacts your thyroid health.

What Are the Benefits and Risks of Thyroid Hormone Supplementation?

The conversation naturally transitioned to thyroid hormone supplementation, a common treatment for hypothyroidism. Christianson provided an important perspective that taking thyroid hormones from outside your body, even in bioidentical forms, isn’t the same as your body producing them naturally. As a result, this often leads to long-term complications.

• T4-only vs. combination therapies — Christianson distinguished between T4-only medications and combination therapies (T4 plus T3), noting that the latter often yield better patient outcomes. However, both forms present challenges, especially given the variability in iodine content of natural desiccated thyroid products.

• The impact of iodine levels on natural desiccated thyroid — Armstrong raised concerns about historical and modern practices, including the fact that in the early 1900s, cattle weren’t supplemented with iodine, so their thyroids had low levels.

• Regulatory concerns with NDT supplements — Today, livestock are overloaded with iodine, making natural desiccated thyroid supplements likely much higher in iodine than historical counterparts. Christianson explained the regulatory landscape, in that prescription forms of natural desiccated thyroid are standardized for iodine content, but over-the-counter versions often lack this quality control, leading to unpredictable iodine levels.

To explore ways to improve thyroid function without relying on thyroid hormone supplements, check out “Key Nutrients to Support Optimal Thyroid Health.”

What’s the Connection Between Iodine and Breast Health?

Our discussion also touched upon the role of iodine in breast tissue health. Christianson elaborated on studies linking high iodine intake to increased breast cancer risk, particularly in populations with overexpressed sodium iodide symporters in breast tissue.

• Iodine overexpression and cellular damage — He explained that in pathologic breast tissue, the sodium iodide symporter is overexpressed, leading to heightened iodine uptake and cellular damage. This overexpression correlates with higher breast cancer rates, debunking earlier theories that iodine supplementation might be protective.

• Iodine supplementation is not a protective factor — Christianson clarified that while high-dose iodine temporarily reduces iodine uptake in fibroadenomatous breast disease, population studies indicate that higher iodine intake is associated with increased breast cancer risk. Thus, iodine is not a protective factor for breast tissue. He explains:
“In the case of breast cancers, there have been assays looking at Japanese women and contrasting their iodine excretion, their urinary iodine in groups with their overall breast cancer risk. And those in the highest quintiles and quartiles have proportionately higher risks for breast cancer. And there’s a linear relationship. So, the more they’re consuming, the greater their risks are.”

These findings debunk the myth that iodine protects breast health and emphasize the need to reevaluate iodine intake in the context of disease risk.

What’s the Link Between Thyroid Antibodies, Autoimmunity, and Epigenetics?

Our conversation also focused on the role of thyroid antibodies in autoimmune thyroid disease. Christianson emphasized that thyroid antibodies, such as antithyroid peroxidase and antithyroglobulin, are more predictive of thyroid symptoms and risks than T4 or thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels alone.

• Thyroid antibodies indicate autoimmunity — Elevated thyroid antibodies indicate an autoimmune response, which is the primary driver of thyroid dysfunction today.

• Epigenetics and generational iodine exposure — Epigenetics are also involved, as early iodine exposure affects thyroid health across generations. Armstrong noted, imagine being born into a womb with higher iodine levels, then supplementing with iodine throughout life and consuming a high-iodine diet. This exposure leads to accumulated iodine generation over generation.

• Genetic variations impact iodine metabolism — Christianson agreed, explaining that genetic variations significantly influence how individuals metabolize iodine. Those adapted to lower iodine environments are particularly susceptible to thyroid dysfunction when exposed to excess iodine. This epigenetic and genetic interplay complicates the iodine-thyroid relationship.

• Basal body temperature as a thyroid metric — The conversation also addressed basal body temperature, which is sometimes used as a metric for thyroid health, a practice championed by Dr. Broda Barnes. However, Christianson pointed out that the development of high-sensitive TSH assays and understanding of T3 metabolism shifted thyroid assessment away from basal body temperature.

While it’s true that many overtly hypothyroid individuals have lower body temperatures, the relationship isn’t as linear or reliable as once thought. Christianson noted:3

“Since Barnes’ time, we’ve learned that the thyroid basal body temperature connections are very real, but they’re not as linear, they’re not as tight as one might think. So many who are overtly hypothyroid will have a lower basal body temperature.

And during hyperthyroid storm, people often elicit a febrile response, but there’s not a linear increase in basal body temperature as one moves further into hyperthyroidism. That wasn’t understood during Barnes’ time.”

To dive deeper into the complexities of thyroid function and autoimmunity, read “Unraveling the Mysteries of Thyroid Health.”

How Does Cellular Energy Impact Thyroid Function?

Armstrong emphasized a holistic view of thyroid health, highlighting the multiple steps involved in cellular energy production:

• Thyroid hormone utilization involves four key steps — The process doesn’t stop at the thyroid gland. After T4 is produced, it needs to be transported, converted, and utilized at the cellular level.
“Metabolic health and cellular energy aren’t just about the thyroid gland. There are four different steps after the thyroid produces thyroid hormones — T4 is produced. Then there’s transporter proteins that have to take those thyroid hormones throughout the body.
That T4 must be converted to T3, cells must be able to accept that T3 and utilize it as the spark plug for energy production. So, there are a number of things that get in the way of cellular utilization of active thyroid hormone. Even if your thyroid is functioning well, using active thyroid hormone at various other parts of your body can be hindered.”

• Thyroid function varies at the cellular level — Christianson expanded on this, explaining that different body tissues have their own thyroid hormone ecosystem with different balances of thyronamines. This means that thyroid function at the cellular level is highly individualized and influenced by various factors like insulin levels, stress, and nutrient intake.

• Dietary factors impact thyroid hormone metabolism — Armstrong connected this to modern dietary practices, explaining that low-carb diets downregulate thyroid hormones, increasing reverse T3, and impairing cellular utilization of T3. High omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) consumption and stress further complicate this picture, reducing your body’s ability to use thyroid hormones effectively.

• Thyroid health is deeply interconnected with metabolic function — Thyroid hormone metabolism is influenced by many factors, including insulin levels, nutrient availability, and overall metabolic health. So, addressing thyroid issues requires a comprehensive approach that considers these interconnected systems.

• Photobiomodulation as a thyroid support tool — In a personal revelation, I also discussed my use of photobiomodulation (previously known as low-level laser therapy) to support thyroid health during my transition off thyroid medication. Christianson acknowledged the benefits, explaining that photobiomodulation helps improve antioxidant status in your thyroid, which is necessary for processing iodine without cellular damage.

Learn more about how photobiomodulation supports overall health and cellular function in “How Red Light Therapy Benefits Neuropathy, Myopathy and More.”

Managing Iodine Intake Is Key to Thyroid Health

The interplay between iodine intake and thyroid function is complex and often misunderstood. Excess iodine, a byproduct of historical fortification efforts and modern agricultural practices, poses a significant threat to thyroid health, contributing to autoimmune diseases and other dysfunctions.

• The role of a low-iodine reset in thyroid recovery — Christianson wrote “The Thyroid Reset Diet,” emphasizing a low-iodine regimen for one to three months to detoxify your body.

While Armstrong shared her concerns about maintaining nutritional balance during this phase, particularly regarding nutrients like choline, biotin, and calcium, Christianson suggested that selecting high-quality eggs and dairy that are low in iodine helps meet these nutritional needs without introducing excess iodine.

• Strategies to reduce iodine intake — Armstrong elaborated on practical strategies to reduce your iodine intake, stating:
“Don’t eat out as much, don’t eat food with an ingredient list, prioritize home-cooked meals … assess your supplements, stop iodine supplementation and evaluate your personal care products.”

By implementing strategic dietary changes, choosing high-quality food sources, and staying informed about iodine’s role in your body, you reclaim your ability to reach optimal thyroid health.

5 Practical Tips to Avoid Excess Iodine

Here are additional practical strategies to avoid excess iodine and protect your thyroid health:

1. Limit processed foods — Processed grains and packaged foods often contain high levels of iodine due to salt iodization and iodine-based additives. Prioritize whole, unprocessed foods to better control iodine intake. Further, a balanced diet rich in the right carbohydrates — and free of processed foods — supports cellular energy production, which is necessary for thyroid health.

Excess PUFA intake, including linoleic acid in seed oils, is a major culprit, as PUFAs interfere with your cell’s ability to use active thyroid hormone.

2. Choose high-quality dairy and eggs — Source dairy and eggs from farmers who do not supplement livestock with iodine or use iodine-based disinfectants. Pasture-raised and organic options are more likely to have lower iodine levels.

Armstrong noted that eggs from pasture-raised chickens without iodine in their diet have as low as 5 micrograms per egg, compared to eggs from chickens supplemented with iodine, which have up to 100 micrograms per egg.

3. Assess personal care products, supplements, and medications — Review all supplements and medications for iodine content. Avoid iodine-rich supplements unless medically necessary. Many personal care items, such as acne treatments, contain iodine. Opt for iodine-free alternatives to reduce iodine exposure.

4. Conduct an iodine inventory — Utilize tools like Christianson’s iodineinventory.com to track your iodine intake from all sources, including diet, supplements, and personal care products.

5. Explore additional therapies — Consider therapies like photobiomodulation to support thyroid health in conjunction with dietary adjustments.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Iodine and Thyroid Health

Q: How does iodine affect thyroid health?
A: While iodine is essential for thyroid function, excessive intake leads to thyroid dysfunction, including autoimmune thyroid disease. Research shows that iodine fortification, initially meant to prevent goiters, has contributed to a rise in thyroid disorders.

Q: What are the hidden sources of excess iodine?
A: Beyond iodized salt, common sources include conventionally raised animal products, dairy (due to iodine-based disinfectants), processed foods, personal care products, and seafood or kelp supplements. These sources contribute to widespread iodine overexposure.

Q: Is there a link between iodine and breast cancer?
A: Studies suggest that high iodine intake may increase breast cancer risk, especially in individuals with certain genetic factors. Excess iodine leads to cellular damage in breast tissue.

Q: How do I lower my iodine intake?
A: Reduce or remove processed foods from your diet, choose dairy and eggs from farms that don’t supplement with iodine, check supplements and personal care products for iodine, and focus on whole, home-cooked meals.

Anxiety has become one of the defining health challenges of modern American life, and the medical system’s primary answer remains a prescription pad. Federal data show that millions more adults now take anxiety medication than just five years ago, a trend that has drawn both public attention and political scrutiny.

The medications at the center of this debate work by altering brain chemistry to quiet the persistent worry, racing thoughts, and tension that define anxiety disorders. For some patients, the drugs deliver relief. But they also carry side effects that push a significant number of people to stop treatment, and growing questions about dependency, safety, and overprescription have reached the highest levels of government.

Meanwhile, researchers continue to identify powerful lifestyle and social forces — from digital overload to deepening isolation — that fuel anxiety at its source. That raises an uncomfortable question: Are we treating a medical condition, or medicating our way around problems that demand a different kind of solution?

RFK Jr. Challenges Widespread Anxiety Medication Use

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. publicly questioned the expanding use of psychiatric medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

As reported by CBS News, anxiety medications have become increasingly common, with federal survey data showing the share of U.S. adults taking these drugs increased from 11.7% in 2019 to 14.3% in 2024.1 That jump represents roughly 8 million additional Americans starting anxiety medication during that period, bringing the total to about 38 million adults nationwide.

• Young adults drive the fastest growth in anxiety medication prescriptions — Among Americans ages 18 to 34, the proportion taking anxiety medication rose from 8.8% in 2019 to 14.6% in 2024. Researchers believe multiple social forces are behind this increase, including pandemic stress, economic uncertainty, and growing social media exposure.

These pressures create constant mental stimulation and comparison that feed worry and insecurity, which leads more people to seek pharmaceutical treatment.

• SSRIs remain the most widely prescribed anxiety medications — Drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft and Lexapro fall into this category. They work by altering how brain cells handle serotonin, a chemical messenger involved in mood regulation and emotional stability.

By slowing the brain’s reabsorption of serotonin, these drugs increase the amount of the chemical circulating between nerve cells. Doctors frequently prescribe SSRIs as first-line treatment for generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder.

• Side effects remain a common reason people discontinue treatment — SSRIs come with drawbacks that affect many users. The report identified several common side effects, including upset stomach, fatigue, mental fog, and sexual dysfunction. For some patients these issues become difficult to tolerate in daily life. Data cited in the article show about 1 in 12 people stop taking SSRIs because of side effects.

• RFK Jr. argues withdrawal from SSRIs is difficult for some people — Kennedy emerged as one of the most prominent critics of expanding psychiatric medication use. During his January 29, 2026 confirmation hearing, Kennedy described cases where people struggled to stop taking SSRIs after long-term use. He stated that he personally knows individuals, including family members, who had “a tougher time quitting SSRIs than people have quitting heroin.”

• Federal officials are examining behavioral risks linked to psychiatric drugs — Kennedy has also directed his agency to study whether psychiatric medications such as SSRIs play a role in violent behavior. Federal health officials are examining links between psychiatric drug use and acts such as school shootings. This investigation reflects broader concerns among policymakers that certain medications alter emotional regulation in ways that require deeper study.

How Medication Risks and Modern Social Pressures Shape the Anxiety Treatment Debate

CBS News also reported comments from U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary, who suggested that SSRI use during pregnancy could contribute to poor birth outcomes. These statements have intensified discussion about the safety of psychiatric medications in vulnerable populations.

Some patients also experience withdrawal symptoms when stopping antidepressants abruptly, while other anxiety medications, such as benzodiazepines including Xanax, carry clearer dependency risks.

Benzodiazepines work quickly to calm the nervous system and relieve acute anxiety. However, they create tolerance over time, meaning your body requires higher doses to achieve the same effect. Benzodiazepines work by enhancing the effect of GABA, your brain’s main calming chemical. With repeated use, your brain compensates by reducing its own GABA sensitivity, so you need a higher dose to get the same relief.

This adaptation is what makes stopping the drug so difficult. Psychiatrist Emily Wood explained that daily use often leads to dependence and requires careful tapering when stopping the medication. “If you’re taking them on a daily basis, you’ll need more and more to get the same effect,” she said.

• Social and cultural shifts play a major role in the anxiety epidemic — The report also examined broader forces behind rising anxiety rates, including increased social media use, economic stress and declining participation in community activities.

Sociologist Jason Schnittker of the University of Pennsylvania explained that anxiety levels have gradually increased across generations throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Growing distrust, economic pressure and social isolation all contribute to a persistent sense of unease in modern life.

• Social media increasingly shapes how young people approach mental health treatment — One striking trend described in the report involves the role of digital platforms in mental health decisions. Many influencers openly discuss anxiety and medication online, which has reduced stigma around seeking treatment.

However, this environment also fuels self-diagnosis and quick access to prescriptions through telehealth services. A study cited in the article found that about one-third of teenagers now obtain mental health information from social media.2 For many young people, the internet has become their first stop when they try to understand anxiety symptoms.

How to Address Lifestyle Drivers of Anxiety

Whether the policy debate leads to changes or not, the practical question remains the same for anyone living with anxiety: What can you do today that addresses the root of the problem rather than just suppressing the symptoms? The answer starts with six evidence-based habits that target the same brain systems these drugs affect.

Anxiety rarely appears out of nowhere. It often grows from daily habits that push your nervous system into a constant fight-or-flight state. Endless social media scrolling, physical inactivity, poor sleep habits and chronic stress overload your brain’s threat detection system. Medication quiets symptoms, yet the root causes remain untouched if lifestyle patterns stay the same.

If anxiety dominates your thoughts or drains your energy, your first goal involves restoring balance in the systems that regulate mood and stress. Your brain responds strongly to movement, breathing patterns, digital input, and daily habits. When you adjust these factors, your nervous system settles and your mind becomes clearer and calmer.

1. Move your body every day and treat exercise as medicine — Physical activity ranks among the most powerful anxiety and depression remedies available. Research consistently shows that regular exercise reduces depression symptoms as effectively as antidepressant medication and psychotherapy for many adults, yet it does so without the burden of prescription side effects.3

Movement increases endorphins and other brain chemicals that stabilize mood and lower stress hormones. If you’re new to exercise, start with a brisk 10-minute walk daily — fast enough that you can talk but not sing. Add five minutes each week until you reach 60 minutes. Add in strength training twice a week and mind-body exercise, such as yoga, as well. Track your activity like a challenge and watch your confidence grow as your stamina improves.

2. Train your nervous system with slow breathing — Anxiety speeds up your breathing and keeps your body trapped in a stress loop. Slow breathing interrupts that loop and helps manage anxiety.4 When you inhale through your nose and extend your exhale, your nervous system shifts out of fight-or-flight mode.

Try a simple pattern: inhale slowly for four seconds, pause briefly, then exhale for six seconds. Repeat for five minutes. If your mind races during stressful moments or before sleep, this breathing rhythm quickly settles your nervous system.

3. Limit your exposure to social media and constant digital stimulation — Modern anxiety often begins with the endless stream of alarming headlines, arguments and comparisons on social media. Your brain treats those signals as threats even though they appear on a screen. If you notice anxiety spikes after scrolling, reduce exposure.

Set a strict time window for social media once or twice per day — or less. When you feel the urge to scroll, replace it with a five-minute walk outside, a few pages of a book, or a text to a friend making plans to meet in person.

4. Support your gut health to calm your nervous system — Your gut and brain are in constant two-way communication through the vagus nerve — a direct line that carries signals about inflammation, stress and immune activity from your digestive tract straight to your brain’s anxiety centers. When your gut environment is disrupted, those signals shift toward alarm, and your nervous system stays locked in a heightened state.

This gut-brain axis explains why digestive problems and anxiety so frequently appear together, and why fixing your gut often quiets your mind. The foundation of gut repair starts with removing what’s damaging it. If you eat out frequently or consume processed foods, you’re likely taking in excessive amounts of linoleic acid (LA) from seed oils like sunflower, safflower, soybean and canola. These oils disrupt mitochondrial function and wreck your gut environment.

Avoid processed foods and switch to grass fed butter, ghee or tallow instead. From there, optimize your carbohydrate intake — your body needs about 250 grams daily to maintain cellular energy production.

Start with easily digestible sources like whole fruit or white rice, especially if your gut is compromised, and add fiber gradually to avoid triggering endotoxin release. Once the foundation is stable, add fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, and plain yogurt to further support a gut environment that keeps your brain’s threat signals in check.

5. Protect your sleep and restore your daily rhythm — Poor sleep destabilizes the brain systems that regulate mood and emotional control. When sleep becomes fragmented or shortened, your brain’s threat centers become more reactive and anxiety intensifies.

Protect your sleep by keeping a consistent bedtime, turning off screens at least an hour before bed and exposing your eyes to natural daylight early in the morning. That daily light signal resets your internal clock and improves both sleep quality and emotional resilience.

6. Strengthen your real-world connections and reduce isolation — Human connection acts as a natural buffer against anxiety. Isolation, which increased sharply during pandemic lockdowns and through heavy digital engagement, amplifies stress signals in your brain.

If you spend large portions of the day alone or online, make deliberate changes. Schedule regular in-person conversations, join group activities, walk with a friend or participate in community events. These interactions provide emotional grounding that stabilizes your nervous system and lowers chronic anxiety.

FAQs About Anxiety Medications and Natural Ways to Manage Anxiety

Q: Why are more Americans taking anxiety medications today?

A: Federal survey data show the share of U.S. adults taking anxiety medications increased from 11.7% in 2019 to 14.3% in 2024, which means roughly 38 million Americans now use them. The largest increases appear among young adults ages 18 to 34.

Researchers attribute the surge to several modern pressures, including pandemic stress, social media exposure, economic uncertainty and increased social isolation. Easier access to telehealth and growing public discussion about mental health also make prescriptions more common.

Q: Why are young adults experiencing the largest increase in anxiety medication use?

A: Young adults ages 18 to 34 are driving much of the recent surge in anxiety medication use. Federal survey data show the share of people in this age group taking anxiety medications rose from 8.8% in 2019 to 14.6% in 2024.

Researchers point to several factors behind this shift, including pandemic disruptions, financial uncertainty and growing reliance on digital communication instead of in-person social interaction. Heavy social media use also exposes younger adults to constant comparison, negative news and social pressure, which increases stress and makes anxiety symptoms more common.

Q: What side effects are associated with anxiety medications?

A: SSRIs carry side effects that cause many people to stop treatment. Common complaints include stomach upset, fatigue, brain fog and sexual dysfunction. Data cited in the report show about 1 in 12 patients discontinue SSRIs because of side effects. Other anxiety medications, particularly benzodiazepines such as Xanax, also carry a risk of dependence because the body builds tolerance over time.

Q: Why has Kennedy questioned widespread anxiety medication use?

A: Kennedy has raised concerns about the growing reliance on psychiatric medications. During his 2026 confirmation hearing, he stated that some individuals have struggled to stop taking SSRIs after long-term use and said he knows people who found quitting them extremely difficult. Kennedy has also directed federal health agencies to examine whether certain psychiatric drugs influence behavior in ways that require closer scientific investigation.

Q: What natural lifestyle strategies help reduce anxiety?

A: Regular exercise improves mood and reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety. Slow breathing techniques shift your nervous system out of fight-or-flight mode. Reducing social media exposure limits constant stress signals to your brain. Consistent sleep routines restore emotional stability, and strong social connections provide psychological support that buffers everyday stress. These habits address the root causes of anxiety rather than simply suppressing symptoms.

Test Your Knowledge with Today’s Quiz!
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Reduced attention span

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Water is an important building block of life. Without it, human life would cease to exist. That said, not all water is created equally.

In an interview with Isabel Friend for The Water Is Life podcast, Tyler LeBaron, Ph.D., founder of the Molecular Hydrogen Institute, shares how molecular hydrogen works to benefit your health in different ways. I encourage you to listen to the entire episode, as it contains many nuggets of wisdom about this fascinating subject. I’ve summarized the most pertinent points below.1

From Alkaline Believer to Hydrogen Researcher

LeBaron begins his interview with Friend by explaining how he got into molecular hydrogen. He was fascinated by health, reading every naturopathic book he could find. Upon encountering the concept of hydrogen water and its potential for optimizing human health, everything clicked for him.

• A curiosity for wellness — LeBaron’s journey into molecular hydrogen started at a young age. He developed an interest in naturopathic topics, like iridology. As his thirst for knowledge grew, he began to discover many fascinating notions about health and the human body. One thing he learned about was the concept that the body is slightly alkaline.

“And so, it’s important to have an alkaline pH. And again, this was — we’ll go into the science later on, but this is my understanding at the time. And I first came across alkaline water and I was like, ‘That’s so perfect’ because that’s exactly what we need. So, this is right after I basically got out of high school, and it just made a lot of sense to me.”

• Like other pioneers, there was initial pushback — As a university student, LeBaron brought these ideas to his professors, who quickly challenged the premise:

“[O]n the one hand they were kind of dismissive and like laughing about it. But on the other hand, they were helpful. And it would explain, ‘Well, this is the reason why alkaline water alone wouldn’t benefit your body, basically.’

You know, yes, it’s true that the body needs to have a slightly alkaline pH, but the body already can do that really well by regulating the kidneys, by breathing, and water alone does not have the buffering capacity or the alkalinity needed to maintain this pH.”

• The eureka moment — LeBaron’s biochemistry professor pointed him toward molecular hydrogen as the real bioactive agent in these waters.

“[I]t was actually my biochemistry professor at the time when we were reviewing an article together on molecular hydrogen that can be dissolved in the water, where he said, ‘Tyler, I think there’s something here.’

When he said that, that’s when I was like, ‘Wow, this is what I’m missing. This is what I need to research.’ And as I’ve continued research in molecular hydrogen, whether it’s dissolved in water or inhalation as you’re doing right now, just the hydrogen molecule is really so amazing. But you can just dissolve it into water. And so now my passion has continued expanding upon hydrogen in all its different forms and modalities and the benefits of water in general.”

What Happens When People Start Drinking Hydrogen Water?

LeBaron frames the benefits of hydrogen that he has dubbed the Four H’s. The detailed explanations are below:

• Hydrogen — Many products labeled “hydrogen water” don’t actually contain enough H2 to be therapeutic by the time you drink it. According to LeBaron:

“[N]umber one, hopefully that there’s hydrogen gas present in the water because that’s not always the case. There are some products that are often promoted as hydrogen water or can have hydrogen water. But by the time somebody ingests it, the concentration of molecular hydrogen is very low.”

• Health — Once people become interested in hydrogen water, they often ditch soda, alcohol, or junk food. Thus, their health improves subconsciously:

“They’re also learning about health in general. And they’re starting to make changes, dietary changes. Maybe they’re stopping drinking so many soda or energy drinks or alcoholic beverages or other things that are very damaging for them. So, they improve their health. And obviously, as you improve your health and make those major lifestyle changes, then that’s going to provide a lot of benefits, right?”

• Hydration — Just drinking more water — especially clean, filtered water — makes a big difference to your health, LeBaron says:

“A lot of people, they probably don’t drink enough water, right? When you’re slightly thirsty you’re probably a little bit dehydrated. And so, by just drinking more water and preferentially water instead of an alcoholic beverage or a sugary drink or something, right? That’s going to be better for you as well.”

• Hype — Belief in a new remedy can trigger physiological changes. LeBaron explains the thought process behind this phenomenon:

“[H]ype has reference to the placebo effect which is actually extremely powerful and really amazing. And it’s not sometimes people think that the placebo effect is just — it’s only something that you think in your mind something is happening, but it’s not really happening.

Or they think, ‘Well, I don’t believe in it. And so therefore the placebo effect won’t help me’ or something. But actually that’s not true. The placebo effect has a true physiological biological basis.”

The Science Is Catching Up — Human Trials Show Real Results

While testimonials and anecdotal reports are helpful, science helps solidify and confirm the claims. And now, LeBaron is sharing the latest updates in this regard.

• Hydrogen water benefits rheumatoid arthritis — One of the most powerful studies came from a placebo-controlled, crossover trial on early-stage rheumatoid arthritis. Participants drank hydrogen-rich water for a few weeks. Even better, some of the participants had their condition go into remission:2

“[F]or the first four weeks, they would drink hydrogen water or placebo water, and then they would have a washout period of, say, four weeks, and then they would switch and then they would drink hydrogen water or placebo water and they had these subjects with rheumatoid arthritis and those with early-stage rheumatoid arthritis.

[S]ome of them entered into remission of the condition. So, they didn’t have that disease score high enough to even satisfy the requirement to say they had the disease, and their symptomology went down a lot. The oxidative stress went down a lot. So that was very impressive.”

• Your metabolic health also benefits from hydrogen water — LeBaron also shares a study that he conducted with other researchers, a six-month, double-blind, randomized trial of 60 people with metabolic syndrome.3 The participants drinking hydrogen-producing tablets saw improvements in different biomarkers, such as blood sugar levels, cholesterol ratio, inflammatory markers, oxidative stress, and reduction in body mass index (BMI).

• Blood lipid profiles are also better — LeBaron mentioned that molecular hydrogen benefits your blood lipid profiles.4 He noted:

“Sometimes, some clinical studies will show some pretty prominent effects. But when you look at the meta-analysis with an additional statistical power on it, you don’t really see statistically significant effects anymore because everything’s kind of averaged out. But in this case, there was still a statistically significant benefit showing that hydrogen had the suggested to have improvements with blood lipid profiles.”

A Deeper Dive Into the Functions of Hydrogen

LeBaron has extensive knowledge of molecular hydrogen. Below, he explains how it works and how it supports your health in different ways:

• Hydrogen gas is selective in how it interacts in the body — It only targets the most dangerous free radicals, like hydroxyl radicals, and leaves helpful signaling molecules alone. LeBaron explains:

“[H]ydrogen is a very stable molecule. And so, it can’t easily react with very many free radicals. It can only react with radicals that are extremely dangerous and harmful and oxidative, such as the hydroxyl radical. And that’s what makes it a selective antioxidant. And also, because it is so small and its physical chemical properties, it makes it largely biologically inert.”

• On a deeper level, H2 acts like a messenger — It can influence gene expression and protein signaling, and even the behavior of microRNAs:

“So, it has a pleiotropic effect that influences gene expression, protein phosphorylation cascades. MicroRNA, which we published on as well. All of those together is what allows it to have critical downstream effects that, later on, have very important health beneficial effects, okay? So, it’s not again, it’s not a strong potent drug like that, but its benefits for the energy production like you’re talking about with the mitochondria.”

• Hydrogen supports energy production — LeBaron touches upon the impact of molecular hydrogen in the context of mitochondrial health:

“[M]olecular hydrogen has been shown to maintain the mitochondrial membrane potential. It can also help prevent the opening of this mitochondrial — there’s a pore or a protein channel that causes the gradient to be lost.

And it prevents that from opening prematurely when things that can be compromised during times of pollutions or ischemic reperfusion or like just damage that can happen like during a stroke or something or other types of closings of the blood vessels. So, hydrogen can do all these things as well as it can activate PGC-1 to increase PGC-1α, which is a marker of mitochondrial biogenesis.”

How to Incorporate Molecular Hydrogen Into Your Routine

All that said, I highly recommend consider adding molecular hydrogen into your regimen because of its benefits and relatively safe profile. I’ve interviewed LeBaron myself, and here are our recommendations on how to take advantage of this revolutionary particle:

1. Consider daily supplementation — While not everyone may need it, the potential benefits and lack of side effects make hydrogen a low-risk, high-reward option.
2. Choose the right delivery method — Hydrogen-rich water, particularly from tablets, offers a convenient and effective way to supplement.
3. Timing matters — Consume hydrogen-rich water immediately after preparation to ensure maximum benefit.
4. Embrace other healthy habits — Hydrogen therapy is most effective when combined with a healthy diet, regular daily movement, and other positive lifestyle factors.
5. Stay informed — As research in this field continues to evolve, staying up-to-date with the latest findings can help you optimize your use of hydrogen therapy.

Less Is More When It Comes to Benefits

Given the benefits of molecular hydrogen, it’s tempting to constantly do it and think you’re always maximizing the benefits. However, our discussion yielded an important takeaway — molecular hydrogen therapy works better when it is pulsed. In other words, you’ll get diminishing returns when you always do it.

• Pulsing recommendations — Here are some recommended strategies to effectively use molecular hydrogen:

◦Drinking hydrogen-rich water at specific times during the day is more effective than sipping it constantly.
◦Short sessions (1 to 3 h) of hydrogen inhalation may be preferable to longer (20+ h), continuous exposure.
◦Allowing at least some hours without hydrogen supplementation could possibly enhance your body’s response when it’s reintroduced.

• Additional words of caution — LeBaron noted that one problem in molecular hydrogen therapy is measuring the concentration of hydrogen in water or gas. That said, he uses gas chromatography to record accurate figures during his research.

