https://medicalxpress.com/healthy-living-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Healthy Living For decades, the answer to "how much sleep does an adult need?" has been simple: eight hours. The idea dates back to the mid-19th century, when the notion of eight hours of work, eight for recreation and eight for sleep first took hold. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-eighthour.html Tue, 25 Aug 2026 10:00:03 EDT news706868582 Mulberry has long been used as both food and traditional medicine. Today, scientists are investigating whether its compounds can influence the gut microbiota and, through it, metabolism. A review involving researchers from Wroclaw Medical University shows that the mulberry species, plant part used and processing method may all matter for these effects. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-mulberry-fruit-gut-bacteria-linked.html Mon, 24 Aug 2026 17:00:04 EDT news706807921 Physical activity in adulthood may depend on exercise during growth, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers. The study, conducted in birds, is the first to directly demonstrate that experiences during development influence how efficiently adults use energy during movement. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-bird-bulking-youth-decreases-energy.html Mon, 24 Aug 2026 16:00:02 EDT news706800842 What we eat plays a vital role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. A well-balanced meal rich in essential micronutrients not only fuels the body but may also help protect against metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. There is another question worth asking: Does when we eat matter just as much as what we eat? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-longevity-heart-health.html Mon, 24 Aug 2026 09:42:19 EDT news706783315 When Raghav Sehgal arrived at Yale as a graduate student several years ago, he wanted to explore the use of powerful computer science tools in cancer research. With an engineering background and a computational biology startup already under his belt, he was well prepared. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-aging-reveals-interventions.html Mon, 24 Aug 2026 09:05:22 EDT news706781040 Chronic pain, pain that persists or returns for more than three months, can affect people's emotional well-being and is often accompanied by difficulty concentrating or remembering things. While they can be effective for some patients, available treatments for chronic pain do not always relieve all the other symptoms associated with it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-intermittent-fasting-reveals-gut-brain.html Mon, 24 Aug 2026 08:00:01 EDT news706505251 Each person has a unique gut microbial population, with variation shaped by diet, lifestyle and disease. We are seeing a rapid rise in metabolic disorders, obesity and inflammatory diseases that cannot be explained by our relatively stable genetic code. One of the most encouraging findings in common modern diseases is that modifiable factors can outweigh genetic predispositions. Unlike genetics, the microbiome is a dynamic system that responds to the daily choices we make. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-gut-microbial-health-index-composite.html Sun, 23 Aug 2026 16:00:01 EDT news706535175 Nature-based social prescribing can help reduce loneliness among adults living in socioeconomically vulnerable urban areas, according to a trial conducted in Barcelona by the European RECETAS consortium. Loneliness decreased among all participants receiving nature-based social prescribing, but those experiencing greater loneliness and poorer emotional well-being at the start benefited more from the facilitated group intervention. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-people-nature-community-loneliness-barcelona.html Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:20:08 EDT news706529401 A UIC study led by kinesiology and nutrition professor Krista Varady found that time-restricted eating may be a safe, effective tool to control blood sugar in adults with type 1 diabetes. The work is published in the journal Diabetes Care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-intermittent-fasting-diabetics-blood-sugar.html Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:40:03 EDT news706455025 Participants who followed a Mediterranean-style plan tailored for the Southeast not only kept weight off but also ate better in ways that may help prevent chronic disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-mediterranean-style-tailored-southeast-weight.html Thu, 20 Aug 2026 13:40:07 EDT news706446421 A review published in Nature Reviews Cardiology provides the most detailed picture yet of how nicotine damages the cardiovascular system—tracing the biological chain of events from the moment nicotine binds to receptors in blood vessel walls through to the atherosclerotic plaque rupture that triggers heart attacks and strokes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-nicotine-blood-vessels-biological-hierarchy.html Thu, 20 Aug 2026 13:00:13 EDT news706443542 Infrequent exercise is associated with a higher prevalence of common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety among higher education students in Norway, according to a study published in PLOS ONE by Michael Grasdalsmoen of Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and colleagues. The findings highlight the potential value of consistent physical activity rather than intense, prolonged exercise sessions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-students-mental-health-intense-workouts.html Wed, 19 Aug 2026 14:29:30 EDT news706368541 With more than 7 million Americans living with Alzheimer's dementia—a number projected to reach nearly 13 million by 2050—new Emory University research suggests that higher vitamin D supplement intake may be associated with better cognitive function in adults at elevated risk of dementia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-high-dose-vitamin-d-cognition.html Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:40:05 EDT news706361941 A novel AI system capable of recognizing yoga poses with high accuracy could pave the way for more effective digital coaching tools, rehabilitation platforms and movement-monitoring applications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-ai-yoga-pose-families-real.html Wed, 19 Aug 2026 07:00:04 EDT news706338661 While consumers may save a few bucks on groceries at dollar stores, they end up paying a higher price with their health. New UC Riverside research shows a link between dollar store food quality and higher rates of obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-hidden-health-dollar-groceries.html Tue, 18 Aug 2026 19:00:04 EDT news706292881 Traditional disease risk factors that are inexpensive and easy to measure, such as body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, smoking and alcohol consumption, outperform biological age tests based on epigenetics as predictors of future disease, finds a study conducted at Tampere University. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-scales-tape-future-illness-expensive.html Tue, 18 Aug 2026 18:20:05 EDT news706290241