This means that for those using molecular hydrogen at home, you’ll need to be cautious about product claims. The most reliable way to verify claims is to cross-reference methods verified in clinical trials. These include certain hydrogen-generating tablets that have been shown to produce therapeutic levels of hydrogen.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Molecular Hydrogen

Q: What led Tyler LeBaron, Ph.D., to research molecular hydrogen?
A: LeBaron’s journey began with a strong fascination for natural health and an early belief in the benefits of alkaline ionized water. Initially, the alkaline theory made intuitive sense to him, but his professors explained that the body’s pH is tightly regulated by the lungs and kidneys, and that water alone does not have enough buffering capacity to change internal pH.

The turning point came when a biochemistry professor introduced him to molecular hydrogen dissolved in water, which turned out to be the actual bioactive component producing benefits in some “alkaline water” products.

Q: What are the “Four H’s” that explain why people feel better when starting hydrogen water?
A: LeBaron describes four main reasons people often report benefits:

1. The presence of hydrogen itself, as many products labeled as hydrogen water may not contain therapeutic levels by the time they are consumed.
2. People who start using hydrogen water often make positive health behavior changes, such as reducing soda, alcohol, and junk food intake.
3. The simple act of increasing hydration improves health.
4. The hype effect, or placebo response, can cause real physiological changes that contribute to how people feel.

Q: What does the research say about hydrogen water’s health benefits?
A: Controlled human trials have demonstrated encouraging outcomes. In one study on individuals with early-stage rheumatoid arthritis, some participants experienced remission and reduced oxidative stress.

Another double-blind trial involving people with metabolic syndrome found improvements in blood sugar, cholesterol ratios, inflammation, oxidative stress, and modest weight loss. Furthermore, a meta-analysis confirmed statistically significant improvements in lipid profiles, supporting the idea that hydrogen has measurable effects on metabolic health.

Q: How does molecular hydrogen work in the body?
A: Molecular hydrogen functions as a selective antioxidant, targeting only the most harmful free radicals, such as hydroxyl radicals, while leaving beneficial signaling molecules untouched. It influences biological processes by modulating gene expression, protein signaling pathways, and microRNA activity.

It also supports mitochondrial health by maintaining membrane potential, preventing premature pore opening under stress, and stimulating mitochondrial biogenesis through PGC-1α activation.

Q: What are the best practices for using molecular hydrogen?
A: The most convenient and effective delivery method is often hydrogen-rich water, especially from tablets. It should be consumed immediately after preparation to ensure maximum potency. Rather than constant use, pulsing hydrogen intake at specific times during the day or using short inhalation sessions appears to maintain better responsiveness.

Users should also be cautious of exaggerated product claims and seek products that match the concentrations used in clinical research. For best results, hydrogen therapy should be integrated into an overall healthy lifestyle that includes good nutrition, regular physical activity, and other positive habits.

Have you been getting enough sleep lately? According to the latest statistics gathered by the National Sleep Foundation, six out of 10 adults in America don’t get enough sleep. Furthermore, almost half of all adults have trouble staying asleep three or more nights per week.1

Simply put, sleep deprivation is a serious yet growing health concern. In previous articles, I have discussed how it can affect different aspects of your health, such as overall shorter life expectancy and deteriorating eye health. Now, new research shows that it also affects another foundational aspect of your health, namely your gut. Specifically, your gut’s self-repair mechanisms become disrupted when you don’t get enough sleep.2

But that’s not all. Additional research shows that sleep deprivation affects the actual bacteria living in your gut. When the balance of the microbiota is disrupted, your risk for various metabolic and cardiovascular diseases goes up.

Sleep Loss Hits Your Gut Repair System Faster Than You Expect

In a study published in Stem Cell, researchers set out to determine how even brief periods of sleep deprivation affect the repair capabilities of intestinal stem cells (ISCs).3 For context, ISCs live deep inside the crypts along your small intestine and act as the body’s internal construction crew. When they falter, the entire lining loses its ability to regenerate.4

Using a mouse model, the researchers created a controlled setup of acute sleep deprivation and then examined structural changes in the gut, stem cell activity, and the signaling pathways that either protect or damage gut repair.

• Even a short window of sleep deprivation impairs ISC function — This results in altered gut architecture, which matters because your gut lining replaces itself roughly every three to five days, and intestinal stem cells drive that turnover.5

When those foundational cells lose function, the gut’s absorptive surface shrinks, the barrier weakens, and your digestive stability drops. Specifically, the study documented shorter villi, reduced crypt depth, and loss of Paneth cells, which are specialized cells that help defend your gut against harmful microbes.

Villi are the small hairlike projections that increase surface area for nutrient absorption. As expected, when they shorten, your ability to absorb nutrients drops.

Meanwhile, Paneth cells release antimicrobial compounds that protect you from harmful bacteria and losing them weakens your intestinal defense. If you have ever noticed sudden bloating, loose stools, or abdominal discomfort after a night of poor sleep, this offers a strong, probable reason why those issues manifested.

• The damage begins inside a specific region of the brainstem called the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) — The DMV helps regulate digestion through the vagus nerve. When you lose sleep, this region becomes overactive and sends too many signals to your gut, releasing excess acetylcholine — a chemical messenger that tells cells to switch on. That surge overstimulates specialized gut cells called enterochromaffin cells, which then release large amounts of serotonin.

While serotonin normally helps coordinate digestion, too much of it overwhelms nearby ISCs by activating certain receptors. Instead of supporting repair, this overload acts like a stress signal, triggering oxidative damage inside the stem cells. As that stress builds, your gut’s ability to repair and maintain its lining begins to weaken.

• The researchers observed a clear decrease in stem cell proliferation — ISCs exposed to the sleep-disrupted environment entered a state of diminished activity that directly contributed to the smaller crypt-villus structure. Your crypts house the stem cells, and if crypt depth decreases, the stem cell population becomes more vulnerable to further stressors like alcohol, ultraprocessed foods, and infections.

Published literature reviewed within the paper compared different variables to map out exactly how this chain reaction unfolds. In one example, when vagal signaling was blocked, the gut damage was sharply reduced. When researchers blocked serotonin signaling at a particular receptor, oxidative stress inside the stem cells decreased.

The findings show how interwoven your brain and gut truly are. The DMV responds to your sleep patterns, circadian rhythm, and daily stress exposure. When sleep becomes fragmented, the DMV begins sending distorted messages through the vagus nerve. This distorted communication causes the gut to suffer the consequences.

Sleep Deprivation Leads to Further Dysbiosis in Your Gut

In a related study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, researchers examined how sleep deprivation reshapes the gut microbiome and why these shifts drive digestive problems and body-wide inflammation. Pulling from a mix of human and animal research, they mapped out a full picture of what happens inside your gut when your sleep habits aren’t optimal.6

Rather than focusing on gut structure, which the first featured study covered, this study concentrated on other aspects such as microbial balance, barrier function, immune activation, and chemical messengers that determine how healthy — or inflamed — your digestive system becomes.

• Sleep loss shifts the microbiome into a pattern associated with digestive distress, weight gain, and reduced microbial diversity — All of these issues point to a gut environment under strain. These findings matter because your microbiome helps regulate inflammation, digestion, mood, and metabolic health. When sleep deprivation disrupts that ecosystem, the effects ripple across your entire body.

• Sleep deprivation lowers levels of beneficial gut bacteria, including Akkermansia, Bacteroides, and Faecalibacterium — These microbes are known for strengthening the gut barrier and producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as butyrate, acetate, and propionate that support colon health.

These compounds calm inflammation and help nourish the colon lining. In fact, increased levels of butyrate “have been found to be negatively correlated with cognitive impairment and neuroinflammation,” the researchers reported. At the same time, sleep-deprived animals showed increases in bacteria linked to digestive irritation and immune activation.

• Sleep-deprived animals produce fewer goblet cells — These are cells that create mucus along your intestinal lining. Mucus acts as the gut’s protective coating, keeping irritants and microbes from coming into direct contact with your gut wall. Without enough mucus, the lining becomes more exposed and more reactive.

• Microbial shifts do not require long-term sleep deprivation — In other words, even short-term sleep disruption altered the microbiome composition, reduced SCFA levels, and triggered inflammatory patterns within hours to days.

• Sleep deprivation triggers the TLR4-NF-kappa B pathway, which acts like a molecular alarm system — According to the paper, sleep deprivation increases intestinal permeability, allowing endotoxins to enter the bloodstream and trigger this pathway. Now, TLR4 is a receptor that detects these bacterial fragments, and NF-kappa B is a genetic switch that turns on inflammation.

Once activated, immune cells release cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-1 (IL-1), which drive digestive discomfort and body-wide inflammation.

• Changes in secondary bile metabolism occur due to sleep deprivation — Secondary bile acids, which form due to interaction between intestinal bacteria and primary bile acids, help prevent harmful bacteria from taking over, so losing them weakens your natural defense system. This shift reduces colonization resistance, meaning your gut becomes easier for inflammatory or pathogenic microbes to inhabit.

• Gene expression disruptions occurred within the context of gut function — The microbiome follows a daily rhythm, and when sleep cycles break down, microbial activity becomes irregular and mistimed. When sleep patterns return to normal, gut function improves:7

“It has been shown that melatonin, a hormone that plays a key role in maintaining the circadian rhythm, can effectively reverse harmful SD [sleep deprivation]-induced effects,” the researchers noted.

Correct Your Sleep Habits with These Strategies and Get Proper Rest

The findings are clear: Having your sleep constantly disrupted undermines your health in different ways, and this includes your gut. Considering this, optimizing your sleep habits requires a multifaceted approach to maximize results. Here are my recommendations:

1. Step outside early to reset your body clock — Your brain needs a clear morning signal that the day has begun, and outdoor light provides it. Getting sunlight within the first hour after waking anchors your internal timing system (circadian rhythm) and sets the schedule for melatonin production later that night. If you miss this window, your clock drifts, and bedtime slides later even if you feel tired.

Just 10 to 20 minutes of natural morning light gives your brain the cue it needs to place sleep in its proper slot.

2. Create an inviting environment in your bedroom that signals sleeping time — Your brain sleeps best when your environment tells it the world is quiet and safe. A cool, silent, and fully dark room supports that message.

Use blackout curtains or an eye mask and remove glowing electronics from your room. Shut off Wi-Fi, keep your phone out of reach, and avoid charging devices near your bed. These changes lower nighttime stimulation and silence cues that keep your nervous system on alert when it is supposed to ease into rest.

In addition, minimize artificial light exposure after sunset. Once the sun goes down, indoor lighting and screens work against your sleep rhythms. Artificial light suppresses melatonin production and tricks your brain into thinking the day isn’t over. So, after sundown, dim your environment, avoid overhead lighting, and turn off screens at least an hour before bed to let your brain transition into nighttime mode.

3. Practice proper sleep posture — The very form your body takes while sleeping also influences the overall rest you’re getting. If you fall asleep in an uncomfortable position, you’ll eventually wake up due to the low levels of stress that’s keeping your nervous system up.

To ensure continuous, deep sleep, get a high-quality pillow that supports the natural curvature of your neck while keeping your spine neutral. This reduces muscular tension, allowing your body to completely relax.

4. Stick to a predictable sleep schedule — Going to bed and getting up at the same time every day teaches your brain when to power down. Staying up late and sleeping in — even on weekends — throws off that rhythm. Consistency strengthens your natural sleep drive and improves your ability to fall asleep naturally.

5. Other tips to help you create a proper wind-down routine — When your brain runs wild at night, the groundwork usually starts earlier in the day. Too much stimulation, back-to-back tasks, and late-evening mental effort push your nervous system into overdrive.

Build short breaks into your day, move your body regularly, and avoid heavy cognitive work close to bedtime. When your nervous system gets recovery during daylight hours, it no longer demands attention once you’re trying to sleep. For more practical strategies to get restful sleep every night, read “Top 33 Tips to Optimize Your Sleep Routine.”

Frequently Asked Questions About Sleep Disruption and Its Effects on Digestive Health

Q: How does sleep deprivation damage the gut lining?
A: Even short-term sleep loss triggers hyperactivity in a brainstem region called the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV), which sends abnormal signals through the vagus nerve to the gut. This causes a surge of serotonin that creates oxidative stress in intestinal stem cells (ISCs) — the cells that rebuild your gut lining every three to five days. The result is impaired nutrient absorption and gut defense.

Q: How does poor sleep change the bacteria living in your gut?
A: Sleep deprivation reduces beneficial bacteria like Akkermansia and Faecalibacterium, which maintain the gut barrier and produce anti-inflammatory short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Meanwhile, inflammation-linked bacteria increase. This imbalance happens surprisingly fast, with microbial shifts appearing within hours to days of disrupted sleep.

Q: Why does poor sleep lead to body-wide inflammation, and not just digestive problems?
A: Sleep deprivation increases intestinal permeability, allowing bacterial fragments to leak into the bloodstream and activate the TLR4-NF-κB inflammatory pathway. This triggers release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, meaning a sleep-deprived gut contributes to systemic inflammation and raises the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.

Q: Does the timing of sleep matter, or just the total hours?
A: Timing matters significantly. Circadian misalignment from irregular bedtimes, shift work, or late-night screens produced some of the strongest inflammatory and metabolic disturbances — even when total sleep hours were adequate. Your gut microbiome follows a daily rhythm synced to your sleep cycle, so irregular timing throws it out of sync.

Q: What are the most effective strategies for protecting sleep and gut health?
A: Get outdoor sunlight within the first hour of waking, keep your bedroom dark and electronics-free, avoid screens after sunset, maintain a consistent daily sleep-wake schedule, and manage daytime stress through regular movement and built-in breaks.

Editor’s Note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published April 14, 2024.

Over the past decade, I’ve written many articles discussing the evidence of biological harm from non-ionizing electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation and radiofrequency radiation (RFR) from wireless technologies.

The video above features an interview I did with Siim Land in February 2020 for his Body Mind Empowerment podcast in which I discuss EMF — what it is, your greatest sources of exposure, how it affects your biology, and how to minimize your exposure. I also review how the telecommunications industry manipulates the truth to keep you unaware of the hazards.

While the wireless industry is built on the premise that the only type of radiation capable of causing harm is ionizing — X-rays being one example — researchers have for a long time warned that even non-ionizing and non-heating radiation can jeopardize your health. This includes not only human health, but also that of plants and animals.

Over time, I became so convinced of the deleterious effects of EMF, I took three years to write “EMF*D” which was published in 2020. In it, I reviewed the overwhelming evidence showing EMFs are a hidden health hazard that simply cannot be ignored any longer.

During the pandemic, we also witnessed the rollout and installation of 5G across the country, which has exponentially increased exposures, as it’s added on top of the already existing wireless infrastructure.

The short video below, published by Investigative Europe in January 2019, gives a quick overview of how 5G differs from previous wireless technology. At the time, little if any research had been done on 5G specifically, but between 2022 and 2024, 10 studies have been published that shed more light on this fifth-generation technology.1

5G Appeals for Moratorium Ignored Despite Evidence

The first of these, published in September 2022 in the journal Reviews on Environmental Health,2 provides a good overview of the hazards 5G poses. The authors pointed out that, since September 2017, over 400 scientists and doctors have collectively submitted six appeals to the European Union, calling for a moratorium on 5G technology. All have been ignored.

The September 2021 appeal included an “extensive cover letter” in which experts argued that the EU’s reliance on guidelines by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) places public health at risk because the guidelines only consider “heating and no other health relevant biological effects from RFR.”

The letter countered the ICNIRP’s guidance with research from European and international expert groups detailing myriad adverse biological effects of RFR on humans and the environment. According to the authors:3

“Evidence to establish this position is drawn from studies showing changes to neurotransmitters and receptors, damage to cells, proteins, DNA, sperm, the immune system, and human health, including cancer.

The 2021 Appeal goes on to warn that 5G signals are likely to additionally alter the behavior of oxygen and water molecules at the quantum level, unfold proteins, damage skin, and cause harm to insects, birds, frogs, plants, and animals.”

Aggregation of Signals Pose Serious Concerns

Under the subhead “Great Plans, Great Promises but False Claims,” the authors go on to highlight the government’s own findings:

“… the potential health and safety risks associated with RFR have been exposed in a recent EU-commissioned review of the currently available scientific evidence, the 2021 European Parliamentary Research Service’s EPRS/STOA Health impact of 5G report.4

The conclusions of the comprehensive review declared sufficient evidence for cancer from RFR in animals, sufficient evidence for adverse effects from RFR on the fertility of men, male rats and mice, and that RFR is probably carcinogenic to humans.

In short, the EPRS/STOA report shows that RFR is harmful for health. The report subsequently calls for measures to incentivize the reduction of RF-EMF exposures (p. 153), such as lowering the limit for allowed exposures and the preferential use of wired connections.

Similarly, the EU’s own (ITRE committee) 2019 in-depth analysis, 5G Deployment: State of Play in Europe, USA, and Asia5 warned that, when added to 2G, 3G, 4G, WiFi, WIMAX, DECT, radar etc., 5G will cumulatively lead to dramatically more total radiation: not only from the use of much higher frequencies in 5G but also from the potential for the aggregation of different signals, their dynamic nature, and the complex interference effects that may result, especially in dense urban areas (p 11).

These concerns are based on the complexity of communications signals and the unknowns of their interactions. Electromagnetic signals transmitted by manmade communication devices are not regular waves; rather, they are a complex combination of ultra-high frequency carrier waves, and modulations that encode the messages using extremely-low and ultra-low frequencies.

In addition, the signals are pulsed at ultra-low frequencies (sent in short on-off bursts). This means that although the RFR carrier waves may sit in the high frequency GHz range, their modulations and pulse rates are much closer to brain-wave frequencies; e.g., the 217 Hz pulsing of a GSM phone signal.

Pulsed or modulated RFR signals have been shown to be more bio-active than simple continuous waves of the same intensity and exposure duration. This is of significant concern in relation to public health and is not limited to just the higher 5G frequencies.

Furthermore, as the report noted, the effects of these new complex beam formed signals have unpredictable propagation patterns that could result in unacceptable levels of human exposure to electromagnetic radiation (p. 6) but are yet to be mapped reliably for real situations, outside the laboratory.”

5G Causes Neurological and Psychiatric Problems

The second study,6 published in November 2022, investigated the effects of 4.9 GHz (one of several 5G frequencies) RFR on the emotional behaviors and spatial memory in adult male mice. The exposure was found to induce “depression-like behavior” caused by “neuronal pyroptosis in the amygdala.”

Pyroptosis is a form of programmed cell death distinct from other forms of apoptosis, characterized by its inflammatory response. It involves the swelling and bursting of the cell, leading to the release of proinflammatory cytokines and intracellular contents that can trigger an immune response in the surrounding tissue.

This process is controlled by gasdermin proteins, which form pores in the cell membrane, and is often initiated in response to infections by pathogens or other signals indicating cellular damage.

5G induces cell death in the amygdala, a region of the brain involved in emotion regulation, memory, and decision-making.

The amygdala is a region of the brain involved in emotion regulation, memory, and decision-making. So, pyroptosis in this area could be indicative of neurological damage or inflammation, affecting emotional regulation, behavior, and cognitive functions.

This could be relevant in the context of neurodegenerative diseases, brain injuries or infections that impact the central nervous system, leading to various neurological and psychiatric implications.

4 Studies Confirm 5G’s Impact on Neurology

Another four studies published in 2023 also show a variety of damage occurring in the brain:

• 5G increases permeability of the blood-brain barrier7 — In the first, RFR from 5G cellphones at 3.5 GHz or 4.9 GHz for one hour per day for 35 days straight was found to increase the permeability of the BBB in the cerebral cortex of mice.

• RFR impairs neurogenesis and causes neuronal DNA damage8 — In the second, continuous RFR from cellphones at 2115 MHz for eight hours was shown to induce higher levels of lipid peroxidation, carbon-centered lipid radicals, and single-strand DNA damage, resulting in impaired neurogenesis in the hippocampal region and neuronal degeneration in the dentate gyrus region.

Translation: Cellphone radiation causes cognitive impairment and deficits, behavioral changes and dysfunctional mood regulation, neurodegenerative disorders (due to the oxidative stress within neurons) and psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression.

• Electromagnetic radiation associated with anxiety9 — This study found anxiety-like behavior in male mice exposed to electromagnetic radiation at 2650 MHz for four hours a day for 28 days.

• 5G may promote dementia10 — Lastly, a follow-up study on previous research concluded that RFRs at 1.8 GHz to 3.5 GHz:

◦ Inhibit neurosin, an enzyme that plays a role in brain health, including the breakdown of proteins that, if not properly managed, could lead to conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. This finding suggests that cellphone radiation could interfere with the brain’s ability to prevent the buildup of harmful proteins.

◦ Inhibit the electrical activity of neurons in vitro — Neurons communicate with each other using electrical signals and this activity is crucial for everything your brain does, from processing sensory information to controlling muscle movements. Inhibiting electrical activity means disrupting normal brain cell communication, which could impact brain functions.

5G Affects Brain Development

An October 2023 study11 by Bodin et al. investigated the effects of exposure to 5G during the perinatal period — around the time of birth — on the neurodevelopment of rats. The main goal of this study was to explore how being exposed to 5G EMF around the time of birth affects the brain development of rats as they grow into juveniles and adolescents.

Both male and female rat pups exposed to 5G EMF showed delayed incisor (front teeth) eruption. This indicates that EMF exposure could slow down certain aspects of physical development. The study also found notable differences in behavior based on the sex of the rats.

In adolescent female rats, there was a significant reduction (70%) in stereotyped movements, such as repetitive patterns of behavior, in the open field test. This suggests that exposure may reduce certain repetitive behaviors in females. In contrast, male rats exhibited a 50% increase in stereotyped movements, indicating that the same exposure led to an increase in repetitive behaviors.

In short, the research suggests that exposure to 5G EMF at levels below the regulatory threshold during a critical period of development (perinatal period) has the potential to cause disturbances in neurodevelopment. These effects are seen in juvenile and adolescent descendants and manifest differently in males and females.

While it’s difficult to predict what the human health implications of this might be, it’s worth noting that repetitive behaviors are often associated with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In such cases, these behaviors may signal underlying neurological differences and can impact an individual’s social interactions, learning, and daily functioning.

In some instances, repetitive behaviors can also be symptomatic of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), stress-related disorders, and self-harming behaviors such as skin picking or hair pulling. For some individuals, repetitive behaviors can interfere with attention and focus, affecting academic performance, workplace productivity, and the ability to complete daily tasks efficiently.

It can also affect an individual’s social interactions and relationships, and can lead to social isolation, bullying, or stigma, particularly in children and adolescents, further impacting emotional well-being and self-esteem. Repetitive behaviors, particularly those associated with anxiety or compulsive disorders, can also disrupt sleep patterns, leading to insomnia or poor sleep quality, which in turn affects overall health and well-being.

RFR Decimates Male Fertility — Melatonin Can Help Restore It

A December 2023 study,12 which explored the negative effects of long-term exposure to 2100 MHz RFR on rat sperm characteristics, brought both good and bad news.

On the downside, male rats exposed to RFR at 2100 MHz for 30 minutes a day had a significantly higher percentage of sperm with abnormal shapes. There was also a significant reduction in the total sperm count among the exposed rats.

At a more detailed level, examining the sperm structure under a microscope (the ultrastructural level), damage was observed in critical parts of the sperm, including the:

Acrosome, a cap-like structure that helps the sperm penetrate an egg
Axoneme, the central shaft of the sperm tail
Mitochondrial sheath, which powers the sperm tail’s movement
Outer dense fibers, which are part of the sperm tail

The good news is that melatonin supplementation was able to prevent these problems. Rats given 10 milligrams of melatonin per kilo of bodyweight via subcutaneous administration had increased sperm counts and the proportion of sperms with normal shapes increased. Moreover, the ultrastructural damage to sperm caused by RF exposure was fully reversed. As reported by the authors:

“The percentages of abnormal sperm morphology were significantly increased with RF exposure, while the total sperm count was significantly decreased … The number of total sperms, sperms with normal morphology increased, and ultrastructural appearance returned to normal by melatonin administration.”

Case Study of an 8-Year-Old Boy

In January 2024, Hardell et al. presented a case study13 of an eight-year-old boy experiencing severe headaches and other symptoms while attending a school located near a mobile phone tower equipped with 5G base stations.

The boy’s school is situated 200 meters away from a mobile phone tower with 5G base stations, with his classroom being 285 meters away. Soon after starting school, he began experiencing headaches, which were initially sporadic, not occurring every day or every week.

By autumn 2023, the boy’s headaches intensified, occurring daily and rated as a 10 on a 10-grade scale, where 0 signifies no discomfort and 10 indicates unbearable pain. He also experienced fatigue (rated 5) and occasional dizziness (rated 7), specifically while at school. At home, he occasionally had mild headaches (rated 2) that subsided relatively quickly.

In the autumn of 2023, he started wearing an RF-protective cap and outerwear at school, both indoors and outside, after which the headaches vanished.

This paper also cites epidemiological studies and laboratory research linking RF radiation exposure to cancer through mechanisms such as oxidative stress, mRNA effects and DNA damage, and argues for classifying RF radiation as a Group 1 human carcinogen, noting that “This classification should have a major impact on prevention measures.”

5G Alters Your Microbiome

Lastly, a February 2024 study14 by Wang et al. examined the impact of 5G RFR on the fecal microbiome and metabolome profiles in mice. The results indicated that the mice exposed to RFR experienced significant alterations in their intestinal microbial compositions, characterized by a decrease in microbial diversity and shifts in the microbial community distribution.

Through metabolomics profiling, the researchers identified 258 metabolites that were significantly differentially abundant in the mice exposed to RF fields compared to controls, which suggests it can have a profound impact on metabolic processes.

The authors concluded that exposure to 4.9 GHz RFR can cause intestinal microbiota dysbiosis in mice and hypothesized that the observed imbalances in gut microbiota and metabolism might be linked to depression-like behaviors in mice seen in so many studies. The imbalance in the metabolic profile may also be associated with changes in immune regulation or inflammation.

5G Will Harm Every Living Being

In September 2019, the Minister for Communications, Hon. Paul Fletcher MP asked the Committee to complete an inquiry into the “deployment, adoption, and application of 5G in Australia.”15 In response, Paul Barratt, on behalf of ElectricSense, submitted a document, available as a download from aph.org, stating, in part:

“5G is dangerous and will harm every living being. Thousands of studies link low-level wireless radio frequency radiation exposures to a long list of adverse biological effects, including:

DNA single and double strand breaks
oxidative damage
disruption of cell metabolism
increased blood brain barrier permeability
melatonin reduction
disruption to brain glucose metabolism
generation of stress proteins

Let’s not also forget that in 2011 the World Health Organization (WHO) classified radio frequency radiation as a possible 2B carcinogen. More recently the $25 million National Toxicology Program concluded that radio frequency radiation of the type currently used by cell phones can cause cancer.

But where does 5G fit into all this? Given that 5G is set to utilize frequencies above and below existing frequency bands 5G sits in the middle of all this. But the tendency (it varies from country to country) is for 5G to utilize the higher frequency bands. Which brings its own particular concerns.”

Barratt goes on to list “11 reasons to be concerned about 5G radiation,” including:

Denser electrosmog
Skin diseases and pain, as “analyses of penetration depth show that more than 90% of the transmitted power is absorbed in the epidermis and dermis layer”16
Eye damage
Effects on the heart, including impacts on heart rate variability and arrhythmias
Reduced immune function
Depressed cell growth rates and alterations in cell properties and cell activity
Increased risk of antibiotic-resistant pathogens
Necrosis in plants, and the possibility that plant foods may become unsuitable for human consumption
Atmospheric effects and fossil fuel depletion
Ecosystem disruptions
Misleading 5G study results, as most do not pulse the waves. As noted by Barratt, “This is important because research on microwaves already tells us how pulsed waves have more profound biological effects on our body compared to non-pulsed waves. Previous studies, for instance, show how pulse rates of the frequencies led to gene toxicity and DNA strand breaks”

Protect Yourself and Your Family from Excessive EMF

There’s no doubt in my mind that RF-EMF exposure is a significant hazard that needs to be addressed if you’re concerned about your health. The rollout of 5G certainly makes remedial action more difficult, but the added hazards are all the more reason to get involved and do what we can to minimize exposure.

Here are several suggestions that will help reduce your EMF exposure and help mitigate damage from unavoidable exposures. For even more do’s and don’ts, see the infographic by the Environmental Health Trust below.

• Identify major sources of EMF, such as your cellphone, cordless phones, Wi-Fi routers, Bluetooth headsets, and other Bluetooth-equipped items, wireless mice, keyboards, smart thermostats, baby monitors, smart meters, and the microwave in your kitchen. Ideally, address each source and determine how you can best limit their use.

Barring a life-threatening emergency, children should not use a cellphone or a wireless device of any type. Children are far more vulnerable to cellphone radiation than adults due to having thinner skull bones.

Research17 also demonstrates that infants under the age of 1 do not effectively learn language from videos, and do not transfer what they learn from the iPad to the real world, so it’s a mistake to think electronic devices provide valuable education.

• Connect your desktop computer to the internet via a wired Ethernet connection and be sure to put your desktop in airplane mode. Also avoid wireless keyboards, trackballs, mice, game systems, printers, and portable house phones. Opt for the wired versions.

• If you need to use Wi-Fi, shut it off when not in use, especially at night when you’re sleeping. Ideally, work toward hardwiring your house so you can eliminate Wi-Fi altogether. If you have a notebook without any Ethernet ports, a USB Ethernet adapter will allow you to connect to the internet with a wired connection.

• Avoid using wireless chargers for your cellphone, as they too will increase EMFs throughout your home. Wireless charging is also far less energy efficient than using a dongle attached to a power plug, as it draws continuous power (and emits EMF) whether you’re using it or not.

• Shut off the electricity to your bedroom at night. This typically works to reduce electrical fields from the wires in your wall unless there is an adjoining room next to your bedroom. If that is the case, you will need to use a meter to determine if you also need to turn off power in the adjacent room.

• Use a battery-powered alarm clock, ideally one without any light.

• If you still use a microwave oven, consider replacing it with a steam convection oven, which will heat your food as quickly and far more safely.

• Avoid using “smart” appliances and thermostats that depend on wireless signaling. This would include all new “smart” TVs. They are called smart because they emit a Wi-Fi signal and, unlike your computer, you cannot shut the Wi-Fi signal off. Consider using a large computer monitor as your TV instead, as they don’t emit Wi-Fi.

• Refuse a smart meter on your home as long as you can, or add a shield to an existing smart meter, some of which have been shown to reduce radiation by 98% to 99%.18

• Consider moving your baby’s bed into your room instead of using a wireless baby monitor. Alternatively, use a hard-wired monitor.

• Replace CFL bulbs with incandescent bulbs. Ideally remove all fluorescent lights from your house. Not only do they emit unhealthy light, but more importantly, they will actually transfer current to your body just being close to the bulbs.

• Avoid carrying your cellphone on your body unless in airplane mode and never sleep with it in your bedroom unless it is in airplane mode. Even in airplane mode it can emit signals, which is why I put my phone in a Faraday bag.19

• When using your cellphone, use the speaker phone and hold the phone at least 3 feet away from you. Seek to radically decrease your time on the cellphone. Instead, use VoIP software phones that you can use while connected to the internet via a wired connection.

• Avoid using your cellphone and other electronic devices at least an hour (preferably several) before bed, as the blue light from the screen and EMFs both inhibit melatonin production.20,21

Research clearly shows that heavy computer and cellphone users are more prone to insomnia.22 For example, one 2008 study23 revealed that people exposed to radiation from their mobile phones for three hours before bedtime had more trouble falling asleep and staying in a deep sleep.

• The effects of EMFs are reduced by calcium-channel blockers, so make sure you’re getting enough magnesium. Most people are deficient in magnesium, which will worsen the impact of EMFs. As previously noted by EMF expert Dr. Martin Pall:

“When you’re deficient in magnesium, you get excessive activity of the VGCCs. You also get excessive calcium influx through the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, caused by magnesium deficiency, which is also problematic, so it’s important to allay that deficiency.”

• Pall has also published a paper24 suggesting that raising your level of Nrf2 helps ameliorate EMF damage. One simple way to activate Nrf2 is to consume Nrf2-boosting food compounds. Examples include sulforaphane-containing cruciferous vegetables, foods high in phenolic antioxidants, carotenoids (especially lycopene), sulfur compounds from allium vegetables, isothiocyanates from the cabbage group, and terpenoid-rich foods.

• Molecular hydrogen has been shown to target free radicals produced in response to radiation, such as peroxynitrites. Studies have shown molecular hydrogen can mitigate about 80% of this damage.25,26,27,28,29

Molecular hydrogen will also activate Nrf2, a biological hormetic that upregulates superoxide dismutase, catalase, and all the other beneficial intercellular antioxidants. This in turn lowers inflammation, improves your mitochondrial function and stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis.

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Is your ability to process large amounts of information falling behind these days? Are your reaction times slowing down? If you think that this is just part of aging, you’re wrong. According to newly published research, it’s possible that you’re just not getting enough resistance exercise.

The solution? Making weightlifting a part of your health routine. Based on the findings of a recent study, even a single session is enough to make your brain sharper than before.

Resistance Exercise Spurs You to Think Faster Immediately

A study published in Psychophysiology investigated how a single session of moderate-intensity resistance exercise affects your ability to think quickly and stay mentally sharp. Participants were 121 healthy adults between 18 and 50 years old who had no neurological disorders or major health concerns that would interfere with exercise or cognition.1

After a supervised workout that used common resistance exercises at moderate intensity, the participants completed two computerized tests — one that measured inhibitory control and another that tested working memory. The researchers tested how one workout could already shift both behavior and brain signaling in ways that strengthen executive function, which includes skills like staying focused, resisting distractions, and switching between tasks.

• The findings were immediate — Reaction times improved after the resistance session, while accuracy stayed the same. In other words, the participants’ brains thought faster without making more mistakes. This shows that even a single session is enough to sharpen your thinking for tasks you do the same day.

If you face busy work schedules, intense study sessions, or complex projects, starting your workout session earlier in the day to aid in mental performance afterward can be a viable strategy.

• A detailed look at the data — The researchers reported that reaction time on the inhibitory control test improved with an effect size (the magnitude of the difference between groups2) of 0.37, which they described as a moderate improvement in processing speed. That means the workout didn’t only make people feel more alert — they responded faster when the task required them to ignore irrelevant information or manage competing cues.

The working-memory task showed an even larger improvement in reaction time, with an effect size of 0.46, reinforcing the idea that resistance exercise supports quicker mental operations across different executive skills.

• The study explored changes in brain activity, focusing on a signal called the P3 component — This is an electrical marker your brain produces when it evaluates and updates information. The authors noted that after resistance exercise, P3 latency significantly decreased during the inhibitory-control task.

A shorter P3 latency means the brain completed its information-processing step quicker. Since this shift appeared only after exercise and not after rest, it highlights a clear connection between the workout and faster neural timing.

• How the body’s physical responses influenced mental changes — The researchers measured systolic blood pressure and blood lactate, which are two biomarkers that naturally rise during resistance exercise. Their analysis showed that systolic blood pressure partially mediated the relationship between the workout and faster reaction times.

In other words, the temporary rise in blood pressure helped explain why people processed information faster. But this isn’t a sign that high blood pressure is good — it means the normal, short-term increase during exercise help push more oxygen-rich blood to the brain, enabling quicker thinking when the task demands it.

• Comparisons between the different physiological measures also revealed interesting findings — While both lactate and systolic blood pressure increased after exercise, only systolic blood pressure explained part of the cognitive improvement.

Lactate rose sharply — as expected after resistance training — but did not mediate any cognitive benefits. However, the researchers noted that it serves another purpose, which is fuel. In fact, they noted that it supports “up to 75% of the brain’s oxidative metabolism, and acting as an additional fuel source.”

• Improvements appeared across all healthy participants tested — However, the authors did emphasize that faster processing happened without any drop in accuracy, which matters because many activities in daily life require both speed and precision.

Even the Youth Gain Cognitive Benefits from Resistance Exercise

According to a meta-analysis published in Sports Medicine, resistance training positively affects thought processes and school performance in children and teenagers. The researchers pooled together 53 intervention studies and an additional 43 association studies, giving the authors a broad view of how strengthening the body influences the developing brain.3

Participants were school-aged youth between 5 and 18 years old from diverse backgrounds, school systems, and fitness levels. The exercise programs evaluated in the meta-analysis ranged from basic bodyweight routines to structured weightlifting sessions performed two to three times per week.

• The children gained cognitive benefits from weightlifting — Across the reviewed studies, resistance training consistently supports improvements in thinking skills, on-task classroom behavior, and general academic outcomes. The authors described the overall effect as “a small, positive effect on the combined outcomes of cognition, academic achievement, and on-task behaviour in school-aged youth.”

• The rate of improvement across academic-related outcomes showed up clearly in focused-strength programs — When resistance training was the primary intervention, the effect size increased to 0.26, meaning these programs promoted sharper thinking and better academic behaviors more than mixed exercise programs.

• The review also distinguished what improved most — The clearest gains surfaced in “on-task behavior” category, which reflects how well students stay engaged during lessons rather than drifting off or being distracted.

Even small boosts in on-task behavior translate into more learning absorbed per class period, smoother classroom flow, and less frustration for both students and teachers.

• Benefits are apparent right away — Many of the reviewed studies lasted only a few weeks, yet the authors already found measurable improvements in cognitive and academic outcomes. This means that short programs can already drastically benefit students within school timeframes, provided that educators can reasonably implement them.

• Some groups of participants appeared to gain more than others — Programs that targeted children with lower baseline muscular fitness produced more pronounced improvements in cognitive outcomes. As such, improving muscular strength for kids with school problems allows them to break through both physical and cognitive barriers at the same time.

• Strength training alone is more than enough to create cognitive benefits — The review also compared variables across studies to determine which exercise components mattered most. The authors found that resistance training alone produced clearer benefits than concurrent training, where strength and aerobic exercise were combined.

• The hypothesis stands up even when the research parameters were widened — The researchers also included 43 association studies, which showed that young people with higher muscular fitness scores have better cognitive performance and higher academic achievement overall.

While these studies cannot confirm cause and effect, the pattern was strong enough to support a clear link between stronger bodies and sharper minds.

• The theory behind the benefits — The review did not include an analysis of biological mechanisms, but the researchers did outline a hypothesis. Based on the reviewed literature, resistance training facilitates neurogenesis, resulting in improved executive function.4

Strength Training Tips for Beginners

It’s tempting to go all-out so you can gain the cognitive benefits of resistance training right away. However, this is a mistake that many beginners make, as more isn’t always better, especially when it comes to exercising. In fact, overdoing it actually shortens your lifespan.

• Optimal longevity returns top out at about 40 to 60 minutes of lifting per week — In my interview with Dr. James O’Keefe, a cardiologist with the Mid-America Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, he showed me his research5 that pushing yourself too hard in the gym can actually work against you, especially when high-intensity training becomes excessive.

O’Keefe’s data reveals a J-shaped relationship between weekly strength training and overall mortality — benefits rise up to roughly 40 to 60 minutes per week, then level off, and eventually start to decline.

• Why excess training shortens your lifespan — Long sessions of strenuous weightlifting put the body under continuous strain. Over time, this contributes to problems like heart stress, overuse injuries, and a greater likelihood of joint or muscle damage. Overtraining also hampers your ability to recover, leading to persistent fatigue, lower performance, and a weakened immune system.

• More than two hours a week cancels out the gains — Strength training for a total of 130 to 140 minutes of each week erases the longevity edge that exercise is supposed to offer. In other words, if you spend three to four hours lifting weekly, your long-term survival outcomes look no better compared to people who do not lift at all.

• Too much lifting may be worse than doing nothing — While vigorous activity is generally healthier than total inactivity, excessive strength training is an exception. For reasons still not fully understood, going overboard with heavy, high-intensity workouts can leave you in a worse position than staying sedentary.

• Stick to 20 minutes twice weekly and don’t overfocus on lifting — The training takeaway here is simple. Keep strength sessions short and spaced out. Aim for about 20 minutes two times per week on nonconsecutive days, or a single 40-minute session. Think of strength work as a supplement to your routine, not its foundation. Moderate activities like walking deliver far broader longevity benefits.

• Even brief weekly sessions support healthy aging — If you’re having a hard time finding a consistent schedule, even lifting weights weekly is enough to boost your health. This modest level of training is consistent with research6 from Brigham Young University, showing that small weekly doses — as little as 10 to 50 minutes — can positively influence telomere length. In other words, just a little, regular strength work can help slow biological aging without exposing you to the risks of overtraining.

To learn more about the benefits of weight training for older adults and how to incorporate it into your workout routine, read “Strength Training Turns Back the Clock on Your Biological Age.”

Experiment by Incorporating Blood Flow Restriction Training

Resistance exercise already does a great deal for your overall health, and you can amplify its effects further with one simple tweak — wrapping bands around your limbs as you work out. This approach, called blood flow restriction (BFR) training — or KAATSU in Japan — involves partially limiting circulation to the arms or legs during exercise.

• How KAATSU works — Cyclical restriction of blood flow during resistance exercise stimulates the release of anti-inflammatory myokines that promote muscle growth. This is especially valuable for older adults who want to maintain strength without lifting heavy weights. Steven Munatones, a leading figure in the KAATSU community, describes the mechanism this way:

“KAATSU cycle is basically a very clever biohack that will allow the muscles to work and allow the vascular tissue to become more elastic. You don’t perceive the pain of heavy lifting, but your vascular tissue and muscle fibers are being worked out just as effectively, and you can do it for a longer period of time.”

• Your bone mineral density also improves — Research published in Frontiers in Physiology7 found that participants who practiced BFR training three times per week over six weeks experienced improvements in bone formation markers, even while using low-intensity movements. “BFR resistance training was effective for stimulating acute bone formation marker and hormone responses,” they emphasized.

Another study8 mirrored these findings, which involved a group of inactive adolescent girls. Results showed that low-intensity BFR produced benefits comparable to high-intensity routines. Notably, it reduced levels of C-terminal telopeptide (CTX), a biomarker linked with bone breakdown.

• KAATSU can also fit into your daily routine — If you’re struggling to set time aside for regular workouts, you can use KAATSU wherever you go. Munatones notes that you can wear the bands while doing simple, daily activities:

“Putting the KAATSU bands on your legs and walking down to the beach, walking your dog or just walking around the neighborhood, standing, cleaning your windows of your house, folding your clothes, banging out emails, all of these things can be done with the KAATSU bands on your arms or legs. You’re getting the benefit of exercise.”

To learn more, check out my previous article, “How to Stay Fit for Life,” in which I review the science behind KAATSU and explain in greater detail how to use it.

The main difference between KAATSU and BFR is the tool you’re using. BFR can be done with restriction bands, but KAATSU uses a device that also provides intermittent and not just constant pressure. The KAATSU set is ideal as it is far easier to dial in to the correct pressures. You also get the benefit of intermittent pressure automatically, without having to adjust the bands yourself.

I recommend the C4 model, because the C-series doesn’t have Bluetooth (which emits harmful electromagnetic fields). For a limited time, you can get 10% off any KAATSU equipment by using the promo code DRM.

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A New Series of Health Insights Is on the Way

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A New Series of Health Insights Is on the Way

Our team has been working behind the scenes to prepare new research and practical health
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I’m currently in the process of publishing a scientific paper and writing a book that takes a deep dive into liver health, including the overlooked root causes of liver dysfunction and what you can do to reverse them.

The fact is, liver disease has become one of the most overlooked public health threats of our time, quietly damaging the organs of millions of people who feel perfectly fine. You could be living with significant liver scarring and have no idea — until symptoms finally emerge, and by then, it’s often too late to reverse course. The real danger isn’t liver fat itself.

It’s the silent buildup of fibrosis — scar tissue that forms when your liver is repeatedly injured and doesn’t have a chance to heal properly. That scarring is what sets the stage for cirrhosis, organ failure, and cancer. This form of liver disease is fueled by common, everyday problems like insulin resistance, excess belly fat, and poor mitochondrial function.

New data published in medical journals show just how common advanced liver damage has become, especially in people over 50.1 What’s more concerning is that conventional lab tests won’t pick it up. You can have “normal” liver enzyme levels and still be progressing toward irreversible fibrosis. And if you have Type 2 diabetes, the risk is exponentially higher.

But you’re not powerless here. Researchers are sounding the alarm and pushing for new, noninvasive screening tools that catch this condition early. Plus, there are lifestyle changes to reverse the trajectory before your liver crosses the point of no return.

Most People at Risk for Liver Failure Are Never Told They Have It
A paper published in The Lancet Regional Health Europe outlined a major gap in liver disease care: most people with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and fibrosis — what the researchers call “at-risk MASH” — don’t know they have it until it’s too late.2
The researchers called for doubling diagnosis rates by 2027, warning that without early detection, millions could progress to irreversible cirrhosis or liver cancer. They focused on expanding diagnostics beyond liver specialists and shifting testing into primary care, where the highest-risk patients are already being seen regularly.

• Older adults with diabetes or obesity are most affected — The study highlighted that MASH with moderate to advanced fibrosis is particularly common in people over age 50 and those living with Type 2 diabetes or obesity.

In these groups, the disease often advances without noticeable symptoms, leading to missed opportunities for prevention. By the time these individuals receive a diagnosis — often triggered by unrelated imaging or advanced symptoms — the window for full recovery has usually closed.

• Current diagnostic systems are outdated and missing early-stage disease — Right now, liver disease is often diagnosed using liver enzymes like alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), but the cutoffs are too high and outdated.

According to the paper, many labs still use upper limits that miss early fibrosis. The researchers suggested lowering the thresholds to align with more modern standards of ALT greater than 33 IU/L for men and greater than 25 IU/L for women.

However, in my interview with Dr. Bryan Walsh, a naturopathic physician extensively trained in molecular biological pathways and an associate professor at the University of Western States, he explains that the medical literature “very clearly show that, a) men and women should have a different AST and ALT reference range, and b), [the ideal range] is not much above 20 U/L.”

• Primary care providers are missing clear opportunities to screen — People with cardiometabolic diseases, including prediabetes, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes, typically have frequent doctor visits, which represent missed chances to test for liver fibrosis. The paper recommends using these visits to incorporate routine screening tools into electronic health records. The goal is to make liver checks as common as blood pressure, cholesterol, or A1C testing.

Liver Scarring, Not Fat, Is What Puts You at Risk

While fat in the liver (steatosis) has been the main diagnostic target for decades, The Lancet Regional Health Europe paper emphasized that fibrosis stage — not fat content — is the main predictor of death or progression to cancer.3 Moderate fibrosis marks the point at which your liver begins losing function. Once fibrosis reaches more advanced stages or cirrhosis, the damage is harder — sometimes impossible — to reverse.

• Fibrosis silently progresses due to chronic metabolic dysfunction — The researchers explained that chronic inflammation caused by insulin resistance, toxic fat buildup, and oxidative stress leads to scar tissue forming in the liver. Over time, this scarring disrupts blood flow, stiffens tissue, and triggers a cascade of dysfunction that affects your entire body, from your metabolism to your immune system.

• The earlier fibrosis is found, the more reversible it is — Fibrosis at the minimal scarring stage can often be reversed through diet, lifestyle, and targeted therapies if caught in time. But once fibrosis progresses beyond this point, reversing the damage becomes far more difficult, even with aggressive treatment. Early detection isn’t just helpful — it’s necessary for meaningful recovery.

How Words Affect Whether People Seek Liver Care

An analysis published in Nature Medicine examined how stigma, especially surrounding alcohol use, prevents people from seeking timely diagnosis and treatment for liver disease.4 The authors argued that outdated language, including clinical labels like “alcoholic cirrhosis,” is not only inaccurate but actively harmful. They proposed new person-first terminology that emphasizes health status over blame, with the goal of improving care access and patient engagement.

• Patients delay or avoid care because of shame tied to the disease label — Researchers found that patients with liver conditions often experience guilt, internalized shame, and discrimination from health care providers and insurers, especially when their disease is linked to alcohol. Even people with metabolic liver conditions like MASH, who don’t drink heavily or at all, often fear judgment and delay seeking help. This contributes to late-stage diagnoses and reduced survival.

• Language influences medical bias, policy, and treatment decisions — The paper showed that stigmatizing language has real consequences in care delivery. People with liver disease often receive worse care, are deprioritized for transplants, and face lower-quality pain management simply due to the perceived behavioral causes of their illness. This bias also extends into health care funding and policy, reinforcing a cycle of neglect.

• Reframing liver disease in human terms helps improve outcomes — Instead of labels like “alcoholic” or “fatty liver,” the authors recommend phrases like “person with steatotic liver disease” or “individual managing MASH.” These terms reduce identity-based judgment and shift the focus toward solutions and support. Just as cancer and mental health advocacy have benefited from reframing language, liver care should follow the same path.

• The researchers called for broad changes in global disease classification systems — According to the paper, global coding systems like the International Classification of Diseases still use outdated and stigmatizing terms, reinforcing harm at every level of care. By updating these systems to reflect person-first, nonjudgmental language, health care providers could help increase early screening, reduce treatment delays, and improve survival rates.

Most People with Liver Damage Don’t Know Until It’s Advanced

A 2023 narrative review published in Cureus similarly focused on the silent progression of chronic liver disease and the urgent need for earlier screening, especially in people with metabolic risk factors.5 The paper highlighted how the liver sustains ongoing damage for years without causing symptoms, making early intervention difficult. As a result, many people only get diagnosed when they develop cirrhosis or complications like fluid retention, confusion, or internal bleeding.

• Patients typically remain undiagnosed until severe symptoms appear — Researchers noted that early signs, like fatigue, mild abdominal discomfort, or bloating, are either too vague or too easily dismissed, both by patients and providers. This is especially dangerous for people with underlying metabolic conditions, such as insulin resistance or obesity, who are already at higher risk.

• Common liver disease triggers were categorized into four main types — The review grouped liver disease into four overlapping causes: alcohol use, hepatitis viruses, fatty liver related to metabolic dysfunction, and autoimmune or genetic disorders. In real life, many of these overlap. A person might have mild alcohol intake and also be overweight or diabetic, which accelerates progression. This complexity is part of why the disease goes undetected — it doesn’t follow one clear path or profile.

• Researchers identified the biggest diagnostic blind spots in clinical care — Despite known risk factors, physicians rarely screen for liver fibrosis unless liver enzymes are elevated or symptoms appear. But, as mentioned, liver enzyme tests are often normal in the early stages, so fibrosis silently continues. The review emphasized that relying on enzymes alone is a flawed approach. Noninvasive imaging and biomarker tests are far better tools for early-stage detection.

• Cutting-edge diagnostics are emerging, but underused — The paper introduced newer testing methods gaining ground in research and clinical practice, including elastography — a type of ultrasound that measures liver stiffness — microRNA markers, and polygenic risk scores. These tools catch liver damage before symptoms arise, especially in people with metabolic dysfunction. However, access and awareness remain low, particularly outside specialist settings.

People with Diabetes Are at the Center of the Liver Disease Epidemic

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), about 7 out of 10 people with Type 2 diabetes have some degree of fat buildup in their liver.6 Even more concerning, nearly 1 in 5 already have hidden scarring, which often leads to cirrhosis if left untreated.

• Doctors are being urged to start checking liver health like they check blood sugar — The ADA recommends a simple two-step screening process that starts with a blood test called the fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4). If that’s high, it should be followed by a scan that checks how stiff your liver is. This reveals early signs of liver damage before symptoms ever show up.

• Liver disease in diabetes affects your whole body, not just your liver — When liver damage progresses, it raises your risk for heart disease, kidney problems, cancer, and even early death. People with both diabetes and liver disease are even more likely to die early compared to those without either condition.

• Catching liver issues early gives you the best shot at recovery — The good news is that liver scarring is often reversible — if you catch it in time. Simple lifestyle shifts, like cutting out harmful oils, losing belly fat, and improving your diet, can go a long way toward stopping the damage before it turns into something more serious.7

How to Stop Liver Disease Before It Starts

If you’ve been told your liver enzymes are “a little high,” if you’re dealing with Type 2 diabetes or stubborn belly fat, or if you’re over 50 and have never had your liver checked — now’s the time. The earlier you act, the better your odds of reversing liver scarring and preventing cirrhosis or cancer down the road. Liver disease doesn’t show up on your radar until it’s advanced, but the damage begins years earlier. I want you to be ahead of it. Here’s how:

1. Cut out vegetable oils and alcohol immediately — If you’re eating packaged foods made with soybean oil, canola, corn oil, or anything that says “vegetable oil,” your liver is under attack. These oils are high in linoleic acid (LA), a mitochondrial poison that disrupts cellular energy, promotes fat accumulation in your liver and drives inflammation. Toss out the junk and cook with butter, tallow, ghee, or coconut oil instead.

Cutting back on alcohol is just as important as eliminating vegetable oils. Both alcohol and polyunsaturated fats like LA overwhelm your liver in similar ways. When your body metabolizes vegetable oils, they turn into toxic byproducts called oxidized linoleic acid metabolites, or OXLAMs. These are a type of reactive aldehyde — unstable, highly damaging molecules that disrupt cell membranes and set off chronic inflammation.

Alcohol does something very similar. It’s broken down into acetaldehyde, another reactive aldehyde that harms your mitochondria and accelerates aging at the cellular level. Both types of aldehydes interfere with your liver’s ability to detoxify, regenerate, and store energy. If you already have signs of insulin resistance, belly fat, or elevated liver enzymes, avoiding both vegetable oils and alcohol gives your body the best chance to reverse the damage before it becomes permanent.

2. Add choline-rich foods to help your liver move fat out before it causes damage — Choline is essential for clearing fat from your liver. Without enough of it, fat starts to pile up in your liver cells, eventually leading to inflammation and scarring. Think of choline as the nutrient that keeps your liver’s traffic flowing — without it, everything gets backed up.

The best food source is pastured egg yolks, but be sure to look for low-PUFA eggs. Grass fed beef liver is another option that delivers a highly absorbable form of choline. Choline isn’t optional — it’s required for making phosphatidylcholine, a molecule your liver needs to package and export fats. Without it, those fats get stuck, and that’s when the damage begins.

3. Consider a choline supplement if your diet falls short — If you avoid animal products, getting enough choline becomes a real challenge. Plant-based sources like cruciferous vegetables offer only small amounts, and you’d need to eat unrealistic quantities to meet your needs. In that case, a supplement isn’t just helpful — it’s often necessary to avoid deficiency.

One underrated option is citicoline, a form of choline that’s been largely overlooked because most products use doses that are far too low to have a real effect. But at therapeutic levels — between 500 milligrams (mg) and 2,500 mg per day — citicoline supports your liver’s ability to export fats, while also helping your brain make acetylcholine, a key neurotransmitter. If you’re dealing with liver stress, insulin resistance, or brain fog, this is a smart addition to your routine.

4. Move every day and keep your waist in check — I’m not talking about running marathons. Just take a brisk walk after meals, stretch, and do a bodyweight circuit a few times a week. The goal is to keep insulin low and blood flowing through your liver. If your waist is over 40 inches (men) or 35 inches (women), focus on trimming visceral fat — it’s the type that’s directly tied to liver scarring.

FAQs About Liver Disease

Q: What makes liver fibrosis more dangerous than liver fat?

A: Liver fat is often reversible, but fibrosis — scarring caused by repeated liver injury — is what drives disease progression. It disrupts liver function, impairs detoxification, and raises your risk of cirrhosis, liver failure, and cancer. Fibrosis, not fat, is the key predictor of poor outcomes.

Q: Why do so many people with liver disease go undiagnosed?

A: Liver disease typically causes no symptoms until it’s advanced. Standard blood tests, like ALT and AST, often miss early fibrosis because the cutoff values are outdated. Many people have “normal” labs despite having significant liver scarring. New research calls for noninvasive tests and earlier screening, especially in those over 50 or with Type 2 diabetes.

Q: How are vegetable oils and alcohol connected to liver damage?

A: Both vegetable oils (high in LA) and alcohol create toxic byproducts called reactive aldehydes when metabolized — OXLAMs from vegetable oils and acetaldehyde from alcohol. These compounds damage mitochondria, disrupt detox pathways, and accelerate liver scarring. Eliminating both is key to recovery.

Q: What nutrients help my liver clear out fat?

A: Choline is essential. It helps your liver package and export fat so it doesn’t get trapped and cause inflammation. Pastured, low-PUFA egg yolks and grass fed liver are rich sources. If you’re not eating these foods, citicoline supplements (500 mg to 2,500 mg daily) help restore choline levels and support both liver and brain health.

Q: What’s the best way to start reversing liver scarring?

A: Begin by cutting out vegetable oils and alcohol completely. Add choline-rich foods like pastured egg yolks or supplements, move your body daily to reduce insulin resistance, and trim belly fat. These steps reduce the metabolic stress that drives liver scarring and give your liver the space it needs to heal.

Obesity continues to be a problem in America. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 73.6% of adults 20 years and older are overweight and obese.1 This staggering number is putting serious strain on the economy, leading to a whopping $1.4 trillion in annual health expenses.2 Having excess body fat causes an assortment of health complications to arise, including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, metabolic syndrome, fatty liver disease, and Type 2 diabetes.3

While these complications have been extensively studied within the context of obesity, they are metabolic in nature. Another part that’s rarely discussed is the impact of obesity on infectious disease — complications caused by microbes. Now, a study published in The Lancet attempts to answer this mystery.

Obesity Drives a Measurable Rise in Severe Infection Risk

The researchers explored how obesity affects your risk of mortality. The rationale for following this line of research was because the metabolic effects of obesity have already been extensively covered, but much less is known about its impact across different types of infectious diseases.4

For the analysis, the researchers selected 67,766 adults from two Finnish cohort studies and 479,498 adults from the United Kingdom (U.K.) Biobank. The participants’ body mass index (BMI) was tracked at baseline — 1998 to 2002 for the Finnish population and 2006 to 2010 for the U.K. population. Infection-related mortality risk due to obesity was analyzed until 2018, 2021, and 2023 — before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Mortality risk steadily climbed as BMI increased — People in the highest obesity class had a 2.75 times higher risk for severe nonfatal infections in the Finnish cohorts and 3.07 in the U.K. Biobank, meaning triple the risk compared to adults at a healthy weight.

For fatal infections, the danger was even higher. The risk reached 3.06 times in Finland and 3.54 times in the U.K., underscoring the magnitude of this problem.

• About 1 in 10 deaths from infectious disease are caused by obesity — After modeling the global impact, the researchers reported that 8.6% of all infection-related deaths in 2018 were attributable to obesity, rising to 15.0% during 2021 and settling at 10.8% (0.6 million out of 5.4 million) in 2023 as global conditions shifted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another striking detail lies in how consistent the findings were across measurement methods. When the researchers evaluated obesity using waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and body fat percentage, the risk remained almost identical — 1.7 times for severe infection across metrics. In short, excess fat, no matter how it’s measured, puts your health at risk.

• Infection severity was closely linked to obesity — The analyses included long follow-up periods, and captured infection events before, during, and after the COVID pandemic. Across all eras, the pattern held. Even when the COVID-19 pandemic entered the picture, the underlying risk landscape hardly budged.

Some groups experienced even steeper risk elevations than others. While the study reports strong effects across nearly everyone with obesity, individuals with class III obesity faced the largest surge in both hospitalizations and deaths.

• For context, obesity is currently broken down into three classes — Class I is a BMI of 30 to 34.9, and class II is a BMI of 35.0 to 39.9. Lastly, class III refers to a BMI of 40 or higher.5 Moving from overweight (BMI between 25 and 29.9) to class I obesity created a measurable rise in risk. However, advancing to class II and class III amplified the danger sharply.

• Excess fat tissue upsets metabolic health by keeping your body in a constant low-grade inflammatory state — As a result, immune function is also affected. According to the researchers, these include “[r]educed T-cell and NK-cell function, neutrophil dysfunction, dysregulated complement and adiponectin signalling, and diminished mucus clearance and lymphatic flow.”

A Deeper Look at How Obesity Affects Your Risk for Infectious Disease

In the previous study, researchers analyzed the risk that obesity poses to your health when it comes to infectious disease. Now, it’s time to look at the biological mechanisms involved. In another study published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers outlined different ways excess body fat reshapes your immune function and becomes vulnerable to infections.6

• Higher body fat percentage equals higher infectious disease risk — The study reported the same pattern seen in The Lancet study — infections did not just simply occur more often in individuals with obesity; they progressed more aggressively.

According to the authors, “obesity has substantial effects on the immune system,” meaning the body’s internal security system struggles to respond effectively once pathogens enter when excess body fat gets in the way. The image below provides a summary of their theories:

Source: International Journal of Obesity volume 46, pages 449 to 465 (2022)

• Excess adipose tissues (body fat) behave like an active endocrine organ — They release inflammatory hormones and chemical signals that disrupt communication between immune cells. In plain terms, the immune system loses coordination. When you live with this imbalance, you face a slower response to viruses and bacteria, which allows these microbes to multiply more easily.

• Obesity alters the architecture and function of the respiratory system — The authors explained that excess fat around the chest wall reduces lung expansion and lowers lung volumes, creating a mechanical disadvantage when the body tries to clear mucus or maintain airflow during an infection.

If you’ve ever felt out of breath walking up a short flight of stairs, this is the same limitation playing out at a microscopic level during a bout of respiratory illness. Bacteria and viruses take advantage of that reduced airflow, settling deeper into lung tissues.

• Inflammation persists for years in many obese individuals — Over time, this constant inflammatory pressure exhausts their immune cells. The review highlights that macrophages — the immune cells responsible for engulfing and clearing pathogens — switch into a less effective mode of activity under the influence of obesity-related inflammation. Instead of clearing invaders quickly, macrophages operate sluggishly, which prolongs infections and increases tissue damage.

• Respiratory infections often worsen the fastest, but skin issues aren’t far behind — Altered circulation reduces the body’s ability to deliver immune cells to the site of injury. However, changes in the skin also slow down wound-healing, allowing bacteria to enter your system faster.

• Excess skin due to obesity increases risk for topical infections — As body fat begins to increase, the skin compensates accordingly and causes more skin folds. The researchers noted that these are factors that increase the risk of fungal and bacterial skin infections.

• Obese individuals usually have existing nutrient deficiencies, which worsen the problem further — For example, vitamin D deficiency is far more common in adults with obesity. This nutrient plays an important role in immune function, especially in controlling inflammation in the respiratory tract.

• Adipose tissue in obesity recruits immune cells into fat stores, diverting them from circulation — This means that your body’s main protectors are pulled away from where infections unfold. As a result, when a pathogen enters through the lungs, skin, or gut, fewer active immune cells are available to meet the threat. Your body ends up fighting with a depleted army:7

“In obesity, visceral adipose tissue produces an excess of cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) and interleukin (IL)-6 and 1β that could weaken the response of immune cells during an infectious stimulus,” the researchers explained.

“In addition, in a state of excess weight, a condition of hyperleptinemia is observed that can contribute to immune imbalance.”

How to Restore Your Healthy Metabolism and Stop Fat Storage

As noted in the findings, excess body fat won’t do your health any good, and the best time to start getting rid of it is today. If you’ve been having difficulty losing weight despite your best efforts — be it exercising or modifying your diet — the problem is in your cellular energy function.

When your cells are saturated with polyunsaturated fats (PUFs) like linoleic acid (LA), your body lowers its metabolic rate, shifting into storing fat instead of burning it. Thus, the foundational step isn’t running countless miles because you can’t outrun a bad diet. The answer lies in fixing how your body burns fuel through corrective action by way of eating properly.

1. Remove vegetable oils from your diet — Every time you eat ultraprocessed foods or food cooked in soybean, canola, corn, safflower, or sunflower oil, you push more LA into your tissues, slowing down your cellular energy production and nudging your body toward metabolic hibernation.

Once you reduce and eliminate these unhealthy oils from your diet, your cells stop fighting the inflammatory load and start burning fuel with far less strain. As this shift settles in, you feel more stable because your mitochondria burn energy cleanly.

I recommend keeping your LA intake under 3 grams a day. This amount aligns with the intake that our ancestors had before the rise of industrially made vegetable oils. To help you with accurate monitoring, sign up for the Mercola Health Coach app once it becomes available. It will contain a feature called a Seed Oil Sleuth, which will compile your daily LA intake to a tenth of a gram.

2. Choose stable fats to keep energy steady — Continuing the point above, when you trade out seed oils for healthier saturated fats like grass fed butter, coconut oil, ghee, and beef tallow, you give your metabolism a major advantage. These fats burn cleanly, support oxygen use, and help your cells stay switched on instead of drifting into storage mode. It’s the difference between running your engine on premium fuel versus watered-down gasoline.

3. Choose healthy carbs to maintain metabolic flexibility — Don’t be tempted to cut out carbs in an effort to lose weight because this forces your body into a low-oxygen, low-energy environment. When chosen carefully, carbs, especially healthy ones, protect your metabolism. That means choosing whole fruits, white rice, and root vegetables — foods that help promote proper cellular energy. Don’t choose refined and ultraprocessed carb sources.

4. Dial down stress — Feeling tense, overstimulated, or wired, especially at night, usually means that your cortisol and estrogen are running too high, pushing your system toward fat storage and suppress healthy energy production.

To lower your stress levels, remember to get daily sunlight and restful sleep, and minimize back on alcohol (or remove it entirely). As those stress signals drop, your metabolism burns energy better instead of hoarding it.

5. Teach your body to switch metabolic fuels through exercise — Staying inactive teaches your mitochondria to conserve rather than produce. Doing gentle strength training, daily walking, and light resistance exercise can wake them back up.

Movement tells your cells how to use both fat and carbs for energy, instead of locking into one inefficient mode. You don’t need extreme exercise — you only need consistent motion that challenges your muscles and keeps energy flowing.

Frequently Asked Questions About Obesity-Related Infectious Disease Mortality

Q: How does obesity increase the risk of infectious disease?
A: Obesity creates chronic inflammation that impairs T-cells, NK-cells, and macrophages. Excess fat diverts immune cells into fat stores, while insulin resistance raises blood sugar, helping microbes spread.

Q: How much does obesity raise the risk of severe or fatal infections?
A: Research shows that people in the highest obesity class face up to 3.54 times the risk of fatal infections. Globally, about 1 in 10 infectious disease deaths are attributable to obesity.

Q: Why are respiratory infections especially dangerous for people with obesity?
A: Excess chest fat restricts lung expansion and airflow, making it harder to clear mucus. This allows bacteria and viruses to settle deeper into lung tissue and progress more aggressively.

Q: Does the type of obesity measurement matter when assessing infection risk?
A: No. Whether using BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, or body fat percentage, infection risk remained nearly identical — about 1.7 times higher across all metrics.

Q: What steps can reduce infection risk related to obesity?
A: Eliminating vegetable oils high in linoleic acid (LA), choosing stable fats and healthy carbohydrates, managing stress, and incorporating consistent gentle exercise to restore metabolic function all work together to help reduce excess body fat and protect your health.

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When it comes to vitamins, well-known examples that immediately come to mind include vitamins C and D. While these are certainly important, I believe that other vitamins also deserve their own spotlight, such as vitamin K2.

In this episode of the Wellness by Designs podcast, nutritionist Brad McEwen, Ph.D., explains the role of vitamin K2 in your body, and what happens when you don’t get enough of this nutrient.

How Vascular Calcification Occurs When You’re Deficient in Vitamin K2

One of the most significant benefits of vitamin K2 is its ability to support cardiovascular health. When calcium builds up in your arteries, it leads to stiffening and blockages.

• The importance of vitamin K2 for optimal cardiovascular health — Research shows that it activates biological processes that direct calcium away from your arteries and into your bones and other essential organs, but a deficiency can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.

McEwen explains further,1 “One of the areas we’ve been looking at is a deficiency of vitamin K2 has been linked to vascular calcification. Not just coronary, but just overall calcification. And if you think of it this way, you got different mineral deposition, particularly calcium, of course, coming from the calcium hydroxyapatite — and we always say from the bones because that’s the main storage site into the vascular system and then going into the vascular wall because it gets trapped.”

• Blockage occurs due to the molecular weight of calcium — McEwen theorizes that the heaviness of calcium contributes to its propensity to cause arterial blockages.

“So, it’s like a big centrifugal force going through the arteries and then it just gets trapped because it’s, I don’t know, heavier? It’s like a big metal going through and then it embeds and over time, as you know, we talk about foam cells, atherosclerosis, etc., and it starts that calcium, you know, process,” he says.

From there, McEwen describes where the calcium actually embeds in your cardiovascular system, increasing your risk for clots that eventually block blood flow:2

“The biochemistry all combines together leading to this complex which, then, sat in the arteries and it can sit in the basement membrane of the artery. It can be on the inner or outer side of that membrane, leading to an inflammatory process and oxidative process, leading to like a firestorm in there.

The body tries to heal it, you know, by laying down fibrin and different connective tissue to protect it — putting a Band-Aid down, I suppose. And then that’s when you get your atherosclerosis, your plaque formation and then your eventual clot in that area.”

Heavy Metals Increase the Risk of Vascular Calcification Further

It’s not just a lack of vitamin K2 that increases your risk for vascular calcification. Even the very environment you live in influences your risk. McEwen recounts a case study related to this observation, wherein he saw a patient whose previous physicians couldn’t figure out what was happening with her despite trying out “every test under the sun.”3

• Heavy metals embed into your tissues — McEwen discovered that it was due to the presence of heavy metals in her childhood neighborhood, which embedded into her tissues. When she moved out of the area, the heavy metals circulated throughout her system, causing bone pain and increasing cardiovascular risk.

• Nutritional deficiencies contribute to vascular calcification via heavy metal exposure — According to McEwen, bone-related nutrient deficiencies do not direct calcium to where it’s needed the most.

“What I found out was due to her childhood, there was different heavy metals in the area, and that’s what deposited into the tissue. And when she moved around, that tissue left — because she didn’t have enough vitamin D, vitamin K, etc. — and then left the bone, so she had bone pain, and then embedded into her vascular system leading to cardiovascular link,” he says.4

Research Surrounding the Benefits of Vitamin K2

The benefits of vitamin K2 regarding cardiovascular health have been well-studied for many years now.

• Vitamin K2 makes your arteries more elastic — McEwen cited a study that involved 244 healthy postmenopausal women. Split into two groups, the test group (120 participants) took 180 micrograms of vitamin K2, and the control group (124 participants) took a placebo for a total of three years. After the study was completed, McEwen noted that the test group had improved arterial flexibility.5

• Increased vitamin K2 consumption helps improve other metabolic health markers — In another study, researchers followed 36,629 participants for 12 years and monitored their vitamin K2 intake. They found that those with a higher intake of vitamin K2 had a 29% lower risk of developing peripheral artery disease. Other improvements were noticed as well, including a 44% reduction in Type 2 diabetes risk, and a 41% reduction in high blood pressure.6

• The benefits of vitamin K2 on mitochondrial function — A study published in Open Heart journal showed that people with higher levels of K2 in their diet tend to have lower levels of arterial calcification and a reduced risk of heart disease.

Higher K2 levels also had a positive impact on mitochondrial health, particularly for cardiac muscles. “The role of vitamin K2 in mitochondrial function is mediated by its production of mitochondrial ATP, which has direct implications for contractile muscles (i.e., cardiac) that are comprised of abundant mitochondria.

Intake of vitamin K2 has been associated with increased cardiac output, stroke volume and heart rate and decreased blood lactate. These effects are consistent with the greater maximal cardiovascular performance seen with oral vitamin K2 supplementation, according to the researchers.”7

How Vitamin K2 Helps Strengthen Your Bones

Vitamin K2 is also essential for maintaining strong and healthy bones. Your bones are constantly breaking down and rebuilding, a process that relies on proper calcium distribution.

• Vitamin K2 activates bone-forming proteins — Research shows vitamin K2 helps promote osteocalcin, which is a protein that binds calcium to your bone matrix. Without enough vitamin K2, your bones will not be as strong as they should be, increasing your risk of fractures and osteoporosis.8

• Osteocalcin serves as the calcium guide — McEwen notes that osteocalcin, a vitamin K-dependent protein, helps promote stronger bones by transporting calcium to where it actually needs to go — your skeleton. Your body needs a constant influx of this all the time because it is always building itself up and removing old, damaged bone cells.9

The Sweet Spot Dosage of Vitamin K2

If you’re considering adding vitamin K2 to your diet, it’s important to get the right amount.

• Vitamin K2 requirements vary for different age groups — According to McEwen, much of the research he has studied had dosages between 90 and 180 micrograms per day, which he believes is the optimal for most adults.10 Youngsters and teenagers (10 to 18 years old) need around 90 micrograms, while children below the age of 10 need 45 micrograms.11

While some studies have explored higher doses, the standard recommendation is based on what has been shown to be effective without unnecessary excess.

• Find the ideal range based on your health needs — While McEwen recommends different ranges, he clarifies further by saying that the dosage will vary from person to person.

McEwen also mentioned another important precaution — taking excessively high doses of vitamin K2 won’t be good for your health because your body won’t be able to use it all:12

“One thing I always want to say when we do podcasts, and everything is it’s always the person in front of you. ‘What is the best dose for that person?’ And if they need 500 IUs of vitamin D and 90 micrograms of vitamin K2 from your determination, that’s the dosage that they need.

If they need a higher dose of, you know, 1,000 IUs of vitamin D3 and 180 micrograms of K2, that’s the dose regimen … [G]oing hard and fast is not always the best way to do it because, to me, it’s trying to push too much through all the time.

We get excited, some studies are very, very high dose and they seem to have the negative impact because, I believe, the regulatory pathways are not able to function effectively to make sure we get the best out of what it is.”

From McEwen’s statement above, you’re thinking, “What does vitamin D have to do with this entire process?” Well, vitamin D has been shown to play a role in calcium absorption. If you’re deficient in this important nutrient, your risk for rickets, a disease marked by skeletal deformities, increases.13 With enough vitamin D and vitamin K2, the calcium you get from your diet will go to the right organs.

Strategies to Ensure Your Body Gets Enough Vitamin K2

Based on McEwen’s findings, it’s clear that vitamin K2 has an important role in your body as it influences a wide range of functions, such as cardiovascular and skeletal health. The good news is that boosting your vitamin K2 levels is inexpensive and practical to implement. Here are my recommendations:

1. Add more K2-rich foods into your diet — The best way to get more vitamin K2 is through your diet, and they’re found in many foods. Nutritious choices include fermented foods like natto, aged cheeses (especially gouda and brie), egg yolks, and grass fed dairy products. Beef ideally organic and grass fed, also contains vitamin K2.14

2. Support your gut health for better vitamin K2 production — Your gut bacteria actually produce some of the vitamin K2 your body uses, but they need the right environment to thrive. If your digestion isn’t working well, or if you’ve been on antibiotics recently, you might not be making enough K2 on your own.

To support your gut, eat more fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, and kefir, which provide the right bacteria to help your gut naturally produce K2. Also, make sure you’re eating plenty of fiber from vegetables and whole fruits to nourish the gut bacteria already active in your gut.

3. Pair K2 with vitamin D — As noted by McEwen, vitamin K2 and vitamin D work together to control the flow of calcium in your body — vitamin D helps boost absorption, while K2 makes sure it goes to the right places.

If you’re taking a vitamin D supplement but not getting enough K2, you’re increasing your calcium levels without giving your body the ability to direct it properly. If you’re already supplementing with D3, make sure you’re also getting enough K2, either through food or supplements to maintain proper homeostasis.

4. Stay active to keep your bones strong — Movement is key for keeping your bones in good shape. Weight-bearing exercises like walking, strength training, and bodyweight exercises help signal your body to send calcium into your bones where it belongs.

As noted by McEwen, sitting for long periods without movement also changes your bone mineral density, and all the vitamins K2 and D you’ve been taking will be for nothing.15 If you spend a lot of time sitting, I encourage you to go for a walk outside to boost your fitness levels.

5. Take a high-quality vitamin K2 supplement if needed — If you’re not getting enough K2 from your food, adding a supplement is a viable way to ensure you’re covered. Look for a supplement that contains MK7, as this form stays in your body longer and is more effective than other types. For best results, take it with a meal that contains healthy fat, as K2 is a fat-soluble vitamin.

FAQ — Common Questions About Vitamin K2

Q: What is vitamin K2 and why is it important?

A: Vitamin K2 plays a crucial role in calcium metabolism. It helps prevent vascular calcification by directing calcium away from arteries and into bones, reducing the risk of heart disease and arterial stiffness. Additionally, it supports bone health by strengthening bone density and reducing the risk of fractures and osteoporosis.

Q: How does vitamin K2 benefit cardiovascular health?

A: Vitamin K2 activates proteins that prevent calcium buildup in the arteries, reducing the risk of vascular calcification, atherosclerosis, and blood clots. Research shows that people with higher vitamin K2 intake have a 29% lower risk of peripheral artery disease, a 44% reduction in Type 2 diabetes risk, and a 41% reduction in hypertension.16

Q: What are the best dietary sources of vitamin K2?

A: Good sources of vitamin K2 include fermented foods (like natto and aged cheeses), pastured egg yolks, grass fed dairy products, and organic, grass fed beef. Your very own gut bacteria also produce some vitamin K2, which is further supported by consuming probiotics and fiber-rich foods.

Q: What is the recommended daily intake of vitamin K2?

A: The general range for adults is 90 to 180 micrograms per day, while the range for children 10 to 18 years old is 90 micrograms per day. For children up to 10 years old, the dosage is 45 micrograms per day.

Q: How can I ensure optimal vitamin K2 levels?

A: To maintain adequate vitamin K2 levels, support your gut health with fermented foods and fiber and pair it with vitamin D for better calcium absorption. Take a high-quality supplement if dietary intake is insufficient.

Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) produced in your gut when beneficial bacteria ferment dietary fiber that your body cannot digest on its own. As the primary energy source for colonocytes (the cells lining your colon), butyrate provides up to 70% of their energy needs.1

Butyrate directly nourishes the L-cells in your intestinal lining — the same cells that release GLP-1 after meals. GLP-1 is a hormone known for its role as a master regulator of metabolic health. It enhances insulin release after meals, suppresses glucagon, slows gastric emptying, and promotes satiety2,3,4,5 — all of which support blood sugar control and appetite regulation.

The butyrate–GLP-1 axis plays a key role in this natural system by fueling the L-cells that produce GLP-1. In addition to supporting GLP-1 signaling, butyrate also enhances energy expenditure by boosting fat oxidation and thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue.6,7 Animal studies reinforce these benefits: in mice fed a high-fat diet, butyrate supplementation significantly improved glucose metabolism and prevented weight gain.8

Pharmaceutical GLP-1 agonists attempt to mimic this effect, but your body already possesses a mechanism to produce GLP-1 on its own — provided L-cells receive sufficient fuel. Butyrate activates free fatty acid receptors on L-cells, which directly stimulate GLP-1 secretion.

Research shows that reduced butyrate availability leads to lower GLP-1 output, impaired insulin sensitivity, increased appetite, and greater fat accumulation.9 In this framework, obesity reflects a breakdown in microbial fuel delivery rather than a failure of calorie control alone. The steps needed to rebuild and support this natural mechanism is the central topic of my new book, “Weight Loss Cure; Melt Fat Naturally With Your Own GLP-1.”

How Butyrate Supports Your Body’s Built-In GLP-1 System for Weight and Mood

When butyrate is abundant, GLP-1 secretion follows the body’s original blueprint without external intervention:

• It slows gastric emptying, so you feel full longer
• It reduces glucagon, which lowers blood sugar
• It enhances insulin sensitivity and helps your body burn fat
• It sends satiety signals to the brain, curbing cravings and emotional eating
• It activates GLP-1 receptors in the brain, where it helps regulate mood, reduce anxiety, and support cognitive health

Butyrate and GLP-1 Are the Natural Design

Importantly, you don’t need a synthetic GLP-1 agonist to access these benefits. You need butyrate. This is how human metabolism was designed to work — not with synthetic shots, but with internal balance.

Your L-cells are engineered to release GLP-1 in response to butyrate. When the gut microbiome is balanced and well-fed with fermentable fiber, GLP-1 production activates after meals to regulate appetite, support insulin release, and promote fat burning — all without a prescription.

This design evolved to work in harmony with ancestral diets rich in whole foods, fiber, and unprocessed carbohydrates. Disruption to this design breaks the microbial fuel line, not the hormonal hardware.

When you restore butyrate production, you remove the blockages and reactivate the normal regulatory feedback loop, which lets your built-in weight regulation system function again, as intended. Whether you’re exploring medication options or want to support your body’s own systems, restoring butyrate production is foundational to how this hormone was designed to work.

How This System Gets Disrupted

Modern lifestyles disrupt this elegant mechanism. Seed oils, which are high in the omega-6 fat linoleic acid (LA), damage your gut lining and deplete butyrate-producing microbes. Low-fiber, high-sugar diets feed the wrong bacteria. Chronic stress and poor sleep reduce microbial diversity. All of this breaks the link between fiber, butyrate, and GLP-1. The result? Your natural weight regulation system goes offline.

Butyrate and GLP-1 Also Support Brain Health

Butyrate also helps regulate how your gut communicates with your brain, supporting the normal stress, immune, and mood responses your body was designed to manage.

As a key signaling molecule in the gut-brain axis, butyrate helps regulate the stress response, increase pain tolerance, and reduce neuroinflammation. It even crosses the blood-brain barrier, where it supports brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), boosts mitochondrial function, and protects against depression and cognitive decline.

GLP-1 is also more than a metabolic hormone. Like butyrate, it’s a brain-active compound.10 GLP-1 receptors are found in areas of the brain that govern memory, mood, and motivation. Activating them can reduce anxiety, blunt inflammation, and improve neuroplasticity.11,12

Together, butyrate and GLP-1 act as dual messengers — one produced by your gut microbes, the other released in response to it. They work in tandem to support the natural coordination of metabolism, immune function, and mental health, restoring the biological systems your body relies on to stay balanced.

How Butyrate’s and GLP-1 Inhibit Neuroinflammation

Neuroinflammation is widely recognized as a key factor in the development and progression of a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS).

A meta-analysis published in Neuroscience Letters,13 reports that butyrate supports brain health through multiple gut-brain mechanisms, particularly by strengthening mitochondrial function in the brain after fiber fermentation.

Butyrate suppresses major inflammatory pathways, most notably nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB),14 a master regulator of inflammation. In experimental models of Parkinson’s disease, beta-hydroxybutyrate reduced inflammation, protected neurons from endotoxin injury, and improved behavioral outcomes. By limiting NF-κB activity, butyrate lowers inflammatory cytokine release, which helps preserve synaptic function.

Butyrate also inhibits histone deacetylases (HDACs),15 which alters gene expression in brain cells. This epigenetic effect reduces pro-inflammatory signaling while increasing anti-inflammatory pathways, further calming neuroinflammation.16 In animal models of Alzheimer’s disease, butyrate lowered amyloid-beta plaque accumulation by up to 40% and supported cognitive performance.17

Butyrate-driven GLP-1 release adds another layer of protection. Preclinical research shows GLP-1 shields dopamine-producing neurons in Parkinson’s disease by lowering oxidative stress and supporting mitochondrial energy production.18 GLP-1 also promotes autophagy,19,20 which clears damaged proteins such as alpha-synuclein, and enhances insulin sensitivity and cellular energy metabolism in the brain,21 which is often impaired in Parkinson’s disease.

Butyrate, Mood, and the Gut-Brain Connection

Butyrate also influences mood and cognition by acting on key neurotransmitters, brain growth factors, and the vagus nerve. It enhances the production of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and dopamine22 — two crucial messengers that calm the nervous system and promote motivation and emotional balance. Low butyrate levels have been linked to anxiety and depression,23 in part due to disrupted gut-brain signaling.

As mentioned, it also boosts BDNF, a growth factor vital for learning, memory, and neuroplasticity.24,25 By inhibiting HDACs, butyrate increases BDNF in brain regions like the hippocampus, supporting neuron growth and reducing inflammation-driven damage.26 Low BDNF is a common feature in conditions like Alzheimer’s and major depression.27,28

Butyrate further strengthens the gut-brain axis by activating the vagus nerve — a communication superhighway that calms the body, lowers inflammation, and regulates neurotransmitters like serotonin and GABA.29 Increased vagal tone is associated with improved mood, better stress tolerance, and enhanced digestion, making butyrate a central player in emotional and cognitive health.30

How to Restore Butyrate Production in Your Gut

To restore your body’s natural weight management and mood regulation systems, you need to restore and support the bacteria in your gut that produce butyrate and other SCFAs. Here’s how:

1. Start with gut terrain repair — If you’re bloated, constipated, or sensitive to high-fiber foods, you need to calm inflammation before you feed the microbiome. That means:

• Avoiding fermentable fibers at first. When your gut is out of balance, high-fiber foods — even the “healthy” ones — can work against you. Foods like beans, lentils, oats and raw greens ferment quickly when the wrong bacteria are in control. This creates gas, pressure and inflammation, and worsens gut lining damage.
• Eliminating seed oils (such as soybean, corn, canola, sunflower). LA damages the exact gut microbes you’re trying to support. If your diet includes fried foods, processed snacks or sauces made with soybean, corn, sunflower, or canola oil, you’re suffocating your good gut bacteria. Replace those fats with ghee, grass fed butter, or tallow — fats your body actually knows how to use. The goal is to shift your internal terrain so your gut bacteria thrive again.
• Using simple carbs like white rice and ripe fruit to stabilize energy without feeding bad bacteria.

2. Reintroduce fiber in phases — Move on to fiber reintroduction only after you meet this criterion: You tolerate three consecutive days of white rice or ripe fruit with no bloating, abdominal pain, excess gas, or bowel urgency. At that point, introduce one resistant starch source at a time, starting with 1/2 cup cooked-and-cooled white potato once daily.

Once you can consume 1/2 cup cooked-and-cooled potato daily for seven consecutive days with no increase in gas, bloating, stool looseness, or abdominal discomfort, advance to inulin-rich foods such as garlic, onions and leeks. These fibers bypass digestion in your small intestine and head straight to your colon, where they fuel beneficial bacteria that make butyrate.

3. Support with optional tools — Once your gut begins to stabilize, these targeted tools can help accelerate butyrate production and improve results:

• Phase 1 — Akkermansia postbiotics — Postbiotics are non-living bacterial components that still deliver biological signals. Pasteurized forms of Akkermansia muciniphila contain Amuc_1100, a protein shown to tighten the gut barrier and reduce inflammation. Look for postbiotic formulas with enteric coating or microencapsulation to ensure they survive stomach acid and reach the colon intact.

Without that protection, less than 5% of Amuc_1100 reaches your colon. You could try megadosing to compensate, but that’s expensive and inefficient. Prioritize coated formats to support your gut barrier more effectively.
• Phase 2 — Live Akkermansia — Begin Phase 2 probiotics only after all of the following occur:

◦Bloating remains minimal or absent
◦Stool form stays consistent for at least 7 days
◦Fiber tolerance expands without symptom return

In this stage, introduce live probiotic Akkermansia alongside gentle prebiotics — like small amounts of resistant starch — to support the growth of butyrate-producing strains and reestablish a healthy, oxygen-sensitive microbial environment.

• Fermented foods — Raw sauerkraut, kefir, and other traditionally fermented foods can boost microbial diversity and support butyrate-producing strains. Go slowly — start with small amounts to test tolerance, especially if your gut is sensitive.

• Gut testing — A stool analysis can reveal which bacteria are present, whether your gut is inflamed, and how well you’re producing short-chain fatty acids like butyrate. This can guide food choices and supplementation more precisely.

• Resistant starch — Found naturally in cooked-and-cooled potatoes, green bananas, and legumes — or as supplemental powders — resistant starch bypasses digestion in the small intestine and becomes prime fuel for butyrate-producing bacteria in the colon.

4. Adjust your environment — Your gut doesn’t just respond to what you eat. It’s tuned into your entire lifestyle. These daily habits help create the internal rhythm your microbiome needs to thrive:

• Sleep — Align your sleep-wake cycle with natural light exposure. Aim for 7 to 9 hours of high-quality sleep and get morning sun to anchor your circadian rhythm. This helps regulate gut motility and microbial repair.
• Stress — Chronic stress alters your microbiome and shuts down butyrate production. Use daily tools like breathwork, walking outdoors, and nervous system regulation practices to calm your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and support microbial balance.
• Fasting window — Stop eating at least three hours before bed. This gives your migrating motor complex (MMC) — your gut’s internal clean-up crew — time to sweep out bacteria and food debris overnight, reducing fermentation and inflammation.

Signs Your Gut Is Making More Butyrate

The following improvements reflect rising butyrate levels and gut healing in real time:

• Bowel movements become regular and well-formed — A sign of improved colonic motility and mucosal integrity.
• Fiber tolerance improves — Less bloating, gas, or discomfort after meals rich in fermentable fiber.
• Hunger fades between meals — As GLP-1 and PYY production increases, satiety naturally extends.
• Mood feels more stable and stress less overwhelming — Butyrate supports BDNF and modulates the HPA axis.
• You lose fat without trying to eat less — Improved metabolic signaling leads to spontaneous caloric reduction.
• Reduced post-meal blood sugar spikes — A measurable effect tied to improved insulin sensitivity and GLP-1 response.
• Lower fasting insulin and triglycerides (if tested) — Both improve with SCFA restoration and microbiome balance.
• Fewer cravings for processed carbs and snacks — Satiety hormones rise while inflammation-driven hunger decreases.
• Less urgency or discomfort with bowel movements — Improved stool consistency reflects stronger gut barrier and reduced inflammation.
• Improved breath or reduction in sulfur/gas odors — Indicates better fermentation profile in the colon (fewer sulfur-releasing or proteolytic bacteria).

Track Your Progress: How to Know It’s Working

To track your recovery, keep a simple symptom journal for the first four to six weeks. Each day, jot down quick notes on these four markers:

• Bloating — None, mild, moderate, or severe
• Energy — Steady, sluggish, or crashing
• Mood — Calm, tense, irritable, anxious
• Bowel quality — Bristol stool scale (types 3 to 4 are ideal), frequency, urgency, discomfort

Even just a few words per day can help you see patterns clearly, especially when deciding when to add new foods or supplements. Once you begin reintroducing fermentable fiber, use a 1 to 10 scale each week to rate how well you’re tolerating it. If you’re not at a 7 or above, pause before advancing to the next phase.

• 1 = severe gas, bloating, or pain
• 5 = some symptoms, improving
• 10 = no symptoms, excellent digestion

If you want objective data, run these labs at baseline and again around week 8. These markers, while optional, offer biochemical confirmation that your butyrate–GLP-1 axis is restoring normal metabolic function.

• Fasting insulin — Falling levels suggest better GLP-1 signaling
• Triglycerides — Often improve as inflammation and insulin resistance drop
• Post-meal glucose — Ideally stays under 120 mg/dL at the 1-hour mark

Timeline: What to Expect as Your Gut Rebuilds

Your gut already knows how to help you lose weight — by producing butyrate, which fuels the cells that make GLP-1. This is how human metabolism was designed to function. Restore that system, and your cravings shrink, your blood sugar stabilizes, your inflammation calms down, and your body starts releasing excess weight naturally.

These shifts are clear signs that your body’s metabolic software is running the way it was meant to. Your gut doesn’t need to be perfect to start producing butyrate. But there’s a rhythm to recovery, and markers to know it’s working.

Phase
What Happens
Timeframe
Measurable Indicators

Terrain repair
Gas, bloating, and sensitivity begin to calm
1 to 3 weeks
Less urgency, firmer stools, more predictable digestion

Fiber reintroduction
Butyrate-producing strains begin to increase
2 to 4 weeks
Better tolerance of resistant starch, mood uplift

GLP-1 response
Appetite regulates, energy improves, cravings decrease
4 to 8 weeks
Fewer between-meal snacks, better AM energy

Metabolic reset
Satiety increases, fat loss begins, blood sugar stabilizes
6 to 12 weeks
Tighter waistline, reduced post-meal glucose swings

You can start putting these strategies into practice right now with my new book, “Weight Loss Cure; Melt Fat Naturally With Your Own GLP-1,” which provides a step-by-step plan to rebuild butyrate production, restore natural GLP-1 signaling, and correct the root drivers of weight gain. We’re also preparing a butyrate-support product designed to complement these foundational strategies. You can join the waitlist now, and when it becomes available, you’ll receive a $5 off coupon by email.

A New Series of Health Insights Is on the Way

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A New Series of Health Insights Is on the Way

Our team has been working behind the scenes to prepare new research and practical health
strategies for our readers. While we finish preparing what’s coming next, we invite you to
explore one of the most-read articles from our library below. See exactly what’s changing →

Alzheimer’s disease doesn’t begin with memory loss — it begins years earlier with a slow, silent shift in your body’s stress chemistry. Long before neurons die, your brain’s hormonal balance starts to erode under constant pressure from everyday stress. The same hormones that once kept you alert and focused start working against you, wearing down your brain’s repair systems and disrupting the flow of energy your cells depend on.

Cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone, plays a central role in this process. When it stays high for too long, it drains your metabolic reserves and interferes with memory formation. Meanwhile, a second hormone called DHEA-S acts as cortisol’s natural counterbalance, helping protect neurons and stabilize brain function.

When the ratio between these two hormones tilts toward cortisol, your brain loses its resilience and becomes more vulnerable to aging and degeneration. This hormonal tug-of-war — shaped by stress, diet, and metabolism — has drawn new attention from researchers exploring why some people develop Alzheimer’s while others do not. The latest findings suggest that long-term hormonal imbalance, not just genetics or plaque buildup, could be one of the earliest warning signs of decline.

Understanding this relationship changes how you think about prevention. By strengthening your metabolism, restoring hormonal balance, and reducing chronic stress, you can support your brain’s ability to heal and adapt — long before symptoms appear. The new research provides a roadmap for how to start.

Stress Hormones Tip the Balance Toward Alzheimer’s

A clinical study published in Cureus examined 85 adults in Serbia — 45 with diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease and 40 healthy peers of similar age and sex — to determine how two hormones, cortisol and DHEA-S, relate to brain health.1 Cortisol is your body’s main stress hormone, while DHEA-S (dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate) acts as its built-in counterbalance — a neurosteroid that supports brain resilience and energy metabolism.

Unlike DHEA, which is the fast-acting, active form, DHEA-S is its sulfated storage form that circulates in your blood far longer and provides a more stable picture of long-term stress balance. By focusing on DHEA-S, the researchers could better gauge chronic stress effects on the brain rather than short-term fluctuations. The scientists wanted to know whether Alzheimer’s patients showed measurable differences in these hormones or in their ratio, which indicates how well your body manages prolonged stress.

• People with Alzheimer’s had higher cortisol levels but not lower DHEA-S — Those with Alzheimer’s showed cortisol levels averaging nearly 399 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L) — about 20% higher than healthy adults — yet their DHEA-S concentrations stayed roughly the same.

This imbalance means the stress response remains chronically activated without the brain’s natural protection. When cortisol dominates, neurons experience more inflammation and less regeneration. The study also noted that this skewed balance was strongest among participants aged 65 to 75, suggesting that middle-to-late adulthood is when stress hormones begin exerting their most damaging effects.

• The cortisol-to-DHEA-S ratio proved to be the real warning sign — Although each hormone alone tells part of the story, the researchers emphasized that their ratio — how much cortisol outweighs DHEA-S — offers a clearer window into chronic stress and brain decline.

In Alzheimer’s patients, that ratio climbed steeply, implying that the body’s defense system against cortisol’s toxicity was failing. This finding helps explain why some people with normal cortisol readings still experience cognitive decline: it’s the imbalance, not just the level, that matters.

• Men and women responded differently, revealing hormonal sensitivity — In healthy adults, men had significantly higher DHEA-S levels than women, meaning their brains could have greater protection from chronic stress. But that sex difference disappeared in those with Alzheimer’s.

The disease seemed to override normal hormonal patterns, flattening DHEA-S levels in both sexes. This means that once neurodegeneration begins, your brain’s ability to maintain hormonal balance — one of its self-defense tools — breaks down.

• Age changed the picture again, suggesting a nonlinear hormonal response — When researchers divided participants by age, they noticed that younger Alzheimer’s patients (60 to 65) had higher DHEA-S levels, which dropped sharply in the 66 to 75 group before rising again after age 75.

This unexpected curve points to a possible window of hormonal collapse, where midlife stress overwhelms the body’s compensatory systems. If you’re in this age range and facing chronic stress, that’s when intervention — stress reduction, adequate rest, and metabolic support — could be most protective for your brain.

Cortisol Acts Like an Overzealous Cleanup Crew That Damages What It’s Meant to Protect

Elevated cortisol increases inflammation and oxidative stress — chemical reactions that corrode neurons and disrupt communication between brain cells. It also suppresses the growth of new neurons in your hippocampus, the brain’s memory center, making it harder to store new information.

In contrast, DHEA-S supports neuronal survival, enhances energy metabolism, and shields brain tissue from the harmful effects of excessive cortisol. When cortisol wins this hormonal tug-of-war, brain networks lose their flexibility and begin to deteriorate.

• Why stress and memory loss are so tightly linked — Chronic cortisol elevation interferes with glucose uptake in brain cells, depriving them of the fuel needed to form memories. It also increases amyloid-beta and tau accumulation — the same proteins that define Alzheimer’s pathology.

Meanwhile, DHEA-S helps counter these effects by enhancing insulin sensitivity and calming overactive immune responses in your brain. In simple terms, one hormone burns your mental circuits, the other repairs them.

• A new biological marker for early intervention — Instead of waiting for memory loss or imaging changes, tracking your cortisol-to-DHEA-S ratio could signal early stress damage years before cognitive symptoms arise.

If your cortisol stays high while DHEA-S falls or stagnates, that’s a red flag. Supporting your metabolic health, prioritizing quality sleep, and restoring hormonal balance could help keep your brain’s internal environment stable long before Alzheimer’s develops.

Lowering Cortisol and Raising Metabolic Energy Could Reverse Brain Decline

In a commentary, bioenergetic researcher Georgi Dinkov analyzed the Cureus study showing that people with Alzheimer’s disease had significantly higher cortisol levels and a skewed cortisol-to-DHEA-S ratio compared to healthy adults.2 He explained that these results validate decades of bioenergetic research linking chronic stress, low metabolism, and neurodegeneration.

Dinkov emphasized that it’s not just elevated cortisol that drives decline — it’s the imbalance between cortisol and protective steroids such as DHEA, testosterone, and progesterone. When this ratio tips toward cortisol dominance, your body remains in a chronic “fight-or-flight” state that accelerates tissue breakdown and cognitive loss.

• Dinkov connected the findings to thyroid-driven metabolic stress — Building on the Cureus data, Dinkov explained that hypothyroidism — a sluggish thyroid that slows metabolic energy production — creates the same hormonal pattern seen in Alzheimer’s patients: high cortisol and suppressed DHEA-S.

When your metabolism slows, your body compensates by ramping up stress hormones to stay alert and energized. But this backfires over time, leading to chronic brain inflammation, poor glucose uptake, and reduced adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production — the energy currency your brain depends on.

• Your cortisol-to-DHEA-S ratio predicts long-term health better than any single hormone — According to Dinkov, this ratio — spotlighted by the Cureus research — is among the strongest predictors of all-cause mortality and neurodegenerative risk. Even when cortisol fluctuates throughout the day, the ratio reveals whether your stress and repair systems are balanced.

Dinkov suggested measuring cortisol and DHEA-S in hair or nails rather than blood, since these tissues reflect long-term hormonal patterns. For anyone trying to gauge chronic stress or cognitive risk, this offers a simple, objective biomarker that’s far more reliable than a one-time blood test.

• Natural compounds help restore hormonal balance and metabolic strength — Dinkov referenced several well-known substances — aspirin, niacinamide (vitamin B3), progesterone, pregnenolone, thyroid support, glycine, and emodin — that help correct the same imbalance observed in the Cureus study. These compounds work by lowering excess cortisol, improving mitochondrial energy output, and supporting the production of protective hormones.

Niacinamide, for instance, increases NAD+, which fuels cellular repair, while aspirin dampens inflammation and cortisol overproduction. Used together, these tools shift your body back into a “rest-and-repair” mode rather than the constant stress chemistry that drives brain aging.

• DHEA acts as a built-in cortisol regulator — Dinkov explained one of the key ways DHEA helps keep cortisol in check: it blocks the enzyme that turns inactive cortisol back “on” and boosts the one that clears excess cortisol from your body. This dual action makes DHEA a natural cortisol buffer that prevents the overactivation of stress pathways.

In other words, DHEA gives your brain a biochemical “cooling system,” stopping cortisol from overheating your neurons. Supporting DHEA through thyroid health, nutrition, and targeted supplementation helps restore this essential balance.

• Stress is a symptom of low energy, not just emotional strain — Dinkov described how the elevated cortisol levels observed in the Cureus Alzheimer’s cohort represent a deeper issue: energy failure. When your cells don’t make enough ATP — whether from poor thyroid output, nutrient deficiencies, or aging — they turn to cortisol to compensate.

The hormone breaks down tissue to release fuel, but that process worsens energy depletion over time. This self-reinforcing loop explains why chronic stress feels endless: it’s a metabolic, not psychological, trap. Dinkov concluded that maintaining a low cortisol-to-DHEA-S ratio protects more than memory — it sustains whole-body resilience.

People who keep this ratio balanced experience better sleep, stable mood, and slower biological aging. His message is practical: by restoring thyroid function, eating enough to prevent energy deficits, and lowering chronic inflammation, you directly influence the biochemical environment that determines whether your brain decays or endures.

Rebuild Your Energy System to Lower Cortisol and Protect Your Brain

If you wake up tired, crash midafternoon, or feel wired when you should be asleep, your body’s stress chemistry has taken over. The Cureus study3 and Dinkov’s review4 both point to the same conclusion: your brain suffers when your cells can’t make enough energy.

To fix that, you have to restore steady fuel, retrain your stress response, and help your body recognize that it’s no longer in survival mode. Here’s how to bring your hormones — and your energy — back into balance:

1. Feed your metabolism the fuel it’s been missing — Cutting carbs keeps your body trapped in a constant stress loop because cortisol spikes whenever blood sugar drops too low. Break that pattern by eating enough healthy carbohydrates — around 250 grams daily — to give your mitochondria a steady energy supply.

Start with gentle foods like fruit and white rice. When your digestion feels stable (no bloating or irregularity), add cooked root vegetables, then more vegetables, legumes, and well-tolerated whole grains. Once your body trusts it’s being fed regularly, cortisol naturally declines, and your energy and focus stabilize.

2. Move in ways that restore instead of deplete — Overdoing endurance exercise or high-intensity intervals keeps your body in fight-or-flight mode long after the workout ends. Cortisol stays elevated, recovery slows, and sleep suffers.

Replace long, punishing sessions with physical activities that build energy rather than drain it — strength training, walking outdoors, dancing, or swimming at an easy pace. Use how you feel afterward as your guide: if you finish feeling grounded and calm, you’ve helped your hormones, not hurt them.

3. Train your nervous system to shift out of stress — Your breath is the fastest lever you have to quiet cortisol and activate your parasympathetic, or “rest and digest,” system. Try rhythmic breathing patterns like 4-7-8 or 4-8 breathing — inhaling for four seconds, holding briefly, and exhaling slowly for seven to eight seconds.

The extended exhale stimulates your vagus nerve, lowering heart rate and cortisol while signaling safety to every organ. Practice before bed, after meals, or whenever tension rises. Over time, your body learns that it no longer needs to live in emergency mode.

4. Rebuild your circadian rhythm through light and sleep — Cortisol follows your light exposure, not your alarm clock. Get outside within an hour of waking to anchor your body’s circadian rhythm, and dim screens and overhead lighting at night so melatonin can rise naturally.

Keep your bedtime and wake-up times consistent — even on weekends — to lock in hormonal balance. Deep, regular sleep clears stress hormones, strengthens memory, and repairs brain tissue. If you’re dragging through the day, fix your light and sleep first instead of relying on caffeine.

5. Use natural progesterone to quiet the cortisol surge — Bioidentical progesterone acts as your body’s built-in cortisol brake, restoring calm where chronic stress has hijacked balance. Unlike synthetic versions, natural progesterone fits perfectly into your body’s own receptor system, lowering cortisol’s overstimulation and supporting deep rest.

FAQs About Cortisol and Alzheimer’s Disease

Q: What did the new Alzheimer’s study reveal about cortisol and DHEA-S?
A: Researchers found that people with Alzheimer’s disease had cortisol levels roughly 20% higher than healthy adults, while their DHEA-S levels stayed about the same. This created a skewed cortisol-to-DHEA-S ratio — meaning stress hormones were overpowering the brain’s natural defenses. That imbalance, not just genetics or amyloid buildup, appears to drive the early stages of brain decline.

Q: How are DHEA and DHEA-S different?
A: DHEA is the fast-acting form of the hormone, while DHEA-S is the stable, long-lasting form stored in your blood. Because DHEA-S changes slowly, it’s a better measure of long-term stress and brain resilience. It also acts as a neurosteroid, helping neurons resist inflammation and oxidative damage while buffering cortisol’s harmful effects.

Q: What did Georgi Dinkov’s analysis add to this research?
A: Dinkov explained that the Cureus study confirms a broader principle: high cortisol and low metabolic energy often go hand in hand. He connected these hormone shifts to thyroid sluggishness, nutrient depletion, and aging — all of which drain cellular energy and raise stress chemistry. He also noted that maintaining a low cortisol-to-DHEA-S ratio predicts not just better memory but longer life and greater overall resilience.

Q: What practical steps help lower cortisol and restore hormonal balance?
A: To calm your stress system, start by fueling your metabolism. Eat enough healthy carbohydrates — about 250 grams per day — to keep blood sugar stable. Cut back on overtraining, use rhythmic breathing to activate your vagus nerve, and rebuild your circadian rhythm by getting morning sunlight and sleeping on a consistent schedule. These changes lower cortisol naturally while improving energy and mental clarity.

Q: How does progesterone fit into this picture?
A: Natural progesterone acts as a built-in cortisol blocker. Your body recognizes it as a calming, balancing hormone that reduces overstimulation, helps you sleep deeply, and stabilizes mood. Natural progesterone effectively blocks cortisol by reducing blood concentrations, helping restore hormonal harmony, protecting your brain and body from the long-term effects of stress.

Most people turn on a sound machine at bedtime because to them it brings comfort. The sound feels like an easy fix for restless nights, and the instant sense of calm makes it even more tempting to depend on night after night. But does that comforting hum actually improve your sleep — or is it secretly working against the brain repair you’re trying to achieve?

A recent study offers a wake-up call: Apparently, sound machines may lead to a noticeable drop in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. To put it simply, the nighttime sound that seems soothing might actually be pressuring your brain to work through constant auditory input instead of repairing itself.

These findings challenge the assumption that any calming sound is automatically helpful and set the stage for a deeper look at how sound machines might be working against the very sleep quality you’re trying to protect. Before we go into the findings of the study, let’s briefly discuss how sound machines work.

A Primer on Sound Machines

Sound machines are devices designed to produce a steady stream of background noise that help “fill in” the silence of a room. Many people use them as part of a nighttime routine, especially in environments where sudden or unpredictable sounds may interfere with rest. Rather than relying on a phone app — which can introduce disruptive blue light — sound machines offer a dedicated way to create soothing audio throughout the night.

• Why does a sound machine affect your sleep quality? The answer lies in how the brain processes noise. The fact is that even when you’re at rest during deep sleep, your brain still continues to register noise all around you. Unexpected sounds such as traffic, snoring, pets moving around, or household creaks can trigger brief awakenings or shifts between sleep stages, even if you don’t fully remember waking up.

• A sound machine helps reduce the impact of these disruptions — It provides a stable auditory backdrop. The steady hum it emits smooths out the chaos of a noisy house, an anxious mind, or the unpredictable sounds of cars passing by on the street.

• Sound machines may include a variety of sound options — Some play nature sounds, like rainfall, thunderstorms, beach waves, or frogs at night. Others play white noise, which resembles static and contains all audible frequencies at equal intensity. There’s also what’s called pink noise, which is a softer, deeper static sound that resembles steady rushing water. White and pink noise, along with other types like brown and blue, are also referred to as broadband noise.1

Most research suggests that sound machines are generally safe. Even the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) recognizes that sound machines or “sound conditioners,”2 can help both adults and newborns sleep more soundly. However, if used improperly, pink noise machines may not be completely harmless.

What Does the Newest Research Actually Say About Pink Noise and Sleep?

A more recent report published in the journal Sleep provides more insight into how sound machines may be unknowingly harming your nighttime slumber. Conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, the study looked at how different noise conditions, including pink noise, shaped the way the brain moved through deep sleep and REM sleep during the night.3 According to an article from Science Daily:

“During a typical night, the brain cycles repeatedly through deep sleep and REM sleep. Deep sleep plays a key role in physical recovery, memory processing, and the removal of waste products from the brain. REM sleep, often referred to as dream sleep, supports emotional regulation, motor skill development, and brain growth.”4

The researchers’ goal was to understand whether the sounds many people rely on each night improve sleep architecture (the natural structure and cycling of your sleep stages) or disrupt it in ways most users never notice.

• The study followed 25 healthy adults, ages 21 to 41, in a controlled sleep laboratory — Most of them were women, and none had any sleep disorders or had previously used sound machines. For seven consecutive nights, they slept for eight hours, from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

• The participants were exposed to different conditions — As they slept, they were placed under varying noise conditions, such as environment noise (sounds of aircraft, cars, baby crying, and alarms), pink noise alone, a combination of environment and pink noise, and environment noise while wearing earplugs.

There were also participants who were allowed to sleep in a quiet environment without any noise exposure (the control group). The researchers used overnight polysomnography, which is considered the gold standard for sleep measurement, to capture the data. This is a comprehensive overnight test that measures brain waves, oxygen levels, heart rate, and eye movements.

• As expected, environmental noise significantly reduced deep sleep and increased nighttime awakenings — The participants exposed to this type of noise lost an average 23 minutes of “N3” deep sleep (considered the deepest and most restorative sleep stage) per night. Even if they didn’t remember waking up in the middle of their slumber, their brain activity reflected shallower, more disrupted sleep. They also felt more tired, stressed, and mentally drained the next morning.

• But what was surprising was the effect of pink noise on deep sleep — Pink noise alone, which was played at 50 dB (imagine the sound of moderate rainfall), caused a significant reduction in REM sleep — nearly 19 minutes of sleep lost per night. Over a week, that’s more than two hours of REM sleep lost.

According to the researchers’ findings, this type of noise interferes with the brain circuits that normally allow REM sleep to begin and continue, so instead of creating a restful background for sleep, it may act as a continuous stimulus that alters the brain’s ability to cycle naturally into REM. Your brain doesn’t fully “turn off” during sleep — it still monitors your environment. Pink noise may keep the auditory processing centers partially active, preventing the full transition into REM.

• Why disrupted REM sleep has a significant effect on your health — Chronic REM deprivation doesn’t just make you tired; it also impairs emotional regulation, weakens memory consolidation, and may even accelerate cognitive decline over time. Mathias Basner, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Sleep and Chronobiology in Psychiatry and the study lead author, explained:

“REM sleep is important for memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and brain development, so our findings suggest that playing pink noise and other types of broadband noise during sleep could be harmful — especially for children whose brains are still developing and who spend much more time in REM sleep than adults.”5

What’s even more damaging was when pink noise was combined with environment noise — When paired together, the effects became more pronounced. Both deep and REM sleep were significantly reduced, and participants spent about 15 additional minutes awake during the night. Notably, this increase in wakefulness did not occur with aircraft noise alone or pink noise alone.

So, Should You Ditch Your Sound Machine?

These study findings are vital, as many people today use broadband noise not just for sleep, but also as a relaxation tool throughout the day. Case in point: White noise and ambient podcasts now total about 3 million listening hours per day on Spotify. Meanwhile, the top five “white noise” videos on YouTube have collectively been viewed more than 700 million times.6 Even so, research on how broadband noise affects sleep remains limited and inconclusive.

• Consistent REM disruptions are more damaging than you think — People whose REM sleep is always disrupted have a higher risk of developing mental health issues like depression and anxiety and even Parkinson’s disease. What’s more, majority of people today, particularly adults, are sleep deprived. This means that every minute of REM sleep matters.

• Use sound machine as a tool, not a mandate — If sound machines work for you, then use them in a smart and strategic manner. Basner recommends playing it at a low volume and setting a timer instead of letting it play through the night. “I don’t want to discount that there may be something behind it, because so many people are using it,” he added.7

• Wearing earplugs is a better way to improve sleep quality — This is a simpler — and more cost-friendly — strategy to shut off disruptive noise at night. Around 16% of Americans wear earplugs during bedtime to get the restful sleep they need.8

In the featured study, earplugs restored about 72% of the deep sleep that environmental noise had taken away. That’s equivalent to nearly 17 minutes of N3 deep sleep restored. In nearly every measurement, including sleep stages, awakenings, sleep depth, and morning mood, sleeping with earplugs looked far more similar to sleep during the quiet control night than to any noise-exposed condition.

• Earplugs performed well even during repeated noise events throughout the night — Only at the loudest level tested, 65 dB (which is similar to a noisy vacuum cleaner or busy street heard from indoors), did the protective effect begin to weaken.

• Participants also found earplugs comfortable — Even though the researchers used ordinary foam earplugs for this test, the participants still reported that they slept better with them. This is notable, since comfort and usability often limit whether people stick with sleep tools long-term.

“It is likely that both comfort and sound attenuation could be further improved by using high-fidelity or even custom-fit earplugs instead, although this would have to be shown,” the researchers added.9

Are Sound Machines Safe for Babies and Kids?

During the first weeks of life, newborns spend the majority of their time sleeping — In fact, newborns are recommended to get around 14 to 17 hours of sleep per day, according to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). This means that these young children spend significantly more time in REM sleep than adults.

• Many parents place sound machines beside their newborns’ or toddlers’ beds — They do this with the best of intentions, to help their children fall asleep and stay asleep through the night. However, based on the featured research, this habit could be doing more damage, as they are more susceptible to the possible harms of pink noise exposure.

• REM sleep loss may be more pronounced in young children — Although the study did not observe the effects of broadband noise on these age groups, the researchers still warn parents to be careful in using sound machines until there’s more conclusive research on their effects on younger brains.

“Overall, our results caution against the use of broadband noise, especially for newborns and toddlers, and indicate that we need more research in vulnerable populations, on long-term use, on the different colors of broadband noise, and on safe broadband noise levels in relation to sleep,” Basner said.10

• The volume level of the machine is also a concern — Excessively high volumes can pose risks over time. One study published in the National Library of Medicine reported that white noise played above recommended limits may negatively affect young children’s hearing and language development.11

For context, the safe noise level for hospital nurseries is around 50 decibels (dB). For adults, white noise is typically regarded as safe between 50 and 70 dB. Beyond that range, hearing protection may be necessary to reduce the risk of long-term damage.12

To summarize, below is a comparison of the different types of broadband noises made by sound machines and the recommendations based on the research findings.

Noise type
Sound profile
Effect on sleep
Recommendation

Pink noise
Softer, deeper static (like steady rainfall or rushing water)
Reduced REM sleep by ~19 minutes per night in lab settings
Use cautiously, especially for children whose brains need more REM sleep

White noise
Even static across all frequencies (like TV static or a fan)
Masks disruptive sounds but shows no clear benefit for sleep quality
Keep volume low (50 to 70 dB), use a timer, place device 3+ feet away

Brown noise
Deep, rumbling static (like thunder or strong wind)
Limited research available; effects on sleep architecture unclear
Apply same safety precautions as pink/white noise until more data exists

How to Use a Sound Machine Safely

If you’re not ready to give up your sound machine entirely, you can still minimize the risks. Here’s a practical, research-aligned setup guide you can implement tonight:

1. Use the lowest effective volume — Set your sound machine to the minimum level that still masks your specific trigger noises, like traffic or snoring. Lower loudness means less risk of disrupted sleep over time. Aim for 50 dB or below — roughly the volume of light rainfall.

2. Increase the distance from your bed — Place the device across the room, not on your nightstand. Sound pressure decreases with distance, so moving your machine even 3 to 6 feet farther from your ears significantly reduces exposure while still providing masking benefits.

3. Set a sleep timer or auto-off feature — You don’t need broadband noise running all night. Set a timer for 30 to 60 minutes — enough time to fall asleep. Once you’re in deep sleep, your brain is less sensitive to moderate environmental sounds anyway.

4. Consider earplugs as an alternative — In the featured study, simple foam earplugs restored about 72% of the deep sleep lost to environmental noise, outperforming pink noise in nearly every measurement. Try them instead of, or alongside, your sound machine.

5. Combine with physical noise control — Address noise at the source: heavy curtains, door sweeps, draft stoppers, and soft furnishings all reduce sound transmission. These passive solutions don’t carry the REM-disruption risks of continuous broadband noise.

6. Run a one-week self-experiment — If you wake up groggy despite “sleeping” seven to eight hours, try removing your sound machine for one week. Track your morning alertness, mood, and energy. If you feel more restored without it, that’s your answer.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Sound Machines and Sleep

Q: Can pink noise disrupt rapid eye movement (REM) sleep?
A: Yes, recent controlled sleep-lab research suggests pink noise may reduce REM sleep, which is the stage associated with dreaming, memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and brain development. In laboratory conditions, participants exposed to pink noise experienced a measurable reduction in REM sleep compared to quiet conditions.

While pink noise is often marketed as calming, continuous broadband sound may act as an ongoing auditory stimulus that subtly interferes with the brain’s natural sleep cycling. The effect may be especially relevant for people already struggling with sleep quality or those who rely on noise all night at moderate volumes.

Q: What is a safe decibel level for sleep?
A: For most adults, sleep experts generally recommend keeping nighttime sound exposure around 50 decibels (dB) or lower — roughly the sound of light rainfall. Some guidance considers 50 to 70 dB acceptable for adults, but lower is better when possible. For infants and young children, caution is even more important, and volume should remain at or below nursery safety standards (around 50 dB).

Q: Are sound machines safe for babies?
A: Parents should use caution. Babies spend significantly more time in REM sleep than adults, and REM plays a critical role in brain development. Emerging research suggesting that certain types of broadband noise may reduce REM sleep raises questions about prolonged overnight use in infants and toddlers. Additionally, excessive volume may pose hearing risks over time.

Environmental fixes — such as blackout curtains, soft furnishings and white-noise alternatives at low levels — may be safer first-line options.

Q: Where should I place a sound machine in the bedroom?
A: Placement significantly affects sound exposure. For safer use, position the device across the room, not on your nightstand. Keep it at least 3 to 6 feet away from your bed or your child’s crib. Use the lowest volume that masks your triggers, and never direct the speaker toward your ears. Sound intensity drops as distance increases, so moving the machine farther away reduces the decibel level reaching your ears while still providing masking benefits.

Q: Do I need a timer or should a sound machine run all night?
A: For many people, running a sound machine all night is unnecessary. Once you fall asleep — especially after entering deeper sleep stages — your brain becomes less sensitive to moderate background sounds. Using a 30- to 60-minute timer may reduce potential REM disruption and limit prolonged noise exposure. Continuous overnight use may not provide added benefit and could increase the risk of sleep-stage interference.

Q: What’s the difference between pink, white and brown noise?
A: The “color” of noise refers to how sound frequencies are distributed:

• White noise — Equal intensity across all audible frequencies; sounds like steady static or a fan.
• Pink noise — Emphasizes lower frequencies; softer and deeper, often compared to rainfall or rushing water.
• Brown noise — Even more weighted toward low frequencies; deeper, rumbling sound similar to thunder.

Pink noise has recently drawn attention due to findings suggesting it may reduce REM sleep in certain lab settings. White and brown noise are widely used for sound masking, but high-quality evidence comparing long-term effects on sleep architecture remains limited.

Q: Are there alternatives to sound machines that are safer?
A: Yes. Depending on the source of nighttime noise, alternatives may better preserve sleep quality:

• Earplugs — In laboratory studies, earplugs protected deep sleep more effectively than pink noise during aircraft noise exposure.
• Physical soundproofing — Door sweeps, draft stoppers, heavy curtains and rugs can reduce environmental noise without continuous auditory stimulation.
• Fans or air purifiers at a distance — Provide gentle masking without placing a speaker near your head.
• Behavioral sleep strategies — Consistent bedtime, light control and stress reduction may reduce the perceived need for artificial noise.

If you wake feeling groggy despite adequate sleep duration, consider a one-week trial without broadband noise to assess how your body responds.

Cancer is often talked about as though it strikes at random — a matter of bad luck or inherited genes. But a sweeping new global analysis suggests otherwise. Published in Nature Medicine, the study from the World Health Organization and its International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) examined how much of the world’s cancer burden traces back to causes that are, in principle, avoidable.1

The findings reframe cancer less as an inevitability and more as a condition shaped by everyday exposures — what you breathe, drink, eat, and absorb over decades. The researchers’ conclusions carry enormous practical weight, because if a risk factor can be identified and measured, it can also be reduced. What follows is a breakdown of exactly how the analysis reached its conclusions, which exposures drive the most harm and what you can do to act on the data.

Global Data Show Where Cancer Risk Starts

For the study, researchers used data covering 36 cancer types across 185 countries and evaluated 30 risk factors that people and governments can address. They applied a statistical method that estimates how many cases would not occur if a risk factor were removed to determine how much of the global cancer burden traces back to specific exposures. This was not a small regional snapshot. It was a global audit of preventable cancer.

• More than one-third of new cancers were tied to modifiable causes — The investigators found that 7.1 million of 18.7 million new cancer cases in 2022 — 37.8% — were attributable to preventable risk factors. Among men, 45.4% of new cases were linked to these exposures, compared to 29.7% in women. That gap alone tells you something powerful: exposure patterns matter.
If nearly half of cancers in men connect to modifiable behaviors or environments, then your daily exposures shape long-term outcomes.
• Smoking dominated the preventable cancer landscape — Tobacco smoking accounted for 15.1% of all new cancer cases globally, making it the single largest contributor identified in the study. In men, smoking was responsible for an estimated 23% of new cancer cases, while in women it accounted for 6%.
This means smoking’s effect in men was nearly four times higher than in women. The numbers reflect cumulative DNA damage caused by carcinogens in tobacco smoke that trigger mutations and drive tumor formation. If smoking were removed, roughly 15% of global cancer cases would not occur.
• Infections and alcohol formed the next major tier of risk — Infections contributed 10.2% of global cancer cases, and alcohol consumption accounted for 3.2%. Among women, infections were responsible for 11% of new cancer cases — higher than smoking in that group.
That figure underscores how viruses and bacteria such as human papilloma virus (HPV) and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) reshape cancer risk through chronic inflammation and long-term cellular damage. Alcohol, by contrast, increases exposure to acetaldehyde, a toxic breakdown product that injures DNA and interferes with repair systems.
• Three cancer types made up nearly half of preventable cases — Lung, stomach and cervical cancers represented nearly 50% of preventable cancer cases globally. Lung cancer was linked primarily to smoking and air pollution. Stomach cancer largely traced back to H. pylori infection.
Cervical cancer was linked to HPV, but it’s important to note that, in most cases, only long-term, untreated HPV infections will trigger cervical cancer, and these are typically easily caught and treated with regular Pap smears.
• Regional differences exposed how environment shapes risk — Preventable cancers ranged from 24.6% to 38.2% in women depending on region and from 28.1% to 57.2% in men. East Asia showed the highest preventable cancer burden among men at 57%, while Latin America and the Caribbean showed the lowest at 28%.2

These differences reflect varying exposure to tobacco, infections, occupational hazards, and environmental pollutants. Where you live influences what you inhale, consume and encounter. The researchers concluded that “strengthening efforts to reduce modifiable exposures remains central to global cancer prevention.”

How to Reduce Your Preventable Cancer Risk

The data show that cancer risk is closely associated with what you inhale, drink, absorb, and store in your tissues. That means your strategy need to begin at the source. Focus first on removing metabolic stressors that damage mitochondria and drive inflammation, because cellular energy failure creates the environment where disease spreads. When you correct that terrain, you shift your long-term trajectory in a measurable way. Here are five steps you can take.

1. Shift your macronutrient balance toward carbs and away from excess fat — If your fat intake approaches 60% of daily calories, you force your body to rely heavily on fat for fuel. That metabolic state drives dysfunction and fuels disease spread, including cancer.3 Keep your fat intake between 30% and 40% of daily calories and aim for about 250 grams of healthy carbohydrates daily.
Build your meals around whole fruit, cooked root vegetables, white rice, healthy protein, and small amounts of well-tolerated whole grains if your gut handles them well. If your digestion struggles, begin with easier-to-digest carbohydrates like fruit and white rice and progress slowly. Your goal is steady glucose use, strong mitochondrial function and lower inflammatory signaling — chemical alarm signals that, when chronically elevated, create conditions favorable to tumor growth.

2. Eliminate vegetable oils and drive linoleic acid (LA) under 5 grams per day — The problem is not just fat. It’s LA, a polyunsaturated fat found in seed oils. High LA intake disrupts mitochondrial energy production, weakens your immune system’s ability to detect and destroy abnormal cells, and activates clotting factors that help tumors establish blood supply and spread.
Remove canola, corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower, and grapeseed oils from your kitchen. Replace them with grass fed butter, ghee or tallow.
For example, instead of sautéing vegetables in canola oil, cook them with ghee. Instead of store-bought salad dressing, use lemon juice and grass fed butter. Use olive oil and avocado oil sparingly, if at all, because they often contain hidden seed oils and high monounsaturated fat that stresses mitochondria.
You’re probably eating more LA than you think. When my Mercola Health Coach app launches, the Seed Oil Sleuth feature will help you track this down to the tenth of a gram. Aim for under 5 grams of LA daily, ideally under 2 grams.

3. Reduce inflammatory drivers by improving body composition and movement — Excess body fat releases inflammatory chemicals that support tumor growth. If you carry weight around your midsection, focus on restoring carbohydrate balance rather than crash dieting. Eat enough protein — about 0.8 grams per pound of ideal body weight, or 1.76 grams per kilogram — with one-third from collagen sources like bone broth.
This protects muscle mass while improving metabolic flexibility, your body’s ability to switch smoothly between burning glucose and fat for fuel. Commit to daily walking and avoid overdoing intense exercise. A sedentary body is a metabolically stagnant one — without regular movement, insulin sensitivity drops, inflammatory markers rise, and mitochondria lose their capacity to burn fuel efficiently.
At the same time, excessive high-intensity training spikes stress hormones and strains recovery. Working your way up to a one-hour brisk walk outdoors daily supports mitochondrial function, improves insulin sensitivity and reduces systemic inflammation.
If you’re starting from minimal activity, begin with 15 to 20 minutes a day and add five minutes per week. Add strength training two or three times per week, but don’t overdo intense sessions. If you feel wired, depleted or unable to recover, you’re pushing too hard. Daily movement builds resilience. Chronic overexertion breaks it down.
Making sure your vitamin D levels are optimized is also important. Multiple large-scale analyses link sufficient vitamin D to lower risk of colorectal, breast and other cancers.4

The mechanisms align with everything discussed in this article — vitamin D modulates immune function, supports your body’s ability to trigger programmed death in abnormal cells and helps regulate the inflammatory signaling that drives tumor growth. Test your blood levels twice a year and aim for 60 to 80 ng/mL (150 to 200 nmol/L).
Many people need supplemental vitamin D3, particularly during winter months or if they spend limited time outdoors. If you supplement, take it with a fat-containing meal to improve absorption, and pair it with magnesium and vitamin K2 to support proper calcium metabolism.

4. Lower chronic stress to protect metabolic function — Chronically high cortisol — your body’s main stress hormone — drives stubborn belly fat, suppresses immune function, and impairs the mitochondrial repair processes your body relies on to prevent abnormal cell growth. Lowering cortisol isn’t a luxury. It’s a metabolic intervention.
Start with slow, deep breathing several times a day and get early morning sunlight to reset your cortisol rhythm. Include healthy carbohydrates with your meals to stabilize energy and calm your nervous system.
Simple pleasures matter, too — laughter, music, time with pets, and doing something you genuinely enjoy all trigger measurable biochemical shifts that lower cortisol and signal safety to your brain. For deeper support, natural progesterone is one of the safest and most effective ways to block cortisol’s harmful effects, helping your body recover from stress overload and reestablish hormonal balance.
In addition, sleep is one of the most overlooked cancer-prevention tools. IARC classifies disrupted circadian rhythms as a probable carcinogen, and the reasons connect directly to the mechanisms discussed throughout this article — sleep deprivation impairs your body’s ability to repair damaged DNA, suppresses natural killer cells that hunt down abnormal cells and elevates the very cortisol you’re working to lower.
Prioritize seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep in a dark, cool room. Avoid screens for at least an hour before bed, dim lights after sunset, and keep a consistent sleep and wake time — even on weekends — to anchor your circadian rhythm.

5. Eliminate alcohol and smoking completely and remove other modifiable exposures — Alcohol acts as a metabolic poison and increases cancer burden, much like LA. When you drink, your liver converts ethanol into acetaldehyde, a toxic aldehyde that damages cell membranes and DNA. LA follows an almost identical route. As LA breaks down, it forms another toxic aldehyde called 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE).
Both acetaldehyde and 4-HNE are highly reactive molecules that attach themselves to proteins, phospholipids, and mitochondrial DNA, disrupting your body’s ability to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) — the energy currency that powers every function in your body, from heartbeat to DNA repair. Think of acetaldehyde and 4-HNE as molecular rust.
They corrode the very machinery your cells use to produce energy, leaving mitochondria damaged and inefficient. So, if you drink, stop. If you smoke, also stop. Address chronic infections where possible and limit exposure to environmental toxins like air pollution as much as possible. If you live near a busy road or in an area with poor air quality, run a HEPA air purifier in the rooms where you spend the most time, especially your bedroom.
When you walk or exercise outdoors, choose routes away from heavy traffic. Filter your drinking water with a high-quality system that removes chlorine, heavy metals, and industrial contaminants. Switch household cleaning and personal care products to versions free of synthetic fragrances, parabens, and phthalates. You don’t need to overhaul everything overnight — start with the exposures you encounter most frequently and work outward from there.

FAQs About Preventable Cancer Risk

Q: How much of cancer is actually preventable?
A: A large global analysis published in Nature Medicine found that roughly four in 10 new cancer cases worldwide are linked to modifiable risk factors.5 That means a significant share of the global cancer burden is tied to exposures such as smoking, alcohol, infections, excess body fat, and environmental pollutants rather than fate or genetics alone.

Q: What are the biggest preventable drivers of cancer?
A: Tobacco smoking ranks as the leading contributor worldwide. Infections such as HPV and H. pylori follow closely behind. Alcohol consumption also adds measurable risk. Lung, stomach, and cervical cancers account for nearly half of preventable cases globally, largely driven by these exposures.

Q: Why does body fat and metabolic health matter for cancer risk?
A: Excess body fat releases inflammatory chemicals that create a biological environment that supports tumor growth. Metabolic dysfunction also impairs mitochondrial function — your cells’ ability to produce energy efficiently. When your mitochondria can’t produce energy efficiently, your cells shift into a stressed, inflammatory state — and that’s precisely the environment where cancer cells thrive.

Q: How does diet influence cancer risk at the cellular level?
A: High intake of seed oils rich in LA and excess fat intake disrupt mitochondrial function and increase formation of toxic aldehydes that damage proteins, membranes and mitochondrial DNA. In contrast, balancing fat intake, prioritizing digestible carbohydrates and eliminating seed oils reduces metabolic stress and lowers inflammatory signaling.

Q: What practical steps reduce preventable cancer risk?
A: Stop smoking and eliminate alcohol. Remove seed oils to lower total LA intake. Maintain a balanced macronutrient profile with adequate carbohydrates and protein. Improve body composition through daily walking and moderate strength training rather than extreme dieting or overtraining. Address chronic infections and reduce exposure to environmental toxins whenever possible.

Test Your Knowledge with Today’s Quiz!
Take today’s quiz to see how much you’ve learned from yesterday’s Mercola.com article.

Which gut cell type ramps up serotonin output during a high-fat diet?

Enterochromaffin cells
Enterochromaffin cells generate most of the body’s serotonin, and high-fat diets push them into overproduction while reducing the serotonin transporter’s clearing capacity. Learn more.

Goblet cells
Paneth cells
Stem cells

You’ve done everything right — scheduled your prenatal vitamins, researched the best stroller, started that nursery registry. But a single blood test at 24 weeks reveals something you didn’t expect: gestational diabetes. What you don’t know yet is that the nonstick pan in your kitchen and the greaseproof wrapper from last week’s takeout may have tipped the scales.

In the U.S., nearly 1 in 10 pregnant women now receive this diagnosis, a figure that has climbed steadily over time and reshaped how pregnancy risk is understood.1 For years, the conversation centered on familiar explanations such as body weight, age, or family history.

However, large-scale research published in eClinicalMedicine points to an overlooked contributor that reaches far beyond personal health habits: widespread exposure to industrial chemicals that linger in the environment and the human body, namely per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).2

These compounds are not rare, not confined to specific jobs, and not limited to isolated communities. They show up in blood samples from nearly everyone. The key variable isn’t whether you’re exposed — it’s when during pregnancy that exposure occurs. Research published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth reveals pregnancy as an exquisitely vulnerable metabolic window, when even modest environmental pressures carry greater weight.3

Subtle disruptions that might pass unnoticed at other life stages take on new significance as the body adapts to support fetal growth. This shifts blame from willpower to water supply, from diet to industrial pollution.

It also raises an urgent question about how everyday chemical exposures interact with pregnancy biology — and why understanding those interactions is essential to protecting long-term metabolic health during pregnancy and in future generations.

Evidence Connects PFAS to Disrupted Blood Sugar Control During Pregnancy

The eClinicalMedicine study examined whether exposure to PFAS affects blood sugar control and diabetes risk, with a specific focus on pregnancy outcomes.4 Researchers systematically reviewed 129 human studies and ran formal meta-analyses using data from up to 111,544 participants, depending on the outcome measured. The goal was to move beyond single studies and see whether consistent patterns emerged across populations, countries, and study designs.

PFAS act as endocrine disruptors — they dock onto cellular receptors meant for natural hormones, sending scrambled signals that disrupt how your body stores fat, responds to insulin, and burns fuel for energy. The paper describes how PFAS activate pathways that regulate fat storage, insulin sensitivity, and energy balance. When these pathways get disrupted, cells burn fuel less efficiently and rely more heavily on insulin-driven control.

• Gestational diabetes showed the clearest and most consistent signal — Exposure to eight different PFAS was linked with higher odds of gestational diabetes, with perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) showing a 13% increase in risk for each doubling of exposure. That means as PFAS levels rose, the likelihood of gestational diabetes rose in parallel. For someone planning a pregnancy, this translates into a measurable risk factor that sits completely outside diet or genetics.

• Insulin resistance increased alongside PFAS exposure — Several PFAS were also associated with higher HOMA-IR scores, a standard measure of insulin resistance that reflects how hard your body needs to work to keep blood sugar stable. Insulin resistance means cells stop responding properly to insulin, forcing your pancreas to push out more of it. The analysis found PFOS and another PFAS — PFNA — consistently raised HOMA-IR values in prospective studies.

In practical terms, if you’re planning pregnancy with elevated PFAS exposure, your cells are already struggling to use insulin before you conceive, setting up a metabolic collision when pregnancy hormones further reduce insulin sensitivity around week 20.

• The pancreas responded by overworking — The review also found higher HOMA-β scores linked to PFAS exposure, which signals increased insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells. Early on, this looks like compensation, not failure.

The pancreas pushes harder to offset insulin resistance. Over time, that pattern leads to beta-cell exhaustion, a known pathway toward diabetes. This explains why PFAS do not just correlate with blood sugar issues but actively strain the system that regulates glucose.

• Fasting insulin levels rose even before glucose levels changed — Several PFAS were linked with higher fasting insulin in prospective studies, even when fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) — a blood test that reflects your average blood sugar level over the previous two to three months — stayed within normal ranges.

This detail matters because insulin rises first when metabolism breaks down. Blood sugar often looks “normal” until much later. The findings show PFAS exposure shifts metabolism in a hidden way long before standard labs flag a problem.

• Cellular stress and inflammation amplify the damage — PFAS increase oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling in metabolic tissues. Oxidative stress is cellular wear-and-tear caused by unstable molecules, while inflammation disrupts insulin signaling inside cells. Together, these processes make tissues less responsive to insulin, forcing the pancreas into overdrive and pushing the body closer to metabolic failure.

The review emphasizes that PFAS exposures are widespread, persistent, and cumulative. You can’t feel them, taste them, or detect them without testing. Yet the data show they influence insulin resistance, pancreatic workload, and pregnancy-related glucose control. But here’s the key nuance that changes how we think about prevention: PFAS don’t affect pregnancy uniformly. The same exposure has radically different effects depending on when it occurs.

Pregnancy Magnifies the Effects of Chemical Exposure

A study published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth examined whether PFAS levels measured at different stages of pregnancy influenced gestational diabetes risk.5 Researchers measured blood PFAS levels in early pregnancy around 14 weeks and again in mid-pregnancy around 20 weeks.

Participants included Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, White, and Black participants, with a mix of first-time and experienced mothers. This diversity matters because PFAS exposure and metabolic risk differ across populations, making the findings more relevant to everyday pregnancies.

• PFAS increase gestational diabetes risk across pregnancy stages — Higher blood levels of certain PFAS were associated with higher gestational diabetes risk when measured in early pregnancy, mid-pregnancy, and across both time points combined. Risk rose by roughly 15% to 40%, depending on the compound and timing. This shows that repeated exposure, not just a single spike, drove risk upward.

• Timing affected risk for some compounds — Some PFAS did not raise risk in a straight line across pregnancy. PFOS was linked to higher gestational diabetes risk only in mid-pregnancy, not earlier, while another PFAS — PFUnDA — showed the opposite pattern, with lower risk early and higher risk later. This shows that pregnancy is not metabolically static — the same exposure can have very different effects depending on when it occurs, as hormone levels and insulin demands shift over time.

• Hormonal shifts during pregnancy amplify chemical effects — Mid-pregnancy brings rising insulin resistance driven by placental hormones. PFAS exposure during this window intensified that natural resistance, pushing glucose regulation past a breaking point.

These forces worsen glucose control precisely when pregnancy already demands metabolic flexibility. Translation: The contaminated water you drank in week 14 may affect your baby differently than the same water in week 20. This knowledge supports practical prevention strategies focused on reducing exposure before and during pregnancy rather than waiting for abnormal glucose tests to appear.

Steps to Reduce PFAS Exposure and Protect Against Gestational Diabetes

If you are pregnant, planning a pregnancy, or supporting someone who is, this is where action matters most. The evidence shows PFAS exposure adds metabolic strain at the exact time your body already works harder to control blood sugar.

Addressing the source of that strain first lowers pressure on glucose regulation instead of reacting after problems show up. PFAS are called “forever chemicals” because they resist breakdown in both the environment and your body. The average elimination half-life ranges from two to five years for common PFAS like PFOS and PFOA.

This means if you reduce exposure today, blood levels will drop by only 50% after two to five years. For women planning pregnancy, this timeline matters: starting PFAS reduction at least 12 months before conception allows blood levels to drop meaningfully before the metabolically vulnerable window of pregnancy begins. If you’re already pregnant, start reducing PFAS immediately — every reduction in ongoing exposure matters, even in trimester two or three.

1. Filter your drinking water to reduce daily PFAS intake — Many municipal water supplies contain PFAS from industrial runoff and firefighting foam contamination. Using a high-quality water filtration system designed to remove PFAS reduces a steady background source that accumulates over weeks and months.

2. Reduce contact with grease-resistant food packaging — PFAS are commonly used in fast-food wrappers, takeout boxes, microwave popcorn bags, and other oil-repellent materials. To cut your exposure, choose fresh foods over fast food and takeout, focusing instead on cooking meals at home. Avoid items packaged in grease-resistant paper, since this is a common source of PFAS.

3. Avoid nonstick cookware — Heat increases PFAS migration from nonstick surfaces into food. Cooking with safer materials like stainless steel limits direct transfer into meals, which is especially important during pregnancy when metabolic tolerance narrows.

4. Limit stain-resistant and water-repellent household products — Carpets, furniture, mattresses, and clothing labeled stain-resistant or waterproof often rely on PFAS chemistry. Choosing untreated natural materials and washing new textiles before use lowers ongoing skin contact and household dust exposure, which compounds over time.

5. Use a broader detox strategy that addresses multiple toxins at once — PFAS do not act alone. Some enter your body as hitchhikers on microplastics, which behave like sponges for environmental toxins.6 The universal detox solution detailed in my upcoming book, “Microplastics Cure,” is designed to address far more than plastic particles alone.

The same science-based strategies outlined in the book also support the removal of other persistent pollutants, including PFAS, by reducing overall toxic load and strengthening your body’s natural resilience.

“Microplastics Cure” provides a clear, science-based guide for navigating one of today’s most overlooked health challenges. Rather than dwelling on what can’t be avoided, it shows where meaningful change is possible and how small, informed choices reduce toxic burden. In a world where plastic and chemical exposure have become routine, this approach offers a practical path forward that puts control back in your hands.

6. Rebuild cellular energy to restore insulin sensitivity before pregnancy — Reducing PFAS exposure removes one driver of insulin resistance. But if your cellular energy production is already compromised — often from years of inadequate carbohydrate intake or seed oil damage — your glucose handling will struggle even with low PFAS levels. Both strategies work together: remove the external toxins while rebuilding internal metabolic capacity.

Gestational diabetes develops on a foundation of insulin resistance that often begins years earlier. Insulin allows glucose to enter your cells so it can be used for energy. When cells run low on fuel, that signal weakens and glucose stays in the bloodstream, forcing your body to release more insulin. Restoring cellular energy reverses this breakdown.

For most adults, that means adequate carbohydrates rather than restriction — roughly 250 grams per day — which supports thyroid function, metabolic rate, and stable glucose handling. Chronic carbohydrate restriction raises stress hormones and worsens insulin sensitivity over time. Removing seed oils is just as important.

Linoleic acid (LA) from soybean, corn, canola, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, and grapeseed oils disrupts mitochondrial energy production and interferes with insulin signaling. Your mitochondria are cellular power plants — when they function well, cells have ample energy and readily accept glucose.

When seed oils damage mitochondrial membranes, energy production drops, glucose builds up in your bloodstream, and insulin resistance follows. Eliminating packaged foods and restaurant meals cooked in seed oils, while using traditional fats like grass fed butter, ghee, or tallow, reduces metabolic strain and lowers the insulin demand placed on your body before pregnancy begins.

FAQs About PFAS and Gestational Diabetes

Q: What is gestational diabetes and why is it becoming more common?
A: Gestational diabetes occurs when blood sugar rises during pregnancy because the body can’t regulate glucose effectively under increased metabolic demand. In the U.S., it now affects nearly 1 in 10 pregnancies, a rise linked not only to traditional factors like age or weight, but also to environmental exposures that interfere with normal glucose control.

Q: How are PFAS connected to gestational diabetes risk?
A: Large-scale research shows that higher exposure to PFAS aligns with higher odds of gestational diabetes. These chemicals interfere with hormone signaling involved in metabolism, increase insulin resistance, and force your pancreas to work harder to keep blood sugar stable, even before standard lab tests show abnormalities.

Q: Why does the timing of PFAS exposure during pregnancy matter?
A: Pregnancy is a biologically sensitive window. Studies measuring PFAS in early and mid-pregnancy show that risk changes depending on when exposure occurs. Hormonal shifts during mid-pregnancy naturally increase insulin resistance, and PFAS exposure during this period adds extra metabolic strain, pushing glucose regulation past a tipping point.

Q: How can PFAS exposure be reduced during pregnancy or before conception?
A: Key steps include filtering drinking water, limiting contact with grease-resistant food packaging, avoiding nonstick cookware, and reducing use of stain-resistant or water-repellent household products. These changes lower daily exposure to PFAS, which are widespread, persistent, and accumulate over time.

Q: Why is improving insulin sensitivity before pregnancy important?
A: Gestational diabetes often develops on a foundation of insulin resistance that builds for years. Supporting cellular energy production, eating adequate carbohydrates, and removing seed oils that disrupt mitochondrial function strengthen glucose handling before pregnancy begins. Addressing these root causes early reduces metabolic strain during pregnancy and lowers long-term risks for both mother and child.

You can feel it in everyday conversations: the coworker you meet on Monday who’s already counting down to Friday, that friend who cancels plans because they’re “exhausted.”1 There’s no question about it — more and more people are struggling with chronic fatigue and work-related stress. In fact, 6 out of 10 employees in major global economies now report rising levels of workplace stress.2

In response, many of us try to regain balance by eating better and moving more. But beyond these familiar strategies, there’s a surprisingly simple habit that might offer greater benefits: hobbies. While people often turn to them as a way to unwind, new research suggests they do more than just lift your spirits.3

Leisure Crafting Positively Affects Workplace Performance

A study by researchers at the University of East Anglia and Erasmus University Rotterdam4 examined leisure crafting — this involves using a hobby more intentionally through small goals, learning something new, or connecting with others. Published in the journal Human Relations, the study explored how this intentional approach to hobbies might shape people’s daily experiences.

The researchers aim to remind people that it is possible to use their hobbies to enjoy work more or possibly be more creative. Lead author and Associate Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Paraskevas Petrou, Ph.D., said:5

“It’s already known that hobbies are good for your well-being, but our study shows that hobbies don’t just make you happier, they can also help you feel more fulfilled and creative at work. This goes beyond just relaxing or having fun — like binge-watching Netflix — and turns the hobby into something that helps people grow.”

• The study followed nearly 200 working adults — Participants were mid-career employees with an average age of 46. Adults aged 61 and older were included as well, to explore how hobbies affect people at different life stages.6

• How the five-week hobby program worked — One group watched a short hobby-focused intervention video that guided them to approach their hobbies more intentionally by setting personal goals for their hobby, learning something new through it, and building social connections by practicing their hobby with others. Meanwhile, a control group did not watch the video and did not receive any guidance or planning tools.7

• A surprising boost in meaning and creativity — Each week, participants reported how their hobby practice was going, and their answers were compared to that of the control group. The researchers found that those who followed leisure crafting reported greater meaning and creativity at work.8

“We were surprised to see that leisure crafting had a stronger effect at work than in people’s personal lives. We had expected equal benefits in both areas … One possible reason is that people who took part in our study were already fairly satisfied with their lives outside work, but their work life had more room for improvement,” Professor George Michaelides, a study co-author from UEA’s Norwich Business School, said.

• Why do these findings matter? As more workplaces focus on well-being, this study is “the first to be conducted among a mature working population and to demonstrate that leisure crafting can be understood, learned, and displayed by employees.”9 The researchers point to practical steps organizations can take, such as offering hobby-related masterclasses and allocating development funds for learning outside work.10

Get Creative and Be Kind to Your Mind
If you’re thinking about trying a new creative hobby, you’re not just adding something fun to your routine — you’re giving your mind something new to play with. Writing by hand, dancing, painting, or even simple coloring encourages your brain to spot patterns, make new connections, and stay more engaged day to day.

• Creativity can be a ‘fountain of youth’ for your brain — Researchers from the Global Brain Health Institute11 published a major study in Nature Communications, examining nearly 1,500 adults across 13 countries to see whether creative engagement might slow brain aging. Participants ranged from tango dancers in Argentina and musicians in Canada to visual artists in Germany and real-time strategy gamers in Poland.

Creative individuals showed “younger-looking” brain function, with brain imaging and machine learning pointing to stronger connectivity and greater mental flexibility compared to non-creatives.

• Strategy games stimulate the brain — In a second arm of the study,12 non-experts completed 30 hours of training in StarCraft II, a complex real-time strategy game. Within three to four weeks (about five to 10 hours a week), their brain activity showed measurable improvements in areas tied to planning, focus, and learning. A comparison group trained on Hearthstone, a simpler, turn-based game, did not show the same gains.

• Handwriting helps boost memory function — Handwriting supports stronger memory because the physical act of forming letters activates multiple senses and engages brain regions involved in motor control and perception, helping you recognize shapes, process words more deeply, and build lasting neural connections.13

• The colorful benefits of painting — Painting isn’t just about making something pretty; it’s a chance to express yourself. It’s also beginner-friendly, with endless room to grow, no matter your skill level. And when you paint with others, the social connection becomes just as enjoyable as the art itself.14

Enjoy Reading More Books

As more people look for calming ways to unwind, many are rediscovering their love for reading; The Sun15 even dubbed it “the hot new hobby for 2026.” But beyond the trendiness, reading has always been one of the most satisfying and affordable pastimes you can get lost in.

• Reading gives your brain a daily workout — Reading sharpens critical thinking, sparks creativity, expands vocabulary, and deepens knowledge — all while stimulating imagination and keeping your mind active and resilient.16

• Reading can delay Alzheimer’s disease by up to five years — A 2021 study published in Neurology17 followed 1,903 seniors over seven years and found that those who engaged in cognitively stimulating activities like reading developed Alzheimer’s five years later than those who didn’t. Participants with high cognitive activity developed dementia at an average age of 94, while those with low activity saw onset around age 89.18

• It protects you against cognitive decline — A 14-year longitudinal study in International Psychogeriatrics found that older adults who read at least once a week were significantly less likely to experience cognitive decline. The researchers found out that:19

“[T]hose with higher reading frequencies (≥1 time a week) were less likely to have cognitive decline at six-year (AOR: 0.54), 10-year (AOR: 0.58), and 14-year (AOR: 0.54) follow-ups … across all educational levels.”

Reading has also been known to help people sleep better, improve their eyesight, and even reduce gadget use. To learn more about these findings, check out “The Surprising Benefits of Daily Book Reading.”

Cook Up a Storm at Home

Cooking isn’t just a practical skill; it’s a fun, relaxing way to get creative and make meals that you’ll love eating. Even if you’re new to the kitchen, there are plenty of easy, enjoyable ways to get started. No matter how you begin, cooking is a rewarding, confidence-boosting hobby. It’s also a more enjoyable way to eat healthy and be able to avoid eating ultraprocessed foods every day.

• Cooking may support your mental health — Beyond saving money or improving nutrition, cooking at home may offer real mental health benefits. A 2021 meta-analysis published in Frontiers in Psychology reviewed 13 studies involving over 11,000 participants to explore how home cooking affects psychosocial outcomes like self-esteem, mood, and overall well-being.20

“Cooking at home is associated with higher diet quality and nutrient intake … Biological pathways through which improved diet might enhance mental health and well-being include improvements in markers of inflammation, increased intake of antioxidants, which reduces oxidative stress, and changes in the microbiota gut-brain axis,” the authors explained.

• Experiment with ingredients and get comfortable — Start with simple, easy-to-follow recipes that use just a few ingredients and basic techniques. As you get more comfortable in the kitchen, you can experiment with more complex flavors and dishes. Try adding herbs like oregano, ginger, or dill to your next meal — not only will they add depth, but offer health benefits as well.

• Make time for tea — Sipping a cup of tea daily could help lower your risk of diabetes. Researchers from the University of Adelaide found that regular tea consumption may improve blood sugar control, making it a small but powerful dietary habit.21 As the world’s most-consumed drink after water, tea has been valued for centuries.22

One standout variety is Pu-erh, a fermented dark tea also known as Chinese black tea. Its unique fermentation process increases levels of bioactive compounds, including polyphenols, amino acids, and polysaccharides, offering antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.

You can also sip on some green tea or matcha to help you feel more relaxed. Green tea is rich in antioxidants and, like black tea, contains potent polyphenols — especially a catechin called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which has been shown to have even stronger antioxidant activity than vitamins C and E.23

Dance Freely and Move with Intention

Free-form dance is more than art or fun; it’s a powerful and accessible form of exercise that supports both physical and mental health. Unlike structured workouts, this unchoreographed style engages the whole body and brain, allowing for emotional expression, spontaneity, and cardiovascular conditioning all at once.

• Free-form dance has the same intensity as traditional cardio workouts — A new study in PLOS ONE24 found that free-form dancing can match the intensity of traditional aerobic exercise. The research involved 48 adults ages 18 to 83, who were asked to dance freely in five-minute sessions at both moderate and vigorous effort levels.

The participants reached an average of 76% of their maximum heart rate, and vigorous dancing hit 7.5 metabolic equivalents (METs) — like jogging or cycling — while moderate dancing reached 5.6 METs.

• What sets this study apart? Most earlier studies looked only at formal styles like ballet or hip-hop, leaving out how every day, improvised movement might help regular people — this study finally tackled that. The findings indicate that even without strict choreography or a flashy studio, free-form dancing has its benefits, especially when you set weekly movement goals.

Finding a Hobby That You Love

In an article in The Guardian, Daisy Fancourt, professor of psychobiology and expert in social prescribing, explains that hobbies do far more than just pass the time. If you’re thinking of starting one, it helps to reflect and ask yourself:25

• How much time did I actually spend on a hobby last week? Compare this to how much time you wish you’d spent. Noticing that gap can help you be more intentional going forward.

• What aspect of my health am I hoping to improve? If you’re seeking calm, exhilaration, connection, or a sense of purpose, clarify that upfront. The more specific your goal, the easier it is to find a hobby that fits.

• What did I love doing as a child — or wish I’d pursued as a career? Old passions can offer clues. If you dreamed of performing, try local theater. If you wanted to work with kids, look for volunteer roles or intergenerational activities.

• What do I need to get started? You might need a taster session, a how-to video, or just a friend to come along. Local newsletters and social prescribing directories can help you find options.

• Which core needs are currently not being met? Think about what’s missing: autonomy, creativity, physical movement, fun, or purpose. Choose something that balances what your work or daily life lacks.

• What kind of challenge would I enjoy right now? Look for “moderate novelty” — something slightly outside your comfort zone but not overwhelming. That sweet spot tends to deliver the most joy and fulfillment.

Trying out a new hobby always comes with learning curves, and yes, it can feel awkward at first. Hobbies aren’t performances, and they aren’t about perfection. So be proud that you started and go at your own pace.

Supporting Your Health While You Explore New Hobbies

If you’re trying new hobbies, routines, or ways to add purpose to your day, keep in mind that the same intentionality you apply during your free time should also be reflected in how you take care of your body.

1. Rethink your cooking oils — The oils you use in your meals have a major impact on how your cells make energy. Seed oils like canola, soybean, sunflower, safflower, corn, and grapeseed are high in linoleic acid (LA), which can interfere with mitochondrial function. Swap them for more stable fats like grass fed butter, ghee, or tallow.

Poultry and pork are also high in LA, so choose grass fed beef, lamb, or wild-caught fish to support cleaner energy production at the cellular level. These small changes help you feel clearer, steadier, and more energized throughout the day.

2. Nourish your body with the right carbs — Your brain runs best on glucose, but the type of carbohydrates you eat makes a difference. Start with easy-to-digest options like fruit and white rice, then gradually reintroduce root vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. Aiming for around 250 grams of clean, whole-food carbohydrates per day can support steady energy.

3. Don’t sit your life away — Prolonged sitting and a sedentary lifestyle make you a moving target for conditions like hip pain and osteoarthritis. That’s why I suggest walking at least 7,000 steps a day. You don’t need high-intensity workouts; walking, light strength training, or stretching can do the job.

4. Enjoy the sun — Get direct sun exposure on bare skin each day, ideally without sunscreen for short, safe periods. However, if your diet is high in canola, soybean, sunflower, or generic vegetable oils, you may be flooding your tissues with LA, which builds up in your skin and oxidizes easily.

This increases your sensitivity to sun damage, especially during peak hours between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. To protect your skin and support healthy vitamin D production, remove seed oils from your diet for at least six months before spending extended time in high-intensity sunlight.

Leisure isn’t about checking out or doing nothing; it’s time meant to help you reset. But when most of it turns into scrolling, napping, or zoning out, you often end up feeling more drained than restored.

Leisure crafting offers a better alternative: it’s low-effort but still intentional, giving you a way to unwind without slipping into habits that sap your energy. And when you choose how to spend your downtime instead of letting it disappear, you create a fuller life — one that supports your health, strengthens your relationships, and leaves your days feeling more intentional than wasted.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Hobbies and Leisure Crafting

Q: What is leisure crafting, and how is it different from having a hobby?
A: Leisure crafting means approaching hobbies with intention — setting goals, learning something new, or doing them socially. Research shows this purposeful mindset can boost meaning, creativity, and even work satisfaction.

Q: Can hobbies improve mental and brain health?
A: Yes. Studies show that creative hobbies like dancing, painting, reading, cooking, and even strategy gaming are linked to better mood, stronger memory, and brain function that looks biologically younger.

Q: I’m not artistic. Can I still benefit from creative hobbies?
A: Absolutely. Creativity isn’t about talent; it’s about engagement. Handwriting, doodling, rearranging your space, or even making tea with intention can all activate the brain and support mental well-being.

Q: How can I find the right hobby for me?
A: Start by asking what made you happy as a child, what kind of energy you want more of, and what gently challenges you. The best hobby is one you’ll enjoy enough to return to.

Q: What are some small lifestyle shifts that support my hobbies?
A: Simple changes like walking daily, cutting back on seed oils, getting sunlight, and eating nutrient-dense whole foods can improve energy and focus — helping you stay present and engaged in the hobbies you love.

Depression is characterized by persistent low mood, loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities, disrupted sleep, low energy, and impaired concentration. When it goes untreated it raises your risk of disability, chronic disease, and early death.

You feel it before you name it — the weight that settles over you when the alarm goes off, the way phone calls go unanswered, the dishes that pile up because standing at the sink feels like too much. Depression doesn’t just darken your mood; it steals the small actions that hold a life together.

Exercise isn’t a recent wellness trend. It’s been a serious contender in clinical depression research for decades — often outperforming the drugs many default to. For more than two decades, evidence has pointed to movement as a core therapeutic tool, and I have emphasized exercise as a primary treatment option throughout that time.

The earliest widely cited randomized trial to directly compare exercise with an antidepressant for major depressive disorder was published in JAMA in 1999 by James Blumenthal and colleagues, showing exercise performed about as well as an antidepressant in adults with depression.1 A follow-up paper suggested that people who exercised maintained better outcomes over time.2

Even earlier work, going back to the late 1960s, showed antidepressant-level effects when exercise was compared with inactive controls.3,4

Despite that history, most modern treatment pathways still begin elsewhere. Antidepressant drugs often come first, with psychotherapy added when available. Medication rarely improves physical health or energy production and frequently introduces side effects that complicate recovery. Psychotherapy helps many people develop insight and coping skills, yet access remains uneven and progress slows when the underlying biology remains strained.

Depression isn’t a mood problem in isolation. It reflects disrupted energy production, chronic stress signaling, and loss of daily rhythms that anchor wellbeing — not simply a “chemical imbalance” in the brain. When your body perceives ongoing threat — whether from work pressure, poor sleep, or metabolic dysfunction — it keeps pumping out stress hormones like cortisol.

Over time, this chronic signaling exhausts your adrenals, disrupts sleep architecture, and shrinks brain regions involved in mood regulation. Movement addresses those systems directly. That long arc of evidence is why exercise remains an essential part of depression treatment — and why it matters to examine what modern analyses now confirm.

Exercise Stands Toe to Toe with Standard Depression Care

For a systematic review published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, researchers examined whether structured exercise truly reduces depression symptoms and how it compares with doing nothing, taking antidepressants, or receiving psychological therapy.5

The review analyzed 73 randomized controlled trials, the most rigorous form of clinical evidence, involving at least 4,985 adults diagnosed with depression. Some participants exercised alone, others exercised while also receiving medication or therapy, and others were placed on waiting lists or usual care.

• Exercise consistently reduced depression symptoms — Across 57 trials comparing exercise to no treatment or inactive controls, depressive symptoms dropped significantly by the end of treatment. In other words, people who moved their bodies felt noticeably better than those who did not. When the researchers looked only at the highest-quality trials, the benefit remained, just slightly smaller, showing the effect was real rather than exaggerated by weak study design.

• The rate of improvement rivaled medications and therapy — When exercise was compared directly with antidepressant drugs or psychological therapy, the review found little to no difference in how much symptoms improved.

That means exercise worked about as well as the treatments most often prescribed, without requiring a prescription or long wait times. Benefits appeared in adults with varying depression severity and across different exercise types. No single demographic group “owned” the benefit, which means you do not need a specific profile to gain from movement.

• What improved was daily functioning, not just mood scores — The researchers looked at the “gold standard” tools for measuring depression, which track specific things that interfere with your day, like how you’re sleeping, your energy levels, and your ability to focus. While the study found that broad “quality of life” scores were hit-or-miss, the fact that these core symptom scores dropped significantly suggests that exercise is hitting the very things that make depression so heavy.

• Exercise compared favorably on side effects — Adverse events from exercise were uncommon and mainly involved mild muscle or joint discomfort. In contrast, participants taking antidepressants reported diarrhea, fatigue, and sexual dysfunction. This contrast matters if you want symptom relief without trading one problem for another.

• The findings open the door to smarter personalization — Exercise was “no more or less effective than psychological or pharmacological treatments” for reducing depression symptoms at the end of treatment. That positions movement not as a “nice add-on,” but as a core option you can use actively, track, and build confidence around as you see progress week by week.

So, the debate is settled: exercise works. But knowing that movement helps isn’t enough when you’re struggling to get off the couch. The real question becomes practical — what kind of exercise, how much, and how hard? A massive 2024 analysis provides the answers.6

Which Types of Exercise Deliver the Strongest Relief?

For a study published in the BMJ, researchers examined which forms and doses of exercise work best for adults with major depression by comparing many interventions at once.7 This review pooled data from 218 randomized trials, covering 14,170 participants, allowing direct and indirect comparisons across exercise styles, medications, therapy, and control conditions.

This moves beyond “exercise works” to “which exercise gives the most return for your effort.” The findings showed exercise reduced symptoms across the board.

• Rates of improvement differed by exercise type — Compared with active controls such as usual care, dancing was beneficial, and walking or jogging produced moderate reductions in depression scores, with similar improvements seen from yoga and strength training. Mixed aerobic exercise and tai chi or qigong also delivered clear benefits. In practical terms, several paths worked, but some moved the needle more than others.

Strength training and yoga had lower dropout rates than many other interventions. People stuck with them. That matters because consistency drives results. An approach you continue beats one you abandon after two weeks.

• Intensity shaped results more than time spent — Higher-intensity exercise produced stronger symptom reductions than lighter activity, even when total weekly exercise time was similar. Intensity here refers to how challenging the activity feels, such as brisk walking versus casual strolling. This helps you focus effort wisely instead of simply adding more minutes.

• Specific groups showed different strengths — Women tended to benefit more from strength training, while yoga and similar practices showed stronger effects in older adults. These patterns support personalization. Matching the exercise to who you are increases confidence and follow-through. When effects were compared side by side, some exercise modalities outperformed antidepressants alone and matched psychotherapy outcomes.

• Exercise works through several overlapping routes rather than one single switch — These include improved brain signaling, better stress regulation, increased self-confidence from repeated success, and social engagement when exercise occurs in groups.

Activities with clear structure and measurable progress, such as adding weight in strength training or increasing pace during walks, supported confidence. Each completed session acts like a scorecard, reinforcing belief in your ability to influence how you feel.

• The practical takeaway focused on choice and challenge — The findings emphasize selecting an exercise you tolerate well, then gradually increasing difficulty to maintain progress. This approach manages mental load, builds momentum, and turns treatment into an active skill you control rather than a passive intervention.

How to Manage Depression with Exercise and Foundational Lifestyle Support

Research gives us the map, but you still have to walk the path. The following steps translate these findings into a daily practice you can start this week — beginning with the simplest, most forgiving form of movement and building from there.

Exercise sets the foundation, but recovery strengthens when you also address dietary fats, gut-brain signaling, light exposure, and inhibitory neurotransmitters that quiet an overactivated nervous system. Here is how to put those pieces together without overload.

1. Start with daily walking and build a stable base — Daily walking is an effective entry point because it improves mood regulation and energy production without overstimulating stress hormones. Start with 10 minutes immediately after waking — before you check your phone, before coffee, before your mind talks you out of it.

Add five minutes each week until you reach 30 minutes, then hold there for a month before building toward one hour. That daily rhythm teaches your brain that movement equals relief, which steadily reduces depressive symptoms.

2. Add simple, repeatable strength or mobility work — Once walking feels routine, layer in light strength training or gentle bodyweight movements two to three times per week. Keep the structure basic and predictable. Clear structure lowers mental load and removes decision fatigue, which often worsens low mood.

A minimal starting routine might include: 10 bodyweight squats, 10 wall push-ups, and a 20-second plank — done twice through. This takes under five minutes and requires no equipment. As this becomes easy, add resistance bands or light dumbbells.

3. Increase intensity carefully and avoid extremes — Here’s the cruel irony of depression: the very thing that helps most — movement — is the last thing you want to do. Your brain lies to you, insisting rest will help. It won’t. Start so small that motivation becomes irrelevant. You don’t need to feel like exercising. You just need to stand up.

From there, start walking and progress gradually by walking faster, adding light resistance, or shortening rest periods. Avoid pushing intense exercise too frequently. Pounding yourself with intense workouts backfires.

It spikes cortisol, fragments sleep, and leaves you more depleted than before. A simple test: you should finish your workout feeling more energized than when you started. If you feel wiped out, need a nap, or dread the next session, you’ve pushed too hard. Scale back and rebuild more gradually.

4. Reduce linoleic acid (LA) to repair mood and energy regulation — LA, a polyunsaturated fat found in vegetable oils and ultraprocessed foods, accumulates in tissues and interferes with mitochondrial energy production that supports stable mood. Mitochondria are the energy-producing structures inside every cell. When they falter, your brain doesn’t get the fuel it needs to regulate mood, motivation, and focus.

Think of them as tiny power plants — when they run low on fuel or get clogged with the wrong inputs, the whole system slows down. When you consume excess LA over months and years, it embeds itself in your cell membranes, including those of your mitochondria.

Once there, it makes those membranes more prone to oxidative damage — essentially rusting from the inside. This impairs energy production and increases inflammation, both of which worsen depression. Eliminate oils such as soybean, corn, sunflower, and safflower. Replace them with whole foods and stable fats like grass fed butter, ghee, or tallow.

Keep LA intake under 5 grams per day, ideally closer to 2 grams, to allow brain and metabolic function to normalize. To help you track your intake, download my Mercola Health Coach app when it’s available. It includes a feature called the Seed Oil Sleuth, designed to monitor your LA intake down to a tenth of a gram.

5. Rebuild gut health and circadian rhythm together — Your gut and brain communicate constantly, and poor digestion raises inflammation that worsens depression. Your vagus nerve carries signals directly from your gut to your brain. When gut bacteria are imbalanced or your intestinal lining is inflamed, those signals carry alarm messages — promoting anxiety and lowering mood.

Support this connection by eating enough carbohydrates to fuel energy production, roughly 250 grams daily for most adults, more if you’re active. Start with easy-to-digest options such as fruit and white rice, then slowly add root vegetables and well-cooked legumes as tolerance improves.

Pair this with daily morning sunlight exposure to reinforce circadian rhythm, improve sleep quality, and stabilize mood-related hormones. Aim for 10 to 20 minutes of direct sunlight within the first hour of waking — ideally without sunglasses, which block the light wavelengths that signal your brain to reset its clock. Overcast days still help; you’ll just need longer exposure.

6. Calm your nervous system by supporting GABA and daily rhythm — Depression often involves an overactive stress response and low inhibitory signaling in your brain. GABA is the primary calming neurotransmitter that helps quiet excessive neural firing. Think of it like your brain’s natural brake pedal. While other neurotransmitters accelerate thoughts and reactions, GABA slows the firing so your nervous system can rest.

Without enough of it, your brain stays stuck in overdrive — anxious, restless, and unable to settle. Supplemental GABA supports relaxation and sleep quality without disrupting brain chemistry. I recommend a dose of 500 milligrams (mg) to 2,000 mg (2 grams) daily.

Lower doses around 100 mg have also shown benefits. Combining GABA with the amino acid L-theanine further enhances these effects. L-theanine mimics GABA’s calming action, essentially fitting into the same locks that GABA opens, which amplifies the relaxation effect.

When daily movement, dietary fat quality, gut and circadian support, and calming neurotransmitter balance work together, depression loses its biological footing. This approach restores energy and emotional stability gradually, without relying on extremes that derail recovery.

FAQs About Exercise and Depression

Q: What does depression look like beyond low mood?
A: Depression commonly involves disrupted sleep, low energy, impaired concentration, and loss of interest in daily activities. Over time, these symptoms interfere with physical health, relationships, and work, increasing the risk of chronic disease and early death.

Q: How effective is exercise compared with antidepressant medication?
A: Large clinical reviews show structured exercise reduces depression symptoms to a similar degree as antidepressant drugs and psychotherapy for many adults. In direct comparisons, exercise performed about as well as medication at the end of treatment, with fewer reported side effects.

Q: Does the type of exercise matter for depression relief?
A: Yes. Walking or jogging, strength training, yoga, dancing, and mixed aerobic exercise all reduce symptoms, but adherence and effectiveness vary. Strength training and yoga tend to have lower dropout rates, while higher-intensity activity produces stronger improvements than light movement alone when done appropriately.

Q: Why is daily walking emphasized as a starting point?
A: Daily walking improves mood regulation and energy production without overstimulating stress hormones. It’s easy to sustain, supports consistency, and builds momentum. Gradually increasing toward one hour per day provides steady benefits without triggering burnout.

Q: Why do diet, gut health, and circadian rhythm matter alongside exercise?
A: Depression reflects disrupted energy production and chronic stress signaling. Reducing LA intake supports mitochondrial function, adequate carbohydrates help stabilize gut-brain signaling, morning sunlight reinforces circadian rhythm, and calming neurotransmitters like GABA help quiet an overactive nervous system. Together with exercise, these factors address depression at its biological roots.

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What major change was made to the childhood vaccine schedule?

Fewer vaccines are universally recommended for all children

Officials reduced the number of vaccines recommended for all children and reorganized the schedule into clearer categories. Learn more.

Several vaccines were removed from national access programs
Only high-risk groups now receive any routine vaccines
Parents need to apply for exemptions before every dose

In 2024, the U.S. recommended more childhood vaccine doses than any other peer developed nation, and more than twice as many as some European countries.1 That single comparison, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), reframes a debate that for years asked whether parents were complying rather than whether the schedule itself held up under scrutiny.

Denmark vaccinates children against 10 diseases, while the U.S. schedule in 2024 vaccinated against 18. That gap raises an uncomfortable question: when did the U.S. stop asking whether more doses meant better protection? At the same time, public trust in U.S. health institutions fell from 72% to 40% between 2020 and 2024.2 Childhood vaccination rates declined during that same period.

By 2023, fewer than 1 in 10 children had received the COVID-19 shot — despite its placement on the routine schedule. That disconnect between recommendation and uptake signaled a deeper credibility problem and followed years of mandates, emergency authorizations, and heated public conflict. Those trends set the stage for a federal review that would question not just individual vaccines, but the structure of the entire schedule.

The result is a revised childhood vaccination schedule that reorganizes vaccines into categories — universal, high-risk, and shared clinical decision-making — while preserving insurance coverage for every previously recommended product. The changes touch dosing, how certain vaccines are classified, and what role parents and physicians play in the decision process.

Federal officials also committed to stronger long-term research standards, including placebo-controlled trials and extended observational studies. To understand what shifted, why officials say the evidence supports it, and how it affects your family’s choices, here is what the federal review found and what the updated framework looks like in practice.

Video Link

How Federal Officials Restructured the Childhood Vaccine Schedule

On January 5, 2026, Jim O’Neill, who was serving as acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), signed a decision memorandum accepting recommendations from a “comprehensive scientific assessment” of U.S. childhood vaccination practices.3

The review followed a Presidential Memorandum directing HHS and CDC to examine how peer developed nations structure their vaccine schedules and to update the U.S. schedule if “superior approaches exist abroad.”4 The schedule itself — not just individual vaccines — came under formal federal scrutiny.

• A more focused universal list was adopted — O’Neill stated, “The data support a more focused schedule that protects children from the most serious infectious diseases while improving clarity, adherence, and public confidence.”5
Infectious diseases are illnesses caused by viruses or bacteria that spread from person to person, such as measles, polio, or whooping cough. A focused schedule means fewer vaccines fall under the “recommended for all” category, while others shift to different classifications. For you, that translates into more individualized decision points.

• Gold standard science was formally emphasized — HHS called for “more and better gold standard science, including placebo-controlled randomized trials and long-term observational studies.”6
A placebo-controlled randomized trial means one group receives the vaccine and another receives an inactive substance, with neither participants nor researchers knowing who received which during the study. Long-term observational studies track health outcomes over extended periods. That commitment signals that future policy decisions aim to rely on stronger comparative safety data.

• Three clear categories were maintained — The revised framework keeps three buckets: vaccines recommended for all children, vaccines for certain high-risk groups, and vaccines based on shared clinical decision-making. High-risk groups include children with specific medical conditions or unusual exposure risks.
Shared clinical decision-making means parents and physicians weigh individual factors rather than following a blanket rule. That structure increases your role in the final choice.

• Implementation includes education and monitoring — HHS and CDC announced they will work with state health agencies and physician groups to educate parents and clinicians on the updated schedules and continue monitoring vaccine uptake and safety data.

What the Updated Vaccine Schedule Looks Like in Practice

An HHS fact sheet outlined how the revised schedule now distinguishes between vaccines recommended for all children and those assigned to other categories.7 The document explains that, unlike the end of 2024 schedule that recommended 17 vaccines for all children, the updated schedule limits universal recommendations to vaccines for which there is international consensus, along with varicella (chickenpox).

• You now have more room to evaluate what fits your child — The updated schedule reassigns several vaccines from the “recommended for all” list to high-risk or shared decision-making categories, giving families choices rather than a single directive. As the HHS fact sheet puts it, the framework “allows for more flexibility and choice, with less coercion.”

• Human papillomavirus (HPV) dosing was reduced based on cited evidence — The fact sheet reports that “recent scientific studies have shown that one dose of the HPV vaccine is as effective as two doses” and that the CDC is following several peer nations by recommending one instead of two doses.
To put this dosing change in context: HPV is extremely common among sexually active adults, and in more than 90% of cases, the body clears the infection on its own within two years.8 Cervical cancer risk is primarily associated with long-term, untreated infections—which routine Pap smears are designed to detect early.

• Certain vaccines shift to high-risk status — Vaccinations for respiratory syncytial virus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, dengue, and meningococcal ACWY and B are now recommended for certain high-risk groups or populations. Hepatitis refers to liver infection, and meningococcal disease is a serious bacterial infection that can cause meningitis, meaning swelling of the brain and spinal cord lining.
This shift signals that these vaccines are no longer categorized as universal. Instead, risk factors determine relevance.

• Shared decision-making applies to additional vaccines — The fact sheet lists rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B under shared clinical decision-making in certain contexts. Under this framework, your child’s medical history and exposure risk shape the conversation. The CDC explicitly states that when public health authorities cannot clearly define who benefits, physicians and parents “are then best equipped to decide.”

• Insurance coverage remains broad and intact — The document emphasizes that “all the diseases covered by the previous immunization schedule will still be available to anyone who wants them” through Affordable Care Act plans, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Vaccines for Children program. Families “will not have to purchase them out of pocket.”

Use This Policy Shift to Make Informed, Individualized Decisions

If you’re reading this and feeling a mix of validation and uncertainty, that’s understandable. For years, the schedule was presented as a settled question. Now that federal officials have acknowledged it wasn’t, parents face the task of re-evaluating decisions they may have already made — and making new ones under a framework that allows for greater flexibility and choice.

The steps below are designed to help you move through that process with clarity rather than anxiety. Federal health officials have reframed the childhood vaccination schedule to emphasize clarity, categorization, and individualized decision-making. That change gives you more defined decision points. Instead of assuming every vaccine belongs in the same category, you now have a structure that invites closer evaluation.

1. Weigh benefits against risks using primary evidence — When a vaccine is presented, don’t stop at the summary. Look up the clinical trial data that supported approval — you can find it on ClinicalTrials.gov by searching the vaccine name. Look at how long participants were monitored and what outcomes were tracked.
Pay attention to how adverse events were defined and recorded, as well as any conflicts of interest. When you compare the severity and frequency of the disease against the documented side effects, you move from assumption to analysis. That process sharpens judgment and builds confidence.

2. Use the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) as an awareness dashboard — VAERS collects reports of reactions following vaccination. It operates as a passive reporting system, which means events are logged only when someone — a patient, parent, or clinician — files a report. Because of that design, VAERS typically captures only a fraction of actual events, so the data reflect reported patterns, not complete totals.
Still, reviewing VAERS entries through public databases exposes you to real-world outcomes that don’t appear in marketing summaries. Use it as an awareness tool — a window into trends that deserve attention.

3. Examine how recommendations apply to your child’s situation — Age, health history, exposure risk, and family medical patterns all influence risk-benefit balance. A healthy child with minimal exposure risk faces a different equation than a child with underlying conditions or frequent travel. Use the updated categories as prompts to ask targeted questions. The goal is alignment between evidence and individual circumstance, not automatic acceptance.

4. Ask focused questions during shared decision discussions — When a vaccine falls under shared clinical decision-making, prepare in advance. Ask how common the disease is in your area, how severe it typically presents, and what age groups face the greatest complications.

5. Build strong health foundations alongside any medical decisions — Immune resilience is built upon daily habits. Prioritize nutrient-dense food, adequate protein to support immune cells, sufficient carbohydrates for cellular energy, consistent sleep, and regular sun exposure. Healthy mitochondria — the energy engines inside your cells — strengthen immune response.
And be sure to support your child’s gut health. Roughly 70% of the immune system is housed in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue, so microbial diversity directly influences immune competence. When your child’s baseline health is strong, every decision rests on a more stable foundation.

Frequently Asked Questions About the New Childhood Vaccine Schedule

Q: What exactly changed in the childhood vaccine schedule?
A: Federal health officials reduced the number of vaccines recommended for all children and reorganized the schedule into three categories: vaccines for all children, vaccines for certain high-risk groups, and vaccines based on shared clinical decision-making. This brings the U.S. closer to how other developed nations structure their schedules.

Q: Does this mean some vaccines are no longer available?
A: No. Every vaccine that was previously recommended remains available and fully covered under Affordable Care Act plans, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Vaccines for Children program. The change affects how vaccines are categorized and recommended, not whether families can access them.

Q: What is shared clinical decision-making?
A: Shared clinical decision-making means you and your child’s physician evaluate the risks and benefits based on your child’s individual health history, age, and exposure risk. Instead of a universal directive, the decision becomes personalized. This framework increases your role in determining what’s appropriate for your family.

Q: Why was the schedule revised?
A: A federal scientific review compared the U.S. schedule with those of peer developed nations and found that the U.S. recommended more vaccines for all children than many other countries. Officials stated the updated structure focuses on vaccines with international consensus while committing to stronger long-term research standards, including placebo-controlled trials and extended observational studies.

Q: How should parents approach decisions under the new framework?
A: Start by reviewing the category a vaccine falls into and examine the supporting evidence. Compare the severity and frequency of the disease with documented side effects. Use public data sources such as VAERS as awareness tools. Ask targeted questions during shared decision discussions. At the same time, strengthen your child’s immune resilience through nutrition, sleep, movement, and regular sun exposure so every decision rests on a strong health foundation.

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Take today’s quiz to see how much you’ve learned from yesterday’s Mercola.com article.

How did people preserve food before refrigeration and synthetic additives?

By burying foods in underground storages year-round
By putting their food in covered clay pots
By covering food in banana or other large leaves
By drying, fermenting, curing, and pickling foods
Before refrigeration, traditional methods like drying and fermenting extended shelf life without synthetic chemicals. Learn more.

Arthritis is stealing years from American workers. Not the final years — the prime ones. New data show this isn’t a condition confined to old age or occasional discomfort. Arthritis is characterized by joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and reduced range of motion, and as it progresses, it steadily erodes physical confidence and independence. When joints lose strength and stability, routine movement becomes a daily challenge rather than an afterthought.

Arthritis interferes with how people move through their day, how they commute, and how reliably they meet the physical demands of work. Tasks that once felt automatic — standing for long periods, climbing stairs, lifting objects — begin to feel difficult. Over time, those limitations accumulate and alter how long people remain active in the workforce and how fully they participate in everyday life.

What makes this trend especially troubling is its trajectory. Despite years of public health efforts aimed at reducing arthritis-related limitations, the burden has actually grown — rising from 36% to nearly 44% over the past two decades. We’re losing ground.

Disability linked to arthritis continues to affect working-age adults at high rates. Why has arthritis-related disability remained so resistant to change, and which factors most strongly determine who loses mobility and work capacity? The answers emerge by looking closely at national data and the patterns hidden inside it.

Arthritis Is a Major Driver of Work Disability in Adults

Research published in Arthritis Care & Research analyzed data from the 2019 and 2023 National Health Interview Survey to measure arthritis-attributable activity limitations among U.S. adults.1 The study evaluated people who reported a doctor diagnosis of arthritis and then asked whether joint symptoms limited their activities or ability to work.

• Nearly 1 in 2 adults with arthritis now struggles with basic daily movement — Arthritis-related limitations have become the norm rather than the exception. About 24.8 million adults reported difficulty performing routine activities because of their joints, a level of impairment that affects nearly half of everyone living with the condition.

These limitations show up in ordinary moments — moving through a workspace, navigating stairs, or remaining on your feet long enough to finish a task — turning arthritis into a daily functional barrier rather than an occasional source of pain.

• Arthritis limits the ability to work for 40% of working-age adults — For adults still in the workforce, arthritis often reaches far beyond physical discomfort. Survey responses reveal that a large share of people between 18 and 64 experience job-related consequences tied directly to joint problems, totaling close to 10 million individuals nationwide.2

Consider what this means practically: In a room of 10 working adults with arthritis, four are struggling to do their jobs — not because they lack motivation or skill, but because their bodies are failing them during the years they most need to earn.

When arthritis interferes during prime working years, it undermines earning power, increases job insecurity, and shortens the window of financial independence long before retirement becomes relevant.

• Problems with walking and stairs were central to disability risk — Among respondents, 68% of people with difficulty walking, climbing stairs, or moving confidently reported greater work limitations. Once joints stop supporting basic movement, work capacity drops fast.

This helps explain why desk accommodations alone rarely solve the problem. Adults over 65 were excluded from work analyses, yet researchers noted that many Americans now work past traditional retirement age. This suggests the true burden is larger than reported.

• Disability risk rose sharply with coexisting chronic diseases — People with arthritis who also reported heart disease, stroke, cancer, anxiety, or depression faced a much higher risk of work limitation. By contrast, only 23% of those who rated their health as “excellent” reported arthritis-related work problems. This shows that arthritis stacks damage on top of existing health strain rather than acting in isolation.

Conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity share a common denominator: chronic metabolic inflammation. Elevated blood sugar damages collagen. Insulin resistance impairs tissue repair. Systemic inflammation keeps joints in a perpetual state of breakdown. This explains why strategies targeting metabolic health — not just joint symptoms — offer the most leverage.

• Certain groups carried a heavier burden — Hispanic adults, veterans, and individuals without a college education reported higher rates of work limitations. Researchers noted that these patterns likely reflect more physically demanding jobs, past injuries, or long-term strain. For readers in trades or manual labor, this highlights why arthritis hits earlier and harder.

By documenting persistent disability across years and populations, the research shows that arthritis remains a leading driver of lost productivity and quality of life. These numbers tell a story of accumulated loss — lost mobility, lost income, lost independence.

But they also reveal something important: arthritis-related disability isn’t random. It follows predictable patterns, which means it can be interrupted. The question isn’t whether joint damage can be slowed or reversed — research shows it can. The question is whether you’re addressing the right targets.

Arthritis-Related Limitations Were Already Rising Long Before the Latest Data

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report based on National Health Interview Survey data from 2013 to 2015 documented a clear rise in arthritis-attributable activity limitations, even though the overall number of Americans diagnosed with arthritis had remained relatively stable since 2002.3

At the time, more than 54 million adults reported doctor-diagnosed arthritis, and nearly half said joint pain, stiffness, and damage interfered with everyday activities. The share of people reporting limitations rose from 36% in 2002 to 43.5% by 2013 to 2015, an increase of about 20% over roughly 15 years. This older dataset matters because it shows the disability trend was already moving in the wrong direction long before the most recent survey years captured in newer studies.

• The type of limitations measured mirror what current studies still report — Survey questions centered on ordinary tasks such as lifting grocery bags, walking a few blocks, getting out of bed, or picking items up from the floor.

An Arthritis Foundation survey conducted during the same period found that 56% of respondents struggled to pick up objects and 47% had difficulty getting in and out of bed. These are the same functional losses now seen in more recent national analyses, reinforcing that the problem has persisted rather than resolved.

• Emotional strain accompanied physical decline, compounding disability — Functional loss doesn’t stay physical. When your joints can’t carry you to social gatherings, when standing through a dinner party feels impossible, isolation follows.

The CDC found that 60% of people with arthritis-related limitations felt left out of activities they once enjoyed. Half reported feeling hopeless. This emotional toll isn’t separate from the physical decline — it accelerates it. Depression reduces movement, reduced movement worsens joints, and the cycle tightens.

• Disparities identified then still shape today’s burden — CDC officials noted that African-American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic multiracial adults reported arthritis-related limitations more often than white adults. These differences were linked to variations in job demands, access to care, and rates of other chronic diseases. The persistence of these disparities helps contextualize why newer studies continue to show uneven impacts across populations.

Even in the 2013 to 2015 data, nearly two-thirds of adults with arthritis were overweight or obese, and many also had heart disease or diabetes. Among respondents, 49% of those with heart disease, 47% with diabetes, and 30% with obesity reported arthritis-related limitations. This pattern clarifies that arthritis-related disability has long clustered with other chronic conditions, setting the stage for the high rates still observed today.

• Working-age adults already made up the majority of cases — The CDC report challenged the idea that arthritis is primarily a disease of older adults. Nearly 60% of people with arthritis were under age 65. These working-age adults also showed lower employment rates than those without arthritis, indicating that functional limitations were already interfering with work years before the most recent surveys.

• Movement-based strategies were identified early but widely underused — The CDC emphasized physical activity as a key modifier of disability, citing evidence that regular movement reduces arthritis pain and improves function by nearly 40%. Yet even then, few people met activity recommendations, and about one-third reported almost no movement at all.

Disease-management programs showed additional reductions in pain, fatigue, and depression of 10% to 20%, but only about 1 in 10 people participated. The persistence of these gaps helps explain why more recent studies still show high levels of arthritis-related disability rather than meaningful improvement.

6 Ways to Stop Joint Destruction and Rebuild from Within

If joint pain is dictating how you move through your day, pretending it isn’t there won’t slow the damage. Arthritis doesn’t just happen — it progresses when inflammation runs unchecked, tissue repair grinds to a halt, and your cells lose the energy they need to heal.

The answer isn’t masking symptoms with painkillers. It’s identifying what’s driving the destruction in the first place, preserving the tissue you still have, and giving your body what it needs to rebuild. If you recognize yourself in these statistics — or fear you’re heading there — here’s what the research suggests you focus on.

1. Eliminate seed oils — the hidden engine of joint inflammation — If you’re still cooking with vegetable oils, your joints are under constant inflammatory assault. Soybean, canola, corn, safflower, and sunflower oils are packed with linoleic acid (LA), a polyunsaturated fat that triggers oxidative damage deep inside your joint tissue.

When you consume excess LA, it gets incorporated into your cell membranes. There, it’s highly vulnerable to oxidation — think of it like leaving butter out to go rancid. This oxidation produces inflammatory compounds that directly damage cartilage cells and keep your immune system on high alert.

Getting these oils out of your kitchen is one of the most powerful changes you can make. Switch to grass fed butter, ghee, or tallow. Once your LA intake drops, you’re finally giving your joints a chance to recover from that relentless inflammatory pressure.

2. Protect your cartilage with vitamin K2 — Cartilage breakdown is slow erosion, not sudden collapse. Two forces drive it: inflammation that kills cartilage cells faster than they can regenerate, and calcium that deposits in soft tissue where it stiffens and degrades the joint. Vitamin K2 addresses both. It shields your cartilage cells from destruction and keeps calcium out of your joints, where it accelerates stiffness and degeneration.

The best food sources are grass fed egg yolks, aged cheeses, and fermented foods like natto or homemade sauerkraut. If you want additional support, 180 to 200 mcg of the MK-7 form daily offers excellent absorption and reinforces joint integrity over time.

3. Make real bone broth a daily staple — If your joints feel unstable, weak, or easily aggravated, they’re starving for raw materials. Homemade bone broth delivers exactly what they need — collagen, glycine, glucosamine, and chondroitin.

These are the building blocks your body uses to repair cartilage and connective tissue while dialing down inflammation. Use grass fed, organic bones and don’t skip the cartilage-rich parts like chicken feet. Sip it throughout the day so your joints receive steady nourishment rather than a quick hit that fades.

4. Reduce the mechanical load on your joints — Joint pain isn’t purely biochemical — it’s mechanical. Mechanical stress and biochemical inflammation aren’t separate problems — they amplify each other. Excess weight increases joint loading, which accelerates cartilage breakdown. Damaged cartilage releases inflammatory debris, which sensitizes pain receptors and weakens surrounding tissue, making even normal loads feel excessive. Addressing both simultaneously breaks this cycle.

Every extra pound you carry translates to roughly four pounds of additional force across your knees. That pressure compounds with every single step. Even modest weight loss takes immediate stress off damaged joints. Cutting out vegetable oils, walking daily within your tolerance, and getting morning sunlight all support your metabolism naturally — no extreme dieting required.

5. Restore mitochondrial function to tame autoimmune flares — When arthritis flares feel aggressive or unpredictable, something deeper has gone wrong. Your immune system has lost its ability to regulate itself at the cellular level. Healthy mitochondria are essential here — they help activate your body’s natural inflammation off-switch.

Your mitochondria do more than produce energy — they also signal your immune cells when to stand down. When mitochondria function well, they produce metabolites that activate regulatory T cells, the immune system’s peacekeepers. When mitochondrial function falters, this signaling breaks down, and inflammatory immune responses run unchecked.

You can support mitochondrial health by eating healthy carbohydrates like fiber-rich whole fruit. Beneficial gut bacteria ferment fiber into short-chain fatty acids, particularly butyrate. Butyrate serves as a preferred fuel source for mitochondria in your gut lining and immune cells. Well-fueled mitochondria produce the signals that tell your immune system to resolve inflammation rather than perpetuate it.

Daily movement, regular sun exposure, and — again — eliminating vegetable oils are fundamentals to help your immune cells find their balance again. Research also shows that dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) improves joint flexibility in rheumatoid arthritis by 20 to 30 degrees in some cases, without relapse.4

6. Build strength without stressing damaged joints — Traditional strength training often feels impossible when your joints are inflamed or unstable. Blood flow restriction training, including KAATSU, changes that equation entirely.

By using specialized bands to partially restrict venous blood flow, you can trigger significant muscle growth and strength gains using remarkably light weights. For someone with arthritis, this might mean doing arm curls with 3-pound weights instead of 15-pound weights while achieving similar muscle-building stimulus.

This means you can rebuild the muscle that supports and stabilizes your joints without grinding them down further. For people with arthritis, this approach offers something rare: a way to get stronger and more mobile while actually protecting vulnerable tissue. It’s one of the most underutilized tools for restoring confidence in a body that feels like it’s working against you.

FAQs About Arthritis and Work Limitations

Q: Why does arthritis interfere with work for so many adults?
A: Arthritis limits work because it directly affects mobility, strength, and endurance. When joints hurt, stiffen, or lose range of motion, everyday job requirements such as standing, walking, lifting, climbing stairs, or even sitting for long periods become difficult. National data show that nearly 40% of working-age adults with arthritis report work limitations, making it a leading driver of reduced productivity and early workforce exit.

Q: Is arthritis mainly a problem for older adults?
A: No. While arthritis risk increases with age, most adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritis are under 65. These working-age adults often face the greatest disruption because joint limitations collide with job demands, commuting, and family responsibilities. Arthritis-related disability frequently begins years before retirement.

Q: Why has arthritis-related disability remained so high over time?
A: Disability rates remain high because arthritis rarely travels alone. It clusters with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, anxiety, and depression — conditions that share underlying drivers like chronic inflammation and impaired cellular metabolism.

Each condition worsens the others. Targeting symptoms in isolation misses the interconnected nature of the problem. Public health efforts have focused heavily on symptom management rather than addressing the metabolic and inflammatory drivers that accelerate joint damage.

Q: What factors most strongly predict severe arthritis-related limitations?
A: Difficulty with basic movement is the strongest predictor. Problems with walking, climbing stairs, or maintaining balance sharply increase the risk of both activity and work limitations. Poor overall health and the presence of other chronic diseases further raise the likelihood of disability, while people reporting excellent health experience far fewer limitations.

Q: What steps help slow joint damage and restore function?
A: The most effective strategies target root causes. Eliminating vegetable oils lowers chronic inflammation. Vitamin K2 helps protect cartilage and prevent calcium buildup in joints. Bone broth supplies raw materials for tissue repair. Reducing excess body weight lowers mechanical joint stress.
Supporting mitochondrial health through proper nutrition, movement, sunlight, and targeted therapies helps regulate immune-driven inflammation. Strength-building approaches that minimize joint strain, such as blood flow restriction training, also support long-term mobility and confidence.

If you’ve switched to diet soda or sugar-free snacks to protect your health, a year-long study suggests that choice is quietly straining your heart and starving your brain of fuel — even at doses far below what regulators consider safe. Aspartame is one of the most widely used artificial sweeteners, long promoted as a way to reduce sugar intake while keeping foods and drinks sweet.

For decades, it was assumed to pass through your body without effect. New research suggests otherwise — and the changes it causes may take years to surface. Research published in Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy examined long-term, low-dose aspartame intake designed to reflect realistic consumption patterns.1 Some outcomes looked favorable at first. But as the study continued, less obvious physiological changes began to surface.

These shifts didn’t appear right away and would have been missed by short studies or simple lab tests. Only detailed imaging and functional assessments revealed them. That slow, cumulative pattern helps explain why aspartame has maintained a reputation for safety while questions about its long-term effects remain unsettled.

Artificial sweeteners are still framed primarily as weight-management tools. This research redirects attention toward how long-term exposure influences the systems that regulate energy use and organ function. Understanding that shift requires a closer look at what the study measured and why those findings matter for your heart and brain over time.

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Long-Term Aspartame Exposure Strains Your Heart and Alters Brain Function

To capture what short-term studies miss, researchers followed mice for a full year — the rodent equivalent of decades in human life — using aspartame doses that mirror typical human consumption. Rather than using high doses, they gave the animals an amount comparable to about one-sixth of the maximum daily limit allowed for humans, roughly 7 milligrams per kilogram per day.

The goal was to determine how chronic, intermittent exposure affects major organs, especially the heart and brain, at “normal” intake levels. Researchers used 1-year-old mice, roughly equivalent to middle-aged humans, instead of young or developing animals often used in lab studies. The mice ate standard chow and received aspartame in drinking water only three days every two weeks, mimicking real-life patterns where intake fluctuates.

• Weight loss occurred, but it came with clear trade-offs — Mice exposed to aspartame lost about 10% of their body weight over the year, driven largely by a 10% to 20% reduction in body fat. Food intake dropped by roughly 10%, explaining part of the weight loss. On paper, this looks like exactly what diet products promise. But beneath the surface, that weight loss came at a cost no scale could measure.

• Body temperature and energy balance shifted in a way that signals stress — Aspartame-treated mice ran about 0.5 degrees Celsius cooler than controls throughout the study which equals roughly a 0.9-degree Fahrenheit drop in body temperature. Lower body temperature in mammals reflects reduced metabolic output, meaning the body is producing less usable energy.

While caloric restriction research sometimes associates lower body temperature with longevity, this drop occurred alongside organ strain and impaired function — suggesting the body was conserving energy because it couldn’t produce enough, not because it was operating more efficiently.

• Heart structure changed over time — Advanced cardiac MRI revealed mild but measurable heart muscle thickening, known as cardiac hypertrophy, after long-term exposure. The right ventricle showed increased end-systolic volume, meaning more blood remained in the heart after each beat. Think of your heart as a pump. Hypertrophy means the muscle walls are thickening, like a pump working too hard to push water through a clogged pipe.

Over time, this strains the system. And when more blood remains in your heart after each beat (increased end-systolic volume), it’s like a pump that can’t fully empty, reducing efficiency with every cycle. Cardiac output dropped by about 20% to 26%, indicating weaker pumping efficiency. These changes only appeared after many months, which explains why shorter studies miss them.

• Fibrosis and inflammation appeared at the tissue level — When researchers examined heart tissue directly, they found a roughly 1.5-fold increase in fibrotic tissue, meaning stiff scar-like material replacing healthy muscle. Small inflammatory cell clusters also appeared more often in aspartame-treated hearts.

Fibrosis reduces flexibility and efficiency over time, which matters because it sets the stage for long-term cardiac dysfunction. Fibrosis is irreversible — once healthy heart muscle is replaced by stiff, fibrous tissue, it can’t contract properly. This is the same process that underlies many forms of heart failure.

• Brain function followed a troubling pattern — At first, the brain appeared to compensate — glucose uptake actually doubled, as if cells were working overtime to maintain normal function. But this surge couldn’t last. With continued exposure, uptake fell below normal levels, and the brain began to struggle.

The initial spike in glucose uptake may represent the brain’s attempt to compensate for metabolic disruption — working harder to maintain normal function. Over time, this compensatory mechanism appears to fail, leading to the steep decline observed later. By later months, aspartame-treated mice showed about 1.5 times lower glucose uptake than controls. This means brain cells struggled to access fuel over time, which affects focus, memory, and coordination.

• Lactate buildup revealed a brain under stress — Brain scans also showed lactate levels rising up to 2.5 times higher after eight months. Lactate accumulation signals stressed energy systems, similar to what happens when cells rely on inefficient backup pathways. When brain cells can’t efficiently burn glucose, they switch to a backup energy pathway that produces lactate as a byproduct, similar to the burn you feel in muscles during intense exercise.

Chronically elevated lactate in your brain suggests cells are struggling to meet their energy demands. This shift indicates the brain was compensating for impaired fuel handling rather than functioning smoothly. In maze-based memory tests, aspartame-treated mice moved more slowly, covered less distance, and took longer to find targets.

Several animals failed to complete tasks that control mice finished reliably. These results align with disrupted brain energy use rather than motivation or muscle weakness alone. The dose used sat far below regulatory limits, yet still altered heart structure, brain energy use, and behavior.

How to Remove the Metabolic Stress Damaging Your Heart and Brain

These findings raise an uncomfortable question: if aspartame doses well below safety limits caused measurable organ changes in mice over a year, what might decades of diet soda consumption be doing to your heart and brain? The good news is that metabolic stress is often reversible when you remove the cause and restore proper fuel.

If you’ve been reaching for diet drinks believing they were the healthier option, you’re not alone — and you’re not to blame. The marketing around artificial sweeteners has been relentless. What matters now is what you do with this information.

The fastest way to reverse the damage described so far is to remove the metabolic stressor and restore real cellular fuel. This is about removing synthetic signals that confuse your biology and replacing them with real signals your heart, brain, and gut recognize and process properly. The steps below focus on causes, not symptoms.

1. Cut out aspartame and other artificial sweeteners completely — If you’re still drinking diet soda, using sugar-free flavored waters, chewing gum, or taking certain chewable vitamins, those are daily sources of aspartame. Many ultraprocessed foods also contain artificial sweeteners that don’t appear obvious at first glance. Reading labels closely matters because these compounds often hide under alternative names.

Watch for these names on labels: acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), sucralose, saccharin, neotame, and advantame. Also check medications, toothpaste, and mouthwash. Removing artificial sweeteners stops the chronic signal that drove heart strain and brain energy disruption in the study.

2. Replace fake sweetness with real, metabolically supportive sweetness — When artificial sweeteners disappear, your body still expects carbohydrate fuel. Raw honey or small amounts of maple syrup provide natural sugars that your body recognizes and uses for fuel.

If you want to step away from sweeteners altogether, whole fruit does the job while supplying fiber, minerals, and glucose your brain actually uses. This shift supports stable brain energy use rather than the erratic glucose handling seen with long-term aspartame exposure.

3. Remove inflammatory fats that amplify insulin resistance and vascular stress — Inflammation links aspartame exposure with insulin resistance and vascular disease. Cutting artificial sweeteners is only the first step. Vegetable oils remain the largest ongoing dietary driver of inflammation because they’re high in linoleic acid (LA), a polyunsaturated fat. Excess LA fuels oxidative stress and worsens insulin resistance.

Avoiding ultraprocessed foods and cooking at home with tallow, grass fed butter, or ghee lowers this burden and reduces the metabolic pressure that damages blood vessels and your heart over time. Aspartame and vegetable oils both contribute to the same underlying problem: chronic metabolic stress that damages your heart and brain.
Removing aspartame addresses one source, but if inflammatory fats remain high, you’re only solving part of the equation. When artificial sweeteners leave, inflammatory fats disappear, and real fuel returns, your heart and brain regain metabolic stability instead of operating under chronic stress.

4. Rebuild your gut microbiome so fuel reaches your cells properly — Artificial sweeteners disrupt gut bacteria, which affects how nutrients reach your heart and brain. A study in Nature found that artificial sweeteners, including aspartame, alter gut bacteria in ways that actually promote glucose intolerance — the very condition they’re marketed to prevent.2 This creates a vicious cycle where the “solution” worsens the problem.

To heal your gut, eliminate vegetable oils and ultraprocessed foods and consume enough healthy carbohydrates. Start with whole fruits and white rice, then move on to well-cooked vegetables, and cooked starches that your digestion tolerates. Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kefir, and kimchi supply natural probiotics. Collagen-rich bone broth supports the gut lining. Fiber from fruits feeds beneficial bacteria once your gut microbiome stabilizes.

5. Provide enough healthy carbohydrates to restore cellular energy — Most adults function best with roughly 250 grams of carbohydrates daily, and active individuals often need more. Your brain depends on glucose, and long-term restriction lowers energy and worsens reductive stress.

Reductive stress occurs when cells have too few oxidizing agents to properly process fuel, essentially jamming the energy-production machinery. In terms of carbohydrates, fruit and white rice come first. Starches enter last. This approach directly supports mitochondrial energy production that declined with chronic aspartame intake.

FAQs About Aspartame’s Effects on Your Brain and Heart

Q: Why does long-term aspartame use matter more than short-term intake?
A: Short studies often look reassuring because early changes are subtle. The research discussed here followed exposure over many months and showed that deeper shifts in heart structure, brain energy use, and metabolism emerge slowly. This explains why aspartame often appears harmless in short trials while causing cumulative stress over time.

Q: If aspartame led to weight and fat loss, why is that a problem?
A: The weight loss came with clear trade-offs. Despite losing body fat, animals showed reduced metabolic function, heart muscle changes, and impaired brain fuel use. This means the body was conserving energy and straining vital organs rather than becoming healthier.

Q: How does aspartame affect brain function specifically?
A: Long-term intake disrupted how the brain uses glucose, its main fuel source. Brain energy use increased early, then dropped below normal levels with continued exposure. This shift was linked to slower movement, poorer memory, and higher lactate levels, all signs of stressed brain metabolism.

Q: What is the connection between aspartame, insulin resistance, and heart disease?
A: Aspartame contributes to chronic metabolic stress and inflammation, which are central drivers of insulin resistance and vascular damage. When combined with other inflammatory factors in the diet, this stress increases strain on your heart and blood vessels over time.

Q: What’s the most effective way to reduce the risks linked to aspartame?
A: Start by removing artificial sweeteners entirely — this stops the ongoing stress. Then restore real fuel: adequate carbohydrates from fruit, rice, and honey. Finally, eliminate vegetable oils, which amplify the inflammatory damage. Think of it as turning off the alarm, refueling the engine, and draining the contaminated oil. This approach reduces metabolic stress, supports brain energy needs, and lowers the burden on your heart, allowing normal function to stabilize again.

If checking your phone is the first thing you do each morning and the last thing you do each night, you’re not alone — but you might be paying a hidden price. In the U.S., about 4 in 10 adults say they are almost constantly online,1 and worldwide, people spend an average of six hours and 38 minutes a day on their devices.2

When life gets stressful, it’s common to reach for something that provides quick comfort. For many, that means browsing social media or even treating themselves to an online purchase to feel better.

These habits show how the internet is now deeply ingrained into our everyday routines. As screen time continues to rise, researchers are gaining a clearer understanding of how constant digital engagement affects overall well-being, and oftentimes, the effects are the opposite of what we’re looking for.

What Researchers Discovered About Online Habits and Stress

A longitudinal study conducted by researchers from Aalto University in Finland3,4 examined and recorded the online activity of adults for seven months, capturing nearly 47 million website visits and 14 million app uses, which were then compared with participants’ self-reported stress levels.5 Previous studies often asked people to guess their screen time or focused only on social media.

This study, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, was different: It tracked exactly what people were doing online, when they did it, and whether they used a mobile phone or a desktop computer.

“With the aim of closing this gap, the study is among the first to use a tracking programme installed on users’ devices, rather than asking subjects to self-report their usage,” said Dr. Juhi Kulshrestha, assistant professor and senior researcher on the study.6

• The study followed 1,490 German adults — Researchers collected detailed, URL-level browsing data and analyzed these patterns to identify how, where, when, and by whom the internet was used.

• Participants completed monthly stress surveys — Each month, volunteers also filled out the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), which assesses feelings of being overwhelmed or anxious. The data showed that women reported more stress than men, and people who were older and wealthier tended to have lower stress.7

• Which online activities stressed people out? People who spent more time on social media, online shopping,8 and gaming were more likely to report higher stress levels. This was true for both phone and computer use, but it was especially strong for mobile phones.

• Not all online activities are stressful — In contrast, individuals who dedicated more time to productivity-related tasks, such as reading emails and browsing news websites, generally experienced lower stress levels. The researchers clarified that they only tracked the amount of time spent on news websites without considering the specific types of news accessed.

Mohammad Belal, M.Sc., a doctoral researcher in computer science at Aalto University and the principal author of the study, stated:

“Somewhat surprisingly, people who spent a lot of time on news sites reported less stress than others. On the other hand, those who already experienced a lot of stress didn’t spend much time on news sites — and that’s consistent with previous research that shows that stress can reduce news consumption.”9

• Why these findings matter right now — The research arrives amid growing global concern over the mental health effects of social media, including recent policy moves such as Australia’s ban on social media for children, which has drawn international attention. Belal noted that, despite the increasing influence of the internet on our lives, our scientific understanding of its impact on well-being is remarkably limited.

• The chicken-and-egg problem — Despite associations with stress, the researchers don’t believe people necessarily need to stop using the internet. Kulshrestha cautioned:

“Putting a blanket ban or upper limits on certain kinds of internet usage may not actually end up solving the issues and could even take away a vital support for people who are struggling …

As we gain increasingly accurate information about people’s internet usage, it will be possible to design new kinds of tools that people can use to regulate their browsing and improve their well-being.”10

The authors recommend simple tools that help users recognize when stress begins to influence their browsing habits. This can include digital wellness tools that identify early signs of stress-scrolling, gentle prompts that remind people to take a quick break, and an examination of different types of news to see which kinds decrease stress.

Frequent Social Media Use Linked to Lower Self-Worth in Children

A previous two-week diary study of 200 children ages 10 to 14 showed that when kids used more Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube on a given day, they felt worse about themselves by the end of the day. The study, which was published in Communications Psychology in 2023, focused on this group because kids begin using social media around age 10; this is also the time when they are forming identity and self-worth, rely more on comparisons, and are especially sensitive to media’s psychological effects.11

• Upward comparison explained why heavier use made kids feel worse — Kids who thought others looked happier or better-looking on social media felt worse about themselves. This habit of comparing, called upward social comparison, explained most of the hit to their self-esteem.

• More daily social media use led to lower self-worth and more self-criticism — When kids spent more time scrolling, they went to bed feeling less proud and more disappointed in themselves — their last thoughts of the day colored by comparison to curated highlight reels:

“On average, we found social media use across the two weeks of assessments to be related to reduced subjective well-being.

This indicates that children and young adolescents who used more Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube than others during the course of the study also reported to be less satisfied with themselves, more disappointed by or angry with themselves, to be less proud and to feel less good and content, and more unhappy, sad, and afraid than children and young adolescents who used social media less often,” the researchers concluded.12

Aside from lowering your self-esteem, prolonged social media use can affect your mental health by triggering your emotions. Read “Excessive Social Media Use Makes You More Irritable, Study Finds” for more information on this topic.

Passive Social Media Use Increases Social Anxiety in College Students

A large-scale study from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health explored how different types of social media use affect anxiety levels in Chinese college students. Here, the researchers examined data from 1,740 students and discovered a clear divide: Passive scrolling increased anxiety, while active engagement reduced it.13

In contrast to studies that focus solely on screen time, this research distinguished between active use (posting and commenting) and passive use (browsing and lurking) and analyzed how each behavior affects self-perception and social anxiety.

• Passive use drives anxiety scores — Students who primarily browsed without interacting showed significantly higher levels of social anxiety.

• Active engagement reduces anxiety — In contrast, students who frequently posted or commented had lower social anxiety, which suggests that digital interaction — when it’s interactive — can be emotionally protective.

• Women tend to be more socially anxious — Female students showed higher social anxiety because they define themselves more through relationships and others’ opinions, making them more sensitive to judgment. Male students rely more on an independent self-view, which offers more emotional distance in social situations.

• Communication skills are the missing link — The ability to empathize, express emotions, and listen explained much of the difference. Students with strong communication skills were better protected from the harms of passive use. The researchers concluded:

“Our research extends the previous results, showing that the relationship between social media use and social anxiety can be explained when incorporating communication capacity as a mediator. Active social media use was significantly and negatively related to social anxiety, whereas passive social networking site use was significantly and positively related to social anxiety.

Reducing the use of passive social media among college students and adopting communication capacity-oriented interventions may yield benefits for improving students’ psychological well-being; educators should pay sufficient attention to them.”

Are You Chronically Online or Addicted to Social Media?

As evidenced by studies like the one above, not all social media is bad. Other research has even shown it can support cognitive health in the elderly.14 But when your digital life feels more “lived in” than your real one, or when your head is constantly halfway in a comment thread, it might be time to step back.

The term “chronically online” may sound like internet slang, but it describes a real pattern of behavior that’s marked by compulsive checking, difficulty being present offline, and moods dictated by notifications or online reactions. Unlike casual browsing, chronic online activity forms a feedback loop like slot machines: The more you scroll, the more platforms deliver content designed to keep you hooked.15

While being chronically online is about lifestyle and perspective, social media addiction is considered a behavioral health condition. Experts describe it as a compulsive dependency on social media platforms that interferes with mental health, daily responsibilities, and real-world relationships.16 Here are signs you’ve gone from “extremely online” to chronically online — and possibly toward addiction:17

1. You feel lost without Wi-Fi — Even short offline stretches feel uncomfortable. If you feel anxious or panicked when you can’t check apps, that’s closer to addiction.

2. You know influencers’ lives better than your friends — Prioritizing creators’ updates over real-world connections is a hallmark of being chronically online. If you neglect relationships entirely, it may signal addictive behavior.

3. You use content to “feel your feelings” — Scrolling or posting becomes your default coping mechanism. Social media addiction is when you can’t process emotions without the feed.

4. You’re never fully present — Your mind is always rehearsing posts or craving validation. With addiction, this craving feels uncontrollable, like you need the dopamine hit.

Spending time online isn’t the problem; losing touch with yourself is. If any of these signs hit a nerve, going on a social media detox could help you reconnect to the real world. For useful tips, you can check out “Reducing Social Media Use for Just a Week Can Improve Mental Health.”

6 Ways to Spend Less Time on Social Media

Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X are designed to pull you in with endless feeds, quick rewards, and subtle comparison traps. Social media shapes your mind in ways that can quietly drain your focus, productivity, and emotional well-being. If quitting cold turkey isn’t realistic, these simple strategies can help you limit your time online:18

1. Know your screen habits — Before reducing your social media usage, it’s useful to understand how much time you currently spend. Track your time initially, then aim to decrease it gradually. Having the numbers on hand provides a clear, measurable way to monitor your progress.

2. Set a weekly “digital day-off” — Instead of trying to shave off minutes here and there, choose one day each week when you intentionally step away from social media altogether. You can decide how strict it is: no apps for 24 hours, or simply no screens after dinner. The point is to build predictable, distraction-free time.

3. Turn off distracting notifications — Alerts are designed to make everything feel urgent, which keeps you checking your phone even when nothing truly needs your attention. By disabling badges, banners, and email alerts for the platforms you overuse, you take back control of when you open each app.

4. Make your feed feel safe — Your feed should feel like a safe home you can retreat to. Just as you wouldn’t invite negative or judgmental people into your home, you don’t need to give them space in your mind. Follow accounts that promote kindness, realistic bodies, and healthy habits. Mute or unfollow pages that trigger comparison, fear, or self-doubt.

5. Ask for help — If stepping back from social media feels overwhelming, talk to someone you trust. There’s no shame in asking for help — especially when support from a loved one or therapist can help you process your feelings and anxiety.

6. Real life vs. online interaction — Set boundaries by taking regular screen breaks, calling a friend instead of texting, or joining a local class, group, or volunteer activity. Even 10 minutes of in-person connection each day can reset your mind and strengthen your sense of self.

Being online often trains us to perform — constantly tweaking, posting, reacting. But you don’t need to earn rest, joy, or validation; you already deserve them. You deserve to live a life without filters and to share moments without turning them into content. Reclaiming time from your screen isn’t about restriction; it’s about creating space for the version of you that doesn’t need an audience — just room to be genuine.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Social Media Anxiety

Q: What did the 7-month German study find about internet habits and stress?
A: The study tracked real online behavior in 1,490 adults and found that higher stress was linked to mobile social media use, online shopping, streaming, and gaming. In contrast, spending more time on email and news websites was associated with lower stress levels.

Q: Why does social media affect children’s self-esteem more strongly?
A: Kids ages 10 to 14 are still forming their identity and self-worth. They’re more likely to believe online images reflect real life, which increases harmful comparisons and makes them especially sensitive to social media’s emotional effects.

Q: What’s the difference between passive and active social media use?
A: Passive use means scrolling or lurking without interacting, which raises social anxiety. Active use involves posting, commenting, or messaging, which encourages connection and communication skills that help protect emotional well-being.

Q: What does it mean to be “chronically online”?
A: Being chronically online means your mood, attention, and sense of self are heavily shaped by online activity. It often includes compulsive checking, difficulty being present offline, and using content or shopping to cope with stress.

Q: What are simple ways to reduce social media stress without quitting entirely?
A: Start by tracking your screen habits, turning off nonessential notifications, creating screen-free time, and prioritizing real-world connections. Small, consistent changes can break the stress-scroll cycle and help you feel more grounded.